What’s a villain organization?
THIS is a villain organization!
What kind of heartless capitalist would do something this conscience-less?!
Run! I have to run!
But before running, there was one major problem to solve:
Bronze Mask’s image outside was very mysterious. Others didn’t know what he looked like, but the people of the Seven Parts Association certainly did.
The Seven Parts Association definitely wouldn’t just let its number two leave freely. Being hunted down after He Yu ran away would be the light outcome; it might even turn into being hunted to be killed. Right now he had no memories and didn’t really know how to use his strength. Running straight away would be courting death.
He Yu touched his own face, pained to the core.
He didn’t look like an idiot, so how had he been fooled by a black-hearted boss with a “dream” pie-in-the-sky?
Just thinking that Bronze Mask had worked for the Seven Parts Association all these years without ever receiving a single cent of salary made He Yu’s heart ache.
What kind of big shot of the dark world was this? He was completely just a naive sweet fool who’d been swindled by a black-hearted capitalist!
While touching his face, He Yu suddenly felt something was off.
He picked up a mirror. Sunlight refracted off the mirror onto He Yu’s face. He squinted, and on his own face he saw a gilded radiance and patterns, like an invisible golden face tattoo.
These patterns looked too familiar. He Yu picked up his phone and opened the picture Jiang Xian had sent him earlier.
The patterns on his face now were exactly identical to the patterns on the bronze mask!
Had the bronze mask been on his face all along?
He Yu tried to take the mask off.
His fingertips slid along the patterns, from forehead to brow center, from under the eyes to the outer corners of the eyes, the cheeks, the corners of the lips, the jaw…
He pinched hold of a piece of cold metal.
Half of a transparent bronze mask surfaced at his jaw.
No wonder he’d never found Bronze Mask’s signature bronze mask!
He Yu wanted to take the mask off. The instant he raised his hand, he suddenly felt a “boom” shudder, as if a giant bronze bell had been struck inside his body, shaking him until his internal organs went numb and immobile from head to toe.
He Yu lay there for quite a while before recovering.
This mask couldn’t be taken off!
If he really took it off, he’d be gone.
He Yu understood. Bronze Mask had always worn this mask because he had no choice but to wear it. The bronze mask was used to protect this body.
Perhaps this was why he had transmigrated into Bronze Mask, and why the incredibly powerful Bronze Mask had inexplicably disappeared.
Should he take the risk of continuing to stay undercover in the Seven Parts Association to uncover the secrets?
He Yu imagined what an undercover daily life would be like.
….Forget it, forget it. He was just an ordinary person. If he met someone familiar with Bronze Mask, this bit of acting skill would be exposed in no time! Better to be a salted fish. The sooner he ran, the sooner he’d be at ease.
He Yu caught his breath, sat up, and raised his hand to press against his face again. The patterns of the bronze mask surfaced on his skin once more.
From that just now, he had roughly figured out some of how this bronze mask worked.
It could transform into different appearances.
He Yu ran his fingers over the patterns, and as the light and shadow on the patterns flowed, the face in the mirror began to change too. Soon it became another youth with gentle features, with a faint little dimple on the left cheek when he smiled. This was He Yu’s appearance from his previous life.
He Yu rubbed his face and changed to another look.
Then another…
And then another…
As he kept changing, the sky turned dark.
Face-pinching was kind of fun.
In his previous life, he used to spend an hour pinching faces (character creation) for every ten minutes of gameplay.
He Yu rubbed his face again and changed back to his original appearance.
He planned to change his face after leaving the residential complex tomorrow, then come back and see whether these people from the Seven Parts Association could still recognize him. If they couldn’t, he could plan his escape.
The next day, He Yu went out as usual, greeted the crowd of disguised, enthusiastic neighbors and chance-encounter locals, and after leaving the complex circled around several times to make sure nobody was tailing him, then went into a shopping mall to buy two sets of clothes. After changing clothes, he changed his face too, and strolled back to the complex.
He Yu first bought a jianbing guozi from the small cart stall at the complex entrance.
Hmm… the boss wasn’t giving as generous a portion of fillings as before. Before, he always added two eggs for him!
So that was the preferential treatment subordinates gave to please the Vice Chairman, right?
Carrying the jianbing guozi, He Yu circled around the complex once more, deliberately walking past all the Seven Parts Association employees.
Very good. Not one of them paid him any attention.
He Yu left the complex, tossed the paper bag from the finished jianbing guozi into the recyclable trash bin along the way, found a place with nobody around to change his clothes and face back, and returned to the complex again.
