On the second floor of the office building, the Observation Department was unusually quiet today, with no black-cloaked demons passing through. When Chu Zhishui and Xin Yunmao arrived, the corridor was empty without any unusual figures, appearing as deserted as during holidays.
"Strange, we saw many demons last time," Chu Zhishui said while looking around, gently knocking on the door and waiting for a response from the demon inside.
Xin Yunmao remained silent, casually keeping his hands in his pockets while following closely behind her.
After a while, the door creaked open, and Miao Li poked his head out. Upon seeing Xin Yunmao, he said in an displeased tone, "Why are you here too? According to department regulations, the Observation Department doesn't receive outsiders."
Chu Zhishui was taken aback: "If outsiders aren't allowed, does that mean I can't come either?"
"You can come, but he can't."
Xin Yunmao spoke coldly: "Then I'll have no choice but to tear this place down, and you can discuss regulations with Hu Chenrui when he gets here."
Miao Li's expression grew complex, and he made an unfriendly hissing sound similar to a cat's, but eventually opened the door to let both the human and demon enter. He kept his eyes fixed on Xin Yunmao, revealing golden vertical pupils, and said pointedly: "Behave yourself."
"If I wanted to strike, you'd all be finished already," Xin Yunmao replied with an icy tone, sharp as a blade.
Chu Zhishui turned her head to look at him strangely, as if looking at a stranger, feeling his attitude was unusual. Although Xin Yunmao typically ignored Jin Yu, he was at least marginally friendly, unlike the blatant hostility in his previous statement.
"What are you looking at?" he caught her probing gaze and returned to his normal demeanor, chuckling, "Your eyes are glued to me."
"...Nothing."
Chu Zhishui dismissed her concerns - given his narcissistic behavior, he seemed back to normal.
The Observation Department office wasn't much different from the adjacent room, still equipped with standard office desks and water dispensers, but no personnel were visible. The room faced the shaded side with only a few small windows, resulting in poor lighting and an inexplicable chill.
White wall fragments had fallen off from cracks, likely eroded by accumulated moisture, making the surroundings appear dim.
Following Miao Li into the room, Chu Zhishui remembered the noise from her previous visit and, noticing the office was now empty of demons, asked curiously: "Where are the other demons?"
"They were driven downstairs by an uninvited guest." Miao Li glanced at Xin Yunmao, thinking to himself about the latter's imposing authority, and said resentfully, "We'll see them when we take the elevator down."
"Elevator?" Chu Zhishui asked puzzled, "Does the department have an elevator?"
She climbed three flights of stairs every day and had never known about any elevator in the building.
"It's not powered by electricity - you could call it a demon lift."
Miao Li led the way, and as he took a step forward, he was suddenly enveloped by the pitch-black Demon Suppression Robe, its fluttering edges making constant sounds. The surging demon energy gathered together, gradually consuming the surrounding space, like a giant octopus spewing ink above, completely shrouding the area in darkness.
Chu Zhishui found this scene familiar - it was just like her first day at the department when she was inexplicably caught in a maze and stepped into a place with no exit.
Small, glowing cat paw prints were left where Miao Li passed, serving as guiding markers in the darkness.
The demon wind whistled as daylight suddenly dimmed. The ordinary office completely vanished, leaving only an old wooden elevator ahead.
Four wooden pillars carved with intricate patterns stood on the ground, with eye patterns carved at the top and an eerie hollow in the center. Rather than a descending elevator, it more closely resembled a deep well leading to hell, with no telling what supernatural encounters awaited below.
A thick red rope hung from the front wooden pillar. Miao Li pulled it, and with a crisp jingling sound, several iron chains began to clank and turn, raising a circular wooden platform. Three sides were crudely fenced with chains, leaving one side open as the platform's entrance, facing the one human and two demons.
Chu Zhishui swallowed nervously and asked hesitantly: "Wouldn't this kind of facility be shut down for being dangerous?"
She couldn't understand how a simple office building could have underground facilities, probably another unexplainable phenomenon like demon energy.
"Don't worry, ordinary people never come here," Miao Li raised his hand in an inviting gesture, guiding her onto the wooden platform.
Chu Zhishui carefully stepped on, feeling the demon elevator was fairly stable: "But I'm here now."
"Which means from today on, you're not an ordinary person."
"..."
Chu Zhishui wanted to thank Director Miao for at least not saying she wasn't human anymore - if this strange elevator were to drop midway, she might not even be able to maintain her status as a living person.
The chains creaked downward, emanating an ominous cold light, just like a horror movie setting the eerie atmosphere before ghost appearances with a series of creepy empty shots. The wooden platform carried the one human and two demons down, with whistling wind creating an increasingly aircraft-like falling sensation.
