Ao Bing coughed, caught off guard. He quickly leaned back in his chair, grabbed his beer and took a long gulp. There was a split second where he could feel the heat rise in his cheeks, though he quickly masked it with a neutral expression. Yi Zichen on the other hand, caught on and chuckled loudly.

Yi Zichen leaned back, his smile easy and unforced. 

“I know, you don’t want to fall in love with me,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. 

Yi Zichen was joking, of course, yet Ao Bing couldn’t help but feel the heat rise in his ears once more.

“How about this,” Yi Zichen continued. “What if the two of us just happen to find ourselves on the beach again with our surfboards? We could catch some waves, enjoy the ocean, and leave it at that.”

Despite his initial irritation, Ao Bing found himself unable to refuse Yi Zichen’s proposal.

“Sure,” Ao Bing answered casually. 

Yi Zichen’s face lit up with a triumphant smile, and he was about to say something else as his phone buzzed on the table, interrupting the moment. He glanced down at the screen.

”Looks like my buddies are waiting for me,” he said, tucking his phone back into his pocket and stood up, stretching a little. His eyes lingered on Ao Bing for a moment longer, as if weighing what it was he left unsaid. Then he flashed that same easy grin. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Ao Bing nodded. 

Walking away, Yi Zichen gave a casual wave, and turned to head down the street. “Catch you later, Jianyu.”

Ao Bing watched him go, the way Yi Zichen emphasized saying ‘Jianyu’ ringing in his ears. 

***

Erlang Shen sat behind his intricately carved wooden desk, the soft glow of his computer screen casting an otherworldly light over the room which was filled with ancient maps and scrolls. His eyes flickered back and forth between the digital display and the parchment documents, meticulously piecing together the puzzle of the recent surge in demonic activity within Midnight City. Each report detailed occurrences and unexplained violence that corresponded eerily with sightings of demonic entities.

The glow from the computer screen bounced off of his long, chiseled face and serious brows. His dark brown hair was slicked back neatly, and his crisp sportcoat was tailored perfectly to his tall, muscular frame. His piercing gaze seemed to weigh and measure every detail that came up on his computer screen.

His concentration was interrupted by the arrival of Sun Wukong. She threw a stack of notes onto the desk with a flourish. She was dressed in a sleek, modern pantsuit paired with sky-high heels. At 5’0”, she was relatively petite, so Sun Wukong delighted in the added height of high-heeled stilettos. Her heels clicked assertively on the floor as she moved towards Erlang Shen’s desk.

“I think I stumbled upon something interesting tonight, Director,” she announced. 

Erlang Shen stopped typing on his computer and looked up at Sun Wukong, his interest piqued. “Go on.”

Leaning against the desk, Sun Wukong described the earlier events of the evening with the latest demonic encounter to Erlang Shen. When she got to the part about Yi Zichen being able to see the Celestial plane, she lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Despite lacking spiritual or divine energy, he could see both Ao Bing and myself--and even described a red aura circling the demons he saw.”

Erlang Shen pulled up a file of the latest demon that was spotted in Midnight City. “Red aura?” He scanned the photo but couldn’t make out any type of red glow. 

Sun Wukong reiterated that Yi Zichen was sure he saw this red glow around the demons. 

“Curious,” Erlang Shen murmured. “What’s his story? Should I go pay him a visit?”

Sun Wukong shook her head, her expression turning serious. “He doesn’t want to get involved.”

“He may not have a choice in this matter,” said Erlang Shen firmly.

“You out of all people know we can’t just force mortals into our Celestial matters,” Sun Wukong cautioned.

Erlang Shen paused, considering Sun Wukong’s reminder of the Celestial law which governed their interactions with the mortal realm. The law was clear, designed to protect mortals from becoming unwilling pawns in the games of gods and deities. It was a rule that safeguarded the balance between the Celestial and Mortal realms, a balance that Erlang Shen, Sun Wukong and Ao Bing all had fought to maintain throughout the centuries.

“Perhaps Ao Bing could be persuaded to bring Yi Zichen into the fold,” Sun Wukong suggested casually. “They’ve developed a certain…rapport.”

Erlang Shen’s brow rose inquisitively. “What sort of rapport?” It wasn’t like the Dragon Prince to take a liking to strangers.

“Ao Bing seems to trust this child,” Sun Wukong replied, her tone dismissive of the need to elaborate further.

With a nod, Erlang Shen turned his attention back to his computer and began to pull up information on Yi ZIchen. The screen filled with the profile of the 35-year old lawyer who was a resident of Midnight City for most of his life. Yi Zichen’s academic credentials were impressive, having studied at a university in Japan before attending a prestigious law school in the United States. Upon returning to Midnight City, he secured a position at one of the top international law firms.

Both Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen studied the screens that came up before them, reviewing a detailed dossier on Yi Zichen’s life. He served as a guest lecturer at the law schools in the surrounding areas, and devoted his free time to volunteering at a local children’s orphanage--the same orphanage that took him in when both of his biological parents were killed tragically in a car accident when he was six years old. He was then adopted by the Yi family, who had given him a nurturing home until their own deaths a few years prior. 

Sun Wukong leaned closer to the screen, scrutinizing the details of Yi Zichen’s life. “He seems so…normal,” she mused. 

“You’re certain that he had no traces of spiritual energy?”

Sun Wukong shook her head. “Not even a little bit.”

Erlang Shen nodded, his fingers drumming on the desk. Mulling something over, he turned back to the console, initiating a deeper scan through the Celestial Agency’s Reincarnation Database, which contained detailed records of all reincarnated souls across millenia. As the creator and director of the CIA, Erlang Shen designed this database to be an omnipotent tool for tracking the spiritual lineage and divine affiliations of beings across different lifetimes.

The computer whirred, processing the request through layers of celestial data. Moments later, the screen displayed the results: 

NO RECORDS FOUND.

Yi Zichen’s spiritual profile was as blank as the day he was born. No traces of reincarnation, no divine markers, nothing that would suggest a hidden spiritual heritage.

Sun Wukong shook her head, puzzled. Erlang Shen leaned back in his chair, his gaze distant and thoughtful. 

Finally, he said: “Let’s keep a close eye on this kid.”