Chapter 33
Chapter 33
“Teacher Li, from now on, we’re colleagues.”
At Mingjiang No. 7 Special School, Qin Shiyu leaned against the doorway and smiled brightly at Li Que.
“If you ever need any help, just come to me.”
Li Que was organizing some materials. At her words, his expression grew complicated.
Sure enough, it paid to know the right people.
She said she wanted a job, and just like that, she had one.
Qin Shiyu had not been given a low-ranking position either. She had replaced Leng Qingyan as the school dean.
Of course, Leng Qingyan had not left the school. She had been promoted to vice principal.
Still, Li Que felt neither resentment nor envy.
His goal was simple: teach his students, accumulate Good Teacher Points, and become an anomaly wielder as soon as possible.
No matter how quickly Qin Shiyu or Leng Qingyan rose through the ranks, what did a promotion matter compared to the opportunity to become an anomaly wielder?
“Congratulations,” Li Que said calmly. “As it happens, I may need to leave town for a few days soon. I’ll have to ask you to approve my leave request, Dean Qin.”
Qin Shiyu’s eyes lit up. “Leave town? Where are you going?”
“Something seems to have happened in Xiaoyu’s family. She can’t stop worrying about it, so I’m planning to go with her and conduct a home visit,” Li Que replied.
“Her home is near Five Dragons Mountain. It’s quite far away, so we may not be back for a while.”
Qin Shiyu’s heart stirred.
No one was more familiar with Five Dragons Mountain than she was.
After all, she had led people there many times in pursuit of the Water God’s Authority and dealt with all manner of anomalies in the region.
Now Li Que was planning to visit Five Dragons Mountain himself?
She could not help wondering. Frost had already been destroyed, and Lin Xiaoyu had obtained a knot containing the Water God’s Authority. Could there be something else at Five Dragons Mountain worthy of Li Que’s personal attention?
“Well? Any problem with that?” Li Que asked.
“Of course not,” Qin Shiyu replied.
After thinking for a moment, she gave him a charming smile.
“But I’d like to go with you. As the school dean, it’s only right that I show some concern for a student. What do you think, Teacher Li?”
Qin Shiyu had known Li Que for only a short time, but she had already noticed something important. This unfathomable expert genuinely treated himself like an ordinary teacher in his daily life!
As long as she interacted with him the way an ordinary person would, he did not reject her.
Sure enough, Li Que merely considered her suggestion for a moment.
“Are you sure? Five Dragons Mountain is fairly remote. Conditions there aren’t very good.”
Qin Shiyu was so beautiful that, bluntly speaking, she looked like someone who had never endured hardship. Li Que doubted she could handle it.
An impulse stirred inside her. Suddenly wanting to tease him, she said, “Why would rough conditions matter with you there, Teacher Li? You’ll take care of your colleague, won’t you?”
Li Que was speechless.
Qin Shiyu burst out laughing at his wordless expression.
“All right, all right. Give me your leave request. If we’ll be gone for long, I’ll need the vice principal’s signature too. School regulations, you know.”
Li Que promptly wrote out the request and handed it to her.
Qin Shiyu accepted it and signed her name as she walked away, marveling inwardly all the while.
A top-tier anomaly wielder like Li Que would actually sit down and fill out a leave request with complete seriousness?
He truly loved being a teacher.
Could that devotion be the reason he was able to give those anomalies humanity?
She did not know, but she was now certain of at least one thing.
“An SS-class anomaly wielder isn’t so frightening after all.”
She smiled easily, then stepped into Leng Qingyan’s office.
“Vice Principal Leng, these are Teacher Li’s and my leave requests.”
She handed the forms to Leng Qingyan while studying her with interest.
Leng Qingyan wore professional attire: a white blouse and a fitted skirt that gave her a mature, sophisticated beauty.
More importantly, Qin Shiyu could faintly sense the aura of a powerful anomalous entity on her.
The aura was subtle, but the anomalous entity had to be at least S-class!
According to Qin Shiyu’s previous intelligence, Xu Changjiang, the strongest person at the Mingjiang City Anomaly Suppression Bureau, had only been B+ class, while Leng Qingyan was merely B-class.
