The newly renovated house was quiet. Wang Junyi's family of three was busy in the kitchen.
They had bought a large amount of expensive ingredients and were showcasing all their culinary skills, all to host a guest, a benefactor who had given their family a new lease on life.
This benefactor, of course, was Wen Wen.
He sat on the sofa, legs crossed, watching television, waiting for dinner.
Wen Wen had already decided on his next destination: a mountain city far away in Chongshu Province, where a museum of rare treasures was located. Wen Rui had worked as a security guard there for two months, and Wen Wen decided to go and check out the situation.
Before departing, however, Wen Wen needed to tie up loose ends in Lugang City.
The Wang Junyi family had just been released by the Hunter Association and their memories had not yet been wiped. This was because Wen Wen wanted to personally assess the family's condition before proceeding with the memory alteration.
Wen Wen didn't have any specific ulterior motive. It was just that while investigating Wen Rui, he had experienced a brief moment of melancholy, which made him want to check on the Wang Junyi family. Since they were planning to host him, Wen Wen decided to stay.
It was said that every family's home cooking had a unique flavor. Yu Hui's cooking had a peculiar fragrance, which made Wen Wen quite expectant.
When all the dishes were served, Wen Wen's expression turned strange.
In several of the dishes, he could clearly see numerous insects of various kinds. The peculiar fragrance he had smelled earlier must have come from stir-frying unknown insects.
Wen Wen's appetite instantly vanished. With a movement too quick for the Wang Junyi family to see, he discreetly transferred the food from his bowl to under the table. The three family members, however, were eating with relish.
"Hmm... don't you find the food a bit strange?" Wen Wen asked after a moment of silence.
"Strange..." Wang Junyi pondered for a moment before understanding.
Ever since Wang Zixuan had gotten into trouble, their family's dining table had always been like this. Because Wang Zixuan loved eating insects, edible insects often appeared on their dining table.
The family of three had grown accustomed to it and didn't think anything was amiss, but Wen Wen, as an outsider, immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Wen Wen sighed, pulled out a silver cylindrical object, and pressed a button. The flash from the device caused the expressions of the three to become dazed.
"What I am about to say will replace your memories. You have never experienced any supernatural events. For the past three years, your son has been at home due to a rare mental illness, but this illness has now been cured."
"You have never met a person named Wen Wen. Mr. Wang has never had a friend named Wen Rui. When I walk out of this house, you will all recover."
As he reached the doorway, Wen Wen remembered something he had forgotten and suddenly said to them, "Oh, right. You dislike eating insects. You never have!"
When Wen Wen stepped outside, the house, which had been frozen in time, suddenly came back to life, with all sorts of noisy sounds emanating from it.
"Oh my god, why are there so many insects in the food? I can't stand it, I'm going to vomit!" came Yu Hui's shriek.
Wang Zixuan complained, "Mom, did you make a rather big mistake with the cooking today?"
"Why are there four sets of chopsticks on the table? I suspect that here..." Wang Junyi said, looking at the chopsticks on the table, his mind instinctively analyzing.
Wang Zixuan patted Wang Junyi on the shoulder and said, "Come on, Dad, this is at home. Let's not be a great detective for now..."
Outside the door, Wen Wen listened to the family's bickering and smiled.
Although they had lost a portion of their memories, this family was much happier than before.
After experiencing so much, only forgetting could allow them to return to a normal life. Human hearts are not strong; it's difficult to survive peacefully after knowing the truth. Perhaps clearing their memories of it was a form of kindness.
But who would clear Wen Wen's memories? He was already regretting returning to Lugang City.
...
Beneath the towering building bearing the Rui Xing Group logo, in a dark alley, two figures dressed in long black robes removed their masks and began to conspire.
"Bonpol, I found out that this Rui Xing Group is a rising enterprise in Xiangnan Province. The absolute controlling shareholder of the group, Feng Ruixing, is very adept at making money and has no connection with the Hunter Association..." said one of the men in the black robe, speaking in broken Federalese.
"Babor, do you mean we should target this group to raise funds?" the other person in the long robe said, in a similarly odd tone.
The first man, Bonpol, nodded and said, "It's this Rui Xing Group. We haven't been in the organization for long, and we must achieve something to attract the attention of Master Corrupted Blood to stand out!"
"Then when do we make our move? I can crush his head with my bare hands!" Babor said excitedly, rubbing his hands.
Bonpol punched Babor and said angrily, "Idiot, we are going to threaten him and make him provide funds to our organization, not kill him and rob him of his money!"
Babor didn't mind the punch but said with a hint of grievance, "We are bad guys, why be so gentle?"
"How much money can the two of us transport? If things get too big, it will also attract the attention of the Hunter Association. It's better to have rich people continuously provide funds to the organization to gain merit. If you go back with a pile of money, you might even be punished!"
"Think less about violent things. This is not the water city of Oye, this is human territory!" Bonpol explained to Babor with a serious tone. Sudane Novel Network
Babor thought for a moment and still didn't quite understand. He then said sheepishly to Bonpol, "Alright, I'll do whatever you say. You're smarter than me anyway."
"Don't act rashly. I need to prepare the specific plan. We must demonstrate the power to kill him at any moment. I heard he personally runs a security company..."
At the entrance of the alley, a vendor curiously peeked into the alley but saw nothing due to the darkness.
It wasn't that he was overly curious; two men sneaking into an alley in the middle of the night would pique anyone's interest.
Just as the vendor was about to look away, a car with its high beams on sped past. The lights briefly illuminated the faces of the two men, revealing their appearances.
One of their heads was greenish, and the other was deep blue. Both were fish heads, still glistening with moisture!
The vendor shook his head speechlessly. He hadn't expected these two not only to be perverts sneaking into alleys at midnight but also to have a fetish for cross-dressing. Why not dress up handsomely? They had to disguise themselves as salted fish...
Then, he continued selling his fruit.
Babor glanced at Bonpol and whispered, "He saw us, but he doesn't seem to care."
Bonpol thought for a moment and said, "People on land are knowledgeable and might not care about our appearance, but..."
Another beam of light shone in, making Bonpol's face turn grim. He made a gesture across his neck and said, "We promised the Master that we wouldn't reveal our tracks, so... let's silence him!"