Inside the house.
Aunt lifted her head and stared at the clock on the wall, lost in thought.
The table in front of her was covered with a full spread of dishes, now cold, just as it had been when Lin Qiye left.
She didn't know how much time had passed when Yang Jin reached out and placed a piece of meat into Aunt's bowl.
"Mom, let's eat."
"Ai..." Aunt shook her head, sighed deeply, and said, "What's going on with your brother? He left in the middle of the meal, and now he still hasn't come back. What if something happened?"
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. Maybe some of his classmates saw that his eyes are better and dragged him out for a meal," Yang Jin said gently.
Upon hearing this, Aunt's expression softened a little, but soon her worry returned.
"But he didn't bring an umbrella..."
"Mom..." Yang Jin stood up and pointed out the window, speaking calmly, "The rain has already stopped."
...
Indeed, the rain had stopped.
The hazy moonlight broke through the clouds, spilling across the silent night. The world was deathly still.
In the nearby open space, the broken sign had been taken away, and the bloodstained ground was completely cleaned, leaving only deep, cruel gashes in the earth, silently telling the story of last night's events.
Perhaps tomorrow morning, someone would notice these mysterious cracks and make countless guesses, but they would never know the truth.
A few drops of water slid off the eaves and fell into a muddy puddle, causing ripples to spread out.
Plop—!
A foot stepped into the puddle, splashing water into the air.
In the dark, scarred ground, a small black mutt walked leisurely toward the center.
A small cloth pouch hung around its neck.
It crossed the deep cracks in the ground, stopping beside a clean patch of earth.
Just a few minutes ago, a man's body had been lying here.
The dog lowered its head, and a faint glow appeared in its dark eyes.
Suddenly, it opened its mouth.
It spoke in human language, its voice deep and grand!
"Soul, return..."
...
Cangnan City, Peace Bridge.
Peace Bridge was a large bridge on the outskirts of Cangnan City, spanning the entire Jiangnan Grand Canal, which ran through the city. Countless pedestrians and vehicles passed over it daily, making it one of the city's landmarks.
At the head of the bridge, on either side, were rows of small shops. Among them, one shop stood out with an old, faded red sign.
— Peace Affairs Office.
Like the other shops along the bridge, it wasn't big—just a little over two hundred square meters—slightly larger than the typical Lanzhou noodle shop near a school.
It wasn't particularly eye-catching, not just because of the common name, but also because the surrounding shops were far more noticeable.
On the left was a wedding company, lavishly decorated in red and purple, called "Peace Wedding."
On the right was a funeral service company, draped in white satin and decorated with wreaths, named "Peace Funeral Services."
To the left, wedding celebrations were joyous, full of smiles; to the right, the atmosphere was somber, like mourning for the dead.
In between these two extremes, the Peace Affairs Office seemed almost invisible, like a transparent shop that hardly attracted attention.
If it had any distinguishing feature, it was its name—while most offices specialized in something, like law firms or detective agencies, this one had no prefix, just the word "Peace," making it hard to figure out what it actually did.
At this moment, underground at the Peace Affairs Office.
In the spacious, brightly lit hall, a young man sat silently on a sofa, staring at the tiles beneath his feet.
There were six other people sitting in the room.
"So, you're the one Old Zhao was looking for, the Archangel's agent?" Wu Xiangnan asked from the other sofa, looking at Lin Qiye.
"Yes," Lin Qiye replied.
After a brief silence, Wu Xiangnan slowly spoke again:
"My name is Wu Xiangnan, and I'm the vice-captain of the Cangnan City Nightwatcher 136th Squad. The man leaning against the pillar, wearing black, is our captain, Chen Muye."
Lin Qiye followed Wu Xiangnan's gaze. By a nearby pillar, a man with his hands in his pockets was quietly watching him.
Noticing Lin Qiye's attention, Chen Muye gave a slight nod.
Wu Xiangnan then turned his head to look at the remaining four people. "Stop standing around, introduce yourselves."
A woman sitting alone on a single sofa, hugging her knees with wet hair, looked up slightly, revealing her reddened eyes.
"Nightwatcher 136th Squad, frontline combatant, Hong Ying."
Lin Qiye recognized her. He was here because Hong Ying had brought him.
After she spoke, a man standing beside her, holding a towel, smiled and said:
"Nightwatcher 136th Squad, frontline combatant, Wen Qimo."
Then, a young girl, who was hugging herself and still crying, looked up faintly and softly said, "Nightwatcher 136th Squad, combat support and part-time military doctor, Si Xiaonan."
"Nightwatcher 136th Squad, long-range fire support, Leng Xuan," said the man sitting beside them, holding a sniper rifle, his voice cold.
Once everyone had introduced themselves, Wu Xiangnan spoke again:
"Lin Qiye, right? About Zhao Kongcheng's death... do you have anything to add?"
"I've already said everything clearly," Lin Qiye replied calmly. "Zhao Kongcheng opened the Zone of No Fear, and fought the Ghost Face King alone to the death, ultimately perishing with it."
"Were you at the scene when they fought?"
"I was."
"How did you enter the Zone of No Fear?"
"I just stared at it, and it opened."
Wu Xiangnan opened his mouth, a frown forming. "Can you describe their battle in more detail? How did Zhao Kongcheng kill the Ghost Face King?"
"He swung a blade, cutting a huge black crescent, severing the Ghost Face King's head," Lin Qiye said.
"A black crescent..." Wu Xiangnan furrowed his brow in thought.
At this moment, Chen Muye, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "That was Silent Life Flashing Moon. Old Zhao used a ghostly summon to activate his Forbidden Ruin."
Wen Qimo, surprised, spoke up: "Sequence 083's Silent Life Flashing Moon? That's a high-risk Forbidden Ruin!"
"I didn't expect it... Zhao Uncle really got it right. I always thought he was just being narcissistic..." Si Xiaonan muttered softly.
"No, he really was narcissistic." Chen Muye's lips curled up slightly, his eyes flickering with reminiscence. "I think when he saw his own Forbidden Ruin, even he couldn't believe it."
"If we'd been there, he definitely would've gone on and on about how his Forbidden Ruin was the coolest of all..." Hong Ying seemed to recall something amusing, a slight smile crossing her lips, but it quickly faded as her eyes dimmed again.
Wu Xiangnan looked into Lin Qiye's eyes and asked again, "One more thing. From the Ghost Face King's body, its fatal wound appears to be a series of deep cuts, along with inexplicable burn marks... but Silent Life Flashing Moon doesn't have such properties.
How do you explain that?"
Lin Qiye furrowed his brows, meeting Wu Xiangnan's gaze, and spoke slowly, enunciating each word:
"I've already said it clearly: Zhao Kongcheng faced the Ghost Face King alone, fought to the death... and finally, killed the Ghost Face King."