/
The morning classes passed by peacefully. By the time noon arrived, however, Feng Ping Lan and his demons received a notice to gather at the teachers’ office.
“What did you do this time?” Conglong sipped his milk by the side, exasperated.
“I have no idea.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, “Ah, do you think they realized I washed my hair at the water dispenser yesterday night?”
“Why the heck were you washing your hair there?”
“I got splashed by some filthy water yesterday, so I went to the water dispenser ‘cause Igor was cleaning the mops at the sink.” Also, he didn’t want to put his face near that pungent smell coming from the mops.
On the way to the administrative building, they bumped into Liu Yi Chen and Zong Yu.
“Class Rep! Zong Yu!” Feng Ping Lan waved at the two, who also clutched similar-looking notices, “Did you guys wash your hair at the water dispenser too?”
“Do you think we’re like you?” Liu Yi Chen frowned, looking a little irritated.
“Who would have thought the rigorous rule-follower Student Liu would be called to the office.” Byriel mocked, sarcasm rolling off him, “Did you… kill someone?”
“There’s no way they’d die so easily.” Liu Yi Chen waved her hand dismissively, but realizing that she’d misspoken, instantly backpedaled, “Uh, I was just doing some cleaning up, making society much more livable and all, that’s all.”
Class Rep, what exactly did you do…
“Zong Yu, what about you?”
“…I seem to have forgotten one of my bags in the morgue…”
They all entered a moment of deep silence.
The teachers’ offices were all located on the entirety of the second floor administrative building, every class advisor with a personal office of their own. They found their way to a room with Yin Su Shuang’s name on it, and could smell the faint scent of medicine coming from it before even entering the room.
They went in. There were shelves on both sides completely filled with bottles and jars, various types of herbs placed in them. The different scents mixed together to form a kind of indescribable smell. Yin Su Shuang sat behind the desk in the room, immersing himself in this scent, looking like one of those herbs himself.
Yin Su Shuang glanced at the newcomers. He spoke with a darkened face, “You all—”
“I was just washing my hair, because I wanted the filth gone quickly!”
“Those hoodlums picked the fight first, I didn’t know they’d go down with just one hit!”
“…I was just passing by, that lady’s cause of death had nothing to do with me.”
Not even giving him a chance to speak, the three cut him off.
Yin Su Shuang furrowed his brows, continuing his sentence, “What I wanted to say, was that the three of you have not yet joined a club.”
“Oh…” They breathed a sigh of relief.
“But I am very interested in the contents of what you mentioned earlier.” Yin Su Shuang propped his head up using his hand, “Perhaps I should take another time to properly have a chat with the three of you…”
Their expressions looked incredibly dismayed.
“Do we have to join?” Conglong asked. “Us as well?”
The Contracts felt that this matter was quite troublesome and unnecessary.
“Correct. Zephaniah’s rules state that every student must join at least one club organization, with no limits on the number of groups you can participate.” Yin Su Shuang gave passed Feng Ping Lan a rulebook, “Only the eight of you have not joined one at all.”
So many things had happened at the start of the school year that Feng Ping Lan had forgotten this matter entirely. He gave the rulebook to his Contracts, not keeping one for himself, as he had already flipped through it before school started.
“We’re already accompanying this guy to those night classes. Now we’re even stuck together during days off?” Morris looked impatient, boredly receiving the rulebook.
Other than introducing the various clubs, the rulebook also described the correlated rules and bylaws of their activities, for example their way of grading, how to apply for the facilities and classrooms, publication of achievements, as well as the conditions for establishing a new club.
Due to the existence of Shadow Academy, a majority of the clubs were conducted in the afternoons or weekends. This led to Zephaniah’s associations not being very diversified.
“Contracts and Summoners can choose to be in different clubs. We’re pretty flexible with this rule…” Yin Su Shuang explained, then looked at Liu Yi Chen, “It’s been four days since you resigned from your club. You haven’t chosen a new one to this day.”
“I haven’t found one that interests me yet.”
Yin Su Shuang’s gaze was now on Zong Yu, “As for you, you don’t have a club either, after being kicked out from the last one.”
Zong Yu shrugged, looking very uncaring.
“You still have a week’s time to think about it. If you haven’t chosen a club by the end of the month, you will be forced to participate in the Deportment & Aesthetics Research Club.”
Liu Yi Chen’s face turned ashen hearing this.
“What’s that?”
“The club Yerde’s supervising. With a beautiful appearance and ceremony, the club cultivates etiquette and manners.” Liu Yi Chen shivered, “I just recently escaped from that club myself.”
“I see.” Feng Ping Lan tilted his head, “But if all eight of us enter the club, won’t there be too many members?”
