◎This is Phosphorescence, Not Superpowers◎
In the blink of an eye, the blue light shot out toward Xiao Li. Just a second before it would have hit him, a talisman flew out and blocked it. At the point where the talisman met the blue light, sparks flew with a crackling sound from the clash of forces, then both forces dissipated instantly into the air.
Seeing that his attack had failed, the man instinctively tried to escape, but before he could move, a casually dressed man suddenly lunged forward, twisted his arm, and locked his hands in handcuffs.
It wasn’t until everyone patted him on the shoulder, praising him for a job well done, that Xiao Li’s heartbeat began to settle. Being new to the job, he was still a little shy about the compliments and scratched his head as he asked, “Was that blue light his superpower?”
Fortunately, Xing Chu had thrown the talisman in time to block the blue light, otherwise, Xiao Li would have been injured. The blue light looked strange, but it was no match for the talisman.
Before Xing Chu could answer, Meng Yu scoffed, “What superpowers? He was holding a small bottle the whole time. It contained phosphine gas, a colorless, odorless gas with a very low ignition point that can spontaneously ignite when exposed to air at room temperature.”
He crouched down, picked up a small shard of glass with his bare hands, and continued, “He preloaded the bottle with phosphine. When he swung at Xiao Li, he crushed the bottle, causing the phosphine inside to ignite and produce the blue flame you all mistook for superpowers.”
The shards of glass that fell when the bottle broke weren’t exactly hidden. It’s just that the team members had all been focused on the blue light and the talisman, so they hadn’t noticed.
This straightforward explanation left the team blinking in surprise. Even Xing Chu helplessly massaged his forehead. Although it had been explained beforehand that Meng Yu, assigned to cooperate with them, was an atheist who didn’t believe in any supernatural phenomena, and that he was mentally prepared, he turned out to be even more steadfast than expected.
Xing Chu patted Xiao Li on the shoulder to ease the tension: “You played that scene well just now, really arrogant and overbearing.”
Xiao Li looked down at the shards on the ground, still not sure whether the blue light had been a superpower or just phosphorescence, and thought about how he had so eagerly asked about superpowers earlier, feeling a little embarrassed.
Even Meng Yu’s expression and tone made him feel like a naïve, immature teen whom Meng Yu wanted to guide back to the right path.
Meng Yu handed the man over to Xing Chu: “Since he’s your criminal, you take him away.”
Even though, in his view, the man’s so-called superpowers were just a chemical trick, and his previous crimes were real and concrete, meaning he should have been taken to the police station, since the investigation bureau insisted he had superpowers, Meng Yu didn’t insist on taking him himself.
Xing Chu gave him a grateful look. Fortunately, he hadn’t tried to forcibly take the suspect, or it would have been awkward to explain back at the bureau.
After ordering a few people to escort the man back to the investigation bureau, Xing Chu leisurely left the shop, pretending to be casually looking around.
His master, Qiu Zhan Bin, had predicted that today on Antique Street, in addition to the criminal they were after, there would also be a great opportunity.
However, he didn’t know whether the opportunity would involve a person or an object, or the exact location, it could only be found by chance.
Unexpectedly, just as they stepped out of the shop, Meng Yu suddenly dashed toward a nearby alley. Xing Chu hurried after him and saw a greasy-faced man reaching toward a woman with ill intent.
Meng Yu had noticed the man by chance and recognized him as resembling someone who had recently been detained for harassing women. Seeing that there was also a girl following him, Meng Yu instinctively chased after him to see what was happening.
Unexpectedly, it really was the same man, but this time, things went differently.
Before his hand could reach her, the girl delivered a fierce kick and snarled, “Tch, I knew you weren’t a good person. The shop I’m looking for is clearly on the main street, but you tried to drag me into this alley. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to be fooled?”
That girl was Zhong Yao. She had wandered around Antique Street for half an hour and still hadn’t found the shop where Qian You Tong had the accident, when she happened to encounter this man.
He claimed he knew where the shop was and offered to lead her there. Although she found his gaze sleazy and didn’t look trustworthy, she thought appearances could be deceiving, so she decided to follow him. She didn’t expect that as soon as they entered the deserted alley, his hands would try to grope her.
