"It's your turn now, Doctor."
"Fine, fine... you people never let me rest."
Fangzhou leaned back behind his desk and rolled his eyes. As expected, everything had once again fallen into his lap.
"With your all-powerful black magic, finding someone shouldn't be that hard, right?"
Kelsey's calm smile was laced with a rare bit of smugness. It wasn't often she got to pin Fangzhou into a corner, and she was clearly enjoying it.
"Wha—?!"
A loud pop-pop-pop sounded as Plush Nian bounced up from the floor onto Fangzhou's desk, her big purple eyes glaring straight at him.
"Wait a second—are you saying this Doctor could've tracked down Xi from the very beginning?!"
Her expression screamed betrayal. Fangzhou's eyes darted anywhere but toward her, whistling innocently. That was all it took. With a snarl, she pounced on his face.
Her plushy but surprisingly sharp teeth started gnawing on his skull as she mumbled angrily between bites.
They'd wasted an entire day looking for Xi. Worrying. Arguing. And he could've just magicked her up from the start?!
Amiya panicked, frantically circling them, trying to pull Nian off Fangzhou's head by her squishy belly.
But Nian bit down tight—like she was ready to rip his scalp off.
"Enough, Nian. No need to throw a tantrum," Ling finally said. "Since we now do have a way to locate my dear little sister, it's time to trouble you once again, Doctor."
She tickled Nian's underarm with her tail, and as Nian instinctively flailed, Ling yanked her free by the tail, dangling her off the ground.
"Thanks, Elder Sister."
Fangzhou dabbed at his bleeding forehead with a handkerchief. With one swipe, the wound closed cleanly—one of the perks of those magical talismans he always carried.
"Please don't call me 'Elder Sister.' Every time you do, I swear I lose ten years of my life."
Ling patted Plush Nian's belly with amusement.
Jingzhe, however, gave Fangzhou a weird look. Why would a Year Beast Agent call a pharma company's tactical commander "big sister"? She didn't get it—but she definitely took mental note.
"Still, Doctor…" Chen Hui-jie frowned. "Why didn't you tell us earlier you could pinpoint Xi's location?"
It was a fair question. Sure, Xi hadn't caused widespread damage during the search, but if Fangzhou could've tracked her instantly, they'd have saved a lot of time and manpower.
To Hui-jie, this wasn't just a delay—it was inefficiency. She was in a good mood now, so she wasn't yelling, but it was definitely something she wanted answered.
"It's simple," Fangzhou replied. "You all needed time. I needed time. And besides…"
"Besides what?"
He beckoned her over with a finger. Curious, Hui-jie leaned in.
Then—
"HEY-YAAAH!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO MAKE ALL YOUR GEAR AND FIND THE DAMN BEAST TOO?! YOU WANNA KILL ME OR WHAT?!"
His sudden, thunderous roar hit her like a sonic bomb. Hui-jie recoiled, clutching her ears and retreating several steps.
"WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!"
She screamed back, her ears ringing.
Fangzhou just leaned back in his chair, perfectly calm, a smug grin spreading across his face.
Mutual yelling.
Chen & Fangzhou Compatibility +1.
"Hey! I could hear that old bastard yelling from down the hall. What now? Blew up your cauldron again? Don't look at me—it wasn't me this time."
A voice like nails on a chalkboard drifted in from the door. Everyone turned to see a Sarkaz with white hair, red tips, and mischievous cross-star pupils peeking in, her little devil tail wagging behind her. She was in a very good mood.
"…Well, speak of the devil. I just complained about too much work, and here comes someone perfect for grunt labor."
The moment Fangzhou said that, W's cheerful wagging tail stiffened.
She turned to bolt—but Fangzhou had already appeared behind her like a ghost.
"This is punishment for blowing up my alchemy lab, W-chan."
"EEEK!!"
In the Black Magic Lab (next to the office):
Fangzhou stood before a bubbling green cauldron, fingers making sharp gestures. First a "2", then a "3".
"Eyeballs of the Snowfeather Roc. Now."
W tossed him a vial. Fangzhou popped it open, dropped in two eyeballs, then gestured again.
"Swollen pufferfish!"
W pulled a pufferfish out of a tank and whacked it on the head. The startled fish puffed up instantly. She chucked it to Fangzhou, who deftly sliced out its gland and added it to the brew.
He kept flashing signs—cryptic gestures Amiya and Kelsey couldn't make sense of—but somehow W responded instantly each time, pulling the right materials from the cabinets like magic. The two worked in eerie, seamless coordination.
Even though Amiya had watched them do this countless times, it still amazed her.
"Even after all this time… I'm still surprised. W and the Doctor really are in sync," she said softly.
W snapped, almost on reflex.
"In sync?! With this geezer?! Please. I only help him because of that black magic grimoire he's hogging. Just being near him makes my skin crawl. Crawl, I say! He's disgusting!"
"Six coins worth of snakeskin."
"Here."
Despite her screaming, W handed over the ingredient like clockwork. She ranted as she obeyed orders—like some kind of angry magic sous-chef. And Fangzhou? He looked way too pleased with himself.
Everyone watching could feel it—that bizarre aura. Like they'd just glimpsed the edge of some unspeakable truth.
"Ugh, you're putting in so many gross things. If Yao-di saw this cauldron, she'd probably blow the temple sky-high," Plush Nian muttered, skin crawling as she watched Fangzhou stir the vile green soup.
"I'm not making soup. This is an early-stage magical reagent," he replied, flicking a few more grotesque ingredients in. He even plucked a tuft of red fur from Nian—despite her loud protests—and tossed that in too.
Finally, he pulled out a salted fish.
Yes. A salted fish.
Using it in place of a spoon, he stirred the brew three times. When he pulled it out, the fish gleamed with an eerie purple-black shimmer. It looked… tainted. Like it had been soaked in something unholy.
"All done."
Fangzhou grabbed a metal rod, impaled the fish through its belly, and stood it upright—like a weathervane.
The fish glowed. Spun. Slowed. Then pointed in a single direction.
"There you go. Just follow the fish."
He tapped the fish's head a few times, confirmed no magical misfires, and passed the pole (with fish) to Talulah.
She took it hesitantly. And the more she looked at it… the more horrible it felt.
Wait a minute.
Did this mean they were going to walk through the streets of Lungmen… two days before the New Year… holding a glowing salted fish on a stick like some kind of parade attraction?!
Her face morphed into something straight out of an art museum—pure visual suffering.
"…Hui-jie."
"Hm?"
Chen Hui-jie looked over, puzzled. Then she saw Talulah's expression—and it clicked.
Her own face drooped instantly in dread.
"Big sis… I've never asked you for anything in my whole life…"
"You literally begged me two days ago to go spend New Year's at Auntie's place."
"Ugh!"
Talulah was floored. She stared down at the fish-on-a-stick in her hands, completely defeated.
And by the time she looked up—Amiya, Hui-jie, and everyone else had already backed far away.
"Good luck, Miss Talulah," Jingzhe said, with the solemnity of someone watching a hero march into hell.
Talulah let out a tragic wail.