The Underworld Sable Envoy: I Cultivate Immortality at the Department of Spiritual Investigation

The days passed like a gentle breeze across a snowy landscape. My life seemed to have completely returned to normal.

I am still doing mundane work at the grassroots level, and I still live in the public rental housing in the Ba Yi District—a temporary residence that is carefully prepared, with invisible sensors embedded in every inch of the walls to ensure that all physiological data and behavioral patterns can be recorded in real time and transmitted back to the analysis center.

No one deliberately avoids me in the office corridor anymore, but the occasional silence still reminds me that the night in La Ge Village has never been truly erased.

After that day, I never saw Chou Chou again.

There was no trace of the crystal cage, no familiar black mist, and not even a shred of news about the Spirit Investigation Bureau. It was like a pebble thrown into the ocean, vanishing without a trace.

Countless times in the dead of night, I touch my fingers, which sometimes feel inexplicably cold, and the fading teeth marks on my fingertips always remind me of that smelly, soft body, listlessly clinging to my collar...

In March, peach blossoms bloom all over the mountains and plains of Nyingchi. From the banks of the Yarlung Tsangpo River to the Peach Blossom Valley in Lulang, the pink and white petals, wrapped in the warm sun of the snowy plateau, fill the entire city. The annual Peach Blossom Festival arrives as scheduled.

In the office, everyone was talking about going to Lulang to see the peach blossoms. Sister Laci was scrolling through photos on her phone, smiling as she talked about Lulang's folk activities and forest scenery. I sat at my desk, my fingertips tracing the keyboard, feeling nothing in particular, just wanting to get through the day quietly.

It wasn't until Sister Gesang walked up to my desk, holding several tickets printed with peach blossoms, followed by Sister Laci and two colleagues, that she said, "Nianyang, don't always stay cooped up in your room. Come with us to Lulang and join the fun. The Peach Blossom Festival is in full swing, and there's also Gongbu archery. You can also take a walk in the national nature reserve forest on the way and relax."

Laci came over and patted my shoulder: "Yeah, Nianyang, it's so boring staying at home all day. Let's go together, it'll be more fun with more people."

I looked up at the gentleness in Gesang's eyes and the enthusiasm of Laci, and the words of refusal reached my lips, but I swallowed them back. I nodded, put down the pen on the table, and forced a smile: "Okay."

Driving eastward, the scenery along the way in Lulang became increasingly magnificent. Peach blossoms bloomed freely on both sides of the road, clusters of pink and white flowers nestled against barley fields and snow-capped mountains, with the blue sky of the snow-covered plateau as a backdrop—like a painting unfolded between heaven and earth. Sister Laci chatted with her colleagues, Sister Gesang occasionally chiming in. I leaned against the car window, gazing at the beautiful scenery outside, but my mind was wandering; I had originally planned to bring Chou Chou to this year's Peach Blossom Festival…

We soon arrived at our destination. At the venue of the Lulang Peach Blossom Festival, a lively atmosphere enveloped us, yet I felt as if I were separated from it by a transparent membrane. Tibetan-style tents were scattered about, and the aroma of yak butter tea mingled with the sweet scent of peach blossoms in the wind. Young men and women dressed in Tibetan costumes danced the Guozhuang dance, but I couldn't make out the rhythm.

In an open space not far away, there was a row of wooden targets. Many tourists were gathered around to experience the Gongbu whistling arrow. Several dark-skinned local elderly men stood nearby. They were the archery instructors, all old hunters from Lulang. Their hands were calloused, and their eyes were sharp.

"Let's go try it too!" Sister Laci was lively and pulled Sister Gesang towards the archery range, with me and my colleagues following behind.

An elderly hunter with gray hair approached, carrying several Gongbu whistling arrows. The shafts were made of local peach wood from Lulang, with colorful ribbons tied to the ends. Speaking in Mandarin with a Tibetan accent, the old hunter patiently taught everyone how to hold the bow, draw the string, and aim: "Gongbu whistling arrows are all about stillness and steadiness. Only with a calm mind can your hand be steady, and only then can the arrow be accurate."

Everyone started trying one by one. Sister Laci shot several arrows but missed, laughing and complaining that it was difficult. Sister Gesang, on the other hand, was quite skilled, and her arrow grazed the bullseye.

