PD -Chapter 6 Materialization

I had originally wanted to say that she could go home after we dealt with the shadow… but considering that the shadow might actually be Tang Shanshan’s father, I chose a more tactful way of putting it.

After hearing my words, Tang Shanshan remained dazed. She merely nodded, as if she were still immersed in memories of her father.

At that moment, Liu Xiaopeng handed her a glass of water. I stood up and patted him on the shoulder, quietly instructing him to keep an eye on Tang Shanshan and not let her wander off on her own. Then I headed into the study, switched on the computer on the desk, and carefully retrieved a sandalwood box from a drawer in the bookshelf.

Inside was the family heirloom passed down through my ancestors—a fragmentary volume titled The Record of Heaven-Piercing Mysteries.

The book itself was remarkably thick, around six or seven centimeters. However, at some point it had become incomplete. The last page was clearly not the true ending of the book, and the back cover was missing entirely.

I had always wondered what was recorded in the missing portion.

Although I had read the book countless times, there were still many things within it that I couldn’t fully understand.

I wasn’t some genius, nor did I possess a photographic memory. Whenever I encountered particularly difficult cases, I would often pull out this book for reference and then combine it with the greatest repository of knowledge in the modern world—the Internet.

I would search for every clue and piece of information related to the case and then analyze them to figure out a solution.

I opened The Spiritual Volume of The Record of Heaven-Piercing Mysteries. This section specialized in recording various supernatural entities and phenomena, some of which even included simple sketch illustrations.

In that regard, it was somewhat similar to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, though the records in The Record of Heaven-Piercing Mysteries were far more detailed.

Not only did it describe the appearance and characteristics of supernatural beings, but it also documented their weaknesses and even methods for subduing or countering them.

After browsing through the volume and searching for numerous related keywords online, I finally returned the book to its box and locked it away.

Meanwhile, Tang Shanshan sat obediently on the sofa. Her tears had dried, but her eyes remained distant and unfocused. No one knew what she was thinking.

I quietly walked past her and told Liu Xiaopeng that I needed to go upstairs for another look. After reminding him once more to keep an eye on her, I checked my pocket. Inside was the key Tang Shanshan had given me earlier.

Then I headed upstairs alone and entered her apartment once again to investigate.

Half an hour later, I returned to the agency drenched in sweat.

Liu Xiaopeng was sitting in front of the computer, but Tang Shanshan was nowhere to be seen.

I quickly scanned the room, my heart skipping a beat.

“Where’s Tang Shanshan?” I asked.

Without even looking up from the computer, Liu Xiaopeng replied, “In the bathroom.”

His answer eased my worries somewhat. I sat back down on the sofa and continued organizing my thoughts.

Five or six minutes passed.

Yet Tang Shanshan still hadn’t come out of the bathroom.

We couldn’t hear the slightest sound from inside.

I called out her name.

No response.

An ominous feeling immediately rose in my chest.

I rushed to the bathroom door and pounded on it, but there was still no answer.

Grinding my teeth, I slammed my shoulder into the door and forced it open.

The bathroom was completely empty.

The window stood wide open, and wind continuously blew in from outside. A towel hanging nearby swayed back and forth in the breeze.

My heart sank.

She had definitely slipped away while we weren’t paying attention, intending to meet the shadow she believed might be her father.

Cursing under my breath, I spun around and dashed out of the office, racing toward Tang Shanshan’s apartment upstairs.

As I ran up the stairs, I fished the key she had given me from my pocket.

Just as I suspected—that woman still had another key of her own.

By now, Liu Xiaopeng had realized the seriousness of the situation and was following close behind me.

By the time we reached her apartment door, we were both gasping for breath.

The security door outside was already open.

Without pausing to rest, we rushed inside.

A faint sound seemed to be coming from the bedroom, so we hurried to the doorway.

The bedroom, which had previously been shrouded in darkness, was now brightly lit.

Every corner of the room was illuminated.

Tang Shanshan stood on the carpet beside the bed.

Less than two meters in front of her stood a black humanoid figure.

Under the light, it flickered in and out of visibility, making it appear all the more eerie and conspicuous.

The shadow seemed incredibly unstable.

It resembled a sand sculpture on a beach, with the black “grains of sand” composing its body constantly shifting and flowing. It looked as though it might collapse into a heap at any moment.

The sight was enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.

Yet Tang Shanshan no longer appeared frightened.

Standing before the strange shadow, tears filled her eyes as she gazed at it with the expression one reserved only for a beloved family member.

The shadow’s behavior was equally strange.

This should have been the perfect opportunity for it to harm Tang Shanshan.

Yet it did nothing.

It simply stood there silently, as though struggling desperately to keep its body from falling apart.

Or perhaps it was expending every last bit of energy to make its form and appearance more tangible.

Standing at the doorway, I could already vaguely make out its facial features.

The hem of the iconic trench coat it wore had begun to flutter gently, despite the complete absence of wind.

I shifted my position slightly and viewed it from another angle.

The silhouette looked exactly like the figure in Tang Shanshan’s photograph.

At that moment, the shadow stood only a meter away from her.

Carefully, I edged my way into the room from the doorway, afraid that startling it might provoke some harmful action toward Tang Shanshan.

“Dad!”

Before I could do anything, Tang Shanshan suddenly cried out in excitement.

Clearly, she had finally recognized the increasingly distinct face before her.

“It’s really you! It’s really you, Dad!”

She became more and more emotional and started moving toward the shadow.

My heart immediately sank.

I grabbed her wrist.

She froze for a moment before struggling with all her strength to break free.

I tightened my grip and held her firmly in place.

By now, the shadow was no longer a shadow.

It had completely materialized into a man wearing a trench coat.

Only the gloomy black aura surrounding him remained, lingering around his body.

Seeing me restrain Tang Shanshan while she desperately tried to escape my hold, the once-expressionless face suddenly twisted with rage.

Murderous intent filled those pitch-black eyes.

The instant Tang Shanshan saw that expression, she froze and stopped struggling altogether.

I breathed a small sigh of relief.

Leaning close to her ear, I whispered: “Don’t move. Trust me.”

The moment the words left my mouth, the figure that had already materialized into a man suddenly turned completely black again.

The countless particles covering its body seemed to become living things of their own, frantically scurrying across its form.

Then, those innumerable grains of black sand began to reshape themselves.

They transformed into countless tiny black hands.

The hands stretched longer and longer—reaching toward Tang Shanshan and me.