Gou Jiang of the Holmes Family was not considered a very important person within the family.
Although he was somewhat clever and had a decent knack for solving riddles, after all, he was not a Spirit Power user—this was his greatest limitation.
So, when the news of his disappearance was confirmed, the family simply published a brief memorial article, without any sort of ceremony or banquet; it was treated as just another clan member passing away as usual.
To put it bluntly, Gou Jiang’s disappearance—or death—wasn’t seen as a big deal, nor did it really affect anyone.
But if he were still alive, or rather, if his consciousness remained in this world and could somehow transmit information out…
Then the situation would be entirely different.
From the standpoint of lineage, Gou Jiang was considered Beilian’s uncle, though they weren’t necessarily blood-related, since the Holmes Family itself was originally formed by the merger of several different families.
As for her memories of him, most were vague impressions from childhood festivals or occasional family gatherings, so most of what she knew about him came from listening to Uncle Yakobu, who was of the same generation as Gou Jiang.
“Gou Jiang disappeared over a decade ago. We can’t be certain exactly when he met with misfortune; we only know that the last time he was completely out of contact was about eighteen years ago.”
Uncle Yakobu was from the same generation as Gou Jiang. They weren’t exactly childhood companions, but their relationship was quite close. When he spoke of this matter, his tone grew somber:
“He was always a polite and graceful man from a young age, but few people knew he actually had a heart that yearned for adventure. He used to travel all over, and whenever he returned, I would mock him for the odd things he encountered out there.
One time, not long before he disappeared, he told me he had found traces of a group of mysterious people—he suspected they might be related to certain incidents.”
Yakobu was referring to those people, and Beige quickly explained: before the family’s great merging, several branches were still fighting over the rightful inheritance, when, one night, a group of strangers appeared out of nowhere, launching a sudden attack on the family estate, stealing many of their treasured possessions, leaving them with heavy losses.
This incident made the branches realize that, in this world, fighting alone was too risky. It pushed them to finally unite the family.
Later, they tried to track down those people, but found that it was as if they’d vanished into thin air, leaving not a single clue.
With no leads and so much else to handle, the family had to give up the pursuit and focus on their own affairs. Only Gou Jiang, who loved unraveling mysteries and adventure and who had no heavy family responsibilities, kept seeking their whereabouts.
“emmmmm,” Xu Chuyao couldn’t help but interject, “so, are you saying those people never existed at all?”
“I didn’t say that,” Beilian quickly waved her hands, “but Uncle’s version is basically like that.”
“I see.”
Li Hu’s heart skipped a beat. She thought, This is bad. It really is them—it matches exactly what the Head Teacher was talking about yesterday on the flight, the same group from the predecessor of the Academy.
She couldn’t help but glance back at her girlfriend with a meaningful look.
This time, Shen Ning did notice but didn’t understand why Yaoli was looking at her like that.
“Do you still remember, I once told you something,” Li Hu whispered in her ear, voice heavy with meaning, “In this world, fate will always catch up to us.”
But she couldn’t say things more directly. Such a cryptic sentence was lost on the young girl, who was still pondering the significance of Yaoli’s strange gaze.
Hah… Could it be that she was talking to that woman Beiti, and felt guilty, so she kept looking at me?
Repressed afterimage: “Why are you acting like this, making it seem as if you’re up to something, like you’re hiding something delicious?”
But it couldn’t be helped. It was just a normal warning—everyone else would feel the same way, right?
“Can we contact him, then?”
“You’d better ask Wang Ning… Shen Feng.”
Xu Chuqiong, worried that her girlfriend was too distracted, called her back to focus, repeating the Holmes Family’s request: help pass on a message to Gou Jiang, both to ask about what happened back then and also to bring greetings from Yakobu and Beige, saying it’s been so many years and they still miss him.
