Investigation Report of the Gods

Chapter 50: Mysterious Pursuer of Humans

“Hello, Mr. Han.”

And just as he recalled the identity of this person, the other party had already stepped forward with a smile to shake hands: “I am Xu Ji’s father’s assistant, Xu Jinping. May I have a moment of your time to chat?”

‘Xu Ji didn’t show up, but his father’s assistant did?’

Han Su wasn’t surprised. He had long known that with the Xu family’s way of handling matters, someone would definitely come to make contact.

So he simply turned around, shook hands with him, and smiled: “Where to?”

Special Assistant Xu invited Han Su into the car. As the vehicle slowly moved forward, he finally spoke: “Mr. Han, the young master is currently under house arrest, and his phone has also been confiscated, so he couldn’t come to see you. I came on his behalf to thank you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Han Su said, “No matter how many times you thank me, Xu Ji will still thank me again himself.”

“That’s fine. Besides him, I also represent the Xu family.”

Special Assistant Xu glanced back at the apartment building where Han Su lived and said, “This apartment, if Mr. Han finds it comfortable, I can make the decision to have the ownership transferred to you.”

Han Su was slightly stunned, looked up at him, and said, “That’s not necessary. If you’re really so generous, how about going to the property management and paying the maintenance fee?”

Special Assistant Xu was clearly taken aback, seemingly not reacting right away, but still smiled and nodded: “I’ll talk to the property company about that.”

Then, he took an envelope from his briefcase, held it out with both hands to Han Su, and said, “Also, here is a card with six million in it. I hope Mr. Han will accept it.”

Han Su smiled and said, “If I accept this money, does that mean I can’t approach Xu Ji anymore?”

Special Assistant Xu chuckled and said, “The Xu family doesn’t do things in such a petty manner.”

“Besides, even if we said that, the young master wouldn’t agree. If we really wanted to stop the young master from seeing you, we’d have to work on him, not trouble Mr. Han, wouldn’t we?”

“Of course, although the young master is currently under house arrest, the gentleman doesn’t mean anything else by it. He just asked me to come and thank Mr. Han for saving his life.”

“As for now, the two of you really aren’t suitable to meet, but this is for your own good.”

He paused slightly, his expression somewhat serious: “You weren’t hypnotized, and it’s impossible for the young master to have been hypnotized either. That means both of you count as deep-contact individuals of the monster’s mysterious power. If you continue staying together, it could become very dangerous.”

“……”

Han Su was slightly stunned: “What do you mean?”

Special Assistant Xu slowly said, “Deep-contact individuals are much more likely than ordinary people to be drawn to mysterious phenomena, or to attract the attention of anomalous entities.”

“That’s also why it’s said that once you’ve come into contact with some things, you can never escape from them.”

“And if two deep-contact individuals stay together, the chance of drawing in the monster’s mysterious power increases dramatically.”

“So placing the young master under house arrest now is to reduce the risk for both of you. Moreover, as far as I know, that Ghost Freight Truck which escaped from its seal still hasn’t been found.”

“……”

“Ghost Freight Truck?”

Han Su recalled the anomaly he encountered on Highway 48, and a strong sense of shock rose in his heart: “What is the Disaster Management Bureau even doing?”

Special Assistant Xu couldn’t help but glance at Han Su, thinking this young man seemed to lack a bit of respect for official units.

“That’s a very troublesome anomaly.”

He could only explain with a smile: “Its threat level isn’t high, its confidentiality level isn’t high either, but it’s very cunning and very hard to deal with. It once took an independent Investigator to act several levels down to finally seal it on that abandoned section of the road.”

“But now, that Investigator has been transferred elsewhere. Among the active Investigators in Qinggang today, there might not be anyone particularly adept at handling its kind.”

“……”

“Understood.”

Han Su nodded to indicate he understood.

But looking at this so-called ‘pillar’ mentioned by Xu Ji, speaking fluently about terms like “monster’s mysterious power,” “deep contact,” and “Ghost Freight Truck,” a strange feeling slowly grew in his heart.

After a slight pause, he smiled and spoke: “Special Assistant Xu, you all seem to be very knowledgeable about these things?”

“Just knowledgeable, that’s all.”

Special Assistant Xu nodded and said, “But here in Qinggang, even among wealthy and influential families, there aren’t many who truly know and understand these things.”

Han Su slightly focused his mind and said, “What is that threshold?”

“Status!”

Special Assistant Xu’s response was exceptionally direct: “Qinggang is too big, and there are too many wealthy people. Positions always need to be filled, so when it comes to being rich and powerful, many people in Qinggang can be considered as such.”