Xin Yunmao leaned casually against a pillar, his solid-colored collar blown open by the wind, revealing glimpses of his collarbones, a moonlight white against the darkness. Noticing Chu Zhishui standing in the center of the wooden platform, avoiding the edges entirely, he asked: "Scared?"
"Not really," Chu Zhishui kept her eyes fixed on her feet, not looking around.
Xin Yunmao moved closer to her, observing with interest.
Chu Zhishui looked confused: "What are you doing?"
Xin Yunmao: "I thought you might turn pale with fear again."
Chu Zhishui muttered: "I told you my courage isn't that small."
Xin Yunmao shrugged, maintaining an open attitude, and generously suggested: "The demons here aren't good-looking. If you're uncomfortable, you can stare at my face instead."
Chu Zhishui: "..." Why did he always assume she was afraid of ugly things?
To be honest, Chu Zhishui was actually a bit scared - after all, she wouldn't even ride elevators at amusement parks, work was busy enough without major thrills, let alone an uncertified lifting device in the department with a haunted house filter.
However, when she glimpsed the smug Xin Yunmao, she suddenly felt less panicked, perhaps because his status as a comedic demon made even horror scenes seem somewhat humorous.
Miao Li, as the director of the Observation Department, had his appearance suddenly criticized, and responded indifferently: "Were you always this annoying when you spoke?"
Miao Li tried to recall Xin Yunmao's past conversations, but no memorable scenes came to mind - he only remembered that the other had been a person of few words since his creation, and given his true form, shouldn't have such a punch-worthy attitude.
The wooden platform passed several floors successively, with countless ancient furnaces visible in the distance and occasional beast howls echoing, creating a scene reminiscent of endless purgatory.
Chu Zhishui heard the strange sounds: "What's that?"
"Life has five poisons and eight sufferings. Demons who violate rules are connected to these and are imprisoned on different floors, enduring the torture of demon fire burning - those are their screams," Miao Li explained. "The lower the floor, the more serious their crimes. They can move up gradually based on their sentence completion."
"Then what demons are imprisoned on the lowest floor?"
"Nothing is imprisoned there - that's where we work."
Soon after, the wooden platform stopped at the lowest level, where the space indeed opened up dramatically. The environment here was much more normal, with Observation Department personnel wearing Demon Suppression Robes, carrying folders as they busily worked. They greeted Miao Li briefly before giving the one human and two demons a wide berth.
Miao Li enthusiastically played tour guide: "Let me show you around first, then we'll see the ginseng demon."
Chu Zhishui looked around with curiosity: "I had no idea it went so deep down here."
Miao Li sighed: "Director Hu regrets building the office building above - demon energy keeps seeping into the upper walls."
"Then why not reorganize the area?"
Miao Li glanced at her woefully: "The department cafeteria serves bad food - do you think we don't want to eat well?"
Chu Zhishui suddenly understood - whether it was the crude cafeteria or the poorly zoned office building, behind it all lay the eternal reason: lack of funds.
Workplaces around the world all have similar layouts. After touring the office area on the bottom floor, the one human and two demons boarded the wooden platform again to visit other floors.
As the demon elevator slowly rose, Chu Zhishui stood by the pillar, gathering her courage to look down and survey the entire bottom level. From mid-air, the ground pattern vaguely revealed itself as an enormous, fierce dragon head, something impossible to discern while standing within it but visible from above. The dragon's expression was distorted, truly bearing its fangs and claws, pinned down at the very bottom.
Moments later, they reached the floor housing the ginseng demon, where uniquely shaped medicine furnaces were arranged everywhere, occasionally spurting black fire with crackling sounds.
"Want some popcorn?" Miao Li produced a corn cob from somewhere and suggested, "We can find a plant demon to pop it for you, like a sugarcane demon or something."
"I'm sorry, my stomach isn't very good," Chu Zhishui raised her hand to stop him, politely declining, "I'm quite particular about what I eat."
Miao Li nodded understandingly and recalled, "That's true, the food at your home is really delicious."
Xin Yunmao, who had been silent until now, frowned and stopped in his tracks, looking rather vigilant: "How does he know that the food at your home is delicious?"
Chu Zhishui: "It's a long story."
Miao Li feigned surprise: "No way, no way, don't tell me there are demons who haven't eaten at Director Chu's home? I thought everyone in the Economic Development Department had tried it, after all, even I get to eat there often."
Xin Yunmao: "..."
Xin Yunmao's face darkened. He looked at Chu Zhishui in disbelief, continuously generating cold air, appearing ready to throw a tantrum.
