The next morning, a shiny black Bentley drove towards the dusty gray building of the Special Division. The car came to a steady stop, and Zhou Hui got out, holding the little phoenix.
The boss, Zhou Hui, in his motorcycle leather jacket, sunglasses, and long legs, had his own Hollywood blockbuster aura and BGM wherever he stood. What was different from usual was that today he was carrying several shopping bags in one hand and a child of about five or six in the other. The child was wrapped entirely in one of Zhou Hui’s shirts, and the small face that was showing wore a pair of adult sunglasses, which, because the frame was too large, could only hang askew on his face, looking like they were at risk of falling off at any moment.
The two guards at the door instantly had countless Korean drama-esque, trashy speculations flash through their minds. Their eyes immediately lit up with the glint of gossip. “Boss Zhou, this child is your…”
Zhou Hui said solemnly, “Say hello to Team Leader Four.”
The guards’ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. They saw Team Leader Four look back at them blankly from behind his sunglasses, tilt his head, and say innocently, “…Ma?”
Zhou Hui carried the little phoenix through the unit’s main hall and towards his office.
With his steps, countless romantic and bizarre rumors of love and loss centered on him, flying from all directions to every corner of Unit 547 at the speed of a 10TB-per-second fiber optic network signal. Before Zhou Hui’s foot had even stepped into his office, the two young men at his door put down their phones and looked at the little phoenix with expressions full of astonishment. “Boss Zhou, this is…”
Zhou Hui said, “Team Leader Four.”
Zhou Hui walked into his office under the incredulous gazes of his subordinates and closed the door with a bang.
·
“Sit tight, don’t move, let’s change your clothes… Little phoenix!” Zhou Hui held the children’s clothes, his head aching. “Come back and sit down!”
The little phoenix had just been placed in the high armchair when it slid down with a whoosh and started running around wildly. A divine bird of this age already fully displayed its potential for being lively, active, and curious. Although Zhou Hui’s large shirt, which dragged on the floor, severely hindered its movement, the little phoenix’s figure was practically flying. With a whoosh, it flew from the office to the pantry, and from the pantry, it flew with another whoosh to the adjoining lounge. When Zhou Hui caught up, he saw it trying to climb onto the wardrobe. Standing at the door, he could just see its little bottom, wiggling with its climbing movements.
“Little phoenix!” Zhou Hui tried to carry him down. “Stop climbing, let’s change your clothes first!”
The little phoenix’s love for high places was almost instinctive. It immediately broke free from Zhou Hui and started climbing up again.
Zhou Hui was exasperated. He stuffed the small children’s clothes into his pocket, forcibly carried the little phoenix down with both hands, and pressed him onto the large bed, his knees gently holding him down to prevent him from escaping. It was like a fight just to get his ill-fitting large shirt off him.
That was the shirt Zhou Hui had casually wrapped around him when they went out this morning. He had rushed to the mall as soon as it opened to buy a few sets of children’s clothes and only had the chance to change him at the office. Who knew the little phoenix was so attached to clothes that smelled of Zhou Hui. It pushed Zhou Hui’s hands with all its might while crying loudly, refusing to wear the new clothes to death.
While things were getting rowdy here, the door to the outer office was pushed open. Yu Jingzhong poked his head in and said, “Comrade Zhou, everyone outside is saying you’ve been fooling around behind Phoenix Four’s back and brought an illegitimate child to work…”
His voice stopped abruptly. Yu Jingzhong stared, dumbfounded, at the little phoenix on the large bed in the inner room, naked and throwing a tantrum, and at Zhou Hui, who was holding clothes in his hand and looking down at him from above.
“This is not my illegitimate child! What are you here for? If you have something to say, say it quickly. I’m busy here!”
“…” Yu Jingzhong’s entire worldview was refreshed. After a long while, he stammered, “Z-Zhou Hui, you can’t do this. This is illegal, it’s too perverted…”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Zhang Shun poked his head out from behind Yu Jingzhong. “I told you Zhou Hui wouldn’t do something like… Zhou Hui! What the hell are you doing?! You beast!!!”
·
Ten minutes later, Zhou Hui sat on the sofa, holding a towel soaked in cold water to his nose, and let out a long breath.
The little phoenix had finally changed into children’s clothes and was sitting obediently in his lap, looking up at him expectantly.
