She’s a Passerby, But Can See the Protagonist’s Halo

Yan pulled Zhu Jue and hurriedly ran away, as they had already entered the world of a supernatural horror movie. That middle-aged man definitely didn’t seem like a good person! Whether in novels, movies, or TV dramas, such evil characters were always the villains. Before the righteous protagonist could eliminate them, they would surely cause some major catastrophe—perhaps sacrificing innocent passersby to some dark ritual, which would then enrage the protagonist enough to unleash their ultimate power and defeat the enemy.

Yan had always been self-aware. Her life experiences had taught her that she was never the protagonist of this world. As an ordinary person close to someone with a protagonist’s aura, she was always at risk.

As the saying goes, “Around the protagonist, everyone is destined to be sacrificed!”

Although Yan felt a little guilty about leaving Ding Ling, a ghost, behind… she was sure the Ghost King would be fine, right?

She transformed into a “wind-like woman,” holding Zhu Jue’s hand as they quickly fled the scene. While running, she dialed 110 to report the incident, gasping for breath.

“I need to report an emergency! There’s a fight at the Liang Family Garden in the antique street, and someone might have died! Please hurry and check it out! Oh, please send someone quickly!”

After running past the garden’s walls, Yan bent over, hands on her knees, panting heavily.

“Any movement?” she asked, looking at her childhood friend Zhu Jue, who was also leaning against the wall.

The two of them had just sprinted like they were in a 100-meter dash. Yan was relatively fine, carrying only a small bag, though the Five Emperor Coins in her hand swung wildly in the wind, making her feel a bit of a cramp.

But Zhu Jue’s backpack was heavy, filled with six bottles of water, Five Emperor Coins for their roommates, and some expensive paint he had bought earlier in the day.

Zhu Jue had good stamina, but even he was slightly out of breath after such a short, intense sprint with extra weight.

“No,” he shook his head.

Yan took off his backpack and placed it on the ground. The two of them leaned against the corner of the wall, cautiously peeking out to observe.

“No movement at all. Did the fight not even start?” Yan couldn’t help but mutter.

She had expected some earth-shaking commotion after their escape, but after waiting for a while, nothing happened. Was this it? Or had something else gone wrong?

They didn’t dare to get any closer. Zhu Jue skillfully lifted Yan up, and she balanced herself on the wall, stretching out a hand to look into the distance. Her balance was impeccable.

“No, no, I can’t see anything. It’s too far, and we don’t have a telescope,” Yan sighed.

This wasn’t like when they were kids climbing walls. Now, she didn’t dare to climb into the garden.

As she turned around on Zhu Jue’s arm, Yan suddenly noticed someone approaching from the direction they had come from. She quickly hugged him.

“Quick, quick, let me down! Someone’s coming. We can’t look suspicious,” Yan said, hastily putting her shoes back on.

If someone saw them climbing the wall with a fully loaded backpack, they might mistake them for a pair of thieves.

The two of them leaned against the wall, drinking water, pretending to be tired travelers taking a break.

Except for the overly eye-catching diamond-encrusted water bottle in their hands, there was nothing particularly strange about them.

Yan watched as the police car drove in and felt relieved.

Although she wasn’t sure if the police could handle the villain, she had noticed earlier that the middle-aged man’s feet were on the ground, meaning he was still a living person!

A living person couldn’t possibly withstand bullets, so Ding Ling’s safety should be guaranteed.

Not long after, Yan received a WeChat message from Ding Ling, which completely put her mind at ease.

“Ding Ling said she’s done with her business and everything’s fine. We can leave now.”

Yan and Zhu Jue had already rested enough. She stretched and sighed, “Finally, it’s all over.”

Barring any further surprises, today’s events should be concluded.

She and Zhu Jue had experienced so much today. Yan believed that the events she had gone through in a single day might be something others wouldn’t encounter in a lifetime.

After sending another message to Ding Ling to remind her to stay safe, the two of them leisurely strolled back.

As the flashing red lights of the police car entered the scene, nearby onlookers began to gather. Although they didn’t know what had happened, they were busy taking photos and sharing updates on their phones.

“Speaking of which, I remember Ding Ling mentioned something about the authorities when she misunderstood me earlier. A Ghost King actually has ties with the government,” Yan whispered to Zhu Jue.

