The moonlight was like a sheer veil, hazily draping over the school shrouded in silence.
The teachers and students of this school probably never could have imagined that their unremarkable campus had long since become a storm center in the dark, the focal point for all the underground factions of Tinghai.
A black cat slipped stealthily through, evading the moonlight and security cameras before squeezing out from beneath the perimeter wall.
Crow stood quietly outside the wall. Seeing Bai Zhou emerge, she spoke up, "How did it go? Did you find any clues you were looking for?"
Her serene voice held a hint of raspiness, making one suspect Miss Crow had chewed far too many coffee beans, yet it also called to mind a mottled blade under the moonlight—rusted, yet keen as ever.
The black cat shook his head, then nodded.
"Meow, meow meow meow—"
The faint cries of a stray cat were utterly unremarkable on the nighttime streets; no one would notice anything amiss here.
"Caw, caw caw—" The crow translated Bai Zhou's words, carrying them into Crow's ears.
[I searched through the school's rosters and attendance sheets. I found eight teachers surnamed Sun in total—I've noted down all their home addresses.]
"Home addresses—are you going to investigate them one by one?" Crow raised an eyebrow slightly.
"That's right." The black cat nodded. "It's a bit tedious, but time is of the essence. There's no other choice."
"At the very least, tracking down this Teacher Sun is far safer than continuing to linger around Yuanmeng Middle School."
With that, the black cat cautiously turned his head to scan their surroundings.
This trip to Yuanmeng had been remarkably efficient. Relying on his familiarity with the campus interior, Bai Zhou had gotten in and out quickly, securing the information he needed in no time.
—After all, before becoming "Senior Zhou," Bai Zhou had also served as the "psychological counselor" at the real-world Yuanmeng Middle School.
Only now did Bai Zhou realize with surprise that although he hadn't been in Tinghai for very long, he had already accumulated a whole collection of alter egos before he knew it.
The infamous "certain wanted criminal surnamed Bai," the "psychological counselor" of Yuanmeng Middle School, "Senior Zhou" of the Reflected Ruin Realm;
the "mysterious phantom thief" in Fang Xiaoxia's eyes, the "cloaked runic master" and "Grandpa KFC" in the Gem Witch's eyes—and so on and so forth.
His life seemed to have become a bit too eventful.
Yet it was precisely these disguised identities presented to different people that made Bai Zhou increasingly familiar with this unfamiliar Tinghai, leaving behind more and more footprints and forging deeper and deeper bonds.
"Let's go."
The black cat was a man of action. He set out decisively, sauntering forward on padded paws.
"I hope they'll forgive me—disturbing someone's sweet dreams is an unavoidable measure."
No one enjoyed having a guest show up at one in the morning, especially one who arrived uninvited and even wore a mask.
After all, generally speaking, people preferred to call such "guests" robbers.
When Bai Zhou climbed out of a window for the third time, having used hypnosis to forcefully wish the occupants sweet dreams and make them forget tonight's unpleasantness—
He fell into thought.
"Even though none of them are the person I'm looking for, it seems I don't need to continue investigating the rest?"
Bai Zhou's eyes flickered thoughtfully.
"What did you discover?" Crow couldn't help stifling a yawn.
She popped another handful of coffee beans into her mouth. As she chewed, the roasted aroma lingering about her grew richer.
Bai Zhou shook his head. "Right now, I suspect none of the remaining five Teachers Sun are the one I'm looking for either."
"Does that mean you won't have to break into five more homes in a row?" Crow glanced sidelong at him with an odd look.
Breaking into eight homes in the dead of night—the wanted criminal surnamed Bai truly lived up to his reputation as a hardened bandit, and perhaps deserved the title of master thief as well.
Just a moment ago, an unmarried female teacher surnamed Sun in her twenties had also been hypnotized awake by Bai Zhou in the middle of the night.
"Well, I should still check on them in passing," Bai Zhou said, blushing under Crow's gaze. Fortunately, as a pitch-black cat, no change was visible. "More importantly, I gleaned a piece of information from them—one that matches up with what we already knew!"
