Chapter 33: debug(5)
This “Army Green Flower” uncle, as the security guard of the residential complex, must have a thorough understanding of the residents’ situations. With his guidance, Lin Xun had no trouble finding those who were strange, troubled, or otherwise easily susceptible to demonic invasion.
Army Green Flower: I’m about to change shifts. Wait for me at the intersection.
A Happy Wild Pointer: Okay.
With the arrangement set, Lin Xun didn’t go home. Instead, he headed downstairs with his keyboard.
The complex’s greenery was well-maintained, with dense plane tree leaves casting shadows under the streetlights.
The uncle in his security uniform was waiting for him under a tree at the intersection, holding a baton. Lin Xun approached and greeted him.
When they spoke last night, the uncle had been sitting, making it hard to gauge his build. Now, Lin Xun noticed the uncle was exceptionally sturdy and strong, with somewhat fierce features.
He glanced at the uncle’s baton and then at his own keyboard, thinking the two of them looked more like criminals.
Uncle: “Tonight, I have to send a man from Building B6 to the police station.”
Lin Xun respectfully replied: “I’ll follow your lead.”
“That guy is no good,” the uncle said.
Then, he looked at Lin Xun: “There’s something else.”
Lin Xun: “Go ahead.”
Uncle: “You came from Building C. Where do you live?”
Lin Xun truthfully gave his address.
“Perfect!” The uncle hefted his baton: “Let me tell you, something’s definitely going on in your building.”
A sudden sense of foreboding washed over Lin Xun.
He asked the uncle: “What’s wrong?”
Uncle: “I think there’s a cult, or maybe a pyramid scheme. Keep an eye on the family on the fourth floor these next few days—the one with the old man. You remember him, right?”
Lin Xun: “…”
He: “I remember.”
Uncle: “The old man carried a coffin in this morning. Then, from around 4 or 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., people kept going into your building, dressed in all sorts of flashy clothes. Hmph, something’s definitely off.”
He looked at Lin Xun: “I can’t just go knocking on their door, so keep a close watch. If there’s any movement, we’ll deal with it. Daring to run a cult in Chaoyang District—that’s the boldest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Lin Xun: “…Alright.”
Master, you’ve been noticed by the Chaoyang community watch and are about to become the stepping stone for this security uncle’s bid for the “Top Ten Enthusiastic Good Citizens” award.
After discussing this, the uncle waved Lin Xun over: “This way.”
Lin Xun followed him. Instead of taking the main road, they moved along the shadows of the plane trees toward a building in the B area.
Once inside the building, the uncle led him to the elevator and pressed the down button.
The elevator doors opened, they stepped in, and descended to the second basement level.
—The second basement level was the underground storage area.
While in the elevator, Lin Xun wondered if the uncle had uncovered some murder and corpse-hiding case in the basement. But as soon as the elevator doors opened, he realized this basement was different from what he had imagined.
It wasn’t dark—it was lit. At the far end of the hallway, around a corner, a white energy-saving lamp glowed. At the same time, he caught a whiff of something… the smell of cooking oil.
He was sure it was the smell of cooking oil, the kind that accumulates from years of frying with oil and salt.
He quickly understood and quietly asked the uncle: “Someone’s living here?”
The uncle replied: “Yes.”
The basement culture of the imperial capital was quite famous. For young people and migrant workers with tight budgets, an eight-hundred-yuan-per-month basement was quite cost-effective. However, proper residential communities generally did not allow group rentals in basements—too many unstable factors and too disruptive to regular residents. After a major crackdown two years ago, such situations had become rare.
The uncle said, “Originally, people weren’t allowed to live here, but this is a family having a hard time, so the property management turned a blind eye.”
As he spoke, they walked over there.
A slightly ajar door revealed light inside, and faintly, a woman’s voice could be heard.
But the security uncle didn’t knock or push the door open. Instead, he pulled Lin Xun to a hidden corner at another turn. From this spot, they could see inside the room, but those inside couldn’t see them.
…
Lin Xun was about to ask the uncle what he was doing when he saw the uncle take out his phone, open WeChat, and show him an interface.