In the shadows, unseen by anyone, the Bureau of Spirits' surveillance network operates silently. Beside a Tibetan tent, a woman wrapped in a shawl sets down her bowl of butter tea, her fingertips swiping lightly on a tablet. A status update is quietly sent: Target enters designated area, engages in routine procedures, physiological readings stable, no energy fluctuations observed. The data stream is filed into a file called "Daily Behavior Baseline." Like the most patient hunters, they choose to remain hidden, to continue observing.

When it was my turn, I took the bow, and the instant I touched the arrow shaft, that familiar coolness from my fingertips silently and imperceptibly wrapped around the peach wood arrow shaft, so fast it felt like an illusion.

I was surprised for a moment, but seeing that no black mist came out of my fingers, I didn't take it seriously and assumed it was just a coincidence.

Following the old hunter's instructions, I drew the bowstring taut, my gaze fixed on the bullseye ten meters away. A gentle breeze blew by, carrying the scent of peach blossoms. Just as I released my grip—I clearly felt the cool sensation lingering on my fingertips, as if it possessed its own consciousness, subtly tugging at the arrow shaft!

"Whoosh!"

As the arrow was released, colorful ribbons fluttered, and the peach wood arrow accurately hit the red dot on the bullseye. The coolness that lingered on the fingertips dissipated completely as the bow was released.

"Excellent archery!" the old hunter praised with a smile, and the surrounding tourists echoed his praise.

I was stunned for a moment, but my heart was churning: This feeling... it's so familiar. It's not that I shot accurately, it's that the coolness felt alive, subtly adjusting the arrow's direction the instant it was released.

Not far away, under an ancient peach tree, a man in a navy blue down jacket looked down at the waveforms jumping on the tablet in his palm; the curve representing energy monitoring remained stable. He whispered into the miniature microphone in his collar: "Number 073, contact with peach wood object, completed a precise shot. Instrument record: no abnormal energy release."

The group played in the archery range for a long time until the sun began to set, and golden light slanted across the peach orchard, turning the pink and white petals into a warm orange hue.

Laci's eyes lit up as she looked at a peach grove in the distance: "Look at those peach blossoms over there, they're so vibrant! Gesang, let's go take some pictures over there! Su Nianyang, you're a great photographer, take some for us!"

The peach grove was on one side of the site, next to the edge of the national nature reserve forest. The peach trees grew lushly, with pink and white petals blooming in layers. When the wind blew, the petals fluttered down, like a pink snowfall. When they fell, even the wind slowed down, and when they clung to the corner of your clothes, they carried a touch of the coolness of the snow-capped mountains.

Sister Gesang smiled and nodded: "Okay, let's take some pictures, it'll be worth the trip."

I picked up my phone and followed, the coolness on my fingertips long since vanished. The peach petals trampled underfoot, at a certain angle, faintly reflected extremely faint, orderly silver patterns.

Laci and Gesang chose a spot next to the most beautifully blooming peach tree. They linked arms, their Tibetan clothing looking especially lovely against the backdrop of the vibrant peach blossoms.

"Su Nianyang, move over here and include the snow-capped mountains in the shot!" Sister Laci shouted at me, raising her hand to tidy up the stray hairs at her temples.

I raised my phone, adjusting the angle to frame the snow-capped mountains, peach orchard, and the two figures within the lens. The phone screen suddenly flickered slightly, and the peach petals in the frame appeared somewhat blurry. I wiped the camera lens and muttered, "Okay, move closer and smile."

A breeze blew by, and the peach blossoms on the branches fell softly. The light petals floated in the air, landing on Sister Gesang's shoulder, on Sister Laci's hair, and on the back of my hand and my phone screen.

Just as I pressed the shutter to take the last group photo, I suddenly felt a strange sensation on the peach petal on the back of my hand.

The petals were icy cold to the touch, a chill that seeped into your bones. Sister Laci rubbed her arms and muttered, "Why is it so cold all of a sudden? These peach petals feel like ice crystals on my skin."

She raised her hand to brush away the petals from her hair, and tore off a few strands of hair—the edges of the petals had become sharp, like tiny blades.

At this moment, the petals no longer fell downwards, but instead floated upwards against the current, swirling around the peach tree branches and gathering into clusters of pink mist. The faint silver patterns on the peach petals became clearly visible, like fine dragon scales, swirling with an eerie light. My colleague held up his camera to capture this spectacle, but the camera screen suddenly crackled with static, and when he pressed the shutter again, the screen went completely black. My phone also got hot, and in the group photo I had just taken, the background of the peach grove had turned into a blurry pink, with countless fine silver lines faintly visible, like scales spread across it.

