Ordinary Person (Part Two)

Ye Huan stood in front of the elevator. A dark-green flame rose from his hand, died out, rose again, and died out again. There was something truly unnerving about that fire. It should be formidable against enemies. Seven days— He could keep it for seven days. During those seven days, the "Great Being" would not come after him. Seven "Daily Settlements." Survive seven days first, then sacrifice the flame. He would worry about the rest later. Ding. The elevator arrived. When he got downstairs, he saw the real estate agent smoking at the entrance to the residential compound. "Buddy, you were just trying to scare me earlier, right?" The agent spoke in an unfriendly tone. Ye Huan shook his head and lowered his voice. "It's real. I saw it." The agent's face went pale again. "Really? What did it look like?" he asked. "Red dress, long hair, hops on both feet when it walks, arms stretched straight out in front, and a tongue three meters long," Ye Huan said. The agent swayed a few times. After a long pause, he suddenly spoke: "There's another place. Do you want to go see it?" Now it was Ye Huan's turn to look at him in a new light. "You're still thinking about business at a time like this?" Ye Huan asked. "If I don't do business, I won't have money to eat. When I starve to death, I'll become a ghost too. So ghosts aren't scary. What's scary is having no money," the agent said. "Very reasonable. Let's go," Ye Huan said. This was a man of real professional dedication. Ye Huan even secretly decided that as long as the next place was decent, he would sign the contract through him. Twenty minutes later. The ninth floor of an apartment building. Unit 901 on the left. The young agent unlocked the door and said casually: "This is the best place I have on my hands, Teacher Ye. Take a look." Ye Huan walked in and found the apartment bright and airy, with good natural light and a decent layout. From the balcony, he could see the park lake across the street and even the Underground River Bridge in the distance. This was the place. Satisfied, Ye Huan said: "Why is the owner renting it out?" "Their kid got into a university in a big city, then found work there and brought the elderly parents over to live with them," the young agent said. Ye Huan nodded. This house would bring its owner good fortune. The surroundings were nice, and the Bureau of Investigation wasn't far—about a five-minute walk. "This complex is no ordinary place. Great environment, high-end amenities, and the residents are all people of status," the young agent added. "How do you know the residents have status?" Ye Huan asked. "The tenant across the hall only moved in three months ago too. When I handled it, I could tell right away that she was of very high caliber." "How high?" "A female martial artist from out of town, I think. Here, I'll show you her registration photo." "You can show me that?" "Just don't tell anyone." Ye Huan leaned in to look. The woman looked twenty-three or twenty-four, with finely drawn features, stylish and pretty. It was Xia Li. Damn it. To end up living right across from the Office Director?! Absolutely not. If Xia Li had even a single thought that he was plotting something, it could affect his work and life at the Bureau. "How much is this place per month?" Ye Huan asked. "210 credits," the young agent said. "Too expensive," Ye Huan said decisively. He had to say that. "Teacher Ye, what's your rough budget? We can still negotiate this price," the young agent said. "I'm just an elementary school teacher. A high-end place like this doesn't really suit me. Find me a place for no more than 180 credits, how about it?" Ye Huan said. "180 credits... are you sure?" the agent asked. 180 credits was not a small sum. The original owner of this body had worked as a security guard in the mining district and made only 200 credits a month. And he hadn't been paid for six months. "For 180 credits, I want two apartments. Preferably in the same building, on the same floor, directly across the hall from each other," Ye Huan continued. "You want two?" the agent said in surprise. "That's right. That's my bottom line. Go find them for me. If they're suitable, I'll sign for sure. This one's out," Ye Huan said. "For real?" "The sooner the better. I'm not lying to you, buddy." The agent studied him for a while, finally believing he was serious, and said: "Since you're being so straightforward, I actually do have two places that fit what you're asking for." "Let's go!" The two quickly left. The agent led him two streets over to a new residential complex. "Chaoyang Residential Complex is quite good too. It has an excellent reputation, and the environment here is great." "Let's hope so. Let's go up and take a look." The two went upstairs and took a look. On the seventh floor, there was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. The unit across the hall was also vacant. Two elevators, two units per floor. Ye Huan was very satisfied. Soon he went with the young agent to the real estate agency and signed the contract. One