Qiu Wuji's sudden robbery derailed Chu Ge's plan to call the police.
These days, nobody carries cash anymore, but this thief was a bit unusual. Perhaps people like him didn't want to leave traces of their transactions, so he actually had cash on him. A crisp, crisp ten thousand yuan note, thickly tucked in his pocket, looked like a recently received commission… He also had a gold chain and a Rolex.
Qiu Wuji knew that money still existed in some form these days, so she considered threatening him to transfer the money to her WeChat account. Chu Ge, sweating profusely, firmly stopped her: "No matter how much you delete his memory or destroy his phone, if he finds the money gone later, he'll still be able to find the transfer records through various means. Or if he falls into the hands of the police, they'll check his records. This will cause trouble."
"Oh." Qiu Wuji reluctantly gave up. Thinking it over, she decided not to take the gold chain and watch she needed to sell, just the cash, and then decisively erased the thief's memory.
Qiu Wuji examined the thick wad of cash in her hand: "Is this your banknote?"
Chu Ge replied expressionlessly: "Yes..."
"Does this denomination correspond to the numbers in your WeChat?"
"Yes..."
"That's good, faster than you earning from writing books." Qiu Wuji became happy: "I can pay you back now. I told you I could make money."
Chu Ge: "...Yeah."
Qiu Wuji carried the unconscious thief out: "I thought about it, it's not good for his memory to be stuck at the moment he entered. It's better if it's stuck further away. He suddenly fainted, so he won't know who attacked him, and even our neighborhood's affairs will be forgotten. You don't need to report it to the authorities; just wait for him to wake up. It'll be completely unrelated to us. If you insist on having the authorities arrest him, you can report that someone was found unconscious outside, but it has nothing to do with us..."
Chu Ge followed her out, arms crossed, noticing the white light still shrouding her hands, carefully avoiding any trace of contact with the thief. He was speechless for a long time.
"Why are you so skilled at this kind of thing... Hmm, it's Daddy's fault for not writing you well."
But there's no way around it; these days, cultivation novels are all filled with brutal battles. You can't survive otherwise…sigh… The streets were deserted at midday. Qiu Wuji used an invisibility spell and casually dumped the thief in the roadside greenery two blocks away.
Chu Ge followed at a distance, figuring he probably wouldn't need to call the police. Although it was far from the city center, it wasn't the middle of nowhere; there were shopping areas nearby, and plenty of people. A person lying in the greenery was very conspicuous; passersby would spot him within minutes, and someone would call the police.
Speaking of which, if this thief hadn't stumbled into Qiu Wuji's den of iniquity but instead entered someone else's room, that person would be in trouble… This kind of scoundrel shouldn't be left to fend for himself; he had to be handed over to the police.
He watched from afar for a while, and sure enough, someone quickly discovered him and ran to the security guard at the entrance of a nearby residential complex. The guard checked him and then quickly called the police. Chu Ge breathed a sigh of relief.
Qiu Wuji stood beside him, seeing his relieved expression, and suddenly asked, "What's wrong? Feeling uneasy?"
"Hmm..."
"Because of my robbery?"
"Partly, yes. Anyway, don't do this in our world anymore. It'll cause trouble sooner or later, unless you really go to some war-torn land to become a big shot—actually, I don't want to either."
"Then you didn't strongly stop me, wasn't it because you also wanted money?"
Chu Ge looked up and thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I need money, but not this kind of money. Hmm...maybe for you, ill-gotten gains are fine, and it's common for cultivators to fight over treasures, but it's still inappropriate in my upbringing." Qiu Wuji looked somewhat surprised. "I did this because of what you wrote..."
Chu Ge chuckled, "But your idea stems from my world's setting, maybe it's even what I'm thinking, hahaha, so I don't know how to stop you. Like I said, I'm worried you'll get addicted to making money too quickly and cause trouble, not because of this particular incident. Actually, I quite enjoyed teaching this kind of thief a lesson, hahaha..."
Qiu Wuji nodded slightly, "Okay, I understand, I'll be careful... You said this is only part of the reason, so what's the main reason? Because it touched upon the extraordinary world?"
"Yes." Chu Ge looked at the distant sky and said softly, "Perhaps everyone has a dream of an extraordinary world or martial arts/fantasy world deep in their heart, fantasizing about leaving this ordinary life, wielding a sword and being invincible... But when such a thing actually happens, I don't know how many people will be all talk and no action. I certainly am a bit, that feeling of my perfectly good life being disrupted, naturally there's some unease."
