Lin Xi felt like she was dreaming.

When she had mysteriously died, she hadn’t felt like she was dreaming. Instead, when she saw Du Zichun, she felt like she was dreaming.

Because she had already had such dreams countless times.

Every time she woke up, it was an even more heart-wrenching pain.

She didn’t even dare turn around to look, afraid this was another self-deceptive dream.

But strangely, the warmth from the embrace behind her soothed the unease in her heart.

Lin Xi didn’t have time to analyze why her five senses had recovered. She remained silent for a while, then tentatively asked: “…Zichun?”

“Yes, it’s me.” Du Zichun’s distinctive magnetic voice sounded softly in her ear.

“This past year and more, you’ve always been by my side?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Were you the one helping me solve cases? Protecting me?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

Lin Xi closed her eyes, feeling she was truly a fool. Du Zichun had been lingering and wandering by her side for so long, yet she hadn’t noticed any clues!

After the two calmed their emotions, Du Zichun began recounting his experiences.

It turned out that over a year ago, when he was investigating a case, he was ambushed and fell into a coma. When he woke up, he was in this ghostly state.

At first, he was like Lin Xi had been, thinking he was dead with only his soul remaining. He never found his own remains and knew he had been classified as a missing person.

He originally thought he would dissipate into thin air before long, but after several months, he maintained this state.

He often went to visit his parents and Lin Xi, accompanying Lin Xi on cases during the day and staying with his parents at home at night. This habit had somehow continued, with no one noticing anything unusual.

He discovered that as long as he concentrated with strong will, he could touch some lightweight small objects. Combined with what amounted to an invisible perspective, solving cases became even easier, so he had been secretly helping Lin Xi solve cases all along.

He wanted to protect her, even though he was already dead.

Lin Xi cried uncontrollably.

Du Zichun reached out to wipe away her tears. Knowing her temperament, ordinary comfort wouldn’t work, so he said just one sentence that made her stop crying.

“I know who the murderer is who harmed us.”

Lin Xi immediately perked up. Du Zichun had been secretly guarding by her side and must have seen who did it. Lin Xi thought for a moment, and memories from before she lost consciousness also returned. She sighed and said: “It should be Fan Ze, right?”

Du Zichun nodded: “Although I’m not clear about his motive, our situation doesn’t seem as bad as we imagined.”

Lin Xi was stunned.

The director had been questioned all afternoon and returned to his office in a bad mood.

How would he know where that female officer had disappeared to, and how would he know how that male officer was injured? Why did everyone interrogate him like he was a suspect?

But with accidents happening one after another at the museum, was there some problem?

Tsk, he had just asked that young Lu Zigang to check the feng shui. Young people really weren’t reliable. Should he try his luck at the Mute House again? Maybe the boss would be there today?

But at this critical juncture, if he ran to the Mute House after work, he’d definitely be tailed by people from the police station! Wouldn’t that cause trouble for the boss?

The director was hesitating when he discovered a photo placed on his office desk.

Strange, the photos he developed today were all properly hung in the darkroom. He didn’t remember taking out a single one.

Picking up the photo, the director pushed his reading glasses and looked carefully, his expression immediately changing.

This photo! He remembered when he took it, it was clearly an empty office! The blood pool on the floor was still there!

Now the director knew something was wrong. Many film and TV works had shown that film cameras could capture ghosts. And this photo had run out of the darkroom by itself—it couldn’t have grown legs, could it?

Goosebumps rose all over his body. The director couldn’t care whether the police questioning would implicate the Mute House and immediately drove to the commercial street.

Hurriedly walking through the door with his walking stick, the director was delighted to find the boss was actually there today. He quickly placed the photo down and explained the whole situation.

The boss glanced at the overexposed photo and showed some interest, raising an eyebrow: “These two people should have been sprayed with mirage breath by a sea mirage shell.”

“Ah? Mirage breath? The mirage from mirage?” the director asked puzzledly.

“Yes. Small ones are called clams, large ones are called mirages. Both are shell creatures, mollusk types. Sea mirage shells are actually just larger clams. It’s said the mirage breath they emit produces illusions, forming mirages on the sea surface.” The boss closed the book in his hands and explained calmly.

“This is legendary, right? Aren’t mirages natural phenomena of light refraction?” the director said with half-belief.

“But ancient books actually have two interpretations for mirages,” the boss glanced at the director, not bothering to discuss science with him. If science could explain it, why would he come here seeking help? “One type is sea mirage shells, while the other is mirage dragons. Strangely, both creatures have the same ability—the mirage breath they emit produces illusions.”

