Mysterious Awakening

Chapter 576: Chapter 573 Meeting the Parents

Under Xiong Wenwen’s insistent dragging, Yang Jian could only agree to meet his parents.

During his spare time, he had looked over Xiong Wenwen’s file. It said that Xiong Wenwen became a Guardian because of a car accident. At the time, his parents were taking him on a trip when they encountered a supernatural event. The details of the encounter and what exactly happened were not explained in the file.

As a result of being involved in the incident, Xiong Wenwen’s father died, and his mother, who knew about the accident, chose to remain silent, apparently unwilling to recall that terrible event.

As for Xiong Wenwen, it seemed as though after that incident, he was possessed by some strange entity, or perhaps a ghost had entered his body.

He developed the ability to foresee the future.

Xiong Wenwen’s precognition was limited, lasting only about ten minutes. Exceeding this duration posed the risk of an evil spirit’s revival. Moreover, the envisioned future was not fixed; it continuously changed based on surrounding variations and his own actions.

...

Just like the last time he was at Caesar Hotel, he foresaw his own death by a ghost, but he knew he wouldn’t really perish. He could take action before the predicted demise to alter the outcome.

Unless it was a large-scale paranormal event with at least an A-level danger rating, headquarters wouldn’t call on Xiong Wenwen for support.

After all, there were many Guardians, but there was only one Xiong Wenwen.

The only regret was that this ability to foresee the future manifested in a mischievous child. Had any of the other Guardians from headquarters possessed this power, they would have become incredibly formidable.

If Yang Jian had this ghostly power and could overcome the risk of an evil spirit’s revival,

Then he would become an Unsolvable Level Guardian, able to confront real ghosts head-on.

In Yang Jian’s view, such foresight was almost equivalent to an S-level ghost’s revival, perhaps even more powerful. After all, revivals could fail, whereas precognition carried no such risk, with the initiative firmly in one’s own hands.

"We’re here. This is my house.”

Xiong Wenwen and Yang Jian took a ride to a high-end residential complex not far from Ping’an Hotel. The complex’s security seemed to recognize Yang Jian and did not stop him, the stranger.

After entering the complex, it was only a short while before they reached the tenth floor of one of the buildings.

Xiong Wenwen’s home was apartment 1001.

He fished out the keys from his pocket, opened the door, and called out, “Mom, I’m back—and I’ve brought Yang Jian with me! He’s going to be my teammate from now on.”

Before he could finish speaking, someone inside the house seemed to have heard them and came out to take a look.

Just as Yang Jian was about to step inside, he saw a woman in an apron standing in the living room.

The woman looked to be in her thirties. While dressed in slightly loose home clothes, she could not conceal her perfect figure, slender legs, and an improbably ample bust. Her fair, melon-seed face showed no traces of age. Instead, she exuded the charm of a mature woman.

The only downside was that the woman’s expression carried a touch of sadness and worry, lending her an air of vulnerability.

Still, one could imagine that, ten years prior, this woman must have been a knockout beauty on the level of a campus belle.

It was just unfortunate that such a beauty had married and had children early, bearing the troublesome child Xiong Wenwen. It really made one wonder what underhanded tactics his father had used to chase after his mother.

Though Xiong Wenwen was conceited and brash every day, he did get one thing absolutely right—his mother was indeed beautiful. After meeting her, Yang Jian had to admit in his heart that she was attractive, no wonder Xiong Wenwen always seemed to boast when he brought her up.

"Aunt, hello, I am Yang Jian. I apologize for the abrupt visit today,” Yang Jian greeted her politely.

Aunt?

Hearing this term, the woman’s maternal instincts made Chen Shumei’s ears prick up. Even though she was already thirty, whether outside or when meeting others in the complex, she was always greeted as a beautiful lady. Even when she used to shop with her husband, several men would approach her if they were separated for just a moment.

How much time had passed since then?

Having an important guest refer to her as “Auntie” was a bit difficult for her to adapt to.

"So you’re Yang Jian? Captain Yang? Hello, I’m Xiong Wenwen’s mother, Chen Shumei. It’s my first time meeting you today, and I’m delighted to meet you.”

Chen Shumei walked over politely, “Please come in and have a seat. I just finished cooking. You probably haven’t had lunch yet, Captain Yang, why don’t you join us for a simple meal?”

"Then I won’t be polite.” Yang Jian nodded, not refusing the offer.

Chen Shumei sized up the stranger who was about to enter her home once more.

Before, when she heard that Xiong Wenwen was going to bring his captain over, she thought it must be a mature and stable middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, but looking at Yang Jian, he seemed to be just in his early twenties at most. Furthermore, his skin was very pale, almost unnaturally so, slightly handsome – although not exactly a pretty boy – but the term “baby-faced” definitely applied to him.

