13th of October 20XX, Afternoon in the suburbs of Beijing, Yang Gao Province, the Sancha Village was shining vibrantly.
Sancha Village was located along the vein of the Yan Mountain range, which had a beautiful scenery. Due to the fact that it was located centrally between the north and the south, communication was very convenient.
In the heart of Sancha Village, there was a large feudal land that took up a lot of s.p.a.ce. There was a wall, three meters high, surrounding this land. People would stand guard outside the large doors of the village all year long. At first glance, it seemed like it was a great establishment"s inst.i.tution.
What very few people knew though, was that this was the headquarters for the seventh division of the National Security Bureau, and the Watchmen.
Within an office building in the feudal land, Luo Yi De was sitting in his personal office correcting doc.u.ments. At this moment, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.
He glanced at the number, and he realized that it was the security guards at the entrance calling.
"What is it?" Luo Yi De asked, in lieu of a greeting.
"Chief, a gentleman surnamed Gu is here, and he"s looking for you. He said that he has an appointment."
"Okay, I got it, let him in."
Luo Yi De hung up and started to arrange his table. After that, he walked over to the door of his office to get ready to receive his guest. The person arriving is a distinguished guest, so he couldn"t be impolite.
It wasn"t long before footsteps sounded from the corridor. His guest was turning the corner with their head held high, he was a man full of self-confidence.
He had white hair on both sides of his temple, and even though he was quite old, he still had his usual impressive appearance, with an unhurried gait. His face carried a faint, refreshing smile, that made people feel amicable towards him.
Luo Yi De stood at the doors, smiling in welcome, while he waited for the man to approach. The two of them spread their arms in tandem and gave each other a strong hug.
"It"s been a long time, Old Luo." The man said while smiling.
"Yes, it"s been too long, Old Gu." Luo Yi De grinned back in response.
The man"s name was Gu Shi Tong. He was the head of a reputable conglomerate in the north, a legendary figure known for being able to move unhindered in the business world. He was also Luo Yi De"s old friend.
After the simple greetings Luo Yi De lead Gu Shi Tong into his office. He started to steep tea while gesturing for his guest to sit.
Isn"t it a joy to have a friend from faraway come to meet you?
The two friends haven"t met in a long time, so they talked for quite a while. Unknowingly, their reminiscing took up about an hour.
In the end, it was Luo Yi De that asked first, "Old Gu, you"re such a busy man, you wouldn"t visit me for no reason. Coming here to find me today, it"s not just to talk about the past right?"
Gu Shi Tong swallowed a mouthful of tea, then replied while smiling, "Of course, between you and I, there is no need to beat around the bush. I came here to see you today regarding two matters; the first reason is because we haven"t met in years, so I came here to reminisce because I missed you. The second reason is because I need to request your help."
Luo Yi De let out a faint smile. "This old fox is still the same crafty individual. What do you mean, "I came here to reminisce"? Looking for my help is the main motive of why you’re here."
His face remained placid as he replied, while smiling, "We"ve been friends for so many years. If you want to make use of my territory, just say so, I will put in my utmost effort. What do you need my help with?"
Gu Shi Tong put down his teacup and gazed at Luo Yi De, "I would like to borrow a person."
"Borrow? Borrow who?"
"To be exact, I want to borrow a Watchman."
Luo Yi De stared blankly and inquired, "Borrow a Watchman? What happened?"
"The situation is like this," Gu Shi Tong said while adjusting his seat, "I have a daughter that I have always treated as a pearl in my hands. She has just graduated from university not too long ago, so it"s time for her to blossom at her current age. Do you know this?"
"You"re talking about Gu Shi Chen? I haven"t seen that la.s.s since she was small, she was quite cute back then."
Gu Shi Tong nodded with a gloomy expression and said, "Recently, Shi Chen suddenly got some strange psychological problems for some unknown reason, which caused her to have the tendency to oppress herself. Furthermore, it"s getting even more severe. If this isn"t stopped in time, I"m afraid that the consequences would be unimaginable. I thought of you and your Watchmen because of this."
"But," Luo Yi De muttered irresolutely, "according to my knowledge, Gu Shi Chen already went to see an outstanding psychologist. Additionally, the doctor had attended some TV program."