“Zhang Shun, you’re too impulsive. You should always ask clearly before you act. What if Zhou Hui isn’t actually a pedo…” Deputy Chief Yu suddenly realized it was hard to say whether Zhou Hui was a pedophile or not, so he touched his nose and coughed awkwardly. “…What if he wasn’t actually doing what you imagined… It’s always bad to hurt someone rashly. Don’t do this again next time, okay?”
Zhang Shun occupied the entire sofa opposite them by himself, pointing at his black eye and asking with incomparable grief and indignation, “Then what about this?!”
Yu Jingzhong comforted him, “You were personally taught a lesson by your brother. What’s there to say?”
The little phoenix immediately turned its head and bared its teeth at Zhang Shun, its threat-filled meaning clear, as if to say, If you dare touch another hair on Zhou Hui’s head, I’ll teach you why the flowers are so red.
The human world was just this cruel. Second Young Master Zhang, in order to defend the stability of his brother’s backyard, had stepped up to teach a lesson to Boss Zhou, who was suspected of cheating. As a result, he was immediately taught a lesson by his brother. The Buddha’s heart made of glass instantly shattered into pieces.
“There, there, it doesn’t hurt anymore, it really doesn’t hurt…” Zhou Hui held the little phoenix, kissing him again and again, carefully smoothing his messy sideburns, and said softly, “I need to discuss something with Deputy Chief Yu. Can you go play by yourself for a while, okay?”
The little phoenix hugged Zhou Hui’s neck and peeked back at Zhang Shun, as if to say, What if this person bullies you again?
Zhang Shun’s shattered Buddha heart was on the verge of turning to dust. Zhou Hui quickly promised, “It’s okay, he won’t dare after you beat him up. He really won’t dare. If he dares to come, I won’t be polite to him, how about that?”
Zhang Shun’s handsome face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He thought to himself, This Zhou guy is really no good. He’s already tricked my brother away so quickly. It’s completely understandable that Sakyamuni wanted to destroy him… Damn it, why didn’t Sakyamuni succeed? After so many years, he still hasn’t managed to kill this demon. That fake Buddha being taken down was truly not an injustice at all!
However, the little phoenix couldn’t get the Buddha’s psychological activities at all. After Zhou Hui coaxed him for a long time, he finally nodded reluctantly. He was picked up and carried towards the office door. Before leaving, he even gave Zhang Shun a wary look.
“My brother glared at me! He glared at me again!” Zhang Shun grabbed Yu Jingzhong, incredulous. “He’s been completely deceived by Zhou Hui! He actually glared at me for Zhou Hui!”
“He also beat you up for Zhou Hui just now, Buddha.” Yu Jingzhong comforted him. “Let him glare. You’ll get used to it in the future…”
·
Zhou Hui didn’t want to carry the little phoenix upstairs and attract more onlookers, so he took him to Phoenix Four’s old office.
The office of the Team Four Leader of State Security was a well-known restricted area, with a direct internal elevator. It was a restricted area because when the Phoenix Wisdom King occasionally came to the office to check in, elderly leaders from the Military Commission would come over every few days to offer incense, make wishes, and ask for fortunes, so much so that the office was perennially shrouded in incense smoke, giving it a very feudal and superstitious atmosphere.
Although it hadn’t been used for a long time, Yu Jingzhong often had people clean it, so the office was still very clean. The floor was covered with a gray carpet, there was a row of large sofas against the wall, and a few half-withered plants on the windowsill. On the desk were casually thrown scriptures and a few tortoise shells—things the Phoenix Wisdom King used to use for divination of karma to pass the time when he was bored.
Zhou Hui carried the little phoenix to the sofa, gave him a children’s picture book he had just bought from the children’s clothing store, and said with a smile, “I’ll be back to pick you up in half an hour, okay?”
The little phoenix rubbed his fingers, twisted his soft little body, and after a long moment, nodded lightly.
Zhou Hui stood up, took two steps back, and suddenly stopped again.
“This was… your old office. After Maha’s Heavenly Punishment, we came to the human world and started to slowly help you repay your merits. After joining the Special Division with Deputy Chief Yu, your office was arranged here. We used to often have dates here with the door closed…”
“Later, one time you were growing ginseng here, and Situ Yingzhi and the nine-tailed fox sneaked in and ate it all. They buried a piece of radish in the soil to try and pass it off, but you found out and chased them for several miles…”
The little phoenix stared blankly at Zhou Hui.
