Chapter 589: The Moment to Witness a Miracle

When Fang Ji woke from unconsciousness, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Feeling the soft touch of the bed against his back, he remained dazed for a long while. He had no memory at all of how he had ended up at the hotel.

“…”

Was it the helper Miss Guide called who brought me here?

But where did she go?

Has she already left? Fang Ji thought uneasily.

The lights in the room were off, and the air was filled with the damp, stifling heat unique to late spring and early summer. He felt his way out of bed in the dark, intending to turn on the light first and check his surroundings, but accidentally knocked over the cup on the nightstand.

The cup fell to the floor and shattered with a “crack!”

Hearing the noise from inside the room, someone soon swiped a room card and pushed the door open.

“Beep!” As the card was inserted into the power slot, the room was lit by warm light, and a young man with deep-set features and a gloomy expression walked in from outside.

“Ah! It is actually you?” After seeing the young man’s face clearly, Fang Ji cried out in delight.

He had seen this young man on the bus from the Zhenwu Mountain Scenic Area to Shizhou City.

“Wonderful! I thought I had run into bad people!”

Having met once could barely count as being acquaintances… at least, that was what Fang Ji, who had not yet been beaten down by society, believed.

Salih stopped at the entrance hall, looked at the overjoyed Fang Ji, then at the shards of glass on the floor. He frowned slightly, said nothing, and turned to walk back outside.

He felt he had nothing to say to Fang Ji. If the Holy Son had not assigned him and Elder Shem to watch Fang Ji, he would not even have wanted to approach this fellow, who reeked of misfortune.

When he had set out for Country Z, Salih had been full of ambition and eager to create miracles. Now the Holy Son had assigned him a task that was not much different from guarding a latrine. Although he knew the Holy Son must have some deep reason for doing so, he could not help feeling depressed.

He wanted to do something big, such as… taking down the Dark Emperor?

That goal was a little arrogant, but if a youth was not reckless, was he still a youth?

Besides, after seeing the Holy Son in person, Salih felt his Miracle Seed stirring restlessly.

When the Miracle Seed took root, sprouted, grew strong, and bloomed into the Flower of Miracles, punching the Dark Emperor and kicking the Master of Arms would no longer be a dream!

Fang Ji smiled and waved, watching Salih leave without saying a word, thinking that this young man really was not good with words.

Then…

It was only when Salih pulled out the room card, cutting the power and plunging the room back into darkness, that Fang Ji was dumbfounded. The smile on his face gradually stiffened, and his raised hand hung in the air for a long time without lowering.

“…”

After standing there stunned for a long while, he began to feel that something was wrong. In a panic, he patted himself down, wanting to take out his phone and ask Miss Guide about the situation.

His pockets were completely empty. His phone, wallet, all the tickets and receipts he had carefully kept along the way, and the gold, silver, and jade jewelry he had picked up on the road while waiting for their owners to claim them had all vanished.

Could that young man just now have taken them? The thought suddenly flashed through Fang Ji’s mind, and immediately after that, he realized that he might have been kidnapped, while the helper Miss Guide had called for was probably in grave danger.

Thinking carefully, he had seen the two people who kidnapped him on the bus from the Zhenwu Mountain Scenic Area to Shizhou City. Perhaps they had already set their sights on him back then.

But why would they kidnap me?

I am only an ordinary operator of The Midnight Watchers Society…

Uh, probably.

As Fang Ji thought this, his anxiety gradually grew. He strode quickly toward the door, and as soon as he pushed it open, he saw a face covered in a full beard, with dark and fierce eyes.

“Friend, please go back inside and wait quietly. When our Holy Son arrives, it would be best if you cooperate. If you do not… hehe!” Shem gave two cold snorts, lifted a corner of his coat, and revealed a curved blade.

The sheath of the curved blade was still stained with dried specks of blood, and it radiated killing intent.

Seeing this, Fang Ji’s pupils shrank slightly, and he stammered, “I-I do not know any Holy Son. I am just, I am… Let me tell you, what you are doing is a crime, do you know that? I…”

With a “shing!” the curved blade left its sheath. The bright blade flashed coldly, dazzling his eyes, and Fang Ji’s voice stopped abruptly. He silently retreated into the room and closed the door behind him.

Back in the room, Fang Ji collapsed onto the bed. Even with his eyes closed, he could still seem to see the cold gleam of that curved blade, and his heart pounded violently for a long time without calming down.

It is over, it is over. I am dead this time!

That fierce man carries a knife, and there are bloodstains on the sheath. He cannot possibly have bought a few pounds of pork to practice knife techniques just because he was bored, right?

No, no. I cannot panic. On the way from Yan City, I have run into bad people many times, and I have always turned danger into safety. This time will definitely be the same!

