It's Already Very Long

Hecheng City Criminal Investigation Division.

A man wearing a fishing hat, his face covered in a thick beard, stared down at the three corpses laid out on the table. He simply extended his hand and lightly swept it a few inches above the bodies.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, his expression puzzled. Scratching the back of his neck, he shrugged helplessly.

"Case closed. Just file it as natural causes."

The officer standing nearby frowned.

"There's no way this looks like natural death."

Fishing Hat Man shook his head. "I didn't sense anything unusual. There are plenty of ways to control venomous snakes—like the Five Poisons Sect or the Witch Gu practitioners active in the Yunnan-Guizhou region—but they usually leave traces. Just wrap this up normally. I’ll report the rest. It’s out of your hands now."

The officer took a step forward.

"How can you say it's out of our hands? People are dead."

"People die. And these three were scumbags who deserved it. What’s the big deal? Besides, if the killer really is who we suspect, you regular cops wouldn’t stand a chance. You’d need something like the SDU."

"That’s a Hong Kong unit," the officer pointed out.

"I just like Stephen Chow movies. Look, for your own safety, drop the case. Leave it to us—Yanhuang Awakening. We prefer to recruit righteous individuals like this one."

Fishing Hat Man was clearly a chatterbox—responding to every sentence with a paragraph.

The officer pressed further.

"Righteous?! So you won’t punish the vigilante? They trampled over the law! These three should’ve faced trial!"

Fishing Hat Man turned to face him.

"Officer Li, I know you respect the law. But you should also know it’s flawed. How many loopholes have criminals exploited?

"Let me tell you this—a skilled person with a sense of justice is far less dangerous than three hardened criminals. He didn’t harm innocent civilians. That means there’s room for negotiation."

Officer Li couldn’t help but ask, "And if he does hurt ordinary people?"

The man flicked the brim of his hat. "Then he’ll end up just like these three."

With that, he waved a hand and walked off without another word.

Officer Li watched Fishing Hat Man’s retreating figure, then glanced back at the three corpses. Finally, he sighed.

In the blink of an eye, Fishing Hat Man arrived at the mountainside where the bodies had been discovered.

Days had passed since then, and rain had washed over the area. Normally, any traces would’ve been erased.

Yet, the man merely raised his hand. After a few seconds, as if sensing something, he strode deeper into the mountains.

Soon, he reached the actual spot where the three criminals had died.

Closing his eyes, he seemed to be absorbing the surroundings.

After a long while, he slowly opened them and pulled out his phone to make a call.

"Yeah, it’s me. I’m in Hecheng. Profile suggests a beast-controlling expert—or someone who couldn’t be bothered to act personally. Check if anyone from the Five Poisons Sect or Witch Gu tribe has been active in eastern Guangdong lately."

A pleasant female voice replied, "Got it. Any clues about their mindset?"

"Probably a principled type. After killing those three with venomous snakes, he had animals carry the bodies down the mountain to be found. Wanted the case closed without revealing himself."

"Understood. Keep investigating. Stay in touch."

Hanging up, Fishing Hat Man flicked his hat again, his expression resigned.

"How the hell am I supposed to track this down? Do I really have to comb through the entire mountain?"

—System: I told you already, this world is the Nine Heavens Realm—

February 22, 2013.

The Lantern Festival hadn’t arrived yet, but school was about to start.

Today was just the opening ceremony—no real classes yet. Just collecting textbooks, cleaning the classroom, and rearranging seats.

They’d switched seats multiple times last semester, but no one wanted the front row, so Lin Mo never bothered moving.

Now, he sat listening to classmates chatter about their winter break—trips with family, new foods, things they’d seen.

Except Jiang Yunlu wasn’t here.

Lin Mo had gotten her message earlier: her family was traveling abroad, but flight delays and cancellations due to weather had stranded them for days.

She’d asked their homeroom teacher, Chen Xiaoya, for a leave of absence, hoping to return by tomorrow.

If not for the trip, Jiang Yunlu would’ve tried meeting up with Lin Mo the moment he got back.

Meanwhile, many in class lamented how short winter break felt—like it barely started before ending.

Hearing this, Xue Zigui chimed in.

"According to the Education Bureau, high school winter breaks typically last three weeks, while summer breaks are seven to eight."

"That’s still short."

"It’s actually quite long."

"Who are you speaking for?"

"You know who."

On the other side, Fang Jun was bragging about how Lin Mo had boosted his rank to Diamond in League of Legends, and now he could hold his own without dropping.

"But damn, Old Mo climbed so fast—got me from Gold IV in just one afternoon..."

Before Fang Jun could keep gushing, Lin Mo cut in.

"Enough. Even if you keep praising me, I’m not taking orders. Too exhausting."

Truthfully, it wasn’t tiring—Lin Mo just didn’t want to waste time.

After more idle chatter, Chen Xiaoya arrived.

She took the podium and launched into the usual spiel. Lin Mo couldn’t recite it word for word, but he knew most of it was fluff.

The main point? "Get your heads back in the game."

Next came collecting homework.

Anyone who hadn’t finished was sent outside to complete it.

Luckily, Class 8 had a good academic atmosphere—no slackers.

That didn’t stop Chen Xiaoya from announcing a quiz right after the ceremony.

High school was all about intensity.

Before the assembly even started, teachers were already reviewing winter break assignments.

Halfway through, the bell rang, forcing everyone to head to the opening ceremony.

The ceremony was as dull as expected—speech after speech. Lin Mo, an honors student, had been asked to speak but declined.

Instead, the top-ranked sophomore took the stage.

Listening to the smooth delivery, Lin Jiajun muttered, "Sounds like he memorized the whole script. Zero emotion."

"Gotta hand it to the top student—memory’s insane. Flawless delivery," Lin Mo remarked.

As the class’s P.E. monitor, he stood at the front and could clearly see the speech tucked in the guy’s pocket. No idea if he wrote it himself, but he’d definitely added his own flair.

Once finished, the sophomore proudly strode off the stage.