She Comes Into My Dreams Every Night - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The Master Did Not Talk Of

Tu Zhizhuo put away her phone.

“Hello, may I ask what this is about?”

Her attitude was neither warm nor cold, merely polite.

“I am employed at the City Anomaly Handling Bureau.” Lei Yinyin took out her work badge as a matter of routine, but was met with Tu Zhizhuo’s confused look.

“City Anomaly Handling Bureau? What kind of agency is that?” Tu Zhizhuo’s brows furrowed, and a faint sense of foreboding rose in her heart.

Lei Yinyin was slightly surprised and explained, “We are an emergency response agency affiliated with the central government. You can log into the National Police System to find our specific information, including my personal resume and position. My badge number is…”

“Stop.” Tu Zhizhuo raised her hand and said directly, “I’m not interested in that. Could you please get straight to why you’re looking for me?”

As she spoke, she glanced around. The backstage area was noisy, and many pairs of eyes were curiously watching the two of them.

Clearly, it was not a good place to talk.

Lei Yinyin also noticed this and scratched her head apologetically:

“I didn’t intend to find you at this time. I just happened to be here to watch the competition, and… how about we change locations to talk?”

Tu Zhizhuo pondered for a moment and nodded. “Fine. Wait for me to change my clothes.”

A little while later, at a coffee shop outside the theater, Tu Zhizhuo and Lei Yinyin sat across from each other.

It was a weekday afternoon, and the coffee shop was sparsely populated. Their ordered drinks were served, and the waiter, maintaining a good sense of discretion, did not disturb them again.

Tu Zhizhuo took a sip of her coffee and glanced at the police officer’s cup.

A latte, and one where the milk far outweighed the coffee. Yet, the other person was still not satisfied and kept adding sugar to it.

Tu Zhizhuo’s eye twitched.

“Miss Tu’s time is precious, so I’ll get straight to the point. I’m here regarding Miss Su Huaiwang’s matter.”

Tu Zhizhuo’s expression remained neutral, but the hand holding the mug handle suddenly tightened.

“Although her disappearance a year ago has been resolved, we are still conducting follow-up visits to ensure the physical and mental safety of our citizens, so we hope Miss Tu can cooperate with our investigation.”

She paused here and offered an apologetic smile. “Ordinarily, our operator should have contacted you in a few days, but I happened to see you today, so…”

Meeting Tu Zhizhuo today was indeed an accident, even more so than the one at White Sheep Temple.

“You talk too much.” Tu Zhizhuo looked at her directly and said mercilessly.

Lei Yinyin froze.

“So, what you are doing is not following procedure, is that right? Look closely—you’re also not wearing a uniform, which means I can actually remain silent and not answer any of your questions.”

The bright-eyed and beautiful woman had a powerful tongue, and her words were aggressive.

Lei Yinyin sighed internally, secretly regretting her careless decision.

She had thought Su Huaiwang’s friend would be like her, even if it was just a polite coldness, at least the person was cooperative.

“I’m talking. Are you listening?” The beautifully made-up eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes, I am. Yes.” Lei Yinyin nodded quickly.

Tu Zhizhuo watched her suspiciously for a moment, then spoke. “I looked into your agency later.”

Lei Yinyin’s expression was natural. “We know.”

This was why she approached Tu Zhizhuo so directly.

There was no point in hiding anything from someone so inherently suspicious and perceptive.

“Too bad I couldn’t find anything.” Tu Zhizhuo shrugged.

It made sense; how could she possibly uncover anything about a special national agency?

“With all due respect, you don’t need to understand us.” Even with Tu Zhizhuo’s aggressiveness, Lei Yinyin maintained a composed and gentle demeanor.

“But now you’ve actively sought me out.” Tu Zhizhuo stared intently at her. “What exactly happened with Su Huaiwang’s disappearance?”

For a moment, silence fell between the two, and all the surrounding sounds seemed to slow down.