As he was thinking this, the wind stirred a corner of the curtain, and the dazzling lights of Sleepless Street spilled faintly into the pitch-black room.

“…”

After a few seconds of silence, Fang Ji seemed to remember something. He suddenly sat up from the bed, glanced toward the door, then crept quietly to the window.

He gently pulled open the window and looked outside, then immediately took two frightened steps back.

A height of more than twenty floors really was terrifying at first glance, but…

Fang Ji steadied himself, leaned toward the window again, and tilted forward slightly to look outside. A determined look appeared in his eyes.

There was a balcony beside the window, and the drainpipe beside the balcony was metal and looked sturdy. There was also a balcony every three floors where he could rest…

This can work! Escaping from here will be no problem!

As long as I get out of their control, I can borrow a phone from someone and contact Miss Guide… I must tell her that Miss Helper has gone missing!

After that, once I find a contact point for The Midnight Watchers Society, I will be safe! Fang Ji thought.

He did not know why he was so certain he could complete an operation that would give even children nightmares, but he faintly felt that he had done similar things many times before, and had done them quite easily.

And so, he decided to follow his intuition.

His intuition had always been accurate, more accurate than a woman’s. Perhaps that was why he looked even more delicate and charming than a woman?

Fang Ji carefully climbed onto the windowsill, flipped over, and landed silently on the balcony outside the window. Then he stood up with his back against the outer wall.

The cold wind high above the ground stirred his tied-up long hair and gently struck his face. Although the outer wall behind him was solid and reliable, one step forward meant an abyss, so his heartbeat sped up despite himself, and he swallowed hard.

After waiting for a short while, steadying his emotions, and making sure that the silent young man and the fierce middle-aged man had not noticed his movements, Fang Ji finally edged forward, gripped the drainpipe tightly with both hands, and climbed downward.

…

Ten minutes later.

Fang Ji successfully climbed down the drainpipe from the twenty-third floor and landed safely.

Although his wall-climbing technique had been quite clumsy at first, and he had even slipped and fallen once, startling himself into a cold sweat, fortunately, during the fall, his clothes caught on a hook of unknown purpose on the outer wall, saving him from the miserable ending of being smashed into paste.

But as he kept descending, perhaps because he gradually grew familiar with it, his climbing movements also became steadier.

“Huff!” The sense of safety that came from both feet standing firmly on the ground made Fang Ji let out a delighted sigh. “I made it. It is almost like a dream. But…”

He looked back at the tall building beside him and frowned.

“This place… is really chaotic!”

While climbing down just now, he had seen many absurd things.

He saw someone slip in the shower and split their head open, saw someone smoke in bed and set the quilt on fire, and even ran into a fellow traveler…

A seasoned adulterer was just about to pass on everything he knew when the wronged husband burst through the door to catch him in the act. In his panic, he tried to climb down the drainpipe to escape, but the moment he climbed out the window, he met Fang Ji’s eyes as Fang Ji happened to pass by. In the chaos, he fell onto a balcony three floors below and passed out. He probably still had not woken up.

“Forget it. Never mind. The important thing is to contact Miss Guide quickly, then go to The Midnight Watchers Society’s contact point. If those two catch up, things will be bad…”

Fang Ji muttered to himself, hurried forward, crossed a small alley, and soon disappeared into the crowds and lights of Sleepless Street.

Everywhere he passed was thrown into chaos, as if it were the scene of a carnival.

————

Calamity: “Dear user, hello. Congratulations, you just luckily triggered the hidden condition of the mission. From now on, please keep in contact with me at all times. I will guide you throughout the process and assist you in completing the mission.”

After sending the message to Fang Ji, Lu Yibei waited for a moment. Seeing that he still had not replied, she could not help frowning.

What is going on? Why is Miss Fang still not replying?

Did she lose her phone in the alley earlier, or did it get broken?

Or did that man in black make a move against her, and has she already met with disaster?

As Lu Yibei thought this, she reached out and patted Shem on the shoulder in front of her, asking expressionlessly, “By the way, Old Shem, when you took Fang Ji to the hotel, did you see her belongings? They were not dropped on the road, were they?”

“Hehe, Miss Qianqian, do not worry!” A smug smile appeared on Shem’s face. “I searched that fellow thoroughly!”

“I have to say, that fellow really is rich. She was carrying three gold rings, one silver bracelet, two jade bracelets, and a gold-inlaid jade longevity lock.”

“Right, I have the things with me! Would you like to inspect them?”

As he spoke, Shem forcefully patted the satchel he carried.

After hearing Shem’s words, Lu Yibei’s face darkened, and she said irritably, “Damn it, I told you to take good care of her. Why did you search her body? Are you terrorists from somewhere?”

