CH 2

During the second period of Shadow Academy, Yin Su Shuang borrowed a period from the subject teacher so that the students could discuss the job assignments for the school festival. In the normal course of events, before the school festival, only the class advisor’s classes would be used for the preparation of classroom affairs, but the news that Shadow 1A had won the lottery had passed through the entire Shadow Academy before the end of the period, so their subject teacher had permitted it while turning a blind eye.

Yin Su Shuang left after explaining a few things to the class representative Liu Yi Chen, letting Liu Yi Chen take charge of the discussion.

“So,” Liu Yi Chen took in a deep breath, “Let’s discuss setting up the vendor stall first. Does anyone have any ideas?”

The students under the stage glanced at each other, some of them conversing in low voices, but no one spoke up.

“What will we do, setting up vendor stalls?” Conglong asked Feng Ping Lan.

“We would usually sell food or set up games, more or less similar to the night markets.”

“But wouldn’t that be just like a part-time job?” Morris wrinkled his eyebrows, “I’m not doing it! Why do we have to serve those humans with slow morality development even at school?”

“It’s not that extreme.” Feng Ping Lan placated, “All the customers within the school will be students and faculty staff, it should be much better…”

“Not necessarily. There are a bunch of inferior and distasteful people among the Summoners.” Conglong spared Kaido a glance.

Kaido was agitated, “What are you looking at!”

“In any case, our class needs to be in charge of two teams, if you don’t want to be in charge of the vendor stalls, you can go to the performance team.” Feng Ping Lan spoke optimistically.

“Anyone who has any suggestions please raise up your hand.” Liu Yi Chen glared at Feng Ping Lan’s group.

“Can we sell anything we want?” Conglong raised his hand to ask, “I want to sell cars and planes!”

Liu Yi Chen raised her eyebrows, “Vetoed.”

“Why?!”

“The budget would be too high.” Feng Ping Lan explained quietly by Conglong’s ear. “Most vendor stalls sell mainly meals. And it’d be better if we attached a gimmick to it, this way it’ll seem new and interesting to the customers.”

“How troublesome…” Conglong whispered, tilting his head to think for a moment, and, inspiration flashing past, raised his hand once again.

Liu Yi Chen had originally intended on ignoring him, but as there was no one else speaking out, and adding on the fact that Conglong was starting to bang his desk, she could only warn helplessly: “You’d better have something useful to say.”

“Of course.” Conglong spoke, pleased with himself, “We can sell milk.”

“Oh?”

“Milk is very delicious, and very nutritious. Fresh milk is sold cheap in winter.”

“Woah.” Liu Yi Chen nodded her head, “And?”

“Here’s the main point,” Conglong made a deliberate one-second pause before announcing, “We can bring a real dairy cattle over, letting the customers try squeezing out the cow’s milk for themselves!” Humph, a mere human activity, easy as pie.

“Just too clever!” Liu Yi Chen nodded her head repeatedly, her face darkening suddenly, “Attractive your ass! Idiot! Why don’t you paint yourself black and white, kneel naked before the classroom to let the customers extract your milk?”

“I can’t produce milk!” Conglong refuted resentfully.

“Your output won’t compare with a dairy cow’s, either, hehehe.” Byriel remarked cynically.

The faces of a crowd of female students flushed red, laughing up their sleeves.

”C-class Rep! That’s too hardcore!” Feng Ping Lan hurriedly called out to dissuade her.

Liu Yi Chen glared furiously at Conglong, then turned to look at Feng Ping Lan, warning angrily, “Control your Contract.”

“Yes yes yes…”

“Then, what about the performance section? There are quite a few members of the Drama Research and Magic Research here. Now that you’ve participated in three months’ worth of club activities, do you have any ideas?”

“Um,” Su Li Wan raised her hand slowly, “The Drama Research’s president believes the new students have yet to understand the club’s operations, which is why she arranged many ‘foundation training’ exercises…”

Liu Yi Chen could tell that Reina monopolized great authority, and the newbies only had a part in doing odd jobs.

