"I'll take this call."
Jiang Xinyue looked at the caller ID, set her bowl and chopsticks back on the table, and picked up the phone.
Jiang Jiuguo glanced over curiously.
The phone displayed—Jiang Yan.
He remembered this name; she was his younger sister Jiang Xinyue's desk-mate and had been in the same class as her since middle school.
Jiang Yan and his sister were very close friends.
His sister often brought her over to visit. He remembered once during their second year of high school, his sister teased that she wanted Jiang Yan to be her brother's wife, so they could be even closer as family.
In his memory...
Jiang Yan and Jiang Xinyue's personalities were worlds apart.
If Jiang Xinyue was like a dazzling firework—vigorous, cheerful, and lively...
...then Jiang Yan was a 'nobody.' Not only was her style old-fashioned, but she was also introverted and suffered from severe social anxiety.
She had visited Jiang Jiuguo's home more than a dozen times.
But every time she came, her interactions with Jiang Jiuguo were full of stutters and timidness. Jiang Jiuguo once wondered if he looked too much like the Principal from Crayon Shin-chan; otherwise, why would she be so scared that she'd stutter?
The call connected.
"Is Xiaoyue there? Have you gotten home and eaten yet?"
Jiang Yan asked with gentle, water-like concern.
Jiang Xinyue: "I'm just about to eat! Oh, right! Yan Yan, my brother is back!"
Relying on his incredible hearing as a Sequencer, Jiang Jiuguo heard the phone go silent instantly.
A few seconds later...
A startled, delicate cry came through the phone.
"Your brother is back? Oh my god, that's wonderful, that's just wonderful, boohoo~"
By the end, her voice grew quiet and gradually turned into sobbing.
Jiang Yan was crying.
Hearing this, Jiang Jiuguo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Jiang Yan was still as emotional as ever.
But it made sense.
Back then, when he gave her a gift for her birthday, she had cried her eyes out. Now that he had returned after being missing for a year, it was normal for her to weep for joy, happy that Jiang Xinyue's brother had returned safely.
While Jiang Jiuguo was thinking this...
...Jiang Xinyue was still talking to Jiang Yan.
"Oh, what are you crying for? My brother is back, not back from the dead as a ghost. Yan Yan, you should be laughing happily instead."
Jiang Xinyue teased with a face full of joy.
Jiang Yan: "Stop it, how can you say that about your brother? Xiaoyue, I'm just so happy."
"Alright, alright, I'm done teasing you. Yan Yan, your call came at the perfect time."
Jiang Xinyue's gaze fell on the piles of cash on the table, her face instantly beaming with a smile.
"Besides my brother coming back, I have another good thing to tell you. By the way, why did you call me?"
"It's nothing much, I just wanted you to go to a classmate's birthday party with me."
As Jiang Xinyue's best friend, Jiang Yan had spent the most time with her. Over the past year, Xinyue had been frowning every day, worrying about Jiang Jiuguo's safety.
Jiang Yan had seen all of this.
Thinking that Jiang Xinyue's birthday—which was also Jiang Jiuguo's birthday—was approaching, she feared Xinyue would be saddened by the memories.
For Jiang Xinyue's sake...
...Jiang Yan had summoned her courage, suppressed her social anxiety, and accepted the invitation to the classmate's birthday party, wanting to take Jiang Xinyue along.
She hoped Jiang Xinyue could be a bit happier because of it.
But now, it seemed unnecessary.
"I originally wanted to make you a bit happier, Xiaoyue. You usually love lively places."
Jiang Yan continued over the phone.
"But it's not needed now. Since Brother Jiuguo is back, I don't have to go either..."
She had severe social anxiety; if not for Jiang Xinyue, she would never have accepted the invitation to the gathering.
"Go! Why wouldn't we go?" Jiang Xinyue interrupted.
Hearing there was a birthday party...
...Jiang Xinyue quickly remembered a female classmate's invitation from noon. At that time, she was still worrying about Jiang Jiuguo and had declined.
But now was different from noon.
"We're going, we're going. I'd be a fool not to go," Jiang Xinyue said happily.
She was ready to leave immediately.
Jiang Xinyue hung up the phone and immediately explained the situation to Father Jiang and the others.
"Go ahead, just don't stay out too late," Father Jiang said after a moment's thought.
This past year, Jiang Xinyue had been like them, unable to eat or sleep out of worry for Jiang Jiuguo. Father Jiang had seen it and felt the pain in his heart.
A birthday was a good chance to relax; he had no reason to refuse.
