After Yan Guchen finished speaking, a long silence fell over the courtyard, broken only by the sound of the wind and birdsong.

Jia Wenyu found this completely understandable.

What his Director-General had just said would likely earn a “look at you like you’re crazy” expression from anyone. Even they, who had worked at the Si Tian Jian for a long time, had reacted with disbelief when they first discovered signs of the fusion in reality.

Mainly because the truth was simply too absurd.

If not for seeing it with their own eyes, who would believe the contents of an opera script were gradually affecting reality? Saying they were filming a movie would be more convincing than this baseless talk.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Qingzhi merely responded with an unperturbed “Oh,” and asked, “How many days will it take to resolve this?”

“Three days. There are three days until the Grand Opera Festival.”

“Alright, I’ll go pack my things then. Please wait a moment.”

Watching Yuan Qingzhi’s retreating back, Jia Wenyu was dumbfounded. “Wait, something feels off here.”

Shouldn’t a normal person’s first reaction to this kind of thing be suspicion, followed by seeking proof?

But this young lady? She didn’t even ask many questions and just agreed directly. Did she really think that an opera merging with reality, and a character emerging from it, wasn’t surprising at all?!

“Wake up, Old Jia, times have changed,” a colleague couldn’t resist chiming in. “Young people nowadays are very knowledgeable. With so many fantasy and transmigration novels online… even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve surely seen a pig run.”^[1]T/N: Chinese idiom meaning having common knowledge through exposure, even without direct experience.

“Exactly, she’s Grandmaster Liu’s daughter. She must have seen more of the world than us.”

“Alright, alright, stop joking around. Go get the car ready.”

Unbeknownst to them, on the other side, Yuan Qingzhi was also talking with Lin Ruhua.

“Miss, do you think… what they said is true?” Lin Ruhua asked, worried.

Although she was old and her comprehension wasn’t as sharp as young people’s, leaving her feeling rather lost in the fog, she knew this matter definitely wasn’t simple.

“Who cares? Anyway, the national emblem is real, and their willingness to pay up can’t be wrong.”

Yuan Qingzhi looked indifferent. “Besides, it’s only three days. Fifty million for three days? Only a fool wouldn’t take this deal.”

Lin Ruhua: “…Alright then.”

She just couldn’t recall who it was that initially swore they’d rather die than sing opera, and who it was now enthusiastically packing their bags. Young people really were fickle.

“How can that be the same thing?” Yuan Qingzhi said with perfect seriousness. “Firstly, an official organization came to the door personally. As a citizen of this country, I naturally have an obligation to contribute my strength. Secondly, they invited me to handle a major task that no one else but me can do. As a partner of justice, I am duty-bound to accept! That fifty million can only be considered a little bonus, at most.”

“Yes, yes, Miss, everything you say is right.”

If Lin Ruhua didn’t know her young mistress’s profit-driven nature—never getting up early unless there was money involved—she might have actually believed her.

Having happily packed her things, Yuan Qingzhi slung her backpack on and turned to wave at the courtyard.

Against the setting sun, her chestnut-colored eyes sparkled brightly. Sunlight poured onto her dark hair, illuminating her brilliant smile with vibrant energy and youthful vigor.

“Don’t worry, Lin Ma! After I finish this gig, I’ll be set for the rest of my life. You like watching opera so much, right? When the time comes, we’ll just hire an entire troupe to perform for you in the Pear Garden every day!”

Infected by her good mood, a smile unconsciously spread across Lin Ruhua’s wrinkled, aged face. “Okay, okay. Go quickly and come back soon, Miss. Be careful… Watch where you’re going!”

After walking out of the alley, Yuan Qingzhi got into a plain black commercial van with the Si Tian Jian cosplay group.

From the outside, the vehicle looked unremarkable, the kind that could easily disappear into traffic. But sitting inside revealed a hidden world. The entire vehicle was professionally bulletproofed, started silently, and moved with extreme stability, like gliding on flat ground.

Yan Guchen pulled out a file sealed with the words “Top Secret.”

“Here are some confidential documents providing evidence that the opera is affecting reality. Please take a look, Miss Yuan.”

Although Yuan Qingzhi didn’t seem concerned about whether the story was true or not, the Si Tian Jian still had a responsibility to explain the current situation clearly and outline the dangers involved.

For a time, only the sound of pages turning filled the car.