“That damn bitch…” Liu Yi Chen spit lightly, sparing Renier a glare.

“The Magic Research too,” Ivan spoke. “Most of the new students’ time is spent spectating on probation, the club president doesn’t manage us. The only magic trick I became used to performing was vanishing myself during club hours in the two weeks I was in the Magic Research.”

“The seniors in the Drama Research are all performing cheesy love scenes…”

“All the magic tricks they teach to new students in the Magic Research suck..”

With Su Li Wan and Ivan leading, the other students started grumbling in succession.

Liu Yi Chen held her forehead, looking at the activity rules, “The contents performance is not limited to a play. Instrumental performances and singing are allowed, but we must be on stage for at least ten minutes.”

“Let’s sing then, acting is really troublesome,” Morris spoke.

“How about this,” Ivan suggested, “Why don’t we perform the biblical classic ‘The Last Supper’, everyone gets to go onstage to eat a meal before stepping off the stage?”

Liu Yi Chen heaved a sigh, “Incidentally, the performance section will have a voting selection, we’ll be punished if our votes are too little.”

The students let out a chorus of aggrieved groans.

Liu Yi Chen took a look at the time, sighing helplessly.

“We probably won’t be able to come up with any results today. Guys, think of the teams you want to participate in, and we’ll divide into groups immediately tomorrow, working on both simultaneously.” She kicked the storage box placed in the corner, “If you have any suggestions or ideas, write them on a piece of paper and put it in this box. That’s all.”

After class, the students headed to another classroom in succession. Feng Ping Lan was considerably curious about the Shadow Academy’s school festival, asking Su Li Wan about the relevant details as he walked.

“What’s tested in the School Festival Trials?”

“Most likely related to the things taught in Shadow Academy, they’re usually reality tests combining sorcery, zhoushu and wushu, the modes are virtually the same.”

“Then, what will the champion receive?”

“Award money, added points, and a trophy and prize specially issued by the Association.” Liu Yi Chen entered the conversation, simultaneously handing a piece of paper over to Feng Ping Lan, “Sign here.”

“What’s this?”

“The registration form for the participating groups for the school festival.”

Feng Ping Lan’s eyes swept past the rules, “But it’s limited to at most six people.”

“A group consists of six Summoners, the number of Contracts isn’t limited. It’ll be just right if all the members in the Society Research participate.” The corners of Liu Yi Chen’s lips hooked up, revealing a fierce, hell-bent smile, “In the past, our school representatives were all our seniors, this time we’ll be able to dampen their spirits.”

“You mean, during the tournament, we’ll have the right to beat up anyone we don’t like?” Morris spoke, “No matter Summoner or demon?”

“That’s right.” Liu Yi Chen nodded in praise, “You’ve grasped the key point.”

Conglong and Morris looked at Kaido in sync, their mouths twisting into eager smiles.

“The fuck are you looking at!” Kaido became agitated once more.

“Uh, you guys know that you can’t attack your teammates, right?” Feng Ping Lan reminded.

“Oh…” Conglong and Morris groaned, their shoulders drooping, evidently dispirited.

Suddenly, a paper crane flew before everyone’s eyes, hovering before Feng Ping Lan.

“What’s this?” Feng Ping Lan spread his palms, the paper crane stopping on them, unfolding to turn into a slip of paper.

—Gather at the staffroom after school. Yin Su Shuang.

*

After school. Feng Ping Lan and his Contracts arrived at Yin Su Shuang’s office.

“Don’t participate in the School Festival Trials.” The moment they entered, Yin Su Shuang spoke straight on.

“Why?”

“The change of rules this time around was proposed by the Director, it was specially set up so that anyone is free to sign up, in order to shield you.”

“What do you mean?”

“The inter-school festival is one of the Association’s major activities. If each school were to send out a representative, would you be able to avoid it?” A Summoner with six contracts, no matter the circumstances, would be sent out.

It suddenly dawned upon Feng Ping Lan.

The reason why Class Advisor had looked at him earlier was not to indicate that this was an opportunity for him to perform, but to hint that the rules had been changed because of him.

