Chapter 337 - 330: Bonds and Aftershocks

Chapter 337: Chapter 330: Bonds and Aftershocks

The Meteor’s trajectory gradually faded from its vision, but the Holy Spirit kept its gaze fixed in that direction. It could trace the world’s shifting colors with its eyes, using them to calculate a possible landing point.

A phone floated out from its light-woven sleeve. It opened the Dawn app and selected a specially-built digital model of Earth.

Although its current location on Little Grey Mountain was too small to see on the model, a point of light still twinkled there.

Using the touchscreen, it slowly rotated the digital model of Earth. It placed a wide-area cursor on a location far to the west of its position and then chose to send the information to the next level up.

The Association would naturally take action to determine what that "Meteor" was and if it would land. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit still needed to observe Sun Xiaoran.

...

Although it was unknown if she was an isolated case, based on her origins and previous characteristics, the deceased Sun Xiaoran was classified as a "Ghost Soul," one of several Earth terms that also included "Ghost."

Sun Xiaoran’s family was summoned to the police station by officers from Rongcheng who came to their door. It was only after arriving that they met people from a special government department.

After signing a non-disclosure agreement, they were informed of part of the truth.

Even though they had seen Sun Xiaoran during the funeral, it was a fleeting shock that they had mostly gotten over. Now, hearing that she was lingering in the mortal world, they were initially skeptical. But thinking about the serious setup, they knew the government wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to play a joke on them.

In fact, while Sun Xiaoran was being interrogated, the Sun Family was in a different part of the same police station. They had been told to come back the next day to give both sides time to prepare.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Are you trying to scare your parents to death looking like a hanged ghost?"

Miaomiao looked at Sun Xiaoran with an expression of utter exasperation.

"Was your neck born that long? Pull it back! Right, a little more! Oh my god, I didn’t say to shrink it that much! You look even scarier now than you did before! Aaargh!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She kept slapping a wooden vanity with her right palm, expressing her anger and helplessness.

"This is so infuriating!"

BOOM!

The vanity, having already endured dozens of blows, finally gave way and shattered under Miaomiao’s palm.

"Oh, crap. The vanity’s broken... That’s coming out of my paycheck!"

A few female officers were standing nearby. They had initially been a bit afraid of Sun Xiaoran, but the tense atmosphere had now been considerably lightened.

Hearing Miaomiao, the officers thought to themselves that even though Miaomiao kept saying Sun Xiaoran was scary, she had unwittingly become the scariest person in the room.

"I-I’m sorry... I’m not very good at fixing my appearance!"

"That’s why I’m teaching you! *Haaa...* Deep breath, deep breath. ’Miaomiao, you’re going to get wrinkles if you keep this up.’ *Hooo...*"

’I really don’t know why Ghost Souls even have things like bones inside them.’

After muttering to herself for a moment, Miaomiao seemed to have an idea and tossed her braid over her shoulder.

"Hang on, I’ll go get a prop!"

She then walked over to the female officers and whispered to them for a moment.

About ten minutes later, a model of a human skeleton was brought in from who-knows-where.

"Perfect! Come on, Sun Xiaoran, look here."

"Your skeleton was severely dislocated when you died. There’s a simple way to fix that. Just possess this thing, and your bones will snap into place!"

With another series of CREAKS and CRACKS, Sun Xiaoran’s form aligned with the model, which was roughly her size. This time, she finally looked human.

Miaomiao finally broke into a smile.

"Much better. You look normal now. Hold that form, you hear me? Remember this feeling. Don’t revert to your deathly appearance in a minute!"

Seeing Miaomiao smile, Sun Xiaoran and the female officers in the interrogation room all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

It just went to show that even ghosts are afraid of a fearsome temper.

The next morning, Miaomiao confidently reported to Jiutian that Sun Xiaoran was ready.

Around 10 a.m., the Sun Family arrived at the Rongcheng Police Headquarters, feeling rather anxious.

Led by two police officers, they were taken on a winding route to an interrogation room deep within the building.

They still felt a lingering sense of unease, but the moment they saw their daughter, Sun Xiaoran’s parents rushed into the room. Her sister hesitated for a second before quickly following them.

Although she looked human, her somber aura and deathly pale complexion made it clear that Sun Xiaoran was no longer among the living.

But for parents grieving the loss of their daughter, her appearance was enough to overwhelm any fear they felt.

"Dad, Mom..."

In her excitement, Sun Xiaoran’s voice came out shrill and strange, startling her parents and sister.

"Ahem!"

Miaomiao coughed pointedly from the side.

"Dad, Mom, Sis..."

This time, her voice was still high-pitched, but it sounded much more normal, carrying a hint of how she used to sound when she was alive.

"Oh, oh..."

Her parents, at a loss for words, felt their eyes instantly redden. Her sister still looked a little uncomfortable.

Seeing her family had clearly put Sun Xiaoran in a good mood. She tried to muster a smile, but then, as if remembering something, she immediately lowered her head.