Yuan Qingzhi’s gaze swept over page after page of black text on white paper, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

“How long has it been since the first anomaly occurred?”

“Nearly a year,” Yan Guchen replied. “Initially, anomalies appeared after opera performances ended. Actors packing up their costumes found props in the prop baskets that didn’t belong to the troupe.”

It was just a few extra props. After asking around and no one claiming them, they were tossed into storage. No one thought much of it.

It wasn’t until later, when the Si Tian Jian systematically collected and organized evidence, that they discovered that starting last year, almost every opera troupe had experienced props mysteriously appearing or disappearing during performances, to varying degrees.

“Three months ago, the anomalies escalated and officially entered the Si Tian Jian’s monitoring scope. More and more witnesses reported seeing things in reality that should belong to the opera. As of now, there have been nearly a hundred cases.”

Yuan Qingzhi lowered her head, saying nothing, and opened one of the witness reports.

This report was from about ten days ago. The witness claimed to have seen an unidentified luminous building deep underwater while diving in the sea near Qingcheng. This was reported to the Si Tian Jian by the relevant departments.

Yan Guchen politely turned his head, providing timely explanation, “Take the example you’re looking at now… The Si Tian Jian immediately visited and interviewed the witness, nailing down various details, finally confirming that what the witness saw was the East Sea Dragon Palace depicted in the opera The Sea Herder’s Daughter. However, when personnel locked onto the incident area and conducted field investigations—whether diving in person, checking surveillance, or using sonar—they found absolutely nothing, like a mirage that vanished instantly. This type of anomaly has occurred more than once, which is why the Si Tian Jian concluded that the opera is gradually merging with reality, but hasn’t fully merged yet.”

Yuan Qingzhi nodded in understanding. “From the looks of it, these anomalies are currently limited to inanimate objects like buildings. What I’m more concerned about is what you mentioned earlier—an extremely dangerous figure from the opera is about to emerge. What’s that about?”

“Miss Yuan is indeed perceptive. In fact, that is currently one of the most pressing problems.”

A wry smile appeared on Yan Guchen’s usually impassive face. “After compiling and investigating the anomalies, we finally determined that the opera merging with reality is the renowned Night Journey Chronicles.”

Night Journey Chronicles was a fragmented opera script based on tales of monsters and strange occurrences. The Sea Herder’s Daughter was one piece collected in the fifth volume of Night Journey Chronicles.

This series was created millennia ago, based on folk legends and further embellished, using ghosts, spirits, monsters, fox demons, and other supernatural beings as material. Many stories revealed truths about reality and contained deep metaphors, making them beloved by opera fans for ages and enduringly popular. Even Yuan Qingzhi’s father, Liu Wenqing, was a devoted, fanatical admirer of Night Journey Chronicles.

If this opera were to manifest in reality, it would absolutely not be a good thing.

Because at least half the characters in this opera weren’t human.

Yuan Qingzhi suddenly had a bad feeling. “The character about to emerge—which volume of Night Journey Chronicles is he from?”

Yan Guchen closed his eyes briefly. “…The first volume.”

In that instant, Yuan Qingzhi felt like she heard something shatter. Her brain, feverish with the lure of fifty million, instantly cooled down.

She finally understood why the Si Tian Jian had approached her looking so tense, like they were facing a major enemy, willing to throw out fifty million just to get her help. It turned out the earlier stuff was just the prelude; the real bombshell was waiting here.

“So, when you first said an extremely dangerous figure from the opera was about to emerge, you were referring to… the main villain of the first volume of Night Journey Chronicles—Yu Mengjing?” She couldn’t help but confirm, word by word.

“Correct.” Yan Guchen took the file, flipped to the first page, and pointed to the red binding labeled “Extremely Dangerous.”

“The first anomaly recorded by the Si Tian Jian involved a Qingcheng resident walking alone at night who caught a fleeting glimpse of Yu Mengjing’s signature structure, the ‘Night-Red Shrine,’ reflected in a puddle. The witness was startled, but when they took out their phone to record it, they found nothing in the water.”

“Synthesizing the timeline and variables of the anomalies witnessed, the Si Tian Jian reached two conclusions. One, the medium for the fusion between the opera and reality is water. All anomalies either occur on rainy days or are seen in water.”