Thinking about it, Yan found it quite unbelievable.

She had been assured by a Ghost King that she wouldn’t be reported.

Normally, wouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t an ordinary person like her seek out a Taoist temple or a Buddhist monastery to exorcise the ghost after encountering one?

Why did it feel like her and Ding Ling’s roles were reversed?

“There must be some specialized organization, like the Xia Kingdom’s Dragon Group or something,” Zhu Jue speculated.

“Right, Ding Ling mentioned something about the ‘Heavenly Eye’ and people from the ‘Mystic Vein.’ Since Ghost Kings exist, then things like Taoist masters and mystic sects must also be real. She said she was assigned to Bin University’s Mingzhi Hall to oversee and regulate the campus.”

“If that’s the case, even ghosts have civil service positions. Ding Ling, as a Ghost King overseeing a campus, must be at least equivalent to a Bin University Street Office Director,” Yan analogized.

“A Ghost King on a temporary assignment to the countryside? Given her rank, this is probably just a temporary posting,” Zhu Jue replied.

The two of them continued to speculate wildly. By now, it was nearly 5 p.m.

Zhu Jue’s backpack was filled with luxurious bottles of water. Taking the subway would mean drinking them all, but they were meant for their roommates. Yan decided to call a car to take them back to school.

In the ride-hailing car, the driver glanced at them through the rearview mirror and struck up a conversation.

“College students? Just visiting the antique street for fun? Didn’t get scammed into buying anything, did you?”

“No, no,” they replied.

“Oh, did you go to the jade shops? I heard someone struck it big today at the antique street—they cut open a stone and found what’s called ‘Glass Species Imperial Green’ jade! They say a jewelry store offered 100 million to buy it, and people were lining up for it!”

“And there was a minor celebrity too. I don’t know if it’s just hype, but they said they found an ink stick worth 100 million.”

“Hey, handsome guy and pretty girl, tell me—how can an ink stick, the kind used for calligraphy, be worth 100 million?”

“I saw on Douyin that these two young people can retire early and live a life of financial freedom now.”

“This is what they call luck! Some people just have it. If I had that kind of luck, I wouldn’t be driving this car!”

Listening to the driver’s enthusiastic chatter, Yan and Zhu Jue nodded silently.

Yes, some people just have that kind of luck.

“But I’ll tell you what—there might be some conspiracy behind this!” the driver suddenly changed his tone.

“I heard the jade shop that sold the ‘Imperial Green’ stone—what’s it called? Seed material? It was all sold out in a frenzy. These days, it’s all about marketing and hype. It might just be a scheme by the jade seller.”

“And that minor celebrity? They’re always trending on social media, but they’ve never starred in any TV shows. If it’s not hype, then there must be something fishy going on!”

The driver’s sudden change in tone, combined with a sharp turn, almost made Yan and Zhu Jue lose their balance.

Wait, whose side are you on? How can you switch opinions so quickly? Yan couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

Since she hadn’t been looking at her phone to avoid motion sickness, she decided to check it during the 120-second red light ahead, inspired by the driver’s words.

She and Zhu Jue each opened an app—Weibo and Douyin—and sure enough, there were trending topics.

#Shocking! Woman Finds Zhou Dynasty Ink Stick at Flea Market, Experts: Priceless!#

#Explosive! Mysterious Handsome Guy at Bin City Antique Street Strikes Gold with 100 Million Imperial Green Jade!#

Yan mentally crossed out the word “handsome” in her mind. It wasn’t a guy—it was a girl.

Well, the people causing these explosive trends were her roommates.

In these two viral topics, there were plenty of videos.

One showed Boss Xu’s jade shop in chaos, with people shouting bids and phones held high to capture the “Chicken Fat Yellow” and “Imperial Green” jade.

Another showed a crowded street stall, with glimpses of Gu Jiasui and Master Zhu’s profiles. Master Zhu’s excited voice could be heard, declaring the ink stick to be from the Zhou Dynasty, followed by gasps and exclamations from the crowd.

Upon seeing the videos, Yan immediately started searching through them to see if she and Zhu Jue had been caught on camera.

Darn it! They had been standing at just the right distance in every spot they stopped to watch—neither too close nor too far. Could they have accidentally ended up in the frame again?

