Chapter 48
Chapter 48
After leaving the mall, Qin Shiyu took a long, winding route. Only after confirming that no one was following her did she return to Mingjiang No. 7 Special School.
Night had begun to fall. She quickly entered the campus and glanced into the distance. The light in Li Que’s office was still on.
She knew he was genuinely devoted to his “career in education.” He often stayed late to grade homework or write lesson plans, so he was probably still working.
Yet she could not help hesitating.
The Hall of Anomalies had made its position clear. They would undoubtedly move against Li Que for the Divine Seal Fragment and the Water God’s Authority.
She did not want that to happen, but could she stop it?
At the end of the day, she was still a member of the Hall. If she told Li Que everything, it would amount to outright betrayal.
Her master remained imprisoned inside the Hall of Anomalies and might be implicated by her actions!
But when she recalled Li Que teaching his students and visiting Five Dragons Mountain, she could not simply look away.
Li Que might be powerful and command many anomalies above S-class, but confronting the Hall of Anomalies would still be extraordinarily difficult.
Worse, the Hall was hidden while Li Que stood in the open!
“Heh. Why did you bother coming back?”
A cold laugh abruptly sounded. Qin Shiyu jerked her head up and found Leng Qingyan standing there at some unknown point, staring icily at her.
“Vice Principal Leng…”
Qin Shiyu tried to speak, but Leng Qingyan cut her off.
“We took you in out of kindness, yet you’re still colluding with the Hall of Anomalies and trying to harm us?”
“You truly deserve to die!”
Leng Qingyan advanced one step at a time, killing intent covering her face.
“I want you dead!”
A dagger had somehow appeared in her hand. She lunged and stabbed it toward Qin Shiyu!
“No…”
Qin Shiyu instinctively tried to resist, but no power would answer her. Leng Qingyan seized her by the throat, the dagger in her other hand about to plunge into her eye!
“Wake up-”
A faint cry suddenly reached her ears.
Qin Shiyu jolted awake. Leng Qingyan vanished. The hand choking her throat was her own right hand, while her left held a sharpened strip of wood barely half an inch from her eye!
“What happened…?”
She released herself hurriedly, cold sweat bursting across her body, then instinctively glanced behind her.
A mass of shadow had enveloped the area without her noticing. Not far away, a cleaning woman holding a broom and a filthy, foul-smelling man struggled to hold it back, buying her a moment to breathe.
“Qin Zhenye… Wraith-Mother…”
Qin Shiyu immediately understood. Her pupils contracted sharply as she recognized the anomaly responsible.
“Nightmare!”
Her voice trembled. She gave Qin Zhenye and the Wraith-Mother a long look, then turned and fled.
Countless thoughts raced through her mind as she ran.
The Hall of Anomalies had actually summoned Nightmare. They no longer trusted her…
Despair filled her face.
Nightmare was an SS-class anomaly with power at the level of a wild deity. She had to warn Li Que immediately, or the entire school might be wiped out!
…
Meanwhile, inside a luxurious private room at the largest hotel in Mingjiang City…
“Miss Xu, Director Guo, are the dishes to your liking?”
Shi Xuan smiled faintly at the young woman seated in the place of honor.
She appeared no more than seventeen or eighteen, youthful, beautiful, and fashionably dressed. Not a single logo appeared on her clothing, yet the quality of the material alone made it obvious that every piece came from the finest luxury brands.
She had barely touched her food and wore an indifferent expression.
A balding middle-aged man sat beside her. He was Guo Shoubo, director of the Jiangdong Provincial Anomaly Suppression Department.
When the young woman did not answer, Guo Shoubo smiled.
“The food doesn’t matter.”
“Old Shi, Miss Guoguo traveled here all the way from the capital. You should understand why, shouldn’t you?”
Shi Xuan remained composed.
“I assume it concerns the Water God’s Authority?”
Guo Shoubo nodded. “What exactly happened with the Water God’s Authority? Where is the anomaly that possesses it now?”
Shi Xuan had prepared his story long ago.
“To be frank with you, Miss Xu and Director Guo, the one who inherited the Water God’s Authority of Five Dragons Mountain is another anomaly who came from the mountain: Rain.”
“According to our current investigation, someone else probably helped Rain become a god, but we have not yet identified them…”
He concealed Li Que’s identity and all information about Mingjiang No. 7 Special School. His simplified account described a struggle between Frost and Rain in which Rain ultimately emerged victorious.
At the same time, he tested the attitude of those above him.
“Director Guo, I believe the anomaly wielder who helped Rain ascend must be extraordinary. This person probably belongs to neither the Eclipse Organization nor the Hall of Anomalies. Shouldn’t we consider recruiting them?”
Before Guo Shoubo could speak, Xu Guoguo gave Shi Xuan an irritated look.
“You’re lying.”
“You know where Rain is, and you know who helped her.”
A gray rat had appeared in her palm!
Strangely, the rat had three eyes. Each one opened and closed faintly.