Seriously, you searched away all her things, and I was still here sending her messages. Does that not make me look very stupid?

Besides, she is a girl, and you two are grown men. Is it really appropriate for you to search her body?

This is the kind of thing I should be doing instead. We are both girls, after all, so there is no need to mind those details… Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly.

“Holy Son… uh, Miss Qianqian, please calm your anger!” Seeing Lu Yibei get angry, Shem lowered his head and cupped his hands. “We were also afraid that he might be carrying some powerful psychic item, and worried we would not be able to watch him, so we resorted to this measure. Besides… did we not always do this before?”

True. Before this, members of the Miracle Order were even bombing airports in Hua City! Expecting these brutes to take proper care of Miss Fang was my mistake… Lu Yibei rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and said earnestly, “Before was before. Now is now!”

“Since I have become the Holy Son, you must handle things according to my style from now on. From this day forward, you are not allowed to do this kind of thing again.”

Whatever. If I can fool one of them straight, that counts as one. If this kind of gesture changes the Miracle Order, then it is a genuine good deed!

Maybe one day, when members of the Miracle Order see me, they will even have to shout, “She changed the Order!” Lu Yibei thought.

“But…” Shem hesitated.

“But what?” Lu Yibei said solemnly. “Let me ask you, are the Egyptian pyramids a miracle?”

Shem answered without thinking, “Of course they are!”

“Then do you know why the pyramids were successfully built?” Lu Yibei pressed.

Shem thought for a moment and answered seriously, “Because a high-level myth-type haunting helped. That Sphinx statue, I heard, is the relic of the haunting that used to carry the giant stones.”

Lu Yibei: “…”

Do you have to argue with me?

After a pause, she said forcefully, “Leaving the haunting factor aside, one very important point is the power of the people! You need to understand that human miracles are often miracles of the people!”

“If you people search others at every turn and bomb airports at every turn, how the hell are you supposed to have popular support? You would be lucky if people did not sabotage you behind your back!”

“So from now on, do less of this bandit behavior, understand? Otherwise, people who know the situation will know we are the Miracle Order, but people who do not might think we are the Forty Thieves of the Persian Gulf!”

After hearing Lu Yibei’s words, Shem’s face showed sudden understanding, and he gave her a slight bow.

“This subordinate has been instructed. Please rest assured, I will make sure to pass your guidance on to the other members of the Order.”

It would be best if they listened… Lu Yibei nodded calmly. “As long as you understand. Keep leading the way.”

Since there was no way to contact Miss Fang by phone, she could only find the person first. Lu Yibei thought.

“Yes!” Shem answered, turned around, and continued leading the way forward.

…

Lu Yibei followed behind Shem, walking along Sleepless Street. The deeper they went, the more chaotic the scenes became. At first they were still understandable, but later they gradually became absurd.

At first, they were only common accidents like people fainting from heatstroke, drunken brawls, or street vendors’ handcarts colliding. Later, they gradually became things like people trying to swallow light bulbs, cigarette butts thrown into manholes causing methane explosions, and a vat-balancing performance going wrong so that the vat fell down, got stuck over someone’s head, and could not be removed…

The whole route was in chaos, with many injured people.

Lu Yibei: “…”

This is way too exaggerated…

Even if no one has died, this already counts as a haunting incident, right?

Has Miss Fang’s luck been low for so long, so hungry for luck, that she suddenly sucked them all dry until they could not take it anymore? Lu Yibei thought.

As she was thinking, her phone suddenly vibrated twice. She unlocked the screen and glanced at it. It was a message from “A Little Hamster.”

A Little Hamster: “Miss Guide, I finally managed to contact you!”

Lu Yibei: “???”

What the hell? Where did she get a phone to message me? Did Shem not search it away from her?

————

Fang Ji’s phone was, naturally, something he had picked up.

After escaping from the hotel to Sleepless Street, he had been thinking constantly about borrowing a phone from someone so he could message Miss Guide and contact his colleagues from The Midnight Watchers Society far away in Yan City, asking where the Society’s contact point in Shizhou City was.

However, along the way, he had not met any kind person willing to lend him one. The only person willing to pay attention to him was the big brother in black in front of him, who was leading the way.

This big brother in black told Fang Ji that he had something Fang Ji needed, something that could help solve the difficulties he currently faced.

And so, Fang Ji followed the big brother in black.

They had not gone far when, passing through an alley near a residential area, they heard someone on the third floor of the residential building above open a window, and a young woman shouted, “Break up! I will never forgive you. If you come to my home again, I will not even take your gifts. Now, just like this phone, get out of my home!”

After saying that, the young woman threw out a newly unboxed Cherry 14 Plus Pro with a SIM card inserted but not yet activated.

