Odd Containment Specialist.

Chapter 1161 Shangguan Yan's Worries (4K)

While everyone was chatting idly in the private room, in the hotel's open-air lounge, Shangguan Yan, wearing a black suit, leaned half his body against the railing, lazily enjoying the breeze, his thoughts drifting along with his flowing hair.

She is thinking about something right now, wondering what kind of life she and Xia Shou lived in the book.

Of all the people who came out of the book, only Xia Shou remembered everything that happened in the book, while she, Qiao Xin, and Alice all forgot the lives they lived in the book.

But ever since she came out of the book, she could clearly see that Xia Shou's gaze towards her had changed. If Xia Shou's gaze towards her before was filled with a sense of helpless compromise, then after coming out of the book, it was filled with a faint sense of closeness and restless desire.

Of course, he would definitely want to get closer to her, after all, she did stop Vero from attacking him in the book, so she could be considered his savior.

But it is obvious that Xia Shou's restless ambitions do not stop there.

Shangguan Yan was quite confident in her intuition, but she was also worried that her personal expectations might distort the accuracy of her judgment, so she was trying to find out about that part of life in the book.

She recently read "The Season When the Stars Fell".

The story in the book has undergone subtle changes, but the overall structure remains largely the same. This is because the copy kept by the Bureau of Control was not originally told from Xia Shou's perspective, so Xia Shou's departure will not have a significant impact on the main storyline.

Of course, there was an impact; news about the serial killer reappeared, but in terms of numbers, it didn't seem to be the highest number recorded in other documents. In other words... they didn't kill everyone who deserved to be killed in the book.

Besides this noteworthy detail, she also discovered that the news articles in the book contained more details about the murder case, specifically about dismemberment.

Her intuition told her that this might be her doing. From this perspective, she was likely working with Xia Shou as an accomplice, and as the one who cleaned up the mess. Given Xia Shou's abilities, he had to do the killing himself.

Thinking about it this way, she must have not only helped Xia Shou block Vero's attack, but also maintained a very close relationship with him afterwards, otherwise she could not have been involved in the serial murders.

Shangguan Yan was certain from the beginning that she would do this, but since she had no memory of it, this was considered evidence to support her conjecture.

As for her relationship with Xia Shou, besides being an accomplice, she had no clue when the book was first published, but now she knows some of the inside story.

She learned these inside stories through Xia Shou's dream.

During the counterattack in the Scar Era, in order to enable Xia Shou to pay the price of the endless sea of ​​blood under extreme conditions, she made Xia Shou drink her own blood.

To prevent this excessive price from becoming fatal, she had Xia Shou perform the Dream-Picking Bird ritual, replacing the price of an endless sea of ​​blood with the inability to dream.

The price of not being able to dream was, through the blood she gave Xia Shou to drink, which she herself had to bear.

Now, she can no longer dream; the dream world, an effective way to release latent desires, is no longer open to her. However, as a favored one of the Dream Birds, she is naturally able to infiltrate the dreams of others.

In this way, she can release the pressure that she cannot release in her dreams in other people's dreams, thus perfectly avoiding losing self-control in real life.

Although it was somewhat immoral to spy on other people's dreams, she had never been a moral woman, so she infiltrated Xia Shou's dream.

Although his dream that night was just a series of fragmented pieces, she did see glimpses of their life together in the book within those fragments.

It has to be said... it's very interesting. She really liked the expression Xia Shou showed in the dream, timid yet audacious, greedy yet hesitant, decisive yet crazy. Those fragments made her deeply feel... that she was being loved madly.

Unfortunately, Xia Shou only remembered the life in the book up to the age of eighteen. She never saw the scattered fragments of them tasting the forbidden fruit, which became the only regret of that dream invasion journey.

No matter how hard she tries to imagine it now, she can't fathom what kind of stories they went through together after Xia Shou turned eighteen.