It was a conversation between the uncle and someone named “Xiaoxiao” in the notes. Xiaoxiao’s profile picture was an anime girl in a black dress with a melancholic expression.
The most recent message read—
Xiaoxiao: Uncle, he went out drinking. I’m scared.
Green Flower in the Army: Don’t be afraid, everything is prepared.
Xiaoxiao: Thank you, Uncle.
Lin Xun was taken aback and scrolled up through the chat history.
—Xiaoxiao was a girl, sixteen years old, living in the basement with her parents.
Her father wasn’t a good person. He had been called to the imperial capital by friends to work three years ago but had been unsuccessful ever since. Now, he was completely broke. In his frustration, he started gambling, drinking heavily, and borrowing from loan sharks—and then, as was typical, once someone fell into the vicious cycle of gambling, drinking, and loan sharks, beating his wife and children became inevitable.
Xiaoxiao’s mother worked hard outside doing odd jobs to repay the loans. Every night, when she returned to the basement, her hot-tempered husband would grab her by the hair and kick her at the slightest disagreement. Xiaoxiao couldn’t escape it either.
A week ago, when Xiaoxiao went out covered in injuries, the sharp-eyed uncle happened to see her and asked if she needed help.
—And so, the current situation came about.
The uncle came to stake out the place, gather evidence, and be ready to call the police at any moment.
The uncle said, “Her father is quite big, probably worked as a laborer. I’m afraid I can’t take him on alone, so I called you up.”
Lin Xun smiled. “Okay.”
—Judging by the description, this man was already a standard candidate for demonic seed invasion.
There were no surveillance cameras in the basement. After taking back his phone, the uncle opened the camera and aimed it at the slightly ajar basement door—with the increasingly high-pixel lenses brought by technological advancements and supplemented by image processing algorithms, the quality of smartphone cameras had reached its peak in non-professional photography.
Twenty minutes later, the elevator door opened, the motion-sensor light turned on, and staggering footsteps could be heard.
A burly man stumbled along, leaning against the wall, heading straight for the lit room.
He barged through the door, and a girl’s voice came from inside.
Slightly hoarse but clearly young, trembling: “Why did you go drinking again? Have you paid back your debts?”
As soon as she spoke, Lin Xun could tell she was deliberately provoking him.
Sure enough, the man’s drunken, low voice rang out: “Who told you to speak? Do you think raising you was easy?”
—What followed was utter chaos—screams, thuds, the sound of a woman trying to mediate and weeping.
The thuds were heavy, each blow landing with a sickening impact—the kind of ruthless, brutal assault meant to inflict maximum damage.
Lin Xun frowned, his gaze fixed in that direction, his grip tightening on the keyboard as he prepared to kick the door open at any moment.
Just then, a leg—slender, likely belonging to a girl—kicked the door open from inside, seemingly unintentional in the midst of a struggle.
But once the door swung open, the chaotic and harrowing scene inside was immediately captured by the security guard’s phone camera.
Lin Xun took a deep breath and held his ground.
One minute, two minutes… five minutes later.
Lin Xun: “Should we go in now?”
Security Guard: “I think it’s about time—”
Before he could finish, Lin Xun’s eyes suddenly sharpened—a flood of virus code surged from the program window hovering over the man!
He couldn’t wait any longer. Any delay could cost a life.
He rushed forward, typing on his keyboard while delivering a swift kick to the man’s lower back from behind.
The security guard followed closely, his baton crackling with electric sparks as he swung it toward the assailant.
The man gasped, releasing Xiaoxiao in the corner, and lunged at the two of them!
Lin Xun smirked, unleashing his most powerful code attack, then slammed his iron-hard keyboard against the man’s skull!
Right behind him, the security guard pressed his baton against the man’s right arm, sending convulsions through his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, the entire confrontation was over in less than three minutes.
The man was completely subdued, unconscious but still twitching.
The security guard began dialing 110.
Lin Xun looked toward Xiaoxiao in the corner.
One of her arms was bent unnaturally, and she met his gaze, her eyes pleading for help.
Lin Xun walked over.
“Can he be charged?” he heard Xiaoxiao whisper. “Does this count as minor injury?”
Lin Xun: “Yes.”
