Chapter 59 – Cooking a meal

Chapter 59 – Cooking a meal
Translator: Xena

Huge thanks to reader Masha for always commenting! Thank you for reading~~~<3 This chap is for you!

What kind of… relationship?

Upon hearing this question, Jian Xie froze for a moment.

Though a certain premonition stirred within him, it seemed too sudden and too vague for him to make a definitive judgment immediately.

“……”

Though Jian Xie hadn’t said a word yet, by observing the subtle shifts in his expression, Qin Zhuo already responded with a smile. 【I understand.】

The words were whispered into his ear while leaning in to gently bite his ear in a slightly punishing manner.

Though it didn’t hurt, the tingling sensation shooting up his spine was unbearable, like some psychological trick. The next instant, Jian Xie felt his earlobe slip into It’s mouth. Lips and teeth warmly grinded together, as if savoring it slowly.

The strange sensation jolted him back to his senses as if struck by lightning. He spun around, ready to push Qin Zhuo away, but a low chuckle reached his ears. The evil god had already dissolved into a cloud of black mist behind him, dispersing between his fingers.

Even as it seeped through his fingers, the black mist lingered suggestively against his fingertips, revealing an indescribable tenderness.

【You can take your time deciding,】 It said lazily, 【but I need to collect some interest upfront.】

Only It could make such a forceful statement sound perfectly natural.

Jian Xie: “……”

Caught off guard, he struggled for nearly a minute. By then, most pedestrians on the street had already dispersed, and those who passed by all gave him surprised looks.

Because they couldn’t see Qin Zhuo, Jian Xie’s sudden stop at the crosswalk seemed very strange to them, arousing their curiosity.

I’m almost used to it…

He reached up to pinch his flushed earlobes and cast his downward the ground, quietly waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

As he walked the crosswalk, the sky took on an unnatural yellow hue.

When Jian Xie reached the other side of the road, he stopped and looked up at the sky.

Like a sandstorm was passing through.

The eerie, gloomy weather and the crowd exuding a low-pressure atmosphere were filled with an ominous aura that made one involuntarily frown.

Qin Zhuo noticed him looking up at the sky, yet said nothing. It seemed that whatever might happen in such weather was entirely within It’s control, which was why It remained utterly unconcerned.

Of course, it could also be that It simply didn’t take the matter seriously…

Since that was the case, Jian Xie didn’t dwell on it any longer.

【Let’s have fish today.】 A pleasant voice suddenly reached his ears. 【It’s been a while since you’ve made that.】

Jian Xie, who was abruptly snapped back to reality: “…”

[Why?]

How did we suddenly jump to eating?

Qin Zhuo’s sudden change of subject left him completely caught off guard. He genuinely couldn’t follow the thread, and a wave of profound confusion washed over him.

After losing my parents, I had to watch every penny.

Because takeout was expensive while ingredients were cheap, he learned to cook at an early age. Fish, however, wasn’t particularly cheap, so he bought it less often.

But why did Qin Zhuo suddenly bring this up…

Jian Xie paused briefly, then scanned the people around him. He quickly caught on to what was going on—

The person at the front of the line was carrying a pre-prepared sea bass from the supermarket. It looked quite appealing and should be fresh and delicious when cooked.

【Because, in a way,】 Qin Zhuo clicked his tongue, displeased that Jian Xie was ignoring the connection between them. 【We share a mutual understanding.】

Jian Xie: “……”

So what this really means is… It wanted to eat fish?

Kind of cute.

Of course, he would never utter such words aloud. The thought flashed through his mind only briefly, wary that the evil god might overhear his rather irreverent assessment.

Jian Xie felt that this request wasn’t impossible to fulfill.

So he made a U-turn at the crosswalk, took a detour to the nearest supermarket to buy ingredients for cooking, and headed home carrying the bag.

Of course, carrying it was just for show.

Ever since Qin Zhuo discovered It could help him carry things, It’d grown increasingly adept at it, never once making him exert himself.

The new home wasn’t too far from the original neighborhood. Presumably considering Jian Xie’s daily commute to class, Qin Zhuo had deliberately chosen a residence close to the school.

If Jian Xie hadn’t been working part-time and unable to get a driver’s license, they would have had more options.

Unlike the apartment building where he had previously lived, Jian Xie could simply swipe his card to enter the gated community, where he could take in the view of villas nestled among gardens. Not only were these homes built at considerable expense, but the greenery and flowers planted before their doors were a delight to the eye, and provided refreshingly clean air.

It was similar to the the class president’s villa before.

Jian Xie still hadn’t gotten used to living in a place like this.

Although the public facilities in the old residential building weren’t great, at least he lived on a high floor. While the two-story villa before him looked quite nice with its bright floor-to-ceiling windows, it always gave him a false sense of lack of security and lack of privacy. It seemed as though outsiders could just casually climb in if they wanted to.

With these thoughts in mind, he walked to the villa entrance, intending to go in and rest for a while.

However, just as Jian Xie passed through the waist-high shrubbery encircling the doorway, a figure suddenly appeared within his field of vision.

She stood at the door in a white dress, her back to him, glancing left and right from time to time as if wary of some danger.

Then, she tilted her head back to gaze at the dim sky, her fingers clenched tightly around the hem of her skirt.

“……”

Jian Xie halted in his tracks.

Hearing the sound behind her, she quickly turned around, revealing a delicate and unblemished face.

Meanwhile, her short, cropped haircut styled like a boy’s added a touch of masculinity to her appearance, lending her an androgynous demeanor. Were it not for the skirt she wore, one would struggle to discern her gender at first glance.

“…Are you Jian Xie?” Her expression was wary, her body tense. “I’ve been waiting for you for a while.” 

