Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Inside an interrogation room at the Anomaly Suppression Bureau…
Zhao Xueru was cuffed to the interrogation table. Across from her, Xu Changjiang and Wang Dashan began questioning her.
“Zhao Xueru, when did you join the Eclipse Organization? What exactly were you plotting when you came here?”
Zhao Xueru merely sneered.
“Even if you won’t speak, I can make a reasonable guess.”
Xu Changjiang’s voice was calm.
“The Eclipse Organization is notorious. Its members are anomaly wielders who once swore to protect the people, only to willingly join forces with anomalies…”
“So you joined them because you were about to become a monster yourself. Isn’t that right?”
The words struck a nerve. Zhao Xueru gritted her teeth.
“The Eclipse Organization is notorious? And what makes you any better? You’re in league with that Li bastard!”
“He works alongside anomalies too, yet you cooperate with him and even keep it secret from the Provincial Department. Doesn’t that make you traitors as well?”
“Xu Changjiang, neither you nor that bitch Leng Qingyan has any right to judge me!”
Xu Changjiang said nothing. He merely watched her with cold indifference.
“You think that having Li here means you can rest easy? Heh…”
Zhao Xueru’s face twisted with resentment, her mockery dripping with venom.
“Do you know where Rain came from? As long as she remains here, the Eclipse Organization will never give up. Neither will the Hall of Anomalies…”
At the words Hall of Anomalies, both Xu Changjiang and Wang Dashan stiffened, their expressions turning grave.
Zhao Xueru said nothing more. She merely sneered.
“The news is already out. It won’t be long before all of Mingjiang City is destroyed and everyone dies. Director Xu, I would love to see how long you and your officers manage to survive.”
She laughed, closed her eyes, and refused to answer another question.
A long time later…
“Director, Zhao Xueru won’t crack,” Wang Dashan said helplessly.
“Because she still believes she has powerful backing,” Xu Changjiang replied coldly.
Wang Dashan looked surprised. “Backing?”
Xu Changjiang nodded, helplessness flashing across his face.
“Zhao Xueru advanced rapidly after transferring to the Provincial Department. She was even able to deploy an anomalous entity like A-402…”
Wang Dashan’s expression darkened. “There’s someone else behind her?”
Xu Changjiang sighed. “Anomalies have run rampant for years, and humanity has developed plenty of internal problems as well. There’s the Eclipse Organization, and even the unfathomable Hall of Anomalies…”
“I don’t even know if I can still trust the Provincial Department.”
A shadow of doubt fell over the face of the man who had spent his life fighting anomalies.
…
At the same time, in another interrogation room…
“I can tell you everything I know…”
Gu Xiaomeng spoke slowly from the chair she was cuffed to. She looked at Leng Qingyan opposite her with complicated emotions.
“But I have one condition. I want to see Li Que again!”
She couldn’t accept this outcome.
She and Li Que had once shared many beautiful memories.
But when her talent as an anomaly wielder awakened, she had made her choice without hesitation.
She never imagined Li Que would grow so powerful in such a short time.
Over the years, she had pledged herself to the Qin family and sacrificed everything to advance, yet she remained stuck at B-class.
And Li Que? He could casually give an incredibly rare treasure like Crimson Netherworld to Leng Qingyan.
Now, even the gaze Gu Xiaomeng directed at Leng Qingyan carried a trace of jealousy.
If she hadn’t left Li Que, all those things should have belonged to her.
“If Teacher Li wanted to see you, he wouldn’t have left Mingjiang No. 7 Special School without saying a single word to you,” Leng Qingyan replied calmly.
Despair spread across Gu Xiaomeng’s face.
That was right. Beside the garbage area the previous night, Li Que had walked away with his female student without looking at her even once.
He had clearly given up on her completely.
Her heart ached bitterly.
But she had brought it all upon herself. She was the one who left Li Que, and she was the one who used him to infiltrate the school.
“Everyone at the Qin residence has withdrawn,” Leng Qingyan said. “Qin Zhenye vanished without a trace as soon as you and Qin Yuandong were captured. They’ve clearly abandoned both of you.”
“There’s no reason to protect their secrets anymore. Tell us the truth, and you may still survive.”
Gu Xiaomeng smiled bleakly. At last, she began to speak.
