Chapter 59 The Human World (4) If we don't act now, when will we...?
It had been quite some time since Cerberus and Fenrir had unnecessarily transformed into fluffy balls and started arguing with each other.
At first, the two dogs would fight physically. After Xia Ying gave them a stern warning, this confrontation turned into a more subtle and difficult-to-handle way: if Xia Ying reached out to touch one of them, the other would definitely rub against her palm and bark unhappily. If she picked one up, the other would anxiously paw at her arm and try to crawl into her arms.
They're really clingy, but who can do anything about a puppy?
At the other end of the living room, the cell phone belonging to the human world emitted a notification sound indicating it was fully charged. With great willpower, Xia Ying pushed the dogs away, went over, unplugged the charger, and began to check what social information she had missed during her trip to Cocytus.
In other words, time flows much faster in the Demon Realm than in the Human World. Xia Ying roughly calculated that the speed difference is about five to seven times.
From this perspective, the Lord of Demons' offer of a five-day vacation is actually quite generous!
Xia Ying temporarily put aside this discovery and began to check the messages and comments.
The first thing that popped up was Xu Lu's barrage of messages across all platforms and a long list of missed calls. Xia Ying sighed with worry, then began to feel relieved that the other party hadn't called the police.
However, because Xia Ying intentionally maintained simple social relationships, only one person besides her cousin sent her a noteworthy message.
That was the Professor Shen, Ms. Shen Jingting, whom Xu Lu had mentioned and whom Xia Ying had met at the university she attended.
[Shen Jingting: Xia Ying, I've recently compiled some of your mother's manuscript materials. If you have some free time, please contact me.]
Professor Shen, besides teaching at the university where Xia Ying studied, was also a colleague of Xia Kaiyun at the same research institute. Furthermore, Xia Ying knew that he had been secretly supporting her.
Therefore, although Ms. Shen Jingting keeps a low profile and does not boast about the help she has provided to Xia Ying outside of her sphere of influence, she can still be said to be the person with the closest relationship to Xia Ying besides her aunt's family.
Professor Shen's message arrived almost immediately after Xia Ying went to Cocytus, and for Xia Ying, who had already caught a glimpse of the Demon Realm, this message was even more significant.
She quickly replied: [Professor Shen, thank you very much. I was originally going to ask if you had any of my mother's research records.]
Before he could even finish typing a sentence, the other side had already quickly sent back a message.
[Shen Jingting: If it's convenient, how about we meet tomorrow?]
This is exactly what Xia Ying wanted!
She immediately agreed, and the conversation ended after confirming the specific time and place of the meeting with Professor Shen.
The meeting had just been finalized when another new message was sent to Xia Ying's phone.
This time, the text message came from an unknown number.
Xia Ying clicked on the details with a puzzled look.
[Stranger: Hello Xia Ying, this is Liu Ze from the Special Incident Response Department. I'm so glad you're back safely! Would it be convenient for us to meet?]
Special Accident Response Department... Yanagisawa...
She fell into deep thought.
This wasn't because Xia Ying had forgotten the other party and their identity. On the contrary, she had a deep impression of the "Special Accident Handling Department," an official organization, and was quite wary of it.
They clearly possess some means of tracking abyssal creatures and have mastered the use of some magical tools and spells. Besides that, how much do they really know about the demon realm?
Wait a minute, wasn't the [Abyssal Dangerous Creatures Encyclopedia] given to us by them?!
Xia Ying suddenly realized.
Today, she is increasingly aware of how powerful and complex the [Abyss Dangerous Creatures Compendium] is, and that Liu Ze entrusted it to her not merely to make it function as a locator.
So, what exactly do they hope to gain from themselves?
With this in mind, Xia Ying made up her mind.
"Let's meet."
She saved the other person's contact information and then typed: [Okay, when and where to meet?]
As if afraid she might change her mind, Liu Ze immediately sent her an address: [Can we meet now?]
Seeing it now seems a bit troublesome, but...
After replying to the message, Xia Ying turned off the screen, turned around, and said cautiously, "You two, I'm going out to meet someone now..."
Cerberus narrowed his eyes, reverting to human form as he pressed, "Where are you going? Who are you going to see?"
"I need to see the Special Incident Response Department, the organization that took me away before."
No, those humans were never meant to be friendly!
Just as Cerberus was about to object, Xia Ying, as if anticipating his thoughts, said, "Therefore, I hope you can come with me and protect me from the shadows."
The demon dog reluctantly accepted the arrangement. Xia Ying then looked at the clear-eyed sea salt vanilla ice cream scoop, remembering that she hadn't explained these unfamiliar terms to it yet. So, she naturally reached out to hug the puppy and said, "I'm going to see someone who knows about the existence of the Demon Realm, but I'm not sure if they'll be hostile to me, so..."
Fenrir transformed back into human form, pulled Xia Ying into his arms, and earnestly promised, "I will protect you."
Cerberus quickly separated the two, declaring defiantly, "I don't need you; I'm enough on my own."
“While we don’t mean to belittle Cerberus, we can’t interfere with what Fenrir wants to do.” Xia Ying turned to Frostwolf and winked. “This is Fenrir’s first time in the human world. Rather than staying at home, I think he’d rather go out and see the world, right?”
