Old Qi walked back into the jumble of shacks. A short while later, he returned with two men.

The one in the lead was a tall, sturdy man, around thirty-five or six. Beside him was a shorter, shrewder-looking fellow. Both of them had conspicuous Implants.

This was especially true for the burly man. He wore only a tank top, and his exposed shoulder and one of his arms were clearly Implants. Dressing like that in this weather was a dead giveaway that he had a foundation in combat.

They sized up Chen Chuan with wary eyes as they approached.

"So this is the guy you said could solve our problem?" the shorter man asked, looking displeased when he saw Chen Chuan. "He’s so young. Can he really handle it?"

The burly man, however, remained silent, simply staring intently at Chen Chuan.

Old Qi said nonchalantly, "We agreed up front: no solution, no fee. What’s there to worry about? If you don’t want us to do it, we’ll just leave. You can go back to waiting. The pay isn’t great anyway. It would’ve been another ten or fifteen days before your turn came up."

The shorter man started to say something else, but a large hand clamped down on his shoulder, silencing him. The burly man looked at Chen Chuan and said, "I trust him."

The shorter man said, surprised, "Brother Chong..."

The burly man looked at Chen Chuan. "Sir," he said, "we’re counting on you for this."

Chen Chuan nodded.

Old Qi, quick on the uptake, immediately led the way. "Brother Chen, follow me. It’s this shack here."

The shorter man watched the two of them walk off, then turned to ask, "Brother Chong, you trust them?" He didn’t understand why Brother Chong, who had been on his side just a moment before, had changed his tune so suddenly.

Brother Chong said, "I’ve trained at a martial arts gym. I can tell that young man is at least a Second Limit Fighter..." He saw the shorter man’s confused expression and added an explanation.

"About the same level as our Director."

The shorter man finally understood. "Brother Chong, are you saying that guy is on the same level as Director Jin?"

He was both skeptical and astonished. He’d seen what the Director could do: topple a wall with a gentle push or move a car with a casual sweep of his foot.

Brother Chong was worldly. "It’s not surprising," he said. "People with that kind of talent are all like that. It’s easy for someone like him to make money. He doesn’t need to come to us and be so polite."

The shorter man was convinced. With that kind of skill, he really wouldn’t need to swindle them. He could earn far more just by teaching martial arts. Hell, if he decided to rob them blind, they couldn’t even fight back.

By then, Old Qi had led Chen Chuan to the shack in question. Chen Chuan glanced at his Second Self, then stopped. "Old Qi, don’t come any closer," he said. "I’ll go alone. You head back."

Old Qi agreed. "I’ll wait for you where we were before."

Chen Chuan nodded and walked up to the shack. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

Sensing his Second Self begin to turn ethereal, he spoke. "Xiaoman, you should be able to hear me. Your neighbors hired me to resolve this. Can you let me take a look? I don’t think we’ll need to burn your brother’s body."

After a brief wait, a voice came from behind the door. "You’re not lying?"

Chen Chuan said, "Actually, burning your brother’s body is a bad idea. It’s very likely that his body can’t be burned at all. I’ll have to see it for myself to know for sure."

After a few minutes, the door opened a crack. A pair of eyes scrutinized him, then glanced outside. Seeing that he was alone, the door opened a little wider. "Come in."

Chen Chuan stepped inside. Before him stood a scrawny teenager with dark circles under his eyes. He looked nervous and was holding a pistol.

Chen Chuan paid it no mind. Suddenly, he noticed a much stronger etherealization on one side of his Second Self. He turned to look at a wardrobe to the side and asked, "What’s in there?"

Xiaoman said, "Nothing. Just some everyday clothes."

Chen Chuan walked over and opened the wardrobe. Xiaoman froze. Inside was a mannequin, but it was dressed in his brother’s clothes. At first glance, it bore a striking resemblance to his brother.

"What is..."

Xiaoman was bewildered. He didn’t remember having anything like this in the house.

Chen Chuan said, "Xiaoman, you did bury your brother, didn’t you?"

Xiaoman nodded vigorously.

Chen Chuan looked at him. "Go check again. See if your brother is still in there."

Xiaoman froze, a look of panic and confusion on his face. He hastily grabbed a shovel from against the wall and ran into the backyard. A moment later, the sounds of panting and furious digging filled the air.

Chen Chuan didn’t move. ’If my guess is right,’ he thought, ’I can’t get directly involved. Xiaoman has to be the one to do this.’

Ten-odd minutes later, a startled cry came from the backyard.

Chen Chuan followed the sound and found Xiaoman kneeling beside a freshly dug pit, his shovel cast aside. The boy was frantically clawing at the dirt with his bare hands. "My brother? Where’s my brother...?" He glared up at Chen Chuan, his eyes full of rage, and pointed. "You! Was it you? Did you dig up my brother?"

"Calm down," Chen Chuan said patiently. "If someone had already dug up your brother, there would have been no need to hire me."

Xiaoman froze. Then he scrambled to his feet and paced anxiously in a small circle. "Then where’s my brother? Where did my brother go?"

Chen Chuan looked at him and asked, "Do you want to know the real answer?"