Chu Zhishui suddenly found herself caught in the crossfire. She couldn't help but glare at the troublemaking Department Head Miao, thinking to herself that cats' cunning and mischievousness were truly innate, easily capable of starting wars.
Xin Yunmao caught her little gesture and felt even more frustrated, exclaiming: "You're looking at him? Shouldn't you explain yourself?"
"...I wasn't looking."
The accurate verb would be "glaring."
Chu Zhishui chose her words carefully, her gaze shifting up and down as she vaguely said: "Whether you believe it or not, I just accidentally made a mistake, one that all humans in the world would make..."
Xin Yunmao stared at her silently, somehow appearing oddly resentful.
"..."
After all, why did she have to face a house cat's condemning gaze like some caretaker who feeds stray cats!?
The surrounding air seemed to stop flowing, with only the sound of the furnace breaking the long standoff.
Crack—
Hearing the noise, Xin Yunmao suddenly became serious, directly reaching out to her and solemnly saying: "Come here."
"What is it?" Chu Zhishui didn't dodge, confident he wouldn't dare do anything, and questioned, "Why are you speaking like a romance novel male lead?"
Without a word, Xin Yunmao placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her behind him, shielding her with his body.
Just as Chu Zhishui was feeling puzzled, she heard strange noises behind her.
Soon after, the nearby furnace mysteriously began spouting ghostly flames, like a pressure cooker about to explode, shaking and jolting with a humming sound, as if magma was about to erupt, while making crackling sounds and releasing steam.
Chu Zhishui was startled: "What's this?"
Xin Yunmao and Miao Li both coldly watched the scene.
A hideous ghost face formed on the round furnace opening, attempting to break through the barrier, but with a flash of golden light from the dan furnace, it was firmly trapped inside, producing a frightening impact sound. The furnaces in the Observation Department were special – once demons were imprisoned, they were basically beyond salvation.
Crack— Crack—
The demon in the furnace was being burned by fierce flames, its original form long indiscernible, but its gaze was vicious as it shouted at the one person and two demons passing by: "Xin Yunmao, when the Dragon God awakens, he won't let you off!"
The voice was hoarse and shrill, condensed with undispersed hatred.
Chu Zhishui had never heard other demons call his name before, and didn't expect the first time would be in the basement of the Observation Department, with the shout carrying bone-chilling hostility.
"So after all these years, it actually moved here," Miao Li blinked, "Still hasn't dissipated even after being burned by fire for so long."
Xin Yunmao mocked: "Your facilities are really outdated if they can't even burn through something this minor."
A black flame appeared at Xin Yunmao's fingertip, different from the pure black of before, now mixed with strands of bewitching emerald, black and green intertwining and merging, flickering endlessly.
He flicked his finger, and the blue-black flame fell into the furnace. The tiny spark, upon contact, spread unstoppably, instantly causing flames to shoot up from the furnace mouth, the strange green fire's might was terrifying.
A wail emerged from within the furnace, like a fierce beast being pierced by bone spikes.
"He won't let me off?" Xin Yunmao said contemptuously, his voice cool as the night wind, muttering, "Perfect, I wasn't planning to let him off either."
His face remained untouched by any emotion as he silently watched the fierce flames burn, the demon fire rising and falling, making his frost-like face appear even more striking.
Chu Zhishui quietly watched all this, suddenly reminded of their first meeting – he was distant, vigilant, sharp, barely showing any smile, rushing to leave after just a few words, exactly like his current demeanor.
Bright, burning sparks flew up from the furnace mouth, reducing countless screams to ashes.
Moments later, there was no more sound from within the furnace, only pitch-black silence.
Xin Yunmao turned back with an indifferent expression, and seeing her staring intently at the furnace, he suddenly seemed to realize something and asked in surprise: "Did I scare you?"
"No."
Xin Yunmao observed for a moment, confirming she really was fine, and nodded smugly: "Oh— Then you must have been impressed by my divine might."
Seeing him reverting to his usual self, Chu Zhishui's eyebrow twitched as she hesitated: "No, it's just that playing with fire like this might lead to..."
"Lead to what?"
"Playing with fire might lead to bed-wetting."
"?"
Such casual use of fire poses safety risks, not recommended for other humans and demons to imitate.
"Pfft." Miao Li couldn't help but laugh, raising his paw to cover his expression.
Xin Yunmao's pupils contracted slightly, his face alternating between green and white as he angrily burst out: "I'm different from that shedding creature, I don't need such filthy behaviors!"
Chu Zhishui asked puzzled: "You eat but don't do that, are you a Pixiu then?"
Xin Yunmao: "..."
Hearing the background laughter, he glared at the black cat who was shaking with suppressed laughter, and gritted out: "Miao Li, keep laughing and you can say goodbye to your tail."