“The Qin family is an asset planted in Mingjiang City by the Hall of Anomalies. Their objective is to find Rain!”
“In fact, the authorities encountered the Hall of Anomalies long ago. A-402 was originally a weapon the Hall used against Rain. Rain escaped back then, and A-402 merely fell into your hands afterward.”
“Inside the Hall of Anomalies, A-402 has another name.”
“Divine Fire.”
Divine Fire!
An officer beside Leng Qingyan hurriedly recorded everything while Leng continued questioning Gu Xiaomeng.
“Why do they want to capture Rain?”
“For the Water God’s Authority,” Gu Xiaomeng answered.
Leng Qingyan frowned. “The Water God’s Authority? What is that?”
Gu Xiaomeng shook her head. “I don’t know. My rank wasn’t high enough. That’s one of the Hall of Anomalies’ core secrets…”
“Perhaps the upper levels of your government know.”
Leng Qingyan nodded and went on to ask many more questions.
Gu Xiaomeng avoided none of them. She told Leng everything she knew and even volunteered a warning.
“Qin Zhenye is extremely dangerous.”
Her expression grew complicated. “He’s an A-plus-class anomaly wielder. The anomalous entity he contains is the Eye of the Night Ghost.”
Leng Qingyan’s face immediately turned grave.
Night Ghosts were anomalies that had appeared repeatedly in recent years. The Eye of the Night Ghost could control the human mind.
Anyone it locked on to would lose their sense of self and fall completely under its control. It was exceptionally dangerous.
Several years ago, there had even been a case in which an S-class anomaly wielder was attacked and killed by a Night Ghost.
Qin Zhenye had contained the Eye of the Night Ghost and was now hiding in the shadows. That made him a tremendous threat.
“Understood. Thank you.”
The information was important. After a moment’s thought, Leng Qingyan offered, “Within what the law permits, I’ll do my best to secure a reduced sentence for you.”
Gu Xiaomeng shook her head.
“I only want to ask you one question.”
“Go ahead,” Leng Qingyan said.
“When did you become Li Que’s girlfriend?”
This mattered deeply to her.
When she broke up with Li Que years ago, he had clearly been heartbroken. Yet now he had found a new girlfriend, and she had known nothing about it?
Leng Qingyan’s expression grew complicated.
“I can answer that. I’m not Teacher Li’s girlfriend. That story was only a cover.”
“Teacher Li is single.”
A glimmer of hope suddenly returned to Gu Xiaomeng’s lifeless eyes.
Li Que was still single?
He hadn’t found anyone else. Did that mean she still had a chance?
“Impossible! Then why would he give you Crimson Netherworld?!”
But Gu Xiaomeng immediately caught herself. “You’re lying to me!”
Who would give something so precious to anyone but the person they loved most?
Leng Qingyan shook her head.
“Miss Gu, perhaps you’ve misunderstood.”
She sighed softly.
“Something precious in your eyes or mine may truly be nothing special to Teacher Li.”
Crimson Netherworld? That item might not even rank among Li Que’s better possessions.
She had personally witnessed the power of his White Rabbit milk candy and ruler.
With that, she turned and left.
Gu Xiaomeng remained frozen for a very long time.
…
Not long afterward, in the Anomaly Suppression Bureau conference room…
Xu Changjiang projected all the information they possessed about the Hall of Anomalies onto the large screen.
“Hall of Anomalies: The most dangerous and mysterious anomaly organization in the country. It controls several S-class anomalies and has multiple S-class anomaly wielders among its leadership.”
“Origins: Unknown.”
“Founder: Unknown.”
“Membership: Unknown.”
Everyone present looked exceptionally grave.
“Director, what do we do next?” Wang Dashan asked.
Rain was now confirmed to be inside Mingjiang City. Both the mysterious Hall of Anomalies and the deadly Eclipse Organization were likely to come for her.
The situation had already exceeded the Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau’s capabilities by a vast margin.
“I’ve finished the report. Send it to the Provincial Department.”
Xu Changjiang calmly produced a document.
Leng Qingyan examined it. The report described the chain of events in careful detail, but concealed everything concerning Mingjiang No. 7 Special School.
It didn’t mention Li Que’s existence at all.
That surprised her.
Such a major incident had taken place in Mingjiang City. As director of the local Anomaly Suppression Bureau, Xu Changjiang was duty-bound to report every detail.
