The Eldritch Files

Han Su didn’t dwell on the unexpected encounter with Xu Ji. After all, he was a man of principle. Before the Ghost Truck capture mission was finalized, he had taken money from the Xu Family, so of course, he had to send Xu Ji packing.

Watching him get safely into the car and drive away, Han Su frowned and left the library.

’But a thread of doubt still lingered in his mind: Gods from the dust of history... Knowledge, Machine, Chaos, Sea Beast, Giant, copper...’

’Why does this feel more and more similar to the Ancient Castle?’

’But if, as that Death Believer claimed, the beings inside the Ancient Castle are these kinds of Gods, then their displayed power doesn’t at all match the station the Death Believer described...’

’...Or could it be the effect of the Ancient Castle?’

’...I’ve always subconsciously linked the Ancient Castle with the monsters, but what if they aren’t one and the same? What if they weaken each other?’

He vaguely considered the possibility, but there was too little to go on. He could only speculate, not draw any conclusions.

His handling of the Death Believer only fueled Han Su’s growing doubts about the tasks Miss Ai assigned. So, without wasting any time, he completed the remaining two missions as quickly as possible.

The second mission was to transfer an antique.

The antique was a vase of indeterminate age, stored in an old villa. The place was filled with strange objects: mysterious wooden racks, strings of garlic, and some arcane symbols that looked like they were dug out of ancient manuscripts.

Han Su placed it in a specially made case, brought it out, and handed it over to the security personnel. With that, the mission was considered complete.

The vase was strange.

At this moment, Han Su was wearing gloves made of a low-sensitivity fiber material, acquired from the Disaster Management Bureau base, that could effectively block the Penetration of some Mysterious Power.

But even so, when he touched the vase, he could still faintly hear what sounded like singing.

The singing resonated with his brain, as if it were disturbing his thoughts.

He vaguely felt an urge to clutch the vase to his chest, and even to plant a few kisses on it.

’What the hell is this thing? The gloves can’t even block it?’

Han Su first poured a glass of water to observe it—no ripples. Then, he grabbed the vase with his left hand, feeling the strange sensation it transmitted, picked up an electric baton, and poked it twice.

The vase immediately behaved itself.

He put the vase in its case and brought it out. An armored vehicle was already waiting at the villa’s gate. He made the handover with the personnel, and after watching the vehicle—which was spray-painted with a mysterious snake symbol—drive away, Han Su’s second mission was complete.

But as he turned to leave, Han Su glanced at a car parked by the roadside. It looked vaguely familiar.

It was a very expensive sports car, but the hood had been airbrushed with a high-end painting of a cringey-looking anime girl, which instantly cheapened the whole car’s aesthetic.

’What rich person is this, to be as much of a nerd as Xu Ji?’

’...’

The third mission came quickly. He was to go to a shop on a remote street corner and purchase a black, cat-patterned porcelain cup.

The instructions were to pay whatever price the owner asked, and after the transaction was complete, to take whatever the owner gave him and bring it back. The mission would be complete once he handed the item over to the contact person.

The shop was small and dark. Like other convenience stores, it was packed with all sorts of goods, but for some reason, every item looked like it was covered in dust and extremely old.

It seemed every city had a shop like this, the kind that made you wonder how the owner managed to survive.

As Han Su entered the shop and saw the female owner behind the counter, with her sharp, rat-like features, a deeply uncomfortable feeling welled up inside him.

Women love beauty and wear rouge, but this woman looked as if she had smeared plaster directly onto her face. She was as white as a paper effigy, shattering all conventional notions of aesthetics and instead creating a sense of twisted horror.

”I’m here to buy a black, cat-patterned porcelain cup. It’s for Miss Li of the Disaster Management Bureau.”

”Sixty-six thousand, six hundred.”

Han Su didn’t dwell on how bizarre the owner’s response was. He simply paid using the link Miss Ai had given him and took the pack of cigarettes the owner handed over.

He didn’t ask any further questions and turned to leave.

The owner behind the counter suddenly let out a cackle, her voice sharp and piercing. ”Don’t you want anything else?”

Han Su glanced back at her. Half of the owner’s body was hidden in the shadows, creating a stark contrast with the bright sunlight outside the shop.

Just then, a figure suddenly burst in through the doorway, shouting, ”Hey, boss! A bottle of water, make it a cold one.”

Han Su’s head snapped up, his expression changing in an instant. The person who had just walked in was none other than a sweat-drenched Xu Ji.

He was still looking all around as he shouted.

The atmosphere inside the narrow, cramped shop clearly grew strange.

The density of the air seemed to suddenly increase. Han Su had the inexplicable feeling that he was surrounded by many living things, and that in the shadowed corners of the shop, something was quietly opening its eyes.

