Was it... a dream message?
Nan Zhi snapped awake in an instant, pushing herself up to focus her senses carefully.
Her surroundings were completely clean.
There was no resentment, nor any ghostly energy that shouldn't be there.
Nan Zhi felt a pang of disappointment.
She should have thought of this earlier.
If reality had ghosts like Chen Ping, who lingered because of resentment, then Dao Magu might still remain in this world as well.
And Dao Magu had said she was leaving—where was she going?
What were those things calling Dao Magu's name in the dream?
Didn't Chen Ping say that there was no Underworld in this world?
Then where was Dao Magu's soul going?
Nan Zhi suddenly felt an urge to return to her hometown immediately to find out.
But she suppressed the impulse.
The incident with Chen Ping had only just passed; the authorities probably hadn't pulled out yet.
If she rushed back overnight to a hometown she hadn't contacted in years without any excuse, it would definitely draw attention.
That was not an outcome she wanted to see.
Nan Zhi got up and washed her face, forcing herself to sober up.
She did not turn on the light.
In the pitch-black bathroom, she closely examined her reflection in the mirror.
Back when she was just a half-grown kid, she already knew that in this world, no one could be relied upon.
In this world, only what was gripped in her own hands truly and authentically belonged to her.
Nan Zhi never believed in nonsense like blood being thicker than water or flesh-and-blood kin.
If even the biological parents who gave her life couldn't be trusted, how could she rely on a second uncle once removed?
The end of that story back then was her fighting an adult man—her second uncle—with fingernails, teeth, feet, and knees, clawing her way to mutual destruction.
In the end, sporting a battered, swollen face, yet filled with pride, she stepped into the police car and left her hometown forever.
On the first day of university, the bruises on Nan Zhi's face had not yet faded.
Her three roommates assumed she was some delinquent girl, so over the next four years, Nan Zhi basically had no friends.
Yet she was happy.
A genuine happiness straight from the bottom of her heart.
If she hadn't fought tooth and nail for herself back then, she might have ended up bearing children for an old man over a decade older than her at an age when others were still in school.
Many people believed that in the twenty-first century, how could such things still happen?
Nan Zhi never argued with them.
People could never imagine what lay beyond their own cognition.
Some believed the worst things in the world were murder and arson, unaware that evil had no bottom line—only worse, never worst.
So Nan Zhi worked desperately to support herself. Throughout her four years of university, every waking moment outside of class was spent doing three-shift part-time jobs.
There was a time when she was so exhausted that inverted days and nights wrecked her endocrine system, and her period only came once every six months.
Yet Nan Zhi was still happy.
She knew this was a path she had fought for. Even if it was suffering, it was suffering she had won for herself.
She won her life, but she also lost the chance to see Grandma one last time.
Yet Nan Zhi had no regrets.
If given another chance, she would still make the same choice.
In the mirror, the slightly mature face gradually overlapped with the bruised and battered young girl in her memory. Nan Zhi suddenly smiled.
Grandma, wait for me a little longer. Just wait a little longer, until I grow stronger.
...
...
After wrapping up another day's work, Nan Zhi clocked out on time.
Looking around, her coworkers were also packing up and standing up, showing no intention of working overtime.
“Off work, off work! See you tomorrow!”
“Ugh, I haven't finished this proposal yet. That client is such a pain.”
“Come on, it makes no difference if you do it tomorrow.”
“Hey, if you ask me, this haunting thing is actually pretty great. Look at how none of the companies in the building do overtime anymore. I wouldn't mind if it happened a few more times.”
“Shut your jinx of a mouth!”
The group laughed and bantered as they walked toward the elevators.
Nan Zhi looked down at her phone, led forward by Zhang Qiuyu, chiming in occasionally to blend in.
“Ding—”
The elevator doors slid open. Nan Zhi noticed her coworkers suddenly falling quiet. Looking up slightly, she saw a short-haired woman with a straight, disciplined posture standing inside.
“Going down?”
The woman wore a black leather jacket, her gaze sharp, carrying a motorcycle helmet in her hand. Cool and crisp, she radiated a powerful presence.
Nan Zhi noticed that the woman had an unusual aura; her demeanor carried a hint of Hua Xijian’s style, and her gaze held an instinctual, probing quality.
—Someone from the authorities?
Nan Zhi's thoughts stirred. She stepped into the elevator first, casually taking a spot beside the woman.
Zhang Qiuyu was naturally sociable. Seeing such a cool older girl, she greeted her warmly right away:
“Hey beauty, are you new at the company upstairs? I don't think I've seen you before. Does your company not do overtime lately either?”
“That's right. I'm Qin Yue, an employee who recently joined Guote Technology upstairs.”
The woman smiled and replied, discreetly sizing up Nan Zhi before quickly pulling her gaze away.
In her early twenties, fair-skinned, with an upright demeanor. Her gaze was open and confident when looking at others, never avoiding eye contact.
