This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

Shen Ye was stunned.

Fang Zijian was stunned as well.

Three million?!

This is a million more than the time Qian Youcai did!

"I don't have that much money."

Shen Ye said.

"Then let's do installment payments. A loan is fine too, nine out of ten times, thirteen back!"

Shane said, "I'll pay one million upfront, and two million more once we find the person."

Shen Ye remained silent for a long time before nodding.

"Okay. I'll go raise the money."

He turned and walked into the rain.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

"Shane".

"Um?"

Why are you helping me? Is it just for the money?

Xia En looked at him and remained silent for two seconds.

"Your sister's situation and the things the evil cult did in the eastern suburbs may have the same origin."

He said, "Helping you find your sister is also helping myself solve the case."

Shen Ye nodded, turned around, and disappeared into the rain.

Fang Zijian leaned closer and whispered:

"Three million...you're too ruthless!"

Xia En glanced at him: "You think it's expensive?"

"Of course it's expensive! Three million!"

"His sister's life isn't worth three million?"

Fang Zijian choked.

Xia En turned around and walked towards Qingheju.

"This person is not simple," he said.

Fang Zijian was taken aback: "What's not simple about it?"

"His eyes."

Shane said, "That silver-white eye wasn't something I was born with."

"What is that?"

"Modified".

Shane said, "The cult experimented on him. The fact that he escaped alive shows that he is not simple."

Fang Zijian felt a chill run down his spine.

"Then...why are you helping him?"

Xia En stopped and turned to look at him.

"Because he said one thing."

"What did you say?"

"They killed my sister."

Xia En said, "A person who dares to turn against the evil cult for his sister is worth helping."

Fang Zijian fell silent.

He watched Xia En's retreating figure.

Suddenly I realized that although this person always talks about money, he has much more to say than money in his heart.

That evening, at Qingheju Restaurant.

Xia En sat on the edge of the bed, holding the bronze plaque left by Shen Ye in his hand, looking at it over and over again.

Cuihua hovered in the corner, curiously examining the eye symbol on the bronze plaque.

Fang Zijian sat in a chair, scrolling through his phone.

Suddenly, he exclaimed "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Xia En asked.

"That Shen Ye..."

Fang Zijian handed over his phone. "I checked his background. I couldn't find anything."

Xia En took the phone and glanced at it.

Entering "Shen Ye" into a search engine yields a variety of results, but none of them match the young man.

"He's like someone who doesn't exist," Fang Zijian said.

Xia En returned the phone to him.

"The evil cult should never have existed in the first place."

Fang Zijian thought about it and agreed.

"Then how are you going to find him? He said he was going to raise money, but he didn't even leave any contact information."

"He will come looking for me."

Shane placed the bronze medal on the table. "He needs me more than I need him."

Fang Zijian nodded and said nothing more.

Late at night.

Xia En lay on the bed with her eyes closed, but she wasn't asleep.

He was thinking about something.

The matter of Su Wanqing, the matter of Shen Ye, the matter of the Evil Spirit Cult, and that huge evil creature that crawled out from underground.

There must be some connection between these things.

But he hasn't found the line yet.

He turned over, ready to go to sleep.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked it up and saw it was a WeChat message.

The sender is an unmarked number.

The message consisted of only one sentence:

"Fahai cannot save those with feelings, and I have no love either. Young Taoist priest, you are so young, yet you know so much."

Xia En stared at the message, narrowing his eyes.

He replied with:

"Who are you?"

The other party replied instantly:

"you guess."

Xia En did not return.

He placed his phone next to his pillow and closed his eyes.

But that message lingered in his mind for a long time.

"Fahai cannot save me from love, and I have no love either."

What does this sentence mean?

Liu Ruyan arrived early the next morning.

Her eyes were still red, but she was in much better spirits than yesterday.

"Wanqing is much better."

She said, "I cried, took a nap, and although I was still very sad when I woke up, at least I stopped telling myself that Lin Yue was still alive."

Xia En nodded.

"Thank you." Liu Ruyan looked at him earnestly. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Shane said. "Remember to pay."

Liu Ruyan was both amused and exasperated.

"You are truly heartless."

She said, "They always ask for money after I help them; they have no humanity at all."

Xia En looked at her and remained silent for two seconds.

"Fahai cannot save me from love," he said. "And I have no love either."

Liu Ruyan was stunned.

This sentence... why does it sound so familiar?

"Where did you hear that from?" she asked.

Xia En didn't answer, but simply handed her the phone.

On the screen is the message from last night.

After reading it, Liu Ruyan's expression changed.

"Is this person... talking about you?"

"I don't know." Xia En took back her phone. "But he's keeping an eye on me."

A sense of unease welled up in Liu Ruyan's heart.

"Could they be members of an evil cult?"

"Possibly."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Xia En thought for a moment and said, "Wait for him to come to me."

Liu Ruyan opened her mouth, as if to say something, but seeing Xia En's calm expression, she swallowed her words.

