How far could it be? Surely not on Mars, right? Even if it were on Mars, as long as he asked, she would help him. Though she didn′t have many abilities, traveling thousands of miles, flying over mountains and seas, was something she could still manage, albeit barely.

  But whenever the topic of going home came up, Ah Sheng always changed the subject.

  After several attempts, Gu Qiqi stopped asking. He had his reasons for not going home, and there was no need to press. This became a tacit understanding between them, not asking questions that might lead to unpleasantness.

  Things were good as they were now, sitting peacefully by each other's side, talking about the frog yaokai that cried and eventually bought two goldfish on credit, or about the fat woman next door who was always grumpy and fell into a drainage ditch, followed by ughter.

  “One day, I wish it could always be like this.” One day, after a good ugh, Gu Qiqi said this out of the blue. After a long pause, Ah Sheng replied, “I just want to see you.” Gu Qiqi felt a jolt in her heart.

  "Ha, I was just joking!" Ah Sheng made a face at her. "What if I can't eat after seeing you? I don't want to take that risk. You better keep covering yourself."

  Gu Qiqi forced a smile and ignored him. If you saw me, maybe... it wouldn't just be about not being able to eat. Perhaps the first time we locked eyes, it would be the st.

  The sound of insects on the summer night felt unsettling.

  The goldfish shop had been closed for three days.

  Gu Qiqi directly went to the house where Ah Sheng and Professor Xiao lived, near the alley.

  In the evening, she waited downstairs until Ah Sheng, supporting Professor Xiao, returned. He was holding a pstic bag with vegetables in it. When he saw her, Ah Sheng, looking a little tired, stopped and said nothing.

  "Alright... I admit I followed you," Gu Qiqi confessed first. She had indeed secretly followed Ah Sheng during some early morning before. It wasn't to prove anything nor to investigate something, but simply because, in case the goldfish shop was closed, at least she would have another pce to look for him.

  Ah Sheng gave a half-smile, with an expression that seemed to say, "I knew you would do something like this."

  "It's Qi Qi," Professor Xiao recognized her, knowing that she went to the shop every night to look for Ah Sheng. Politely, he said, "Come, come, let's go upstairs and sit."

  Gu Qiqi shook her head vigorously, her eyes fixed on Ah Sheng's face as she repeatedly said, "No, no, the goldfish shop hasn't been open for several days, so I just came to check... I was afraid... I was afraid something happened to you... uh, since everything's fine, I'll leave now."

  "Professor Xiao has a bad cold; I have to take care of him, so we haven't opened the shop," Ah Sheng said, helping Professor Xiao forward. "Anyway, you, with all your free time, should come up."

  "Tch!" Gu Qiqi was already used to his sharp tongue. With her curiosity growing, she followed them upstairs.

  The room was filled with books. On the shelves, on the table, even on the bed. A casual gnce showed that most of the books were reted to psychology and mysticism.

  Professor Xiao apologized as he cleared a space to sit, saying, "The house is a bit messy; sorry about that." Indeed, their home was messy, small like a pigeon cage. Apart from the bed and the table and chairs, there was an outdated bookshelf, and the pce could almost be called bare walls. A university professor′s home shouldn′t look like this. Gu Qiqi had met people in the same profession before, and while they might not have mansions or luxury cars, at least they had spacious and comfortable living spaces. How could it be so shabby?

  Ah Sheng casually pced the vegetables in the kitchen, and Gu Qiqi stood at the kitchen door, peering in as he expertly washed and chopped the vegetables.

  "Do your eyes really have a problem?" She watched his hands swiftly slicing the green asparagus into even pieces.

  "Aside from watching me cut vegetables, you can help tidy up the house," he said without looking up. "Otherwise you won't get any food."

  "I didn′t pn on having dinner at your pce, hmph." Gu Qiqi turned and walked away. With her true identity, she certainly wouldn′t dare eat in front of them!

  She walked back into the living room, and it seemed Professor Xiao had gone to the bathroom, as she could hear his coughing from inside. She walked over to the table, idly looking around, about to sit down when she bumped into the edge of the table. The gss of water that Professor Xiao had poured for her tipped over, spilling across the table and quickly soaking a pile of documents.

  In a hurry, she pulled the papers up and frantically wiped at the water on the table, but in doing so, she knocked a thick bck leather-bound book from the pile, and it fell open onto the floor. She quickly bent down to pick it up, brushing off the dust, but her disordered gaze happened to fall on a page filled with chaotic writing and symbols—

  April 28th, Test Subject: Ah Sheng, Age: 15, Gender: Male, Test Project: Potassium Oxide Pharmacological Response...

