Chapter 17

We May Never Meet Again [一生再难相见 Yī Shēng Zài Nán Xiāng Jiàn] is the seventeenth chapter of Tong Yao's Guardians of Night.

Summary
While walking to school, Ye Yan walks past a television screen that is showing a news report on another recent case of sudden death that occurred in one of the city's Internet cafés. The report continues to detail that the male victim's surname is Wang and was born in 1990. Ye Yan notices that from the corpse's appearance that it did not die from sudden death, but from zombification. He wonders if it was caused by the two self-dismembering monsters from before, but notes that no zombie gas leaked from them after being crushed to death by Hundun, concluding that there must be another evil entity causing these deaths in the city. Ximen Guanren then appears behind him, asking if he is interested in corpses. Frightened, Ye Yan punches him across the face by reflex. While Ximen wonders why he keeps scaring people, Ye Yan remarks that he is surprised someone was able to scare him since he is usually the one who scares others, before noting that despite having no demonic aura and appearing to be a normal person, Ximen Guanren emanated an intense negative aura akin to a demon. Ye Yan then asks if Ximen had any business with him, who says that he recognized Ye Yan's student uniform and wanted to remind him that the time is currently 7:55 and Xiahou High School's gates close in five minutes. Realizing he is late to school, Ye Yan runs off, with Ximen Guanren chuckling to himself while mentioning that Ye Yan is "exceptionally excellent material".

As Ye Yan runs to school, he imagines being scolded by Huang Xiaoyan for being late. Instead, upon arriving at school, a melancholic Huang Xiaoyan greets him. She says that once the two of them report to the Department of Night, they will be dispatched to different places for their missions, and may never meet each other again. She then remarks that she will be too busy to scold Ye Yan, who retorts that he won't have to worry about being beaten by her anymore either. Huang Xiaoyan then says that she forgives Ye Yan for their previous conflicts and encourages him to do his best at serving the country. Ye Yan encourages her in return, but secretly feels reluctant in reporting to the Department. As the two push open the door to the student council's office, Wuren scolds the two for being late and tells them that the principal is temporarily unavailable before giving them a mission that the two of them must complete together.

Chapter Notes

 * Huang Xiaoyan and Ye Yan report to the Department of Night for their first mission.