Chapter 32: You claim there is no wind, so why do the ripples in my heart refuse to fade?

"You’d better be prepared; if you don't let go this time, then in the future..."

Xu Zhiting tilted his head to look at Yan Ye, who was supporting him. Her soft hair brushed against his ear, sending a tingling sensation through his entire body. Everything around them seemed to hit a pause button, leaving only the sound of their shallow, intertwined breaths.

"What did you just say?"

Her voice had been too quiet; she hadn't heard the whole thing. She only caught a few fragmented words. *Prepared? Let go?* Did that mean he didn't want her help?

*Impressive, Xu Zhiting. You truly are the head of the Superpower Bureau, so stubborn and able to endure. If you have the nerve to say you don't need it, then stand up straight, properly, on your own. This swaying appearance of yours, as if a breeze could knock you over, is just annoying to watch.*

Though she thought this to herself, she didn't move her hands. There was a room off the main hall, and Yan Ye helped him inside. The floor was a mess, which, combined with his injuries, painted a bleak picture.

"Do you people at the Superpower Bureau all prefer to bandage yourselves up when you're hurt?"

"Superpower incidents have been frequent over the last two years. Beijing is holding up, but many outer districts have already fallen. The bureau is short-handed. As long as I am... as long as I am fine, the bureau remains stable. Once it's known that I’m injured, there's no telling how many people within these walls might harbor ulterior motives."

Although his initial intentions for climbing to this position were impure, now that he bore this responsibility, he had never once thought of slacking off. The position of Bureau Chief was merely a chip to accelerate his reunion with Yan Ye.

*Has the unrest outside really become this severe?*

"What about the doctors? I remember Su Huai'an is with your bureau, and he’s highly skilled at healing."

"He’s on a business trip and hasn't returned yet."

He struggled to handle the gauze with one hand, having only managed to get halfway through before coming out to meet her. Watching his clumsy efforts, Yan Ye was speechless. She snatched the supplies from his hand and pushed firmly against his chest. He cooperated, sinking into the chair, one arm draped over the armrest, hanging slightly limp.

Yan Ye set the supplies down and crouched before him. Xu Zhiting froze. Before he could react, Yan Ye softly snapped, "Don't move." He obeyed, staying perfectly still, his eyes fixed on her without blinking.

His wounds weren't as exaggerated as A-Wei had described, but they were far from minor. A long, jagged wound ran down his forearm, the blood-red flesh torn open, some parts deep enough to show bone.

"Logically speaking, you shouldn't have been injured this severely." She didn't expect an answer, just voicing her thoughts aloud.

Hearing her voice and watching her bow her head to dress his wounds with such focus, Xu Zhiting’s free hand almost reached out to touch her hair.

He hadn't been injured to save Tang Shuo, but the enemy had used illusions, not only causing them to lose their way in the forest but also scattering them to be taken down one by one. The flower blooming in the soil of Xu Zhiting’s heart looked exactly like the person before him. Once a man has a weakness, he is no longer invincible.

"Are you cold?"

Yan Ye gave him a confused look; she was practically breaking a sweat! "There’s no breeze here! And I’m roasting from working, thank you very much." The "thank you" sounded somewhat sarcastic.

*Is that so? You say there is no breeze, but why then do the ripples in my heart refuse to fade?*

Yan Ye worked quickly, cleaning away the messy bloodstains, applying medicine, and wrapping the gauze in neat layers. When the muscles in his arm twitched, she thought she had hurt him.

"If it hurts, say so! No need to bottle it up."

At that moment, he felt like a coward, though not because of the pain. It was because he couldn't help himself; in certain places, he was on the verge of making an offensive move. If he had known his self-restraint was so poor, he wouldn't have put on this "bitter misery" act. But without it, how could he have had this quiet moment with her?

Yan Ye tied the knot and patted his arm lightly, satisfied with her handiwork. "All done!"

Xu Zhiting stood up as she did. "Thank you."

"Now, can you hand over the person?"

Xu Zhiting nodded and headed toward the back. Yan Ye followed him to the elevator, which had yet to reach the top floor.

"You could have gone straight to pick her up, but you came to me first. That means I’m more important than the person you’re here to collect."

Nonsense. Yan Ye wanted to refute him, but the words died on her lips—it did seem that way. When one cannot refute another, the ultimate retort is silence.

"If that’s how you want to think, there’s nothing I can do about it."

Indeed, Xu Zhiting said nothing more. They returned to his office, where he made a call. Zhuang Qingchun was brought in, accompanied by Zhuang Ruyin.

Zhuang Ruyin was an ordinary person, yet she possessed something that shocked the investigation team: she had developed a dangerous, volatile, and highly unstable supernatural ability. Judging by the data, it seemed to have been with her since childhood.

There must have been an external influence. Imagine if ordinary people possessed unstable, uncontrollable, and destructive powers—the world would descend into chaos. This was a significant discovery; now that Zhuang Ruyin had been uncovered, one could only imagine how many others remained hidden.

Seeing Yan Ye, Zhuang Qingchun broke free from her guards and ran to her. The bureau had treated her well; she looked even a bit plumper. Zhuang Ruyin, however, looked haggard. She had tried to provoke the bureau using her two personalities, but her fate was sealed.

After being subjected to precision instruments to excise the powers from her body, Zhuang Ruyin became much more normal. Her case was reclassified from special to ordinary. Beyond the kidnapping of Feng Zheng, it was discovered that at age twelve, she had killed a homeless man in her hometown. The circumstances were heartbreaking.

The homeless man had tried to assault her when she was walking home from school alone. He dragged her into the woods, and in the process, Zhuang Ruyin’s dormant, dangerous power was accidentally triggered. The man was killed in the woods. Because he was a vagrant with no one to claim him, the truth had been successfully covered up.

From then on, her grandmother had gone to a temple to get her a peace talisman, which was kept in a pendant that grew up with her.

"That talisman was obtained from Jinming Temple. It’s likely the pendant absorbed the spiritual energy from the talisman, and over time, it accidentally developed a consciousness."

*Jinming Temple?* Why was it that place again? The thug who broke into her home had also claimed his talisman came from Jinming Temple. Could it be a coincidence?

"What’s wrong? Did you think of something?" Seeing her lost in thought, Xu Zhiting waved his hand in front of her.

"Nothing. I’m taking Zhuang Qingchun. As for the other one, handle her as you see fit."

Xu Zhiting was about to see her out when he was called away by his subordinates. By the time he finished, Yan Ye had been gone for quite some time.