Chapter 7: What “Voice” is Guiding Him?

Chapter 7: What "Voice" Was Guiding Him?

The next day, in a residential area near Binhai Station, Meng Siyou was conducting a routine inspection of the lingering effects left by the reality anomaly.

His Ability, Silent Command, was intrinsically linked to sound. At this moment, with his eyes closed, he could hear everything around him whispering through his Ability.

From living beings to inanimate objects—whether from ants to dust particles, or as towering as trees and skyscrapers—everything spoke to Meng Siyou in its own unique language and tone, reporting every subtle movement in their surroundings.

This was also why the bureau often entrusted him with patrol and inspection duties.

"Hmm, no signs of distortion or mutation in objects, no lifeless things gaining the traits of life... everything seems normal..."

Meng Siyou pulled out the notebook he always carried and quickly jotted down his observations: "There are still faint residual energy fluctuations near the station, but the overall trend is declining. Within a month, this area should fully return to normal."

After completing his inspection, Meng Siyou followed protocol and began randomly interviewing nearby residents in his capacity as an officer.

Most of the residents' responses were unremarkable—until he reached the security booth closest to the station. The guard on duty inside paused thoughtfully upon hearing his question.

"Last night around midnight, an unfamiliar young man suddenly showed up here. Does that qualify as unusual?"

Meng Siyou’s hand, which had been jotting down notes, paused slightly. He clicked his pen and focused on the guard. "Around what time?"

The guard scratched the back of his head. "I don’t remember exactly..."

But Meng Siyou heard the wall clock whisper the precise time: 2:45 AM.

The timing was too precise to be coincidental...

According to Wen Sheng’s report, the passage connecting Binhai Station to the reality anomaly had opened between 2:32 and 2:54 AM.

Frowning, Meng Siyou began suspecting that the stranger the guard mentioned was somehow linked to the anomaly.

"Can you describe him? Any distinctive features?"

Hearing the seriousness in Meng Siyou’s tone, the guard froze before gradually growing apprehensive. "Officer, why all the detailed questions? Was that guy some kind of wanted criminal?"

"Sorry, I can’t disclose that for now," Meng Siyou replied professionally. "But we need you to recall carefully—every piece of information you provide could be crucial."

"Alright, alright, let me think..."

The guard concentrated for a long moment, gesturing vaguely as he described the young man’s appearance: "A guy in his early twenties, probably a college student. Clean-cut, wore a black coat and a white shirt, was glued to his phone like he was chatting with someone..."

"He rushed over in a hurry, knocked on the door, and said he forgot his keys and money. Asked if he could stay in the booth overnight. He seemed decent, didn't seem shady—more like the studious type—so I agreed."

"He stayed inside, lay down on the recliner by the wall, and passed out immediately—dead to the world. I nodded off at my desk too. Around 5:30 AM, I got up to patrol the neighborhood."

"When I came back, he was gone. Just two hundred yuan left behind..."

Meng Siyou cocked his head. "He said he didn’t have any money, didn’t he?"

The guard faltered. "Beats me. Maybe he found some in his pockets later. And it’s not like I could’ve tracked him down when he vanished."

So the man had likely left at 5:30 AM—the exact time the anomaly had ended.

Meng Siyou mulled over this, his suspicion mounting. He pressed for more details: "Did he share any personal information? Did you notice anything unusual while he was with you?"

"How would I know who he was?" the guard retorted reflexively before hesitating. "Well, we exchanged a few words. He said his surname was Yi..."

"Yi?" Meng Siyou’s gaze sharpened as he repeated slowly, "You’re *sure* it was Yi?"

"I—That's what he said..." The guard grew uneasy. "Officer, is there something wrong with what I said?"

Meng Siyou stayed silent.

The surname Yi made it impossible not to think of his long-lost classmate—Yi Fengchu.

And upon closer consideration, the description matched too...

Shutting his eyes for a moment, Meng Siyou let out a frustrated breath before urging the guard to continue.

"As for anything weird... he fell asleep the second he closed his eyes, if that means anything?" The guard scratched his head. "And when he first came in, he seemed... off. His expression was sort of out of it, like he was half-asleep. Kept cocking his head like he was listening to someone."

"In hindsight, he really was a strange one..."

After thanking the guard for his cooperation, Meng Siyou sank into contemplation.