“You don’t need to worry about that.” Yin Su Shuang smiled, “There was originally one member in that club. It is now a total of zero participants. I believe that Yerde will never complain about having too many members.”
Yin Su Shuang looked at his watch, saying, “Take a look around the clubs in the afternoon, then. My next visitor will be here soon.”
After leaving the office, they walked along the road together, flipping through the rulebook, bored to death.
“Troublesome…” Conglong flicked the pages frustratedly, “All of them are senseless little things! Why is the Cycling Club the only thing related to transport?!”
“That one’s pretty interesting, you can ride your bike everywhere on holidays!” Feng Ping Lan recalled back on the information written when he’d first read the rulebook, “We can go cycling together.”
“Man-powered cars are not considered cars! I don’t want to become burdened!”
“The Confectionery Club seems not bad to me.” Byriel curled his lips, “I have faith that the club members will scramble to feed me sweets, hehehe…”
Simo read the summary for the Theater Club. Her eyes sparkled, wondering if there were any of the shows she liked involved…
Morris paged through the book, eyebrows suddenly scrunching up. His eyes were fixed in one corner of the page, looking extremely sinister.
In a column were the words inked ‘The Care of Stray Cats Club’.
“All those clubs have reached their limit in members a long time ago.” Liu Yi Chen cut through everyone’s delusions, “The only clubs that have no limit in numbers are the clubs restricted to Summoners.”
“Restricted to Summoners?” Why hadn’t he ever heard of such clubs?
“Are you talking about those clubs flashing red?” Byriel smiled lightly, “And I thought those red words meant they were especially boring.”
“Flashing red?” Was there such a thing? “Let me take a look.”
Conglong gave the book to Feng Ping Lan. He flipped through it, and sure enough, there were a few clubs flashing with a dark red light in them. He hadn’t noticed them when he had gotten the book at the start of the school term.
“Is this a special rulebook for Shadow Academy students?”
“Every student has the same, but there’s a special ink on it that those in Shadow Academy can see.” Liu Yi Chen spoke dubiously, “Didn’t you get one before school started?”
“Uh, I lost mine not long after I got it, didn’t really look properly, hahaha…” Feng Ping Lan simply waved the matter through, “So, if it’s in red, we can participate?”
“As a whole, but some clubs have an initiation you have to pass. Look down below.”
Some clubs had a note indicating, ‘Restricted to average ability levels Three and above’ or ‘Restricted to combat skills levels Five and above’, etcetera. One of those remarks said, ‘Bonus marks up for consideration in martial arts class’. When his gaze moved upwards, he found that it was actually the ‘Deportment & Aesthetics Research Club’.
“The only ones not limited are only the Drama Research Club, Supernatural Research Club and the Magic Research Club. These three associations are the largest clubs in the school, also known as the Three Great Clubs in our Shadow Academy.”
“Ah, Li Rui tried applying for these three clubs, but he never managed to get in. He thought he’d been put on a blacklist, which was why those clubs with beautiful girls in them wouldn’t keep him. So it was because it was restricted to Shadow Academy students only, hahaha!”
“Normal students who want to apply for those clubs will be sent away in the entrance test. Bai Li Rui’s an exception, though. He was rejected before even taking the test.” Liu Yi Chen spoke.
“Isn’t there already a Drama Club and a Magic Club? What’s the difference?”
“Those are all for the normal students to participate. With the word ‘Research’ added in, it’ll mean purely research purposes, not practice.” Liu Yi Chen explained, “The members of the Drama Club perform plays, members of the Drama Research Club specialize in producing scripts, the theory of performance, designing the stage, prosthetic makeup and the manufacture of props; the Magic Club learns how to perform magic, the Magic Research Club focus on decoding magic; the Supernatural Research Club is the exact opposite, relying mainly on on-site investigations.”
“Why do you have to make things so complicated?”
“Almost all of the students at Shadow Academy will take part in the Association, even going as far as to work there. And the Association’s existence is the one that balances the state of the existing societies, preventing the disturbance of Opposers and demons.”
Liu Yi Chen continued, “These three clubs are the basis for students to learn and carry out missions. The Supernatural Research Club practices ‘exploration’, as most supernatural occurrences are caused by demons. The Supernatural Research gathers a collection of incidents, investigating on-site and determining if they are just rumors or demon revolts; The Drama Research Club studies ‘guise’, creating a scripts, personas, and allocating roles depending on the mission, not attracting attention whenever infiltrating into the scene; the Magic Research Club learns ‘concealment’, where for example someone witnesses a demon in flight, and the members of the Magic Research will have to think up something to make it look like a magic trick, using science to prove that that supernatural phenomenon is ‘fake’. If it’s a small incident, some members of the club will be sent to forge a mysterious phenomenon or legend to cover up the truth.”
“That’s so cool!” Feng Ping Lan couldn’t help but be left speechless.