Someone reached out to touch a petal drifting against the current, but the moment their fingertip touched it, they cried out and pulled their hand back, a thin gash appearing on their fingertip. The instant the blood seeped out, the surrounding peach petals swarmed around it like a beehive, instantly absorbing the drop of blood. On the blood-stained petal, the dragon scale patterns became even clearer, and the color turned a strange, vibrant pink.

"Something's wrong! Get back in the car!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Under the ancient peach tree not far away, the man in the navy blue windbreaker suddenly sat up straight. He stared down at the tablet in his palm, his fingers rapidly swiping and clicking, his calm expression replaced by confusion. On the tablet, all the monitoring curves—energy fluctuations, spectral analysis, biofield readings—remained a lifeless, flat green line, a stark contrast to the bizarre scene unfolding before him. He raised his hand and pressed it firmly against the microphone on his collar, his voice tightening almost imperceptibly: "Command, a Level 1 visual anomaly has appeared at the Lulang Peach Forest: reversed plant growth, aggressive behavior from entities, and widespread malfunction of electronic equipment. Repeat, a Level 1 visual anomaly has appeared! But all our detection instruments are reading normally, the spiritual energy index is 0, and no signals of any mutated life forms have been detected! Requesting instructions!"

As he finished speaking, he looked at the tablet again; the screen remained blindingly stable. On the other side, the woman wrapped in a shawl quickly approached, her instrument screen also glowing a steady green light. They exchanged a glance, both seeing a deep unease in each other's eyes. The cutting-edge equipment, built at great expense by headquarters and theoretically capable of detecting all supernatural fluctuations, seemed to have collectively "gone blind" at this moment.

Meanwhile, the strange occurrences in the peach grove continued to escalate. Tourists began to stir, some sensing something was "wrong" and trying to leave, but the exit of the peach grove had somehow been blocked by layers upon layers of petals flying in the opposite direction. The pink "wall" swayed gently, and dragon scale patterns appeared and disappeared on its surface.

A panicked young tourist rushed toward the flower wall, and the moment his body touched the alluring pink petals, he instantly turned into a burst of blood mist! Before the blood mist could even land, it was devoured by the surrounding hungry petals, leaving only a few petals that were so dark they were almost black, with dazzlingly bright veins, slowly drifting down.

The tourists panicked completely, screaming and fleeing in all directions. The pleasant rustling sound in the peach grove turned into a piercing shriek as petals rubbed against each other at high speed and cut through the air, mixed with cries and screams, turning the entire peach grove into a terrifying inferno in an instant.

The man standing under the peach tree paled instantly and quickly moved away from the ancient tree that had been providing cover. He spoke urgently into the microphone again, his voice now filled with anxiety: "Command! The situation is out of control! There's been a deadly attack, and civilians have been injured or killed! The instruments are still not providing any useful data! Requesting emergency military support! I repeat, requesting emergency support!"

This time, only a crackling, heavily interfered electrical noise came through the microphone, followed by no response. The man gripped the tablet tightly and pulled out his standard-issue pistol from his back. The woman also pulled off her shawl, revealing a tactical vest and a black short knife hidden close to her body.

Just then, a deep, muffled sound, seemingly originating from the depths of the peach grove, echoed from the ground, causing the soil beneath their feet to tremble slightly. Not far away, an exceptionally thick and ancient peach tree suddenly shook violently, its trunk creaking under its own weight. At the same moment, all the peach petals on its branches fell and scattered, then coalesced and compressed in the air, transforming into countless sharp-edged, metallic-gleaming dragon-scale petal blades—like pink metallic storms whipped up by an invisible tempest—swirling and weaving through the air!

A tourist, unable to dodge in time, had several petal blades graz his arm, instantly tearing his skin and exposing the bone, from which blood gushed. Before he could even scream, more petals swarmed around him, instantly enveloping and swallowing him, forming a shrinking pink cocoon. In the blink of an eye, the cocoon deflated, and all was silent.

At the same time, the countless petals and petal blades seemed to be summoned, frantically converging towards a central point, condensing into a three-meter-tall, semi-transparent humanoid figure made entirely of flowing petals! It had no facial features, no details, and at its chest was a violently churning, misty core emitting pure silver light, while its body was surrounded by a ring of rapidly rotating, sharp petals, like a deadly protective storm.

