“Ah!”
The robber’s face twisted in pain, the knife in his hand falling to the ground.
He Yu twisted the robber’s wrist and wrenched it downward.
“Ow ow ow…”
The robber’s joint was twisted to its limit, and to relieve the pain he couldn’t help but kneel, his arm pinned by He Yu and pressed face-down onto the floor.
“Let go! Let go!”
The arm was twisted even tighter.
The floor was ice-cold, and the robber’s mood was completely wrecked.
His first time ever robbing someone, and he runs into someone brave enough to intervene against a knife. What was this guy? Why was he so fierce?!
In the back row, the buzz-cut young man’s eyes lit up, and he suddenly sprang up, his aura fierce and imposing, pouncing toward the robber behind him like a tiger going for prey.
Then… then he stopped. In the seat closer to the front, there was a young man in a grayish-blue jacket who had moved even faster than him. Before the robber in the back could react, in a flash he’d already been pinned to the ground.
What a beast! The buzz-cut young man marveled.
Up front, Tang Jing was startled by how clean and efficient He Yu’s moves were, and immediately remembered there was still another robber behind them, turning his head sharply.
The other robber was lying face-down on the ground, the young man in the grayish-blue jacket from the train pressing one knee into his back, one hand pinning both of the robber’s wrists behind him, the other hand holding the robber’s knife — with a flick of his slender fingers, the blade retracted into the handle.
Tang Jing’s eyes lit up.
So, so impressive! Both his benefactor and this young man in the grayish-blue jacket were so impressive! Could it be he had two benefactors?
The buzz-cut young man stripped off the robber’s jacket and used it to tie him up.
The robber in the back had already started wailing. “Boss, this is really my first time robbing anyone, I’ll never do it again. Please let me go!”
The robber up front cursed furiously. “What are you crying for?!”
This kid was way too useless. He’d told him to watch from the back — didn’t he know to take a hostage?
The robber in the back kept crying. “Bro, my hand’s about to break! It hurts so much, waaah! Auntie told you to bring me out to make money, who knew you’d bring me out to rob people, waaaah…”
He Yu was still twisting the front robber’s arm, feeling a bit at a loss. He’d never beaten up a person before, only ghosts. People couldn’t take a beating like ghosts could — the robber had committed a crime, but not one deserving death. But he couldn’t just keep restraining him like this until they got off the train. How should he subdue him? Knock him out? How? Where? How much force? What if he killed him?
He Yu sank into thought.
The buzz-cut young man took one look at the situation up front and immediately realized this guy didn’t know how to tie someone up, so he stepped forward to help bind the robber. Short-distance trains had no railway police, so they’d have to wait until the station to hand the two robbers over to the police.
While tying him up, he noticed the robber’s hand hanging limp and soft, and couldn’t help but glance silently at He Yu.
He Yu grabbed the robber’s hand, applied some force, and popped the wrist back into place.
There was a crack, and the front robber let out a yelp.
“I used a bit too much force earlier by accident.” He Yu silently stepped back, making room for the buzz-cut young man to finish tying the knots.
The robber in the back shuddered and stopped yelling too. His brother’s hand had really broken!
Tang Jing felt like he’d just watched a martial arts film, thrilled out of his mind. He pulled several people aside to thank them over and over.
The other passengers on the train had also come to their senses and were thanking the group. The mother sitting in the first row was in tears, bowing to them while holding her sick child.
He Yu was very bad at handling this kind of scene, and awkwardly moved to help support her.
Luo Jiuyin naturally took over the conversation, rescuing He Yu from the situation. He Yu secretly let out a breath of relief. Having been woken up in the middle of his sleep, his head was aching a bit now.
The middle-aged man also used this as an opportunity to squeeze in and interject, then watched with a sour heart as Tang Jing showered enthusiasm on the other two without so much as a glance at him, the real benefactor.
He seethed inwardly, but on the surface still had to put on an upright, friendly smile.
Just as he was preparing to find a new topic to keep the conversation going, Luo Jiuyin suddenly turned to He Yu and asked, “You look a bit tired — didn’t you get enough rest? There’s still a while before the train reaches the station, why not sleep for a bit?”
He Yu was stunned, not expecting anyone to notice his discomfort.
He couldn’t help a smile. “I’m fine.”
The dusk sunlight fell into the little dimple on his left cheek, warm and soft.
He couldn’t help but yawn.
“Go on, sleep.”
“Get some sleep first.”
“We won’t make noise, you rest well.”
Warm, friendly faces smiled considerately at him.
He Yu leaned against the train window and fell asleep; the others consciously lowered their voices. The train grew quiet again, the warm light before sunset dyeing the mountain forest in a warm glow, gentle light and shadow slipping through the windows and brushing across people’s faces.
