The night sky hung over the apartment complex like a waterlogged grey blanket, heavy and suffocating. I crouched in the corner of the balcony, my fingertips absently tracing the dark-gold runes etched along the edge of my meteorite-iron cutting board. Five days. A full five days had passed since Captain Zhang took the grilled fish samples away, and the main quest still hovered on my system panel — Destroy the Vile Scale Powder Stockpile of Baizhen Pavilion — lodged in my throat like a fishbone.

"Old Ethan! You're picking a fight with that beat-up board again?" Jade Lin walked in carrying a washed bunch of grapes, her apron still dusted with the flour from the dough she'd kneaded that afternoon. "River's homeroom teacher pulled me aside at pickup today — apparently he painted a picture at school called 'Dad's Sword-Qi Grilled Fish,' and the teacher wanted to know if we've been letting him binge wuxia dramas."

I took a grape and popped it into my mouth. The sourness made me shudder. Ever since the last parent-teacher night, when I'd accidentally demonstrated the Breaker Wave Blade in what could only be described as an "Ultraman Beam" moment, River had been telling everyone his dad could do magic. The old codger inside my ring let out a contemptuous snort. "Idiot. I told you to keep a low profile. Now look — your own son's one step away from putting you on a street-performer billboard."

I ignored the system's jab and let my gaze drift to my phone on the living room coffee table. That was Captain Zhang's personal number. For the past several days I'd been staring at the screen every half hour, terrified of missing a single call. Jade Lin seemed to read right through me. She reached over and ruffled my hair. "Stop worrying. You know better than anyone what goes into our fish. Worst case it gets labelled some kind of 'novel medicinal cuisine.' It's not like they're going to run a report that says demons and monsters detected."

The words had barely left her mouth when the phone buzzed. "Captain Zhang" blinked on the screen. I practically lunged for it. Jade Lin yelped in fright; the grapes nearly scattered across the floor.

"Hello? Captain Zhang?" My voice came out slightly unsteady.

A hearty laugh crackled through the line. "Brother Ethan, good news! The test results are in. That grilled fish of yours? Not only completely clean — they actually found several trace elements no one's ever catalogued before. The expert panel is calling it a new food ingredient of exceptional developmental value!"

My grip on the phone went white-knuckled. The dark-gold runes on the cutting board flared, and a hairline thread of sword-qi shot out through the window, pinning a pair of socks from the drying line clean into the wall of the building opposite. Jade Lin cried out. I paid no attention whatsoever, shouting into the phone: "Seriously? So as for Baizhen Pavilion—"

"Baizhen Pavilion?" Captain Zhang's tone dropped. "Their report was pure fabrication. We've already issued them an official warning through proper channels. Oh — and my mother-in-law wouldn't stop going on about your fish yesterday. Says the joint pain she's had for years has eased up considerably since she ate it. When you reopen tomorrow, you'd better set aside two portions for me!"

I hung up and felt every last ounce of strength drain out of me. I sat down on the floor with a thud. Jade Lin rushed over to help me up, only to find herself yanked into a bear hug. "Honey! The fish is fine! We're actually fine!"

River came bolting out of his room at the commotion, Ultraman figure raised high overhead. "Dad, does this mean we can grill galaxy-flavoured fish now? I want to treat my whole class!"

The old system elder's voice carried a rare note of relief. "Lucky little punk. But don't celebrate too soon — the people at Baizhen Pavilion won't let this go quietly." He paused, then abruptly shifted tack. "Those 'trace elements' in the test report — that's residual spiritual energy from the Qi-Gathering Pills. Mortal instruments can pick up the energy fluctuations, but they can't analyse what's actually producing them."

No wonder the expert panel thought it was of exceptional developmental value. Jade Lin looked at me grinning like an idiot and shook her head with fond exasperation. "Alright, get up and get yourself together. We're back at the stall tomorrow. I already posted 'Spiritual Flavour Grilled Fish Returns Tomorrow' in the neighbourhood chat group — you should see the replies from the aunties and uncles. They're going absolutely berserk, like it's Lunar New Year and someone dropped a red-packet bomb."

---

The next morning at five o'clock, the sky still ink-dark, a thin rime of frost had settled across the stone-slab paths of the wet market. Jade Lin and I pushed our trolley to our familiar corner. The moment I propped up the Spiritual Flavour Grilled Fish sign, a chorus of coordinated throat-clearing erupted behind me. I turned around. Old Zhang had arrived, leading his full crew — the Sunset Striders Walking-Cane Brigade — each of them swinging a vegetable basket, all eyes fixed on us with the eager intensity of customers who had been kept waiting far too long.

"Young Ethan, we've been counting the days!" Old Zhang clapped me on the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock me sideways. "I made a bet with Old Wang from the next building over that your fish would come out clean. If you hadn't come back, I'd never have lived it down!"

Auntie Li piled on from beside him: "Exactly! My daughter-in-law says ever since she started eating your fish, her skin has been glowing. She made me promise to buy two extra today — says she's using them as a face mask!"

I burst out laughing. Jade Lin was already efficiently arranging the grill. Just then, Captain Zhang strolled over in civilian clothes, a document stamped with a large red seal in hand. "Brother Ethan — here's a copy of the test report. Keep it for your records." He lowered his voice. "The bureau posted the official public notice on their website last night. And by the way — that special ingredient in your fish? Someone upstairs is actually suggesting you apply for Intangible Cultural Heritage status."

End of Chapter 13: The All-Clear