Han Su stood his ground, his eyes narrowing slightly.

At that exact moment, Xu Ji, who had only taken two steps into the shop, abruptly looked up and saw Han Su, whose body was still mostly cloaked in shadow.

His expression instantly froze. ”I’m out,” he said.

The words had barely left his mouth before he was already gone, fleeing so swiftly and decisively that the shop didn’t even have time to react.

All around him, the strangeness vanished. Han Su could feel the things in the shadows slowly retreating, and the owner behind the counter was slowly sinking back into her chair.

He left the shop without a change in his expression. Only after he was back on the street did Han Su let out a slight sigh of relief.

He first delivered the item to the designated location, completing that mission. Then, while walking to the subway station, he pulled out a business card, dialed the number on it, and soon a voice came through:

”Mr. Han, is there anything I can help you with?”

”...”

Hearing Special Assistant Xu’s voice, Han Su chose his words carefully. ”Isn’t your young master supposed to be grounded right now?”

”I seem to be running into him quite a lot these past two days.”

”...”

Upon hearing this, Special Assistant Xu’s tone suddenly became tense. ”When did you see him?”

Han Su replied, ”Once at the library, and once when I was buying something.”

”Oh, right. There was another time. When I went to a villa on Spring Sun Street, I saw a particularly flashy car with a scantily-clad anime girl painted on it...”

”I was wondering if that was his?”

”...”

”It is!”

After a long pause, Special Assistant Xu replied in a low voice, ”It’s something the young master got during his edgy teenage phase. He rarely drives it now. His previous sports car was wrecked, so he had to take that one out of the garage!”

”Thank you, Mr. Han. The young master has truly made a good friend.”

”As for now...”

He seemed to be thinking. ”Do you have time to meet at the Haiyan Clubhouse?”

His missions were complete, and Han Su was also a little concerned about Xu Ji’s situation, so he agreed.

On the way there, he also found it bizarre. Why did Xu Ji keep showing up at the exact places where he was carrying out his missions?

’Was he doing it on purpose?’

’No, he isn’t smart or cunning enough for that...’

He bought a couple pounds of apples from a roadside stall, then hailed a cab to an old street in the eastern part of the city. The taxi driver looked at the surrounding buildings—none of them were tall, but they were hidden behind lush greenery—and turned back to look at Han Su with some amazement.

”You’re really something, kid...”

”Being able to afford a place like this?”

”...”

Han Su said, ”What do you mean, afford? I’m here on someone else’s dime.”

The taxi driver was instantly filled with even greater respect for Han Su. When they arrived, he took the one-hundred-yuan bill Han Su gave him and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, didn’t give him any change.

Han Su was a little speechless as he watched the taxi drive away. He then turned and walked to the entrance of the clubhouse.

The security booth at the entrance had already received a call, and a guard immediately came up to him to inquire.

After confirming Han Su’s identity, the guard led him to a shuttle cart, which drove him toward a building that seemed to be hidden deep within a forest. Even Han Su was a little surprised by such a place.

It was clearly a commercial establishment, yet it was so exclusive that it revealed nothing, neither its name nor the services it offered.

As he walked into the antique-styled lobby ahead, he heard a voice shouting indignantly, ”It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it! I’m being framed!”

”I only went to the library because I love to study!”

”I was near that villa because my bro warned me that studying is dangerous, so I kicked that bad habit and went to my friend’s house to play a 3D wilderness dating game!”

”And I went to that shop because I was playing basketball! I was tired from gaming, so I went to get some exercise. What’s wrong with buying a bottle of water when I’m all sweaty? If that crappy little store wasn’t the only one next to the basketball court, you think I’d want to go to such a tiny storefront?”

”...”

Han Su recognized Xu Ji’s voice and felt extremely surprised.

’What in the world is a 3D wilderness dating game?’

He walked directly toward the room the voice was coming from. As he got closer, he heard an elderly voice gently reasoning:

”There’s no need to be too hard on the young master. Such coincidences don’t just happen in this world. He must be under the influence of some kind of Mysterious Power.”

”I previously attempted to cleanse the remnants of a Mysterious Power from his body, and I thought I had succeeded. But these mysterious things are like bacteria on a person’s body; they can never be completely eliminated. All we can say is that this Mysterious Power is still influencing him.”

”This Mysterious Power is like a magnet. Its influence on real-world events follows a deeper logic, which is why you can’t find the cause on a physical level.”

”You might think he’ll run into danger if he goes east, so you make him go west or stay at home, but that won’t solve the problem. There will always be some coincidence or unexpected situation that ultimately guides him toward that predetermined direction.”

”The people he’s meant to meet, the things he’s meant to encounter—no matter what happens, he will always meet them.”

”This is how the Mysterious Power twists fate!”