  "Put that down!" A loud shout came, and Professor Xiao, who had somehow appeared in front of her, snatched the bck leather book from her hands. His face showed an unusual mix of anger and panic, but he quickly softened his tone and began to stutter an expnation: "What I mean is, you... you can't just touch these. They're in a specific order; messing them up is very troublesome."

  "Sorry, Professor Xiao, I didn't mean to."

  She "politely declined" Ah Sheng's offer to stay for dinner and, in the face of his slightly confused expression, fled their house as if escaping.

  Test subject... potassium oxide... These two phrases hammered into her mind like sledgehammers. Although she hadn′t read much, she at least knew what "test subject" meant and understood that potassium oxide was a poison capable of causing rapid death in humans.

  Professor Xiao was not from a medical background; he was an associate professor in the literature department of a rather obscure university, with a keen interest in the study of the occult. How could a professor from such a humanities background be involved in something like potassium oxide pharmacological reactions? She suddenly felt that it was her duty to find out what was going on. For Ah Sheng′s sake. Seeing the words "test subject" sent a chill down her spine.

  In Professor Xiao′s home, Ah Sheng set the table, gncing at the door from time to time, thinking about the hurried figure of Gu Qiqi fleeing earlier. He smiled slightly and then turned back, casually calling into the inner room, "Professor Xiao, dinner′s ready."

  Today, all the residents who had been to the small pza near the neighborhood were talking about a strange occurrence. Overnight, three life-sized stone statues had mysteriously appeared on the square. They resembled young men, and not only were the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth sculpted with incredible lifelike detail, even the folds in the clothing were so vivid, it looked as if the fabric might flutter in the wind.

  The three statues stood close to the flowerbed, positioned as if half-lying on the ground, each with their mouths open and eyes wide in terror, their outstretched hands seemingly trying to fend off something approaching. If it weren't for the genuine stone material, anyone who saw them would have thought they were three living men, marveling at the sculptor′s extraordinary skill.

  However, despite their interesting appearance, the statues were ultimately deemed an obstruction to public space and were removed by the urban management authorities.

  The small pza, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, soon returned to its usual calm. After dinner, people continued their walks and their conversations, and some continued to discuss the strange stone statues. Some cimed the statues looked very familiar, resembling the idlers from the nearby street, with a sense of mystery hanging in the air.

  Zhong Xiaokui watched as the urban management vehicle drove away, a troubled expression on his face.

  "Uncle Chi, Uncle Mo, please spare me... I really can't handle that task. You two can deal with it yourselves, right? There's no need to drag me into it." He begged, bowing his head to the red-haired man and the bck-haired man fnking him.

  Chi Feng pushed aside a strand of red hair that blocked his view and furrowed his brows. "As Wang feared, it has happened."

  "Now that the target location has been confirmed, there's no time to dey," Mo Song said, gripping Zhong Xiaokui's shoulder firmly. "Kid, you're the only one who can handle this."

  "Uncle Mo, I've never even killed a chicken!" Zhong Xiaokui looked up at the bck-haired man towering over him with a pitiful expression, his voice trembling. "You guys... you want me to kill someone! Please, I've fed you, housed you, and even gave you all those game walkthroughs for free! Please, let me go!"

  "That's not a person!" Chi Feng interrupted him mercilessly.

  "That's not entirely accurate," Mo Song scratched his head, saying a string of complicated words. "Although it's not exactly human, it is currently in the form of a person."

  "That's not the point at all! The point is, people are already turning into stone statues! If we don't act now, more people will suffer, and if we don't stop it, the human world will fall into chaos." Chi Feng's voice rose in urgency.

  "Which part of what I said isn't the point? Watch your tone when you speak to me!" Mo Song retorted, his patience running thin.

  The two men argued back and forth for a while, and just as Zhong Xiaokui was about to make a run for it, his shoulders were seized by two strong hands. The two men exchanged a look, and Mo Song announced to him, "In short, Wang has given the order for you, Zhong Xiaokui, to take action and bring the soul stone back to the underworld. If the other side resists, kill them without mercy!"

  "Help! I don't want to! I love peace! I..."

  "Hmph, what a fool who can't tell right from wrong! Looks like we′ll have to teach you a good lesson!"

  In the setting sun, Zhong Xiaokui kicked his legs, being dragged away by Chi Feng and Mo Song.