Xiaoxiao managed a faint smile.
She had delicate features, her body trembling—clearly from pain—yet she seemed oddly relieved.
—A clever girl, knowing to kick the door open to create an opportunity and understanding that minor injuries could lead to criminal charges.
Lin Xun added her on WeChat: “If you need anything, you can reach out to me.”
Xiaoxiao nodded.
She then turned to the security guard: “You’re really good people.”
Lin Xun: “No need to thank us.”
At that moment, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind once more.
“Side Quest Triggered: Xiaoxiao’s Wish. Quest Hint: One night, Xiaoxiao suddenly gained a special ability. Quest Reward: Spiritual Power 15. Quest Danger Level: High. Proceed with caution.”
Lin Xun paused, then looked at Xiaoxiao.
He asked: “Are you alright?”
Xiaoxiao nodded, replying to Lin Xun: “I’m fine, thank you.”
Lin Xun repeated: “If anything comes up, let me know.”
Xiaoxiao smiled: “Okay.”
The police response in Chaoyang District was as swift as ever, even faster than last time.
Officer Zhou from the Third Armed Police Unit shook Lin Xun’s hand: “We meet again. You’re truly a commendable young man.”
Favorability increased by 20, now totaling 30.
Lin Xun: “Thank you for the praise, Officer.”
The officer began processing the scene once more and collected the video recorded by the security guard.
Lin Xun returned to the police station for the second time, gave his statement, and by the time he was done, it was late at night again.
He pondered Xiaoxiao’s quest for a while and decided to check on her again tomorrow.
—Then, he set an alarm for six in the morning.
His spirits lifted—tomorrow, he would finally pick up the cat!
The address Dong Jun had given him wasn’t the Galaxy company but a well-known villa district.
Amidst the lake and forest scenery, numerous standalone villas were scattered throughout.
Following the address, he arrived at Dong Jun’s residence.
A building dominated by shades of gray and white, its style quite austere, with a rectangular pond in the courtyard that also felt cold and detached.
A swing, a lawn—all quite beautiful in the faint morning mist.
The gate seemed to recognize the visitor and automatically opened.
He crossed the courtyard and reached the front of the building.
The door was open, and he walked inside.
A white shadow suddenly flashed, and a cat descended from the cabinet beside the door.
A white cat.
It sat on the snow-white floor, tilting its head at Lin Xun.
A snow-white, elegantly built, and gracefully postured white cat with blue eyes.
Lin Xun was struck.
He approached the cat, attempting to pet it.
Just then, footsteps sounded, and Dong Jun descended the stairs.
He was also wearing a white shirt today, with golden frames and a matching chain hidden in his long black hair. His entire demeanor seemed gentle.
“Good morning,” Dong Jun said.
Lin Xun: “Good morning.”
Dong Jun walked over, bent down, and picked up the white cat.
The white cat stretched its head toward Lin Xun from Dong Jun’s arms, seemingly curious.
Lin Xun: “It’s really beautiful.”
Dong Jun smiled: “Do you use WeChat? It’s convenient for staying in touch.”
“Okay,” Lin Xun said. “I’ll send you photos and videos every day.”
Taking out his phone, he suddenly remembered his hideous WeChat name as if struck by lightning.
A Happy Wild Pointer.
Lin Xun: “”
In a life-or-death rush, he discreetly tapped a few times on the screen, trying to change the name—but there was little he could do in such a short time. The only thing he could manage was to remove the ugliest character, “Wild.”
A Happy Pointer.
He completed this action within two seconds… then quickly added his idol’s WeChat.
Dong Jun’s WeChat name was simply “Dong Jun,” and his profile picture… was this beautiful white cat.
Lin Xun looked up and saw Dong Jun smiling slightly at his phone screen.
—Even after changing the name, was he still going to be laughed at?
Lin Xun tried to change the subject.
He reached out and stroked the white cat’s head; the short-haired cat felt wonderful to the touch.
Cat: “Meow.”
Lin Xun: “What’s its name?”
—Then he looked at Dong Jun.
There was a faint, elusive smile in his idol’s eyes.
He said: “It’s called Zhi Zhen.”
Lin Xun: “”
Lin Xun died.