"Dad, Mom... The money you gave me... I didn’t get to spend it. And... I broke the law... I got arrested!"

Ignoring her strange accent, her tone was like that of a child who had done something wrong. She seemed much more innocent than she had been in life.

The anxiety and helplessness in her voice made her sister, who noticed the change, let go of her fear for some reason.

"Little Sister, I heard what the officers said. What you did is a criminal offense, but the government isn’t letting the public see ghosts right now, so you won’t have to go to court. There’s a chance to settle this privately!"

"You’ll just have to pay some compensation, and then they’ll send you to a rehabilitation and training program. If you do well, you can get your sentence reduced!"

The police or some agents had obviously told the Sun Family this beforehand, but since her parents weren’t as articulate as she was, it was best for her to be the one to explain it.

Looking at her younger sister, who kept her head bowed so only her hair was visible, the older sister’s fear subsided. She looked just like she used to as a child whenever she’d done something wrong.

"I mean, honestly, you’re not a kid anymore! Er, well, how could you lose control like that? They were just sweeping up the ash from the spirit money. You could’ve just given them a little scare, but to... Sigh..."

She peeked up at her sister.

"I... back then, I thought... I thought they were tricking me... I was angry, and I was scared they’d run away, so I chased them... and I kind of lost control..."

’She was so scared she killed someone...’ The people standing by were speechless.

Then, thinking of the compensation money, her deathly pale arm lifted a bag from under the table.

"Money... Can I use this?"

Miaomiao slapped a palm to her face.

Sun Dad, Mrs. Sun, and her sister looked and saw a bag of ashes. They knew at once it was the ash from the burned spirit money.

"We already told her this can’t be used as money, that it’s all just old superstition. She listens to everything else, but she refuses to throw this away. Says it’s the money her family gave her... I’m at my wit’s end. You guys try talking to her!"

When the sister saw the bag of spirit money ash, any fear she’d had vanished completely. Her eyes turned red, and she almost started to cry.

Her parents, on the other hand, were already unable to hold back their tears.

’She had lost many of her memories, and her comprehension came and went. Her mind was intact but had voids that needed to be filled. Yet, the bond she shared with the people she loved had, paradoxically, grown even deeper in death.’

Standing outside the interrogation room, Huang Jiutian watched the scene unfold and came to this conclusion in his mind.

Beside him, the tall Holy Spirit radiated a brilliant light, also observing the scene inside. While it reminded the Spirit of itself, the two cases were clearly fundamentally different.

"Lord Jiutian, her Spiritual Light is relatively pure, without excessive impurities. She presents a good starting point for the nation to establish a system for managing this world’s Spiritual Species."

The Holy Spirit’s voice was soft and slow. No one besides Jiutian—not the police or the agents nearby—could hear it, much less see the Holy Spirit standing right there.

Huang Jiutian gave it a questioning and serious look.

It didn’t need to ask. The Holy Spirit understood Jiutian’s question; after all, that was the very reason it was here.

"It is as you suspect. This is a special type of Spirit Body unique to Earth, different from me. Though the probability of their emergence is low, Sun Xiaoran is likely not an isolated case. Please observe them for any reproductive capabilities or behaviors, along with other factors for research."

"With that, I shall take my leave."

Having said its piece, the Holy Spirit bowed to Jiutian. As Jiutian nodded in acknowledgment, it departed, the surrounding officers still completely oblivious.

As it left, however, the Holy Spirit passed the open doorway and gave a slight nod to Sun Xiaoran inside.

Sun Xiaoran shouldn’t have been able to perceive the Holy Spirit, but at that moment, she seemed to sense something. When she looked toward the doorway, she saw only a hazy, light-formed silhouette nod at her before vanishing.

"Little Sister? Little Sister? What are you looking at? Did you hear what Officer Miaomiao said? You have a chance to become a public servant! The salary will be more than enough to pay the compensation. And it’s real money, not ash from burned paper!"

"Um... Officer Miaomiao, just now, outside..."

Miaomiao glanced at the doorway.

"What about it?"

"Nothing. I probably saw it wrong."

...

「A beach on the coast of Porto, Portugal.」

Crowds that had been happily surfing and frolicking in the water were now scrambling back to shore, while those already on the beach fled even farther away.

It wasn’t because of sharks in the water. In the last ten-odd minutes, they had felt two earthquakes.

The coastal authorities, believing the epicenter was offshore and could trigger a tsunami, decided to evacuate all tourists.

Half an hour after the beach evacuation, a local government agency issued a notice about the micro-quakes. It stated they were merely two minor earthquakes with offshore epicenters, both under Level 4, and that they would neither cause a tsunami nor be followed by aftershocks.

However, not even half a day had passed before this announcement was proven spectacularly wrong by a new earthquake, this one rated at over 4.5. The epicenter was in the same offshore location as determined before.

PS: First Chapter for Sunday.