Chapter 299: Who the Hell Am I Afraid Of?

In a quiet room, Fang Shuoxin’s computer desk was set up with all his usual writing equipment.

Every tool he normally used for his work was placed in front of him.

“Let’s begin. Write out the plot you want to create,” Xiao Yu said calmly as he stared at Fang Shuoxin, whose face was pale with fear. “Try not to include anything that results in casualties. Do you understand what I mean?”

“I understand!” Fang Shuoxin nodded but then hesitated. “But whenever I start writing, my mind and thoughts feel uncontrollable. Whatever comes to me, I end up writing down naturally. If possible, could I… not write anymore? I really don’t want to see something bad happen again because of my stories.”

“It’s fine. Just write,” Xiao Yu said without a change in expression. “If I see anything going wrong, I’ll stop you.”

“This…”

After a long pause, Fang Shuoxin nodded. “Alright.”

With that, he placed his hands on the keyboard and opened a blank document.

Taking a deep breath, he began recalling the last plot he had written, attempting to continue from where he left off.

Slowly, his fingers began typing.

***

I am a spy. My codename: Dark Dragon.

That rich heir? Yes, I killed him. But it wasn’t about playing the hero to save a beauty. He was a target that had to be eliminated for my mission. That heir was the leader of a criminal organization. He and his group controlled a number of women forced into prostitution. The kind of person people call a pimp.

He approached the wealthy woman not out of affection, but to lure her into their operation, to bring her into the depths of hell.

Sometimes, I think I’m a fool. I’m retired, why am I still doing these things?

Why can’t I enjoy my retirement and live as an ordinary person?

I don’t know. There’s always this voice in my head, telling me I have to act. Like now. I have to destroy that criminal den and save those innocent women.

Yes. I have to do it, to save them, even if…

***

Thud!

A hand slammed down on the keyboard, pinning Fang Shuoxin’s hands in place.

Xiao Yu’s expression turned complicated as he looked at Fang Shuoxin—at his expression, at his eyes, at the unsettling mix of excitement and madness in them.

At that moment, Fang Shuoxin’s state clearly wasn’t normal. His eyes were fixed on the computer screen, but they seemed to lack focus.

It was as if he had entered some inexplicable trance.

Pressing firmly on the keyboard, Xiao Yu immobilized Fang Shuoxin’s hands, but Fang Shuoxin didn’t snap out of it.

Then, suddenly, Fang Shuoxin turned his head to look at Xiao Yu. His gaze was cold and empty, devoid of any human emotion. It was as if he were looking at a dead man.

At that moment, Xiao Yu felt a distinct threat.

Not from Fang Shuoxin, but from someone else entirely.

‘What the hell…’

Xiao Yu shivered internally as a chill spread through his body.

Was it possession?

No, it wasn’t!

Suddenly, Fang Shuoxin’s trance broke. His face filled with confusion as he stared blankly at Xiao Yu. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Do you even know what you just wrote?” Xiao Yu asked, his eyes locked onto Fang Shuoxin’s.

“Huh?”

Fang Shuoxin instinctively glanced toward the monitor, but Xiao Yu quickly switched it off.

“Uh…” Fang Shuoxin froze, visibly at a loss.

“Now, tell me. What was the plot you just wrote?” Xiao Yu asked, enunciating each word.

“I…” Fang Shuoxin opened his mouth, his expression turning blank as he shook his head. “I don’t know.”

***

“Something’s wrong.”

Xiao Yu walked out of the room, his expression dark as he looked at Wang Dong and Shen Zhengyang.

The two team leaders exchanged puzzled glances.

“What do you mean, wrong?”

Xiao Yu furrowed his brow, struggling to explain. “It felt like his thoughts were moving faster than his intellect. Almost like he was possessed, like someone was teaching him how to write.”

The two team leaders inhaled sharply, their expressions turning strange as they looked at Xiao Yu.

‘Come on, Xiao Yu. There are no ghosts or gods after the founding of the country. You know that, right? Are you joking with us?’

“I don’t know why…” Xiao Yu glanced at the two and deadpanned, “But ever since I started working with you lot, I’ve developed this overwhelming sense of intellectual superiority.”

Wang Dong, “…”

Shen Zhengyang, “…”

Was their intelligence just insulted?

“Ahem!” Wang Dong coughed awkwardly, trying to save face. “I was a straight-A student once, you know. I just got curious about the lives of slackers, so I took a detour… and, well, I got lost.”

“Ha!” Xiao Yu chuckled briefly before his smile disappeared. “I’m not joking. At that moment, his mind was definitely under some form of control.”

Wang Dong’s smile froze. A chilling sensation crept through his body.

Shen Zhengyang felt the same.

Xiao Yu wasn’t joking.

“It’s not ghosts, and it’s not supernatural.” Sensing their thoughts, Xiao Yu firmly shook his head. “I still don’t know what’s causing it. I just can’t figure out how, in that moment, someone could manipulate another person’s mind like that.”

Was it truly impossible to control someone’s thoughts?

No. In fact, there were methods—hypnosis and brainwashing for example. But those require prolonged conditioning, neither of which applied in this situation.

And Xiao Yu hadn’t found any signs of hypnosis or brainwashing in Fang Shuoxin.

So, how was this even possible?

Still, one thing was now certain. The plots Fang Shuoxin wrote were not his own. Someone else was making him write them.

Letting out a heavy breath, Xiao Yu’s lips curled into a smirk.

As long as it wasn’t supernatural, it was manageable. Because that meant the case had a trail to follow, clues to uncover. And if it was just criminals…

‘Who the hell am I afraid of?’