"That"s right. That girl does have a little bit of reputation in curing mental problems, but her specialty is using hypnosis as a cure, which is where it gets troublesome."
"What does that mean?"
"Even though we can all see that she has very serious mental problems, she will not admit it. Before this, I did find a few doctors that were considered to be quite famous in the industry, but Shi Chen understood the methods of these doctors too well. If she doesn"t cooperate, other people have no means of looking into her psyche."
"So, you think that the Watchmen would be able to do what those psychologists could not?" Luo Yi De inquired.
"Of course," Gu Shi Tong said directly, "We are both clear on this point. To get inside the heart of people, who better than the Watchmen?"
The room suddenly lapsed into silence while they looked at each other, which seemed like they were looking into each other"s thoughts.
In the end, it was Luo Yi De that glanced away first, bitterly laughing as he shook his head, "I apologise old friend, but you came here at the wrong time."
"Why? Did something happen?"
Luo Yi De spread his hands while saying, "The Watchmen each have their own responsibilities. They"ve all been sent out. Right now, I"m merely a commander, there isn"t anyone else available."
"There really isn"t anyone?" Gu Shi Ting asked, with a forced smile.
"There really isn"t anyone left." replied Luo Yi De, apologetically.
"It can"t be right? According to my knowledge, you still have one person left."
"Who?"
"Jiu Ming Shan"s son, Jiu Jie."
Gu Shi Tong"s words weren"t very loud, but Luo Yi De felt like thunder had struck his ears. He was surprised, and at the same time, his thoughts started whirling inside his head. "This rascal, he"s already got such an accurate grasp on the situation. Looks like he really came prepared."
Gu Shi Tong took in Luo Yi De"s change in facial expression and laughingly asked, "Why? Is Jiu Jie also not in?"
Luo Yi De knew that since the opponent had already made preparations, it would be impossible to conceal the truth. He smiled brightly and said, "He is here, but…"
"But what?"
"But he"s still not ready. His red book has only reached three pages, and before that, he didn"t even have his own dream alarm. To put it bluntly, he"s still an apprentice Watchman. If I just sent him out like this, the consequences of destroying the Watchman"s reputation is small compared to if he messes up your situation even further, causing you disappointment.."
Gu Shi Tong grinned, "This situation is different from the cases you"ve solved before, it"s just rooting out a person"s psychological issues. To a Watchman who has reached the third page, it"s a very simple task, so you don"t have to worry. Additionally, the girl"s condition is getting worse, we can"t delay treatment any longer. If Jiu Jie can cure her, I won"t treat Jiu Jie or the other Watchmen unfairly in regards to the reward."
"We"ve known each other for so many years, and yet you’re speaking about money like this as if we"re strangers."
"Old Luo, you know me. So many years and business just keeps growing. Money is just a meaningless number to me, my children are the most important. If there was another way, I wouldn"t have come here to find you. You really need to help me solve this problem!"
What Gu Shi Tong has said so far has been conveyed with varying degrees of both feelings and logic, so Luo Yi De was unable to refute.
Luo Yi De muttered to himself for a brief period of time and then finally replied, "Old Gu, how about this? I will let Jiu Jie go with you first, and at the same time, I will try to quickly retrieve the rest of the Watchmen. You tell me your location and I"ll wait until the rest of them come back before I select a better one to exchange with Jiu Jie. What do you think?"
" Of course, it"s no problem, since that is the best option." Gu Shi Tong quickly answered.
"But, Jiu Jie"s character is a bit problematic. If he offends you, please excuse him on my behalf."
"That"s good, that"s good." Gu Shi Tong laughed.
"When are you preparing to leave?" Luo Yi De asked.
"Saving someone is like putting out a fire, the faster the better."
"Sounds good. I"ll go find Jiu Jie, wait here for a moment."
Saying this, Luo Yi De rose from his seat and left the room.
Gu Shi Tong looked at the silhouette of Luo Yi De leaving and lifted his teacup to take a sip, while a crafty smile appeared on his face.
Luo Yi De left the office and turned a corner to the rear court.
In the whole rear court, there were a few blocks of three-story buildings, and inside these buildings were apartment rooms. The people in the courtyard usually lived here and Jiu Jie was no exception.
Luo Yi De entered a building and went to the second level, stopping at room number 203. When he arrived, he lifted a hand to knock on the door. He continuously knocked for a while, but there was still no answer.