The buzz-cut young man opened his phone and started typing away:
“Let me tell you, I ran into two people on the train, their skills were insane!”
…
The only one who wasn’t happy was the benefactor arranged by the Descent Cult. He’d still wanted to use this chance to exchange a few words with Tang Jing.
No matter! He still had the talisman manipulation method the Descent Cult had given him. Once the train entered the tunnel later, he’d be able to trigger the ghost he’d arranged in advance.
Dealing with two robbers, what was that? Rich Guy Jin was about to face a paranormal problem. By then, these two ordinary people would surely be scared witless — that would be his moment to truly shine!
(tn: 金大款 (Jīn dàkuǎn) → literally “Big Spender Jin” or “Rich Guy Jin.”
“大款” is slang for a wealthy person, often with a slightly mocking tone — “moneybags,” “big spender,” “rich patron.”)
The sky gradually darkened, the gentle dusk among the mountain forests slowly fading, the shadows beneath the trees thickening, the atmosphere shifting from gentle to dim and cold. The train entered the tunnel, the wall lights a cold white, actually brighter than it had been outside.
Having repeatedly failed to strike up conversation, the middle-aged man quietly put his hand in his pocket and touched the talisman.
As long as he activated the talisman, the ghost hidden in the tunnel would block out the lights — the lights would flicker, a bloody handprint would slap against the glass window, and the first person he’d scare would be that fake benefactor! Then he’d rescue Rich Guy Jin. Tang Jing was sure to take the bait!
The middle-aged man activated the talisman. Yin-baleful qi gathered in the tunnel, gradually forming mist that crept upward from the wheels.
In his sleep, He Yu seemed to sense something, his eyelashes trembling slightly.
Luo Jiuyin’s gaze sharpened, the hand resting on the seat exerting slight pressure, invisible spiritual power surging downward like a tide. The yin-baleful qi that had just gathered instantly dispersed, and the ghost that had been hiding and waiting in the yin-baleful qi for so long went offline without so much as a whimper.
The middle-aged man hissed and quickly yanked his hand out of his pocket. He’d just felt an unbearable burning heat in his hand, as if he’d touched hot coals.
He looked down at his hand — there was no injury on it. After hesitating a moment, the middle-aged man opened his pocket.
The talisman inside was gone, leaving only a pinch of paper ash. The middle-aged man immediately grew restless and uneasy.
He Yu hadn’t slept long. This time he didn’t dream. He woke up before the train reached the station, and though he hadn’t been able to continue his earlier dream, his headache was gone.
The train arrived at the station, and He Yu got off ahead of time. He didn’t want to hand the robbers over to the police himself — he’d have to give a statement and all that, too much trouble, and he didn’t even have an ID card.
As soon as he got off, Tang Jing followed him off too.
He Yu looked at Tang Jing behind him. “Is this your stop?”
Tang Jing: “No…”
The train had already pulled away with a rumble. He’d chased after his benefactor and gotten off with him, but there were still several stops between here and where he lived.
Tang Jing deftly pulled out his phone. “I’ll call my driver to come pick me up.”
“You can wait here, I’ll head off first,” He Yu said.
“No, no, no, the driver will be here soon, let me have him drop you off too.” Tang Jing looked at the pitch-black sky and was determined to keep He Yu with him no matter what.
With this streak of bad luck clinging to him, he’d gone out once and first had his car break down, then ran into robbers — thank goodness his benefactor had been by his side. Washing his face in mountain spring water hadn’t done much good; he really did need to rely on his benefactor!
Now that it was dark out, without He Yu around, he was afraid he’d run into who-knows-what next.
The driver arrived quickly, and at Tang Jing’s instruction, drove first to the plush toy shop on Beiquan Street.
When the car pulled up in front of the plush toy shop, He Yu sensed the earthbound spirit beneath the road stirring restlessly. But this time it didn’t seem to be drawn to him — it seemed more drawn to the bad luck qi clinging to Tang Jing.
Once at the plush toy shop, Tang Jing still dawdled, reluctant to leave, and followed him into the store. Upon learning this was He Yu’s own shop, he was overjoyed. Wasn’t this the perfect chance to build a connection?
“Plush toys, how nice! I’ll buy a few for my daughter, she loves these!” Tang Jing said, already heading into the store to pick some out.
Chen Shi dutifully stepped up to offer introductions. But Tang Jing didn’t need his introductions, heading straight for the biggest plush toy in the store.
Tang Jing: “This one’s pretty good, what’s the price? Expensive?”
Chen Shi: “Uh… this one is actually on the pricier side…”
Tang Jing: “I’ll take it!”
