Chapter 62 Signs of Infiltration (1) Maybe I can see you again tomorrow...
Xia Ying was greeted with a restless morning, and it was because of this incident that she arrived at her appointment a little later than expected.
The meeting place was set at a teahouse near Binhai University. Xia Ying rushed there in a hurry, and while the waiter led the way, she secretly tidied her appearance and pushed open the door to the reserved private room.
The tea room was spacious and decorated in an antique style. A middle-aged woman wearing glasses sat by the window, gazing calmly at the sea that blended with the sky in the distance.
Xia Ying said a little embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, Professor Shen, I'm a little late."
Shen Jingting turned to her and nodded slightly: "No need to apologize, you're not late."
She rose from her seat by the window and sat down at the tea table. Xia Ying noticed that her hair seemed a bit whiter than she remembered, but her movements remained steady and nimble, like a cat with very light steps... Considering her rich experience and outstanding professionalism, perhaps describing her as a lion would be more appropriate.
Xia Ying sat down after her, raised her hand to pour tea for her, and joked, "It's never good to arrive later than you."
"It's alright, I guessed you were busier than me." Shen Jingting smiled and asked naturally, "So, have you adapted to the [Abyssal Dangerous Creatures Encyclopedia]?"
"!"
Xia Ying suddenly raised her face. The water column pouring from the porcelain pot swayed slightly, but was steadily stopped just before it overflowed the rim of the cup.
She calmly put down the porcelain pot and cautiously probed, "Professor Shen, do you also know about the Special Accident Response Department?"
“You should have met Liu Ze yesterday? That young man is a bit impetuous, but he has good potential and isn’t unpleasant, so I instructed him to contact you.”
Shen Jingting's answer was quite straightforward, and Xia Ying breathed a sigh of relief, giving up on beating around the bush: "So, you are the boss that Liu Ze was talking about?"
“That’s right,” Shen Jingting said calmly. “I know you have a lot of questions for me, but before that, let me tell you about the Special Accident Response Department.”
Xia Ying stared intently at her and nodded.
And so, Shen Jingting began her narration.
"As the name suggests, the Special Incident Response Department is an organization that specializes in responding to and handling specific types of incidents. More specifically, the so-called 'special incidents' refer to incidents caused by demonic beings or abyssal creatures," she said. "This organization was established about twenty years ago at the suggestion of your mother, Xia Kaiyun."
Xia Ying's lips moved slightly: "As expected."
She wanted to immediately ask the other party about the "special accident" that led to Xia Kaiyun's death, but Xia Ying held back.
"You may have vaguely realized that Xia Kaiyun's public identity was that of a scholar, but she actually conducted investigations and research related to the Demon Realm during her lifetime... Of course, so did I."
When Shen Jingting smiled, the deep lines at the corners of his eyes were also drawn to the smile.
She sighed slightly as she said this, and Xia Ying immediately asked, "Do you know anything about the inside story of my mother's accident?"
"Her death was definitely not an accident," Shen Jingting stated firmly. "Even if she wasn't a creature of the abyss, she was killed by something from the demon realm. However, Xia Ying, unfortunately, I don't know the specific details..."
Disappointment welled up in Xia Ying's heart, but she soon heard the other person say, "However, this should be related to a secret research she was conducting at the time."
Shen Jingting took out an envelope and pushed it in front of Xia Ying.
“This is what I’m giving you,” she said. “Xia Kaiyun stored his research records on a storage disk, but this portable disk seems to be a magical artifact, and we haven’t been able to find a way to crack it. But I recently realized that it might be something Xia Kaiyun left for you, just like the [Abyssal Dangerous Creatures Compendium].
Xia Ying couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean? Is the illustrated guide related to my mother?"
"The [Abyssal Dangerous Creature Encyclopedia] was a magical artifact created under your mother's direction; it is actually a database of abyssal creatures..."
Xia Ying's feelings went far beyond mere astonishment: "My mother can create magical artifacts?"
“That’s right.” Shen Jingting affirmed, “In order to deal with the impending crisis, Xia Kaiyun launched the ‘Illustrated Compendium Project’, and the result of this research is what you now know as the [Illustrated Compendium of Dangerous Creatures of the Abyss].
With too much information flooding her mind at once, Xia Ying rubbed her temples, trying to sort out the key points: "What kind of crisis are you referring to?"