His eyes, however, were sharp, lacking the unfocused, floating sensation of youth, imparting an indescribable sense of danger, making one feel that he was not easy to get along with.

"Captain Yang, please take a seat. I’ll bring out the food,” said Chen Shumei, not scrutinizing too much. She just wanted to confirm whether this person named Yang Jian was reliable or not.

Her son, Xiong Wenwen, absolutely could not follow a captain who couldn’t be trusted.

However, just as she turned around, Xiong Wenwen’s mischievous nature revealed itself. He said with great pride, “What do you think? I wasn’t bragging, was I? Isn’t my mom beautiful? Now that I’ve introduced you to my mom, you can’t go back on your promise. You have to look out for me in the future. Otherwise, I’ll badmouth you to my mom every day.”

Only then did Yang Jian understand what this rascal was up to.

Chen Shumei, who had just come out with the meals, staggered upon hearing Xiong Wenwen’s words, nearly spilling the food.

Xiong Wenwen brought Yang Jian home for this reason?

Has it been a long time since this kid was spanked? He even dared to deceive his own mother.

But…

Chen Shumei wasn’t angry with her child. She was just a bit curious, for ever since Wenwen’s father passed away, he had been very wary of any man entering their home, fearing she might find him a stepfather, even scaring away many relatives and friends, which resulted in few visitors coming to their house.

Why would he take the initiative to bring Yang Jian home this time?

Was the child deceived outside?

The likelihood was slim. Wenwen was very cautious, plus his special intuition, no one could get past his guard.

Last time, a young company president came to visit personally and talked with her about Xiong Wenwen, wanting to recruit him into his company, but he ended up being chased away by Wenwen too.

"Captain Yang, I’ve served your meal already, let’s eat first. It’s just some simple home cooking; I’m not sure if it suits your taste,” said Chen Shumei. “Wenwen, you eat too. Don’t play with your cell phone again. The food gets cold quickly with the weather being chilly.”

"Aunt Chen, just call me Yang Jian. I don’t really consider myself a captain yet,” Yang Jian said as he sat down.

Chen Shumei looked at him and asked, “I don’t know much about the headquarters, so please don’t mind me asking, but you seem very young. How old are you?”

"I’m exactly twenty years old. I graduated from senior high last year,” said Yang Jian.

Chen Shumei, who was eating, almost choked on her food upon hearing this, looking at Yang Jian in amazement.

What?

A student who had just graduated from senior high?

"You just graduated from high school?” Chen Shumei asked in surprise.

"Yes, if it weren’t for those incidents, I’d probably be in my first year of college right now,” Yang Jian said.

Chen Shumei gave an awkward smile, “Then you’re really remarkable, becoming a captain at such a young age.”

"Aunt Chen, that can hardly be considered a compliment. People like us tend to have short lives. Maybe I’m alive this month, and the next month grass is already growing on my grave.”

Yang Jian swallowed a mouthful of rice and glanced at Xiong Wenwen, “He is no different, even though headquarters has done a good job protecting him. But reality is reality, it doesn’t change because of that.”

"Since Aunt Chen knows about these matters, she should understand this in her heart.”

The awkward smile on Chen Shumei’s face vanished, replaced by worry and melancholy. Although Yang Jian’s words were harsh, they were the truth.

The peculiar ability of Xiong Wenwen came at a price, which had been mentioned before by that Captain Zhao, Zhao Jianguo.

"That’s why I hope Xiong Wenwen can find a capable captain to protect him in the future, so that he can live on. Can Captain Yang give me that assurance?” Chen Shumei asked.

Yang Jian said, “I can understand a mother’s feelings, but the reality is that no captain dares to say they can definitely protect him well. As for the matter of staying alive, that’s even harder. Even I can’t ensure my own survival, and the same goes for Xiong Wenwen.”

"Furthermore… even if there’s a way to survive, it’s very dangerous, so I can’t give you that assurance.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Shumei’s face instantly turned cold. She set down her chopsticks and said, “If you can’t assure Wenwen’s safety, then how can I feel at ease handing him over to you?”

Yang Jian replied, “You haven’t handed him over to me. He simply made a choice, to team up with me. Of course, he can refuse as well. I came here just to explain the situation. However, I believe that Xiong Wenwen will live the longest with me. If he follows another captain, he’d only die faster.”

"Unfortunately, there’s no way to compare. Otherwise, you’d understand. You shouldn’t take offense at my blunt words, Aunt Chen, because I’m only speaking the truth. If it were another captain at your door, they might promise anything, agree to anything. Then you would surely send Xiong Wenwen off with great joy. But still, the outcome wouldn’t change. When the time comes for someone to die, they will die.”

"Alright, Captain Yang, if there’s nothing else, you can leave after you finish eating. I won’t let Wenwen follow you.” Chen Shumei became increasingly displeased and even a little angry.

