Chapter 30: Cross-shaped Scar
While thinking about these questions, Han Su suddenly experienced a slight dizziness.
Fragments of memories from the new life began to surface in his mind:
The new memories were largely similar to the standard ones he had experienced before—he still escaped the old castle, was then sent to the orphanage, studied hard, and got admitted to Qinggang University.
But the difference was that he had not been disfigured, both his eyes were intact. It was just that on the back of his left hand, there was an additional cross-shaped scar.
As a result, his left hand had become somewhat stiff, not as flexible and useful as his right hand.
This small change, however, seemed to have triggered many other changes in his life.
For instance, on the file he had with the Disaster Management Bureau, it now listed him as having a mildly stiff left hand, rather than impairment in the right eye.
Looking down at his left hand, he indeed noticed it was slightly curled and somewhat stiff. It wasn’t that he couldn’t stretch or grip objects, but it felt rusty and awkward.
On the back of his hand, the cross-shaped scar was particularly conspicuous.
The rest felt like the same script:
He still woke up startled in class, chatted with Black Rose, went to the library to look up information, encountered the enthusiastic long-haired female student, dealt with the troublesome private investigator, met Song Chu‑shi again, but this time...
He didn’t give him the incantation?
For a moment, Han Su even doubted his own memory. But after thinking carefully, he confirmed that Song Chu‑shi indeed had not given him the incantation.
He had only recorded the descriptions Han Su gave of those monsters and then probed indirectly, asking if Han Su believed there were some mysterious and bizarre things in this world, things that might even be right beside them?
Things ordinary people couldn’t see, severed deliberately from perception by a powerful department.
Wait, this isn’t right…
Han Su found it difficult to comprehend these changes.
Normally, when he was affected, many things in his memory would also change.
For example, when he had injured his leg, naturally he wouldn’t participate in the school’s high jump contest. But why was it that this time, it was the behavior of others that had changed?
Han Su recalled more details with a mixture of surprise and doubt.
In this set of memories, when facing the ghost truck, he still recited the incantation.
The incantation was already in his mind—regardless of whether Song Chu‑shi had given it to him, whenever he encountered bizarre danger, he would recite it instinctively.
It was only at that time that he didn’t understand why he recited the incantation. It wasn’t until this flashback that he realized the origin of the incantation.
Moreover, after he chanted the incantation, the ghost truck still showed signs of melting and then fled in fear.
That incantation was originally meant to activate the Monster’s Mysterious Power left in his right eye.
Then why, just like during his time at the old castle, could he use it even though his right eye was clearly uninjured?
Even a series of changes followed, though all hidden in details—because Song Chu‑shi hadn’t given him that incantation, the Disaster Management Bureau merely found it suspicious that he had been in contact with someone as dangerous as Song Chu‑shi.
They even suspected that the reason Han Su and Xu Jineng survived under the ghost truck’s hand was because Song Chu‑shi had helped. Having caught traces of Song Chu‑shi’s involvement, they decided to keep Han Su at the Disaster Management Bureau.
So, in this timeline, did Song Chu‑shi make a move?
As memories filled in, various doubts gradually emerged. Han Su increasingly felt that he had touched upon something extraordinary.
……
“I’m Cui Qiao. I’ve been with Chief Zhang for two years now.”
While he was pondering deeply, the female secretary in the black suit next to him called Han Su back to reality. She tidied up a stack of documents and said, “Your information has now been entered, and the file will soon enter the confidentiality process.”
“Even at your school, someone will help you apply for leave. You don’t need to worry about any of that. You just need to perform well in the upcoming training.”
“Also, if anything comes up, just come to me. If I can’t handle it, go to Chief Zhang.”
“……”
Han Su nodded repeatedly. “Thank you, Miss Cui.”
The female secretary in the black suit smiled. “No need to be so polite. Chief Zhang is looking after you so well, of course I won’t treat you as an outsider.”
“Old Zhang is doing well these days too...”
Han Su still remembered when Zhang Zhiguo took on the kidnapping case—he wasn’t doing well in the Public Security Bureau.
At such an age, he still hadn’t been promoted, instead handling the hardest and least rewarding frontline agent work.