"The spatial barrier between the demon realm and the human world is becoming thinner and thinner, and even small holes have appeared in some places."
Shen Jingting interlaced his slender, bony fingers and cast a sharp gaze from behind his glasses, revealing a shrewd and piercing side.
"And Xia Ying, what do you think Cocytus is?"
“…Cocytus,” Xia Ying said slowly, “is a monster academy established by an abyssal creature known as the ‘Lord of Demons’.”
Shen Jingting smiled and said, "Do you really think that the brutal nature and extremely primitive social structure of abyssal creatures would need a school?"
“Perhaps it could be considered a hobby of the Demon Lord himself; after all, he’s so powerful, he can do whatever strange things he wants,” Xia Ying said. “But if we have to think about it from a rational perspective, Cocytus does seem somewhat like…”
"A massive army of monsters belonging to the Demon Lord, right?"
Xia Ying fell silent, pondering what the other person had said.
The Demon Lord controls the abyssal creatures with force and magical contracts, but does not restrain their bloodthirsty instincts. This approach does indeed fit Shen Jingting's guess.
If this is indeed the case, then the reason why the Demon Lord needs an army of monsters becomes clear... Perhaps he is no longer satisfied with his dominance in the demon realm and wants to extend his demonic reach to the human world.
Considering the Demon Lord's preference for human creations, this doesn't seem entirely unfounded.
Xia Ying pondered: However, I still feel like something is not quite right.
She skipped that question for now and continued, "So, my mother wants to use the database... [Abyssal Dangerous Creatures Encyclopedia] to collect information on abyssal creatures in preparation for a possible future species war?"
Shen Jingting nodded.
"If that's the case, then someone would definitely need to take the encyclopedia to the Demon Realm to investigate the abyssal creatures, right?"
Xia Ying said.
"This was also our initial question, but objectively speaking, only people with special physical conditions can use the [Abyss Dangerous Creatures Compendium]. Currently, the only known users are her and you, who inherited her bloodline."
"So you continued to support me even after my mother passed away," Xia Ying said calmly. "That's a form of surveillance, isn't it?"
Shen Jingting paused slightly, then said, "I cannot refute this."
“I don’t think I have the right to blame you, because it was my mother’s decision.” She sighed softly. “At least you let me know that my mother may have died protecting world peace.”
Shen Jingting finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "You may have been impressed by her as a gentle mother, but I must tell you, as a scholar, she was also a great genius..."
“I know,” Xia Ying said. “My mother… Xia Kaiyun, she probably can’t be considered a good mother.”
Shen Jingting asked softly, "Even so, you still love her deeply, which is why you were willing to risk going to Cocytus?"
“I think I must love her,” Xia Ying said to herself, “but I didn’t persist in investigating this matter purely because of love.”
Xia Kaiyun always walked ahead of young Xia Ying. Xia Ying was always very curious about the world seen through her mother's eyes, but before she could catch up with her, Xia Kaiyun's figure vanished instantly due to an unexpected death.
From that moment on, she became an enigma that Xia Ying could neither let go of nor overcome in her life.
Xia Ying said, "At the very least, I need to know why Xia Kaiyun died."
Shen Jingting watched her quietly the whole time. After Xia Ying finished speaking, she lowered her gaze, took out an old-fashioned wallet, and took out a photograph from it.
Xia Ying took the photo and saw a face that looked very similar to hers, but was older than her.
This is a very vivid snapshot. Xia Kaiyun is wearing white and looks focused, as if he is having some kind of debate with the researchers around him.
Xia Ying stared at the photo for a long time, so long that Shen Jingting teased her, "Don't misunderstand, I'm not giving it to you, I'm just showing it to you."
She put away the photos, leaned back gently in her chair, and looked somewhat sad.
“I just wanted to tell you… I miss her very much, as a close friend and as a colleague.”
####
Cerberus sat at the far left of the sofa, glancing casually at Fenrir at the far right before immediately looking away.
For almost two whole hours, the only sound in the house was the television.
Honestly. Cerberus thought uncomfortably. When exactly will Xia Ying come back...?
A cold voice suddenly rang out: "Why did you defect?"
Cerberus was stunned for a moment, and it took him a few seconds to realize that the person was talking to him.
He replied rudely, "What's it to you?"