Conglong disagreed, “That’s too troublesome, why not just directly hypnotize them?”
“It’s just too risky. Not every Summoner knows how to stably carry out an enchantment. Besides, the spell might raise the attention of the enemy.”
“Xiao Yu-er, which club were you originally in?” Feng Ping Lan’s attention suddenly turned to Zong Yu who had been silently following by the side.
Being abruptly called out, and with such a weird nickname, Zong Yu knitted his brows, turning his head faintly, “…What did you just call me?”
“Xiao Yu-er. Or do you prefer Xiao Yu-zi?”
“I do not like this address…”
“Then, Da Yu-er?”
The point was not on whether it was big or small…1 Although his heart was protesting, he didn’t want to have a dispute with Feng Ping Lan, on the off-chance he changed it into a weirder-sounding name.
“Drama Research Club…”
“What did Xiao Yu-er do to get kicked out?”
“I was on the prop-making team. When I was making the zombie model, I wanted to make it realistic, so I borrowed from the hospital as concrete reference…”
This guy is too reckless! Everyone thought.
“And then?” Feng Ping Lan was completely not minding it, pressing on the continuation of events.
“I made it too realistic, that even I couldn’t tell the genuine from the fake. In the end, I handed in the wrong one…” Zong Yu sniggered, the snigger sounding quite pleased, “But it was seen through in the first week… Because of the smell… Xixixi…”
Nobody laughed. Xong Yu’s entire person wafted an extremely creepy aura, they felt horrified and uneasy…
With the exception of one.
“Awesome!” Feng Ping Lan clapped his hands, “Then can you help make me a model? This way skipping class will be easy peasy! Ah, no, help me make a Quetzal doll first, I want it full-sized! I wanna put it in my room, hahahahaha!”
Zong Yu stared at Feng Ping Lan, not speaking a word.
His laugh was noisy. But, this was the first time someone had laughed to him this way…
Feng Ping Lan babbled his ideas non-stop, until his mind flashed with another idea.
“Oh, no, no, not just Quetzal…” Feng Ping Lan glanced at the other Contracts, curling up a covetous smile, “I want every one of you!” This way, when they left…
With those words out, there was an immediate outrage.
“You utter idiot!”
“You wish!”
“I’ll beat you to crap before getting him to make a doll for you!”
“How can you be like this! Xiao Yu-er don’t listen to them, we’re on the same side!”
Zong Yu did not say a word. He was very unused to the noisy atmosphere. It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to noisiness, but unused to the fact that in midst of this lively and cheerful laughter, he wasn’t given the cold shoulder.
“Now you’ve made Xiao Yu-er angry! He’s not talking anymore!” Feng Ping Lan looked at them accusingly.
“He’s just angry because you keep calling him Xiao Yu-er!”
Zong Yu’s lips started lifted subtly, without him realizing it.
Although he was unused to it, he didn’t exactly hate this feeling either.
*
After Feng Ping Lan and the others had left, Yin Su Shuang’s office was quiet once again.
The boiling teapot on the coffee table gently blew out steam in the corner, wafting a warm and rich herbal scent. The floating vapor left a faint shadow on the beige walls, the shadow slowly swaying to the movements of the steam.
As it swayed, the hue of its shadow gradually deepened, turning dark. In the depths of the umbra, a lone figure appeared majestically.
Yin Su Shuang did not lift his head, drinking the herbal tea in the teapot at his own pace.
“Take the main entrance next time.” He put down the teapot, glancing at the unexpected guest, “You’re late.”
Quetzal chilled his face, twirling the mass of black dried leaves floating near his wrist, shooting them towards Yin Su Shuang. The shadows covering those leaves subsided, the leaves turning back into grass-green. Glimmering, they gave out cries of an electric wave and the scent of grass.
He had planned on investigating away from the city, but this thing had appeared an hour ago, following him in its noisy and stinking state. Right until he used his shadows to seal off this curse, but the copper bangle on his wrist had started lighting up, unbridledly giving off ostentatious magic power, leaving him no choice but to turn back.
“Explain…”
“You don’t pick up the calls in your office, so I could only use this method to contact you.” Yin Su Shuang spoke indifferently, “You are one of the official staff members of this school. You can’t just leave your post on your own whim.”
“I am willing to reach a compromise with the Association. That does not mean I am willing to become the Association’s lapdog…” His one and only master was Prince Shuekan, and he would only receive orders from Prince Shuekan.
Yin Su Shuang humphed coldly, “You’ve got it all wrong. The ones forced to reach a compromise are us.” He drank a mouthful of tea, “Letting illegal invaders like you guys run about lawfully, helping you deal with the aftermath when your enemies come a-calling. Strictly speaking, you shouldn’t be called lapdogs. Parasites would be the more accurate term.”