“Due to the fact that there are no school representatives, everyone is scrambling over to participate, so the focal point naturally wouldn’t be placed on anyone particular.”

“But we’ve already signed up.”

Yin Su Shuang furrowed his brows, sighing, “This is the North Pacific Region’s competition, if you win, you’ll become the region’s representatives, carrying on to contest against the winners of other regions. The finals will be held at the Association’s headquarters, and the representatives’ family background and origins will be reported thoroughly to the Association. When the time comes, not even the Director will be able to interfere.”

“So you want us to pretend to be weak?”

“That won’t do either. So as to prevent any speculators or paid test takers, the performances of participants will have digital records, being too weak will also attract attention.” Yin Su Shuang spoke helplessly, “You cannot perform too well, nor can you perform too horribly, you must stick close to an average value. As long as your display is mediocre, even if those outside our school know that you have six Contracts, no one will mind too much.”

“That’s too hard!” Conglong complained.

“Then think of something to withdraw from the competition.” Yin Su Shuang took a sip of herbal medicine, “I think, all of you should be occupied by something else, am I right?”

Everyone recalled, there was still the case of the Gentleman Thief yet to be solved.

When it rains, it pours.

Before they left the office, Byriel suddenly spoke, “Was us drawing the purple lot deliberately arranged?”

“No, that was completely unexpected.” Thinking about this, Yin Su Shuang frowned once more.

“I see.” Byriel smiled faintly, “And here I thought it was another one of the Director’s good intentions, hehe.”

Yin Su Shuang could hear through Byriel’s pointedness, but did not lay it bare, just saying in an insipidly low voice, “All that the Director plans, worries about, is nothing you are able to comprehend.” He spared Byriel a glance, “If you are dissatisfied, try your best to find a way to break away from these troubled waters.”

After they left the class advisor’s office, Conglong couldn’t help but grumble. “It’s damn annoying, why do humans have to think of so many ways to torment a person.”

“Looks like we’ll just have to give up on the mission.” Just the School Festival Trials were problematic enough, they still had the vendor stall and performance to worry about, if they had to take the time to investigate the Gentleman Thief, that was just beyond their abilities.

The Gentleman Thief only operated during the full moon. There was still a month left before the next full moon, and their mission’s time limit was until Christmas Eve, coincidentally overlapping with the school festival.

“No.” Dongya suddenly spoke, “We cannot give up.”

Byriel looked at Dongya. “Why are you suddenly feeling so strongly about this?”

Dongya avoided Byriel’s gaze, “What I feel is, it is not yet the time to give up…”

“Oh, is that so.” Byriel nodded his head. “What a great reason you have, hehe.” He cast a spell on his own, dispersing into golden mist to leave.

Feng Ping Lan looked at Byriel vanishing mist, then looked at Dongya. He felt as if there was something strange going on between Dongya and Byriel, but he could not place it.

Besides, he had no right to interfere, he could not help.

He reached out a hand to pat Dongya’s shoulder.

Dongya turned his head, smiling at Feng Ping Lan, “Let’s return home.” Then, accompanying by Feng Ping Lan’s side, he sent him to the bus stop, and after seeing Feng Ping Lan boarding the public bus, cast a wind spell to return.

*

Late night. The residence on the mountainside. Two windows on the third and first floor were still lit up.

Feng Ping Lan sat by the study table, flipping through the files related to the Gentleman Thief. But there was absolutely no headway to be made after quite a long while.

Before this, the reason they had been able to intercept the Gentleman Thief’s advance notice was because Shen Yang had divulged in the city which he might commit the crime, and they had headed to the local postal services to lie in wait. As such, they had been able to divert the target and slip into the house to ambush him before he arrived.

With the experience this time around, the Gentleman Thief was sure to be more guarded against them, trying to play the same old trick was impossible.

He looked at the files, which recorded the photos, basic information as well as past investigations results of the victims.

