Is this what a zombie is?

57. I call out to you... Your Highness

"Snap!"

The coffee table next to it shattered with a crash.

"Holy crap!"

Ai Yi was so frightened that she jumped up from the sofa and quickly moved away from Jiang Chen; it was too dangerous.

There's no way around it; Jiang Chen's current state is very unstable. As long as he gets a little emotionally agitated, he'll generate electrical discharges, which will damage the people and appliances around him. In the past few days, Ai's family has already replaced several batches of appliances and furniture.

"I think," Ai Yi said cautiously, peeking out from behind the sofa, "if all else fails, you should discharge the excess electricity. Find an open space and let it dissipate; that's safer. And... it'll save my family some electricity."

"Do you think your family is short of electricity?" Jiang Chen rolled his eyes.

"My family doesn't lack anything, but I still feel a little heartache because so many things have been ruined."

The two laughed and joked for a while, and the atmosphere finally relaxed a bit.

Ai Yi's gaze returned to the television, where the news was still broadcasting some details about the missing baby case, as well as the reward amount.

The reward was quite substantial, as the eight missing babies came from families with considerable wealth, and the combined reward was as high as 100,000.

"Are there still human traffickers these days? I don't know what these traffickers are thinking, making such a big fuss. Now they have surveillance equipment and all sorts of documents, so even taking the child out of the city is a problem for them."

Ai Yi stroked his chin, completely baffled by this thankless and exhausting behavior.

Jiang Chen frowned slightly. He also felt that this behavior was risky and completely counterproductive, but it was not something he should worry about.

After all, he is in dire straits himself, like a clay bodhisattva crossing a river, and has no extra energy to deal with other things.

The most urgent task is to take control of this force as soon as possible.

He had to go into seclusion and expand his body's capacity limit in the shortest possible time.

……

The next day, Ai Yi changed into a suit and got into his company's car, looking quite respectable.

Although he hasn't graduated from university yet, he already has seven or eight years of work experience, which means he started working before he was even an adult.

As the sole heir to the Ai Group, he had already established a nominal position within the company early on.

However, he usually doesn't care about any specific matters. Whether it's attending meetings, listening to reports, or participating in decision-making, all he needs to do is sign the contract.

His original name was not Ai Yi; he changed it to Yi for convenience.

It has the fewest strokes and is simple and convenient.

Don't think that just anyone can do this kind of job as a tool or mascot.

To become a mascot, you need to have the corresponding luck and destiny.

There was once a famous feng shui master in Hong Kong who examined Ai Yi's fate and predicted that he was born with the destiny of an emperor. Even if he did nothing, he would have a smooth and worry-free life.

Edward, Ai Yi's father, firmly believed this.

The facts have proven the master's vision.

Over the years, any project signed by Ai Yi, no matter how outrageous it seemed in the early stages or how tortuous the process, has always been successfully implemented in the end.

This allowed Aijia to amass great wealth and grow into a leading group in the industry.

In the past, Ai Yi scoffed at these feudal superstitions.

But after experiencing Jiang Chen's series of extraordinary events, he felt that there might actually be some truth to this.

Since believing it won't hurt, I might as well believe it a little.

At 3 p.m., Ai Yi finished her tedious signing work, slipped out of the company building, and went into a newly opened popular milk tea shop nearby, ready to relax and take a break.

He found a seat by the window, leisurely sipping his milk tea and scrolling through his phone.

But soon, Ai Yi sensed that something was wrong.

The surroundings became quiet, eerily quiet.

The once bustling and noisy milk tea shop seemed to have been put on pause.

The men and women still queuing to order, the couples whispering to each other, and the busy shop assistants behind the counter all stood still.

The expression on his face was completely frozen.

Ai Yi suddenly turned her head and looked out the window.

The streets were still bustling with traffic and people, a scene of prosperity and liveliness.

The sunlight was perfect, streaming in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and casting a warm patch of light on the table in front of him.

But this warmth made him feel a strange chill.

The world outside the bubble tea shop is normal, but the people inside have all become strangely frozen puppets.

Ai Yi's heart sank little by little.

He wasn't stupid; he pretended not to notice anything amiss and tried to call Jiang Chen.

But his fingers were frozen. No matter how hard he tried, his fingers wouldn't move, and he just couldn't press the dial button.

A very light, very slow footstep came from behind him.

Ai Yi's body tensed up, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

The footsteps stopped beside his desk.

Immediately afterwards, a gaunt figure pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.

Ai looked up at the uninvited guest opposite her.

It was an old man.

An old man with a withered face, as if all the moisture in his body had been drained away.

He was dressed in a gray Tang suit with dark patterns, his body was hunched over, and he was holding a black dragon-headed cane. The dragon head on the cane was carved so lifelike that its two eyes were scarlet gems, staring at Ai Yi with a sinister gaze.

The most striking feature of the old man was his pair of withered hands, like eagle claws.

On the little finger of his left hand, he wore a silver nail guard about an inch long, engraved with intricate cloud patterns that gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

"Who...who are you, and what do you want?"

The old man didn't answer, but just looked him up and down.

Ai Yi felt a chill run down her spine from that look, because it didn't seem like she was looking at a person at all, but rather like she was scrutinizing an object and judging its value.

He disliked being treated like an object; he disliked it very much.

"Young Master Ai, don't be nervous."

"Our family has no ill intentions towards you."

No malicious intent?

"If you meant no harm, why did you make such a big fuss? What is this, some kind of time-stopping thing? How did you do that?"

Ai Yi complained wildly, and was even very curious and wanted to learn.

The old man smiled but didn't answer Ai Yi's question. He simply picked up a cup of milk tea, smelled it, and then put it down with a look of disgust.

"They're all so sweet and cloying. Young people these days have such terrible tastes."

He tapped his dragon-headed cane lightly on the ground.

"I'm here today just to have a good chat with Young Master Ai."

Reminiscing?

"Do we...know each other?"

"Hehe," the old man chuckled dryly, "Young Master Ai naturally doesn't recognize this old man."

He tapped the table lightly with his pinky finger, which was covered in silver armor, making a soft tapping sound.

"If this were in the past, when we saw you, we would have to kneel down respectfully, kowtow, and address you as such..."

"Where is the young master?"