He put down his cup, taking out a glass bottle out from his drawer. There was a red seal on the cap of the bottle. If you scrutinized it carefully, there were countless complicated spells occupying that seal, sealing, isolating, evading and cutting off contact.
An insect lived inside the bottle, its appearance like a cicada’s, but was colored pale gray. There was a decorative design in the shape of a human skull on its back, and there was a twisted human face in place of the head.
Quetzal’s face became severe. “Jun Sui…”
This was a familiar used for reconnaissance. Jun Sui, one of the Third Prince’s subordinates, could control them from the far end and even use them as a shortcut between worlds. Their master could instantly teleport to any location those familiars were.
The Third Prince’s men had already started to investigate this area? And he hadn’t been aware of it in the least…
“More than a hundred of this insect appeared in the city just this morning.”
“If they appeared in the morning, there will be a large-scale attack within three days.” Quetzal muttered, “The Third Prince Zhentsi is a man that is unreasonable and cruel. He has never failed to annihilate anything that might obstruct his way…”
Although they didn’t know what they had discovered, either the Summoners or them, they were all what the Third Prince sought to eliminate.
Yin Su Shuang scoffed, “We aren’t just some lay practitioners either. If they decide to attack us head-on, they should have the readiness to die in a foreign land.” He rapped his knuckles against the bottle, “This insect touched our wards the moment it appeared in the borders of the city, and Gemi and Yerde were the ones to handle it as soon as we sensed it. The most problematic thing was not intercepting them or destroying them, but dispersing them without leaving any traces. With the use of various spells and wards, we changed the local weather and magnetic field, causing the insects to subconsciously evade this place on their own, until the one manipulating them withdrew them. This was much harder to get done than that incident with that giant eyeball. Right now, Gemi and Yerde are still leading those insects away, and are unable to return to the school.”
Quetzal did not speak. Yin Su Shuang’s tone held a hint of reproach, but he knew, lecturing him was not the purpose of calling him here.
“As the insects are flying around the city collecting information, they will avoid the school compound and certain ‘particular locations’. Although this method of doing things will be effective for some time, if that manipulator has some brain in them, they will undoubtedly realize that those familiars have all evaded certain locations.” Yin Su Shuang stared at Quetzal, “Who do you think was the one who led them all here?”
Quetzal did not answer, asking him instead, “Why do you not directly say your purpose?”
“Mm?”
“As you say, the ones that were forced to reach a compromise were your side. We, who are viewed as an illegal existence according to your Association, have been brought into a system of organization. Helping us expel our enemies’ spies, what exactly are your motives?” Quetzal stepped forward, the cold blades of both swords glinting in the shadows behind him, “You are hiding too much from us. I am uncertain on whether you are a friend or a foe…”
Yin Su Shuang was not threatened by Quetzal’s imposing manner, “You don’t seem to have the capital to say this, what with you wearing the Shadow Academy’s bangle and all.”
“If I really wanted to throw you off, that thing wouldn’t be much of a hindrance to me. You know that.”
Yin Su Shuang coughed twice, sounding incredibly like he was laughing, “With the state you are in right now?”
Quetzal’s brow pinched slightly, but his expression ultimately did not change.
Yin Su Shuang drank another mouthful of tea, sighing, “This was the Director’s idea.” He looked at Quetzal, using a helpless tone of voice to say, “Hiding your existence from the Association, protecting all of you, even risking the danger of the Royal Clan, all of this was the Director’s idea. All we can do is do what he says.”
Although Yin Su Shuang’s expression said ‘what-can-you-do’, Quetzal could see the unquestionable trust and loyalty in his eyes. Just like how he regarded Shuekan.
“I thought you were loyal to the Association.”
“We comply to the Association, but we only vow devotion to the Director.”
“Then, who does he wish to eliminate?” Quetzal got straight to the point.
To surreptitiously bring a powerful military force under his thumb, there would only be two reasons: to either remove his companions that he couldn’t directly oppose, or, to betray and defect.
“The Director absolutely will not harm others for his own gain.” Yin Su Shuang saw through Quetzal’s guess, overruling it firmly, “In addition, he is still unsure if the one he suspects is in need to be eliminated. Before the circumstances are made clear, he is not willing to accidentally hurt anyone. Your use is just an insurance, not something that is absolutely necessary. But when the need arises, you will become the ace up his sleeve. This is the reason for bringing all of you in.”
Quetzal frowned in deep thought.
