Investigation Report of the Gods

Chapter 95: Mysterious Influence

“Is it a distortion of fate?”

Han Su arrived at a room resembling a tea room and knocked on the half-open door.

Inside the room, several people immediately turned their heads to look. It was Xu Ji, Special Assistant Xu, and an elderly woman dressed in an eccentric deep-gray robe—something that seemed neither leather nor cloth. Her hair appeared unwashed for years, and she even wore some bone ornaments on her body.

The one who had just spoken was precisely this old woman. She had likely heard Han Su approaching and, seeing him knock, gently nodded her head.

Xu Ji stared with wide, round eyes, seemingly not expecting Han Su to be called over. Then something seemed to occur to him, and he cried out in alarm, “No way, bro, did you come to our house just to report on me?”

“Mr. Han is someone I specially invited to help,” said Special Assistant Xu, shooting Xu Ji a glare. He stepped forward to shake hands with Han Su and said, “Thank you for making the trip, Mr. Han.”

Before inviting Han Su into the tea room, he quietly explained, “After that encounter with the truck, sir specially invited a scholar in esotericism to the house to resolve the residual mysterious power affecting him, hoping to free him from the status of a grotesque deep-contactee.”

“Honestly, after such costly treatment, we thought the problem had been resolved. We observed for quite some time before lifting the young master’s restriction. But...”

He turned to glance at Xu Ji, his expression troubled, shook his head, and sighed, “It seems we were too optimistic.”

“We should indeed be cautious.”

Han Su nodded. “So why did you call me over?”

“The young master wouldn’t encounter such strange occurrences for no reason. It can only mean that the mysterious power residuals on him are still affecting him—or rather, distorting his fate.”

Special Assistant Xu spoke in a low voice, “So, we need to determine whether the deepest influence on the young master still comes from that same Killer Truck or something else.”

“At the time, you both encountered the truck together. Theoretically, you should have been equally contaminated. So we just need a scholar to examine whether the mysterious effects you both carry are the same to find the answer. It’s just that...”

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Mr. Han, does your unit have any restrictions about these matters?”

Han Su understood his implication and shook his head with a smile. “No such restrictions.”

‘So this old woman is the expert Xu family hired to resolve the issue on Xu Ji?’

Entering the tea room, Han Su sat beside Xu Ji and reached out to push away the hand Xu Ji extended toward his silver suitcase. He looked up to examine the old woman opposite him.

She looked like a reclusive elderly woman living alone.

Her face bore countless wrinkles, but not the kind from natural aging—making her true age hard to determine. Her clothing had an almost neurotic feel.

So, Xu Ji had neither undergone hypnosis by the Disaster Management Bureau nor chosen to join them. Instead, he sought an esoteric expert outside the Bureau to resolve his issue as a “contactee”?

“Hehe, young man, rest assured, we’ve already registered with the Disaster Management Bureau...”

The old woman subtly observed Han Su while letting her eyes fall on the silver suitcase in his hand. She smiled slightly and said, “Though we rarely interact with people from the Bureau.”

“Our profession is a bit like doctors.”

“We diagnose ailments in people—or see the ones that may arise—and through certain professional methods, we help them break free from grotesque troubles without affecting their minds or will.”

“But for those working in the Disaster Management Bureau, from start to finish—what part of them isn’t sick?”

She shook her head while scrutinizing Han Su. “Even their very existence has become a kind of illness.”

The two examined each other in silence, while Xu Ji, on the side, pitifully rubbed his struck hand and thought, “Old Han’s really changed. Just a few days apart and he’s already so cold to me...”

“He won’t even let me touch the box...”

“……”

Han Su listened to the old woman’s words and gave a small nod, forming a guess about her identity.

Since she brought up being registered with the Disaster Management Bureau right away, it implied she was known to them. Was she perhaps similar to members of those mysterious organizations?

However, those people were often fanatical. She, on the other hand, seemed somewhat neutral...

Suddenly, he chuckled and asked, “If we’re all plagued by sickness, then what about you?”

The old woman laughed hoarsely. “Terminally ill. Just trying to earn a bit of spare money to enjoy myself before those things come and take me away.”

“Taken away?”

