The next morning when she woke up, after Xia Zhiming kissed Qi Xu, she ran off again. Sometimes Qi Xu thought that she really wanted to ask Xia Zhiming what she was so busy with all day long. But Xia Zhiming had told her not to ask, and she had promised, so she could only obediently keep her word.
In the afternoon, Qi Xu sat in front of her laptop, propping her chin with her left hand while her right hand tapped away at the keyboard one-fingered style. She was spacing out, her eyes unfocused and not landing anywhere specific. After writing the report for a long time, she suddenly seemed to think of something and felt herself perk up again.
Xia Zhiming wouldn’t tell her, and she had promised not to ask, but she could still go find someone else! The Vice Bureau Chief seemed shrewd and calculating, and knew a lot. Plus, the Vice Bureau Chief looked even younger than Qi Xu appearance-wise, which gave Qi Xu more confidence in getting intel from her!
With this carrot dangling in front of her, Qi Xu wrote the report incredibly fast and finished it on just the second day back. She didn’t post it directly to the forum either, but wanted the Vice Bureau Chief to take a look first.
After the Vice Bureau Chief agreed, she grabbed her laptop and headed straight to the Third Bureau headquarters. This was her first time there since starting the job. The security booth at the entrance still had that same distrustful old woman. Her pair of cloudy eyes scrutinized Qi Xu for a long time until Qi Xu belatedly pulled out her employee ID, at which point the old woman let her through.
This time entering the Third Bureau, it didn’t turn into some other dimension like before, but instead led to a normal factory front desk. There was no one at the front desk, though. Qi Xu called out for a bit when suddenly a black cat jumped out from behind the desk.
The cat was pitch black all over, but with a pair of emerald green eyes. It had a sleek, agile build and was particularly beautiful. Qi Xu made some “tsu tsu tsu” kissing noises, then carefully reached under its chin to scratch, petting it for quite a while before realizing she still had business to attend to.
Qi Xu sighed at the black cat. “I have no idea where the Vice Bureau Chief is.”
The black cat flicked its ears, pulled away from her hand, stretched lazily, hopped nimbly to the ground, and headed inside. Qi Xu blinked, thinking the kitty didn’t want to play with her anymore. But the cat looked back at her, as if to say, “Why haven’t you followed yet?”
Qi Xu then realized this cat was leading her the way.
The Spiritual Countermeasures Bureau’s cats were something else— incredibly perceptive.
Qi Xu followed the black cat for a stretch until it stopped. She looked up and saw the sign for the Vice Bureau Chief’s office. When she looked down to thank it, the black cat had already vanished without a trace.
What a guide cat.
Qi Xu sighed in admiration, then knocked on the Vice Bureau Chief’s office door. A voice from inside said “Come in,” and Qi Xu twisted the doorknob before entering. Seeing the Vice Bureau Chief still gave her a strong sense of unreality.
The Vice Bureau Chief had her eyes closed, brows furrowed, yet she was typing at the screen, which felt utterly absurd.
After Qi Xu sat down in front of her, she turned her head toward Qi Xu, giving her the illusion of being “watched.”
“So what exactly did you come to find me for?”
There were just too many smart people in this world. Qi Xu hadn’t said anything yet, but the Vice Bureau Chief already knew she wasn’t there just for the supposed “help checking the report.”
Her intentions pierced, Qi Xu felt a momentary embarrassment, but thinking of her questions, she still laid it all out honestly, including what Tiger Granny had said that day.
“Oh…”
The Vice Bureau Chief responded, acknowledging it. Qi Xu continued, “So I want to know, what exactly is a fate constellation? And what makes mine so special?”
The Vice Bureau Chief pushed her keyboard aside a bit and faced Qi Xu, first having her pour a cup of water. Qi Xu did so. After the Vice Bureau Chief drank and moistened her throat, she began. “This thing called a fate constellation—in our ancestors’ teachings—is the star chart formed by the exact same arrangement of stars in the heavens from the day you were born. By observing the stars, you observe one’s fate.”
“So, the birth chart is actually extremely important for a person.”
The Vice Bureau Chief’s “gaze” seemed to scan over Qi Xu. “But honestly, you can’t believe everything Tiger Granny said. When you joined, Xia Zhiming told me your fate constellation was very unique, which is why you’re so strong after turning half-ghost. I was curious, and in modern society, a lot of info is public. Finding your birth date and even time of birth wasn’t hard, so I checked it out and did the calculations myself.”
Hearing this, Qi Xu felt a bit tense.
But then the Vice Bureau Chief paused again, picked up the water Qi Xu had poured, and took another sip. Only after finishing did she continue.
“But when I calculated it, your fate constellation—hmm, nothing special. Just a completely ordinary one, even the kind that foretells an early death.”