Hiding under the protection of the Shadow Academy had its advantages, but he didn’t want to be dragged into the Summoners’ internal strife…
“This Shadow Academy has been standing for the past sixty years. The entire city is in our scope of influence.” Yin Su Shuang suddenly broke into an entirely different topic, speaking casually, “Basically no one can cause trouble on our turf, and the one and only oversight we made was the incident that happened twelve years ago. That old demon that lived in that residence acted too well, he even enrolled in the summer horticultural classes Zephaniah offered for college students. He was never discovered once in the city. In the end it was until the miemoshiwho came over that made us realize any oddities, which caused us to lose face within the Association…”
Quetzal’s eyes flashed an astonishing light, “You know who sealed us twelve years ago?”
“Perhaps yes, perhaps not. Although we are both affiliated to the Association, the miemoshi are the Association’s Phantom Department, and they are hard to track down. As we are in a completely different system, we are unable to directly investigate them.” Yin Su Shuang curled his lips, giving a light and profound smile, “We are perhaps standing on the same boat here…”
Quetzal wanted to ask more about it, but Yin Su Shuang stood to go to the tea table in the corner, pouring the boiling tea into his own thermos.
Subject ended.
He tactfully did not longer investigate the matter in detail.
He knew of two things, according to Yin Su Shuang’s words.
The individual the Director was concerned about was in the Phantom Department, and in addition, there was a high possibility that this was the miemoshi that had sealed them in twelve years ago—
Plop. A folder stuffed full of documents suddenly descended onto the table, cutting off Quetzal’s train of thought.
“Take this.” Yin Su Shuang blew his tea, using his chin to point at those documents, “Since we’re currently having a shortage of manpower, you’ll be substituting for all Yerde’s classes in the Shadow Academy, as well as the club he supervises. Relax, the very last member of that club has run off, so you don’t need to do much. However, the club has not disbanded yet, so as per the rules you’ll have to wait in the clubroom to fill in the progress details, which happens every Friday afternoon.”
Quetzal’s eyebrows lifted, “For what reason?”
“For the reason that you are still a member of this school’s staff.” Yin Su Shuang drank his tea, “Your salary will be given at the end of every month, but you do not have a bank account yet. We’ll give it directly to you.” He mocked with a light smile, “Do you have any interest in joining the Teacher’s Association? Zephaniah has many specially employed stores with discounts.”
“This is just an act.” Quetzal reminded chillingly.
He had already reached his limit when he had been tasked to collect urine, but since it had been just for a day, he had endured it with much difficulty.
He didn’t want to have too much contact with the humans, didn’t want to waste his time on that ridiculous act of playing house…
He had finally found a lead, finally was a step closer to finding out Prince Shuekan’s whereabouts. He had to hurry and investigate further, hurry and find the prince, hurry and leave the human world—
This way it won’t hurt as much when it’s actually time for you to go, Quetzal.
In that instant, Feng Ping Lan’s foolish expression flashed through his mind.
Quetzal went slightly rigid, burgeoning a minuscule amount of hesitance at that moment. Just like a tiny ray of starlight peeking out from a thick cloud of a rainy night, dim and sudden, barely there.
“Even if it’s just an act, you must act the part.” Yin Su Shuang pushed the documents towards Quetzal. “This is an order, a transaction. When you reap the benefits, you must also pay the price.”
Quetzal snapped out of it, looking at the documents before him. His thoughts regained its calm.
He was very unwilling, but to gain more information from the Shadow Academy, he had to yield.
Since this was a mutual exchange of benefits, they would see who was the one to first achieve their goal!
Quetzal received the documents, glancing coldly at Yin Su Shuang. “Is there anything else?”
“No.” Yin Su Shuang’s smile contained a clear joy of his misfortune. “Happy teaching, Quetzal-laoshi.”
*
The clubrooms were centralized at the multimedia building; the Supernatural Research, Magic Research and Drama Research Clubs located at Block B.
A small area lay in between the entrance of the first-floor hall, a short-haired auntie sitting right there. She had fluffy red curls, and she propped her head up staring at the drama playing on the small television sat on the counter, munching on some peanuts. The peanut shells on the desk were piled up like a mountain.
As Feng Ping Lan and the others passed by, the auntie lazily glanced up at them once, eyebrows lifting slightly as she saw Byriel, gaze stopping on Dongya for a moment, before turning back to her show.
Liu Yi Chen respectfully nodded her head at her, but she didn’t even bother to acknowledge her.
“She’s not human.” Byriel spoke after walking a slight distance away. “She hides her aura well, but every human will have some mixed lower demons lingering nearby. Her surroundings are completely empty.”
Liu Yi Chen spoke coldly, “Aunt Liang is the administrator for Block B in the multimedia building. Every student at Shadow Academy knows that she’s a demon, but no one knows her true appearance and where she came from. Any tactful student knows not to provoke her.”
Feng Ping Lan thought about the administrator uncle back at the school dorms, who he hadn’t seen since moving away. He wondered if he was a human or a demon.