The women in the photos were around from eighteen to twenty-seven, all of them single women, their appearances delicate and pretty, and were living alone, the assessments given by her friends and relatives being ‘pure and kind-hearted’. Some of them lived in apartment buildings, some in suites, some in detached townhouses. The locations of these crime scenes could be held in various places, but mostly in the northern region.

He flipped to another page, one of the cases that had occurred in August, another in July.

Feng Ping Lan scratched his head. Committing a crime in such hot weather, what perseverance…

Since he was a Summoner, if he really liked these girls, there were actually plenty of more direct ways to make them submit to him, either by placing bewitching spells or directly threatening them.

Deliberately leaving advance notices, slipping into the house, then leaving after claiming their lip marks. What was his motive? Just a purely chuuni pervert? If that was so, why had he murdered someone? The Gentleman Thief had declared himself not to be a murderer, but why did he continue to persist on with his crimes while under suspicion? Wasn’t he afraid of getting caught by the Association?

Ah, forget it. A pervert’s mentality could not be understood.

He flipped through the files once again. The previous commissioners would investigate after the victims received an advance notice. When those Summoners placed various layers of traps and incantations on the site, it wasn’t that the Gentleman Thief did not reveal himself, he merely saw through the traps and messed with the Summoners instead.

Just how did he see through the traps?

Feng Ping Lan continued to skim through, his gaze attracted by one of the remarks.

In one of those cases, the Summoners continued the chase after they failed on a full-moon day, finding the Gentleman Thief by a restaurant. As there were no further developments, he had not made too much note of it.

What sort of methods did those Summoners use to chase him?

Feng Ping Lan stood up, momentarily feeling a bout of dizziness, lowering his head to look at the clock, it was already midnight. He yawned, feeling exhausted, but forced himself to stay awake.

The situation was urgent, he had to seize the moment to pursue any clues they could find.

He opened the door, pausing a little when he passed by Quetzal’s door.

…Nobody was inside.

He opened the door, and as expected, the room was completely empty.

For some reason, he had recently been able to sense Quetzal’s presence. But he did not mention this to anyone else, as this was nothing worth mentioning about, and it would probably heighten Quetzal’s guardedness if he spoke about this, then sever it after finding the reason why he was able to sense him. When that happened, he would no longer be able to savor that tiny little meeting of minds.

Pushing the door close, he went down. He came to Dongya’s room, knocking on the door lightly. He knew Dongya would always sleep late, he would always watch shopping channels on the TV in his room while wiping his silver utensils clean.

There was no answer. He inclined his ear for a moment, there were no sounds coming from within the room.

Was he asleep? He had originally thought about asking Dongya to bring him to the mortuary to ask about any clues.

The sound of footsteps came down the stairs. He walked down, bumping into Conglong, who was walking up with a carton of milk in his hands.

“You’re not asleep yet?” Conglong raised his eyebrows, “Are you watching those films of copulating humans again?”

“I’m not! Wait! Why did you say ‘again’?”

Conglong took a sip of milk, “I saw you secretly taking a look at Simo’s rented movies.”

“That was accidental! She put it in the wrong box, I mistook it for The Fast and Furious I rented!”

Conglong raised his eyebrows, “Did you discover that you took the wrong movie after watching the entire thing?”

“Uh, I thought it was sort of a plot twist in the story line, since the scene was also set in a car… Hahahaha.” Feng Ping Lan laughed awkwardly for a moment, switching the subject, “Are you busy?”

“I’ve just finished my work.” Conglong emptied his carton of milk, revealing the pleased expression of someone who had accomplished great things, “I just finished collecting the vegetables and livestock in my farm, even building a new farmhouse, I also went to steal a few rare gems from fish tanks of other people in passing.”

“Oh, good job.” Feng Ping Lan smiled agreeably, “Can you help me with something?”

“What are you planning?” Conglong backed away guardedly, “I won’t watch those senseless human copulation movies with y—”

“Shh! Shh! It’s not that! Stop talking about that!” Feng Ping Lan frantically cut off Conglong’s words, “Forget what you saw, that was just an accident. I want you to bring me to Janus.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, I found a few clues, and I wanted to ask Shen Yang directly, see if there are any materials with them.” He did not have Shen Yang’s contact number, so he needed to take this trip himself.

