Tessa took in Ian's entire series of reactions.
"This is fate, you cannot stop it." Tessa's voice was like a pronouncement, carrying the unwavering solemnity of a decree. Her finger gently tapped the window ledge.
Making a rhythmic "tap-tap" sound.
Ian's pupils flickered slightly.
"There must be a way." He suddenly seemed to calm down, looking directly into Tessa's eyes as she turned her head. The dizziness-inducing depth intensified.
"So-called fate is an unbeatable conclusion. Your resistance is also your prejudice against death." Tessa's finger tapping the window frame paused slightly. Abrupt silence filled the frozen house.
Ian's expression was rarely serious. "Perhaps death is indeed not scary, but indifference to life, accepting the departure of a family member without doing anything, is truly terrifying."
His response caused Tessa's eyes to narrow slightly. The pale woman patted her own chest with her slender hand, a look of novelty on her face.
"That actually speaks to my heart."
She winked at Ian, but Ian's expression didn't change.
"You wouldn't talk to me this much for no reason." Ian actually possessed a tiny bit of proper intelligence, he just didn't use it very often in his daily life.
Hearing this, the smile on Tessa's face grew even wider.
"Perhaps I just want you to learn to accept reality." Her tone remained somewhat soft, as if comforting a child who needed pity.
"Your family is very special, so things are a little different..." Her explanation sounded somewhat plausible, but it didn't feel very credible to Ian.
"Perhaps?"
Ian turned his head dismissively to look at the black and white hallway. The doors of the bedrooms were all tightly closed. "But I assume you haven't comforted my brothers yet."
His words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.
"What does that matter?" Tessa tilted her head, still smiling. "You are the youngest child. It's certainly not wrong for me to prioritize your feelings a little more."
Still quite reasonable.
"I don't understand psychopomps, but in my opinion, a psychopomp shouldn't have such emotions... So, you chatting with me here definitely has a reason and meaning."
Ian's brain was spinning rapidly now, gradually clearing up some of the strange aspects of the situation. Tessa merely chuckled, looking down at the cold street below.
"I'm just killing time, you know. Living too long is very tiring." The female psychopomp's voice held a hint of a sigh, mixed with a faint, elusive melancholy.
Ian remained silent.
Just quietly watching her.
His sapphire-like eyes shone astonishingly bright in the faded world.
A moment later.
"Alright, you cunning little one." Tessa's voice broke the silent atmosphere. She pouted and raised her hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender.
"I confess, compared to your father... I am actually more interested in you. Before just now, I hadn't even realized the existence of someone as special as you."
"This is a groundbreaking event in my tedious professional career—because of this, I've decided to give you an opportunity, an opportunity far more generous than what our boss, Death, would give."
Saying that, Tessa glanced at the back of Ian's hand again, paused for a moment, and then continued, "I can give you seven days to find out why your father died."
This sudden chilling tone caused Ian to be momentarily stunned.
"You want me to go back in time?"
Ian frowned, gently touching the back of his hand with his other hand. From the words of the female psychopomp, he had received a very critical piece of information.
This made his pupils involuntarily shake a few more times.
"No, no, no, I haven't admired you to that extent yet." Tessa suddenly laughed. "The time of your father's death will be postponed, and these seven days are your father's... and this city's last chance. Don't expect your father to be able to help you. He hasn't even figured out what happened to him."
"Little one, you can only rely on yourself... Let me see if a miracle can be born from you." Tessa's voice carried a hint of subtle expectation.
After speaking.
Without giving Ian a chance to ask further questions, her body suddenly leaned forward, plummeting directly to the street below the house, as if she had completely merged into the black and white interwoven night.
"This matter is related to the safety of Metropolis? If I find the problem, my Dad won't have to die?" By the time Ian rushed to the front of the window, he couldn't see anyone.
Not only had the female psychopomp Tessa, who had fallen to the street, vanished, but the densely packed figures in black suits had also disappeared. They were gone without a trace, as if they had never appeared.
"Ian!"
"Ian!!"
"What's wrong with you?"
...
In his state of shock and uncertainty.
Ian's world suddenly seemed to be infused with sound and color again. Everything around him seemed to be twisting, then interweaving into a blurred, indistinct mess.
"Huh?"
Ian couldn't help but rub his eyes.
Opening his eyes again.
He saw one of Clark's hands on his shoulder, and the other was constantly waving in front of his eyes. His father's face was filled with worry.
"Why did you suddenly space out?"
Clark was clearly worried that Ian's condition was worsening. Although he already knew some things about Ian, he still felt that the psychiatrist's diagnosis might not be entirely wrong.
That was a very famous psychiatrist nationwide, who even often helped the police solve cases. Because of this, the couple had interacted with them before.
"That woman..." Ian looked behind Clark, his voice cutting off. There was nothing behind Clark. He quickly turned to look at the window.
There.
The window looked as if it had never been opened.
"What just happened?"
Ian couldn't help but ask.
Clark frowned, carefully examining his youngest son, his eyes growing more worried. "I came out of the bathroom and saw you suddenly freeze in place with a very distracted look in your eyes."
It was no wonder his father was worried, Ian's behavior was extremely consistent with the typical symptoms of a patient with schizophrenia, based on the knowledge he had quickly read.
"So, he doesn't even remember me accusing him of cheating... or maybe it never happened in reality?" Ian suddenly felt like he was becoming the unreliable narrator character.
He couldn't distinguish.
He really couldn't distinguish!
"Dad, did anything strange happen during the day today?" If he couldn't distinguish, he wouldn't try. Ian was more concerned about the cause of Superman's death mentioned by the female psychopomp earlier.
He strongly felt it must be related to something that happened today.
However.
"You know, just some boring news gathering... very uninteresting." Clark pushed up his glasses. He clearly had no intention of telling the truth.
"..."
Ian stared at his father for a long time.
"Hurry to bed. As for the robber you encountered, don't worry about it anymore. I will certainly take care of it very seriously." Clark didn't notice Ian's unusual expression.
He patted Ian's shoulder and gave his assurance.
"..."
Ian, who had intended to come clean, had the female psychopomp's serious warning repeatedly echoing in his mind. The psychopomp said Ian could only rely on himself, which must have a reason and a deep meaning.
Would involving Superman only make things worse? Lost in thought, with his sixth sense abnormally active, he was led step by step by Clark to his room door.
"See you tomorrow, Dad."
Ian spoke softly. Reflected in his pupils, through the window behind Clark, was the sight of a woman sitting on the chimney of the house across the street, making a shushing gesture at him.
Only Ian could see her.
But Clark was also slightly startled at that moment, feeling a sense of strangeness.
"See you tomorrow."
He then smiled, helping Ian close the door. Once he was alone in the hallway, Clark's smile gradually disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful confusion.
"Did something happen..."
Superman looked towards the bathroom, then out the window behind him, at the empty night sky where not even a bird could be seen.
His eyes flickered slightly.
He lifted the arm covered by his sleeve. The gruesome wound was still emitting a green light. However, the feeling of growing weakness from before seemed to have suddenly stopped, making him feel something unusual.
***
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