Blocks A and B had the same exterior appearance, but there was only an administrator stationed at Block B, because all the clubs situated there were restricted to Shadow Academy students.
The entire block was extremely quiet, with no windows on either side of the hallway. They couldn’t see the situation inside the building. Feng Ping Lan felt like he was walking into the Shadow Academy, with the entrances and pathways covered with curses and wards, and the area behind the door giving off a weak fluctuation of a magnetic field.
One of the classrooms had a plaque saying ‘Deportment & Aesthetics Research Club’. When Liu Yi Chen passed by it, she let out a disgusted sound, and quickened her pace.
“Scared that Yerde will snatch you back?” Byriel laughed faintly.
“Yerde’s not here.” Liu Yi Chen muttered. “I’m resisting the urge to smash this classroom to pieces…”
“How did you resign from your club?” Feng Ping Lan was curious.
“Took the resignation test, promised Yerde a few things. I made him sign the resignation letter before he regretted it.”
The Deportment & Aesthetics Research Club was the only club in the entire school that didn’t have an initiation, but had a resignation test.
“What’s a resignation test?”
Liu Yi Chen’s expression was rigid, “…I don’t want to talk about it.’
There was only one club on the second floor, the signs stating ‘Supernatural Research Club’ and ‘Supernatural Research Club Warehouse’ placed on both sides. It was pretty obvious that its influence was vast and wide.
As Feng Ping Lan’s group stepped into the hallway, the snow-white stage lights started twinkling. Then, half of those fluorescent lights went out, the remainder turning a gloomy gray, flickering at a disturbing frequency. The dismal lights dragged out some creepy shadows along the hallway, as if an obscure evil spirit dwelled within the darkness.
“A blackout?” Feng Ping Lan foolishly spoke, “Do we need to inform the administrators?”
“No need, the Supernatural Research is behind this.” Liu Yi Chen said exasperatedly, “They just love to deceive and scare the first years.”
On the mirror hanging by the walls, a faintly discernible shadow that wasn’t supposed to exist flickered past. A light breeze blew past the ear, bringing along the sound of tiny whispers, and terrifying blood appeared on the surface of the wall in the form of desperate curses. The pathway seemed to get longer as they walked on, and they couldn’t manage to see the end no matter what.
Dongya and the others let out a knowing smile.
This made them remember the old days of messing with people, when they were sealed off. That had been the littlest of hobbies in those smothering times.
How nostalgic… But, the technique used here was just too far off.
“Is this blood?” Feng Ping Lan used his hand to touch the bloodstains on the walls, “Ah! It’s sticky!”
“Why did you touch it then! Serves you right!”
“I was curious.” Feng Ping Lan sniffed it, “It’s cornstarch.” He turned to place his hand before Morris, “Here, it’s snack time for you! Hahahaha!”
“It’d be my pleasure to add a real human’s blood onto the walls.” Morris cracked his knuckles, “Wanna help?”
Feng Ping Lan rescinded it with a smile, simply wiping his dirtied hand on the mirror. The long-haired ghost in the mirror let some displeased grumbles.
“You have quite the guts.” Liu Yi Chen praised, “I thought you’d be the type to cry and scream at everything.”
“You’re overestimating him too much.” Byriel chuckled lightly and muttered, “A haunted house on this kind of level is just too far apart from the one he crashed into…”
Liu Yi Chen was puzzled, “What haunted house? Did you guys accept a job from the Association?”
Byriel smiled, but did not answer.
“It’s nothing really, Xiao Yu-er’s pretty quiet too.” Feng Ping Lan looked at Zong Yu by the side.
Zong Yu walked along with an unhurried demeanor, a disapproving expression on his face.
“Because the things he pulls would be several times more disgusting and terrifying than this.”
At that moment, a crack formed on the wall at the center of the hallway, a door covered with scratches and bloodstains pulled open, letting an ear-piercing crushing sound.
The door halted, and a long-haired lady with blood-colored clothing rushed out hysterically. Her eyes opened wide, empty and unfocused, dried-up long claws twisting and squirming like worms, violently pouncing at Feng Ping Lan.
It was too sudden, that Liu Yi Chen sucked in a deep breath, backing a few steps, and Zong Yu summoned his seals and darts on reflex.
Feng Ping Lan stood in his place, staring at her, not looking like he was going to fall back anytime soon.
Just when the female ghost was about a step away from Feng Ping Lan, hands raised, sharp-nailed about to dig into Feng Ping Lan, Morris lazily extended his hand, swatting the spirit away like a fly and throwing her to the end of the hallway.
She let out a lamenting cry, and vanished.
“Shocked foolish?” Morris smiled faintly.