"What is it?"
"There's a Teacher Sun who isn't on the roster or the attendance sheet, because he went through the resignation procedures three years ago," Bai Zhou replied in a solemn tone.
"Resignation?"
Watching the little black cat swaying as he walked ahead of her, Crow suppressed the nagging urge to crouch down and pet him. "Are you saying there's something suspicious about him?"
Completely unaware of her "nefarious intentions," Bai Zhou walked ahead, saying gravely with a dead serious expression, "The resignation itself isn't important, and teachers surnamed Sun are common enough. But a teacher surnamed Sun who resigned exactly three years ago—that is crucial!"
"Because why was it exactly three years ago?" Bai Zhou slowly emphasized the crux of the matter.
Three years ago, the year Fang Xiaoxia took her graduation photo, a female classmate with the exact same appearance as the Hanged Demon had appeared in the picture, only to be forgotten by everyone.
In that same year, the ritual established at Yuanmeng Middle School had been completed and abandoned. According to Crow's analysis at the time, its purpose had been to capture students after school and drag them from the real Yuanmeng Middle School into the Yuanmeng Middle School of the Reflected Ruin Realm.
Also in that year, the abandoned ritual took effect in reverse, giving birth to "Fang Xiaoyan" and the "Exam King," binding them to the discarded ritual.
And still in that year, under Fang Xiaoyan's encouragement and the Exam King's coercion, the school's key admission rate surged from 5% to 100%, vaulting it from one of Tinghai's top five prestigious schools to the undisputed number one.
—Three years ago!
"Three years ago, when so much happened, people were on edge. It would be entirely normal for a teacher to resign."
Bai Zhou muttered to himself, as if sorting through his train of thought:
"—But what if that teacher happened to be surnamed Sun?"
"Indeed." Crow nodded. "Compared to the others, this person is certainly far more worth prioritizing."
As she spoke, Crow stifled another yawn.
Seeing her about to fish out more coffee beans, Bai Zhou stopped her. "Don't eat any more—just go to sleep."
"Back in Wancheng, twenty hours of sleep a day felt like too little."
"...Is there any chance people from Wancheng just have abnormal sleep schedules?" Crow cast a sidelong glance at Bai Zhou.
"Even so, you haven't slept in ages." Bai Zhou shook his head. "Didn't we agree to take turns sleeping? Go to sleep already."
"—I've got everything under control here. My injuries are practically healed, so don't worry."
As he spoke, he swayed his feline body, stopping just short of standing on two legs to flex his kitten biceps.
He had also completely removed the bandages Fang Xiaoxia had wrapped around him. At least the external wounds appeared fully healed, even if his internal recovery would still take time.
Crow was rendered speechless. She studied Bai Zhou for a moment before slowly nodding. "All right."
Then she quickly added, "...If anything happens, tug the ribbon."
"I'll wake up."
"Yeah, yeah, go to sleep, go to sleep," Bai Zhou urged.
Before long, without a sound, a translucent black ribbon drifted down.
The ribbon settled atop Bai Zhou's head, brushing the black cat's fur like a gentle stroke before tying itself into two loops, returning to the bow perched upon his head.
Only now, certain that Crow was asleep and could no longer hear him, did Bai Zhou whisper softly, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Crow."
Bai Zhou had seen with his own eyes just how prone to sleepiness Crow had been lately.
Yet after returning from the Ruin Realm, he had lain unconscious for a day and a night, meaning Crow hadn't slept for two days and two nights straight.
Pushing through solely on coffee beans simply wasn't sustainable.
Even if Crow genuinely enjoyed eating those bitter things.
"Next up..."
Bai Zhou lifted his head.
The night was dark, the wind high.
The moonlight shone bright.
The night was still long.
He would walk alone.
"The Teacher Sun who resigned..."
Bai Zhou's eyes gleamed thoughtfully as he pondered while speeding toward his destination.
People aspire to climb high just as water flows low.
