Qi Xin put down her pen and looked up, gazing out the window beside her.
Outside, an old tree with dense foliage grew remarkably close to the glass. Its branches intertwined, spreading like blood vessels, some slender, some thick. Shadows fell in layers among the deep green leaves. The tree trunk was covered in cracks, like the skin of a weathered elder. She narrowed her eyes slightly, letting the cool wind gust through the gaps in the window. The heating in the library was turned up too high; this kind of cold, enough to jolt the spirit awake, suited her much better.
“What’s wrong?” Tian Xi, sitting opposite her, asked. “Is the heating too much?”
Qi Xin shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“You seem a bit distracted,” Tian Xi paused briefly. “What, did you see your sister at the Su Family’s place?”
“It wasn’t quite a meeting,” Qi Xin denied. “I didn’t see her, but she probably saw me.”
“You mean that disappearance incident in the archives room, the one mentioned in Miss Li’s report?” Tian Xi guessed quickly, her expression curious. “So, you know more details about what happened. Care to share?”
“If you’re that curious, you can just go look up my first interrogation record,” Qi Xin said flatly.
“You mean your initial statement?” Tian Xi paused, thinking back, finally remembering. She summarized, “So, you weren’t lying at the very beginning. You really were suddenly trapped inside a pitch-black, sealed wooden coffin in the restroom of that Shaxian Snacks place. Then, you inexplicably managed to pull the door open. Beyond it was a very long path with a long stretch of white cloth on the ground. You walked to the end, where there was another door. Pulling it open, you suddenly found yourself in the main hall of the Pingjiang Execution Group Two?”
Her expression became a little strange. No wonder Miss Li hadn’t taken it seriously. The story sounded absolutely absurd on the face of it. Even as a lie, it would have been the laziest one imaginable, more like a deliberate fabrication meant as an insult, a blatant mockery of the interrogator’s intelligence.
“You all thought that was just some nonsense I made up to mess with you?” Qi Xin shook her head. “I said from the very beginning: all of it is true. I don’t lie.”
Tian Xi pondered for a moment before asking, “Let’s assume we skip past the question of whether it’s true or not—hypothetically, let’s say it is. But don’t you care about why any of this happened? After that incident, you never once asked a single question about it.”
Qi Xin didn’t answer. She just retracted her gaze and picked up her pen again. Tian Xi was about to say something else when she noticed two familiar figures entering the library from the corner of her eye. It was Li Yuan and Fang Qi.
“Miss Li, good afternoon,” Tian Xi chuckled softly, raising a hand in greeting. “The interrogation seems like tough work. Why not let me give it a try? Give me an hour. Whatever I ask, they’ll answer willingly.”
Li Yuan’s brow furrowed deeply. She said in a low voice, “You’re proud of that?”
Tian Xi nodded with a light laugh. “Of course. Isn’t that the reason you spared my life?”
“First of all, ‘spared your life’ is not the phrasing you should use. You are currently atoning for your crimes through meritorious service. You are still in a state of restricted detention,” Li Yuan’s tone was stiff. “Secondly, your current duty is not to keep acting like a Lake Cutter. It’s to prevent other Executors from being affected by Lake Cutters. Please be clear on what you should and shouldn’t be doing, Miss Tian.”
“Ah, I see. I stand duly corrected, Miss Li,” Tian Xi smiled. “So, shall I give it a try?”
Fang Qi sighed, pressing his hand to his forehead. He really couldn’t understand why Tian Xi always resorted to such cheap provocations. And Li Yuan, usually so calm and rational, took the bait perfectly every single time. Seeing Li Yuan’s anger about to boil over, he felt he had to speak up. He reminded Tian Xi, “You understand you are not permitted to actively use your Syndrome, right?”
“Don’t worry, Officer Fang. I was just asking,” Tian Xi smiled, then looked at Li Yuan. “Oh, right. To head off Miss Li asking why I’m even here, let me explain first: Qi Xin asked me to help her tutor in English.”
Seeing Qi Xin nod in confirmation, Li Yuan’s tone softened. “There’s something I need you for. Am I interrupting your studying?”