“Oh.” Conglong’s eyeballs rolled around, “But there’s a price.”

“What do you want?”

“Your Christmas furniture in Pet Society.”

Feng Ping Lan smiled lightly, “Okay.” Why were these demons so adorable.

As the days they interacted grew by, the more he realized the demons were no different from humans, even easier to mix in with than humans in some areas. Especially the ones who had signed a contract with him.

He wasn’t sure if he could preserve the natural and unrestrained demeanor he anticipated when they separated. He was always mentally prepared for their separation, but perhaps, preparation would always never be enough.

*

Conglong was a water-type demon, and could not travel with the wind like Dongya, but he had a method of travelling, just that Feng Ping Lan had never seen him travel long distances before.

“Are you going to flow through the river? I don’t think there are any rivers near the mortuary…”

“We’ll go with the water bridge. Didn’t I bring you through it when we subdued those succubi before this?”

Feng Ping Lan recalled slipping into the girl dormitories with Conglong at the start of the new term.

He remembered the water bridge, but walking directly from here to the mortuary using a water bridge would take too much time.

“Um, we have limited time, and besides, we have class tomorrow.”

“I know, that’s why we’re using the water bridge!” Conglong revealed an impatient expression, heading out the house. Feng Ping Lan followed him.

However, Conglong did not walk through the main entrance, instead halting before the flowerbed. He picked up the yellow hose for watering the flowers, twisting the water tap, ice-cold water spurting out. He turned his head to gaze around for a moment, as if he was verifying something, at last looking at a position next to Feng Ping Lan.

“Back away.”

Feng Ping Lan obediently complied. Then, Conglong closed his eyes. In the next moment, cyan scale marks lit up, spreading from his neck to his hands.

The hose’s weak stream of water suddenly exploded, turning into a blue shimmering torrent, surging into the air, like a shooting star, abruptly drawing a faint watery path of light in the air.

Feng Ping Lan was stupefied. Although he was now used to the existence of demons and incantations, each sight of it caused a feeling of endless novelty in him.

Clap clap clap clap clap! His hands applauded subconsciously. “Amazing!”

“Don’t make such a big fuss.” Conglong spoke exasperatedly, reaching out a hand towards Feng Ping Lan, beckoning, “Here.”

“Oh.” Feng Ping Lan hurriedly took out a hand warmer from his pocket, placing it in Conglong’s hands.

Conglong’s eyebrows furrowed, “What are you doing?”

“I thought you might feel cold.” Feng Ping Lan looked at Conglong’s wet hands, reaching out his sleeve to wipe the water droplets without consulting him. “It‘s done!”

Conglong flung the hand warmer at Feng Ping Lan, “I wanted you to give your hand to me. Humans have no way of crossing the bridge on their own.”

“Oh oh, okay.” Feng Ping Lan reached out a hand, laughing suggestively twice, “This looks like a marriage proposal! Do I close my eyes? Will I discover a diamond on my ring finger when I open them?”

“I have no interest in legally propagating with you.” Conglong gripping Feng Ping Lan’s hand impatiently, muttering an incantation, “Let’s go.”

He stepped onto the water pathway, the stream of water underneath surging forward at high speeds, driving Conglong and Feng Ping Lan towards their destination. Feng Ping Lan looked at the residential district nightscape flowing below them. This was a different experience achieved through Dongya airless flight, or Morris’ leaping rise and fall.

“We’ll reach in around twenty minutes.” Conglong looked into the distance, “We might be quicker if there are areas of running water.”

“Mm!” Feng Ping Lan looked at the scenery under his feet, then gazed up at the sky. With the crescent moon hung up in the sky, the moonlight was clear and bright, seemingly at arm’s length.

Conglong felt the body next to him tremble slightly, raising his eyebrows to laugh lightly, “Are you scared?”