She sometimes encounters this when reading novels after get off work. She randomly picks up a book and reads to the end, only to find that the author has stopped writing sequels and started a new series. The frustration she feels is exactly the same as the feeling she had when she woke up that night.

"I really want to retire..."

Shangguan Yan took a lollipop out of her pocket, tore open the wrapper, and put it in her mouth. She swirled the lollipop around her tongue, imagining it was the same lollipop she had given Xia Shou in the book.

The candy wrapper was lychee flavored; perhaps that's what I felt at the time?

Having been a witch for so long, searching and searching, she now really wants to retire. If she can decisively end everything and live an ordinary life, then she has no other desires.

But just as ordinary people yearn for the extraordinary but cannot achieve it, once they become extraordinary, returning to the ordinary becomes equally unattainable.

Leaving aside Xia Shou's intricate connections with Mo Yu Si and her entanglements with legendary figures from the past, it seems impossible for her to extricate herself so easily.

When she was a witch, everything around her was always quiet, but once she wanted to be an ordinary person, all the troubles she used to look down on would come out one by one.

Now, she can easily recall a bunch of things she'd never thought of before, just by going through her mind a few times.

When she was on a business trip in Egypt, she eradicated an entire tribe in order to eliminate an unusual phenomenon, leaving behind a little boy.

She once made a deal with a man to help him take revenge. The family that the man was taking revenge on also had a surviving only daughter. The relationship between this woman and the man seeking revenge was a melodramatic one, like lovers who were sworn enemies.

After the man slaughtered all of his lover's family members, leaving only her alive, he committed suicide. The woman then focused all her hatred on the witch who had given the man his power.

Shangguan Yan had never given that woman a second glance. During one of the attacks launched by the opposing organization, she didn't even have to lift a finger; instead, one of her employees blocked the attack, and the rebound shattered the attacker's arm.

Shangguan Yan still doesn't remember the woman's name.

There are countless enemies like these, but whether it's a hundred or ten thousand, to her as a witch, they are just like an occasional itch.

Just like ordinary people don't live in constant fear of their skin becoming itchy, she does the same; she simply scratches her skin when the itching comes.

But... if she is no longer a witch, then these itch becomes a disaster; once ordinary life is turned into killing, it can no longer be called ordinary.

This, perhaps, is an extraordinary curse.

Not to mention, she also has a contract with the thirsty goat.

Although she made a deal with the thirsty goat to exclude Summerguard from the taboo, the three taboos still apply to others.

First, all interactions with others must be based on the concept of 'transaction'.

Second, do not allow others to perceive your actions as selfless acts of kindness.

Thirdly, if you develop feelings for someone, you must not let that person become aware of your feelings.

As long as these three taboos exist, ordinary life will be completely foreign to her. Imagine if that day ever came, she and Xia Shou would abandon everything and live in seclusion in a place where no one knows them, perhaps back to the Mediterranean, or perhaps back to Northern Europe.

Then, they settled down in the area, and one day a neighbor came to borrow their lawnmower, or simply some plates, gasoline, or other everyday items. In order not to violate the taboo, she had to tell the neighbor, "I need money."

She couldn't possibly have normal neighborly relations, and without such a normal social network, how could she be considered an ordinary person's daily life?

However... perhaps Xia could interact with the neighbors?

"Ha, I never thought I'd have to worry about something like this," Shangguan Yan said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"minister?"

Hearing the sound, Shangguan Yan turned his head and saw Huangfu Zuoren and You Nu walking over side by side.

"Minister, what brings you here? It seems everyone else has arrived," Huangfu Zuoren said cautiously.

He wasn't quite used to communicating with this superior. Although she was Xia Shou's leader, Huangfu had very mixed feelings about her.

His ability to join the Control Bureau, to have a completely new identity and address in the mortal world, and for Maha Yupu Nu, the Ghost King, to now live with him as a human, were all arrangements made by Shangguan Yan through his connections.