Fenrir nodded.
Cerberus thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed.
Xia Ying, who had successfully carried the water, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, gave a few more instructions, and then set off for the agreed location.
#####
Liu Ze, a second-level operations investigator from the Special Incident Response Department, was wearing sunglasses similar to those worn by the main characters in spy action movies. He was sitting by the window in a coffee shop, comfortably eating a large slice of chestnut cake.
Of course, while enjoying afternoon tea, he did not forget to observe the changes in the position of the glowing points on the magic radar, and at the same time, he did not forget to report the progress to his superiors in real time via his mobile phone.
This should be considered work attendance, right? Why is he so nervous, like he's going on a date?!
Liu Ze couldn't figure out the reason for it for a while, and just kept fixing his hair.
A short while later, the girl walked into the coffee shop, looking radiant and quite different from the fragile and weak impression she had left on Liu Ze last time.
But thinking about it carefully, a girl who can bravely face the Lord of Demons and sign a contract with him is probably not that weak.
Xia Ying glanced around briefly and quickly found Liu Ze's seat, then walked straight to him and sat down opposite him.
"It's been a long time, Mr. Yanagisawa."
Liu Ze smiled knowingly: "For me, it's only been two weeks..."
Xia Ying suddenly touched the corner of her mouth with her fingertip: "Mr. Liu Ze, you have chestnut cream on your lips."
"No way? I checked it clearly!" Liu Ze was shocked and almost jumped up to find a tissue to wipe his mouth, but after wiping it haphazardly several times, there was still no trace on the tissue.
Liu Ze looked up at her in confusion. Xia Ying rested her chin on her hand and smiled, as if she found it amusing: "Sorry, I was just kidding."
Liu Ze thought: Well, now the whole pretentious act has completely fallen apart.
He breathed a sigh of relief and decided to relax a bit more: "Don't be hostile towards me, Miss Xia Ying. I'm not here to arrest you, just to check on your safety in person. Fortunately, you seem to be in good condition."
"Thank you for your concern. The Demon Realm is indeed very different from here, but I can manage for now," Xia Ying said calmly. "I came here today because I have a question I'd like to ask you about... the [Abyssal Dangerous Creatures Compendium]."
"I can roughly guess what you're going to ask, but I'm sorry, my knowledge is limited."
Liu Ze wanted to scratch his head, but then he remembered his carefully styled hair and reluctantly put his hand down.
Standing by a flowerbed in the park across the street from the coffee shop, Cerberus, who was listening to their conversation through a phone call Xia Ying had secretly made, was furious: "I told you these people aren't trustworthy!"
Liu Ze continued, "However, the magic field around you seems to be quite special. Most surveillance and listening spells are ineffective. In reality, we can only determine your location."
Xia Ying pretended not to hear what Ke Er said in the earpiece and continued calmly, "Your purpose is just to spy on me?"
“Of course not. The encyclopedia is an extremely precious and powerful magical artifact. There must be another reason why I gave it to you,” Liu Ze replied. “However, I can only explain this to you in detail when my superior meets you.”
"Oh?" Xia Ying raised her voice with interest. "Is your boss planning to see me? When?"
"You'll find out then." Liu Ze simply smiled. "Besides this matter, is there anything else you want to ask me?"
Xia Ying thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Liu Ze, you have the blood of an abyss creature, right?"
Liu Ze was slightly taken aback, not expecting her to bring this up, but still nodded: "Yes, my ancestors once mated with an abyssal creature called Zhulong, but by my generation, the bloodline is already very diluted."
He took off his sunglasses, his pupils elongated, his eyes became lighter in color, and fine scales appeared at the corners of his eyes, revealing a few characteristics of the bloodline of creatures from the abyss.
Outside the café, Cerberus, who overheard this, fell silent in astonishment.
Then, he heard Xia Ying ask:
Liu Ze replied, "Normally, abyssal creatures and humans cannot leave offspring, but it seems there is some kind of powerful magic that can overcome this, but it still comes at a great cost... In the end, my ancestor succeeded."
"I see." Xia Ying smiled. "I asked these questions out of curiosity, and I hope I did not offend you."
With that, she stood up and pulled out a chair: "That's all for today, Mr. Liu Ze. If you need anything, please feel free to contact me later, and I'll cooperate with you as needed..."
Just as Xia Ying was about to leave, Liu Ze suddenly stood up and blurted out, "What if they hadn't contacted you in the name of the Special Incident Response Department?"
Xia Ying turned her head and looked at the other person with a puzzled expression.
At that moment, Liu Ze understood his own feelings, which surprised even himself, but he still said, "I mean, only as 'Liu Ze'."
Xia Ying asked in surprise, "Wait, you mean..."
"I mean," Liu Ze said shyly, "can I pursue you?"
Upon hearing this, Cerberus immediately flew into a rage.
If we don't act now, when will we?!
"I'm coming to kill him right now!"
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Author's Note: Ke'er: Break down the door and go straight for his head!
In terms of the story's setting, Liu Ze's ancestor is Liu Yi, the Liu Yi from "The Tale of Liu Yi" (a setting that nobody cares about).
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