Just like the dossier stated, she was a strong and independent good girl.
—In response to multiple domestic supernatural incidents, the state had established the Special Incident Investigation Section, and Qin Yue was the head of the Qianli City Special Investigation Team.
Even though Chen Ping had already concluded that Nan Zhi had nothing to do with the “Song Dynasty female ghost,” Qin Yue was still uneasy and decided to see her with her own eyes before making a judgment.
“I'm Nan Zhi, and this is my colleague Zhang Qiuyu. We're both from Yulu Media.”
Nan Zhi had noticed the other woman's gaze long ago, but didn't point it out. Putting away her phone, she naturally engaged Qin Yue in conversation:
“By the way, is yours a new company? We didn't seem to hear about it before.”
“Yeah, but it feels like your company is really wealthy, renting out so many floors at once. Security scanners, renovated elevators—the scale must be huge.”
Zhang Qiuyu chimed in as well:
“Hey, don't your company's employees use dedicated elevators for work? Why are you squeezing into the public elevator with us today?”
Qin Yue naturally wouldn't say she was here to verify something.
She merely smiled faintly and shook the helmet in her hand. “My bike is parked right beneath the building. This elevator is closer, and I was too lazy to walk those extra steps.”
“Ding—”
Just as she spoke, the elevator reached the ground floor. The coworkers filed out. Nan Zhi glanced at Qin Yue and saw her make an inviting gesture:
“Go ahead. I just remembered I forgot my bike key.”
“All right, see you next time.”
Nan Zhi smiled and said goodbye, stepping out of the elevator with Zhang Qiuyu. Though nothing showed on her face, alarms were sounding in her heart.
Was that person coming after her?
But for what?
Had she exposed herself somewhere?
Probably not.
Then it could only be for some other reason.
...
...
“Sister Zhi, Sister Zhi?”
Chen Jingui waved a hand in front of Nan Zhi, worry written on her face.
“You child, why have you been so absentminded these past two days, as if you've lost your soul?”
“It's nothing. I was just lost in thought and didn't hear you calling me, Mother.”
Snapping back to reality, Nan Zhi realized everyone at the dinner table was staring at her, so she quickly put on a smile:
“I actually have good news to share with you all. The rewards from the Demon Suppression Division for eliminating the demon tiger have arrived.
I've decided to join the Demon Suppression Division as an arrest officer. I'm afraid I'll be away from home much more often in the future.”
At the table, Chen Jingui, Nan Dazhuang, Nan Yi, and Nan Ye all wore surprised expressions, clearly not expecting it to happen so quickly.
“What?”
Nan Dazhuang's initial joy gave way to a furrowed brow.
“We know you're capable, but subduing demons is risking your life. What if you run into some terrifying demon...”
Chen Jingui spat three times in annoyance:
“Pui, pui, pui! Don't you utter such unlucky words! Our Sister Zhi is capable. Didn't you see the folks from the Demon Suppression Division come in person to invite our Sister Zhi to take an official post?”
Nan Zhi chuckled and explained:
“A demon suppressor is different from ordinary officials, but...
Mother isn't wrong either. Ordinary yamen catch heinous criminals who commit crimes and arson, while the Demon Suppression Division apprehends evil spirits and monsters throughout the world that break the laws and cross boundaries.”
“Women can become officials too?”
Nan Ye was far more intrigued by this. “Hearing Eldest Sister say that, are there quite a few female officials in the Demon Suppression Division?”
“Of course. Among the demon suppressors who met with me this time, there was a female arrest officer whose cultivation is even higher than mine.”
Nan Zhi flicked her forehead lightly and laughed:
“In the Demon Suppression Division, there are four branches: Arrest, Supervisory, Records, and Judicial. If you work hard, you might pass the exam for the Demon Suppression Division in the future and become a female Records official.”
Nan Ye’s eyes sparkled, truly taking Nan Zhi’s words to heart.
Nan Zhi said nothing more.
For an ancient woman to forge her own future was as difficult as scaling the heavens.
But if Sister Ye had the ambition to reach for it, as her elder sister, Nan Zhi would naturally support her with all her might.
As for Nan Yi...
Ever since she joined the Demon Suppression Division, without her even needing to ask, the yamen took the initiative to clear Nan Yi from the registry.
Registrar Hu had also taken Nan Yi in as a runner, merely having him sweep the yamen courtyard, air out case dossiers, and do light tasks.
He finished work early every day and still had time to come back and help Nan Dazhuang sell pork.
Although being a runner had no real prospects, it was enough for him to live out a safe and stable life.
—It also made it convenient for Nan Zhi to track Nan Yi's movements at any time and immediately spot anything amiss.
Consider it... disguised surveillance?
Meanwhile, the benefits of Nan Zhi making a name for herself in Dingyuan County previously began to show.
The Wang family had a haunting.
People from the Wang Mansion came looking for her right away.
Rate on N.U.