Qi Xin shook her head. “It’s fine. I could use a break anyway.”
Li Yuan nodded, watching as the girl tidied her books back into her backpack. After saying goodbye to Tian Xi and Fang Qi, she led Qi Xin out of the library.
“What is it?” Qi Xin asked.
“Going to a meeting somewhere,” Li Yuan said, taking her car keys from her bag. She considered her words carefully before continuing. “You can think of it as… let me find a good analogy. Your school probably has those direct admission slots, right? Consider it a direct admission slot, but for Executors.”
This idea had actually been Fang Qi’s suggestion. His reasoning was that with such a placement, Qi Xin would have an income. Smart, mature children like her often had strong pride. Without an official title, she’d likely feel like she was freeloading. Li Yuan thought Fang Qi had a point—no wonder he was a reliable man nearing forty. He thought things through more thoroughly. But she was a little apprehensive, worried Qi Xin might see this as pulling strings behind the scenes and feel uncomfortable.
She thought for a moment and added, “Actually, you could just wait a year until you’re of age, then take the exam and definitely pass. But if you get this placement, you’ll basically count as an Executor in the system right now, with pay.”
This was the truth. With Qi Xin’s current record, she was a prize talent they’d never let slip away, especially after the practical assessment she’d completed just days ago. Her performance in that assessment had been practically flawless. Applying for the placement now was just a formality.
Qi Xin nodded, then suddenly stopped.
“Qi Ran!”
She heard a girl’s voice behind her. Turning around, she saw a girl she had never met before. The stranger ran down the stairs, her expression intensely agitated, her fair cheeks flushed bright red. In her haste, she nearly stumbled and fell headfirst, but Qi Xin reached out and steadied the staggering girl, preventing a painful tumble.
“I’m not Qi Ran.”
Qi Xin spoke calmly, but the girl didn’t loosen her grip at all. She just held Qi Xin tightly, as if terrified that loosening her hold for even a second would make her vanish.
“I’m so sorry for the trouble,” the man from the staircase jogged down, sighing helplessly. He shook hands with both Qi Xin and Li Yuan. “This is my daughter, Xu Yan. She seems to have been affected by a Lake Cutter. I brought her to see if Miss Tian could take a look… Xiao Yan, be good, don’t cause trouble for people like this.”
“Lake Cutter?” Li Yuan paused at the keyword in the man’s explanation. “What happened?”
“Not too long ago, her class teacher from school called me. She said Xiao Yan was acting strange. She suddenly went to the teacher and said two of her friends were missing… she even gave full names. Said it was a boy and a girl. One called Liu Xu, one called Qi Ran. She said that girl named Qi Ran even stayed at our house for a while,” the man said, looking pained. “The problem is, there are absolutely no students with those names at that school. I don’t remember any girl named Qi Ran ever living with us either. But Xiao Yan is absolutely adamant. So I thought, it might be a Lake Cutter-related case. I wanted to see if Miss Tian could take a look… If it can be resolved directly, that would be for the best.”
He looked at Xu Yan, who was still clinging tightly to the girl, and his tone grew slightly stern. “Xiao Yan…”
“I’m not Qi Ran,” Qi Xin looked at the man, signaling him to wait a moment. She then looked down and said gently to the girl, “I am her older sister. My name is Qi Xin. Do you remember if she dyed her hair? You can look at my hair. Our hair is different. If you want to find her, I have her contact information.”
The girl named Xu Yan managed to calm down with some effort. She examined Qi Xin’s hair. After confirming it was pure, undyed black, she hesitantly let go, her voice a little hoarse. “I’m sorry. You’re Qi Ran’s older sister? I’ve heard her mention you, but I didn’t expect you to look so alike. Could I trouble you to give me her contact information?”
“You don’t have her contact info?” Qi Xin asked.
Hearing this question, the girl seemed unable to hold back any longer. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over. “The contact info… it all just disappeared. All the photos I had before now only show me. Every single way to contact her is gone. I went to her house and knocked, but no one answered… I even found my old classmate address book, but all the names changed to names I don’t recognize. The middle school listed is one I’ve never even heard of. Everything changed. Everything turned strange.”
