Yama Reborn-Chapter 408 - 405 [The Clever Xicheng Xun]

Chapter 405: The Clever Xicheng Xun

Chen Nuo was buying vegetables.

He picked out four ribs and put them on the scale, one and a half pounds total. After haggling with the vendor, he got the price down by ninety cents and even got the owner to throw in a small piece of fat, planning to go home and render some pork lard scraps.

Xiao Yezi loved eating pork lard scraps the most.

Hmm... it seemed that gluttonous girl Yu Naitang had also taken a liking to this delicacy.

He could sneak her a bowl later, just toss it over the balcony to her.

The lard rendered from frying would also be good for stir-frying vegetables.

Actually, it was with lard that vegetables were the most fragrant; salad oils and peanut oils just didn’t cut it, they couldn’t bring out that aroma.

Standing in the market, he thought for a moment.

For dinner, one braised pork ribs, one stir-fried vegetables with lard scraps, and a tomato and egg soup would be sufficient.

In 2002, who would prepare four dishes and a soup every day? It’s just about getting by.

At the entrance of the market, he saw a wonton stall that wasn’t doing any business. The owners were a couple.

The man cooked the wontons and noodles in a large pot.

The woman sat beside him at a table, wrapping wontons.

Southern wontons were different from northern ones—Chen Nuo didn’t like northern wontons at all.

How could that even be called a wonton? It was almost the size of a dumpling.

In the south, wontons were known for their thin skins and small filling.

This lady’s movements were very skilled: with the tip of her chopstick, she would dab a mosquito-sized bit of meat, smear it in the center of the wonton skin, and with a pinch of her fingers, a wonton was made.

This kind of wonton was also easy to cook.

Once the pot was boiling, add half a cup of cold water to settle them, then bring it to a boil again. When the wontons float on the surface, they’re ready to be taken out of the pot.

In southern China, wontons are not "eaten" but "drunk."

Since there’s not much meat filling and the skins are thin, you can slurp the wontons with their soup. Once it’s cool enough, you can swallow it down your throat without needing to chew much.

Feeling tempted by the sight, Chen Nuo bought a pound of raw wontons to take home.

Well, with this, there was no need to cook rice for dinner.

Having purchased vegetables, and upon seeing roasted chestnuts at the entrance of the market, he bought ten yuan’s worth. Children all enjoyed this sweet and fragrant snack.

Yet, when buying it, his heart felt a complicated pang.

Sun Keke liked to eat this too.

At the entrance of the residential complex, he bumped into Ou Xiuhua, who had just finished work and picked up Xiao Yezi.

The mother and daughter were walking and laughing as they entered the community; Xiao Yezi was holding a candied haw on a stick, licking it as they walked.

For Chen Xiaoye, these recent days had been the happiest and most joyful.

To a child, there was nothing more to ask for in days like these. They had already reached the best possible scenario they could imagine.

Her mother was by her side, her brother was safely home, and the three of them lived happily together every day.

She went to elementary school every day, where she was happy, and the teachers and classmates were friendly to her.

Every evening after coming home, completing her homework, and watching half an hour of cartoons, she would then pester her brother to play for a while. Before going to sleep, her mother would pat her to sleep.

Peaceful, secure.

Today was the weekend, and tomorrow, Sunday, her brother had said he would take her to the park.

Seeing Chen Nuo returning with a basket of groceries at the entrance of the complex, Xiao Yezi called out and then ran over with her short legs, plunging into Chen Nuo’s arms.

Chen Nuo smiled indulgently, shifted the groceries to his left hand, and freed his right hand to pick up Xiao Yezi, carrying her all the way home.

When cooking dinner that evening, he actually overcooked the lard scraps a bit. As for the braised pork ribs, he had added too much soy sauce, realizing the color was too dark only when it was time to dish up.

But these were trivial day-to-day matters that didn’t upset anyone; at most, the family would make a few jokes during dinner.

"The family living opposite us, I ran into them yesterday. A young girl was holding a little fuzzy-haired child," Ou Xiuhua suddenly said.

Chen Nuo didn’t lift his head, just hummed lightly to show he heard.

Ou Xiuhua sighed, "Who knows what they were thinking, letting such a young girl take care of a small child. But that little girl is rather delicate, just her hair is so white. Such a young age and she’s dyed her hair already."

Chen Nuo still kept quiet, just served Xiao Yezi a piece of rib and casually said, "Eat more vegetables, don’t just eat meat."

Xiao Yezi was quiet, focused on tackling the ribs.