The phone traced an arc through the air and landed perfectly in Fang Ji’s coat pocket.

Feeling his coat pocket suddenly grow heavy, Fang Ji reached inside, and a look of delight instantly appeared on his face.

He took out the phone, successfully activated it, downloaded a certain Penguin social app, and sent Miss Guide a message. Then he took a few steps forward, patted the shoulder of the big brother in black leading the way, and said, “Big brother, I really got the thing I wanted! You really are a good person. You helped me so much!”

The man in black: “???” Wait, I have not even brought you to the place yet! Where the hell did you get the thing you wanted?

Seeing the man in black staring at him with wide eyes, Fang Ji shrank his neck and said weakly, “Big brother, you said earlier that you would take me to find what I wanted, and depending on the situation, it could be free. This phone was thrown away by someone else just now. I-I should not have to pay you, right?”

“…” The man in black was silent for a few seconds, then said in his hoarse voice, “No. But are you satisfied with only this? I also have…”

“I am satisfied! I only wanted a phone.” Fang Ji said without hesitation, forcibly choking back the second half of the man in black’s unfinished sentence.

After another silence, the man in black took a deep breath and said, “Other than a phone, I have everything you want here!”

“Mm…” Fang Ji thought for a moment and said seriously, “I want to recover my memories, or find Lu Yibei. Can you help me?”

The man in black: “…” I already said I can only give you items. How could I possibly help with amnesia? And who is Lu Yibei?

“Do you not have anything else you want? Even if you cannot use it now, you should plan a little for the future, should you not?”

“Mm…” Fang Ji tilted his head and pondered for a few seconds. “Probably not? I can make plans when I want something. Anyway, my luck is super good! Every time I want something, that thing appears very quickly.”

The man in black: “…”

Every time you want something…

Are you going out to rob people?

How could there possibly be someone in this world who gets whatever they want? Unless a miracle appears!

He felt somewhat helpless. Tonight, following that lord’s guidance, the three targets he had found were all very strange. The first was extremely vigilant, the second had no strong material desire, and the third…

The man in black no longer knew how to describe Fang Ji’s type.

If what he said was true, perhaps he could be called… a chosen one?

Seeing that the man in black had not spoken for a long time, Fang Ji bowed slightly to him. “In any case, thank you for helping me find a usable phone. I will not trouble you any further. I will be leaving now. Bye!”

After saying that, Fang Ji turned to leave while continuing to lower his head and fiddle with the phone. Only then did he notice the message Miss Guide had sent him earlier.

A Little Hamster: “Hidden condition? What is that?”

Calamity: “Hello. It is the hidden condition for infiltrating the Esoteric Society. May I ask, is there currently a man beside you? He is about 185 centimeters tall, rather thin, has a hooked nose, and is wearing a black trench coat.”

Fang Ji secretly glanced at the man beside him, nodded, and typed a reply.

A Little Hamster: “Mm-hmm, yes!”

Calamity: “Hello. He is the hidden condition for joining the Esoteric Society!”

“Eh!? That big brother is…” Fang Ji let out a cry of surprise, then realized he had lost composure. He hurriedly covered his mouth with both hands and continued typing a reply on his phone.

A Little Hamster: “Really? Then what should I do next?”

————

What should he do next?

After reading Fang Ji’s reply, Lu Yibei frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “You can first ask him for an item, but do not use it, and do not ask where it came from. Then ask whether he can take you to join the Esoteric Society. If he refuses, mention Gu He’s name.”

It was now certain that Hu Chuan, who used the alias Gu He, was closely connected to the Esoteric Society. If that man in black really was a member of the Esoteric Society, he should react to that name. Lu Yibei thought.

A Little Hamster: “It sounds very simple?”

Calamity: “Of course! The existence of hidden conditions, and my job, is to help users complete missions more conveniently and quickly! [pink-haired girl smiling]”

A Little Hamster: “Oh, oh. Then thank you in advance!”

Calamity: “You are welcome. Serving users is our work as guides, and also our honor. I wish you success with your mission in advance, and please stay in contact with me at all times so I can guide you.”

For some reason, it feels like I am acting as her system… After replying to the message, Lu Yibei shrugged.

I serve you, and you scout the path and act as cannon fodder for me. Reasonable, right?

Next, it is time to witness a miracle!

The next moment, Fang Ji sent a message.

A Little Hamster: “Miss Guide, that big brother… fainted.”

Fainted? Lu Yibei froze for a moment, then typed a question: “Hello, did he attack you after you mentioned Gu He’s name, and then you knocked him unconscious?”

A Little Hamster: “No. A walking tractor fell from upstairs and knocked him unconscious.”

Lu Yibei: “???”