Watching Chongyue stride in through the temple doors, road-weary and travel-dusted, Anthony quickly pieced together the situation.
Second Brother had made his move.
Wang had said as much earlier — that he intended to call everyone back to see Jie, now that a resurrection was on the table. Chongyue was probably just the first to arrive.
That said, Chongyue was a special case. He was, by a wide margin, one of the few people alive who could actually bring the Sui-Year Bureau's collective blood pressure down a notch — a genuine Agent who existed entirely outside the Sui Beast's influence. When it came to meeting with the other Agents, he was essentially the only one who posed no real risk.
Because otherwise, having three Agents crammed into one tiny old temple? Anthony wouldn't just expect the Sui-Year Bureau to emit a piercing shriek — he'd half believe the whole organization would spontaneously dissolve into water on the spot.
Still, the fact that Wang had called Chongyue back first — that was something Anthony hadn't anticipated.
He was still turning that thought over when Chongyue's voice cut through his reverie:
"So this is... Little Thirteen? Goes by Po, is that right?"
Anthony looked up — and found himself staring, completely blank-faced, as Chongyue reached out and ruffled his hair.
In the next instant, every hair on his body stood straight up.
It was like brushing against something vast and utterly beyond reckoning. Just standing in the man's presence, his soul registered a sharp, violent warning — a searing pain crackling through him like static electricity.
But then Chongyue's hand shifted, landing in a firm, warm pat on his shoulder instead — and just like that, the sensation faded. Anthony drew a slow, steadying breath and gave a composed little nod.
"Good to meet you, Eldest Brother."
Nearly scared myself to death .JPG
Chongyue laughed — a quiet, knowing sound — and studied Anthony with eyes that seemed to see straight through everything. He chose not to say what he saw. Instead, he held Anthony's gaze for a long, meaningful moment, then clasped his hand warmly.
"Thank you — for what you've done for Jie. I haven't seen her yet, but none of that matters. From here on, we're family. Without you, Third Sister might still be..."
"Eldest Brother, about all that —"
Wang instinctively moved to speak — and was immediately silenced by a look from Chongyue.
"I'm still talking to Little Thirteen."
Wang shut his mouth.
Chongyue exchanged a few more words with Anthony, then finally stepped away, casting his gaze around the room before settling it back on Wang.
"Wang."
Wang stood rooted in place, looking vaguely like a man fighting some very private, very stubborn internal battle — arms crossed, not quite willing to move. It wasn't until Chongyue pulled himself up to his full height and let his voice drop into something unmistakably final:
"Wang. Come here."
That Wang shuffled his feet forward.
Anthony watched the whole scene and felt a quiet, genuine pang of something.
Sigh. Old Wang, getting hauled over the coals by his big brother like some sulky teenager...
But in truth, this was a good thing. With Jie's revival as the catalyst, Wang's relationship with the rest of the Sui family might finally start to thaw. Some of the old distance between them could, at last, begin to close. Jie, watching this, would probably feel something close to relief.
The thought had barely settled when Chongyue's gaze swung back toward Anthony — and Anthony snapped to attention on reflex.
"Can you walk me through the specifics of Third Sister's revival?"
Chongyue considered for a moment, then directed the question at Wang. Wang looked to Anthony. Anthony ran a quick mental calculation and gave his answer:
"It'll take a little time for her to come back, but we can try right now and see how far it gets..."
He raised a hand. Far away, on the Primordial River, his main body swung the fishing rod downward and let the line drop. The portion of Points that the Shrine had been generating over these past few days — the share set aside for Jie — began to take effect.
He'd already filled Jie in beforehand, briefing her on everything that had changed and the state of the incense offerings. She'd been ready and waiting on the chat group's end.
All around them, faint pinpricks of white light began to bloom in the air — slowly gathering, slowly converging, slowly building into the outline of a slender, graceful figure.
Even Wang, who had seen this before, found himself holding his breath. And Chongyue — Chongyue pressed his hand against the Shrine, hard, the force of it leaving white marks on his knuckles.
Eldest Brother, whatever you're feeling — please, say it with words. Don't say it with my Shrine. That thing is expensive...