After all, no one would be happy to hear someone tell a mother that her child is going to die and die quickly right in front of her.

"Since Aunt Chen is unhappy, I won’t bother you any longer.” Yang Jian had just finished eating, then he stood up, ready to leave.

He had barely taken a few steps when he stopped and said, “By the way, Aunt Chen, Xiong Wenwen said you’re very beautiful, and he wasn’t wrong at all. The food you cook is also delicious. Even though we haven’t talked much, I know you must be a good woman. But you’re not a qualified mother. Sometimes you should listen to the children more. Overindulgence is a kind of harm.”

Having said this, he left the house.

"Yang Jian, wait a moment Xiong Wenwen called out.

"What is it? Sit down and eat.” Chen Shumei said coldly.

Frightened, Xiong Wenwen shrank his neck and obediently sat back down.

"You can’t team up with him, he won’t take care of you. Following him is definitely dangerous,” Chen Shumei said.

"But Yang Jian didn’t say anything wrong,” Xiong Wenwen said, a little defiantly.

Chen Shumei said, “What do children know? This isn’t about right or wrong, it’s about your safety, and we can’t be careless. Just listen to me, that’s the right thing to do. You don’t have to worry or say anything. I’ll refuse those people for you, to avoid you saying something wrong and offending someone.”

Seeing his mother angry, Xiong Wenwen dared not speak any further and quickly buried his head in eating.

Seeing this, Chen Shumei’s expression softened slightly, but when she thought about how she had just driven Yang Jian away, she felt somewhat guilty.

After all, wasn’t he a guest? Had she been too impulsive?

Yang Jian, having left the place, couldn’t help but shake his head slightly.

It seemed that teaming up with Xiong Wenwen would be a difficult task, unable to get past his mother. After all, Xiong Wenwen was just a child, unable to make decisions for himself.

"What a pity,” Yang Jian thought to himself.

He felt sorry not because he had lost a teammate, but because a child like Xiong Wenwen was being exploited by a bunch of so-called “adults”.

Putting himself aside, which of the people at headquarters was suitable to be Xiong Wenwen’s captain?

Jang Shangbai? Cao Yang?

Leuk San? Or is it Li Jun?

Li Jun might be the best choice among them, but he was too loyal to duty, which meant his tasks would increase, and the level of danger would correspondingly rise.

Yang Jian was different, however, as he had already resigned from his position as captain, so he only needed to be responsible for one Dachang City.

How many supernatural events could there be in one Dachang City and its surrounding area?

Even if there were any, it wasn’t certain that Xiong Wenwen could be used every time.

This meant that teaming up with Yang Jian would reduce the frequency of encountering supernatural events to a minimum.

Besides that, in case of real danger, his five-layer Ghost Domain could protect Xiong Wenwen at critical moments, getting her out of harm’s way.

However, Yang Jian didn’t say any of this, because it was pointless to do so.

Chen Shumei didn’t understand these matters and didn’t know which choice was the best or worst one. She simply made her decisions based on what others said and her own judgment, so what Yang Jian considered the best was not necessarily the best in her eyes.

Once he had already formed a bias, there was no need to continue the conversation.

As time ticked by.

What Yang Jian didn’t know was that on the top floor of Ping’an Tower, at a friends’ circle meeting, President Fang Shiming had already made up his mind to do away with him.

This time no information was leaked out, so he was completely in the dark.

"President Fang, a call from Cao Yanhua. He’s pressuring us again.” In the afternoon, Jang Shangbai had already received a call from headquarters, and it was personally made by Cao Yanhua himself.

Fang Shiming waved his hand and said, “You handle it, and keep an eye on them. Don’t let them leave. I’m going to make some preparations, and unless it’s something urgent, don’t disturb me.”

After glancing at the time, he stood up, stretched languidly, and then walked out of the conference room.

He went down to the archive room on the floor below.

The friends’ circle had collected all the information on ghost controllers available in the country. Aside from computer storage, there was also a dedicated archive room for paper documents, a facility like this could not be operated without substantial financial resources and an intelligence system.

After passing identity verification, Fang Shiming entered the archive room. When he emerged, he had in hand a file folder.

Written clearly on the folder were two lines: Codename Ghost Eye, Name: Yang Jian.

He went into a nearby office, sat down, and flipped open Yang Jian’s file. He wasn’t interested in Yang Jian’s personal information because a dead man didn’t need to be remembered.

He took out a full-body photograph of Yang Jian from the file.

It was unclear where they had collected this photo from.

With the photo laid out on the desk, Fang Shiming didn’t give it much attention, focusing instead on watching the time.

He was waiting for it to reach six o’clock.

As for the reason why,

That was because headquarters needed him to provide a response before six o’clock.

By that time, Yang Jian’s death would be the best response.

Nothing more than that.