Jin Rongxu had never seen Director Jin in a state like this.
He nodded stiffly twice, then hurried to his feet and pulled open the door.
He barked a few urgent orders at the people outside before returning and grabbing Zhu Zeyu and Yang Zhanbai by the arms.
“You two, come with me downstairs for an inspection.”
He narrowed his eyes maliciously at Zhu Yan.
“Why were the two of you conveniently there when the incident happened?”
“And why were the two of you conveniently the ones who got hurt?”
The implication was clear enough.
Their injuries had been far too coincidental. Was it really just coincidence—or had they deliberately arranged it because they didn’t want their accounts inspected?
Yang Zhanbai shot back, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you weren’t there.”
Jin Rongxu’s expression twisted.
With Director Jin present, he couldn’t afford to lash out. Instead, he grabbed Yang Zhanbai and Zhu Zeyu by the arms and dragged them all the way onto the elevator platform in the Hall of Mourning.
Inside the hall, the students were packed into a long, crowded line. As Jin Rongxu forced his way through with them, Zhu Yan could hear snatches of whispered conversation.
“Did you see that stretcher…? Something must have happened.”
“No idea. Zhu Zeyu and Yang Zhanbai really know how to make themselves conspicuous.”
“I heard it was the Hunter…”
“Right, right. They’re investigating…”
Jin Rongxu was being so rough that Zhu Yan felt he had accidentally elbowed countless people along the way.
He was soon brought to the counter. Jin Rongxu nodded at a player standing nearby, then hauled up the student sitting behind the counter and forced Zhu Zeyu into the seat.
“Hand,” he said coldly. Then he put on his usual lofty airs and issued orders to the Doll behind the glass.
“Check this one first. Can you print out a list of his account information for me?”
The Doll seemed to be a robot following a preset program.
It raised its head and mechanically ignored Jin Rongxu, addressing Zhu Zeyu instead. “Sir, what service would you like?”
“The same thing he said.” Zhu Zeyu obediently held out his left hand. “Check my account information.”
The whispers behind them grew louder. This time, Zhu Zeyu could hear a great deal of what was being said without even trying.
“…Looks like Zhu Zeyu really does have an unusual relationship with the Hunter.”
“I’ve suspected it for a while. He even gave the Hunter weapons. Getting stabbed by him was probably a gift too.”
“Would you be willing to let someone stab you?”
“No, I mean, how likely is it that the two of them are in cahoots…?”
The Doll pushed a thick sheet of paper across the counter.
“Please collect your account information.”
It tilted its head and glanced at Zhu Zeyu. “You are wealthier than most players I have encountered. Would you like to apply for membership?”
Jin Rongxu pounced on it like a dog that had caught the scent of meat.
“Wealthier?”
He snatched up the paper roughly, but the number in the Total Assets column was painfully small.
[2,050 Bone Gold Coins]
Jin Rongxu was dumbfounded.
He stared at the number again and again, then counted the zeros behind it in disbelief.
“Two thousand and fifty?”
Zhu Yan glanced apologetically at the long line behind them, snatched the sheet back, and put on an embarrassed expression.
“Captain Jin, why are you reading the number out loud? Wealth shouldn’t be flaunted. This is so embarrassing.”
Jin Rongxu’s face shifted from green to white and back again, but in the end, he held his tongue and didn’t say another word.
Only after Yang Zhanbai’s account had been checked did he drag the two of them back toward the elevator platform, his face dark with anger.
“Consider yourselves lucky.”
Yang Zhanbai gave a light tug and slipped free of Jin Rongxu’s grip.
“Consider Director Jin lucky,” he retorted. “Someone took a bullet for him, Captain Jin.”
Zhu Yan secretly kicked him.
This was bad. Really bad.
Yang Zhanbai’s mouth was far too sharp.
If he provoked Jin Rongxu, that man would really latch onto them like a dog that had found a new toy and refuse to let go.
Hidden inside Zhu Zeyu’s body, Zhu Yan frantically tried to smooth things over. He gave Jin Rongxu a fake, ingratiating smile.
“Captain Jin, we won’t take up any more of your time.”
“Um, we’re still students. We need to go back to Xishan University and extend our leave. Otherwise, the school won’t let us off so easily.”
He needed to make a trip to Fangcun Mountain, then spend a few days recovering in the dormitory.
They had been going through instances far too frequently. He needed to catch up on his sleep.
“What do you think? After the memory inspection, can we go straight back?”
They had both undergone the checks Jin Rongxu had demanded, and Zhu Zeyu’s reason was entirely reasonable. Jin Rongxu could only swallow the refusal that had been on the tip of his tongue.
“Fine,” he said coldly. “Taking leave shouldn’t require many days, should it? Don’t take the Human Alliance too lightly. You’ll still have to come back when called.”
“This matter isn’t over. We’ll investigate it thoroughly.”
“Everyone who was in the White Building that day will have to cooperate!”
Yang Zhanbai seemed ready to say something, but Zhu Yan kicked him again.
“Understood, Captain Jin.” Zhu Yan nodded obediently at him. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep discipline in mind.”
…
Room Three.
Director Jin’s face was pale from his heavy blood loss as he listened to his subordinate’s report, his expression clouded with worry.
“This Hunter is becoming more brazen by the day.”
Several of his subordinates had recorded the surveillance footage on their phones and played it for him.
The footage showed that the real Guan En had gone downstairs to direct the students immediately after leaving the office.
At the same time, a new “Guan En” had suddenly appeared outside his office and knocked on the door.
A chill crept up Director Jin’s back. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and the cold left him trembling.
Even the White Building, crowded with experts, had become a place the Hunter could enter and leave at will. Even a powerful official like himself could be toyed with so casually…
Wouldn’t the next step be killing him?
Director Jin thought of the Hunter’s three utterly terrifying abilities and clenched his still-numb fist.
“Reinforce the guards outside my office. This matter must be investigated thoroughly!”
“As soon as we find him…”
Director Jin made up his mind.
“…kill him on the spot!”
Under these circumstances, he no longer dared hope that they could seize the abilities from the Hunter.
Ordinary methods would probably never be enough to contain the Hunter. This time, he had truly been lucky to escape with his life.
“Yes, Director!” Captain Zheng gave a crisp military salute.
“Oh, right.”
Director Jin thought of Guan En, and displeasure flashed across his face.
“As for Captain Guan, inform him that he should take on more field assignments for the time being and keep out of sight.”
“That young player who took a bullet for me today—the one called Zhu Zeyu… He’s a good kid. He’s just new and not very familiar with our internal rules.”
Director Jin patted Captain Zheng on the shoulder.
“Xiao Zheng, give him some extra training. If his abilities check out, have him join the others under your command and stand guard outside my office.”
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