The two of them quickly began checking the most popular videos. Thankfully, most of the footage only showed the backs of their heads or their profiles.

During the Gu Jiasui incident, they had been standing in the middle of the crowd, neither too far forward nor too far back. When Yi Zhi was cutting the jadeite, they had been closer to Boss Xu, but fortunately, the videos mostly zoomed in on the jadeite and Yi Zhi, who was wearing a mask as a disguise.

There were no cameras at the Ding Ling incident, and the auction Chu Bingbing attended was filled with billionaires who would never allow their privacy to be exposed, so they didn’t have to worry much about that.

Today, though, they had miscalculated. They should have welded their masks and sunglasses to their faces. They had let their guard down.

Yan silently scolded herself in her mind. Next time, even if it’s sweltering hot, she would cover her face.

She then scrolled through the public comments under the trending topics. The earliest comments were mostly expressions of shock and envy, with people questioning whether it was real or fake. After some time, the tone shifted to skepticism, with accusations of it being a publicity stunt or marketing ploy.

Hmm… Yan nodded. Based on this familiar pattern, it wouldn’t be long before the truth came out, debunking the rumors and slapping the naysayers in the face.

Malicious attacks against high-profile individuals always seemed to reach a peak before being hit with a powerful counterattack, leaving the critics red-faced.

Before the evening rush hour, Yan and Zhu Jue made it back to Bin University.

They had originally planned to eat both lunch and dinner outside, but after such an exhausting day, they were too tired.

Yan left an opened bottle of premium mineral water for Zhu Jue, waved goodbye, and headed back to her dorm with her heavy backpack.

She took out her key to unlock the door, but when she gently pushed it, the door opened on its own.

Huh? Had Gu Jiasui returned?

As she stepped inside, Yi Zhi walked out of the bathroom, and the two of them were momentarily stunned.

“Yan, you’re back,” Yi Zhi greeted her first.

“Yeah, I’m back. I’m exhausted,” Yan replied, setting down her black backpack and stretching her arms, avoiding Yi Zhi’s gaze.

Had Yi Zhi already handled everything? This was completely unexpected!

That was a piece of jadeite worth a hundred million! Yan thought to herself. If she had gotten her hands on it, she would have immediately taken the high-speed train back to Ningcheng, stored it in a bank vault, and spent the night in a luxury hotel suite.

Had Yi Zhi sold the jadeite? Her clothes and disguise had completely changed, and there was no trace of the handsome guy from earlier.

As expected of a superhuman from the apocalypse!

Yi Zhi noticed that Yan wasn’t paying attention to her but was instead fiddling with her bag, so she quietly let out a sigh of relief.

She had never expected to end up on the trending list.

It seemed she had been away from this peaceful era for too long and lacked sufficient understanding of modern life.

Fortunately, her disguise was good enough that no one in the trending topics recognized her true identity. Everyone thought she was a handsome guy, and some were even begging for her contact information, hoping to get close to her.

Yi Zhi didn’t care much about the people who claimed that the discovery of the imperial green jadeite was a marketing stunt. In fact, she hoped more people would believe it was a publicity stunt, as it would make it less likely for anyone to dig into her disguised identity, helping her stay hidden.

However… she never expected that, out of the entire antique street, she would run into Yan and her boyfriend.

To make matters worse, Yan and her boyfriend happened to be relatives of the shop owner and had even witnessed her cutting the stone up close.

Yi Zhi felt like her luck was terrible. She didn’t think Yan had recognized her, though, since Yan had mentioned earlier in the dorm that she was going to the antique street to visit a family friend and buy something.

Ah, Yi Zhi could only sigh inwardly at the strange twists of fate.

How could such a coincidence happen?

Yi Zhi wasn’t familiar with jadeite or jewelry. Today, she had cut open a piece of imperial green jadeite and a piece of chicken-fat yellow jadeite in front of a crowd. Given the excitement at the scene, there was no way she could have just stored them in her space and left.

With so many merchants eyeing her, and with her survival instincts from the apocalypse, she had sensed someone watching her the moment she made the first cut on the chicken-fat yellow jadeite.

