Jiang Ming raised his hand, his fingertip brushing against the moisture beneath his eye. He looked at the faint, shimmering trace of water on his finger as an indescribable emotion slowly spread through his chest—but it wasn’t his emotion.
A light, airy joy; a heavy, leaden sorrow; and something else that descended like a silent mist, a quiet weight… They were like ink dropped into pure water, strands seeping and diffusing, quietly occupying his perception.
These were Elvia’s emotions.
He realized clearly that Elvia’s possession was fundamentally different from her sister’s.
Elvira was more like a fitted suit of armor, while Elvia was like a wind carrying warmth and memories, easily piercing through barriers to soak those long-sealed feelings directly into the depths of his heart.
Elvia had obviously noticed as well. The flowing emotions suddenly retracted like a startled tide. She recoiled slightly in a corner of his consciousness, her voice thin and weak, carrying the unease of someone who had done something wrong:
“I’m sorry…”
Jiang Ming lowered his eyes and gently set the piece of Black Bread aside.
Then, he broke off another small piece of the bread.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” he said. “Want to try again? This time… taste it slowly.”
His tone was calm as usual.
Elvia did not answer.
But Jiang Ming felt that cold wind circle inside his body again, gently and cautiously, before coming to a quiet rest like a bird that had finally found a warm spot.
He picked up the bread and took another bite.
This time, no tears fell.
There was only a warm sense of weight resting quietly in his heart, like a feather that had finally found its home.
Jiang Ming looked at the wet mark on his fingertip, the emotion that did not belong to him still faintly echoing in his mind. He spoke up and asked, “Have you never tried using your sister’s body?”
Elvia shook her head gently in the corner of his consciousness. “I tried… I can’t possess Sister.”
Jiang Ming wanted to follow up with more questions, but his peripheral vision suddenly caught a figure leaning against the doorframe.
It was a woman roughly in her twenties or thirties, a freshly lit cigarette held between her fingers, the sparks flickering in the dim light. Her posture was relaxed, as if she had been standing there waiting for some time, and even the rising smoke seemed unhurried.
Seeing that Jiang Ming had finally noticed her, the woman even took the cigarette from her lips and gave him a casual wave of her fingers, as natural as a greeting between old friends.
Danger!
Every muscle in Jiang Ming’s body tensed instantly. The air currents in the room began to swirl instinctively, but in the next second, he discovered he couldn’t move so much as a finger.
The woman’s gaze fell upon him.
It wasn’t a normal look. Her eyes were like a tiger silently locking onto its prey in the dark of night. Her gaze was as solid as a physical substance, pinning him to the spot.
A Beyonder of at least the White Tower tier… Jiang Ming’s heart sank.
The woman walked slowly to the bedside and sat down next to him. She leisurely crossed her legs, her movements as natural as if she were in her own home.
“Who might you be?” Jiang Ming found that while he still couldn’t move, he could at least speak. The opponent had had countless opportunities to kill him.
Since she hadn’t made a move, it meant there was still room for dialogue.
“Order Bureau Third Group, Night Watchman.” She brought the cigarette to her lips and took a gentle puff, then added unhurriedly, “Third Team Captain. You can call me Canary.”
Smoke curled up from between her fingers, but her gaze remained fixed on Jiang Ming’s face, carrying a calmness that bordered on scrutiny.
“An abnormal Soul Source eruption was detected in this area just now.” She leaned forward slightly, her voice devoid of any readable emotion. “I hope you can give me a—reasonable explanation, little brother.”
***
On the rooftop, the night was heavy, the wind carrying the lingering scent of blood and cold.
After hearing Canary’s introduction, Jiang Ming’s tensed shoulders relaxed by half. Consequently, he had led her to the rooftop.
“Heaven and earth as my witness, Sister Canary, you have to stand up for me.” Jiang Ming raised both hands, his tone a mix of helplessness and grievance. “I was just planning to go to sleep tonight when a madman appeared out of nowhere. Without a word, he controlled two Puppets and came at me to hack me to pieces.”
He pointed to the corpses on the ground that hadn’t been cleared yet, his expression earnest. “According to Article 17 of the Opas Supernatural Incident Temporary Disposal Regulations, this was a complete case of self-defense—it really shouldn’t count as murder.”
Canary didn’t respond. Her gaze swept over the remnants of the battle on the rooftop before falling back onto Jiang Ming’s face, studying him for a moment. A vague sense of familiarity crossed her mind, and she suddenly asked, “What is your name?”
“Jiang Ming.”
The corner of Canary’s mouth twitched imperceptibly.
She had heard this name. To be precise, she had just heard it this morning during the new recruit briefing at the Order Bureau. Several old instructors had brought it up as a classic case to warn the newcomers: “A kid who just recently awakened his Soul Source managed to kill an experienced fallen Beyonder single-handedly—so never let your guard down against the enemy.”
She didn’t expect the man himself to look… quite so good at playing the victim.
Canary pressed her cigarette butt out against the railing, the spark dying in the night. She walked over to the slumped corpse, nudged its shoulder with the tip of her boot, and exerted a bit of force to flip the body over—the pale moonlight fell exactly on that lifeless face.
Canary’s movements froze.
She recognized this face.
“The Puppeteer—Samuel Valentino.”
She whispered the name, her tone showing little surprise. This Cultist was bottom-tier among the Holy Spear rank to begin with; it wasn’t surprising for him to be killed by another Beyonder.
But the problem was…
Canary remembered clearly that Jiang Ming was a Glimmer-tier Beyonder who had only awakened his Soul Source the day before yesterday.
A Glimmer killed a Holy Spear?
She could almost imagine the expressions on the recruits’ faces at the Order Bureau training grounds tomorrow when they heard this news.
Even if the Lord Protector Jiang Ming were still alive, he might not have been able to achieve such a cross-rank kill at the same tier.
“Oh, of course, I didn’t do it alone.” Jiang Ming scratched his head as if he had just remembered. “Your Order Bureau’s outsourced employee, Elvira, was involved as well.”
Canary’s mouth twitched again.
She also had an impression of the name Elvira. She was external personnel for the Special Operations Group. They weren’t close; she only knew Elvira was also a Glimmer.
Two Glimmers teaming up to kill a Holy Spear.
…It was still ridiculous, but at least it was slightly—really just slightly—easier to accept than one person doing it alone.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she had regained her composure.
“Fine. Then both you and she will have to come with me tonight.”
The night wind swept across the rooftop, lifting the stray hairs on her forehead. In her mind, Canary silently drafted the first line of tonight’s report:
“Preliminary Situation Report Regarding the Incident of Two Glimmer-tier Beyonders Successfully Killing a Holy Spear-tier Cultist Across Ranks.”
Just writing that title made her feel that the Director’s look when she handed it in tomorrow would be quite a sight to behold.