“You mean these two creatures are actually the same type?” This time the director understood immediately.

“Exactly. Sea mirage shells have always been dissatisfied with their small bodies, jealous of sea dragons, so they take dragon form through illusion, calling themselves mirage dragons. Therefore, the term ‘sea mirage shell’ implies jealousy and the desire to usurp and replace.” The boss pointed at the photo. “If someone obtains this sea mirage shell, the jealous emotions will be infinitely amplified until becoming unbearable. These two people are probably victims.”

“Is there any way to save them?” the director asked earnestly. Since this case happened at the museum where he worked, he naturally couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

“These two people aren’t actually dead. Although sea mirage shells are evil objects, they wouldn’t harm human lives. It’s just that after inhaling mirage breath, the whole person enters an illusion, creating a discrepancy with the actual world.”

“Ah, I hear but don’t understand.” The director looked confused.

Lu Zigang beside him understood and interjected: “It’s actually dimensional displacement. Like mirages appearing on the sea surface, they might show scenery from thousands of meters away, or scenery from years ago. The spacetime these two people are in is different from the spacetime we’re in, which is why others can’t see them. Only the special developing materials in film cameras can capture their images.”

“Huh? Isn’t this basically invisibility?” The director suddenly had an epiphany. “That kingfisher feather hairpin also suddenly disappeared. Could someone have used a sea mirage shell to commit that crime too?”

The boss didn’t answer this question but casually asked: “Did you two follow the director here? If you’re here, please give a sign.”

The photo on the counter moved without wind, turning itself in a circle.

Witnessing everything, the director was horrified and looked around suspiciously, quietly backing away two steps to distance himself from the counter.

The boss raised his chin toward Lu Zigang, who understood and went to the inner room to search for something.

“The method to break the sea mirage shell’s effect is quite simple—just get sprayed with mirage breath once more to dispel it. Fortunately, the shop still has one sea mirage shell.” The boss looked up, speaking lightly to somewhere in the air. “Don’t worry, no payment is required. Just take care of this shop a bit when it encounters problems in the future.”

The boss spoke casually, obviously just being polite. The director twitched his beard, originally wanting to complain, but lacking the courage, he held it back.

Soon, Lu Zigang came back out, holding a brocade box containing a palm-sized sea mirage shell with colorfully lustrous shell, very beautiful yet somehow eerily strange.

Lin Xi held Du Zichun’s hand tightly. Although the young man in clothes embroidered with red dragons spoke lightly, who knew what would happen? She instinctively closed her eyes.

A moment later, what she waited for was Du Zichun’s voice talking to another person.

“Brother, could you lend me your phone?”

Lin Xi opened her eyes just in time to see Du Zichun taking the young clerk’s phone with one hand to dial a number. While waiting for the call to connect, he turned his head toward her with a roguish smile.

Lin Xi’s eyes immediately reddened. This time she truly saw Du Zichun clearly, not a blurry ghostly figure.

Du Zichun explained his identity to colleagues on the phone while lovingly touching Lin Xi’s cheek. Heaven knew he had done this countless times over the past year, but Lin Xi had been completely unaware.

Lin Xi’s emotions surged, completely missing what Du Zichun was saying. She greedily looked at Du Zichun’s face, also learning from him to reach out and confirm the other’s existence.

The director rolled his eyes, completely speechless about young people showing affection.

But Du Zichun’s expression suddenly changed. After hurriedly confirming a few things, he hung up and returned the phone to Lu Zigang.

“What happened?” Lin Xi quickly asked.

Du Zichun originally didn’t want to speak here, but having personally experienced the magical nature of this antique shop, he respectfully asked the boss for advice: “Sir, the murderer who harmed us originally wounded himself to clear suspicion, but problems were discovered by the forensic doctor examining the blood evidence. However, during the process of being taken into custody, he disappeared.”

Lin Xi gasped. She could now deduce Fan Ze’s psychology.

He probably had only a vague understanding of the sea mirage shell’s uses before, at most daring to use it on non-living things or targets he wanted to eliminate, not daring to use mirage breath on himself. Now that he was exposed, he probably couldn’t care about such concerns.

This was essentially invisibility—how could they catch him?

The boss was unconcerned, chuckling lightly: “This is nothing. No matter how it fantasizes, a sea mirage shell is still just a shell and can’t become a real dragon.”

Du Zichun pondered this sentence several times, the worry in his brow gradually changing to determination.

Right, he had endured the most difficult times—what was there to fear in the future?

Du Zichun squeezed Lin Xi’s hand. He had obtained the most precious treasure of his life and would never let go.