"Since we’re neighbors and see each other often, I think the family across from us, that young girl must be having a hard time. She can’t be much older than our Ye Zi and already has to take care of a child at home. I don’t know what the adults are doing... In a while, take some of the extra wontons you bought today and send a bowl over there. It’s good to maintain neighborly relations, to create good karma. If there’s something we can help with, we should lend a hand whenever possible."

Chen Nuo nodded vigorously and wiped his mouth, "Okay."

He knew Ou Xiuhua was a kind-hearted, tender person.

After all, she had ended up in prison because she was too soft-hearted, getting involved in her ex-husband’s schemes.

But now that Ou Xiuhua had spoken, there was no need to sneakily toss food over the balcony anymore.

After dinner, Chen Nuo openly packed up a bowl of wontons and half a bowl of ribs, walked out the front door, and knocked on the door of the apartment across the hall.

Yu Naitang was a bit surprised when she opened the door.

Looking behind Chen Nuo at the door of their apartment, she lowered her voice, "You didn’t tell your mom that you have a child outside, did you? Are you letting the child meet her grandmother tonight?"

"Don’t be ridiculous, don’t scare them," Chen Nuo sighed. "Take it back and eat. How was your teacher tonight?"

"She fell asleep hugging your daughter," Yu Naitang said excitedly. "She was awake a bit longer this time. But, she only wants to be close to your daughter. She won’t even let me hold her hand."

Back at home, Ou Xiuhua was bathing Xiao Yezi. Chen Nuo went onto the balcony alone to smoke.

He smoked a third of a cigarette, then looked up at the sky.

In this era, the starry sky in cities had already begun to blur, hinting at the onset of various kinds of air pollution.

Fortunately, there had been heavy rain and wind just yesterday that cleared the clouds away.

The starry sky tonight was much clearer.

Chen Nuo watched the starry sky, but suddenly his eyebrows twitched, and his expression turned strange.

Casually extinguishing the cigarette in the ashtray, Chen Nuo took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.

Instantly, Mentality Tentacles extended in all directions, shooting straight into the sky!

Spiritual power expanded, spreading out thousands of meters in an instant!

The air began to move, and the sky surged with currents!

High above, several streamer clouds were drawn together under the pull of spiritual power, piecing together right above Chen Nuo’s head in the sky!

Nolan held a mug in his hand, but it wasn’t coffee inside; it was a cup of hot chocolate.

He looked relaxed, sitting in front of the desk.

His suit was open, and he had undone the top buttons of his shirt.

There was also a small plate of cookies on the table.

Xicheng Xun was sitting opposite Nolan.

"Would you like a cup?" Nolan asked cheerfully.

Xicheng Xun shook her head.

"Don’t like hot chocolate? You can have something else if you want."

Xicheng Xun was silent for two seconds, then nodded. "Then, please give me a Coke. Mm... with ice cubes, not the kind from the fridge but room-temperature Coke poured into the glass with ice cubes added."

Nolan snapped his fingers in agreement and nodded. "That’s a very enjoyable way to drink!"

He immediately nodded to a camera in a corner of the room. "Do it the way she said—oh right, make one for me too."

Turning back to face Xicheng Xun, they looked at each other for a while before Xicheng Xun sighed. "Actually, I really don’t understand why a big shot with an Octopus Monster gold USB stick would bother me. I’m just a minor character, an Ability User with very ordinary strength."

Nolan shook his head and said seriously, "There’s no need to be so modest. At your age, having the strength you do is already very remarkable—you are a genius."

She truly was a genius.

After all, in her past life, Xicheng Xun was among the top geniuses of Ability Users, or else she wouldn’t have been a member of the Yama Team.

In this lifetime, the pace of her power level advancement was similar to her last life.

But, due to the spiritual power interaction with Chen Nuo, and during the process of Chen Nuo repairing the cracks, anyone who had interacted with his spiritual power automatically received feedback and nourishment, further advancing their already significant powers.

In that case, given her current strength, compared to her age...

Even Nolan had to admit that no matter how you looked at it, she was a genius.

And a rare kind of genius at that.

"But I didn’t provoke you."

"You did," Nolan shook his head, replying very seriously.

Xicheng Xun fell silent.

"Previously, you were investigating the Octopus Monster organization; you were looking into the secrets behind the official Octopus Monster rewards and missions. Also, you paid some information organizations... Oh right, you have many Octopus Monster website accounts—the origins of those accounts, I’m afraid, might not be very legitimate. Many were acquired by force, right?"