But now, after just three or four years apart, how had he already risen to such a powerful position in this mysterious department, with such a beautiful secretary at his side?
Compared to the previous timeline, Han Su vaguely remembered that she hadn’t been so friendly toward him before…
Could it be because this time he was neither disfigured nor blind?
Tsk...
This woman looked cold and aloof, unapproachable to strangers, yet deep down, she turned out to be someone who judged by appearances…
Seeing her friendly attitude, Han Su felt a slight stirring in his heart and tentatively asked, “Just now, over there, what exactly was the sound I heard?”
“Why did you say I’d been tested while I was asleep?”
“Didn’t you initially tell me to listen carefully and try to distinguish some words or syllables from those sounds?”
“……”
He was truly concerned about this question.
This unexpected kidnapping incident had come far too suddenly and didn’t match the previous frequency.
It must have something to do with that piece of ‘whisper’ he had heard at the Disaster Management Bureau.
But if such a whisper could cause him to be kidnapped in advance, might it also serve other functions?
Thinking bigger—could it be that this whisper contained a code that could delay or even free him from such abductions?
“It’s the Whisper of the Ruins.”
The female secretary in the black suit glanced at him and said, “It’s a language excavated by archaeologists from the ruins of a previous civilization. Reportedly, it doesn’t belong to humanity.”
“We had you listen to this language to see if you had been polluted by the grotesque, and at the same time to evaluate your Spiritual Sensitivity and resistance. It’s useful for the upcoming training.”
Her way of speaking matched her attire—very concise:
“You and that Xu family child encountered the ghost truck. That categorizes you both as grotesque contacts.”
“Even though you survived, we still need to consider whether your minds have already been distorted or if something strange and dangerous is hidden within your spiritual world.”
“This whisper is exclusive to the Disaster Management Bureau. It holds the highest classification, yet causes the least mental harm to ordinary people. If there is something hiding within your spiritual world, then while listening to this whisper, it’s easy to trigger resonance, and those things will be drawn out.”
“So, this is also used as a method of testing by the Disaster Management Bureau—a final safety measure. After all, even though we have mandatory conscription rules, we don’t just accept anyone.”
“However, based on the result, you’re safe.”
She turned to glance at Han Su and suddenly smiled, revealing neat, snow-white teeth. “Very safe, in fact. You even managed to fall asleep.”
“So tell me, did you mistake that annihilating whisper for snoring?”
“……”
“The main thing is, your broadcast of that whisper lasted too long. It sounded like an opera…”
Han Su responded with a sunny smile: “But honestly, I’m quite interested. I usually enjoy topics related to mysticism and religious cultures. Will I get to encounter these later?”
“Dealing with those things is dangerous. You don’t have the clearance yet.”
The female secretary in the black suit only gave Han Su a glance and said, “It depends on how you perform later. Talk about becoming an investigator when you actually qualify.”
But in her heart, she thought: Someone who fell asleep listening to the whisper dares to say he’s interested in mysticism?
“Alright then…”
Han Su still replied with a bright smile, but internally, he suddenly became extremely alert.
Perhaps, I’m not the safest one. Maybe, I’m the most dangerous?
That thing not only resonated with the Monster’s Mysterious Power in me—it even sent me back...
Yet each time the flicker happened, my behavior at that same time point was always just falling asleep, which accidentally allowed me to pass the test?
“So, after joining your department, what kind of work will I be doing?”
“Is the responsibility to capture things like the ghost truck?”
“……”
“Capture?”
The female secretary in the black suit laughed. “That’s part of the job, of course. But more importantly—tracing the source, blocking, preventing, and most importantly, lying!”
“Lying?”
Han Su was stunned at the word: “That’s part of the job too?”
“Of course! And it’s the most important part!”
The female secretary in the black suit smiled and said, “A ghost truck polluted by mysterious machinery shouldn’t exist in reality. That would collapse many people’s worldviews. So, we make sure it doesn’t enter public knowledge.”
“For grotesque and supernatural phenomena, public awareness is also a form of mystery permeating reality.”
“Our job is to let ordinary people live in peace, never encounter these things, never be polluted by them, and most importantly—not believe they exist.”
“Sounds simple, doesn’t it?”