“Forget it,” Zhou Hui smiled and said. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember. As long as you’re happy, that’s better than anything.”
He bent down and ruffled the little phoenix’s soft, smooth hair, then kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be back in half an hour. You be good,” he said, turning to leave and closing the door.
·
With a click, the little phoenix stared at the closed door, his eyes full of confusion.
After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked around blankly.
The offices of the team leaders of State Security Group Six all had their own personal style. For example, Zhou Hui, despite his seemingly unrestrained and arrogant personality, had an office that was very prim and proper, with mahogany furniture, screens, and landscape paintings. The Qian-Kun formation was set up right under his nose for constant monitoring, ensuring no mistakes at critical moments. Although Wu Bei spent most of the year in the northeast as a triad boss, every time he came to the capital, he would bring some strange and highly destructive magical weapons. Over time, his office became a firearms and equipment showroom. Even Deputy Chief Yu would sometimes sneak in to steal some of the collection.
Situ Yingzhi’s office had two wardrobes. One was huge, filled with all kinds of designer clothes and European haute couture, and was often mocked by Shenwan Tiansi for being too flashy. The other small wardrobe was locked year-round and had never been opened in front of anyone. It was once rumored in the Special Division that the wardrobe was actually a large refrigerator, stuffed with human flesh and blood plasma that Hou San had hoarded for food.
Later, Zhou Hui went in to investigate and secretly told Deputy Chief Yu that it was actually imitation human skin—a zombie’s skin would become unusable after a period of time. Hou San had secretly refined several sets of “copper skin and iron bones” to have as replacements for when his own outer skin aged.
Shenwan Tiansi’s office was polarized. The outer room was a showroom for out-of-print anime and related merchandise, while the inner room was constructed into hive-like small spaces, all of which were scripture-hiding caves, storing many precious scriptures and calligraphies in a special, static-free, constant-temperature environment. It was rumored that after the fifth deputy team leader, Yangjin Puncog, was executed, Shenwan Tiansi had personally gone to Tibet to raid his home, bringing back a large batch of Tibetan Buddhist treasures to hide in his office, earning him the title of the number one hamster syndrome patient in State Security Group Six.
As for the nine-tailed fox, there wasn’t much to say. All sorts of buying, eating, clothes, skirts, jewelry, and bags. There was no office area. In her words, “My existence is my work!” In fact, her existence did sometimes add a lot of work for others…
Chu He’s time stationed at State Security was actually very short, and he had defected twice in the middle, so the number of times he stayed in the office was even more limited. He seemed to be the least concerned about his office. It was all just a normal environment: a bookshelf, a sofa, a pantry, a tall flower stand by the window, and a wardrobe in the lounge. But it was much smaller than Situ Yingzhi’s, and inside only hung a few shirts and two sets of casual suits for changing.
The little phoenix climbed to the top of the flower stand and looked down at the entire office.
Sunlight shone in from the window, like a thin veil of gold, dancing in the silent room. Even the slight dust floating in the air was clearly visible.
The window lattice cast crisscrossing patterns of light and shadow on the desk, which gradually moved and elongated with the sun. The armchair by the desk was casually pulled out halfway, empty, as if someone had left and never returned.
An indescribable, strong emotion suddenly surged from the bottom of the little phoenix’s heart, like deep water, instantly submerging him.
So heavy, so cold.
For a moment, it even made him forget to breathe.
The little phoenix did not know that this feeling was called loneliness. He didn’t even know that it was because the emotions his own soul had previously left here were too strong, so much so that after several years, they lingered faintly, traveling through time to appear before him now.
He stared blankly at the armchair, and gradually felt a phantom image emerge in the air, sitting at the desk with its back to him.
—It was a very handsome man. Even without seeing his face from behind, just the back view alone could give this clear feeling.
His posture was upright. A section of his neck, so fair it was almost transparent, was revealed behind his dark hair. His shoulders drooped slightly naturally. His slender figure was wrapped in a white robe, and the waistband was embroidered with intricate, hidden phoenix patterns in white thread.
He was leaning over the desk, writing something. After a long while, he finally put down his pen, sighed, and closed the book.
The little phoenix, lying on the flower stand behind him, strained to see that it was a very old and yellowed thread-bound book. The cover was a faded dark blue, and three characters were written on it with a brush—Bao Shi Zi. Because of its age, even the ink color had faded.