The scene of purgatory assaulted everyone's senses. We ran desperately towards the parking lot. Just then, one of my colleagues was grazed on the calf by a swirling petal, screamed, and fell to the ground, blood immediately staining his trouser leg. As he struggled to get up, several more petals turned and shot towards his face!

The screams from that night in Lago Village seemed to echo in my ears again. My mind went blank, and I instinctively reached out to grab him. The instant my fingertips touched his arm, an extreme chill exploded from my fingertips! At the same time, a small, dense wisp of black mist emanated from my fingertips, precisely targeting those few deadly petals.

When the black mist came into contact with the petals, there was no loud noise, only a slight "sizzling" sound. The sharp petals instantly lost their luster, withered, curled up, and turned into ashes that scattered.

Before I could recover from this sudden turn of events, the man in the navy blue windbreaker had already rushed to our side. The gun in his hand didn't fire bullets, but rather a concentrated, blinding blue beam of light, blasting straight towards the petal-shaped humanoid's chest!

The blue light struck, exploding into a small halo, scattering the petals on the chest and revealing the surging silver light within. However, in just an instant, countless petals from all around surged in to fill the void, restoring everything to its original state without leaving a trace.

"How is this possible?!" The man gritted his teeth; this weapon was powerful enough to inflict effective damage on regular spirit realm mutants.

On the other side, the woman had also taken out a black, box-like containment device, aimed it at the humanoid petal, and pressed the switch. The device emitted a high-frequency buzzing sound, but the sound immediately turned into a piercing explosion. The outer shell of the device overheated and turned black, emitting blue smoke, and was completely destroyed.

She staggered back, her face contorted with disbelief: "Energy countermeasures failed... Containment protocols ineffective! Our weapons and systems are completely useless against this thing!"

The woman's futile pounding on the malfunctioning device seemed to enrage the giant made of flower petals. It "turned its head" and "looked" in our direction, the storm of petals surrounding it suddenly accelerating, splitting off a dense swarm of petals, like an enraged bee, that shot towards us with a piercing shriek as it tore through the air!

"Get out of the way!" the man roared.

I clung tightly to my injured colleague, and together with Sister Gesang and Sister Laci, we scrambled backward to avoid them. The mud beneath our feet was already soaked with blood, making it incredibly slippery. The screams and the shrill whistling of petals behind us lashed at our eardrums and nerves like whips.

We hadn't run far when we came to a despairing halt—the Lulang Forest was completely sealed off by a thick, despairing wall of pink flower petals. The wall, several meters high and densely packed, rippled slightly in the wind, as if a giant, living beast were breathing. Countless petals tumbled down from the top. We were only a few dozen meters from our off-road vehicle, but now it felt like an insurmountable chasm.

"We can't escape!" the man in the navy blue windbreaker roared, raising his gun to fire at the flower wall again. Blue light blasted a gap the size of a washbasin in the petal wall, but the next second, the surrounding petals flowed and instantly filled it, sealing it perfectly.

Despair washed over me like a bucket of ice water. And just then, I looked down and saw wisps of thick, inky black mist uncontrollably seeping from my fingertips. Like living tentacles, they slowly climbed up my palm, leaving a chilling trail in their wake, just like the night the stench had erupted.

His gaze suddenly swept towards the archery range not far away—where the peach wood bow and arrows were still scattered on the ground.

The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything. I shook off my colleague's hand and, amidst Gesang's exclamation, sprinted toward the open space! Several flower petals grazed my back, tearing my coat and leaving behind a burning pain and a bone-chilling cold.

I threw myself to the ground, grabbing the nearest peachwood bow and a few arrows. The instant I gripped the bow, the black mist at my fingertips seemed to find an outlet, surging out wildly and coiling around the bow and arrow shafts. The originally light brown wood was covered by a layer of writhing, ominous ink, and countless twisted shadows seemed to struggle and wail within the black mist, giving this simple hunting bow a chillingly eerie aura.

I turned to face the petal giant that was slowly drifting towards me, and with all my might, I drew the bowstring taut. Black mist spread along the taut bowstring, condensing between the bow tips into a swirling, thick, dark arrow that swallowed up light.

"Go to hell!!"

Loosen the string!

The black mist arrow left the bowstring without making a sound, as if it had absorbed all the surrounding sounds, turning into a blurry black afterimage that tore through the petal barrier along its path and pierced the petal giant's body!