Whether or not he missed them, Beiti couldn’t say for sure. After all, she’d still been a child when he disappeared, and their chances to meet before were few and far between. Yakobu truly did miss him, though—they’d spent a lot of time together when they were younger, so his feelings were genuine.
Shen Feng understood, but was a bit troubled: “I can’t always reach him. In fact, I’ve been to that place many times, and only ran into him by accident once. The place is huge—absolutely massive—and there are so many people.”
Never mind Gou Jiang—even her own relatives, she’d never managed to find them even once. With tens of thousands of souls imprisoned in the Soulstone, finding a single person was like looking for a needle in the ocean.
Yakobu was a bit disappointed to hear this: “So, there’s no way to contact him?”
“No, actually, there is a way.” Xu Chuli quickly spoke up, “If we really want to, we have to bring him here directly.”
When the others turned to her, the tall girl raised her small hand: “Let’s just summon him out ourselves.”
“That works.”
“No problem. You all know how the previous Soulstone summoning worked—the principle is the same. We just need two things—a bit of Strange Stone, and someone who’s closely related to him.”
Beige and Uncle Yakobu exchanged glances, and finally, Yakobu nodded vigorously.
“Let’s do it.”
No sooner said than done—he immediately arranged for someone to get started.
Shen Jie suddenly realized that this collaboration with the Holmes Family was actually quite beneficial to her as well. She was anxious to find Gou Jiang and ask about news of Wang Ying.
If he couldn’t be found in the Spirit Power World through the Soulstone, she could use her connections in reality to pull him out directly.
Best of all, she didn’t even need to do the work herself—she could just sit by in the hotel, eat some Snow Cake, and watch the show.
They didn’t even need to book a hotel. The Holmes Family had a small manor on the outskirts of Yingxunsi City.
After putting up the proper front and politely inviting Xu Chuyao’s group over as guests, they carefully made sure there were no spies or surveillance before setting up the site.
“You have Strange Stone here already?” Xu Chuli was surprised, “I thought we’d have to go buy some on the black market or something.”
She saw Jiang carrying a planter that needed cleaning and called softly after her: “Don’t forget, who gave you the tip-off about the last Soulstone transfer?”
After the hearing, it was publicly announced that no one else was allowed to possess official Soulstones, but that never stopped private collectors.
Strange Stones are natural minerals, not state-issued, nor chemically synthesized. If you go hiking in the deep mountains, you might just dig up a chunk.
So, last time, when the large-scale transfer emptied the stock, everyone involved took a little bit as their share—nearly everyone who handled it kept some.
Otherwise, how could they have reported over forty missing crates?
Very quickly, they finished setting up the venue. According to Xu Chuyao’s instructions, they left some inorganics on a patch of empty ground, about the mass of two adults, arranged redundantly, and were ready to begin.
“Alright, let’s start. Listen, in a moment, you must focus on Liu Ling—remember the times you played together.”
She had Yakobu stand in the center, holding a small piece of Strange Stone, and pressed it hard to the ground.
A faint, deep green light flickered softly. In no time, a tall, elegant man appeared there.
Xu Chuli retreated to her girlfriend’s side, and saw Wang Li nodding at her, signaling that everything was fine—this was the right person.
“Gou Jiang!” Yakobu saw him, looking exactly as he remembered from over a decade ago, and his voice quavered, “You’ve really come!”
As the most senior soul in the Soulstone world, Gou Jiang had returned to the human world several times, but this time was different from the previous accidental incidents—he immediately saw the people standing before him.
Time had etched a few extra lines of maturity and steadiness on their faces, but in their eyes, he could still vaguely recognize the old friends.
“Yakobu? Is it you who called me?”
“Yes, it’s me. All these years, the family thought you…”
He saw Jiang bustling over and, catching sight of her, stopped mid-sentence, surprised.
“Hey—Beiti! I used to carry you in my arms when you were little! Wait, hasn’t it been more than a decade? Why do you still look the same?”
Still the same little girl as before—hadn’t grown at all.