First, he had just seen Yi Fengchu yesterday. At that time, he had appeared completely normal.

Second, going out in the middle of the night to an area near the anomaly was already suspicious—and the guard had described Yi Fengchu as being spaced out, even hallucinating voices...

From a mystical standpoint, one plausible explanation was that Yi Fengchu wasn't imagining things at all—but rather, listening to a "voice" the guard couldn’t hear.

Pursuing this train of thought, Meng Siyou grew even more puzzled. *What* had Yi Fengchu been listening to?

What kind of voice had called to him, guided him, led him to Binhai Station?

A deep sense of puzzlement washed over Meng Siyou. He felt as though he were being drawn into a vast mystery—one with quicksand on all sides, trapping him completely.

Then it hit him—a memory struck him.

Wen Sheng’s debriefing.

According to Wen Sheng, he had encountered someone in the anomaly who appeared to be a Constructor, currently using the alias Chu Fu—and who seemed to be working closely with the so-called Narrator.

Given the possible domain of the Narrator, Wen Sheng had theorized that Chu Fu was likely an Ability user connected to causality or the Fate Domain.

And so, a bold hypothesis crystallized in Meng Siyou’s thoughts—

What if Yi Fengchu hadn’t been drawn to the Binhai Station anomaly itself, but to *something*—or *someone*—inside it?

If it was the Fate Domain, manipulating an ordinary person’s actions would be effortless, wouldn’t it?

But what value did Yi Fengchu—an utterly unremarkable civilian—hold to warrant such attention?

"Fate Domain... fate..." Meng Siyou lowered his gaze, staring at his notebook for a long time.

This page contained the guard’s account. If he reported it, Yi Fengchu’s life would be irrevocably altered.

No matter the outcome of any investigation, whether Yi Fengchu was hiding anything or not, he would be torn from his ordinary life and forced into the world of Ability users.

Just like Meng Siyou himself, back before the college entrance exams.

His fingers dug into the page, the pressure unconsciously increasing until the paper wrinkled beneath his fingers.

Then, at some point—without even realizing it—he ripped out the page.

"Too late now," Meng Siyou muttered, staring at the shredded paper in his hand before sighing in resigned relief. "Worst case, I’ll just have someone keep a closer eye on him later..."

No sooner had he spoken than the thin sheet trembled in his palm—before disappearing completely, as though it had never existed at all.

...

After Yi Fengchu left the instance under the identity of Chu Fu, the virtual body constructed by his phone shattered like melting snow and vanished into the air.

Meanwhile, Yi Fengchu’s real body, which had been lying unconscious in the security booth, slowly opened its eyes.

Noticing the guard was absent, he left a thank-you note on the table and went home alone.

As he walked down the dimly lit street, Yi Fengchu yawned listlessly, thinking to himself how much better it would be if the virtual bodies created by his phone weren’t bound by spatial limitations—then he wouldn’t feel so exhausted.

Once home, his cleanliness compulsion made him take a quick shower before collapsing into a deep sleep, completely unaware of the emotional rollercoaster he had caused Meng Siyou.

Fortunately, Yi Fengchu had no classes scheduled the next day, allowing him to sleep peacefully until noon before finally waking up.

Upon waking, he was still thinking about his brief adventure: "This instance didn’t have much horror—not scary or thrilling enough—but I’m really interested in that train and the ‘Shadow Realm’ it leads to... Overall, it was a decent experience."

His phone remained unmoved. Yi Fengchu had expressed his curiosity about the Shadow Realm many times before, only to be firmly rejected each time: "The Shadow Realm is absolutely off-limits to you right now. Keep dreaming."

"Ugh."

Sighing at his phone’s inflexibility, Yi Fengchu threw in a frozen ramen box into the microwave, planning to quickly throw together lunch.

However, he had barely eaten half of it when his phone buzzed twice.

"That senior student living next door to you… her luck is truly terrible," the phone’s usually mechanical voice sounded almost resigned. "She’s got herself into trouble."

"Did she get dragged into the ‘Amusement Park’ instance again?"

"If it were just an ordinary instance, it wouldn’t be called trouble."

Yi Fengchu’s face turned serious at those words.

If even his phone considered something "trouble," how dangerous must it be for a student who had just entered the world of the supernatural?