Fenrir did not press further, but after a while, Cerberus spoke again.
"Because at that time I felt as if I was about to disappear."
Fenrir looked at the other person, only to find that Cerberus had turned his face away to the other side.
The demon hound, with its back to him, said, "I didn't want to die in the Netherworld, so I fled to the human world and met Xia Ying."
Fenrir paused for a moment, then asked, "But weren't we born for this very purpose?"
The door opened at that moment, and Xia Ying peeked out, her face showing surprise: "My God, Ke'er, you love me way too much!"
Cerberus blushed immediately: "No, no! I was just giving an example!"
Xia Ying walked over lightly, threw herself into the middle of the sofa, hooked her arms around Cerberus and Fenrir on either side, and pulled them to her side.
"I suddenly learned so much information today... I should go to bed early tonight and give my brain a rest!" Xia Ying stretched while still embracing the two women, then asked them, "What about you two? Have you been keeping a close watch on the house?"
“Of course!” Cerberus said smugly. “I’ve stopped that idiot Fenrir from ruining the furniture several times…”
"Really? Cerberus is so good!" Xia Ying quickly kissed the demon hound's cheek, and as Cerberus's face turned bright red, she turned to Fenrir on her right and asked, "Where's Fenrir?"
“I’m very good too,” Fenrir said earnestly, then leaned in and placed a kiss on Xia Ying’s forehead.
####
The relationship between Cerberus and Fenrir seems to have undergone some subtle changes.
Xia Ying didn't know the reason yet, but she was happy to see this change because she no longer needed to mediate the conflict between the two dogs from time to time.
Xia Ying tried various methods, working on it until it was time to sleep, but none of them worked.
She could only put the matter aside for the time being, carefully put the disk away, and, urged by Cerberus, hid under the covers.
At first, Xia Ying's mind was filled with many things. She was thinking about her conversation with Professor Shen during the day and her date with her cousin Xu Lu tomorrow. But after closing her eyes, sleepiness quickly overcame her, and Xia Ying unknowingly drifted off to sleep.
Xia Ying swayed and fell in her dream, as if rolling from one soft cloud to another... Rolling around like this, she finally landed on a slightly damp flat ground.
Her consciousness suddenly cleared, and Xia Ying opened her eyes to find herself beneath a giant whale, with a beautiful sea siren lying beside her, looking down at her.
"Huh, Charybdis?" Xia Ying asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"I've finally found you, Xia Ying." The siren blinked her watery eyes affectionately. "I really missed you so much."
"It seems like I just left not long ago..." Xia Ying suddenly remembered the difference in flow rate between the two worlds, so she shut her mouth.
Charybdis nestled carefully into Xia Ying's arms, his heart overflowing with a long-lost sweetness.
His fingers moved subtly, wanting to intertwine with hers, but he felt something hard in Xia Ying's hand and couldn't help but ask, "What's this?"
"Huh?" Xia Ying opened her palm and found a storage disk lying inside. "How did I bring this with me?"
She immediately clasped her hands together, trying to put it away, but the siren stared at the disk and said, "Wait, Xia Ying, this thing is enchanted."
Xia Ying immediately became interested: "What kind of magic? Can you undo it?"
"It's less like magic and more like a message."
Charybdis touched the disk with his fingertips, and the magic particles attached to it were mobilized and reconstructed, forming a string of decipherable runes.
“It says…” Charybdis read the message it contained, “Go to the secret room in the library.”
A secret room in the library?
Xia Ying felt that the phrase sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it before.
Charybdis pondered, "The 'library' should refer to the 'library' in Cocytus, but the 'secret room'... perhaps you could ask Taotie; he might know."
Oh right! That guy also works as an intelligence broker!
Unexpectedly, the new developments came from an unexpected place. Xia Ying rolled over and hugged the sea monster, saying excitedly, "You've helped me a lot, thank you!"
Charybdis was so happy he was dizzy, his tail fin swaying involuntarily as he wrapped his arms around Xia Ying's legs: "Making you happy makes me feel happy too... Ah, right!"
The siren propped herself up on her arms and looked down at her.
“Xia Ying, I’ve found a ‘void’ that’s very close to where you are.”
He said with amusement, his pupils slowly dilating like ink stains.
"Maybe I'll see you again tomorrow, I'm so looking forward to it."
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Author's Note: The Human World is in Danger
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