Everyone wore warm, friendly smiles.
Happiness Residential Complex, harmonious neighbors.
Confirmed. None of them could recognize him.
Not long after He Yu returned to the complex, Sister Zhao, who had gone out to buy groceries, came back too. She exchanged covert glances with the jianbing guozi stall owner, the old man strolling around, the patrolling security guard, and others, then went home to start cooking.
In the kitchen, a puppet was operating the cookware, washing vegetables, chopping vegetables, lighting the fire, cooking… skillfully making three dishes and a soup.
This was a cooking puppet specially crafted by Puppeteer Zhao. She couldn’t cook either.
When she’d discovered that Lord Bronze Mask ate instant noodles, she’d nearly died of fright! Puppeteer Zhao, her face pale, had quickly crafted this cooking puppet, and in her heart she couldn’t help but be impressed. A figure like Lord Bronze Mask, to complete his mission, would actually go all out to this extent! This ordinary-person disguise was absolutely a success. Who would believe that a young man who ate instant noodles all day long was the Bronze Mask whose stomping foot made the paranormal world tremble?
Lord Bronze Mask’s achievements were definitely not for nothing!
With clattering sounds coming from the kitchen, Puppeteer Zhao and Ghost Shadow Xie sat on the sofa with solemn expressions, discussing.
“Today Lord left the complex again. While he was out, a stranger came into the complex, wandered around, and even bought a jianbing guozi from Old Chai’s stall. I don’t know what the purpose was,” Ghost Shadow Xie said.
“You didn’t act rashly, did you?” Puppeteer Zhao asked.
“How would I dare? I didn’t even follow within the complex. It was the strolling old man and the security guard Xiao Zhang who saw him. If it was a thief scouting the place, fine, but if it’s related to Lord’s plan, my life would be gone.”
Puppeteer Zhao nodded. “Lord’s methods are mysterious and unfathomable, his mind deep as the sea. This person might well have been drawn here by Lord himself, and may serve some purpose.”
Ghost Shadow Xie said seriously, “I understand!”
A few days earlier, Lord Bronze Mask, who had never involved himself in affairs, suddenly began living like a truly ordinary person, even eating instant noodles.
None of them had understood why Lord Bronze Mask had made such an abrupt change. But within a few days, a heavily wounded shadow monster had arrived in the complex, and instinctively, from this complex where powerful presences lurked everywhere, the shadow monster had chosen Lord Bronze Mask’s residence, which seemed safe.
Afterward, this weak and useless shadow monster had drawn in the Jiang siblings.
Lord Bronze Mask’s handiwork was like an antelope hanging by its horns, leaving no trace; just one small move, and it had already tied him to Jiang Yanjun of the Paranormal Affairs Administration Bureau! Compared to Lord Bronze Mask, they truly fell far short. No wonder Lord Bronze Mask would rather act himself than use their assistance!
Thinking of this, Ghost Shadow Xie couldn’t help feeling a little dejected.
He was considered an elite who could handle things independently within the Seven Parts Association, and had originally been rather proud. But after coming under Lord Bronze Mask, he had discovered that he couldn’t even keep up with Lord’s train of thought!
The perfect plans and arrangements Lord could make without even leaving his home, he could only grasp a sliver or two of the true meaning of after the results had appeared.
The puppet in the kitchen had finished the meal.
Puppeteer Zhao picked up the lunchbox. “I’ll go deliver Lord’s meal first. Don’t be discouraged. Lord doesn’t trust us yet because our abilities are too poor. The only thing we need to do from now on is cooperate. Sooner or later, we’ll be noticed by Lord!”
Ghost Shadow Xie nodded seriously. “Rest assured! I’ll cooperate with Lord to the best of my ability!”
Ghost Shadow Xie secretly resolved: I must follow Lord Bronze Mask well!
He was, at the very least, number twenty-one on the Paranormal Affairs Administration Bureau’s wanted list! How could he fail to even do a good job assisting Lord Bronze Mask?!
Next door.
He Yu let Sister Zhao in, but didn’t let her go back right away.
“How much money can be used right now?” He Yu asked.
After running away, this current identity definitely couldn’t be used, so the money stored on this identity’s cards would all be unusable too. But he certainly didn’t want to return to the working life, and he couldn’t do anything that made quick money under criminal law either. So…
If it’s a black-hearted capitalist’s money, then not grabbing it would be a waste!