“Oh, I thought it’d pass through when I touched it, like a 3D projection, hahaha. Thanks for rescuing me!” Feng Ping Lan glanced at Morris, pinching the hand that had swatted the ghost away, “Ahh, look at this sturdy and powerful palm, saving this feeble soul from its submissive body, oh how many young ladies who’ve cried through those sorrowful nights swooned in delight!”
Simo trembled, turning back in panic-stricken fear.
“The heck are you talking about!” Morris took his arm back, bellowing in rage.
“The novel Simo’s currently reading. I found one of those in the toilet, and I flipped through it ‘cause I was bored,” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, “It felt pretty deep and cryptic, but it was probably about the heroes-saving-damsels-in-distress sort!”
“Although I don’t understand your nonsense, somehow I feel that it’s not what you’re trying to get at…” Conglong glanced at Simo, “Other than those TV series where those male and females spiritually and physically torment each other, what other weird novels are you reading?”
Simo stammered, eyes roving about, “I-I, I don’t know… That book appeared there all on its own, it’s not mine…” She paused for a while, defending herself quietly, “…It’s a romance novel… Not a weird novel…”
Listening to Simo’s very contradicting words, the audience very considerately decided not to mention it anymore.
It was around that instance that the gloomy lighting returned to its normal state, the snow-white hallway turning back to when they had first entered. The bloodstains, ghosts, all vanished. Only the blood-sauce that Feng Ping Lan had wiped onto the mirror remained there in a ghastly sight to see.
The group of people stepped into the opened door. The club room was very spacious, with several instruments and experiment tables scattered all over, as if this was a big open laboratory on display.
The Supernatural Research’s important activity slots where on Saturdays, so there weren’t many club members around at this time of day. The few club members present were gathered in one corner, a wide computer screen projecting the hallway that they had just been walking through.
“What a vulgar hobby.” Liu Yi Chen humphed, displeased.
Feng Ping Lan pointed at the projector excitedly, “Look! It’s us! We’re on television!”
A few members raised their heads to look at them, completely silent. One of them walked out of the room with a cloth, glaring at Feng Ping Lan as he passed by.
Then, a student wearing rubber-framed glasses walked loftily over, two other students flanking him from the back.
“Welcome, everyone.” The leading student smiled at them, “Who would have expected that Feng Ping Lan and Liu Yi Chen would honor our humble club with their presence, what a pleasant surprise. I am the president, general studies Second Year Cao Ji Xian.”
“Senior knows me?” Feng Ping Lan asked curiously.
“A Summoner with possession of six Contracts are pretty rare, as well as a student who has a Contract for a teacher. As for Student Zong Yu behind there, it is already passed around various clubs of your astonishing feats in the Drama Research Club.” Cao Ji Xian smiled again, questioning, “So, does everybody plan on entering this club?”
He gaze swept across Feng Ping Lan’s group of people, and although there was a smile on his face, an obvious distaste could be seen in his eyes.
Liu Yi Chen, Zong Yu and the Contracts could detect the hostility from him. Although Cao Ji Xian seemed friendly, a distinct hypocritical feeling came off him.
“No, we’ll leave imme—” Liu Yi Chen was planning to retreat, but her words were cut short.
“We’re still considering.” Feng Ping Lan laughed stupidly, “What does the Supernatural Research Club do? Do you guys know how to communicate with the dead? Have you seen a UFO before?”
“Oh, of course we have been in contact with those things.” Even though Cao Ji Xian wanted to chase them off, he couldn’t help but want to show off in the face of Feng Ping Lan’s curiosity. “Not only have we detected supernatural phenomena, we’ve also created them before.”
“So you guys have really seen aliens and ghosts?” Feng Ping Lan’s eyes shone in a novel luster.
“All those are really just the personifications of demons, just mistaken by humans. Come along.” Cao Ji Xian turned, leading them to take a look around the club.
Feng Ping Lan followed along curiously, and the others could only do the same.
“Why is there a need to make a supernatural phenomenon?” Feng Ping Lan asked along the way. “Isn’t investigating it good enough?”
“Some areas are prohibited by the Association, and so as to avoid an ordinary human trespassing those areas, other than the specific wards set up on the site by the Association, we will use the background and circumstances surrounding it to create strange rumors so that people will be too frightened to get close to it. That matter in the hallway was one of our experimental creations.” Cao Ji Xian paused for a moment, proclaiming very loudly and clearly for him to hear, “I have named this creation as ‘Wards of the Heart’.”
“It was quite crappily made.” Conglong said very straightforwardly.
Cao Ji Xian turned a deaf ear on him, but a vein bulged slightly on his forehead. He continued walking, and started introducing the high tech instruments in the club.
“This is a heat-sensitive camera. It can capture the difference in temperature in this room.”