Zhong Yao had studied taekwondo with Si Ning Qing for several years, which gave her the confidence to walk with him and fight back immediately. She kicked him straight away.
Seeing Zhong Yao’s swift counterattack, Meng Yu relaxed. Upon closer inspection, it really was the same man, the pervert who had just been released from detention a few days ago.
The man instinctively reached for his lower back, only to find the handcuffs had already been secured on the suspect’s hands. He had no choice but to show his police badge to prove his identity.
Looking at the audacious pervert, he frowned: “Just out and already reverting to your old habits? Planning to go back to detention?”
Meng Yu stepped forward and lectured him a few words. Fortunately, the man hadn’t succeeded, or else Meng Yu would only have been able to say, “Welcome back to the detention center.”
The pervert hurriedly nodded, acting contrite and repentant. Once lectured, he immediately slipped away.
Meng Yu then looked at Zhong Yao, still concerned, and said, “Little girl, don’t rely on a bit of skill to follow strangers alone. It’s very dangerous, what if—”
Zhong Yao checked her phone and saw it was already 10:45. In three minutes, the billboard would fall. Time was the one thing she couldn’t afford to waste.
She interrupted him with a helpless smile: “Thank you for your concern, officer, but I still have something to do.”
With that, she turned and ran off, leaving Meng Yu standing in the wind, flustered. A young man in his twenties, and he suddenly felt like an “uncle”?
Xing Chu stifled a laugh and reassured him: “Everyone knows, calling him ‘officer’ is a figure of respect, it doesn’t literally mean you’re an uncle.”
Zhong Yao had no idea how much psychological impact the phrase “officer” had on him. By coincidence, as she emerged from the alley, the shop she had been desperately searching for finally came into view.
“As they say, after searching high and low, the right thing comes effortlessly,” she muttered, looking up to see a huge iron billboard above the shop.
The bold letters “Man’s Best Friend” gleamed in the sunlight. Zhong Yao rolled her eyes, she had no fondness for the billboard that had caused Mr. Qian You Tong’s accident, especially since it was clearly not a serious advertisement.
She climbed the steps and entered the shop. Inside, the vintage wooden décor was filled with various blue-and-white porcelain items, dazzling her eyes.
She quickly withdrew her gaze and looked at the figure standing behind the counter. His temples were streaked with gray, and although he was no longer young, his back was straight rather than bent like most elderly people.
Beside him, the shop assistant was bent slightly, carefully packing a piece of porcelain into a box. He looked frail, with dark circles under his eyes, lacking the vitality of the older man.
There was no doubt, the elderly man was Qian You Tong.
Zhong Yao glanced at her watch. It was already 10:48.
Seeing him carefully holding the porcelain box, about to step outside, she hurried forward to stop him. “Grandpa Qian, hello.”
Qian Xuan Tong was momentarily taken aback, then replied kindly with a gentle smile, “Hello.”
Encouraged by his response, Zhong Yao stepped forward another pace, her eyes sparkling. “Grandpa, I’m your fan.”
Although her original intention was to buy time, the words were genuine. She didn’t understand antique porcelain, but that didn’t stop her from sincerely admiring Qian Xuan Tong.
Unexpectedly, through a twist of fate, she now had the chance to meet this great man who had previously only appeared in newspapers, news reports, and her Chinese essays.
The girl radiated youthful energy, and her feelings were sincere, not forced. Qian Xuan Tong couldn’t help but soften his expression. Just as he was about to speak, a male voice called out from outside the shop.
“Dad, the car is here.”
Zhong Yao turned to see a middle-aged man in a suit approaching. His features bore some resemblance to Qian Xuan Tong, he must be his son.
“Dad, I’ll help you carry it,” Qian Qian said, seeing his father holding the box, and stepped forward. But before he could take a full step, someone suddenly collided with him.
Zhong Yao, who had just managed to stall and protect Qian Xuan Tong, saw the son suddenly appear. Glancing at the wall clock, she noticed the minute hand was already pointing to 49. Her mind went blank, and without thinking, she dashed forward.