Xicheng Xun slowly lowered her head, thought for a while, and then lifted it again, showing the typical gentle smile of a Japanese girl. "May I ask, does having a few extra accounts violate Octopus Monster’s regulations?"

"...Well, no," Nolan shook his head.

"Then, does Octopus Monster forbid anyone from inquiring about Octopus Monster matters? I guess all Ability Users around the world must be curious about Octopus Monster. Every year, every month, even every day, there are those who are, intentionally or unintentionally, inquiring about Octopus Monster. Even Octopus Monster itself allows users to freely discuss and exchange information about Octopus Monster on its website—these things are originally permitted."

"Only for some not-too-important information exchange. We still need to prevent the leakage of anything more significant," Nolan said with a smile.

"We?"

"Yes, we."

"So you didn’t come to capture me with a reward commission from Octopus Monster? You are from Octopus Monster?" Xicheng Xun frowned. "I thought it was one of your gold overlords... Controllers, coming after me."

"No, I’m not a Controller." Suddenly, Nolan smiled. "I... am..."

He thought for a moment. "You could understand it as, I’m the one who hands out the golden USB drives to the Controllers."

Xicheng Xun aptly showed a surprised expression. "You are... the Octopus Monster itself?"

"... Uh, no, I’m not."

"Yeah, I didn’t think so either."

"Why not?"

"I’ve always felt that the Octopus Monster itself, being such an impressive character, should be a bit more handsome than you," the girl carefully replied.

Nolan’s eyes widened as he stared at Xicheng Xun for a while before suddenly laughing.

At that moment, the door was pushed open, and a subordinate brought in two glasses of Coke—the kind with ice cubes in them.

"Please, go ahead," Nolan gestured with his hand.

He took a glass first and had a sip. "The clinking sound of ice cubes in a glass, it really is quite comforting to hear."

He then picked up a cookie from the plate on the table and tossed it into his mouth, chewing voraciously.

"Do you know what I detest most in this world?"

"Um... considering you’re a middle-aged man, I guess... losing hair?" the girl slowly replied.

Not the least bit upset, Nolan even purposefully ruffled his hair. "Thanks for your concern, but my hair is still quite thick. What I detest most are caramel-flavored cookies."

"Why?"

"’Firstly, I don’t understand what’s so great about caramel-flavored things. It’s just syrup cooked until it’s slightly burnt, sweet with a hint of bitterness—where’s the appeal in that?

"’Of course, the second point is the most important.

"’Such caramel-flavored things, when made, often have a dark color—don’t you think it looks very similar to the color of chocolate-flavored things?

"’As a result, I often experience a sense of disappointment after being fooled!

"’I really like everything with a chocolate flavor.

"’But often, when I see a dark cookie, thinking it’s chocolate-flavored, I pick it up excitedly to take a bite, but then...

"’It turns out to be caramel-flavored.

"’Haven’t you felt that kind of disappointment and annoyance?’"

Xicheng Xun listened quietly, patiently waiting for Nolan to finish speaking.

The girl gently sighed. "I understand now."

"Understand what?"

"’That all these irrelevant small talk you’re making, your apparent nonchalant attitude, offering me Coke, not rushing to ask me any questions but instead casually babbling about this and discussing whether cookies are caramel or chocolate flavored... you’re actually just trying to tell me one thing.’"

A faint smile touched the corners of Xicheng Xun’s lips. "You want to use this to tell me that you have everything under control.

"’You’re not in a hurry, nor are you worried about any issues; you’re not even eager to interrogate me.

"’Everything is under your control, and I can’t escape your grasp.

"’You can waste time, tease me, or chat idly with me as you please.

"’You’re fully confident that you have me firmly in hand.

"’You just want to convey all this through your words and actions to shake my mental defenses, right?’"

Nolan laughed, clapping his hands. "See, I told you, you’re a genius!"

He scratched his head and said with a laugh, "Hey, young girl, this world has become incredibly boring. So, encountering such an interesting little genius like you makes it worthwhile for me to drop many matters at hand, for a significant figure like me to personally come to Tokyo to catch you. It’s because I believe you must be an interesting, talented kid."

"A significant figure? How impressive of a figure?"

"Um..." Nolan thought for a bit. "Before coming to see you, I was in the middle of handling something. I was planning on buying the Los Angeles Lakers, and then giving away shares for free to all the season ticket holders who are fans of the team."

Xicheng Xun was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t help but nod. "Well... you are indeed very impressive."

