Book 3, Chapter 10.1: Getting Rid Of The Anomaly (Part One)

Qi Gao walked into the shack amid the cluttered buildings. Soon, he came out with two other people.

One of them walked before the other. He was a well-built man in his mid-thirties. A cunning-looking, tiny man walked behind him. Both of them clearly had implants.

It was especially obvious for the well-built man. He only wore a tank top, and there were implants in his exposed shoulders and one of his arms. Since he could wear only a tank top in this weather, it was clear that he was a martial artist.

They sized Chen Chuan up warily.

“He’s the one you said can take care of the problem? He’s so young. Can he really do it?” The tiny man looked at Chen Chuan with dissatisfaction.

The other said nothing and just stared at Chen Chuan.

“I’ve already said that if we don’t get it done, we won’t take any money. Why are you still worried? If you don’t want us to do it, we’ll leave. You can keep on waiting. It’s not as if you’re offering a big reward, anyway. I doubt anyone will come for your mission no matter how long you wait,” Qi Gao said casually.

The tiny man wanted to continue arguing, but the other man put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. While staring at Chen Chuan, he said, “I trust him.”

“Brother Chong?” the tiny man asked in surprise.

“I’ll leave this to you, kid,” Brother Chong said to Chen Chuan, who nodded.

Qi Gao reacted quickly and started leading the way. “Come with me. It’s this shack.”

As the tiny man watched them leave, he turned around and asked, “You trust them?”

He couldn’t understand why Brother Chong would suddenly change his tune when they had been on the same front just a while ago.

“I trained in a martial arts school before, and I can tell that the kid is a Second Limit martial artist, at the very least,” Brother Chong said. The tiny man seemed to still be confused, so he added, “He’s around our master’s level.”

At this moment, the tiny man finally understood. “

He’s

at Mr. Jin’s level?”

He was quite surprised, though still skeptical. He had met Mr. Jin before and had seen the man topple a wall with just a light push, as well as pushing a car away with just a hook of his leg.

Brother Chong, though, had more experience with the world. “It’s not surprising. The ones naturally gifted are all like this. It’s easy for people like them to earn money. There’s no need for them to come here and speak to us so politely.”

The tiny man was persuaded. If Chen Chuan was this strong, there was indeed no need for him to lie to them. He could earn way more money teaching people martial arts. Even if he resorted to robbery, they wouldn’t be able to fight back.

***

Qi Gao had brought Chen Chuan to the shack. Chen Chuan cast a glance at his second self and stopped. “Don’t go any further, Mr. Qi. I’ll go alone. You should head back for now.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for you near the car,” Qi Gao said.

Chen Chuan nodded and went to the shack, though when he knocked on the door, he received no reply.

He could see his second self blurring out, so he said, “Xiao Man, you should be able to hear me. Your neighbors hired me to solve the problem. Could you let me take a look at the situation? I don’t think we’ll need to burn your brother’s body to get rid of the anomaly.”

After waiting for a while, he heard a voice from behind the door. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Frankly, burning your brother’s body isn’t a good idea, because there’s a high chance that he can’t be destroyed through fire, though I’ll only know once I see him,” Chen Chuan said.

He waited for a few minutes before the door opened a crack. Scrutinizing eyes sized him up before looking outside. When Xiao Man saw that Chen Chuan was alone, he opened the door a little wider. “Come in.”

Chen Chuan went in. Before him was a skinny teenager with dark circles under his eyes. He appeared quite nervous and held a handgun in his hands.

Chen Chuan didn’t mind it, though he noticed his second self blurring out much more strongly than before. He turned to the closet beside him and asked, “What’s in there?”

“It’s nothing. Just the clothes I usually wear,” Xiao Man answered without hesitation.

Chen Chuan walked over and opened the door. When Xiao Man saw what was inside, he was shocked, because there was a mannequin wearing his brother’s clothes. The mannequin resembled his brother.

“What...” He was dumbfounded. He couldn’t remember having such a thing at home.

“You buried your brother, didn’t you?” Chen Chuan asked.

Xiao Man bobbed his head fiercely.

Chen Chuan turned to him and said, “Let’s take a look whether your brother is still in his grave.”

For a moment, Xiao Man was stunned, then panic and bewilderment filled him. He grabbed a shovel leaning against the wall and ran to the backyard. Soon, Chen Chuan heard the sounds of digging mixed with labored pants.

He stood still and didn’t move. If things were as he theorized, he couldn’t be directly involved in getting rid of the anomaly. Xiao Man had to do it himself.

A little over ten minutes later, Chen Chuan heard a cry of surprise.

Chen Chuan walked over in the direction of the sound and saw Xiao Man kneeling before a pit with the shovel thrown to the side. He was searching around the ground.

“Where’s my brother?”

Then, he glared at Chen Chuan and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Did you do it?! Did you take my brother from his grave?!”

“Calm down. If anyone had dug your brother out, they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of hiring me,” Chen Chuan answered patiently.

Xiao Man was taken aback for a moment before standing up to start pacing. He mumbled anxiously, “Then, where’s my brother? Where could he be?”

Chen Chuan watched him for a bit before asking, “Do you want the truth?”

“Yes! Tell me!” Xiao Man was in incredible distress.

“According to what I was told, your brother died in a gang conflict ten days ago. You got the news and verified it the next day, but on the third day, he got resurrected. Is that so?” Chen Chuan asked.

Xiao Man nodded.

“Where did you find your brother on the third day?” Chen Chuan continued.

“At home,” Xiao Man replied.

Chen Chuan hummed. He looked Xiao Man in the eye. “Did your brother’s gang send his body back to you?”

Xiao Man’s hands began trembling.

His reaction made Chen Chuan nod when his guess was confirmed true. “Looks like they didn’t. So, what you were seeing wasn’t your brother but the mannequin from the closet.”

He then looked at the closet and the mannequin inside.

“No! It’s impossible! It was my brother! I could tell...” Xiao Man cried out.

Chen Chuan had seen something similar before. A puppet had taken Lei Ying’s place, but they were different in nature. The puppet was meant to deceive a person’s senses, while this one was a true supernatural being.

Only the victims’ love for their family was the same.

He said slowly and gently, “Since your brother never came back, you refused to believe he’s dead. In your heart, you clung to hope that he might come back alive some day. Then, ‘he’ appeared and replaced your brother.

“But no matter what, ‘he’ isn’t real. Your brother’s body is still somewhere out there. You should look into where it is instead of treating this mannequin as your family.”

Xiao Man’s face was covered in tears as he stared at Chen Chuan. “Is everything you said real?”

“You’re smart, Xiao Man. You should know that I’m not lying,” Chen Chuan replied seriously.

Xiao Man felt lost, but it only lasted for a while. He wiped away his tears and asked, “What should I do about... that?”

He pointed at the closet.

“Just bury it. It’s a supernatural being. You’re fine for the time being, but if it stays around long-term, everyone will die because of it, including you. Though you might be the last to go,” Chen Chuan said.

Xiao Man trembled. Suddenly, he felt nervous. “B-But I buried it before...”

“You did it while treating it as your real brother. You didn’t really want it to leave. That’s why even after you buried it, it returned to your side. But now, you know the truth and confirmed that it isn’t your brother. This supernatural being will only disappear if you bury it yourself. No one else can do it for you,” Chen Chuan said while holding his gaze.

Xiao Man puffed up his thin chest and declared, “If that’s the case, I’ll do it.”