“Two, the anomalies observed previously were all just residual images. The true fusion of opera and reality will begin progressively, starting with the first volume of Night Journey Chronicles. The character Yu Mengjing… is first in line.”

After a moment of silence, Yuan Qingzhi offered a sincere suggestion: “Honestly, maybe you guys should just give up.”

Might as well leave this rotten reality for those opera characters to enjoy. Maybe after experiencing the 996 grind for a while, they’d willingly go back into the opera themselves.

“No way, absolutely not!”

Before Yan Guchen could say anything, Jia Wenyu, in the driver’s seat, started crying out, “Miss Yuan, this concerns the future! If the demons and monsters from Night Journey Chronicles really appear in reality, things will get seriously out of hand!”

“Yeah, this matter is for the country and the people, it can’t be taken lightly! Miss Yuan, you absolutely can’t just stand by and watch!”

“Those are monsters, live ones!”

Hearing her talk about throwing in the towel, the car erupted in commotion.

Putting aside how many demons and monsters were included in the entire Night Journey Chronicles, just the various fantastical buildings appearing out of thin air after the opera merged with reality could cause mass panic among the public. It was terrifying to even imagine what that scene would look like.

“I understand the reasoning, but that’s Yu Mengjing we’re talking about…” Yuan Qingzhi pressed two fingers to her temples, a world-weary look on her face.

If you had to name the most classic and famous character in Night Journey Chronicles, it would undoubtedly be Yu Mengjing. The fact that other monsters in the same script only had epithets, while he possessed his own unique name, spoke volumes.

More than just a character, he was like a symbol, an emblem, a legend in opera history.

Since this character’s creation hundreds of years ago, he had inspired countless talented opera playwrights, who eagerly added to his personal story, fleshing him out, contributing their own efforts.

It wasn’t just scriptwriting. Outside the opera, generation after generation of famous performers had tried and failed to master the role of Yu Mengjing, suffering defeat. To this day, not a single person had managed to perform him to the level of “perfection,” making him their signature role.

Centuries of accumulation and attempts finally placed Yu Mengjing on a pedestal, making him universally acknowledged in opera circles as the most difficult character to play and interpret.

Never mind the present day; even in ancient times, very few opera actors dared to attempt performing him. Consequently, in modern times, he was often shelved due to the extreme difficulty of portrayal.

—Yet his popularity, absurdly, soared.

After all, modern audiences loved tropes like the unhinged psycho, the corrupted fallen character, the obsessive lover… and this guy was ahead of his time, embodying all these fashionable elements.

Yu Mengjing’s image in the opera itself was terrifying enough. He was non-human, with a perverse, unpredictable, treacherous yet magnificent personality. He excelled at bewitching hearts and minds, twisting right and wrong.

He also possessed an unbeatable ‘cheat’: “Anyone who sees his face will unconditionally fall madly in love with him.”

Such a character was certainly fine to appreciate from afar as part of an opera. But interacting with him personally… Yuan Qingzhi wished she could buy a standing-room train ticket right now and flee overnight, dragging the train with her if necessary.

“But we really have nowhere else to turn… Miss Yuan, please help us, save us!”

“I really want to help you too!” It was fifty million, who wouldn’t want to earn that?

Yuan Qingzhi held her head, her expression crumbling. “Why did it have to be Yu Mengjing? If only it were the Green Dream Fox from the second volume!”

The Si Tian Jian members were as frantic as ants scurrying on a hot pan.

There were only three days left until the Grand Opera Festival. Success or failure hinged on these three days.

“As long as you agree, whatever thoughts or conditions you have, you can raise them with us anytime. We will definitely fulfill them for you.”

Just as they were racking their brains, trying to figure out what else they could offer to sway the daughter of the opera grandmaster—their only lifeline—she finally twitched her ears, put away the file with a show of reluctance, and let out a long sigh.

“How about this.” Having achieved her goal, Yuan Qingzhi stated seriously, “Given the state of this mess, I’m afraid I’ll be like a hero going off to battle, never to return… To ensure I can go peacefully and die reassured, you need to buy me some accident insurance, provide me with the personal safety guarantee I deserve.”

This task was clearly extremely dangerous for others, but for Yuan Qingzhi, while there were risks, there was indeed a way to handle it.

First rule of the corporate drone life: Never let anyone see that you can earn money easily. To avoid upsetting the client’s sense of balance, you had to at least play the victim first, then logically agree.