Now, however, Leng Qingyan herself appeared to be approaching B+ class.
Qin Shiyu also knew the situation inside the Jiangdong Provincial Anomaly Suppression Department. Even if the department possessed an S-class anomalous entity capable of strengthening an anomaly wielder, it would never have given something so valuable to Leng Qingyan!
That meant Leng Qingyan’s rise in strength… was probably connected to Li Que.
Yet an anomalous entity like that would be extraordinarily rare even within an organization such as the Hall of Anomalies. Had Li Que simply given it to Leng Qingyan?
A thought suddenly flashed through Qin Shiyu’s mind. Did Teacher Li have a thing for women like her?
“Five Dragons Mountain?”
Leng Qingyan glanced over the requests and frowned faintly. Why was Li Que going there?
“You’re going too?”
She looked up at Qin Shiyu.
“Yes. Teacher Li has already agreed to let me travel with him.”
A sly gleam flashed through Qin Shiyu’s eyes.
Shi Xuan and the others would never allow her to leave the school without permission. But if it was Li Que’s decision, that changed everything.
Leng Qingyan thought for a moment.
“I’ll need to report this to the Bureau first.”
…
Inside a conference room at the Anomaly Suppression Bureau.
“Director Xu and I have investigated Mingjiang No. 7 Special School,” Shi Xuan said slowly.
Wang Zhong and Zuo Qingting watched him with grave expressions.
“Our current conclusion is that Mingjiang No. 7 Special School is probably under the Hall of Anomalies’ control.”
Shi Xuan delivered their answer. “Frost’s death was most likely connected to the Hall of Anomalies as well, though we have yet to uncover the details.”
Wang Zhong could not help exclaiming, “The Hall of Anomalies? How dare they!”
“They’ve occupied a school and turned it into a base? Are they declaring war on the authorities?!”
The Hall of Anomalies had always been a mysterious organization, but in the past, its actions had at least observed certain boundaries.
This time, it had crossed the line.
Wang Zhong said, “Director Shi, we should report this immediately, assemble our forces, and take them down!”
Zuo Qingting, by contrast, remained far calmer. Shi Xuan’s information now matched what Sun Cheng and Liu Ying had discovered.
It appeared the Hall of Anomalies truly was using that school to nurture divinity!
Shi Xuan shook his head. “The Hall of Anomalies clearly places great importance on this school. At least one S-class anomaly wielder appears to be stationed there. Starting a war recklessly would be unwise.”
Zuo Qingting spoke up as well.
“I believe our priority at this stage should be determining the Hall of Anomalies’ intentions.”
“Besides, I just received a piece of intelligence.”
He looked at Shi Xuan. “Another Hall of Anomalies team is currently heading toward Five Dragons Mountain. They must be plotting something.”
Shi Xuan remained impassive. “Oh?”
“Director Shi, it would be unwise to alert them to our suspicions at Mingjiang No. 7 Special School. We only need to keep the place under surveillance for now. Five Dragons Mountain, however, may offer us a point of entry.”
Zuo Qingting continued his analysis. “We may not know the Hall of Anomalies’ precise objective, but everything they’ve done must be connected to the Water God’s Authority.”
“Rain and Frost both appeared here in Mingjiang City. Now they’ve sent people to Five Dragons Mountain… There must be a connection between the two events.”
Shi Xuan nodded.
“You want to use Five Dragons Mountain as our point of entry and investigate it first?”
Zuo Qingting nodded.
“I object,” Wang Zhong said with a frown.
“Mingjiang City is clearly the true focus right now. If we divide our attention to investigate Five Dragons Mountain… couldn’t we be falling for an attempt to lure the tiger away from its mountain?”
Zuo Qingting’s expression darkened.
Shi Xuan took another look at Wang Zhong as well.
Wang Zhong rarely voiced his own opinions inside the department.
This was the first time he had ever directly opposed a colleague’s proposal.
“That concludes today’s meeting. I’ll consider our next move before making a decision,” Shi Xuan said calmly.