Shi Xuan froze.
Guo Shoubo cleared his throat.
“This anomalous rat was raised inside Miss Guoguo’s family grave. It can distinguish truth from falsehood.”
“Old Shi, there’s no point talking around the issue. Tell us directly. Where is the anomaly that possesses the Water God’s Authority?”
Profound shock flashed through Shi Xuan’s eyes before quickly hardening into deep wariness.
Xu Changjiang, seated nearby, was even more astonished.
This young woman named Xu Guoguo truly came from one of the Old-Grave Clans.
After a brief silence, Shi Xuan sighed softly.
“Director Guo, may I ask how you intend to handle the Water God’s Authority?”
Then he added quietly,
“The person who helped Rain become a god… is extremely powerful. He can oppose the black mist!”
Shi Xuan had realized that if he wanted those above him to change their position, they needed to understand Li Que’s strength.
Blindly concealing everything was no longer appropriate.
Xu Guoguo’s eyes flashed with disdain.
Guo Shoubo considered his words before replying carefully,
“Miss Guoguo needs a share of the Water God’s Authority. Her grandfather, Elder Xu, the former deputy leader of the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance, has already contacted the Provincial Department.”
“So we must obtain this divine authority, no matter what.”
“As for this person you described, he cannot be as powerful as you claim. If he can oppose the black mist, it is probably only because he possesses a special anomalous entity.”
Guo Shoubo knew that Shi Xuan had fought his way up from the bottom through real combat. He was extremely capable and possessed strong convictions of his own.
Ordinarily, even Guo Shoubo, as his director, treated him with a measure of respect.
But there was no room for negotiation now.
Even at the risk of irritating Xu Guoguo, he indirectly warned Shi Xuan of the gravity of the situation.
Shi Xuan’s heart grew unbearably heavy.
Beside him, Xu Changjiang opened his mouth in a daze.
The Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance…
One of its deputy leaders.
The Alliance governed anomaly-wielder organizations throughout the nation, and it had only thirteen deputy leaders!
Xu Guoguo represented power and status at the very highest level.
Shi Xuan had been right. A single attitude or sentence from someone of her stature truly became a mountain pressing down upon those below. Ordinary people had no power to resist.
Xu Changjiang began to worry. Could Shi Xuan withstand this kind of pressure?
Then Shi Xuan spoke slowly. He glanced at the gray rat in Xu Guoguo’s hand.
“I truly don’t know.”
“If the organization no longer trusts me, it may dismiss me.”
His tone was calm but utterly resolute.
“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”
The gray rat in Xu Guoguo’s pale palm began screeching madly, as though it had been challenged.
Xu Guoguo frowned, visibly displeased and on the verge of lashing out.
Guo Shoubo hurriedly intervened.
“Old Shi, have you gone senile?!”
“Do you understand what kind of situation Mingjiang City is facing?”
“Do you think you can protect the Water God’s Authority?”
“The Jiangdong Chamber of Commerce sent inquiry after inquiry today, demanding that you explain what happened at Five Dragons Mountain!”
“Miss Xu suppressed them. Otherwise, you know better than I do what it would mean to oppose every major corporation in Jiangdong Province!”
He was furious.
Shi Xuan remained calm.
“I was preparing to report this matter. I suspect certain corporations within the Jiangdong Chamber of Commerce are colluding with the Eclipse Organization.”
“We should be the ones questioning them!”
His stance was unyielding.
Guo Shoubo grew even angrier.
“You think you can suppress the Eclipse Organization? What if you add the Hall of Anomalies?!”
“Do you know that the Hall Master sent Sun Xingsheng here-and that Nightmare has arrived too?”
“Furthermore, the old god of Sun-Swallowing Gorge, Abyss, is traveling up the river toward Mingjiang City!”
“You may not understand what Nightmare and Abyss represent, so I’ll tell you. Nightmare is an SS-class anomaly. He has long controlled divine authority over dreams and simply never became a god.”
“Abyss, meanwhile, reached SSS-class long ago and has always been one of the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance’s highest-priority surveillance targets!”
His words truly shook Shi Xuan and Xu Changjiang.
The SS-class Nightmare…
The SSS-class Abyss…
Things like that were coming too?!
“You think you’re doing the right thing? You’re completely wrong!” Guo Shoubo snapped.
“Only by letting Miss Xu take the Water God’s Authority back and placing it in official hands can we guarantee the safety of Mingjiang City and all Jiangdong Province. Can’t you see the bigger picture?!”
His words were genuinely persuasive.
Even Shi Xuan fell silent, his expression darkening.
Dashan and the others had already reported that Mingjiang City would become a gathering point for powerful forces and that the coming days would be lively.
But no one had expected it to become this lively!
The SS-class Nightmare and SSS-class Abyss… Could Teacher Li truly stop them?
“Why waste so many words on him?”
Xu Guoguo finally spoke, giving Guo Shoubo a look of disgust.