"She was talking about you, why are you threatening me?" Miao Li was full of complaints as he turned to look at Chu Zhishui, persuading: "I was just about to say, won't you really consider performing the ritual with me? He's clearly so annoying, humans prefer cats, right?"
Xin Yunmao coldly corrected: "Humans prefer neutered cats that don't scratch furniture."
Miao Li acted cute: "I would never do such things."
Chu Zhishui: "Ritual?"
"Yes, if we perform the ritual, I'll protect you well, and it won't cost much, just feed me fish. Though it sounds a bit formal, for long-term interaction, having a ritual would be better for you."
"I can bring fish again in the future..." Chu Zhishui said reluctantly, "but let's skip the ritual."
Miao Li was rejected and widened his eyes: "Why?"
Xin Yunmao smugly lifted his chin: "I told you she's not interested in you."
"Have you already performed the ritual with him? Impossible, I can't sense it." Miao Li said, "Do you really want to choose him? He's different from us, compared to me who works at the bureau, he's obviously less reliable."
In reality, Chu Zhishui didn't want to choose either side. Faced with the two self-recommending demons, she felt like she was being pulled into a pyramid scheme, and casually said: "Isn't he also from the bureau?"
Miao Li: "He's not."
Chu Zhishui turned back in surprise: "You're not from the bureau?"
"You finally realized?" Xin Yunmao said calmly, "Of course not."
She asked bewildered: "Then why were you in the Logistics Department initially?"
If Xin Yunmao wasn't from the bureau, why would he work in the office?
Xin Yunmao couldn't help but curl his lips: "Now you understand, right? I'm different from them, being my only believer is such an honor..."
He was one of the rare deified demons of this age! After that dragon was sealed, no demon could match him!
"Are you dispatched here? Or a contract worker?" Chu Zhishui pondered thoughtfully, seriously consoling him, "It's okay if you don't have a permanent position now, our department treats everyone equally, we only care about work ability."
"???"
Miao Li laughed until his cat ears popped out, nearly rolling on the ground in pure joy.
Xin Yunmao was furious from head to toe, truly admiring her train of thought: "Your conclusion should be that I'm the strongest, even Hu Chenrui can't control me, how could I be a contract worker!?"
Hearing his angry tone, Chu Zhishui pacified: "Alright, alright, the sweeping monk is the strongest, contract workers are the strongest, don't dwell on these things."
Xin Yunmao was speechless.
"You can choose either him or me, it doesn't have to be exclusive." Miao Li, finished laughing at the scene, continued to try to win her over, tempting: "He can't always be available, surely he can't be on call all the time?"
Chu Zhishui caught Xin Yunmao's laser-like stare, knowing that if she dared to agree, he would make a scene right there, she stammered: "...It doesn't seem necessary at the moment."
Miao Li looked back and forth, noticing the strange expressions of the human and demon, and exclaimed in shock: "Is he really on call all the time?"
Xin Yunmao slightly raised his chin: "How could I be irresponsible and negligent like you?"
"Not exactly," Chu Zhishui said quietly, "but he does come whenever I call."
"Contract workers are really idle," Miao Li's gaze was peculiar. "I just can't accept spending all day hovering around people."
Xin Yunmao's face fell, his words laced with ice: "Really don't want your tail anymore?"
Threatened with his cat form, Miao Li immediately narrowed his eyes in anger. Then, thinking of something, he added with schadenfreude: "But you've really changed from before. You used to always have such a deadpan face - it would be interesting for them to see you now."
After the casual chat, the two demons continued forward, neither mentioning the furnace again, as if it were just an insignificant interlude.
Chu Zhishui looked back and noticed that the furnace fire from earlier had already died out, like an old story in the dust, all burned to ashes by the blue flames, leaving behind nothing but complete emptiness.
Miao Li finally led the Economic Development Department staff to the ginseng demon.
Countless furnaces lined both sides, and in the empty space between them was a stone platform. On it sat an old man with white whiskers, his hands and feet bound in shackles, looking dispirited and dejected. His long beard still bore dark scorch marks, making him look like an old sweet potato just pulled from a fire pit. He appeared to have been recently tortured, his eyes now unfocused, his body listless, looking utterly miserable.
Chu Zhishui asked, "What's his name?"
Miao Li drawled lazily, "I can't be bothered to check his number. You can call him whatever you want."
The white-bearded old man spoke in a hoarse voice, trembling: "I'm Xu Jiake."
Chu Zhishui pondered for a few seconds, finding the name rather awkward to pronounce, and nodded agreeably: "Alright, Old White, what did you want to see me about?"
The ginseng demon, newly christened with his nickname: "?"