After resigning, this Teacher Sun hadn't become an unemployed drifter; he had gone on to teach at a high school.
However, this decision was baffling to many of his peers, including the other "Teacher Sun" who had disclosed this information to Bai Zhou under hypnosis.
After all, compared to middle school, a high school teacher's workload was substantially heavier. The salary was slightly higher, but the cost-benefit ratio was clearly worse.
What was more, Yuanmeng Middle School had already brought in a new principal at the time, rooting out corruption and improving teacher benefits in ambitious preparation for grand achievements.
Just one year later, Yuanmeng Middle School had become Tinghai's celebrated number-one middle school, with countless parents waving thick wads of cash, bloodshot eyes fixed on squeezing their children inside.
Faculty benefits had consequently multiplied several times over, leaving the colleagues who had resigned back then filled with bitter regret.
Since there were oddities, it was all the more worth investigating.
Bai Zhou slipped into the target high school.
This school wasn't far from Yuanmeng Middle School: Tinghai No. 4 Senior High School.
Tinghai No. 4 High for short.
With an upright campus culture, strict management, excellent student intake, and high university entrance rates, it was indeed a fine school; quite a few students were admitted to Tinghai University each year.
Unlike Yuanmeng Middle School, which demanded extreme caution, Bai Zhou infiltrated it with ease.
As usual, he first sought out the roster and attendance sheets. Within the roster, Bai Zhou found the answer he sought:
[Class Teacher of Senior Grade Three, Class Three: Sun Zhizhou.]
Followed by his contact information and home address.
"..."
"This is it." Glowing green eyes flashed brightly in the dim dean's office.
Having successfully locked onto his target, Bai Zhou naturally restored everything in the room to its original place and turned to leave.
At the same time, he prepared himself for battle in advance.
"This Teacher Sun... might very well be an Extraordinary!"
Bai Zhou blinked, silently relocking the office door as though he had never been there, before melting back into the depths of the gloomy corridor.
Incidentally, this technique of lockpicking without leaving a trace was another fruit of Crow's demonic training regime back then.
"Picking locks is an essential skill for a Hunter," Crow had said at the time.
Even now, Bai Zhou still didn't understand what being a "Hunter" had to do with breaking into people's homes without leaving a trace.
Clack, clack—
Around the corner of the corridor, footsteps suddenly sounded.
At the same time, a beam of light swept across, swaying left and right with the footsteps.
Someone was coming.
A small black shadow flashed through the darkness and vanished onto the ceiling.
Soon, a disheveled security guard appeared, carrying a high-intensity flashlight.
He was burly but flush-faced, staggering along with drowsy, half-closed eyes, reeking of booze.
Just a drunkard.
Thinking this, Bai Zhou initially intended to simply bypass the guard's field of vision and leap out the window.
Yet he soon furrowed his brows, changing his mind as his gaze sharpened.
For he noticed a faint, exceptionally thin "red thread" on the drunk guard's rolled-up sleeve.
This "red thread" looked like a tattoo on the man's arm, mostly concealed by the sleeve with only a sliver of line exposed—utterly inconspicuous.
With the man's staggering gait, the sleeve even shook down slightly, covering the "red thread" once more without leaving a trace, enough to make anyone wonder if their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Yet Bai Zhou trusted his eyes.
Even though the light was pitch-black, and even though that wisp of "red thread" was faint and seemingly meaningless—
Bai Zhou, newly advanced to Level 4, had exceptional eyesight, and had grown particularly sensitive to "red" lately.
At the very least, the guard was wearing only his thin uniform shirt, and a blue security uniform wouldn't have loose red threads.
In that case... was it part of a tattoo?
From the ceiling, the black cat narrowed his eyes at the approaching man.
"Back when my outfit first set up shop, all we had was a dozen-odd men and seven or eight guns... *hic*!"
The drunken guard was thoroughly enjoying himself, hiccuping while humming an opera tune: "Just heard the commander say, Sister Aqing truly is out of the ordinary—"
Thud!
Suddenly, a figure dropped directly before him, landing straight and upright.