A young person, alone, carrying a backpack in the antique street—she was an easy target, a fat lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

One piece of jadeite was worth tens of millions, and two pieces added up to a hundred million.

How many people could resist the temptation of such a windfall?

When the bidding at the gold shop reached a hundred million, Yi Zhi felt like she was surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, their glowing green eyes fixed on her, ready to tear her apart.

Since Yi Zhi wasn’t familiar with the jadeite and gambling industry, she was very wary of Boss Xu, and her mind raced through various scenarios of being robbed or killed for the treasure.

After all, the two top-grade jadeite rough stones had been bought from Boss Xu’s shop, and the shop owner hadn’t realized their value until they were in her hands. That meant Boss Xu had lost out on a hundred million.

Even in a society governed by the rule of law, Yi Zhi suspected that Boss Xu might try to forcefully keep the jadeite or demand a share of the profits.

However, the outcome surprised her.

Boss Xu’s gaze was indeed intense, but it was more like he was looking at someone he could never hope to reach.

Boss Xu took the initiative to invite reputable merchants he knew into the VIP room to bid on the jadeite, and he even had a standard contract prepared.

In that one hour in the VIP room, Yi Zhi encountered many smooth-talkers, all trying to convince her to sell the jadeite to their shops.

They offered everything from introductions to girlfriends, security protection, and cash payments.

In the end, Yi Zhi sold the chicken-fat yellow jadeite and kept the imperial green one.

The chicken-fat yellow was too large to fit in her backpack, and bringing it out safely would have been a problem since she couldn’t reveal her space. The smaller imperial green jadeite, however, was much more convenient.

Yi Zhi chose to work with Lao Xiang Gold Shop, a century-old brand. What really appealed to her was their offer to exchange the jadeite for gold.

Gold was a hard currency in any era, and she also wanted to see if gold could have an effect on her space.

At the domestic gold price of 550 yuan per gram on that Saturday, a standard one-kilogram gold bar was worth 550,000 yuan. Yi Zhi asked for twenty gold bars.

Lao Xiang Gold Shop also had century-old gold bars, and Yi Zhi took twenty of those as well. The rest of the payment was made in cash.

This was because the jade ring Gu Jiasui had given her seemed to be a century-old antique, and Yi Zhi wasn’t sure if the space’s attraction to the ring had something to do with its age. So, she decided to exchange for some old gold bars as well.

The gold bars were to be delivered in two installments to a bank safe, and the imperial green jadeite had already been transferred to Yi Zhi’s space.

Earlier, when she was in the dorm bathroom, she had locked the door and secretly entered her space to place the jadeite inside. As soon as she did, she could feel the space’s excitement, as if it were overwhelmed with emotion.

The space recognized her as its master, and after Yi Zhi said, “This jadeite is for you,” the imperial green jadeite instantly disappeared before her eyes. The entire space was then filled with a green mist.

It worked, and the effect was so obvious! Yi Zhi guessed that the space might be undergoing some kind of upgrade.

But she didn’t know when it would end. After entering and exiting the space a few times, she noticed that the green mist didn’t interfere with her ability to move in and out, so she felt reassured.

The imperial green jadeite had been completely absorbed by the space, and no one would ever guess that the mysterious man from the trending topics was actually a female college student.

Yi Zhi had also seen her roommate Gu Jiasui, who had shared the trending spot with her.

Gu Jiasui had left after finishing her classes on Friday, so Yi Zhi was surprised to see her at the antique street.

That Lan Mo thing was really that valuable? To Yi Zhi, it just looked like a lump of black coal!

But then again, considering the antique jewelry in Gu Jiasui’s makeup box, Yi Zhi wasn’t too surprised that she had managed to find a treasure.

Come on, this was a rich girl, a young lady who usually wore jadeite and used antiques. It wasn’t surprising that she had an eye for such things.

At this moment, Yan took off her small bag, changed into slippers, and placed one of the five diamond-studded water bottles from her backpack on the table. Yi Zhi looked at the sparkling bottle, her mind filled with questions.

"Is this... mineral water? Why is it studded with diamonds?" Yi Zhi suppressed the words "flashy but useless" that almost slipped out. After all, this was something Yan had brought back. Could it be that the antique street sold such things?