The black mist exploded!

Like strong acid splashed on snow, the areas struck instantly withered, carbonized, and disintegrated into ashes in large swaths! The petal giant's entire body shuddered violently, and a small portion of it collapsed. Its faceless "face" turned towards me, and although it had no eyes, I could clearly feel a cold, venomous "gaze" locked onto me.

The scattered petals reassembled as they fluttered about, trying to heal the wound, but at a noticeably slower pace.

"It works! That energy works!" The man in the navy blue windbreaker's eyes lit up. He immediately fired continuously, bombarding the giant with blue light to try and attract its attention. At the same time, he shouted to me, "Don't stop! Attack its core! That silver light on its chest! That's its weak point!"

A spark of hope rekindled. I endured the waves of weakness, as if my very marrow were being drained, and quickly nocked a second arrow. The black mist swirled around me again, but its color seemed slightly lighter. I drew the bow, aimed at the swirling silver light protected by the petals, and released it!

As the arrow was released, the petal giant seemed to have anticipated it; the petals on its chest instantly thickened and spun, condensing into a dense flower shield. The black mist arrow struck the flower shield, corroding its surface, but exhausted its power before penetrating, breaking in two.

I refused to give up, gritting my teeth and continuing to draw the bow. Each time I guided the black mist away from my body, I felt the chill penetrate deeper into my bones, bringing waves of empty palpitations and a weakness that made my vision go black. Each time I guided the black mist, I felt the chill at my fingertips drill into my heart, bringing a hollow weakness, as if something was being sucked away.

However, the arrows were always intercepted or weakened by the swarms of petals coming from other directions, and could not penetrate the last defense.

"This won't do! Its petals are endless!" the man shouted anxiously, dodging the increasingly dense attack of petals. A gash had been cut on his arm, blood staining his dark blue sleeve. "I'll burn through its shield! You get ready, just wait for the moment the core is exposed! Just one moment!"

Before he finished speaking, he pushed the power of his gun to its limit, the entire gun emitting an overloaded hum and a scorching red light. He roared and stopped shooting at the giant's body, instead unleashing an unprecedentedly thick and intense blue-white beam of light that continuously bombarded the shield on the petal giant's chest!

"Zzzzzzz—!!!"

The beam of light collided violently with the petal shield, producing a sickeningly harsh sound. The outermost petals charred, withered, and peeled off at a visible speed. The petal giant emitted a silent tremor, summoning more petals to its chest to replenish its strength, but the rate of replenishment gradually began to lag behind the continuous high-energy burning consumption!

I forced back the growing exhaustion deep within my body and, with trembling hands, nocked the last arrow. I channeled all the remaining, chilling energy I could muster into my fingertips, infusing it into the arrow. The black mist condensing at the arrowhead was so thick it was almost dripping, radiating a deathly stillness that froze the soul.

I stared intently at the shimmering, thinning silver light scorched by the blue-white beam, my eyes bloodshot from fear of blinking. All I could hear was my own thunderous heartbeat and the rush of blood to my temples.

at last!

With an exceptionally piercing explosion, the blue and white beam of light ruthlessly pierced through the last fragile layer of petal barrier, completely exposing the pure, fist-sized wisp of silver light mist to the air!

Now!!

I almost broke the bow, and with my last bit of willpower and strength, I loosened my fingers from the string.

That perfectly condensed, jet-black arrow, like a rift in space-time, was silent yet so fast it surpassed visual persistence. It shot with unparalleled precision into the center of the unprotected silver mist along the brief path opened by the blue and white pillar of light!

There were no earth-shattering explosions.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a two-tone halo, indescribable in its own right, a mixture of pure, holy silver light and deep, deathly black, spread out silently yet violently from the point of impact!

Wherever the halo passed, space distorted slightly. The countless petals, petal blades, and petal walls, along with the pink mist drifting in the air, all vanished into the most basic dust the moment they came into contact with the halo, like pencil marks erased by an eraser, and disappeared into the wind.

The three-meter-tall humanoid petal, along with the intensely flashing silver light on its chest, froze within the halo, then began to disintegrate and vanish inch by inch from its core, leaving no trace.

"Boom..."

The halo swept across the edge of the forest, and from the depths came a muffled sound, like the cracking of a giant tree. The group could vaguely see an extremely ancient and robust peach tree withering and falling to the ground in the distance, stirring up a cloud of dust.