Luo Yi De shook his head, because he knew that at this time, Jiu Jie should still be sleeping.
He took a set of keys from his pocket, opened the door, and entered. The room was very messy and dark with the curtains drawn. There was a moldy smell reminiscent of a room that never let any air in, and it was pungent to the point where Luo Yi De couldn"t help but wrinkle his eyebrows.
This was an ordinary single apartment, it was forty square feet with the bedroom, living room, and kitchen connected in a tube-shape. At the head of the room, there was a window that had a single bed below it, where Jiu Jie was lying down, sleeping soundly.
Luo Yi De walked to the side of the window and pulled the curtains open. The afternoon sunlight sudden streamed into the room, the brightness causing him to squint.
He turned his body and slapped the currently sleeping Jiu Jie while shouting, "Wake up!"
The dreaming Jiu Jie also seemed to be able to feel the sunlight streaming into the room because he opened and closed his mouth, and flipped his body while covering his face so he can continue to sleep soundly.
Luo Yi De felt veins popping on his forehead. He suddenly tore off the blanket, and slapped Jiu Jie in the face with his free hand while shouting, "Wake up! You still want to sleep even though it"s this time already!?
Jiu Jie hazily opened his eyes due to the continuous shaking, and saw Luo Yi De, which caused him to dazedly say, "It"s Uncle Luo, mornin"…"
His mouth released a putrid stench, almost killing Luo Yi De.
Luo Yi De looked at Jiu Jie"s appearance and felt very angry, which causing him to huff out, "What morning!? Why don"t you look at the time! Did you not sleep last night?"
Jiu Jie hazily didn"t answered. The eyes that were just open slowly closed again. It seemed like he wanted to go back to sleep.
When he saw that, Luo Yi De got even more angry. He lifted both of his hands, and slapped in quick succession. Slapping Jiu Jie"s mouth, the sound was both crisp and loud. He slapped quite a few more times to wake up the half-asleep Jiu Jie.
Jiu Jie quickly hid his face with his hands, while bellowing, "Okay, okay, stop hitting! f.u.c.k, you"re so heavy-handed. Your hits are too hard."
Five years have gone by since Jiu Jie had left Shen City with Luo Yi De. The current Jiu Jie has already changed from the sixteen-year-old youth to a young man in his early twenties.
It"s just that, due to his habit of staying up late; his skin was pale, he had a skinny frame, and had very very dark eye circles under his eyes, with messy bird nest style hair boot. Luo Yi De was long used to his unkempt appearance. He looked at the tired Jiu Jie and asked, "Judging by your appearance, you haven"t slept for the past few nights right?"
Jiu Jie masaged his eyes, and gave a vague noise of consent.
Luo Yi De shook his head while saying, "I"ve told you countless times, don"t go into people"s dreams every night. If you keep going on like this, your body will eventually be unable to cope. Watchmen place high importance on spiritual energy, but no matter the strength of that energy, they still need to maintain a strong physique…"
Jiu Jie yawned, and unconcernedly replying, "Uncle Luo, you"re very busy, you wouldn"t come all the way here just to slap me and preach to me about nutrition right?"
Luo Yi De was so angry, the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.
Jiu Jie gave a big yawn and said, "Uncle Luo, you"re busy and I"m very tired, so stop wasting my time. Just spit it out."
Since leaving his hometown, Jiu Jie became more and more rebellious and unreasonable, so Luo Yi De has already given up. He sighed and explained the story.
After he finished listening, Jiu Jie lazily flopped onto the bed while saying, "I"m not going. Aren"t there still a few Watchmen available in headquarters? Go find another person."
Saying that, he turned his back and prepared to go back to sleep.
"Gu Shi Tong is overwhelmingly wealthy, the reward won"t be low. Are you really not going?"
Jiu Jie flipped his body, with his eyes not even opening and said, "Uncle Luo, I heard that recently you"re a bit strapped for cash. It couldn"t be that you"re eyeing that small amount of money? As long as you wish it, the Watchmen can easily get the money, no?"
"You"re right, but we cannot abandon our beliefs. To get money from the regular channels is not easy."
"To put it bluntly, it"s still about money." Jiu Jie gave a yawn, then said disinterestedly, "Find another person, I have no interest."
