Chapter 59: The Book of Life and Death: A Trap Called Promise
That's a good question.
Most of the time, Daisy Port was a person who thought before he acted. But today, he hadn't fully thought through his motives and purpose until he came here.
Daisy Port's index finger tapped rhythmically on the table, and now he was thinking again.
Thinking about whether I should be a person who acts before thinking.
"Because I'm interested in you," Daisy said bluntly after a moment, "and so I'm also interested in the people around you."
"There are many kinds of interest." Chang Xile wasn't satisfied with the answer. "I'm also interested in Anping, but I won't check his identity, nor have I pressed him."
"So, what kind of person are you interested in me?"
Daisy Port listened to the girl's clear and beautiful voice and fell into deep thought. He had seen many girls with her background, but Chang Xile was particularly different.
If he could just stare at her a little longer like this, let himself get closer to her, and experience more bizarre things with her, his feelings for her would probably quietly undergo some kind of qualitative change, and by then, it would be impossible to change course.
But it’s too early to say now.
Daisy Port discovered her intention and asked with a smile, "Are you trying to force me to confess my feelings to you?"
"Probably." Chang Xile shrugged. This way she could reject him directly without putting herself in the ambiguous and sticky position of benefactor and repayer. "Or you could just tell me directly that I'm being too sentimental."
"If I say this is not wishful thinking, will you never meet me again?" Daisy asked.
"I just hope you can figure it out quickly. Do you really like me, or are you looking for Shanyan's shadow in me?" Chang Xile said to him. "You have to understand that we are not the same person. And Shanyan is gone."
"I know." Daisy Harbor gave a pained smile and murmured, "But if I don't get to know the real you, how can I tell the difference?"
"Well, let me formally introduce myself. My name is Chang Xile. I'm from Yangcheng, Huainan, and I'm currently studying English at Shancheng University." Chang Xile extended his hand to Dai Xigang and said seriously, "To avoid regrets, please refrain from doing anything unnecessary until you've sorted out your emotions, okay?"
Daisy Port looked at her slender hand silently, his gaze fixed on her snow-white wrist.
What is superfluous?
He shook her hand firmly and said, "Okay."
"But your self-introduction is exactly the same as the beginning of the interview." Daisy Gang complained.
"If your company is inclined to develop overseas business, I would also be happy to join." Chang Xile smiled.
Only when they left the cafe did Chang Xile let out a long sigh.
So different.
Anping is so different from them all.
Anping would frankly express his desire to see her again without finding any reasons, and would say the word "love" directly.
Chang Xile is very good at blocking those seemingly ambiguous feelings, but he can't say no to such passionate feelings.
Or perhaps, Anping is always a little special.
But isn’t he a student of Yamashiro University?
Chang Xile's words were mostly true, with only one flaw: she said her interest in Anping wasn't strong enough to warrant investigating or interrogating him. In reality, she simply felt she wasn't qualified to do so and wanted to wait until Anping was willing to speak.
So what would it matter if she rushed to Anping to find out now?
"Hey, hey! Can you hear me?"
The voice came to her ears again, but Chang Xile ignored it and hurried forward, even though she had no specific destination at all.
"Hey!" A blood-stained face suddenly appeared in front of Chang Xile, frightening her so much that she stopped and closed her eyes. Although Chang Xile didn't scream this time, it was obvious whether she had seen the ghost.
Chang Xile couldn't stand it any longer and shouted, "Can't you see that the other person is already upset? Can't you be more polite when asking for help?"
As the saying goes, even evil ghosts are afraid of evil people.
"Ah... I'm sorry, but I, I'm really a little anxious." Yang Shu's face turned back to its normal pale appearance. She kept twisting her fingers together and looked at Chang Xile timidly.
Chang Xile looked at her like this and could only sigh: "Tell me, are you looking for your kitten?"
"What you said is indeed very important, but I came to you this time for something else." Yang Shu's expression became very anxious. She said, "I can't find Duobao."
"Duobao?" Chang Xile calmed down and asked, "Have you searched the entire school? Near the library, in the cafeteria?"
"I've looked for it. It made an appointment with me to meet again. But... I feel that its breath and my Xiaojia's breath have gathered in the same place." Yang Shu said.
"What?" Chang Xile listened as she hurried toward the river that surrounded the school. She stood by the railing, gazing at the lush green mountains, and asked, "Where did you say Duobao is?"
"Yes. But my ability is limited, so I can't go and check it out in person." Yang Shu said.
"How is this possible? The river is so wide, and Duobao is such a small cat. There's no way it could have crossed the river and run to the side of the mountain by itself." Chang Xile couldn't understand and asked Yang Shu, "Are you mistaken?"
"There's no mistake. I can feel Duobao's breath." Yang Shu wanted to say something, but was interrupted by a cold voice.
"Yang Shu, female, died on the ninth day of the eighth month of the Jiachen year. Is this her, correct?"
The two looked towards the source of the sound and saw a man in a windbreaker flipping through a thick notebook. He approached them slowly, seemingly not worried at all about them running away again.
Chang Xile subconsciously stood in front of Yang Shu. The Impermanence noticed her and laughed, "Don't worry, I came here to find you. Thank you for helping me find this escaped soul. It was a pleasant surprise."
"I can't go with you yet. I have things unfinished." After hearing this, Yang Shu kept backing away, but soon she had nowhere to go, because a long, thin line extended from her wrist, ending at Wuchang's fingertips, which was a soul-catching rope.