In her view, someone of her identity and status should never need to invent a pile of excuses and reasons to obtain what she wanted. Doing so was beneath her.
She looked directly at Shi Xuan and Xu Changjiang, naked superiority in her eyes as she gazed down upon them.
“Let me make this simple.”
“I want to capture the anomaly that possesses the Water God’s Authority and feed it to my rat.”
“The person who granted that anomaly divine investiture must also possess a Divine Seal Fragment. I want that too.”
“You have two days to bring both to me. Do that, and Guo Shoubo can take a position in the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance, while you can become director of the Provincial Department.”
“Refuse, and you will no longer be deputy director. I will also have the Alliance’s Enforcement Hall cripple your powers.”
She rose. Just before leaving, she paused.
“One more thing. Ever since I was a child, anything I wanted has ended up in my hands. Whether you agree is irrelevant.”
“I know why you said all of that today. You wanted to tell me the person who helped Rain obtain the Water God’s Authority is powerful and deserves my respect. He’s your source of confidence, isn’t he?”
“Then tell him this directly. If he refuses to accept it and won’t hand everything over, I’ll have him killed.”
If Li Que had truly achieved all this through his own power, then he did possess the qualifications to earn Xu Guoguo’s attention-and even her grandfather’s.
But a person like that could not possibly appear in Mingjiang City. Whoever Shi Xuan described had probably accomplished everything through the Divine Seal Fragment. He was nothing worth mentioning.
She left without another word.
…
Only three people remained in the private room.
Shi Xuan and Xu Changjiang wore extremely ugly expressions.
Guo Shoubo looked embarrassed as well. He had planned to employ his greatest strength and force Shi Xuan to submit through grand principles and righteous arguments.
He had not expected Xu Guoguo to be so brutally direct, unwilling to give anyone the slightest room to preserve their dignity.
Perhaps in the eyes of someone like her, neither Shi Xuan nor the so-called mysterious man possessed enough value to merit even a shred of respect.
Guo Shoubo wanted to speak but realized that nothing he said would matter now.
He rose and patted Shi Xuan’s shoulder.
“Old Shi… think carefully.”
“By the way, my people just detected movement from Nightmare. If he seizes the Water God’s Authority and Divine Seal Fragment first, you will lose your seat at the table entirely!”
With that, he left as well.
…
“This is intolerable!”
Once only the two of them remained, Xu Changjiang slammed his fist against the table.
“I heard that the ancestors of the Old-Grave Clans rendered tremendous service in the struggle against anomalies, and that every grave represents supreme honor.”
“Yet their descendants… bully people like this?!”
Shi Xuan smiled bleakly. “Once you’ve dealt with them more, you’ll understand… This is perfectly normal.”
“Still, I suspect Xu Guoguo isn’t considered particularly central within her clan. Otherwise, she’d behave even more tyrannically. She wouldn’t need to seek us out or make this trip herself. A single order would be enough for someone to handle everything for her.”
Xu Changjiang looked even more bitter. This was considered restrained?
“Has the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance… rotted all the way to its roots?” he asked.
“Not entirely.”
Shi Xuan sighed softly.
“But everyone has selfish desires. Power magnifies them, and it nourishes arrogance.”
Xu Changjiang asked, “Then… what do we do?”
The Hall of Anomalies, the Eclipse Organization, wild deities… Those forces were already almost impossible to resist. Adding an important figure from the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance was suffocating!
“What do we do? Only Teacher Li knows.”
Shi Xuan’s expression grew complicated. “When he chose to grant Rain divine investiture… he must already have anticipated the storm it would draw.”
“I truly don’t know how he plans to break this deadlock or how much confidence he has left!”
Xu Changjiang stood. “I’ll warn him about Nightmare immediately!”
Guo Shoubo had said Nightmare was probably already on the move.
That was an SS-class anomaly who controlled divine authority over dreams. He would be extraordinarily difficult to handle.
Shi Xuan considered this, then nodded.
“Tell Teacher Li about Xu Guoguo as well.”
According to their deductions, Li Que’s original plan had probably targeted the Eclipse Organization and Hall of Anomalies. Even he might not have anticipated the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance intervening.
“I know one or two relatively upright members of Old-Grave Clans within the Alliance. I’ll contact them too,” Shi Xuan said.
“Now we can only see how Li Que performs in the middle of this storm. If he proves exceptional enough, perhaps they’ll step forward and speak on his behalf!”
He was thinking far ahead.
The Hall of Anomalies and Eclipse Organization were not the greatest dangers.
The people at the level of the Anomaly Wielders’ Alliance were the ones who could truly decide whether Li Que lived or died. Now that he had offended Xu Guoguo, someone of equal weight would have to speak for him.
“If Teacher Li can oppose the SS-class Nightmare, that will be enough to prove himself.”
After all, if Li Que’s performance at Five Dragons Mountain had truly depended upon the Divine Seal Fragment, it would not be enough.
This time, the SS-class Nightmare would be the real test of his strength!
…