month's deposit and three months' rent, paid on the spot. The keys to both apartments were put in envelopes and handed directly to Ye Huan. His housing was finally settled! The instant he signed the contract, a message quietly surfaced in Ye Huan's mind: "You quickly and decisively avoided private contact with Xia Li." "This was highly effective for preserving your life." "Evaluation +1." "Current overall evaluation: +3." Ye Huan froze. No way. What was Xia Li's background exactly, that even "private contact" outside work carried a fatal risk? Hiss... It was hard to make sense of. But with that, today's overall evaluation score had already caught up with yesterday's! Ye Huan was inwardly wary, but his expression didn't change. He gathered his documents and left the agency. The apartments were rented, but furniture and other necessities still needed to be bought. He also needed to hire people to go to the mining district family compound and help Su Haisheng and the others move. He hadn't told them about it yet. Later, he would make the situation sound more serious and scare them a bit, just to get them to move over first. The family compound was not far from the mine. Two hundred people had just died in the mine, and the investigation was still ongoing. The sooner they left, the better! Mulling this over, Ye Huan quickly crossed the street and took a shortcut through a small alley, wanting to get back to the Bureau quickly. He suddenly stopped. Ahead in the alley, two young men quietly appeared. Their expressions were part mocking, part strange, and they both stared at Ye Huan. As if they were looking at a monster. "Who are you? Why are you blocking my way?" Ye Huan asked. The two exchanged a glance. Suddenly a girl's voice came from behind them: "Looks like the hospital records were right. He really has lost his memory." As the words fell, the two young men stepped aside. A long-haired girl in a white dress walked out, watching Ye Huan from a distance, and asked curiously: "Brother Ye Huan, you really don't recognize us anymore?" "No. I've lost my memory. Who exactly are you?" Ye Huan asked. This girl's voice was exactly the one from the phone call this morning. "We grew up together, you know. You haven't forgotten anything else, but you forgot me. Honestly, that makes me sad." The girl sighed a little sadly. Her fingers moved slightly. Wind blew from behind her, sweeping through the whole alley. Ye Huan suddenly remembered many things. He really did know this girl. They had grown up together in the mining district, getting into all sorts of mischief together every day, playing together, going to school together—one could truly call them childhood sweethearts. Yet after losing his memory, he had somehow forgotten a girl like this. Ye Huan looked at her again. She had straight bangs, a white dress, long hair, fair skin, and a slender figure. She looked like the sweet, well-behaved girl next door. No—she was the girl next door. Her name was—An Qi? "Losing my memory has been a real headache," Ye Huan said with a shake of his head and a sigh. "But never mind that for now. Give me that phone card." "Phone card?" the girl said, puzzled. "You called me once today. You said one sentence and hung up. That number was registered under my name," Ye Huan said. The girl across from him fell silent. Ye Huan suddenly looked above their heads. Lines of small text appeared above all their heads: "Black Tide Priest." "Black Tide Priest." "Cardinal of the Black Tide Cult." They were all members of the Black Tide Cult. The girl's status was the highest—she was the cult's Cardinal! The original owner of this body had actually been mixed up with these people and even used his own identity to get them a phone card. On one hand, that was extremely dangerous; on the other, it proved what their relationship had been. Friends who had grown up together! Ye Huan felt a stir of emotion and looked up above his own head. Floating above him was "Bureau of Investigation Rank-One Investigator." Thank goodness. The original owner of this body hadn't foolishly joined the cult. There was still hope for him. "I can give you the phone card, but Brother Ye Huan, you have to tell me—have you gotten your hands on anything strange?" the girl asked. "Why do you ask?" Ye Huan said with a smile. "We grew up together. We've never had secrets from each other. I just feel like you've turned into a different person," the girl said with apparent concern. "Losing my memory has affected me a lot," Ye Huan said. A trace of deep darkness surfaced in the white-dressed girl's eyes, then quickly disappeared. He wouldn't tell her. That was fine. What kind of trouble could an ordinary person stir up, anyway? "Never mind. Come with me, Brother Ye Huan. I'll show you something fun," the girl in white invited with a smile. Ye Huan was just about to shake his head when his phone buzzed. He took it out and saw that the account he had just transferred money to had sent back 0.1 credit. What did that mean? A message popped up on the screen: "The Cardinal is going to kill you."