Han Su was intrigued by her strange choice of words and looked up at her.

“You must have already received Mysterious Power Training.”

The old woman looked directly at Han Su and smiled. “Didn’t the Disaster Management Bureau warn you? All who’ve come into contact with mysterious power have formed a link with things beyond reality. That link only grows stronger—until they’re eventually taken?”

“This is a difficult-to-reverse progression, like a magnetic pull that grows stronger.”

While she spoke, she glanced at Xu Ji with a smile. “The reason the Xu family’s young master encounters such things is because of that very link. The influence we bear, of course, is far greater.”

As she spoke, she reached under her feet and lifted a filthy box. Carefully opening it, she revealed a translucent crystal ball.

Han Su examined it carefully. Having just experienced the Crystal Skull incident not long ago, he was a bit sensitive.

Thankfully, it was indeed just a crystal ball.

The old woman placed the crystal ball in the center of the table, grabbed Xu Ji’s hand, and looked up at Special Assistant Xu. “After that truck accident, the Xu family’s young master was indeed affected—like a nail drawn to a magnet.”

“I already used expensive aromatherapy to cleanse him, essentially demagnetizing him and severing the hidden link caused by grotesque exposure.”

“But clearly, the cleansing wasn’t complete. The mysterious power on him still lingers—and even grows stronger. That’s why he encounters these things.”

“……”

As she spoke, she placed her other hand atop the crystal ball. Immediately, a red, snake-like thread appeared within, slithering gracefully.

She released Xu Ji’s hand and gave a small nod to Special Assistant Xu. Without needing further explanation, the sign within the crystal confirmed her theory.

Special Assistant Xu rubbed his face in frustration.

No wonder everyone said that grotesque wandering the city outskirts was a tough one...

“Now, let me examine him.”

The old woman glanced toward Han Su for permission. Seeing him nod, she slowly grasped his right hand.

“This young Investigator surely already bears many traces of mysterious power—after all, it’s part of their job.”

While speaking, she slowly raised her hand and pressed it against the crystal ball. “I live within Qinggang City, so naturally I understand the rules. I won’t look too deeply, nor too long.”

“If we confirm that Mr. Han bears the same residual mysterious power as the Xu family’s young master, then the root of the affliction is found.”

In that instant, as if directly touching the crystal ball triggered something, Han Su saw another red thread abruptly appear alongside the first. It was strikingly similar and even seemed drawn toward the earlier trace—as though they were trying to merge.

However, before they could meet, the earlier red trace vanished.

Immediately after, more traces of different colors surfaced in the crystal ball—vivid and multicolored. Even the old woman couldn’t help but smile:

“As expected of someone from the Disaster Management Bureau—and clearly highly trusted, otherwise he wouldn’t have encountered so many things. But young man, you...”

As she spoke, more and more colorful threads filled the crystal ball, until some even burst forth the moment they appeared, saturating the entire sphere.

The old woman suddenly fell silent. Her expression twisted into shock and disbelief as she stared at the crystal ball.

“Crack...”

At that moment, it seemed two opposing energies suddenly swelled within the crystal ball.

Faintly black and white, the forces expanded rapidly, consuming all other colors and flooding the crystal entirely.

Then, the two energies collided. At the instant of contact, the crystal ball cracked all over and exploded into fragments.

The sudden commotion startled everyone. Han Su furrowed his brow and lifted the suitcase to shield himself and Xu Ji, narrowly avoiding the crystal shards.

Where did they buy such a defective product?

Across from him, the old woman’s face was slashed by flying fragments. As if electrocuted, she flung Han Su’s hand away, sprang up, and knocked over her chair, recoiling as if seeing a ghost. She shouted:

“This is bad—really bad...”

“If anything happens, speak to the Xu family—I’m just hired help...”

“……”

As she spoke, she grabbed her bulky bag, completely ignoring the destroyed crystal ball, intent on fleeing. But Special Assistant Xu frowned and stepped in her way.

“No need to ask—you saw it yourself. It’s indeed connected to him.”

The old woman didn’t wait for Special Assistant Xu to speak. She hastily interrupted, “The residual mysterious power on them is the same. The Xu family young master’s fate distortion came from him...”