She knew that this person had his own rhythm.

All she needs to do is trust him.

In the afternoon, Shane went to the old town.

He went alone, without Fang Zijian or Cuihua.

He walked slowly along that familiar street, past the bar, past the old buildings, past the well.

Finally, he stopped in front of an abandoned residential building.

This is the building where Su Wanqing used to live.

But Xia En didn't come to see Su Wanqing.

He came to see someone else.

Someone observing him from the shadows.

He stood downstairs, looking up at the window on the third floor.

The curtains were drawn, so I couldn't see anything.

But he knew someone was inside.

"Come out," he said.

silence.

"Do I really have to go upstairs and ask you?"

Still nothing.

Xia En sighed and went into the building.

The hallway was dark, and the motion-activated lights had been broken for a long time.

He climbed the creaking stairs, step by step.

When I got to the third floor, the door was open.

He went inside.

In the living room, a person was sitting on the sofa.

It's Shen Ye.

He changed into dry clothes, but still wore the same black hoodie, and the hood was still pulled down low.

He was holding a phone in his hand, the screen lit up.

Xia En walked over and sat down opposite him.

"Did you send that message last night?"

Shen Ye nodded.

Why?

Shen Ye was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I want to test you."

"What are you testing me for?"

"Let's see if you're really as amazing as the legends say."

Xia En raised an eyebrow: "And the result?"

Shen Ye raised his head, revealing his silver-white eye.

"You're even more amazing than the legends say."

He paused, then said, "But it's also more ruthless."

Xia En didn't say anything.

Shen Ye continued:

"I saw what happened to Su Wanqing. You helped her, but you showed no emotion whatsoever. You were like a... machine. Precise, efficient, but devoid of warmth."

Xia En looked at him and remained silent for a long time.

Then he laughed.

"You think I have no feelings?"

Shen Ye didn't speak, but his expression said it all.

Xia En stood up, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains.

Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the dim room.

"You're wrong," he said. "It's not that I don't have feelings, it's that I can't have them."

Shen Ye frowned: "Why?"

Xia En turned around and looked at him.

"Because of feelings, there will be hesitation. With hesitation, mistakes will be made. And with mistakes, people will die."

His voice was calm, but every word struck Shen Ye's heart like a hammer blow.

"When I help Su Wanqing, if I show sympathy, she will become more dependent on me. If I show anger, she will become more afraid. If I show any emotion, it will affect her judgment."

He paused.

"So I can't show anything. I can only do what I should do, let her see the truth, and then let her get through it on her own."

Shen Ye fell silent.

Looking at Xia En, he suddenly realized that this person was more complex than he had imagined.

"What... have you been through?" he asked.

Xia En did not answer.

He simply turned and walked towards the door.

"Let's go."

He said, "Go find your sister."

Shen Ye was taken aback: "You're willing to help me?"

"If you take the money, you have to do the job."

Without turning his head, Xia En said, "Three million, not a penny less."

Shen Ye stood up, looked at his back, and suddenly smiled.

"You are a truly heartless person," he said.

Xia En stopped and turned to look at him.

"Fahai cannot save those with deep feelings."

He said, "I have no love either."

Then he laughed.

"But the most ruthless people are the cleanest in their actions."

Looking at his smile, Shen Ye suddenly understood something.

This person is not heartless.

He simply hid all his emotions beneath that carefree exterior.

He hid it so well that even he himself forgot about it.

"Let's go."

Shane said, "Don't keep your sister waiting too long."

The two walked out of the building and into the sunlight.

In the distance, a figure as thin as a stick was squatting behind a utility pole, taking pictures with his phone.

Fang Zijian.

Xia En looked at him and sighed.

"Why are you here again?"

Fang Zijian stood up with an embarrassed smile: "I was just worried about you..."

"What are you worried about me for?"

"I'm worried you'll be scammed." Fang Zijian looked at Shen Ye with a wary gaze.

Shen Ye glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Xia En shook his head and strode forward.

"Let's go, everyone. Don't block the way."

Fang Zijian and Shen Ye exchanged a glance, then followed at the same time.

The shadows of the three people were stretched long in the sunlight.

In the distance, on the eastern horizon, dark clouds gathered again.

But at this moment, the sun is shining brightly.

Behind her, in the courtyard of Qingheju, Cuihua sat by the well, looking at the sky.

She suddenly remembered something Xia En had said.

"Fahai cannot save me from love, and I have no love either."

She lowered her head and looked at her reflection in the well water.

On that deathly pale face were two eye sockets that looked like black holes.

But she knew that something was hidden beneath those two black holes.

Some things that even she herself couldn't explain.

She suddenly smiled.

"Young Taoist priest," she muttered to herself, "you know quite a lot at such a young age."

The wind blew through the yard, and the well water rippled.

The reflection shattered, then gathered again.

Just like all the partings and reunions in this world.

They gathered and dispersed, dispersed and gathered again.