The wind blew back into the peach grove.

The fresh scent of mountain grass and trees carried away the last trace of blood and sweetness. Sunlight filtered through the now sparse peach branches, illuminating the ravaged but finally quiet land. The piercing noises and screams had all vanished, leaving only the heavy, trembling breaths and suppressed sobs of the survivors.

I was completely exhausted and collapsed to the ground, my underwear soaked with sweat. I looked down at my fingers, the fingertips that had once exuded thick black mist were now clean and pale, with only two faint, almost invisible teeth marks remaining, and a weariness and emptiness that came from the depths of my soul.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out blankly, the screen lit up, and the signal bars were now full. Unread messages and missed calls popped up one after another—all the blocked communications had been restored.

A dozen meters away, the man in the navy blue down jacket holstered his overheated and smoking weapon, quickly pulled out a specially made encrypted phone, walked to a relatively quiet corner, and reported in a deep voice: "Command, the unknown anomaly at the site codenamed 'Peach Blossom Spring' has been confirmed cleared. The method of clearance... was unstandard; details need to be reported in person. There have been civilian casualties; requesting aftermath and medical support."

He paused, then added, "In addition, the 'key' has been verified once again, confirming its ability to trigger and neutralize 'non-standard energy'."

After saying that, he put away his phone and strode towards me. The wound on his arm was simply bandaged, and blood was still seeping out. He stopped in front of me and looked at me for a few seconds with a complex expression. His eyes contained scrutiny, assessment, and a very faint, almost imperceptible trace of lingering fear, which finally settled into a complex admiration.

He raised his hand and patted my shoulder firmly, the force not too light, not too heavy: "Su Nianyang, well done. If it weren't for you today, the casualties would probably be far more than this." The corner of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to laugh, but he didn't. Instead, he lowered his voice and said very quickly: "When we get back, you're a smart man, so you can figure out what needs to be said in detail and what needs to be said in a nutshell."

These words were like a fine needle, instantly piercing my relief at surviving the ordeal. I looked into his eyes, so close to mine, and the deep meaning within them made my heart tighten.

He then resumed his official, serious tone, his voice loud enough for Gesang and the others nearby to hear clearly: "However, according to procedure, you still need to come back with us to cooperate in completing a detailed statement and incident report. That's the rule."

I steadied myself, struggled to my feet, and rushed towards Sister Gesang and Sister Laci: "Sisters! How are you?"

The two women supported each other, their clothes stained with mud and blood, their faces pale, with several cuts on their arms and backs from the shards, thankfully none deep. When Sister Laci saw me, her legs went weak and she almost sat down again, grabbing my arm tightly, her voice trembling with tears: "I...I was so scared...Nianyang, what...what was that just now...?"

Sister Gesang remained relatively calm, but her tightly pursed lips and slightly trembling hands betrayed the shock she had suffered. She shook her head at me, indicating that she was alright, but her gaze turned worriedly to the man from the Spirit Investigation Bureau who was approaching.

Other colleagues gradually gathered around, most of them with minor injuries, but the shock far outweighed the physical pain. The colleague with the injured calf was being helped up; his face was deathly pale, yet he still trembled as he repeatedly thanked me.

Just over ten minutes later, the roar of rotors grew louder as they approached. Three military helicopters flew low and hovered over an open area not far away, kicking up clouds of grass clippings and dust. The doors opened, and Field Investigations Bureau field agents, dressed in familiar black uniforms and moving with practiced efficiency, filed out, carrying various instruments and equipment. They quickly took over the scene, conducting a thorough search and treating the wounded with astonishing efficiency.

In the distance, workers were cleaning up the site, blue light scanners sweeping across the scorched earth and the remaining ordinary peach blossoms. The sunlight was bright, as if the pink nightmare that had just devoured lives was merely a collective hallucination.

But I know it's not true.

I watched the dark blue-clad figure directing the cleanup, then glanced at the invisible shackles on my wrists. I nodded, saying nothing more. But my heart was pounding. Last time it was an interrogation, what is this? More tests, or... a kind of "showdown"? And can I use this achievement to win back Chou Chou?

The ordeal at Lulang Peach Grove has temporarily come to an end, but the increasingly tangled and deep-seated thread between me and the Bureau of Spirits Investigation is only just beginning to reveal its complex patterns.

"Okay," I said calmly to the man who had come back, "I'll go with you."