“Nope.” Feng Ping Lan smilingly lifted his head, “With Conglong here, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“If you aren’t scared, why are you trembling.” Humph humph, trying to put up a brave front, reluctant to admit it.

“Because it’s a little cold…” Feng Ping Lan smiled a little embarrassedly. “But I’ll get used to it in a moment! Hahaha…”

Conglong was slightly caught off guard, he had just realized that white mist was forming out of Feng Ping Lan’s mouth as he spoke, and his clothes had just been soaked halfway through by the water path earlier.

The hand grasped in his palm was icy. He was used to the water’s piercing coldness, and had momentarily forgotten, he was currently holding on to a tepid human.

He had forgotten, humans were just that frail. And such a frail guy, had the strength to spare worrying about others.

Conglong furrowed his eyebrows. He did not know what to do. If this was Morris, he could summon fire; if this was Dongya, he could summon a warm breeze; if this was Simo, she could summon a familiar, who had bulky wings, to separate him from the cold air.

Conglong looked at the icy hand in his palm, and after considering for a moment, said, “Hey.”

“Mm?”

“Where’s the hand warmer?”

“In my pocket.” Feng Ping Lan reached out his other hand that was stuck in his pocket, pointing at another pocket of his coat, “Do you want it? I have two.”

“No need.” Conglong humphed, sticking their interlocking hands into Feng Ping Lan’s pocket without asking him.

Feng Ping Lan blinked, glancing with slight surprise at Conglong, but the other turned his head away.

Not long after, the street lights underneath gradually turned sparse. They passed through the urban district, the border of the city, at last arriving at the desolate outskirts.

In the middle of the huge mass of black, a tiny lantern was lit, it was the Janus Mortuary’s lantern.

After they descended, Conglong waved his hand, the water pathway in the air directly transforming into countless tiny water droplets before falling to the ground.

As they stepped into the basement, jarring electronic music was discharged. Shen Yang’s legs were crossed, a gaming console in their hands, focusing all their attention onto the computer screen. There was a pile of video game boxes on the floor by the side, looking like new goods that had just been recently opened.

Looking at who had come, Shen Yang waved smilingly, “Oh, good evening.” They sized up Feng Ping Lan and Conglong, “Are you here to withdraw from the mission?”

“No, there are a few unclear records in the files, so I came to ask about it.”

“How diligent of you.” Shen Yang pressed a few buttons in a row, “Just the two of you today?”

“That’s right.”

“I thought as much.” Shen Yang laughed lightly, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play1.”

Conglong raised his eyebrows, “Do you have any problems?”

“How could I? I am overjoyed over the arrival of both of you.” Shen Yang placed down the game console, put their legs down, half of their body lying over the disarrayed counter, “Tell me, what’s the question?”

Feng Ping Lan took out his phone from his pocket, pressing on the document page he had taken a photo of, handing it to Shen Yang. “In this it says that the Summoner tracked down the Gentleman Thief’s whereabouts. How did he manage to pursue him?”

Shen Yang glanced at the image, lips hooking into a resplendent smile.

“As expected, you’re incredibly smart, being able to notice such a subtle clue.” The fingers painted in purple nail polish rapped on the screen, “Really exceptionally illustrious, exceptionally outstanding, I am exceptionally pleased.”

“Thanks.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head in embarrassment.

“Just say it if there are any clues.” Conglong urged.

Shen Yang sat upright, “There are even more detailed records.” They extended a finger, curling a strand of hair, “But…”

“But what?”

Shen Yang pointed at the screen, “I’m very busy at the moment, I can’t leave.” On the screen, a pink long-haired girl wearing a low-cut maid costume was sitting timidly on a sofa, the background looking like a palace court.

“Oh, Li Rui’s also playing this game. He says you can absorb experience points.”

“What’s that?” Conglong frowned.

“A club that only gentlemen who possess a sincere heart can enter.” Shen Yang twisted their hair, “Are you interested in joining?”

“Can I play with race cars in it?”