"Okay~"
After quickly wolfing down a few bites of food, Jiang Xinyue picked up a small shoulder bag.
"Wait a minute," Jiang Jiuguo called out to Jiang Xinyue as she was about to head out. "I'll take you. Jiang Yan lives quite far from our house."
"Brother, you just got back. Rest at home first."
"No need. I'm full of energy and not tired at all. It's already past 8 PM; I'm not comfortable with you going out alone."
After experiencing a year of life and death...
...Jiang Jiuguo wanted to stay by his family's side more. Even just driving Jiang Xinyue, he wanted to be involved. Heaven knows if Number 35 and the others would try to kidnap his sister.
After all, his sister shared the same birthday as him; maybe she was also someone with a tough fate... Dayu City, suburban row villa area.
"This is the place, Brother."
Jiang Xinyue closed the navigation and pointed to the villa area in front of them.
Jiang Jiuguo leaned his head out of the car window to look.
The villa area was massive, stretching beyond the horizon.
He remembered this place. When it was being built, the advertisements claimed it would be the closest to nature and the most expensive neighborhood in Dayu City. Basically, everyone who lived here was either rich or noble.
However, because it was located in the suburbs...
...the people who bought the villas didn't use them as permanent residences, but rather as real estate investments or places for occasional vacations.
"This classmate of yours is very rich to have bought a place here."
Jiang Jiuguo teased, glancing at Jiang Yan, who had gotten out of the car.
He added, "It seems Yan Yan isn't the richest in your class; this one is."
"Then you're wrong, Brother. Yan Yan's family also has a villa here."
Jiang Xinyue laughed as she got out of the car.
She pulled Jiang Yan over: "Right, Yan Yan?"
"Um... yeah..." Jiang Yan nodded with a red face. "Xiaoyue, don't say that. M-m-my family isn't as, as amazing as you say."
She didn't dare to look directly at Jiang Jiuguo.
Every time she saw Jiang Jiuguo, she felt her little heart thumping, and she couldn't speak clearly.
Jiang Yan was very dissatisfied with her stuttering and felt annoyed in her heart. She clearly practiced speaking in front of the mirror several times every day; why didn't it ever work?
"Alright, alright, I won't say you're rich. Little rich lady, let's go in quickly. The birthday party should be starting."
Waving goodbye to Jiang Jiuguo...
...Jiang Xinyue pulled Jiang Yan into the villa.
Watching the two girls walk away, Jiang Jiuguo shook his head and muttered, "There shouldn't be any trouble, right?"
He remembered something.
Number 47 had told him that humans attempting taboos was the fuse that caused the Ghost Gate Pass to appear, but there was only a certain probability of it triggering.
However...
...if a Sequencer attempted a taboo, the probability of triggering it would be infinitely magnified.
Because... like magnets attracting each other, ghosts existed in the world within the Ghost Gate Pass, and a Sequencer was essentially a ghost themselves.
The two were like positive and negative poles; once a taboo was attempted, it would be like the poles drawing together.
Jiang Jiuguo was thinking that since he had been staying with his sister since his return, she might have picked up some of his Sequencer aura. If they were to court death by attempting a taboo, there was a chance of triggering the Ghost Gate Pass.
"No, it should be fine. I've only been back for half an hour. No matter how much she's picked up, it shouldn't be that much."
"Besides, my sister wouldn't play with any taboos at this time. There's no way things could be that coincidental."
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and drove away... The row villas occupied a large area.
Fortunately, Jiang Yan's family had also bought one, so she was familiar with the area. They found the villa holding the birthday party in the last row, near the mountain.
"Wow! You're all here."
As soon as Jiang Xinyue walked in, she waved familiarly.
Being a social butterfly, she didn't mind the dozens of people in the villa at all.
"Eh, there are students from other classes too." She scanned the people present.
Besides her classmates...
...students from other classes had also been invited. There were roughly over 50 people.
Immediately after...
...Jiang Xinyue pulled Jiang Yan, who was trying her best to remain invisible, into the center of the room.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked curiously.
A group of students was currently sitting around the living room. There was no cake on the table, but there were several crumpled pieces of paper for drawing lots.
"Haha, Xinyue, you came too! I thought you weren't coming."
The birthday girl saw Jiang Xinyue and immediately called her over.
"You came at the right time. We're playing a game."
"What game? If it's not fun, I'm not playing," Jiang Xinyue grinned.
"Don't worry, I guarantee it's fun."
The female classmate said as she pointed to a pitch-black Entrance leading to the basement on one side of the living room.
"Because we're having a Test of Courage."
...