Everyone promptly left.
“Zuo Qingting,” Xu Changjiang said in a low voice after they were gone.
Although Zuo Qingting had already sent away the Water God’s Scale, the Hall of Anomalies had specially treated it. Anyone who came into contact with it would retain a distinctive aura.
There was no escaping the specialized detector!
Shi Xuan considered the situation.
“They obtained the Water God’s Scale, so it makes sense that they want to go to Five Dragons Mountain. But why do they want us to go there?”
“Perhaps Wang Zhong is right,” Xu Changjiang replied. “They may be trying to lure the tiger away from its mountain so they can seize the divinity-nurturing ground. At the same time, they can set a trap at Five Dragons Mountain and eliminate us.”
“We can’t go!”
His expression was grave.
If they went, they would be surrendering the initiative.
Just then, his phone rang.
He answered. It was Leng Qingyan. By the time she finished speaking, astonishment covered Xu Changjiang’s face.
“What happened?” Shi Xuan asked.
“Teacher Li… is going to Five Dragons Mountain!” Xu Changjiang said.
“The Eclipse Organization has just laid a trap at Five Dragons Mountain, and Teacher Li is already heading there?”
Shi Xuan’s curiosity flared. “Did he say why?”
Xu Changjiang’s expression grew complicated. “He said… he’s conducting a home visit.”
Shi Xuan looked even more astonished. “A home visit? For whom?”
“Rain.”
Shi Xuan shot to his feet.
A home visit for an S-class anomaly?!
“Excellent!”
Excitement blazed in his eyes.
“Whether it’s the Hall of Anomalies or the Eclipse Organization, everything they’ve done has been for the Water God’s Authority.”
He continued, “Now Li Que is taking Rain back home. He must intend to settle every last one of her problems.”
Shi Xuan had still been wavering, but now he swept out a hand decisively. “In that case, we’ll go with the flow and make a trip to Five Dragons Mountain!”
“The Eclipse Organization wants to turn us into prey. Perfect. We’ll draw them out and let Teacher Li… eliminate them all at once!”
His gaze burned with anticipation.
With Li Que present, no danger at Five Dragons Mountain seemed worth fearing.
Xu Changjiang nodded, agreeing that the plan was viable.
After considering the details, he said,
“The Eclipse Organization is watching us closely. Since Teacher Li and the others are going, we’ll need to provide some cover so they aren’t discovered.”
The authorities would operate openly while Li Que remained hidden. One in the light and one in the shadows-that would be safest.
Shi Xuan thought for a moment. “Then here’s what we’ll do…”
…
Not long afterward.
“Chief Zuo is right. We can’t make any reckless moves in Mingjiang City for now. We’ll have to start with Five Dragons Mountain and see if we can uncover any other leads.”
Another meeting was held inside the Anomaly Suppression Bureau. As soon as Xu Changjiang announced the decision, delight surfaced on Zuo Qingting’s face.
Wang Zhong, meanwhile, frowned faintly.
“However, it would attract too much attention if we went there directly,” Xu Changjiang continued.
“Director Shi and I discussed it. Teachers’ Day is coming up, so we’ll organize a group of teachers for an autumn field trip under the Education Administration Bureau’s name. We’ll blend into the crowd, investigate the enemy’s movements, and strike afterward.”
Zuo Qingting looked even more delighted!
His Third Uncle had given him two tasks. The first was to lure Shi Xuan, the tiger, to Five Dragons Mountain. The second was to prepare sacrificial offerings.
Those so-called offerings… were human beings.
Five Dragons Mountain was remote. Finding suitable sacrifices would normally take considerable effort. Yet to conceal their operation, Xu Changjiang and the others had voluntarily organized a group of teachers to travel there.
This truly was a double blessing!
“Director Shi and Director Xu have planned everything thoroughly!” he praised.
Then something occurred to him. “Director Shi, will the teachers from Mingjiang No. 7 Special School be participating too?”
“If we exclude that school alone, it may arouse their suspicions,” Shi Xuan replied calmly. “Naturally, they will participate.”
Zuo Qingting nodded thoughtfully.
…