"It's mineral water. I went shopping with Bingbing, and they were giving these out for free, so I took some. No point in leaving them behind, but my bag couldn't fit more," Yan explained, sounding genuinely regretful.

Yan went shopping with Chu Bingbing? Yi Zhi was momentarily stunned.

No wonder she hadn’t seen Yan or her boyfriend when she left through the back door after exiting the VIP room.

It wasn’t surprising that such an extravagant-looking bottle of water was something Yan had picked up while tagging along with Chu Bingbing. Although Yi Zhi didn’t know how Yan had suddenly gotten close to this little heiress, she guessed it must have been a freebie from some luxury store catering to high-spending customers. Probably just accompanying Chu Bingbing on a shopping spree.

After changing her clothes and taking a shower, Yan saw a message from Zhu Jue. The items she had bought from Uncle Pan at Panxi Hall had already been delivered to Zhu Jue's place.

She patted her head, almost forgetting about it. It had happened earlier that morning, but it felt like ages ago.

By evening, Yan was too lazy to cook and ordered takeout. As she ate, she scrolled through her phone.

Yi Zhi was also eating, and the two of them sat back-to-back, each absorbed in their own videos. Yan was still picking out something to watch while eating when she heard the sound from Yi Zhi's phone.

"Breaking news, everyone! Today, three major events happened in Bin City's antique street! Some of you might have already seen the headlines. First, a woman found a priceless Zhou Dynasty inkstone at a street stall. Second, a handsome guy struck gold by cutting open a raw stone and discovering an imperial green jade worth a hundred million! But the third piece of news—I bet 90% of you haven’t heard about it! The historic Liang family courtyard in the antique street was severely vandalized! Around 4 PM today, police sirens blared through the street as the once-sealed courtyard gates were thrown wide open. The inside was a mess, as if it had been violently ransacked. According to insiders, it was a kind passerby who noticed and called the police!"

"Cough, cough, cough—"

Yan, who was in the middle of eating, choked on her food and started coughing violently.

A kind passerby? Ha? Could that be referring to her?

"Are you okay, Yan? Did you eat too fast?" Yi Zhi asked, seeing Yan cough so hard that tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm fine," Yan replied, pounding her chest to catch her breath.

Because of Yan's coughing fit, Yi Zhi instinctively paused the short video she was watching.

At that moment, the video froze on a photo the blogger had inserted, seemingly taken by someone near the Liang family courtyard.

But... Yi Zhi's eyes suddenly fixed on a corner of the photo.

She hadn’t passed by the Liang family courtyard and wasn’t sure where it was, but in the photo, two figures were accidentally captured near the ancient brick wall—a girl in a purple dress, a black backpack, and a conspicuously sparkling water bottle in hand. It was Yan and her boyfriend!

So Yan hadn’t been shopping with Chu Bingbing at a luxury store, but had been near the antique street? And then they split up? How did they end up at the Liang family courtyard?

Why were they everywhere? Were they just there to watch the commotion?

Yi Zhi didn’t say anything and quietly finished her meal.

After finishing the takeout, Yan casually took both her and Yi Zhi's empty boxes to the trash chute on their floor. When she returned to the dorm, the other three roommates had also come back.

She overheard Yi Zhi asking Chu Bingbing, "Bingbing, Yan said this water bottle was something you got for free while shopping. It must be expensive, right?"

Chu Bingbing, who was in the middle of removing her makeup, nodded. "Probably, but since it was free, why not take it? Yan even said she wished she had brought a suitcase to carry more."

"The bottle is nice. You could keep it for planting flowers," Yi Zhi said, feeling slightly reassured that Yan had indeed been with Chu Bingbing.

"If I had known everyone went to the antique street today, we could have had dinner together," Ding Ling chimed in.

Yi Zhi's ears perked up. Everyone? Today? Wait, what did that mean?

"Yi Zhi didn’t go," Yan suddenly interjected, glancing at Ding Ling.

Ding Ling immediately shrunk back. She had forgotten about Yi Zhi's alibi. Thankfully, Yan had covered for her. Yan's quick thinking was truly impressive!

"Oh right, Yi Zhi was at school," Ding Ling said, tapping her forehead as if she had just remembered.

"Ding Ling, you went too?" Chu Bingbing and Yi Zhi exclaimed in surprise, while Gu Jiasui also looked over. What kind of coincidence was this?

