Chapter 74: Stitching Tightly Before Departure

Ning Zhe walked in and sat on the sofa; the elder sister among the two naturally pressed close to him, pouring him a glass of wine with a soft, affectionate gaze.

The younger sister skipped happily to the bedside table and fetched all of Yu Zi’s personal belongings.

Yu Zi was extremely meticulous: before setting out to hunt the survivors of Bishuiwan Estate, he had handed over all his communication devices and identification documents to someone under the control of his Thought Stamp, carrying only a newly opened mobile phone with him.

Ning Zhe unlocked Yu Zi’s daily-use phone, absorbing the sisters’ perceptions and memories of him while browsing the contacts—finding no suspicious contacts, only a long list of casual sex partners and VIP customer service accounts from various websites, plus family and classmates.

After a quick scan, he found no information related to the Ascension Network, but learned much about Yu Zi’s private life.

Yu Zi was a native of Yongzhou, from an ordinary urban middle-class family; he attended a well-known local music university, had a good physique, high looks, was talented and charming—typical of a performing arts graduate.

Yet after graduation, he didn’t join any talent shows to become a pretty boy; instead, he gathered a group of classmates to form a rock band.

The outcome was predictable: the rock career went nowhere, and he still relied on financial support from his parents.

As for the two sisters clinging to Ning Zhe’s sides—completely worthless—they were Zhang Hanying, the elder, and Zhang Yunwen, the younger; they knew nothing of the strange events or Ascenders, merely ordinary people whose minds were controlled by the Thought Stamp.

“Yu Zi was cautious—he kept his strange-world and real-world social circles strictly separate, with almost no overlap,” Ning Zhe’s gaze sharpened; the situation was tricky.

He was certain Yu Zi had saved contact information for more than one Ascender, and that he definitely knew the entrance to the Ascension Network—the secret forum where Ascenders communicated—but he couldn’t find it.

He had no access to anyone who knew Yu Zi was Ye Yao, so he couldn’t obtain further information about Ascenders. Even if Yu Zi truly had some childish “notebook recording Ascender contacts” or “special terminal for accessing the Dark Zone,” he had no way of knowing.

Because right now, he was merely Yu Zi in the eyes of ordinary people who knew nothing of the strange—and to them, he was just an ordinary man.

“Do I have to contact Tu Yu?” Ning Zhe hesitated; it was the only Ascender contact he currently knew.

But what could he say if he called Tu Yu now? “Hey, I’m Yu Zi, a five-year veteran Ascender, and I just forgot the Ascension Network’s access address”?

“Besides, even Tu Yu knows very little about Yu Zi…” Ning Zhe sighed, deeply troubled.

Tu Yu and Yu Zi weren’t close; they were merely employer and hired contractor. Though Tu Yu had investigated Yu Zi’s background and abilities, he only uncovered the origin of the “Ye Yao” rule. He knew nothing about the origin of the Thought Stamp ability.

Tu Yu knew Yu Zi could imprint Thought Stamps, but he didn’t know when or where Yu Zi had acquired this ability.

Yu Zi hid himself deeply; even among other Ascenders, only Tu Yu, Fen Wu, and a handful of others vaguely knew the Thought Stamp ability existed. To the vast majority of anonymous members on the Ascension Network, Ye Yao was merely a dying man possessing a powerful functional rule.

“Stuck in the mud?” Ning Zhe’s lips curled slightly; Yu Zi had hidden his Thought Stamp ability so thoroughly—he grew even more interested in that “Unseeable God.” As he pondered, a warm, moist pair of lips gently pressed against his, interrupting his thoughts.

Ning Zhe instinctively sat upright and leaned back; the elder twin, Zhang Hanying, held a wineglass, sipped a mouthful of pomegranate-red liquor, and smiled as she leaned in, aiming to feed him face-to-face.

Seeing Ning Zhe pull away, Zhang Hanying frowned. She swallowed the wine and leaned closer, studying his face: “What’s wrong? Zi Qian, are you upset?”

The younger sister, Zhang Yunwen, also gazed at him with tender concern: “You seemed distracted at the door… did something happen? Can you tell us?”

Their soft, meltingly affectionate gazes made Ning Zhe feel awkward, as if snakes were crawling all over his skin.

“Nothing. Just some family troubles,” Ning Zhe shook his head. “Don’t worry about me.”

Yes, Yu Zi’s family did have problems.

“Are your parents pressuring you to come home again?” Zhang Yunwen propped her chin on her palm, smiling at Ning Zhe. “They only want what’s best for you—elders always hope their younger ones will have stable lives.”

Yu Zi's parents both worked within the system and had never expected anything from his music career. Though Yu Zi had earned plenty as an Ascender, lived lavishly, and cycled through women like water, his family still wanted him to get a stable job, marry, have children, and settle down.

Zhang Hanying pressed her body against him, resting her chin on his shoulder, gently biting his earlobe: “Settling down isn’t so bad. We could buy a bigger house in Yongzhou, the three of us live together. Whoever gets pregnant first, you marry her first, then divorce after the baby’s full moon, and marry the other.”

=9+book_bar

“Then the child calls me Mom, and also calls Hanying-jie Mom,” Zhang Yunwen pressed against him, her tongue lightly tracing his collarbone, her hand gliding up his thigh: “What do you say, Zi Qian? Want to try now? See who gets pregnant first…”

“Maybe later.” These two were utterly useless. Ning Zhe sighed helplessly, stood up from the sofa, leaving the sisters staring at each other, wondering if they’d done something wrong.

Ning Zhe transferred money to each of them from Yu Zi’s account as severance, then left Sophia Hotel with all of Yu Zi’s personal belongings.

A peregrine falcon flew over the dense urban skyline, its wings slicing the horizon beyond the city; Ning Zhe left Taoyuan City and returned to the small gas station outside Gubei Town, where Zhang Yangxu’s Lady of the Lake still waited.

Ning Zhe greeted the gas station owner as Boss Zhang, filled the tank, and drove back to his hometown—Gubei Town—after only one night away.

Before fully entering the Ascender world to secure his future, Ning Zhe still had personal matters to handle—and fortunately, he already had a plan.

(End of Chapter)