Not picking what suited him, just picking the priciest!
Tang Jing picked out all the higher-priced plush toys in the store, with ruthless precision and accuracy.
“I’ll take all of these!”
If the car hadn’t run out of room, he’d have wanted to buy even more!
Never expected such a big order this late in the day — what a pleasant surprise! Chen Shi was delighted.
Tang Jing bought a whole pile of plush toys but still didn’t really want to leave. He’d been burned badly by his recent bad luck — the car breaking down was one thing, but today he’d even run into someone with a knife! Thank goodness his benefactor had been there. Now he was rather afraid his car would break down again while actually driving on the way back.
He hoped the plush toys his benefactor sold might carry a bit of his benefactor’s luck too…
He Yu handed the last plush toy to Tang Jing, seemingly carelessly waving his hand through the air twice. The loose, drifting bad-luck qi enveloping Tang Jing was mostly dispersed by the resulting gust of wind, so this unlucky kid wouldn’t get tangled up by an earthbound spirit again on his way home.
Sure enough, when Tang Jing’s car started up, the earthbound spirit had its eye on him, reaching out to grab at the wheels.
He Yu took a deep breath, tore a leaf off the vase’s flowers, and flung it over with a whoosh. The earthbound spirit let go and dodged nimbly aside.
Tang Jing’s car jolted slightly; the driver adjusted the steering wheel, correcting the slight swerve, and glanced in confusion at the rear-view camera.
“What happened?” Tang Jing asked.
“Nothing, might’ve been something on the road, we bumped over it a bit,” the driver said, puzzled — that hadn’t felt like running over a rock or anything.
But the car was already driving normally again, so there was no need to dwell on it further.
Back at the plush toy shop, He Yu stared at the crosswalk and rolled up his sleeves.
That damn bear-thing needed a lesson!
He grabbed the earthbound spirit’s arm, ready to drag the bear-thing out and give it a beating.
He Yu yanked hard, and half a ghostly arm ended up dangling from his hand. Little Coal Ball emerged from the shadows, eyeing the dangling ghost arm hungrily.
“Don’t go eating just any random thing!” He Yu crushed the ghost arm into scattered yin qi with one grab.
Sacrificing a limb to survive, huh. The fact that it knew to run meant it was still afraid of a beating.
He Yu glared viciously at the road. “I’ll beat you again sooner or later!”
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere. After Tang Jing got home, he finally let out a breath of relief. The whole way back had been safe and sound, nothing had happened. Good thing he’d bought all those plush toys! His benefactor really was a benefactor!
The driver parked the car and, with great difficulty, dragged the plush toys crammed together in the back seat out, asking, “Boss, what should we do with these plush toys?”
Tang Jing looked at the pile of plush toys and felt a bit troubled himself. The trunk was still packed full of them too. He’d gotten a little carried away while buying — it really was too much.
“Just put them all in my daughter’s room.”
He remembered that Chu Dai had loved these kinds of things most when she was little.
Tang Jing’s daughter, Tang Chudai, had sharp judgment and decisive action; after only four years on the job, she’d already achieved considerable success, a well-known iron-willed powerhouse of a woman in her circle.
A few days later, Tang Chudai came home and opened her bedroom door.
Tang Chudai: …?
…..
Meanwhile, at the police station.
Luo Jiuyin had already delivered the two robbers there and had just finished cooperating with the police on the statement.
As an upstanding young man who had bravely intervened, the police officer’s attitude was very friendly, reminding him that when encountering armed robbers, his own safety should still come first.
Before leaving, the officer noticed the other middle-aged man who’d also given a statement was waiting for Luo Jiuyin, and asked offhandedly, “You two know each other?”
“We met on the train,” Luo Jiuyin said, his smile gentle. “I’m about to go visit as a guest.”
Earlier, when He Yu and Tang Jing had gotten off the train, the middle-aged man had panicked and tried to get off too, but a hand landed on his shoulder.
He turned around, and Luo Jiuyin’s warm, smiling face was right behind him. “Isn’t this not your stop?”
The middle-aged man just felt his mind go hazy, and sat back down. “Right, right, I misread the stop…”
The train started moving again.
The figures outside the window gradually receded into the distance; Luo Jiuyin withdrew his gaze. The smile was still on his face, but the warmth in his eyes had already gradually faded. Perfect. He’d been wanting to go make trouble for the Descent Cult, and here they were showing up right at his doorstep on their own.
The middle-aged man shivered involuntarily. Why did it feel a bit cold?
…
Luo Jiuyin left the police station together with the middle-aged man.
He was heading to the Descent Cult’s stronghold.
To pay them a visit.