"She came in the afternoon with her classmates for a research project. Zhu Jue and I ran into her on our way back," Yan explained.

To prevent the other roommates from suspecting Ding Ling, Yan came up with a plausible excuse on the spot. She really had to think on her feet. Since Ding Ling was an archaeology major, it made sense for her to be doing some kind of artifact or cultural research.

"Yeah, we have a semester-long project on art market circulation, so we went to the antique street to pick a shop. My classmate and I were planning to check out the night market, but there were too many people, so we came back," Ding Ling quickly added.

Yi Zhi nodded. So that was it. She had already left by then. But if that was the case, it seemed the whole dorm had gone to the antique street for different reasons, yet she had only run into Yan.

But because of the suspicions she had already harbored about Yan since the start of the semester and the military training, Yi Zhi couldn’t shake off her unease.

Yi Zhi climbed into bed and muted her phone. She opened Weibo again. The three trending topics about Bin City's antique street were still at the top. Huh? There was already a police report about the Liang family courtyard? That was fast!

She read through it. Apparently, an underground gang had been squatting in the unoccupied private courtyard, causing significant damage.

In the comments, someone had posted an enlarged aerial photo, likely taken with a high-resolution camera from a nearby high point.

The cordoned-off area covered a large space. Yi Zhi squinted and her pupils suddenly contracted.

An underground gang causing damage? No, no, the marks on the ground were nothing ordinary people could have made!

From the aerial view, the remnants of the courtyard showed signs of being torn apart by some kind of massive shockwave.

It was like the aftermath of a wind elementalist's storm or an air blast from her past life.

There were no signs of explosives or scorch marks. Under her blanket, Yi Zhi's expression turned grave. Could there be other people with abilities?

She tapped the photo, but the next second, it disappeared from the comments, as if it had been deleted. No matter how much Yi Zhi searched, she couldn’t find it again.

Something strange was definitely going on! If it was a normal photo, why would it be deleted?

This wasn’t the work of an underground gang. It was more like a battlefield.

Yi Zhi's eyes flickered as she thought of something. She immediately went back to the short video with Yan's photo.

In the photo, Yan's hair was noticeably disheveled, and the two of them leaning against the wall looked utterly exhausted.

So that was it! Yi Zhi's pupils contracted.

This must have been the aftermath of a fight. That "kind passerby" who called the police was probably Yan, who had just finished battling and then reported it.

Then she thought back to Ding Ling's slip-up earlier. Ding Ling had said everyone went to the antique street, but Yi Zhi hadn’t said anything. Instead, Yan was the first to react and state definitively that Yi Zhi hadn’t gone.

Normally, Yan wouldn’t know where Yi Zhi had been since she wasn’t in the dorm when Yan left. So why was she so sure Yi Zhi hadn’t gone?

Most people would have said, "Yi Zhi didn’t go, right?" as a question.

But Yan had stated it as a fact!

It felt more like a cover-up. A patch to hide the truth.

Yi Zhi recalled the jade-cutting incident. Almost 99% of the onlookers in that shop had been filled with envy and jealousy, wishing they could take her place. But what had she seen in Yan and her boyfriend's eyes?

They had been standing so close, watching so intently, yet they seemed like detached observers, marveling and exclaiming without a trace of envy or resentment. Their surprise had been genuine.

And... there had even been a hint of understanding!

At that time, Boss Xu seemed to be teasing them to guess, and Yan said that the stone would turn out to be of excellent quality, possibly even a rare gem.

At the time, it sounded like a casual remark, but now, upon reflection, could Yan have already foreseen the outcome?

Recalling her skilled marksmanship during military training, where she could precisely control the score of every bullet, there were only two possible supernatural abilities that could explain it.

One was wind manipulation, and the other was air manipulation.

This perfectly matched the traces she had analyzed in the vanished photograph!

Connecting all the dots, Yi Zhi suddenly felt as if she had been plunged into an icy abyss. Had Yan seen through her disguise all along?

Meanwhile, lying in bed chatting with Zhu Jue, Yan suddenly sneezed repeatedly.

“Achoo—”

“Ah—”

Yan couldn’t help but mutter, “Who’s talking about me so late at night?”