“Nope.” Shen Yang called out the computer system, randomly pressing onto one of the options, and said, “The file’s located at the seventy-first pathway, rack D12, third column, get it yourself. I have a date to the hot springs with that irritating woman.”

Just as Feng Ping Lan and Conglong were about to turn around in search of the document rack, Shen Yang suddenly spoke.

“What to do next?” Shen Yang pouted, “Which lines should I choose? Hey, hey, help me with this! I don’t quite understand what this woman wants…”

Feng Ping Lan paused in his footsteps, Conglong continuing to walk to the back, uninterested, throwing this hot potato at Feng Ping Lan to handle.

“Uh, I can’t read Japanese.” Feng Ping Lan looked at the screen. “But if you like her, you should increase her favorability—”

“I am very hesitant.” Shen Yang continued to speak, hands controlling the game console boredly, saying absent-mindedly. “I like both sides, and I hate both sides as well, which should I choose?”

“Then… why don’t you choose both?”

Shen Yang lifted their head, glancing up at Feng Ping Lan, lips cracking into a smile, “Good idea.”

But in the next moment, they threw the game console to the side.

“You’re not going to play anymore?”

“No. That was a gift from someone else.” Shen Yang propped their head up, looking smilingly at Feng Ping Lan, “I am much more interested in real-life people.” The long-nailed fingers wrapped around Feng Ping Lan’s arm, then moved upwards, coming to the chest covered his sweater.

“Are you trying to capture2 me? I can bring you to the hot springs as well.” Feng Ping Lan smiled to ask. “But I’m not sure if you will be using the men’s baths or women’s baths.”

Shen Yang burst into laughter, taking their hands off. Gripping onto Feng Ping Lan’s palm, they unfolded it, stacking it onto their own palm.

“Are you doing palm-reading?” Feng Ping Lan asked curiously, “How is my future horoscope? Do I have the peach blossom luck3?”

“That will depend on your definition of a peach blossom luck.” Shen Yang looked at the lines of Feng Ping Lan’s palm as they muttered. “The person in the records was able to track down the Gentleman Thief because he used a special curse.”

Feng Ping Lan let Shen Yang grab onto his hand. Shen Yang’s palm was warm and velvety, but there were light scars covering the skin.

“What kind of curse?”

“As long as you have a part of a person’s body, no matter where that person hides, you will always have the ability to trace his position. This is a very difficult secret curse, only few clans know how to use it.” Shen Yang lifted their head to meet Feng Ping Lan’s eyes, cracking into a smile, “Luckily, you have someone who knows it next to you.”

Feng Ping Lan immediately thought of Zong Yu. When Kaido had been captured by Jiu Shao, Zong Yu had used Kaido’s dried blood to find his location.

“But I don’t have the Gentleman Thief’s blood or hair.”

“Just an object he’s used before is enough.” Shen Yang placed Feng Ping Lan’s hand down, “But you will be unable to figure out his exact position, it will only point toward a rough direction. However, if by lucky coincidence you approach the people or objects the Gentleman Thief was in contact with, the curse will also react. That was how he was traced to a restaurant he went to in the previous case.”

“Oh oh! Thanks!” It sounded like a very useful tool. “Right, would it be alright if you gave me your number of an email? This way it’ll be much easier to contact you.”

“Are you sure?” Shen Yang smiled in reply, “All the phones and computers here are monitored by the Association.”

“Then how do you contact outsiders?”

Shen Yang shrugged, giving a wry smile, “I cannot contact someone on the outside on my own initiative, I can only think of something to make others seek me out.” Although they were smiling, their tone carried an evident helplessness.

Feng Ping Lan looked at Shen Yang, and wanted to say something encouraging, but did not know what to say. “Um, I’ll visit you frequently!”

Shen Yang’s lips cracked into a smile, “Thank you. You are really kind-hearted.” They leaned forward, lowering their voice to whisper to Feng Ping Lan, “Actually, I have a little secret to pass the time.”

“What is it?”

Shen Yang pulled on Feng Ping Lan’s hand, stuffing something in it. Feng Ping Lan opened his hand, the water ring toss game that Shen Yang had been playing with previously lying on the palm of his hand. With a closer look, the backdrop within was a bitmap forming the scene of the mortuary’s basement.