“But there are very few people in Qinggang who have status.”

Han Su suddenly understood something and said in a low voice, “Then how big is the gap in awareness brought by this status compared to ordinary people?”

Special Assistant Xu thought for a moment and said, “Mr. Han, when you and the young master encountered the Ghost Freight Truck, didn’t he tell you where it came from?”

“He did.”

Han Su nodded and said, “He said he heard it from a drunk at a club.”

Special Assistant Xu said, “That might not have been a drunk. It could have been an arrangement made intentionally by his family—letting people who knew the truth leave an impression at the right time, in some ridiculous way, perhaps?”

“This way, when they actually encounter it unexpectedly, at the very least, they have some reference information.”

“And when the time comes that they must know about these matters, the prior foundation allows them to bear the burden more easily.”

“……”

Han Su sighed. Damn it, being rich really is nice...

Thinking back, Xu Ji had been thinking every day about dragging him into indulging and slacking off, while he, in order to search for something useful, didn’t party, didn’t join in on the fun, only holed up in the library.

Had he known it would be like this, maybe going out to have fun with Xu Ji would have led him to come in contact with these things even sooner?

Of course, thinking back again—it wouldn’t have worked either. Back then he didn’t yet have the incantation given by Song Chu-shi. Recklessly getting involved might have gotten him killed.

“No need to feel regret, Mr. Han.”

Special Assistant Xu spoke gently: “Knowing about the existence of these things isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

“Perhaps you also know that there are many mystery enthusiasts in Qinggang?”

“Some of them notice peculiarities from history or from tiny details, and so they chase after these things. Some out of curiosity, some for that power that distorts reality...”

“……”

Han Su slowly nodded. He had seen one like that—the PhD holder who had joined the operations around the same time as him.

That person had chased mysteries straight into the Disaster Management Bureau.

Special Assistant Xu turned to look out the window, sighed lightly, and said, “Most of them, in the end, catch nothing. No matter what they do, they cannot touch the true mystery.”

“But that, ironically, is a kind of fortune.”

“It’s because the Disaster Management Bureau is doing its job that they get to enjoy such luck.”

“Mr. Han, all along, it hasn’t been humans chasing after mystery—rather, it’s the mystery that’s been chasing after humans...”

“Although, before the distance of this pursuit closes enough for their shadows to completely cover humans, there’s really no need to let ordinary people know.”

“……”

“Mystery, chasing humans...”

Special Assistant Xu’s words unexpectedly reminded Han Su of the feeling he had every time he had been kidnapped—his mood rose and fell as if riding a rollercoaster.

Suddenly, he seemed to understand why the Xu family had only now appeared before him, nearly a week after he had left the Disaster Management Bureau.

The Disaster Management Bureau had only been established for three years, but some of these things might have existed for who knows how many years.

It was just that one needed “status” to know the truth.

Maybe someone polite would stop the conversation here.

But Han Su wasn’t polite. He turned, and seriously asked the question he cared about most: “Then, as someone with status who has long known of these matters, Special Assistant Xu, how do you view the kidnapping case I experienced back then?”

Special Assistant Xu fell silent at once.

Han Su still remembered—in the original life trajectory, Xu Ji had also been one of the kidnapped children.

That meant, at the time, Xu Ji’s family had also been among the victims’ families.

But from his memory, he didn’t recall the Xu family ever coming to find him.

Just as in this life trajectory, not every victim’s family had ever appeared before him.

“Mr. Han, you are an unfortunate person.”

Special Assistant Xu remained silent for a long time before slowly answering: “What happened to you is pitiful.”

“Even I—who had long known that in the shadows of Qinggang there were those restless monsters—couldn’t bring myself to believe it was real.”

Han Su frowned: “What do you mean?”

“Because...”

Special Assistant Xu thought for a bit before finding a suitable answer. He said quietly, “If it is real, then even for us who already knew of the shadows’ existence and have dealings with them, such a thing is still far too mysterious and hard to comprehend.”

“……”

Han Su didn’t speak for a while, then slowly looked up at him.

Special Assistant Xu also said no more, even deliberately lowering his head, avoiding further questions from Han Su.

Only when the car came to a steady stop and the driver in front gently knocked on the window did he rouse himself and smile, pressing a button: “This is all I can discuss with Mr. Han. Let’s change the subject!”

The curtains covering the car window retreated to both sides. He looked out the window and softly said, “Mr. Han, are you satisfied with this result?”