The shape continued to coalesce. Jie's silhouette was almost there, almost solid —
And then, all at once, every last point of white light shattered and scattered, dissolving into nothing.
Chongyue blinked, expression going still.
Beside him, Wang's brow furrowed first — then creased into something resigned. He let out a quiet, helpless sigh.
After this many days, he'd come to understand enough of the mechanics to see what had happened.
"So the accumulated offerings still aren't enough?"
He said it with obvious disappointment, though his voice still carried an undercurrent of conviction. "Still — at this rate, a few more days and we might see her manifest briefly. And if we wait a little longer—"
"You'd be waiting until the cows come home."
Anthony cut in with a dry mutter — then narrowed his eyes, instinct prickling at the back of his mind.
Something's off.
With the current rate of offerings, the Shrine was running at capacity. Anthony took his daily cut of five hundred Points; the remaining four hundred or so went to Jie. The Shrine had been running for about three days — which meant the attempt just now had drawn on at least twelve hundred Points.
By his earlier estimates, twelve hundred Points should have been more than enough to keep Jie manifested for five seconds, at minimum.
But what had just happened...
Anthony turned immediately to the chat group.
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: @Lord of the White Holy Throne — it doesn't look like a full revival on my end, but... it feels like an improvement? Something's changed.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Tell me more.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Well — my perception of the surroundings suddenly feels clearer. I have awareness now. And it seems like I can move a few things slightly...]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Hm? That sounds about where I am right now.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: I think so, yes — I'm not entirely sure of the mechanics behind it.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Oh — I can see you! And Second Brother, and Eldest Brother too!]
Reading Jie's messages, Anthony blinked — then it clicked.
The twelve hundred Points weren't wasted.
They hadn't brought Jie back in full — but they had pushed her one step further down the road. And suddenly, Anthony recognized exactly what he was looking at.
This is a bound spirit.
Of all things, this he knew. He could not possibly have misread it. The Primordial River had been chasing a bound spirit across multiple worlds for ages — understanding this particular phenomenon was basically a core life skill at this point.
Twelve hundred Points, compounded with the memes he'd already woven around Jie, compounded with the steady stream of offerings flowing through the Shrine — all of it together had finally nudged Jie's resurrection progress bar. And as he continued feeding Points in, Jie had become the Shrine's own bound spirit.
Which meant...
"Don't panic — this isn't a total failure."
Anthony steadied himself, stepped forward quickly, and bent down to peer into the body of the Shrine, voice low:
"Something in here... was that always there?"
"Something?"
Wang blinked — then followed his gaze downward. The moment he saw what was inside, his pupils contracted sharply.
A Scribe-Blade.
And as if sensing Wang's gaze, the Scribe-Blade gave a small, unmistakable bounce — up and down, once.
Anthony couldn't help it. He laughed.
"Don't worry."
He let out a slow breath, smiling as he spoke: "The revival can still happen — this wasn't for nothing. If nothing else, we've confirmed that Jie is still here, still alive, and..."
"We finally have a real path to bringing her back. Don't we?"
Wang stared at the Scribe-Blade in silence. For a long moment, he couldn't seem to find any words at all. Chongyue watched it quietly — then, after a stretch of stillness, suddenly let out a booming laugh, and clapped Anthony hard on the back.
Anthony quietly let out the breath he'd been holding.
Alright. With that, the Dayan side of things is finally wrapped up.
All that remained were a few loose ends to tie off.
He glanced at his completed main quest entry, noted the five thousand Points now sitting in his account, and let out a long, deeply satisfied exhale — his eyes sharpening with resolve.
Time to make money.
Alive or dead, a man's got to earn.
Before he could so much as open his mouth, Chongyue's voice rolled in from beside him:
"Oh — right. Since you happen to be here..."
"Shall we talk about eliminating the Sui Beast? Now's as good a time as any."
Anthony nearly lost his footing.
His pupils jolted wide.
Wait — Eldest Brother, hold on a second!
Is this the kind of conversation you can just have with me in the room?!
What the — you're already sitting down to plan how to kill the Sui Beast?!
____
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