“What’s this?”

“The simplified version of a teleportation relay point. It has an exclusive manufacturing method, I can’t reveal it!” Shen Yang blinked wittily, “When you’ve caught all the rings, you’ll be able to come here.”

“Then, how will I return?”

Shen Yang took out a similar game, “Using this passage.”

Feng Ping Lan looked over it carefully in his hands as if he had gained the most precious treasure.

“Thank you!” This was just too convenient! With this, he could come here to inquire about the materials more frequently, or perhaps he could help Quetzal and the other search for useful clues—

“But, there are two conditions you need to fulfill.”

“What conditions?”

“Firstly, you cannot tell the existence of this object to anyone else, you’ll also have to be aware when you use it, don’t let anyone detect you.” Shen Yang’s lips lifted into a desolate smile, “This is something I took quite an effort to secretly make, if it’s discovered…”

“I understand.” Feng Ping Lan paused for a moment, “Um, Quetzal and the others can’t know either?”

Shen Yang shook their head.

“Alright then.”

“Secondly,” Shen Yang took a small antique silver round box, “I want a bit of your blood.”

Feng Ping Lan was a little surprised, “Blood?” Why was there a need for his blood?

“Just a little research I’m doing. I don’t need much, just a few grams is enough.” Shen Yang spoke smilingly.

Feng Ping Lan was a little hesitant, worried that this would be detrimental to him. But thinking about it. He was just an ordinary human, there was absolutely nothing worth conspiring over by the demons or Summoners.

“May I?” Shen Yang asked once more.

“Oh, okay.” Feng Ping Lan’s gaze swept over the desk, and, spotting a cutter, immediately took it and made a cut across his palm, letting the blood drip from his finger into the little silver box. “Is this enough?”

Shen Yang raised their eyebrows, “I actually have a syringe.” They pulled out a few sheets of tissue paper, handing them over to Feng Ping Lan.

“Oh, it’s fine.” Feng Ping Lan was left speechless, taking the tissue to cover his wound.

Enraged footsteps sounded from the back, and Feng Ping Lan immediately stuffed the games into his pocket, simultaneously hiding his injured hand in it.

“I didn’t see the file you spoke of! They were all materials on dismembered corpses!” Complaints ringing out, a light blue figure appeared.

“Oh, really?” Shen Yang covered their cheeks in feigned shock, “How could this be? And here I thought there was a piece of material about it. Anyways, I’ve just informed him of all the relevant points, so it’s fine if you can’t find the document.”

“You’re ridiculous!” Conglong scoffed heavily, glancing at the screen and glaring at the girl in the image, “I hope all the gems she pulls out are stolen away. Humph!”

“This isn’t that type of game.” Feng Ping Lan smiled in reply.

“Alright, I need to continue with my work now.” Shen Yang collected the game consoles, crossing their legs, “Goodbye, I won’t bother seeing you out!”

After Feng Ping Lan and Conglong left the basement, Conglong summoned the water bridge using the first floor bathroom’s water hose. They held hands, returning to the residence.

Feng Ping Lan’s hand that was stuck in his hand heated and stung slightly. The back of his hand bumped into the game in his pocket, and couldn’t help but ponder inwardly.

Earlier… Had Shen Yang deliberately sent Conglong away?

Feng Ping Lan shook that notion away with a smile.

No way, he wasn’t a Summoner, he didn’t have any special abilities.

All that he had did not belong to him, so they couldn’t possibly be snatched away.

‘When the cat’s away, the mice will play’: Originally the phrase is ‘山中无老虎，猴子称大王’. Translated literally, it means, ‘the monkey reigns in the mountains when the tiger is not there’. When the person of authority is away, those under his rule will enjoy their freedom.‘Capture’: The word Feng Ping Lan uses is ‘攻略’, which is used when trying to gain the love of characters in a game.‘Peach blossom luck’: Means that one will be lucky in love in the future.