Finally, Lei Yinyin broke the silence: “The Master did not talk of strange phenomena, feats of strength, disorderly spirits, and spiritual beings.” (子不語怪力亂神 – Zǐ bù yǔ guàilì luànshén – A reference to the Confucian Analects, essentially meaning: The Master does not speak of the supernatural.)

She didn’t state it directly, but her meaning was clear.

Tu Zhizhuo’s tense body immediately relaxed, slumping back into the sofa chair.

She fanned herself with her hand. “You should have said so earlier. I thought it was some kind of official experiment… you scared me.”

Lei Yinyin was speechless. “You… perhaps you’ve stayed in Country A a little too long.”

Tu Zhizhuo raised an eyebrow, noncommittal, as there were indeed many film and television works on this subject in Country A, and she had watched quite a few.

“So?” She picked up her coffee cup and took another sip. “Didn’t you say the incident was already resolved? Why are you looking for me again? I’m telling you beforehand, I don’t know anything.”

As she said this, she seemed to remember something else and asked, “Did you go see Su Huaiwang?”

Lei Yinyin was honest. “I did.”

“Heh.” Tu Zhizhuo sneered. “See? I really wouldn’t know anything. Su Huaiwang wouldn’t even tell me about something like this.”

“She might be worried about you.”

Tu Zhizhuo shot her a look. “I know that, I don’t need you to remind me.”

Her attitude towards Lei Yinyin was still poor, and Lei Yinyin felt helpless.

But the work had to continue.

“I’d like to ask if anything strange has happened around you recently?”

“No.” The woman’s gaze flickered, her mind clearly elsewhere.

She put down her coffee cup. “Around Su Huaiwang? Has anything happened?”

Lei Yinyin shook her head. “Not yet.”

“So, that means it might happen later?” Tu Zhizhuo was very good at grasping the key points.

“I’m not trying to criticize, but did you truly resolve the incident from a year ago? You don’t tell us anything, keeping it all hidden. She’s the victim, you know.”

Lei Yinyin still gave the same reply: “The Master did not talk of strange phenomena, feats of strength, disorderly spirits, and spiritual beings.”

Tu Zhizhuo was getting a little angry. “I’m asking you questions here! Why do you keep quoting classical texts at me!”

The heroic woman smiled faintly. “Knowing too much can lead to entanglement.”

Her presence wasn’t overwhelming, but somehow, Tu Zhizhuo suddenly calmed down.

She spoke. “What principle is that?”

Lei Yinyin shook her head. “Please understand.”

“Understand?” Tu Zhizhuo scoffed. “You don’t tell me anything, you just show up and ask if I’ve noticed anything strange. I don’t even know what counts as ‘strange,’ so what can I tell you?”

She clenched her bag, seemingly ready to leave the next second.

“If you truly encounter the ‘strange’ that we’re looking for, you will naturally tell us.”

The spiritual arts are subtle, working on a person’s subconscious, often proving more effective than a person’s subjective voluntary statement.

Unless that person’s subconscious is also very well masked.

Thinking of this, Lei Yinyin couldn’t help but slightly frown again.

The anger in Tu Zhizhuo’s heart was once again mysteriously calmed.

She loosened her grip on her bag. The woman sat silently in her seat for a long time, then suddenly laughed:

“Is this part of the ‘disorderly spirits’?”

Lei Yinyin nodded.

“Does this comply with the procedure? Where can I file a complaint against you?”

Lei Yinyin was resigned. Communicating with someone like Tu Zhizhuo was indeed difficult. Although the bureau had alternative plans, she was reluctant to use them.

“Alright, alright, look at your face.” Tu Zhizhuo suddenly dropped her aggressive stance. “I did study abroad in Country A, but not for long. My personality profile shouldn’t have changed too much.”

Lei Yinyin sighed in relief.