“I’m not too sure. Old Xie manages the finances. If you need it, I’ll call him over right now,” Sister Zhao said quickly.
She was the secondary person in charge of this undercover mission; Lord Bronze Mask was the overall person in charge, though he held the title in name only and never bothered with trivial matters. All the big and small affairs were managed by Puppeteer Zhao, with finances handled by Ghost Shadow Xie. The two posed as a married couple, which made operating very convenient.
He Yu nodded: “Fine.”
A few seconds later, an excited Ghost Shadow Xie arrived.
The Seven Parts Association had quite a few businesses, but their main purpose wasn’t profit, especially since He Yu required funds that could be converted to gold within three days, so after calculating, there wasn’t much.
“How much can there be?” He Yu asked.
“About fifty million.” Ghost Shadow Xie looked ashamed, feeling he hadn’t done well.
Wage-slave He Yu: …You call this “not much”?
The Seven Parts Association is this rich and doesn’t pay its Vice Chairman a salary!
“Convert it to gold, as soon as possible,” He Yu said.
Transferring money between accounts was easy to trace, and paper bills were too bulky, so gold was better. Anyway, no matter how heavy, he could lift it; at most he’d have to consider building load-bearing capacity when moving around. He had tested it before: lifting a refrigerator bare-handed was no problem for him now.
Ghost Shadow Xie hesitated for a moment, then asked: “Lord Bronze Mask, may I ask whether you need to use the gold, or whether you want funds whose source cannot be traced?”
He Yu raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
Receiving the hint, Ghost Shadow Xie became excited. “I can make it so that no one can trace this money, not even myself!”
He Yu chose to let him try: half converted to gold, half processed into untraceable funds.
Ghost Shadow Xie was overjoyed. Lord Bronze Mask had begun to use him!
While Ghost Shadow Xie was busy these two days, He Yu sent Jiang Xian another message, asking him about some basics of the paranormal world.
The chuni teenager, always suppressed by his sister, was delighted to have someone who needed his guidance, and thoroughly satisfied his desire to play the big shot instructing others.
He Yu asked him how to become a spirit exorcist. Jiang Xian was “typing…” for a long time, then produced one line:
“You want to become a spirit exorcist?”
“Better not to.”
“Paranormal things have some kind of invisible, intangible attraction to each other. If you stay an ordinary person, you might not encounter a few paranormal incidents in your whole life. But once you become a spirit exorcist, the frequency goes way up.”
“Some paranormal incidents can kill you.”
Since Jiang Xian was unwilling to explain, He Yu had to figure it out himself.
He wanted to be an ordinary person too, but alas, his transmigration came with a villain boss template.
Still, being able to activate body special effects was pretty good.
When the siblings fought monsters, the light-blue spiritual power bursting from their bodies looked especially cool. Who hasn’t had chuni fantasies when young?
He wondered what Bronze Mask’s spiritual power looked like. He Yu rubbed his hands in anticipation and began researching how to release spiritual power.
A day passed. He Yu sat in a chair spacing out, the setting sun outside the window stretching out a long shadow for him. He Yu looked at the shadow and felt especially melancholy.
After fumbling around for ages, he still hadn’t released Bronze Mask’s spiritual power. Even with a big shot’s body he couldn’t use any power. Was his talent really that poor? He Yu felt a bit dejected.
Could it be that once souls were swapped, it no longer worked?
While feeling dejected, He Yu suddenly noticed something off about his shadow.
His shadow… seemed to have an extra small piece?
He Yu stood up, and the shadow stood up. He Yu moved his arm, and the shadow moved its arm. Relying on Bronze Mask’s excellent physique, He Yu performed a one-legged mid-air 360-degree flip followed by a Thomas flair.
The shadow… the shadow tried hard to keep up.
He Yu froze.
His shadow had a slow-by-half-a-beat double image!
Weren’t they supposed to have said it was fine now?! The Paranormal Affairs Administration Bureau people were unreliable!
Perhaps knowing it had been discovered, the shadow stopped hiding and stood right up from the ground. The shadow’s feet were connected to He Yu, and after standing up it was almost pressed right against He Yu.
He Yu: …
Aaaah!
He smashed a fist down!
The shadow fell over onto its back.
Huh?
Did his physical attacks work on ghosts and monsters too?
TL Notes:
“羚羊挂角不着痕迹” (antelope hanging by its horns, leaving no trace) is a Chinese idiom for something so subtle and seamless that it leaves no trace
“煎饼果子” (jianbing guozi) is a Chinese street-food crepe;