Xie Qingyan pondered for a moment. "The character profile says Shen Xinglan was born on October 3rd, 1995... Let's try." He entered 951003. The screen displayed: Password Incorrect.
"Let me try again," Xie Qingyan said. "He used to be a police officer. Perhaps he used his badge number." He entered the badge number recorded in the character profile. Still incorrect.
Yin Wuwang watched from the side, frowning. "Is this broken thing malfunctioning?"
"No." Not the birthday, not the badge number... Xie Qingyan stared at the screen, deep in thought. The character profile mentioned that Shen Xinglan had resigned at twenty-six because of a case. That case had made him lose faith in the system, yet it had also strengthened his resolve to pursue the truth. For Shen Xinglan, that case was a turning point—one of the most important events in his life. If he were to set a password, what would he use? It would have to be that case, the one that changed his fate.
"The case number," Xie Qingyan said, entering a string of digits.
Ding. The screen displayed: Password Correct. Please select a service.
Yin Wuwang looked at those words, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Even your own password has to be guessed. What kind of broken premise is this?"
"It shows that characters have their own lives," Xie Qingyan said evenly. "Details the author didn't write—the characters fill in themselves. Shen Xinglan chose to use that case number as his password because it was the most important thing to him."
He operated the machine a few more times and withdrew a stack of paper bills. Yin Wuwang looked at those colorful slips of paper with considerable disdain. So this is mortal wealth? But on second thought, this world had no spiritual energy—spirit stones here would probably just be ordinary rocks. When in Rome, one had to make do.
Xie Qingyan looked at the bills in his hand, but his mind was on something else. Characters could develop their own details—this meant these characters weren't merely words on a page. They possessed some degree of self-awareness. Shen Xinglan had set a password; Jiang Wuye probably had his own habits and memories too. So what about them? He and Yin Wuwang had transmigrated into this world and occupied Shen Xinglan and Jiang Wuye's bodies. Where had the original characters gone? Their consciousness, their memories, their lives... Had they vanished, or were they being suppressed? Xie Qingyan didn't ask aloud. The question was too heavy, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
[Cloud City · Streets · Return Journey]
Compared to Xie Qingyan, Yin Wuwang's withdrawal process went incredibly smoothly. He entered Shen Xinglan's birthday, and unexpectedly, it was the correct password.
Leaving the bank, Little Deer Assistant suggested they walk, so he could take them past the detective agency along the way. At an intersection, Yin Wuwang was about to step forward when Xie Qingyan suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped.
"Red light," he said.
Yin Wuwang looked up—sure enough, the light had turned red again. He stood in place and waited, watching the pedestrians across the street also stop. The light turned green. Xie Qingyan stepped forward, and just as Yin Wuwang was about to follow, a car suddenly shot out from the side, its edge brushing his clothes as it sped past.
Yin Wuwang's brow furrowed, and he instinctively wanted to strike—but remembering he had no spiritual energy, he could only let it go.
"Use the crosswalk," Xie Qingyan's voice came from ahead. "Those white stripes."
Yin Wuwang looked down and indeed saw white lines painted on the ground, stretching from one side of the road to the other. He quickly caught up to Xie Qingyan. "Wait for me!"
Xie Qingyan's steps slowed slightly, as if waiting for him. Yin Wuwang walked to his side, and the two continued forward shoulder to shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, Xie Qingyan glanced at him—that car had nearly hit him just now. With spiritual energy, he could have easily dodged, but now...
"Next time you cross the street, look both ways first," Xie Qingyan said.
Yin Wuwang blinked, then stubbornly retorted: "I knew that." But the corner of his mouth lifted slightly—Fuguang is worried about me.
[Starry Night Detective Agency · Evening]
Back at the apartment, Yin Wuwang flopped onto the sofa.
"The mortal world is way too troublesome," he said. "Going up and down floors requires sitting in a moving iron box. Going out requires sitting in a running iron box. Crossing an intersection requires watching the color of lights."
Xie Qingyan poured a glass of water and set it beside him. "You'll get used to it."
Yin Wuwang took the glass and drank. The water was cool, with a faint hint of sweetness.
"This water's not bad," he said.
"It's filtered," Xie Qingyan said. "Mortal water sources aren't clean. They need treatment before drinking."
Yin Wuwang took another sip but said nothing more. Xie Qingyan walked to the window and looked out at the darkening sky.
"The case hasn't come yet," he said.
"It will," Yin Wuwang said. "Didn't Little Deer Assistant say? There's a murder case to solve in this world. We just have to wait."
"Mm."
Xie Qingyan turned and walked toward the study. "I'm going to research the case files."
Yin Wuwang watched his retreating figure, and an indescribable emotion suddenly welled up in his chest. He had never dared to hope for a scene like this—that lofty Sword Sovereign, that flower on a distant peak he had gazed up at for countless years, was now living under the same roof with him, pouring him water, reminding him to be careful when crossing the street. If someone had told Yin Wuwang in the past that Xie Qingyan would one day treat him this way, he would have called it a fool's dream. But now it was all happening, real and true. Yin Wuwang lowered his head, unable to suppress the curve of his lips. He felt like a thief who had stolen the moon from the sky—brimming with joy, yet afraid that one wrong move might wake him from this beautiful dream.
Xie Qingyan entered the study and sat down at the computer. The screen's glow illuminated his cold features. He didn't immediately begin researching. Instead, he sat quietly for a moment. In his mind surfaced the sensation of pressing down on Yin Wuwang's wrist in the elevator, the occasional brush of shoulders in the taxi, that "Wait for me!" at the crosswalk. In the cultivation world, they had been mortal enemies—life and death on the battlefield, never a kind word between them. But now they were partners, comrades fighting side by side, each other's only anchor in this unfamiliar world. Xie Qingyan closed his eyes. I shouldn't be thinking about this. He opened his eyes and began reviewing the files, but his fingers struck the keyboard at a slower rhythm than usual.
[End of V2_Chapter 09]
Next: The case finally arrives—a murder at Loss Bar. Time to meet Captain Lin.