“But look, I genuinely know nothing. Asking me is pointless, but I have many things I want to ask you.”

The woman held her chin with her hands clasped, her beauty aggressively striking.

Lei Yinyin smiled. “The Master did not talk of strange phenomena, feats of strength, disorderly spirits, and spiritual beings.”

“Are you a repeater?”

“We have regulations.”

Tu Zhizhuo tsk-ed. “So I can’t even complain about you, can I?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“This kind of system will have problems sooner or later.”

Lei Yinyin did not feel guilty. “Don’t worry, it won’t.”

“Heh, well, it has nothing to do with me anyway.” Tu Zhizhuo snorted lightly. “Then I only want to know one thing: Is Su Huaiwang in danger?”

She asked the question casually, but in reality, she was staring intensely at Lei Yinyin, afraid of missing any slight facial reaction.

To her disappointment, Lei Yinyin did not hide anything, only honestly saying, “The danger is very small, but I personally suspect there is.”

Tu Zhizhuo ground her teeth. “Shouldn’t you be stabilizing public morale right now?”

“I think telling the truth is better.”

“Fine, you win.” Tu Zhizhuo was at her limit.

“If you can cooperate with me, the situation will be much better,” Lei Yinyin looked at Tu Zhizhuo, her expression serious.

“How should I cooperate with you?” Tu Zhizhuo narrowed her eyes. “You guys can’t handle it, and you want me to? Be careful you don’t end up with two corpses!”

She irritably tugged at her hair, giving the person across from her a sidelong glance, contemplating other solutions in her mind.

Lei Yinyin seemed to read her thoughts. “Miss Tu, I suggest you don’t trust anyone else besides us.”

“You’re making suggestions to me now? It’s your agency that dragged the incident from a year ago out until now, okay?”

“Strictly speaking, we did resolve the matter from a year ago.” At least that’s what was written in the case file.

“Then why did she lose her memory?”

“It was better for her that way.”

“I knew it. You’re going to start talking about ‘The Master did not talk of’ again, are you?”

Lei Yinyin nodded and continued, “The problem now is that since she has already been exposed to the anomalous, she is more likely to attract them. This is why we need to do a follow-up visit.”

“Are these things going to cling to her for the rest of her life?” Tu Zhizhuo said coldly.

“No. But it takes time, so I hope you can help us watch over her. If there is anything unusual,” Lei Yinyin pulled out a piece of paper, “call this number.”

Tu Zhizhuo took the slip of paper with the phone number, her expression still unpleased.

“This number will always connect; you don’t need to worry,” Lei Yinyin continued. “If you lose your phone, just silently recite it in your mind. Our support will arrive quickly.”

“Why are you telling me this?” The long-silent Tu Zhizhuo finally spoke. “Could it be that I might also encounter…”

Lei Yinyin paused for a moment and comforted her, “The possibility of you personally encountering this is very small. The main thing is that if you feel Su Huaiwang has encountered something, please contact us as soon as possible.”

“But I don’t live with her. In this situation, wouldn’t it be better to have Lin Jue do it?” Tu Zhizhuo pointed out perceptively.

She didn’t believe they hadn’t investigated Lin Jue.

Lei Yinyin reined in her smile. She couldn’t let Tu Zhizhuo pay too much attention to Lin Jue. If she found out, things would become more complicated.

“You and Su Huaiwang are closer. I think you might be more able to detect any abnormality in Su Huaiwang’s condition.”

Tu Zhizhuo looked at her for a long time, grudgingly accepting this answer.

She tucked the slip of paper into her bag:

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

“Thank you very much.” Lei Yinyin stood up. “But don’t worry too much. Currently, we only have suspicions. In fact, we also hope that nothing happens.”

“It had better be that way.” Tu Zhizhuo also stood up.

“If nothing happens, we will notify you.”

Tu Zhizhuo stared fixedly at her, her red lips slightly parting. “Good, then I’ll be waiting.”