Chapter 2331: Chapter 2326: The List (13)

Given the current situation, old man, what you just said is really easy to misunderstand.

The surroundings were still quiet, and in that moment, facing Cass’s statement, Fu Qian couldn’t help roasting him inwardly.

If you run through the three wishes completed so far, it’s not hard to see that although they look very disconnected, there’s still a thread tying them together.

For example, the question of why he didn’t show up for that promised meeting with Lucy.

Cardon had already said he was perfectly willing and had the time, but in the end he just didn’t go.

And then the experience at the inn just now—though it didn’t directly explain that point, it obviously, with very high probability, took place at night.

And Cardon had also said that his decades-long insomnia started from the day he met Lucy.

That night when Mr. Dickens felt unwell, could the reason Cardon noticed something was wrong have been simply because he wasn’t asleep?

Which then lets you infer that, on that journey all those years ago, something happened that caused some Transcendent-level change in Cardon, ultimately leading to him standing Lucy up.

And the third item on the list even touches on concepts that easily tie into the Transcendent—faith, secret groups.

For now he still couldn’t string the timeline together directly, but it was obvious these three things were already faintly linked to one another.

It even gave a partial reason why Cardon had chosen this remote place to fulfill his wishes—this was where his sublimation happened, the place that set him fundamentally apart from ordinary people.

All in all, once you plug in this bird’s-eye perspective, everything starts to look clearer.

But what follows easily nudges you into a habitual assumption: that the fourth item is also connected to the previous ones—for example, the old man has just been rejected by Lucy’s family, and now he’s planning to violently "make up" for that old regret.

Fortunately, as a professional, he was never going to be easily misled by this kind of trope.

At a certain moment, Fu Qian followed Cardon’s gaze and looked over at a white car.

...

So that’s what you meant earlier when you said there’s enough gas?

In theory, Fu Qian also shouldn’t have been able to see clearly what was over there, but he made no attempt to dodge the implication.

After all, people have memories; as long as you pay a bit of attention, you can clearly recall what was parked in the spot Cardon was looking at,

and this "upgraded" fourth wish, which at first might easily be misunderstood, was now actually even more straightforward than the previous ones—the target he was going to seize by force wasn’t a person, it was a car.

Sure enough, you have to stay flexible when solving problems; if you’re out of fuel and can’t find a gas station, you can just switch to another car.

"Okay."

His words and movements were both very crisp; Fu Qian got out of the car at once, even remembering to take the stuff he’d bought earlier.

And as for the spot where Mr. Cardon Sr. had dug his little pit earlier, he didn’t spare it a single glance, walking straight toward the new car.

"Do you know how to drive?"

Seeming very pleased with Fu Qian’s reaction, Cardon almost kept pace with him.

When they reached the car, he didn’t rush to act, instead watching Fu Qian with an examining look.

"I do."

Fu Qian’s reply and the sound of the door opening came almost simultaneously.

And as soon as he finished that first step, he went straight for the wires under the steering wheel and started fiddling with them.

"Excellent..."

The driver continued to deliver surprises, and Cardon really did just stand off to the side, not at all bothered about letting the other man help him fulfill his wish.

"Thanks."

Facts proved his judgment really was spot on; very soon the new car roared to life.

"Can you move to the back seat?"

Before Fu Qian could say anything polite, Cardon made a new suggestion.

...

Oh? Interesting request.

Well aware that his performance had already been excessively outstanding, Fu Qian still had no intention of toning it down.

Strictly speaking, this assignment was even more troublesome than a simple escort or rescue.

Making sure Cardon didn’t die was the bare minimum; on top of that he still had to guide him through his last wishes, make sure he didn’t give up halfway, all the way until the end.

And from the very beginning up to now, Cardon hadn’t taken out a single yellow sticky note to cross anything off or write something new.

It was as if that list existed only inside his head.

In short, facing this elderly man who was already half a foot in the grave, his own role was almost like that of a soul ferryman.

But precisely because the mission target was so fragile, he should all the more be the one setting the pace.

Cardon "hiring" Anke to come here was definitely not just about driving, and not at all just about pulling a gun on people.

First of all, these things were entirely within her own capabilities, whether or not she looked like she was about to die; she’d even technically died once already, but this was a bona fide Middle Tier we were talking about.

That little stunt of digging up the time capsule earlier was already enough proof.

And yet, when the contents of the list were so clearly not suitable to be shared with outsiders, he had insisted on bringing another person along.

What was even stranger was that, once this extra person was added, his attitude toward her was extremely ambiguous—

He could pull a gun, or not...

He could have her stay in the car, or get out...

He’d brought a witness, yet didn’t seem to care what exactly she witnessed...

The whole situation was undeniably baffling, but there was one thing that was almost certain: Cardon wasn’t the type to do anything meaningless.

As the driver, he was very important to the completion of the list.

Under those circumstances, Fu Qian didn’t mind turning passive into active, letting his own behavior become a bit weird as well.

It wasn’t that he had some perverse need to spice things up; it all stemmed from his earlier judgment—that the odds of completing the mission by just lying back and watching the show were slim.

Meaning that Cardon’s own ambiguous attitude didn’t just make it hard to assist him with the list.

Even if you let that ambiguity take the lead, odds were you still wouldn’t be able to push him to ultimate success.

It wasn’t enough to just lend an occasional hand; he needed to use this process to probe and piece together whatever lay hidden beneath the surface, locate the element that would cause Cardon to fail, and in the end really act as a soul ferryman.

"Of course."

Fu Qian stepped out from the driver’s seat, letting Cardon take possession of the result of his fourth wish.

"Thank you, our efficiency is really something."

And Cardon actually went ahead and declared another item completed, though his face didn’t show any emotion.

"The next item is called Reflection... now do you understand why I asked you to sit in the back?"

Looking at Fu Qian seated behind him, the old man, as expected, announced a new project.

"Let me guess... from here on out I’m you?"

He gave a slight nod; Fu Qian still didn’t dull his edge.

"Very good... from now on, our identities will be completely exchanged, we’ll become each other’s Reflection."

Cardon’s smile had something off about it as he confirmed this statement.

"We don’t know that much about each other, but please don’t stand on ceremony."

As he spoke, he even took something off his hand and passed it over.

A pendant with a slightly strange design, made entirely of metal; it didn’t look particularly valuable, but it had a weird feel to it—and it looked familiar.

As he reached out to take it, Fu Qian naturally recalled what this thing had looked like hanging from that skeleton.

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