He should have been grateful, but clearly these benefits weren't free. The long hours of high-pressure overtime and handling of various dangerous incidents had made him understand more deeply the true value behind the nickname "Witch".

Therefore, Huangfu's gratitude towards Shangguan Yan was very awkward.

"Okay, let's go." Shangguan Yan nodded with a smile. Just by looking at her expression, anyone would think that she was a kind and tolerant leader.

"Huangfu, how's the investigation going?"

"We are coordinating with investigators from other branches, but so far... there's been no progress," Huangfu Zuoren replied.

The latest task assigned to him by Shangguan Yan is to investigate a missing person named Wu Shuguo.

It seems that it's not just their branch office that's investigating him; other branches are also investigating him to varying degrees, as if it were a task assigned by the council.

As for the purpose of the investigation, it was naturally beyond their knowledge. All they could do was try their best to track down the other party's every clue and report all the information they collected to their superiors.

"What about Lin Rizhe? You haven't given up yet, have you?" Shangguan Yan asked again.

"Yes, there's no trace of him in the Scar Era, nor in those ladder paths that have already been explored."

"You need to be mentally prepared that he is already dead, otherwise it will be difficult to leave no trace of his activities."

"Yes, I know, it's normal for him to die of old age, but I always feel... if it were him, he wouldn't have died so easily."

“Huangfu, you used to be a free and extraordinary person, and you spent many years in the Scar Era. You couldn’t possibly be unaware of the unpredictability of fate.”

Even the most legendary hero can fall silent, dying unnoticed in a corner of an alley.

If Natsume hadn't told her the truth, who could have imagined that such a king would die in that way?

Apart from those of us who knew the truth, everyone else present at the time only saw his grand entrance, and then never saw him walk out of that underground city again. Only we know that he was left forever in that pile of rubble, like someone who accidentally fell to his death.

Perhaps, in the eyes of others, Lin Rizhe's adventure had already ended; it's just that we didn't get to see that story.

“I know,” Huangfu nodded in acknowledgment.

He knew that his persistence was actually a bit unsightly.

For missing persons like Lin Rizhe, the Bureau of Control simply closes the case file after the initial search and does not continue to expend energy searching for them.

In order to find Lin Rizhe, he spent a lot of manpower and resources in advance, and even borrowed Ke Hen.

You have to understand that Kehen's versatile and invincible superpower always means there are important tasks that require her to track and make breakthroughs. Lending Kehen to her to find people is already a favor from the minister.

However, he still couldn't believe that the person had died so quietly.

Because that person is somewhat similar to Xia Shou.

Well... it's just a very general impression.

Huangfu Zuoren had seen many extraordinary individuals with strong will and unwavering spirit, but he had almost never seen anyone like Xia Shou who, after experiencing so much, could still integrate into the lives of ordinary people.

Yes, there are almost none.

Even the other members of the three departments, although they also enjoy entertainment and leisure like ordinary people, Huangfu Zuoren could sense that everyone, to some extent, had a certain kind of stubbornness.

Only Xia Shou seems to possess an ability to completely separate the lives of the extraordinary from those of ordinary people.

Lin Rizhi is the same, except that Lin Rizhi is never negative; he is optimistic in everything he does.

Even in the worst circumstances, he remains steadfast in his current job.

To give a frank example, if Lin Rizhi were grilling chicken wings and heard that his parents had passed away, he would still try his best to grill the chicken wings well.

They share a unique similarity in their attitudes toward life.

Such a person wouldn't die so quietly.

Although this idea is illogical, Huangfu Zuoren simply has such a strong intuition.

It is precisely because this intuition cannot be used as a reason that his persistent search seems superfluous.

Shangguan Yan stroked his chin, pondered for a few seconds, and analyzed:
"The era of scars is over. If Lin Rizhe is still alive and free to move around, he can come back anytime he wants."

If that's the case, then there's only one reason why he's alive but doesn't contact the control bureau, and even tries to hide his whereabouts as much as possible.

(End of this chapter)