He paused, then smiled self-deprecatingly, "I'm just an ordinary person who's lived an ordinary life for over twenty years." "..." Qiu Wuji tilted his head and looked at him for a long time, then suddenly said, "But you also have a desire in your heart, so you're conflicted."
"Yes. To say I don't have a little bit of eager anticipation would be a lie. But that's the contradiction."
"Heh... A man who can create a world, a man who can create a living being to come to his house and cook for him, says he's just an ordinary person." Qiu Wuji smiled: "If my father, Qiu Wuji's god, is just an ordinary person, then aren't all the common people just pigs and dogs?" Chu Ge: "...I don't even know how you got out, and..." "It's not that I'm capable."
"So what? Do you think other people's awakened talents and abilities are their own abilities? They all fall from the sky. Some use them for petty scheming, some to showcase their talents, and some are content with a simple life. What kind of life you choose to live is entirely up to you." Qiu Wuji said calmly, "The unease stems from weakness. If you were strong enough, who could control your life?" Chu Ge looked into her eyes. "You're strong enough that you almost killed the Father God, forcing him to change your fate, is that it?"
Qiu Wuji seemed to guess what he was thinking. They looked at each other for a moment and smiled simultaneously.
The sound of sirens came from afar; the police had arrived.
The two stopped talking and watched as the police arrested the thief, questioned the security guard who had been shot, and reviewed the community's surveillance footage—all in an orderly fashion.
To Chu Ge's surprise, he saw an acquaintance.
Lin Wuyang.
Chu Ge wasn't very familiar with the police system and found it puzzling—this guy wasn't from police academy; they were classmates in Chinese Language and Literature, and he should have been doing clerical work after passing the civil service exam. Why was he being called on for this kind of call?
Moreover, he seemed to be a minor leader, hands behind his back, patrolling the area as if observing the scene, with two junior officers following behind him.
Lin Wuyang circled around for a bit and saw Chu Ge standing in the crowd at a distance, and paused, surprised: "You live here?"
"No, a few blocks away, just passing by to see what was going on." Before Lin Wuyang arrived, Qiu Wuji had already silently disappeared. There were quite a few onlookers, and Chu Ge, mingling in the crowd without any qualms, greeted him casually: "You've been transferred to the criminal investigation department?"
"Um…more or less." Lin Wuyang didn't go into too much detail; his previous nonchalant attitude from online chatter was long gone, replaced by a solemn and serious demeanor. "Have you seen anything strange or unfamiliar faces these past few days?"
"I don't even know anyone in this building, let alone two streets away. Who knows who would be considered an unfamiliar face?" Chu Ge said irritably, "You'd get the same answer if you asked someone else. That's just how it is these days."
Lin Wuyang nodded. That was true. It wasn't like the old neighborhood where everyone knew each other across the street. These days, who recognizes whom? Who's an unfamiliar face… Besides, that person was dumped on the main road; even nearby residential areas might not be connected. Checking the security footage is more reliable.
Just then, a policeman rushed over, his expression stern: "Chief Lin, we've checked the security footage."
Lin Wuyang glanced at Chu Ge: "Let's chat later. We need to get down to business."
Chu Ge waved his hand: "Sure thing, it's Chief Lin… I'll have to wait until next time you treat me to dinner."
Lin Wuyang smiled and left with the policeman.
It wasn't that he was being pretentious; police investigations naturally couldn't be overheard by outsiders, whether it was a supernatural or ordinary case—it was discipline. Hopefully, Chu Ge won't think he's showing off. These days, the longer you interact with society, the more you realize that friendships with classmates are still worth cherishing, at least they're much purer.
The policeman next to him was quietly reporting, "That person suddenly appeared in the green belt, without a trace before or after. He just appeared out of nowhere."
"Got it." Lin Wuyang sighed softly. "Let's call it a day… We've been secretly searching for the wall-penetrating person for so long without any leads, and we unexpectedly stumbled here. Following this lead, I think we can almost finish the case with President Gu."
"What about the person who dumped him here…"
"We'll interrogate them when we get back. If it's dog-eat-dog, that's best… But even if there really are other unknown superhumans, this operation feels like doing the police a favor. According to the code, if someone wants to live their life peacefully, they shouldn't be interfered with arbitrarily. We must protect citizens' privacy and legitimate rights; prying won't help."
Chu Ge also turned and squeezed through the crowd to find Qiu Wuji. Just as he emerged, he saw a girl in black standing quietly under a telephone pole in the distance, watching the commotion.
Seeing him looking over, the girl turned and left, disappearing in an instant.