"Okay, please connect me, thank you." I was purely out of curiosity.
"Beep beep beep... Huh? Wu Chengfeng? Who are you?" It was a pleasant female voice, somewhat commanding, sounding like she was in her early thirties.
"Uh... I'm... Xie Bi'an's newly accepted subordinate. Are you Commander Ma?" I asked tentatively.
"It's me. What do you need?" Ma Luosha was very polite.
"Nothing, nothing, just wanted to get acquainted, hee hee!"
"Bian and I are old friends. If she told you to ask me for help, don't hesitate to say so. Looking at your location, Shengjing, I happen to be in this area on official business."
"Uh, you mean the 'real world'?" I asked.
"Hahaha," Ma Luosha chuckled, "Yes, your real world."
"Alright then, I'll treat you to a meal – you do eat, right?"
"Yes. Tell me the time and place."
I hadn't expected Commander Ma to be so approachable. But since it was still within the dream, I couldn't immediately think of any good restaurants in Shengjing, so I said, "Please wait a moment, Madam Ma, I'll check and get back to you."
"Alright, talk to you later." She had already ended the call, but perhaps she forgot to hang up, because I heard her talking to someone else.
"This kid is really interesting. Did you give him my contact information?" Madam Ma's voice.
"No, how did he find you?" It was Xie Bi'an's voice! Were they together?
I quickly looked up towards the direction Xie Bi'an had floated away, it was pitch black, and there was no trace of her anywhere...
With a shiver, I opened my eyes. Yaoyao stood in front of me with a worried expression, asking how I was.
I sat up, looked at Lu Qianxun, who had also woken up next to me, and then at our surroundings. I confirmed it was indeed Chen Lu's room – her photo album was still on the bedside table. Earlier, during our fight, Yaoyao and I had used her as a prop.
"I was dreaming about Xie Bi'an," I said. Suddenly, I remembered something important and quickly looked down on the bed, searching. "Oh no, where's my token!"
"What token?" Yaoyao asked.
"Xie Bi'an gave me two tokens in the dream! Did you two see them?"
"Dad, is it this?" Lu Qianxun pointed to my waist.
I looked down. Wow, Xie Bi'an was really thoughtful. The two tokens were attached to black leather cords and hung from my trousers' waistband, like an old man with a bunch of keys. This must be the "waist token."
"Holy crap!" Yaoyao only noticed my tokens then and reached out to grab them, but the leather cords were surprisingly strong, and there were no clasps. It was as if they were welded to my belt.
However, when I reached for it, the leather cord broke. I didn't use much force and managed to pull the tokens off.
"What a shame, such good cord," I shook my head. I'll go to the market tomorrow and buy some better cord to replace it.
"What's a shame, this is a 'Soul Detaching Leech' from the Underworld. It has an incredibly strong regenerative ability," Yaoyao said coldly. As she spoke, she took my hand and placed the waist tokens back in their position. A miracle happened. The broken leather cords, without even touching each other, seemed to "shake hands" and re-adhere, becoming one. And there was not the slightest trace of a connection!
I tore them apart, connected them, tore them apart, connected them. I tried several times but couldn't understand the principle. It happened instantly, but not like the magnetic attraction of opposing fields, which would snap together. It was a very smooth connection, and with the naked eye, I couldn't see how the cords were joined. It was like some kind of high-molecular material technology.
"Fun." I pulled the tokens off again and handed them to Yaoyao.
Yaoyao clearly recognized the seal script and read it correctly: "Yin Cha Fu, Junior Flag Bearer, Wu Chengfeng – Did you agree to her terms?"
I shook my head: "No, she engraved one for me on the spot to try it out. Oh right, where's Chen Lu? I need her to help me find a restaurant, I have someone to treat."
"Who are you treating? Xie Bi'an?" Yaoyao asked.
"Ma Luosha."
Yaoyao's eyes widened, and the token slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground: "Treating Ma Mian to a meal?! Are you trying to die! You!"