Cangnan City. A certain high-rise.
Creak.
The door swung slowly open, and Zhao Kongcheng shuffled in looking half-dead, sighing every few steps.
"Old Zhao, what's wrong with you?"
The five people sitting inside eyed him with some surprise.
"Did you get hurt last night?"
"With that look on his face, I'd bet on a breakup..."
"Holy shit, Old Zhao—don't tell me your wife's divorcing you?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
The five of them tossed out guesses one after another. After a long moment, the silent Zhao Kongcheng let out a mournful sigh.
"Am I really... that lacking in charm?"
"..."
As one, all five rolled their eyes, pretended they hadn't heard, and went back to their own business—one sharpening a blade, one cleaning a gun, one on their phone, one flat-out sleeping...
"Hey! I'm asking you all a serious question here!" Zhao Kongcheng grew frantic.
When no one showed any sign of engaging, Hongying, who was cleaning her gun, sighed. "Kongcheng-ge, did something get to you?"
"You could say that." Zhao Kongcheng paused. "Last night, I met the owner of that golden Forbidden Ruins."
At those last words, everyone's head snapped up. Hands stopped mid-task, and eyes began to gleam.
"The one who might be the seraph's agent?"
"Mm."
"Is he strong? Who is he?"
"You're all overthinking it." Zhao Kongcheng shook his head. "Just an ordinary high schooler. That 'Klein'-level power fluctuation must only have been the residue the seraph left in him. Right now he's a rookie who's barely stepped into the 'Cup' realm."
At that, a flicker of disappointment passed through their eyes.
"And here I thought a 'Klein'-level strong one had come to Cangnan City..."
"Makes sense, though. If that extremely dangerous god had truly chosen an agent, and the agent had grown all the way to 'Klein', there's no way the higher-ups wouldn't know."
The man sitting on the sofa narrowed his eyes slightly. "Either way—a seraph choosing an agent and bestowing a Divine Ruins is a major event. It has to be reported to the higher-ups at once."
"Right, Old Zhao—since you met him, where is he? Someone that important, and you didn't bring him back?"
"He ran..." Zhao Kongcheng said hollowly. "He told me he was going to grab his backpack, and then bolted while I was spacing out."
"..." The room went speechless.
Just as the group was gearing up to roast him properly, the door opened again.
A man still wearing his dark-red cloak walked in, traces of blood on his face, each step heavy as if his legs were poured full of lead.
At the sight of him, everyone—Zhao Kongcheng included—shot to their feet.
"Captain!"
"Captain, are you all right?"
The captain waved them off, shed the bloodstained cloak, and sat down on the small stool by the door, unspeakable exhaustion between his brows.
"I'm fine. But... the Ghost-Faced King got away."
Every face in the room turned grave.
The captain went on, "I chased it all the way to the outskirts north of the city last night and fought it. I wounded it badly—then it maimed its own origin to force an escape."
"So the Ghost-Faced King may have fled Cangnan City already?"
"No—not necessarily." The man on the sofa spoke up suddenly.
Everyone turned to him. The captain's brow lifted slightly. "Let's hear it, Xiangnan."
Wu Xiangnan rose unhurriedly, drew a map of Cangnan City and its surroundings from under the sofa, and spread it on the floor.
"Cangnan City is out of the way, and the nearest cities are quite distant. The captain fought the Ghost-Faced King in the northern outskirts last night—apart from Cangnan itself, the closest city to that spot is dozens of kilometers away." Wu Xiangnan drew a circle on the map.
"So?" Hongying's eyes were full of confusion.
But the captain's eyes were slowly lighting up. "The Ghost-Faced King is badly wounded. Until it recovers its strength, it can't possibly cross a distance like that."
Wu Xiangnan picked up the thread. "And if the Ghost-Faced King wants to recover its strength, it can only do so by eating people. Which means..."
"It's certain to return to Cangnan City?"
"Exactly."
Zhao Kongcheng frowned slightly. "But Cangnan's huge. We have no idea where it'll surface."
"The storm drains." Wu Xiangnan pushed up his glasses and traced a curve on the map in red pen. "Ghost-Faced Men love tunneling through the drains, and the King escaped through them in the first place. Only one drain line connects to the northern outskirts—meaning the Ghost-Faced King will most likely surface somewhere along this line."
"Send people to search along that drain immediately. This time, it does not get away!" Cold light flashed through the captain's eyes as he gave the order.
"Understood!"
"One more thing." Wu Xiangnan turned to Zhao Kongcheng. "The seraph's agent must be brought in. His potential is far too great—he absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Church of the Ancient Gods! In a certain sense, this takes priority even over purging the Ghost-Faced King!"
Zhao Kongcheng puffed out his chest on the spot. "Leave it to me. I'll drag that brat back with my own two hands!"
"Didn't he run off on you? Can you even find him?" Hongying muttered.
"He wears a No. 2 High uniform. I'll stake out the school gate today—no way I don't catch him!"
A confident smile spread across Zhao Kongcheng's face.
...
"Ge, why aren't you going to school today?"
Yang Jin looked at Lin Qiye—no uniform, no backpack—and asked curiously.
"Got something to take care of. I'll skip for now." Lin Qiye opened the door while pulling on his shoes. "Auntie's still sleeping?"
"She just got back an hour ago."
"Got it. Head to school early, and don't take after me."
"Okay."
Lin Qiye shut the door, quietly removed the black satin from his eyes, and slipped it into his pocket.
His eyes had recovered, but he hadn't told Auntie and Yang Jin yet. For one thing, Auntie had worked the night shift, and they simply hadn't crossed paths.
For another, Lin Qiye had only just gained these eyes, and he couldn't yet fully control the power inside them. That golden light still surfaced from the depths of his eyes now and then. It wasn't very obvious, but if Auntie and Yang Jin saw it, they'd insist on dragging him off for more eye exams—money down the drain.
He wanted to wait until he had full control before announcing it.
Still, now that he was out of the house, there was no need to keep the satin on—it drew far too much attention.
Lin Qiye pulled out the sunglasses Yang Jin had bought him, put them on, and strode off toward the bus stop.
After more than an hour of jolting, Lin Qiye finally arrived at his destination.
Sunshine Mental Asylum.
The last time he'd come here had been ten years ago.
In those ten years, Lin Qiye had changed a great deal—and so had this asylum.
Every old wall had been renovated. The front gate was twice as wide as before. Two modern towers had replaced the original three-story block. Even the six large characters of "Sunshine Mental Asylum" were now stamped in gleaming gilt!
Standing at the gate, Lin Qiye couldn't reconcile the modern hospital before him with the little building in his memory at all.
The only thing that hadn't changed, perhaps, was the old man watching the gate.
Just far more stooped now, his hair far whiter.
The old man seemed to notice Lin Qiye. He squinted, raised his right hand, and pointed at him...
Just as Lin Qiye was thinking the old man still remembered him, and got ready to say hello,
the old man bellowed:
"You! Yes, you, you daft kid! You're blocking the cars behind you!"