Relatives attended Mr. Xu's mourning ceremony in droves, and then in a cemetery on the outskirts of Beaver City, they witnessed his urn being sealed under a lifeless tombstone. This group of relatives may not be so sad about Xu Quanan's death itself, as Xu Quanan himself said, they may only care about his interests. But if they really don't show up because of this, then they can't be too human. Needless to say, Xu Shengxing and I were also in this cemetery at this time. The sky was still raining, and hundreds of people were wearing black mourning clothes-like raincoats, standing in the middle of the scattered tombstones, like crows guarding the pile of corpses. And Xu Shengxing and I seem to be one of the crows.

Xu Shengxing took me and stood in the shade of a tree in the corner, looking at Xu Quanan's tombstone from a distance.

I feel that he is grieving over Xu Quanan's death.

Even if he doesn't say it, I can imagine it. After so many years of being father and son, I know him better than he thought he would. If Xu Quanan was still alive, Xu Shengxing would never be sad about him, he would only applaud Xu Quanan's misfortune. Only when Xu Quanan has died, Xu Shengxing can accept him as a father and mourn for his dead father. He is such an awkward and contradictory man.

"He wasn't like that before." He said suddenly, and fell silent again.

I waited for him to continue. If he hadn't had no other audience, he wouldn't have started it. And I'm willing to be his listener.

After a moment, he resumed his conversation, "My father wasn't like that before. He is called "my father" here. When he used to mention Xu Quanan to me, he always used the title "your grandfather".

What he said afterwards was Xu Quanan in his childhood memories.

*

My father is Xu Shengxing, Xu Shengxing's father is Xu Quanan, and Xu Quanan naturally has a father named Xu Yangu.

Xu Yangu is the first leader of a second- or third-rate underground organization in Beaver City, and he fits all the non-romantic imaginations of the leader of the underground organization. Cold, paranoid, and insane, he never hesitates to use violence and has a high-pressure attitude towards the family. He made a strong arrangement for his son Xu Quanan in the future, that is, to become the "second him". And this arrangement was strongly resisted by Xu Quanan.

When Xu Shengxing was still in the third grade of primary school, Xu Quanan had not yet taken over. Despite coming from such a family, Xu Quanan is a peace-loving person. He has a gentle temperament, hates carbonated drinks, loves reading and music, and especially likes to stand on the balcony and play the harmonica. Every time a new tune is played, I have to pull Xu Shengxing, who is still young, to ask for his feelings. Xu Shengxing has never liked to do this kind of judge-style work, and has repeatedly deliberately attacked him. Instead, he believed it and secretly practiced the same piece over and over again I don't know how many times.

However, during this period, Xu Yangu's coercion did not stop. And Xu Quanan is completely different from Xu Shengxing in the future, not only does he not have spiritual ability, but he is also weak and sick since he was a child, and he does not have the conditions to escape from this kind of family at all. But maybe it's inner firmness, or maybe it's being watched by his son, he never admits defeat. He even emphasized to his son from time to time: "I will never inherit that dirty position." My life is up to me. Sheng Xing, you too, go and live freely. We will definitely be able to usher in this opportunity. When the time comes, I will support you too. ”

No one knows what this so-called "opportunity" means, maybe it's just Xu Quanan's self-comfort. But just a year and a half later, the opportunity came.

Xu Yangu is dead.

"He was killed." Xu Shengxing said, "I was killed by my father. ”

According to him, one evening, he came home from school and heard strange movements in the basement. At that time, he and his family lived in a single-family house, and the so-called basement was actually his garage. He looked over curiously, and found that Xu Yangu was lying in a pool of blood, with a dagger in his chest, and his eyes were round. And Xu Quanan stood next to the corpse without saying a word, stepping on the carpet with strange patterns under his feet, and looked at Xu Shengxing expressionlessly.

On the same day, Xu Shengxing was affected by this and awakened his spiritual energy.

However, Xu Yangu's death did not make Xu Quanan live an innocent life.

On the contrary, Xu Quanan took the initiative to take over his father's position and became the leader of that underground organization.

Xu Quanan seemed to have completely changed that evening, as if Xu Yangu's soul had taken over his body. He became cold, paranoid, and insane, never hesitated to use violence, and adopted a high-pressure attitude towards the family. He also arranged the future life of his son Xu Shengxing, needless to say, Xu Shengxing could not resign himself to fate. And unlike Xu Quanan, Xu Shengxing, as a psionic being, has enough conditions to pursue freedom.