Luo Yi De saw this appearance and did not plead with him. Instead, he lightly said, "If you don"t want to go, then forget it. I"ll just find another person. Let"s hope that this situation has nothing to do with Ba Su."
Jiu Jie had actually closed his eyes to sleep, but when he heard the two words "Ba Su", he suddenly jumped up from the bed with his eyes wide open, and his sleepiness gone.
In these five years, besides practicing to be a Watchman, the rest of the time was spent investigating the death of his father. Even though Luo Yi De kept silent on the matter, following his continuous investigations, he strongly suspected that there was a puppet master pulling the strings. The mysterious group that he suspects to be involved is called "Ba Su". They were similar to the Watchmen and made use of the power of dreams.
"You"re certain?" Jiu Jie asked, wide-eyed.
Luo Yi De shook his head. "I"m not too sure, this is just a guess, but there recently have been a lot of strange cases. Including the increased number of suicides in the West and the North, the East and the South have an increased number of missing people. The large area north of China is also suffering Even though these incidences are not all the same, I still have a feeling that they are all connected somehow They can"t simply all just be coincidences.
"So, you think that Ba Su has started to move?" Jiu Jie asked.
"Yes, that is very possible." Luo Yi De nodded.
"You think that Gu Shi Tong"s daughter is related to Ba Su?"
"I"m not too sure about that, but I can confirm that Gu Shi Tong is hiding something from me. His motives are not so simple." Hearing this, Jiu Jie knitted his eyebrows, while sinking into his own thoughts.
Luo Yi De stood up. "Since you"re not willing to go, then forget it. I"ll find someone else, you continue sleeping. Also, please don"t continuously enter other people"s dreams, you"ll get lost sooner or later because of that.
He faced the door, ready to leave, when he heard,
"Wait a moment, Uncle Luo." Jiu Jie shouted.
"What is it?" Luo Yi De turned around and asked.
Jiu Jie, who had already made a decision in his heart, told him, "You don"t need to find someone else, I"ll go!"
Regarding Jiu Jie"s sudden change of heart, Luo Yi De was not surprised at all. He smiled and said, "That"s good. Since you agreed to go, then quickly go pack your luggage. I"ll bring you to go see Old Gu, don"t let him wait too long."
Jiu Jie got out of bed, and said while he was changing, "Uncle Luo, you allowing me to go is very surprising."
"Surprising?"
"Last time, if it had anything to do with Ba Su, you wouldn"t have allowed me to go, no matter how much I begged."
Luo Yi De laughed. "In the past, not letting you go was because I was afraid you would be in danger."
"Then this time, you"re not afraid of me being in danger?"
"This is an exception."
"Why?"
"Because Gu Shi Tong is with you. If he"s there, you won"t be in danger."
Jiu Jie let out a confused noise and said, "A person able to garner your praise is very rare, looks like this Old Gu has some skills."
"He certainly has some skills, but before leaving, I have something to warn you about."
"Warn me about what?"
"Don"t easily believe Gu Shi Tong."
Jiu Jie was taken aback, so he asked, "Isn"t he your old friend? You don"t trust him?"
Luo Yi De gave a bitter smile, while thinking, "Friend? In the end, the person that would hurt you the most would be the person you called "friend""
These words were not appropriate to say in front of Jiu Jie though. Instead, he replied, "It"s because I"ve known him for so many years, which is why I know him better than anyone else. He is a wolf in sheep"s clothing. He"s most adept at lying, weaving the most perfect lies and bewitching people. Being together with this kind of person, you must be careful."
"Okay, I"ll remember." Jiu Jie nodded.
"Also, when you"re travelling with him, don"t go searching dreams immediately. Do your best to stall for time. I will recall a more powerful Watchman to and let them switch with you as soon as possible. If you find that something isn"t right, contact me immediately, I"ll immediately provide back up.
Jiu Jie scratched his head, while lazily saying, "Relax, Uncle Luo, I won"t embarra.s.s the Watchmen. Anything else I need to know?"
"No."
Luo Yi De thought a bit and then said, "After you go out, don"t show off. Disregard reputation. Your safety is paramount, understand?"
Jiu Jie gave a noise of a.s.sent and nodded.
"That"s good. Don"t wash up, just follow me like that, you don"t wanna let him wait too long."