Yet he had resolutely made a different choice.
Leng Qingyan nodded. Wang Dashan immediately went to send the document.
“Also, notify the entire city and raise the risk level to maximum,” Xu Changjiang ordered after drawing a deep breath.
“We must prepare for the worst.”
Every officer in the room sprang into action.
After the others left, Leng Qingyan stayed behind and looked at Xu Changjiang.
“Director… You no longer trust the Provincial Department?”
Conflicting emotions filled Xu Changjiang’s face.
“Zhao Xueru’s career went far too smoothly after she transferred to the Provincial Department. Someone else must have been helping her. I suspect there are more spies inside.”
“But the Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau doesn’t have the authority to investigate. Worse, every piece of information we report could be seen by the mole.”
“So all we can do is wait.”
“Wait for them to expose themselves.”
Resolve gradually settled over his face.
“Mingjiang City has become a game board, and every faction wants a seat at the table. We might as well make a move of our own.”
“I want to see what these people are truly after.”
Leng Qingyan understood.
Xu Changjiang had deliberately concealed Li Que’s existence, hiding it even from his superiors, so that when every faction entered the game, he could give them all a surprise.
That surprise would be Li Que.
“Director, the Hall of Anomalies and the Eclipse Organization are both incredibly powerful. Li Que is…”
She was worried. Against such colossal forces, Li Que was still only one man.
Xu Changjiang remained perfectly composed. Instead of answering, he changed the subject.
“I’ve finished analyzing the anomalous material in your angel doll.”
“It isn’t Crimson Netherworld. It’s… S-019, Pure Land Beyond.”
His voice was calm.
Leng Qingyan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“What…?”
She murmured instinctively as towering waves surged through her mind.
S-019, Pure Land Beyond, had already been an S-class anomaly several years ago and was famous throughout the world.
Moreover, every anomaly ranked in the top one hundred of the S-series possessed growth potential and could continue becoming stronger.
S-019 had been missing for years, but many research institutes believed it had reached at least beyond S-class, perhaps even SS-class.
If it ever appeared again, it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe on an enormous scale.
Yet now it had appeared in Li Que’s hands?
Li Que actually possessed the power to destroy an anomaly like that?
Leng Qingyan was shaken to her core. Only yesterday, she had believed Li Que was probably S-plus-class.
But now, was he actually SS-class?
Anomaly wielders of that level might exist in the country, but every one of them was a classified secret unknown to the public.
Li Que was one of them?
He possessed power at the very pinnacle, yet never flaunted it. He had accomplished deeds that could shake the world, yet remained anonymous.
Treasures every faction desperately sought were nothing more than ordinary classroom supplies to him.
Her shock deepened, and her expression grew increasingly complicated.
“I don’t know what organization Teacher Li belongs to or what his background is,” Xu Changjiang said slowly. “But from everything we’ve seen, he stands on the side of justice, and he possesses enough strength to suppress anything.”
Then he looked at Leng Qingyan.
“I need you to do something next.”
“For the sake of everyone in Mingjiang City, you must ask Teacher Li… to enter the game.”
Xu Changjiang had prepared the board.
But he wasn’t qualified to be the player.
Their hope rested with Li Que.
…
At that moment, outside Mingjiang No. 7 Special School…
In the thick darkness, Qin Zhenye landed lightly atop the school wall like a nimble leopard.
He crouched on all fours, cold blue light gleaming in his eyes.
He looked like some anomalous beast.
Qin Zhenye surveyed the quiet campus and sniffed carefully, trying to locate the Wraith-Mother’s scent. In one hand, he gripped the green jade used to control her.
“Hm? She’s come out?”
But before he had to make any effort, a figure walked onto the athletic field.
It was a stiff-moving woman carrying a child in one arm and a broom in the other.
“Wraith-Mother!”
Qin Zhenye was delighted. He immediately prepared to draw her over.
Then he froze.
The Wraith-Mother had reached the athletic field and begun to…
Sweep.
Moonlight poured down like water. In the absolute stillness of the long night, the deathly pale, corpse-like Wraith-Mother meticulously cleaned the ground.
Qin Zhenye’s mind went blank at the sight.
What the hell was this?
The Wraith-Mother of the Vengeful Infant was an A-class anomaly. Since when had she become a janitor?
…