"All the ghosts who don't want to leave tell me this. But I don't have the patience to wait for you anymore." Wu Chang hooked his finger, and Yang Shu stumbled forward. He advised patiently, "No matter what you can't figure out or let go of, take a walk on the Yellow Springs Road, drink a bowl of Mengpo soup, and you'll forget everything. Come... child, come..."
Yang Shu's expression gradually became indifferent. Although tears were streaming down her face, she could not resist moving forward. Wu Chang's words seemed to be comforting, but the thought of "about to forget everything that made her resentful" only made her feel more deeply terrified.
Chang Xile instinctively tried to grab Yang Shu's arm, but before she could remember that ghosts had no physical form, her palm had already touched Yang Shu's body. This was her first time touching Yang Shu, and her arm felt as cold as if it had been pulled from an icy cave. Chang Xile immediately felt a huge force pulling at her, and then she was forced to move forward with Yang Shu, unable to resist. Wu Chang's fingers hooked again, but he felt a resistance in the opposite direction. He looked up and saw Chang Xile holding the rope he had hooked around Yang Shu's soul, struggling to resist.
"See, I told you you're very talented, right?" He smiled instead of getting angry, looking at Chang Xile meaningfully, seemingly comforted, but in this situation, he looked truly gloomy. "Few people can pull this soul-snatching rope."
Chang Xile followed his gaze and looked at her wrist. A faint red circle had been wrapped around it at some point, and it continued to glow as she held onto Yang Shu.
"What is this?" She stretched out her hand to tear the red circle apart, but her fingers passed through it.
"The way I found you." Wu Chang walked up to her. He held a thick notebook in his left hand and tapped the cover with his right hand. He smiled and reminded her, "You still owe me a promise, right?"
"If that's the case, why didn't you just fulfill your promise that day, instead of just leaving with Shanyan?" Chang Xile never understood this. These days, the existence of impermanence was like a sword of Damocles hanging over her head, ready to fall at any moment.
"Then you have to ask your good friend. She really has nothing to say about you." Wuchang was referring to Dai Shanyan.
"What do you mean? Where is Shanyan now?" Chang Xile asked vigilantly, "Shouldn't she have already entered the reincarnation cycle?"
"No, no, no, look." Wu Chang shook his head. He raised his right hand and a phantom appeared not far away. Behind him stood a woman of extraordinary beauty, but her face was pale and her expression was cold. It was Dai Shanyan.
That day at the Dai Family Villa, when the time came, Dai Shanyan's soul emerged from Chang Xile's body. She watched from a God's perspective as Chang Xile fell into Dai Xigang's arms, feeling very complicated.
Wuchang appeared beside her, muttering to himself: "Why did you faint again? This is really putting me in a difficult position..."
Dai Shanyan asked, "What are you going to do to her?"
Wuchang displayed his soul-catching rope and swung it in the direction of Chang Xile. A faint red ring appeared on her wrist: "Didn't she say that the underworld officials should enforce the law flexibly?" Wuchang gritted his teeth in hatred. He had no idea how much effort he had put in and how many overtime hours he had worked in order to track down Chang Xile, a soul that had entered the underworld before its time and almost entered reincarnation.
"Then let her be the Living Grim Reaper for once, and see if she can set an example by being considerate and good!" The Grim Reaper moved his hands, intending to hook out Chang Xile's soul as well.
"Wait!" Dai Shanyan stopped him.
"Get out of the way, you fool." Wuchang waved his hand impatiently.
"I've been dead for a long time," Dai Shanyan said. "But let me guess. The agreement between you and her hasn't been finalized yet, so it can't be fully effective, right?"
Wu Chang withdrew his hand and couldn't help but look at her with admiration: "You even know this?"
"You gave me an hour so I could say goodbye to my family. I'm the beneficiary, and Chang Xile has nothing to do with it directly." Dai Shanyan continued, "So if there's any repayment, it should be made by me."
"Oh, you want to fulfill the promise on her behalf and not enter the cycle of reincarnation?" Wuchang laughed softly, laughing at the ignorance of this dead soul, not knowing that she would definitely regret this decision after several years.
"That's right." Dai Shanyan nodded affirmatively.
That’s why, when Chang Xile woke up that day, she didn’t see them anymore.
…
The phantom belonging to Dai Shanyan did not respond no matter how he called out. Chang Xile frowned and asked Wuchang, "Then what is she now?"
"Ah, logically, I should have recruited her into the Wuchang ranks. But you know, our line of work requires talent, and she's not quite suitable." Wuchang pointed at Chang Xile, "So I came to find you right now."
Chang Xile already understood most of it. She told him his plan: "You want me to become a living immortal? But I don't know the slightest bit about that."
"How could that be? You can see these dead souls. This is your greatest gift." Wu Chang flipped open the book in his hand and showed it to her. "Most importantly, if you become the Living Wu Chang, then it won't be my fault for letting you see the contents of this Book of Life and Death."
In other words, all previous violations of Chang Xile’s laws in the underworld can be easily resolved.
Chang Xile frowned as he looked at the thick booklet he called the "Book of Life and Death". The pages were flipped casually by the wind, and time went back all the way to August 13 of this year.
[Anping,?, died on August 13, Jiachen year]
"What is this?" Chang Xile walked forward in disbelief, wanting to take the booklet and take a closer look.
Wuchang could hardly hold back his laughter.
That's right, kid, take it.
By taking this Book of Life and Death, you formally accept the contents of our agreement.
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