The man threw the thread-bound book into the drawer, stood up, and walked from the desk towards the inner room.
The moment he turned around, the little phoenix finally saw his face and was in a trance for a moment.
It wasn’t just because his face had a carved, indescribably beautiful quality, as if it were a work of art that could shine even in the dark. Nor was it because of the tidal wave of suffocating, restrained and suppressed sorrow in his eyes.
It was because that face was very familiar to the little phoenix.
He knew that was his own face when he grew up.
The man walked into the inner room, stood before the full-length mirror, and gently caressed the smooth, cold surface of the mirror, letting out a long, thorough breath.
The next second, his face suddenly changed as if he had put on a mask, completely turning into another face!
The little phoenix’s eyes widened in astonishment. He saw that after the transformation, his eyebrows and eyes were sparse, his complexion pale, and his lips had a slight, bloodless chap. The bones of his face had shifted slightly, giving his side profile a plain and cold feeling.
The only thing that hadn’t changed was his eyes. Although even the shape of his eyes had changed, his gaze was as sharp and clear as before, hiding a heaviness that was hard to detect deep within.
The man unfastened his outer robe, and the white robe trailed to the ground.
He stood there, naked in front of the mirror, without a single expression, and took out a change of clothes from the wardrobe. It was a black suit, worn open without a tie, the white shirt underneath unbuttoned twice at the top, a very ordinary office worker’s attire. He also picked up a card holder from the bedside table and stuffed it into his pants pocket. He didn’t wear shoes, standing barefoot on the floor.
He looked like a completely different person, like a company director about to go to work, his face serious and uninteresting. Even the closest person might not have been able to recognize his true appearance.
“Are you ready, Your Highness, the Phoenix Wisdom King?”
The little phoenix was startled and only then realized that another person had appeared in the inner room at some point!
—It was a tall man in a black robe, leaning casually against the doorframe, clearly a great demon of the Asura King level. The demonic aura was almost tangible, emitting black flame-like shadows in the air. The cold aura made the little phoenix, whose divinity had not yet fully recovered, very uncomfortable, and it immediately shrank back on the flower stand.
The Phoenix Wisdom King said faintly, “I’m ready, let’s go.”
“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your friends? Once you go, you can’t come back.”
“There’s no need.”
The Phoenix Wisdom King walked out of the room, passing by the Asura.
The Asura turned his head and saw him walk to the door, bend down to change his shoes, without even looking back.
“Isn’t it tiring to be so cold and aloof all year round?” the Asura King asked, stroking his chin, seemingly with great interest. “Or have you gotten used to putting on airs and can’t let them go, so much so that for something you’re destined not to return from, you can’t even be bothered to say goodbye to others?”
The Phoenix Wisdom King said, “And why are you so interested?”
“Because I find it strange. Is the always high and mighty Phoenix Wisdom King really as cold and withdrawn as the rumors say, too lazy to even say goodbye at the moment of parting—or does he feel there’s no need, because he has secretly kept a way back?”
The phoenix finished changing his shoes, straightened up, and did not answer for a good while.
The Asura King stared at his back, seemingly not letting go of even the slightest change in his breathing or the tension in his muscles.
“…You’re overthinking it,” the phoenix finally said after a long moment.
“I just don’t have any friends. Even if I achieve nirvana one day, no one will remember.”
He opened the office door and walked out. Behind him, the Asura King’s face showed an expression that was a bit surprised, suspicious, and finally turned into a subtle malice. In the end, he sneered and shook his head, turned around, and followed him with large strides, also leaving the office.
·
The door closed again with a click, suddenly waking the little phoenix from his dream-like state.
He was stunned for a long time, thinking, What was that? Was that me?
Is this a memory from before my nirvana?
The little phoenix blinked, his mind a complete blank. Countless fluttering lights and shadows of memory seemed to flash past from the depths of his soul. Just as he wanted to reach out and catch them, they shattered like a reflection of a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water, and in an instant, all feeling disappeared.
“…”
The little phoenix suddenly thought of something. His breathing hitched, and he felt his heart beat lightly and rapidly in his chest. He immediately climbed down from the flower stand quietly, ran to the desk, pulled out the chair and climbed up, then opened the drawer—
The little phoenix’s pupils instantly constricted.
In that drawer lay an old book. It was, shockingly, Bao Shi Zi!