Dropping straight from above like a marionette corpse, he "plummeted" right in front of the security guard.
"Wha—"
As if he'd seen a ghost, the guard jumped in terror, immediately swinging his flashlight toward the figure.
The beam illuminated only an inverted KFC family bucket. The white-bearded grandfather grinned chillingly at him with an open mouth, his benevolent eyes upside down, gazing at him with an eerie stare.
What the hell is that?!
In an instant, the terrified guard sobered up significantly, cold sweat breaking out across his spine as the alcohol flushed from his system.
Right then.
"Shh."
Grandpa KFC raised a hand, placing a fingertip to his lips to shush the guard.
The swaying fingertip caught the guard's gaze, suddenly flaring with a speck of light.
Snap!
Already terrified and unmoored, the guard was caught completely off guard. He instantly fell quiet, his vision turning glassy and dazed.
"Roll up your sleeve," Bai Zhou softly delivered his first hypnotic command.
The guard dazedly rolled up his sleeve.
He rolled it all the way to his shoulder, exposing a deeply hidden tattoo.
—A Red Spider!
Bai Zhou's habitual caution and his recent sensitivity to "red" had not been misplaced.
What red thread?
What Bai Zhou's sharp eyes had caught was the leg of a Red Spider!
At that moment, Bai Zhou suddenly recalled the information he had coaxed out of the old gatekeeper at Yuanmeng Middle School with a pack of Furongwang cigarettes while posing as the psychological counselor:
[Five or six years ago, there were multiple cases of students—and even teachers—disappearing from Yuanmeng Middle School.
A great number of law officers were deployed back then, but in the end, all the investigations came to nothing.
Finally, three years ago, the school replaced its principal, switched the contracted security firm, and renovated the campus—only then did everything settle down.]
Switched the security firm—
Security firm!
Bai Zhou finally grasped the epiphany that had eluded him before.
Not only that, he also remembered the scenes from the last words: in that secret chamber, beside the "Priest," several burly men in security uniforms had stood guard solemnly in the shadowed corners.
Those guards weren't necessarily just "security guards" for the secret chamber and the Human Material assembly line.
Perhaps they dressed this way in other places in their daily lives as well.
Perhaps they really were security guards, and that was their cover identity for everyday operations.
Back when the demon fell and he witnessed the scenes of the last words, Bai Zhou had felt fragmented clues verging on coming together.
Until now.
The contents of the last words echoed the old gatekeeper's words.
All the scattered threads of the past strung together into a single line.
So that was it.
—Aside from the faculty and staff, what could infiltrate a school more silently and naturally than security guards?
"Speak. Where do you come from? Who is your superior?"
"I come from..."
The night was dark and the wind high. In the pitch-black corridor, the flashlight had been switched off.
Two standing figures spoke in hushed tones in a dark corner near the window, untouched by moonlight.
With a few simple hypnotic prompts, Bai Zhou swiftly obtained the information he wanted.
—The Hongzi Security Group!
A security company ranked among the top three in Tinghai in scale.
To conduct centralized training for its guards, its headquarters covered a massive area, operated under militarized management, and rarely allowed outsiders in, shrouded in mystery in the public eye.
"No doubt about it..."
Bai Zhou's eyes burned bright, his heart pounding in his chest.
Was this the nest where the Major had been hiding, where the "Red Spiders" gathered?
The so-called "park" mentioned in the ledger—
No wonder Crow had said upon first leaving the base that she had searched through all the industrial parks without finding the Major's Human Material assembly line.
Because that "park" wasn't an industrial park at all on the surface—it was a massive, completely legitimate security company!
—The location of the secret chamber he had been searching for all along.
—One of the Major's lifelines, the hiding place of the Human Material assembly line.
In all likelihood, it housed not only the Major's most prized Human Material assembly line, but also the evidence needed to expose his crimes, as well as Liu Zhen's remains, which Bai Zhou had sought for so long—
How long had Bai Zhou been searching for them?
At last—
"Found you!"
Chapter 164