A stranger came knocking on his door and called him by name, yet Jian Xie showed little reaction.

“Mm.”

Upon hearing the affirmative answer, her expression finally softened a little.

She had never laid eyes on this youth before and have only heard vague rumors circulating within the Bureau. However, the moment he appeared before her, despite being dressed in his casual clothes and jeans and completely lacking any investigator aura, her intuition was screaming at one thing—

This youth carried an sinister aura of the dead that she had never sensed in any other investigator.

That was precisely why his insight value was absolutely nothing to sneeze at!

A wave of emotion swept through her, and she instinctively froze in place.

After a long moment, she finally composed herself and lifted her head again, saying, “Sorry, just double-checking—I’m a bit uneasy about those Special A-level monsters. They can be deceiving sometimes… May I see your employee ID card?” 

ID card?

Oh.

No wonder they gave him his ID card so early—it turns out the head of the investigation department not only believed he would accept the contract, but had already arranged his first assignment long before.

Jian Xie glanced at her. “Are you my partner?” 

Upon hearing this, she nodded hesitantly and said, “You could… put it that way.” 

Jian Xie pulled his ID card from his pocket but didn’t hand it to her, instead, he simply held it up for her to glance at.

But the moment she looked down and saw the solitary number 7 on the card, her previously composed expression finally crumbled, giving way to the same look of astonishment as Cheng Li’s.

Then, an uncontrollable surge of ecstasy welled up inside her.

We’re saved!

No wonder Minister Zhang sent her—with her high insight value—to seek help from a complete newcomer with no record. If this ID card symbolizing identity was genuine, then perhaps she really could evade capture and avoid being torn apart by those terrifying monsters.

But she still retained a sliver of reason. “Just a moment.” 

She pulled out her phone, logged into the intranet, and with trembling fingers, entered the number 7 she had just seen.

Generally, ID cards feature a unique identification number.

This differed from the employee name tags displayed on suits.

Due to department transfers, demotions, or other circumstances, investigators may update their business card information at any time. However, the ID card number assigned upon joining the Bureau remained with the investigator permanently. Even after death, this sequence of numbers do not vanish with the employee, it merely fades into obscurity.

In short, it could be regarded as the ID number of the underworld.

Because the mission was approved, her interface smoothly progressed to the next step, displaying that she had access to Investigator No. 7’s basic information.

[Name: Jian Xie
Level: ???
Current Status: Alive]

The final status would be updated at any time, also to prevent monsters from exploiting ID cards after an investigator’s death.

Verified and confirmed.

It’s just… this level…

Why was it question marks?

She had long heard the rumors and had access to the fall recruitment newcomers’ files. As far as she knew, Jian Xie’s rank was an unprecedented S-level, which was terrifying enough. Yet the internal network actually displayed his rank as… question marks?

Could it be that his S-level was deliberately downgraded just to make it seem acceptable to everyone?!

S-level was already terrifying enough. If it surpassed S…

She really didn’t know whether he should be considered an investigator or if he was actually some kind of being that transcended humanity.

……

Seeing her staring at her phone for a long time without speaking and expression shifting constantly, Jian Xie said, “Is there a problem?” 

Hearing this, she finally snapped back to her senses, took a deep breath, and put her phone away.

She didn’t want to think about it any deeper, lest she find herself unable to speak naturally with the other person going forward, especially since she now depended on him for her very survival.

“I don’t know what the mission is.” Jian Xie’s expression remained impassive as he spoke in a flat tone. “Please give me the documents, or explain it as concisely as possible.” 

“It isn’t a mission.” Her voice trembled. 

Upon hearing this, Jian Xie frowned.

“This is a special request approved by the head of the investigation department.”

Jian Xie: “…What’s going on?”

“My name is Lu Xueye. A Special A-level Investigator from the [Investigation Department].” Lu Xueye stared intently at him, her eyes betraying extreme terror despite her desperate attempts to remain calm. “I’m being hunted by a monster right now. I don’t know when it will catch up to me. I hope you can help me!”

A week ago, she would never have imagined that a Special A-level monster would seek her out specifically to seek revenge.

Yet when her brother, who was also a Special A-level investigator, met a tragic end before her eyes, she was forced to confront this reality.

This was her trump card.

Everyone knew there were only three Special A-level individuals, but what they didn’t realize was that there were actually four true Special A-level individuals.

She and her brother were both Special A-level investigators, yet they could only be counted as one Special A-level investigator because of their prop—

[Stand-in: As long as the original body remained alive, no matter how severely injured the Stand-in may be, it can heal within seconds, achieving immortality.]

She and her younger brother were each other’s stand-ins.

On the very day she went on duty, the fragile younger brother she had protected as the stand-in in the safe house was found by the monsters…

It was precisely for this reason that her prop was violently destroyed, her immortality lost, and she now stands utterly defenseless, a lamb led to the slaughter.

Unsurprisingly, she was the monster’s next target was her.

If only she hadn’t interrupted that freakish monster meeting when she was on a mission in the first three zones, she wouldn’t be facing their revenge now…

But now, no amount of regret would do any good.

Lu Xueye noticed Jian Xie still had no expression even after she explained the entire incident, and  couldn’t help but grow anxious. She pressed for an answer, “Will you be safe if I come to you? What should we do next? Should we find a place to hide? They could come at any moment…”  

Unexpectedly, Jian Xie glanced at her.

Only then did Lu Xueye notice the side dishes he was carrying, with live fish still leaping and struggling inside the bag. This extremely mundane scene caused her mind to drift momentarily.

Then, Jian Xie’s voice came through calmly. “There’s no rush, just let me cook something first.” 

“……”

Author’s Note:

Qin Zhuo: Tsk, freeloader.