“Watch out!”
She used too much force, sending Qian Qian stumbling back two steps. Both of them fell to the ground, and in the next second, there was a loud “thud” as a huge iron billboard crashed to the floor.
Dizzy and disoriented from the collision, Qian Qian hadn’t yet realized what had happened when he saw his father quickly place the most precious porcelain on the ground and run toward him.
Zhong Yao nimbly got up from the ground and helped Qian Qian up alongside Qian Xuan Tong.
Looking at the dented billboard on the floor, Qian Qian felt a surge of relief and realized that it was this young girl who had saved his life. He looked at Zhong Yao gratefully: “Miss, thank you. If it weren’t for you, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
Being struck, bleeding, and sent to the hospital was almost certain, and whether one could survive was another question entirely.
Zhong Yao shook her head. “It’s nothing. I just did what I should.”
But…
Her eyes fell on her phone, crushed under the billboard, the screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks. Her heart ached.
She had rushed out too forcefully, and the phone had slipped from her pocket, taking the full impact of the falling billboard.
And it was her brand-new phone!
Qian Xuan Tong and Qian Qian also noticed the phone lying on the ground, the screen split into a massive fracture. Apologetically, they said, “Miss, your phone was destroyed because of us. We will compensate you.”
Zhong Yao hurriedly waved them off, but the father and son proved far more stubborn than she expected, taking her hand and leading her into the car, driving her straight to a nearby phone store.
To show his gratitude, Qian Qian immediately insisted on buying the latest model iPhone for her.
Zhong Yao dared not accept such a gift, she hadn’t done anything deserving of it.
After a long back-and-forth between both sides, to the point where the sales clerk’s smile was practically frozen, they finally agreed to meet halfway: Zhong Yao would accept compensation, and Qian Qian would give up on the most expensive model and instead replace it with an identical one.
In the end, Qian Qian smilingly drove Zhong Yao back to her school, thanked her sincerely once again, and only then left.
Standing at the school gate, Zhong Yao looked at the two newly added contacts in her WeChat friends list, the smile on her face impossible to suppress.
She had actually added Mr. Qian Xuan Tong and Mr. Qian Qian on WeChat, both were big names who usually only appeared in news reports!
Mom, I’ve made it!!!
Zhong Yao floated back to the dorm in high spirits, but before she could celebrate, Si Ning Qing grabbed her by the ear and reminded her that her most dreaded advanced mathematics final exam was coming up the day after tomorrow, urging her to hurry and revise.
It wasn’t until she had studied late into the night that Zhong Yao was finally allowed to lie down and rest for a bit. Staring at the empty interface of her new phone, she suddenly remembered something she had been overlooking.
Her old phone had come to life, but now that it was smashed and replaced with a new one, wouldn’t the little sprite have disappeared along with it?
She hurriedly sat up, only to realize that she didn’t even know how to contact it. Her heart sank.
Just as Zhong Yao was about to squeeze out a couple of tears to mourn the little demon she’d only known for two days, the Yu Yin app opened by itself. Several large words abruptly appeared on the screen: “Take me off the blacklist!”
The screen turned pitch-black. The time and battery display in the notification bar vanished, leaving only those glowing words in the center, it looked, at first glance, as if the phone had caught a virus.
Zhong Yao felt a little guilty. Only then did she remember that the night before, she’d taken it for a scam and gone through the full process, reporting it and blocking it in one go.
As soon as she followed the instructions and removed that account, which looked suspiciously like a pyramid-scheme profile, from the blacklist, her phone started chiming nonstop.
“You reported me?”
“Fine, you reported me, but you even blocked me?!”
“You horrible woman! You let me get torn to pieces in broad daylight. Can’t you take better care of your phone? Every bit of tempered glass you scrape off could be one of my toenails!”
Seeing that line, Zhong Yao’s guilt vanished in an instant. With a cold face, she typed a few words:
“Say one more word and I’ll smash you.”
Messing with her like this in the middle of the night, was it deliberately trying to disgust her?