After that, it was the same as what Xu Shengxing once said to me. He ran away from home, earned his own money, got a job, got married, and had children. Until he became the person he is today, the one who stares at his father's tombstone.

"I've never liked him." He said slowly, "However, I also thought that if he really fulfilled his promise, lived an innocent life, and became an innocent father, then ......"

His words are stuck here.

So - so how? He couldn't say any more. It seems that the imagination of that kind of life has long been stolen from his heart by a certain palm.

*

Whether Xu Quanan is the Lord of Ants or not, he is already dead.

But my goal is still not gone. What I want is the "earthworm eyeball", the main ingredient of the retraction medicine, which should still be somewhere in the ant colony organization. I'll have to find it out.

Since then, another two days have passed.

While learning the techniques of the pre-preparation process of withdrawal medicine from the doctor in Turin, I also commissioned a drone to help me keep an eye on the corresponding information, and at the same time I was trying to track the whereabouts of the "earthworm's eyeball". And at noon today, the drone called me. I plugged it in and asked, "Is the order a result?" ”

"Nope."

I asked suspiciously, "Then what are you looking for me?" ”

"It's not me looking for you, it's someone else looking for you." "I'm just a middleman," he said. ”

"Who?"

"Well, I don't know the details of this person."

"Then I refuse." I said without thinking.

"Wait." He hurriedly said, "He told me that as long as you say 'Hasegawa,' you'll know who it is." ”

"It turned out to be him." I was stunned.

"He seems to have come from the police, and the way he speaks has a little bit of that feeling." He said, "Since it's your acquaintance, then I won't check him?" ”

"Check it out or not, you feel free." I said, "What else did he say?" ”

"He wants to meet you at the time and place ......"

"Wait." I said, "You tell him that I can meet him, but at the time and place I specify." ”

*

"Hasegawa", aka Naoto Inoue, was once the psychic medium who worked with me and the woman during the Faceling incident (in fact, he fell into a momentary frenzy before he could do so).

I had exchanged contact information with him, but I recently changed the number of my work mobile phone, and I guess that's why he had to find me by drone. The reason for changing the number is also very simple, because the old number has been used to contact Xu Shengxing, although my work mobile phone is not tracked, but for safety, I still changed it first. Also for safety reasons, I designated the meeting place in a crowded mall, and deliberately arrived late, using the late time to confirm whether the surroundings were safe. Although the dense crowds add to the difficulty, it is also a necessary procedure. Now Naoto Inoue is working in the Public Security Bureau, and he has the possibility of joining forces with Xu Shengxing to ambush me.

But I came to see him anyway, because I needed his powerful detective power as a medium.

After making sure I was safe, I showed up in front of him.

As soon as he came up, he said, "You're late." ”

"Do you have an opinion?" I asked rhetorically.

"No ......," he swallowed back.

We went into a bubble tea shop, asked for two cups of milk tea, and found a seat to sit down.

"The first time I saw you, you were tough." I say.

"I apologize. But that's because, at the time, I thought you were the same as the rest of the Black Zone. So I had to show strength first. He sighed, then said, "Let's not mention it yet." I have come to see you because there is something important. ”

"Let's talk first."

"First, I have to confirm something." He said, "You were the one who killed Xu Quanan not long ago." ”

"Of course." Although it wasn't something I did, I have to admit it first. Xu Shengxing believes that Xu Fu is not a faceling because he believes that he is a real faceling.

"That fire demon won't let you go easily. You killed his father, and I'm afraid he hates you so much that he wants to cook you and eat you in his stomach. ”

"That's my problem. You're not here for this kind of thing, are you? ”

"Yes. How so...... Let's start at the beginning. After you assassinated Xu Quan'an, out of curiosity, I did an investigation in the bureau, and then found out that Xu Shengxing had applied for a polygraph psionic item from the bureau, and the reason for the application was to verify whether his father was the rumored 'ant master'. And now it has been returned. He gently pinched the straw inserted in the milk tea cup with his fingers, "You all think that Xu Quanan is the Lord of Ants, and I believe it." But then I did a follow-up survey and found that the activity of the ant colony was still continuing. No, but it continues, and it's in order. It doesn't look like the leader has been put in an urn. ”

"If your next sentence is 'So I think the Ant Lord is still alive,' then the conversation can end there." I say.

"I have more evidence. And the purpose of my meeting with you is not just to inform you about it. He said, "I hope to be able to cooperate with you in the crusade against the Lord of the Ants." ”