Volume 2, Chapter 63 (Chapter 101): Fish

Three in the afternoon.

Du Sixian had finally received a text from An Qing after waiting for the past two days, and she hurried over to the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Administration.

However, before she could enter the gate leading into the Night Division, a truck blocked her way.

It was a truck that delivers parcels. She could recognise that it was the country’s most popular delivery service, judging by the labels on the parcels and on the truck.

She silently waited as she watched several men in black lift several silver boxes out of the truck.

An Qing had told her before that these men are the Special Operations Team of the Night Division, and most of them are ordinary people who have undergone special training.

Some of them had some, albeit weak, psychic abilities developed from the training.

They hauled three silver lockboxes from the truck; each box was carried in groups of three, and they hauled these boxes straight towards the Night Division.

Sixian studied the scene before her wordlessly before squeezing through the gaps between the truck and the gate.

She subconsciously lowered her head when passing by the men so as not to draw attention to herself, but one of the men patted her shoulder firmly and smiled as he let out a firm, “Congratulations!”

She froze for a moment as she stared into the hardened yet genuinely joyful face of the man who congratulated her. She thanked him awkwardly and hurried inside.

The thought of gaining otherworldly powers seemed to make her footfalls lighter.

Before this, her only hobbies were making videos and playing RPG games. Now, with the opportunity presented to her, perhaps she too can become the characters that she loved to play.

The endless hallway that stretched into a maw of darkness seemed to beckon Du Sixian closer, threatening to swallow her whole. She hurriedly found the door to An Qing’s office and knocked lightly.

“Come in!”

Upon hearing her cheerful voice, she pushed the door open and couldn’t help but be taken aback.

The bright afternoon sun shone through the open windows of the office, and the slight fragrance of the flowers outside the courtyard sneaked in through the windows. On the desk in front of An Qing, there were three lockboxes with faint owl engravings on them.

“These are the lockboxes from just now.” Sixian parted her lips slightly in surprise.

An Qing smiled and raised her finger to point to the boxes, saying, “These are the raw materials for the runes. Pick one.”

Pick one? she thought. She carefully looked at the seemingly normal lockboxes, and all of them looked the same. She could only look at An Qing for help.

“Ah,” she nodded. “It seems that none of these lockboxes are suitable for you.”

“Why?”

“Some potential psychics will become attuned or have an affinity for certain urban legends; although you can’t see the cores in the box, your gut would tell you to pick the box you desire. Think of it as fate.”

“Oh…” Sixian muttered as she glanced at the boxes, feeling disappointed. “Does that mean that none of these boxes is for me?”

“Of course not.” An Qing smiled. “To be honest, most potential psychics won’t be able to detect anything. It is just procedure.”

“There is nothing to worry about, Sixian,” An Qing comforted. “Do you know how urban legends have hundreds of variations to their stories?” Their powers can be derived from this as well. You can apply this principle, and the rune in your soul will adapt accordingly.”

“Oh, okay…” Sixian nodded, half-understanding whatever her mentor was saying.

Tap, tap.

An Qing tapped on the lockboxes on the table with her nails.

“This is a manticore,” she muttered, pausing for a few seconds. “You’ll probably obtain the ability to fly, and later on, you’ll be able to manipulate poison.”

“This is a kappa, and you’ll be able to manipulate water.”

“And this one is the Henggong Fish.”

“What does it do?” Sixian asked.

“It’s delicious.”

“What?”

“Kidding. Nobody in our records has used this rune before. If you pick it, you’ll be the first.”

Wait, why does it sound like she wants me to be her guinea pig…? Sixian thought.

In the end, Du Sixian chose the fish as her rune of choice. She would much rather venture into the unknown than suffer the side effects of becoming hairy by picking the manticore or becoming bald by picking the kappa.

She sighed. She thought that the options presented to her were quite literally shit, shit, and poop.

Once she picked her rune, An Qing showed a weird smile that made her uneasy, and she said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Strip.”

“W-what?”

An Qing wordlessly rubbed her fingers together as she smiled, “Before you move on, I should check to see if you are developing well.”

Only new psychics will fall for a trick like this, and unfortunately for Sixian, she is, in fact, a new potential psychic.

Her face flushed as she took off her coat.

The bright sunlight beamed through the open window endlessly, and through the window, you could see the now shirtless, slender figure of a girl.

Her back was smooth and flawless, and the slender straps across her fair skin were tied together with a light pink bow.

Her miniskirt came off and fell to the ground, and her slender calves, wrapped in silk and black stockings, were removed, revealing snow-white legs.

Just as she was reaching to untie the straps that concealed her breasts, An Qing pulled the curtains to the windows shut.

An Qing is not a demon, or a succubus, as some might call her. At best, she is cold-blooded and a heartless zombie.

She didn’t do anything strange to Du Sixian. It would be inappropriate to do so as the Night Division’s resident surgeon, and she did a full-body checkup on Sixian.

Even though it was not at all necessary.

An Qing instructed her to lie down on the bed, and in her office, arranged like an infirmary, a strong aroma of herbs filled the room.

She stood in front of a large crucible and paid close attention to the brewing concoction within. The brown-black sludge boiled with putrid bubbles, revealing a hint of gold from time to time.

Like gold surfacing in a dirty pond.

When the gold became more prominent, she grabbed the red bones of a fish on the table decisively and crushed them all with the palm of her hand.

The red core of the Henggong Fish was crushed into a powder as it fell into the crucible, and the liquid rose rapidly as it steamed violently, outlining a complex set of runic inscriptions in the air.

After a burst of dazzling light, the mixture shrank violently, and all that was left was a translucent, palm-sized fish that swam about in the air.

Each scale on its body was like gold, and it breathed new life without flaw. Light reflected off its magnificent body like ripples on the surface of a body of water.

Under An Qing’s psychic guidance, the fish swam straight between Sixian’s eyebrows and plunged into her.

The majestic vitality of the fish poured into her body like a tsunami. She opened her mouth to scream from the sudden intrusion, but she felt the rapid numbness in her consciousness as she stared forward lifelessly.

Like a fish.

A fish that swims in water with no higher purpose, forgetting all troubles as it swims and swims and swims…

The girl couldn’t remember her name; all she knew was to swim and forget all her troubles.

An Qing frowned as she watched the now-unconscious Du Sixian. Her eyebrows furrowed as the thermometer indicated a high fever, and her condition was gradually worsening.

“Why on earth did her body reject the rune?” An Qing muttered as she wiped the sweat away from Sixian’s forehead. “That can’t be right; the probability of rejection is very low according to my records, but…”

Her eyes fell on the golden scales that shimmered intermittently on Sixian’s forehead, and a look of regret flashed in her eyes.

“I hope she’s able to adapt to the rune’s power and wakes up, but if she becomes an urban legend…”

She let out a long sigh in the dark office.

Lu Yibei dreamt of Du Sixian that night.

It was strange. In the dreamscape, she could see Sixian blowing bubbles like a bubble gun from her mouth, and she swam about in the air mindlessly, as if her body were piloted by a goldfish.

She cursed loudly, breaking the dreamscape, and she found herself back in the real world. Sitting up on her head, she scratched her head.

‘What the hell is Sixian doing?’

Meanwhile, in An Qing’s office in the Night Division, Du Sixian’s eyes fluttered open in the dim lighting of the office.