“Xiao Qi, you’ve got your head down—what are you thinking about?”
Zhao Liang, who was in the driver’s seat, noticed that Yan Qi had her head lowered and seemed lost in thought, so he asked her.
“I’m not thinking about anything. I’m just a little tired.”
Yan Qi turned to Zhao Liang beside her and replied.
“Tired? But it’s only ten in the morning.”
Hearing her answer and realizing what time it actually was, Zhao Liang couldn’t help but say that with a hint of confusion in his voice.
“What, is it that strange for me to feel tired? I mean, I’m only fourteen this year—this is the age when people love sleeping the most.”
Knowing exactly what Zhao Liang was puzzled about, Yan Qi explained the reason behind her drowsiness.
Hearing that, Zhao Liang couldn’t really find any argument against her logic, so he just nodded and said,
“You’re right, Xiao Qi. At your age, you really are in the prime of your life for loving sleep.”
“Alright, Zhao Liang-gege, focus on the road. If you don’t steady the wheel, we’re going to hit that guardrail over there.”
Yan Qi pointed out the window at the railing that was slowly inching closer to them.
“Oh, sorry about that.”
Only after Yan Qi called it out did Zhao Liang notice that the car had drifted off course. He apologized to her and quickly straightened the steering wheel, bringing the vehicle back on track.
Once the car was back in its lane, Yan Qi didn’t say anything more to Zhao Liang. She simply sat quietly, gazing out the window at the scenery, thinking about what she was going to say to her parents when she saw them later.
Lost in that kind of thought, Yan Qi and Zhao Liang soon arrived at their destination.
After getting out of the car, knowing full well that their mission for the day was bound to change because of the appearance of the Three-Star Rift, Yan Qi didn’t rush forward like she usually did to ask the residents in the neighborhood about the ghost sightings.
Zhao Liang noticed that Yan Qi wasn’t acting the way she normally did. Though he was a little curious, he didn’t press her on it—after all, as a veteran of the Paranormal Affairs Bureau, he knew well enough that everyone’s initial enthusiasm eventually wears off.
“Xiao Qi, let’s head into the neighborhood together and ask around about the ghost situation.”
“Okay.”
With Yan Qi’s response, Zhao Liang started leading her toward the entrance of the nearby residential complex. But before he could take more than a few steps, his phone rang at that very moment.
Hearing his phone ring at this time, Zhao Liang’s face showed a trace of surprise.
After all, the only person who would call him right now was a colleague from the Fangfeng City Paranormal Affairs Bureau—there was no one else.
“Could something big have happened at the bureau that they need me and Xiao Qi to come back and help with?”
He muttered that quietly to himself, but he didn’t let the phone keep ringing. He quickly picked it up and answered the call from his colleague.
“Hello, is this Zhao Liang, member of the Fifth Team of the Fangfeng City Paranormal Affairs Bureau?”
“Yeah, this is Zhao Liang. Did you call because something came up at the bureau?”
Hearing the voice on the other end, and still unaware that the Three-Star Abyssal Rift was going to appear over Fangfeng City tomorrow, Zhao Liang hurriedly asked his colleague.
“Nothing’s happened at the bureau yet—but come tomorrow, that might not be the case.”
“Nothing yet, but not necessarily tomorrow? What do you mean by that?”
Zhao Liang repeated the other person’s words, not quite grasping what they were getting at, and pressed further.
“What I mean is… ugh, I don’t have time to explain everything to you right now, Zhao Liang. For now, I need you and the temporary worker with you to drop your current mission. The bureau is assigning you a more important task.”
“Got it. What’s the new mission?”
Hearing that his colleague didn’t have time to elaborate, Zhao Liang realized the gravity of the situation. He stopped asking for details and instead inquired about the new assignment.
“Your new mission is to assist our bureau’s sister department in safely evacuating thirty thousand civilians from the Heshan area and several surrounding neighborhoods—where you are right now—to two designated shelters we’ve set up nearby.”
“Evacuate thirty thousand civilians to two designated shelters? Sounds like whatever’s about to go down in Fangfeng City is no joke. I just wonder how many people are going to be affected.”
Zhao Liang murmured that to himself, then asked his colleague over the phone,
“One more thing—are other parts of Fangfeng City also going to need evacuations?”
“Yes, other areas will also need to be evacuated.”
“I see. So how do we get in touch with the sister department?”
“We’ve already sent your contact info to the person in charge of that department for your current area. They’ll reach out to you. Make sure you follow their instructions.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“No, that’s all. Please make sure you and your temporary worker complete this mission.”
“Alright, I understand. I’ll hang up now.”
“Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
After his colleague finished briefing him on the new mission, Zhao Liang ended the call, and his expression turned noticeably serious.
“Zhao Liang-gege, did our mission change?”
Even though she already knew this call from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau was coming, Yan Qi knew she couldn’t act like she had foreseen it, so she asked him that question.
“Yeah, our mission has changed. Instead of eliminating the ghost, we’re now assisting our bureau’s sister department in evacuating thirty thousand civilians from these surrounding neighborhoods.”
“Looks like we’re going to be busy today.”
“Xiao Qi, aren’t you curious why we have to do this evacuation mission?”
“Zhao Liang-gege, if I asked you, would you be able to give me an answer?”
Yan Qi looked up at Zhao Liang and threw him a direct, soul-searching question.
“Uh… I actually don’t know how to answer that.”
“Then what’s the point of me asking you, Zhao Liang-gege?”