“…” Qi Xu’s mouth fell open, unsure what to say for a moment. Her first instinct was doubt. She wondered if the Vice Bureau Chief was telling the truth. After all, given her current situation—the ghosts’ attitudes toward her, Xia Zhiming’s cryptic behavior—it all pointed to her fate constellation being truly unusual.
But the Vice Bureau Chief had no reason to lie to her. They barely interacted; she was just her nominal superior.
And one thing did match up—the “early death” part.
Without Xia Zhiming, wouldn’t she have died young? Dead at twenty!
For a moment, Qi Xu didn’t know what to say. She could only agree and thank the Vice Bureau Chief for clearing it up. Though this “clearing up” left her as puzzled as before, if not more. The Vice Bureau Chief said not to believe Tiger Granny, but Tiger Granny had no reason to deceive her either.
Qi Xu prepared to leave, even forgetting her original excuse about having the Vice Bureau Chief check the report. But the Vice Bureau Chief stopped her. As she turned back from the doorway, she heard, “But one thing you need to watch out for. Tiger Granny taking a fancy to your fate constellation and seeking you out specifically is real.”
“All those things it did before—it’s very possible it knew about someone like you long ago and has been coveting you, so it stirred up trouble everywhere. But stirring up trouble everywhere also means one thing: it knew someone like you existed but didn’t know where you were, so it cast a wide net to catch more fish.”
“If that’s the case, you need to be extra careful yourself. It’s not the first, and definitely not the last. There will be endless incidents targeting you from now on.”
“…Thank you.” Qi Xu thanked her sincerely again, slung on her little backpack, left the Third Bureau, and prepared to take the subway. Her mind was preoccupied, so she was a bit dazed, but she still dodged people to avoid bumping into them.
As she walked toward the subway station, someone from the roadside called out to her. Turning her head, she saw a Daoist fortune-teller with a white banner, set up at a little stall. His banner read four big characters—Eight Trigrams Fortune-Telling.
“Hey, yes, you, young lady. I’m calling you.”
Qi Xu pointed at herself to confirm the Daoist was addressing her, then slowly walked over. He put on a show of pinching his fingers to calculate, then said in a low voice, “Young lady, your fate constellation is truly one of a kind.”
“…”
If it were before, Qi Xu might have found some way to probe further about what made her fate constellation different. But now, she had gotten smarter and sensed something off.
—This wasn’t right. She’d just asked about her fate constellation, and now someone was waiting on her usual route, quietly blocking her to say exactly this. Especially right after the Vice Bureau Chief warned her to be careful, and now some weirdo latched onto her.
Qi Xu instinctively felt this guy was trouble.
Mom had said not to talk to strangers for no reason. As a good kid, Qi Xu definitely listened to Mom. So she just smiled and calculated, deciding not to linger but head home instead.
The Daoist called from behind, “Your face is like blooming peaches and plums with smiling eyes, yang energy sharply declining and yin energy rising, red luan star in motion—it’s the look of a peach blossom calamity! Soon your fated one will meet you, young lady! Don’t disbelieve me!”
He said so much, which only made Qi Xu believe him less. Either a scammer trying to con money, or someone really after her life. Qi Xu ran faster.
When Xia Zhiming got back that evening, Qi Xu recounted what the Daoist had said. Xia Zhiming sneered. “What a peach blossom calamity.” She glanced at Qi Xu but latched onto another point. “Why did you go to the Third Bureau for no reason?”
Qi Xu hemmed and hawed, unable to speak up. Under Xia Zhiming’s pressure, she finally spilled the truth. Hearing that Qi Xu hadn’t dared ask her but went to the Vice Bureau Chief instead, Xia Zhiming’s smile grew colder. She scoffed. “Some nerve.”
She said it, she scolded, but when it was time to kiss, she still kissed. Qi Xu couldn’t win against Xia Zhiming anywhere else, so she put her efforts here. When Xia Zhiming leaned in to kiss, Qi Xu turned the tables, taking the lead, pressing Xia Zhiming onto the sofa and kissing her fiercely.
These past few days she’d gone to Rowboat Mountain and then had to write the report, so Qi Xu hadn’t properly “studied” for a while. But once their lips met, the results of her recent studies popped into her mind unbidden. Qi Xu couldn’t help but grow restless.
Her hands weren’t very well-behaved. They stealthily lifted Xia Zhiming’s clothes, trying to slip inside the thin summer garment. Xia Zhiming slapped her hand away and glared at her.
When their lips finally parted, Xia Zhiming was so annoyed she reached out to pinch Qi Xu’s cheek. “No nerve anywhere else, but when it comes to this stuff, you’ve got plenty of guts.”
With her face tugged, Qi Xu’s words came out muffled. “You’re the one who told me to study properly!”
“I told you to study, not to practice!”
“Unreasonable!”
Xia Zhiming kneaded and pinched Qi Xu thoroughly until she cried “Ow ow ow, I know I was wrong, I won’t do it again,” before letting go of her hand.