She paused, then added, "But it’s indeed very whimsical too."

"Exactly, it’s whimsical." Nolan smiled nonchalantly. "If I pull it off, I plan to buy the New York Yankees and do the same thing with them."

Xicheng Xun frowned and thought for a moment. "You left such a whimsical matter to catch me personally... So, in your mind, you think that I am more important and more interesting than the Los Angeles Lakers?"

"Of course, you really are interesting."

Nolan’s smile faded and he slowly said, "Because... the direction you’ve been investigating isn’t just out of curiosity about the Octopus Monster... but rather, you have a very clear goal in your investigation! You’re looking into... the high-level task that the Octopus Monster released last year! Right?"

Xicheng Xun fell silent.

"’That task, many besides you are investigating. But I know why they are investigating.

"’For instance, in Europe, the Cultivator Association is investigating because they are looking for the whereabouts of the Wizards, and as for...

"’Well, I won’t tell you about those.

"’Other people are investigating because they have a relationship with the participants of that task.

"’But what about you, Miss Xicheng Xun?

"’I’ve looked into your background, and I’ve carefully reflected on the participants of that mission.

"’I’m quite certain of one thing... you shouldn’t have any connection with the participants of that mission.

"’So, why are you investigating this matter?’"

Xicheng Xun remained silent.

Nolan slowly reached into his pocket and then pulled out a piece of paper, laid it on the table, and pushed it toward Xicheng Xun.

"’Not responding, maintaining silence... yet you don’t seem panicked.

"’It’s as if you have some hope, some reliance.

"’Are you banking on this?’"

Xicheng Xun looked down and furrowed her brow.

To her surprise, it was the note she had written in the bookstore while escaping from the airport!

On it was her own awkwardly scribbled message: "I’ve been captured. The person claims to be called Nolan."

And a string of phone numbers.

"’Very smart move. Your calmness and the ability to respond in a critical moment were exceptional.

"’I admire that about you.

"’In such a short time frame, you came up with such a solution, which is quite remarkable for someone your age.

"’However, do you think we’re that easy to deal with?

"’Do you really think that I would be so careless during the capture as to overlook these details? The bookstores and convenience stores you passed while escaping were all handled afterward. So, we retrieved this piece of paper.

"’As for the clerk, we gave him more money to keep quiet.’"

Xicheng Xun sighed. "Alright, you guys are indeed... formidable."

"Now that you have no backup, why not cooperate obediently?" Nolan smiled. "We can discuss things while sipping on cola, isn’t that nice?"

Xicheng Xun lifted her eyelids. "Then why don’t you just call the number on this paper, and you’ll know who my accomplices are?"

Nolan threw a cellphone on the table. "No, I don’t want to alert the enemy... you make the call!"

"Fine."

"Do you know what to say?"

"I know. I can’t say I’ve been captured. Pretend everything’s fine, then during the conversation, I also have to help you draw out some clues that are valuable to you... just like in the movies, right?"

"Smart, go on then."

Without any hesitation, Xicheng Xun took the phone, deliberately positioned it at an angle clearly visible to Nolan, and then dialed the number on the paper, one digit at a time...

RING... RING...

The call connected.

Nolan’s lips twitched into a smile.

However, the next moment, the smile on his lips froze.

"Moshi moshi! This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department emergency center! How may I assist you?"

In the room, the two of them, one taller, the other shorter, made eye contact. Xicheng Xun’s expression was calm as she covered the phone with her hand and whispered, "Do I need to say anything else?"

Nolan’s smile vanished as he took the phone and hung up.

"You see, I’m just an ordinary kid. I don’t have any accomplices. When I was kidnapped, the emergency number I left in desperation was for the police. So..."

Xicheng Xun spread her hands.

"Chen Nuo, there’s trouble."

Holding the phone, Chen Nuo frowned as he listened to Niveer’s voice on the other end. "What happened? Take your time and tell me."

"I received a call from a stranger, who said they found a hundred US dollar bill with my phone number and the word ’help’ written on it."

After a pause, Niveer slowly continued, "This is a prearranged method between me and Xicheng Xun. She usually carries several such bills on her, all prepared in advance, with my phone number and a call for help written on them. In times of danger, she would stealthily throw out those bills, hoping someone would pick them up. Even if someone pocketed the money without doing anything. But betting on the odds, there might be one or two Good Samaritans willing to make that call. So..."

"Did you ask where the person found the bill?"

"Tokyo Narita Airport."