His voice was trembling, and his eyes were red.

My colleague was in a difficult spot.

Regulations are rigid.

He couldn't make an exception.

I looked at the old man, then at the wooden box.

Acting on an impulse I couldn't explain.

I took off my glove.

I reached out and gently pressed my hand onto the wooden box.

No chill.

No resentment.

A warm emotion, filled with infinite sorrow and longing.

Slowly, it emanated from the wooden box.

Like a silent song.

Images flashed before my eyes.

Golden ginkgo leaves covering the ground.

A young girl with braided hair laughing under a tree.

A young man wearing the same Zhongshan suit, looking at her foolishly.

The scene shifted.

They had grown old.

The grandmother in a wheelchair pointed outside the window.

"Go home... I want to go home..."

The images vanished.

I abruptly pulled my hand back.

My heart felt like it had been struck by something.

Aching and swollen.

I looked at the old man.

"Sir, did your wife love ginkgo trees very much?"

The old man was stunned.

His cloudy eyes instantly filled with tears.

He nodded vigorously.

"Yes... we met under that big ginkgo tree at the entrance of the village."

My throat tightened.

I turned to my colleague.

"Let it pass."

"But, Julian, the regulations..."

"I'll vouch for him," I said, looking him in the eye, enunciating each word.

"If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility."

My colleague stared at me blankly.

Then he looked at the old man.

Finally, he stamped the release seal.

The old man bowed deeply to us.

He held that wooden box like he was cradling the most precious treasure in the world.

Trembling, he walked out of the terminal.

I watched his retreating back.

For the first time, I felt.

This hand of mine might not just bring death and fear.

It could also touch love and warmth.

It could let a soul return home in peace.

Chapter 12

The matter of the old man was like a small pebble.

It sent ripples through my heart.

I began to re-examine my ability.

The fear it brought still existed.

But that feeling of warmth and sorrow was equally real.

It was like a double-edged sword.

It could hurt people, but it could also save them.

I no longer deliberately avoided using my hands to touch objects.

I took off those gloves I had been wearing for two months.

Of course, I remained cautious.

I only touched things when necessary.

Life seemed to have returned to normal.

Seeing that I was in much better spirits, Captain Stone moved me back to the inspection station.

He didn't ask me why I vouched for the old man that day.

He only said: "Julian, I trust your judgment."

This trust made me feel warmer than any award.

Another month passed.

One day after work, Captain Stone called out to me.

"Are you free tonight? Let's grab a meal together."

His expression was serious, not like a casual dinner.

I nodded.

We went to a very quiet Sichuan restaurant.

We got a private room.

Ordered a few dishes and a bottle of white liquor.

After a few drinks.

Captain Stone set down his chopsticks.

"Julian, the final report for the Fiona case is out."

"Mhm," I acknowledged.

"Your name was mentioned in the report."

My heart tightened.

"Wasn't it agreed that it would be confidential?"

"It is confidential. This report is top-secret level, and only a very small number of people can see it," Stone said. "However, your 'special contribution' has attracted the attention of some people above."

He took a file bag from his briefcase and handed it to me.

It wasn't sealed.

I opened it to find a very thin document.

The title was "Preliminary Concept on Establishing a Special Talent Information Database."

I scanned it quickly.

The document mentioned that in some special cases, conventional investigative methods encounter bottlenecks.

Meanwhile, individuals possessing "extraordinary intuition" or "special sensory abilities" can often provide critical breakthroughs.

The document suggested screening and establishing such a talent database secretly nationwide.

To provide support for national security when necessary.

In the "Personnel Under Consideration" list in the appendix.

I saw my name.

Julian.

General Administration of Customs, X City Airport Branch.

The note read: Tactile Perception (emotions, memory residue), verified in the '11.18 Reservoir Drowning Case'.

My palms began to sweat.

This wasn't a commendation.

This was a call-up order.

"What does this mean?" I asked Stone.

"It means you've been targeted," Stone said, taking a sip of liquor, his expression heavy.

"I wasn't the one who initiated this meeting today."

"Someone wants to see you."

No sooner had he finished speaking.

The door to the private room was pushed open.

A man wearing a grey Zhongshan suit walked in.

He looked to be in his fifties, not tall, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.

He wasn't followed by anyone.

He walked straight up to me.

"Comrade Julian, hello."

He extended a hand.

"My surname is Chen, from a department you’ve never heard of."

His voice was steady, but carried a sense of authority.

I looked at the hand he extended.

I hesitated.

I wondered, if I shook this hand.

What would I see?

State secrets, or a person's past?

Loyalty, or ambition?

I didn't know.

I only knew that once I shook it.

My life would never go back to the past.

Captain Stone tapped my leg gently under the table.

I took a deep breath.

I raised my right hand and shook his.

His hand was warm, dry, and strong.

There were no images.

There were no emotions.

It was just like holding an ordinary stone.

I was stunned.

Director Chen smiled.

He seemed to have seen through my thoughts.

"No need to test, Comrade Julian."

"The first lesson for anyone in our department is learning how to shield oneself."

"Shielding oneself from being seen by others."

"And shielding oneself from seeing others."

He released my hand and sat down in the chair next to me.

"I came today to formally ask you one question."

He looked at me, his gaze burning.

"Are you willing to use your ability to see a... bigger world?"

Chapter 13

The bigger world.

Director Chen’s words were like a key.

Inserted into a door inside my mind.

What lay behind that door?

I didn't know.

But I could vaguely sense that it was a place filled with unknowns and dangers.

A domain I had never imagined in my past thirty years.

My gaze shifted from Director Chen’s face to Captain Stone’s.

Captain Stone’s expression was complex.

There was encouragement, worry, and a hint of... envy?

I suddenly understood.

Captain Stone, perhaps he too had once been a member of this world.

Or perhaps, he had always yearned to be a part of it.

He knew the scenery behind that door.

That was why he trusted me so deeply.

And protected me so fiercely.

He wasn't just cultivating a subordinate.

He was guarding a seed capable of opening that door.

Now, the seed was about to sprout.

The hesitation in my heart vanished in an instant.

My past life had been stable, but it was also like a stagnant pool.

Snow’s case was like a giant boulder that shattered the stillness of that water.

Letting me see the turbulence beneath the surface.

The old man’s urn, on the other hand, made me feel a different kind of power.

A warmth that pierced through life and death.

These hands of mine could touch resentment, and they could also touch longing.

They could reveal evil, and they could comfort the soul.

If they were only used for the day-in, day-out task of baggage inspection.

That would be a true waste.

I took a deep breath and looked at Director Chen.

"What do I need to do?"

I didn't ask about benefits, about my position, or any worldly concerns.

I only asked that one question.

A glimmer of approval flashed in Director Chen’s eyes.

He nodded.

"You don't need to do anything."

"You only need to be yourself."

"Tell us everything you see and feel."

"Leave the rest for us to judge."

As he spoke, he took another evidence bag from his bag.

It was identical to the one that had held the foam padding before.

But this time, it didn't contain stones.

It held a very old fountain pen.

A Parker gold pen.

The cap was engraved with the letter "K".

"Consider this your first assessment."

Director Chen placed the bag on the table and pushed it toward me.

"Tell us, what do you see from this."

Captain Stone’s breathing became shallow.

I didn't reach for it immediately.

I simply stared at the pen.

It lay quietly in the transparent bag.

Like a piece of history that had been sealed away.

I could sense an aura completely different from that of the Snow case.

No resentment.

No chill.

But rather, a kind of... tension.