The sound of beeping filled my ears. Suddenly, I screamed—the sensation on my skin was like being scorched. Overhead, the blazing sun burned down. Cars sped by on the highway, passing right through my body with a whoosh.
I screamed, then hurriedly rose and looked around. Spotting a building, I rushed toward the pedestrians on the street, slipped through the wall, and entered the house. Once inside, I stared at my skin, which looked as if it had been corroded. I curled up in a dark corner, quietly trying to pull myself together.
I'm back—back in the world of the living. Having just been roasted by the sun, I felt miserable. This building seemed to be some kind of office; people kept coming and going. I was curled up near the restroom door. After waiting a long while, I stood up, decided to enter the restroom, transform into a human, and contact Hu Tianshu as soon as possible.
After entering the restroom, I found a stall, sat on the toilet, and gradually transformed back into a human.
The moment I walked out, I stretched. Suddenly, a scream erupted—a woman saw me and shouted, "Pervert! Pervert!" before running away.
It was only then that I realized, when I had slipped through the wall, I must have entered the wrong restroom—the women's restroom. No wonder I hadn’t seen any urinals. The furious crowd beat me up, leaving my face bruised and swollen. I wanted to explain, but in this situation, I was a pervert, no doubt about it.
Because my clothes had already been mostly corroded by resentment earlier, I was stark naked—completely exposed. The people in the building tied me up tightly with ropes, gave me a towel to cover myself, and waited for the police to arrive.
Soon enough, the police arrived. Two officers put me in the police car. With the crowd shouting and cursing around me, I had never suffered such humiliation in my life.
At the police station, I tried to explain myself to the officers. In that moment, I could have turned into a ghost and disappeared, but I didn’t. If that woman had seen me vanish in the women’s restroom, she would have been terrified—and I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
They asked for my name and address. I told them to call Hu Tianshu. I tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing came to mind—Hu Tianshu was my only hope.
"Ethan Zhang, come out. Someone’s here to bail you out."
I stood up in surprise and walked out of the interrogation room. To my confusion, the person waiting outside wasn’t Hugh Thompson, but a middle-aged man in a black suit—handsome, probably in his forties, with sharp, composed features. He smiled warmly at me, handing over a set of blue sportswear and a pair of sneakers.
I changed quickly, still eyeing the man with suspicion. On his wrist glittered a diamond-studded watch, and in his breast pocket, an expensive-looking pen caught the light.
"Who are you?"
Once dressed, I looked at the middle-aged man, uncertain.
"My name is Leo Lee. Ethan Zhang, let’s eat together. You must be starving."
I made a noncommittal sound. Was it Hugh Thompson who sent him to bail me out? With that question lingering, I followed Leo Lee out of the police station. A black Mercedes was parked in the courtyard. Once I got in, Leo Lee drove us through the city for a while before stopping at a luxury hotel.
"Who exactly are you?" I asked again after we got out of the car. Leo Lee smiled, saying nothing, and walked ahead. I had no choice but to follow—my stomach was growling with hunger.
We entered an upscale restaurant on the 11th floor. Gentle, elegant music played softly. I saw many tables full of diners as I followed Leo Lee into a private room.
"Eat."