“Wow!” Feng Ping Lan walked towards the camera lens, and a mass of scarlet appeared on the blue-and-green screen, “It looks like fire! Look, a phoenix! Caw! Chirp chirp chirp!” Feng Ping Lan’s elbows made a flapping bird motion.
“Stop embarrassing us!” Morris walked forward, one arm grabbing Feng Ping Lan.
Morris’ tall and sturdy figure was captured on screen, his colors even more vibrant, looking very eye-catching.
“Morris, you’re on it too!”
“Other than wandering lower demons, other living beings can’t hide before this thing. Not even a demon can conceal themselves from it.” Cao Ji Xian said with some satisfaction, his tone sounding very unpleasant.
However, when Dongya seemed to carelessly pass through the lenses, there was nothing captured on the other end of the screen.
“Dongya, why aren’t you on it?” Feng Ping Lan spoke.
“What?” Dongya turned perplexedly, and after going through it again, did not yield any results either.
“Impossible!” Cao Ji Xian backed away towards the side of the machinery, pressing a few buttons.
“What happened?” Dongya looked at the instrument in confusion, “Did it malfunction?”
“Did you not give it regular maintenance?” Liu Yi Chen said scathingly, “Did your club’s performance fall? Student Council cut your budget?”
“Impossible!” Cao Ji Xian looked at the machine, then looked at Dongya, bellowing for the other club members for maintenance, as well as very rudely berating them at the same time. He then turned his head, slapping on an incredibly fake smile, then brought Feng Ping Lan and the others to tour around the other stuff.
Byriel, who stood at the very back of the group, whispered by Dongya’s ear, “You’ve become quite mean.”
He had seen Dongya when he had passed through the machine, and the way he had secretly summoned his wind and brought up a thin little wind barrier around himself just then.
Dongya smiled faintly, “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
When they were more or less done circling around the whole club, the group came to the innermost part of the room.
“This is the Archive Room. It holds records of everything the Supernatural Research has investigated, all the missions we have executed.” Cao Ji Xian pulled the door open.
The space inside was as large as an ordinary classroom, with ceiling-high profile cabinets filling up the room.
“Wow! Amazing!” Feng Ping Lan once again sighed in admiration, and Cao Ji Xian pleasedly brought everyone inside.
Other than Feng Ping Lan, no one else looked interested in those things, and no one else wanted to listen to Cao Ji Xian brag and flaunt, but reluctantly went along with it on behalf of Feng Ping Lan.
His limpid eyes shone resplendently with happiness and novelty, completely paying no mind to Cao Ji Xian’s attitude. He was just simply curious about the things he had never known of before, an impartial and unprejudiced curiosity.
Looking at that kind of expression, the others couldn’t bear to have his spirits dampened.
“This is the trophy issued by the Summoner Association’s Asian Branch Pascal. As for this, this is the letter of thanks personally handwritten by the investigation department from headquarters.” Cao Ji Xian walked past the rack completely fitted with trophies, introducing them proudly.
“That’s really amazing! What do you have to do to get all these trophies? What’s written in all these archives?”
“We’ll locate places with rumors of supernatural phenomena, send our own to investigate, and if it really is a demon’s doing, we’ll report it to the Association for them to take care of it. No matter how the mission goes, every supernatural incident will be recorded down, and the information will be delivered to the Association’s database. Our achievements are definitely far superior compared to other Shadow Academies, we’ve received awards from the Association for a consecutive seven years too.” Cao Ji Xian was immeasurably self-satisfied, but then the topic of discussion changed, his tone turning serious, “The contents are a secret, so I can’t divulge it to you.”
Conglong and the others rolled their eyes with all their might. It was obvious that he loved to show off, what was with that aloof act…
“Just like the FBI archives! So cool!” Feng Ping Lan looked at the thick records on those shelves without taking his eyes off them, “To be able to get awards from just these records, I really wanna know about those cases…”
Looking at Feng Ping Lan’s drooling expression, Cao Ji Xian was incredibly pleased with himself.
“All of these can’t be shown to outsiders, not even our club members can simply take them out to read. But—” He pretentiously gave a light cough, “As club president, the decision is my call. Letting some freshmen with the intention to join understand the workings of the club, is also quite a harmless matter.”
“Really! Thanks! President is really awesome!”
Cao Ji Xian passed through a few sections, coming before a certain cabinet, then reaching out a hand to press of the glass to mutter an incantation. The cabinet let out a tiny rotating sound, then started to open. Cao Ji Xian extracted one of the files in it, handing it to Feng Ping Lan. He explained, “Everything in here is classified, although they aren’t that important cases, but if they’re let out into the open someone might use the information inappropriately.”
Liu Yi Chen rolled her eyes once again, expression looking even worse than it had been cleaning the toilets.
“Yes! Understood!” Feng Ping Lan nodded hard. Taking the file, he carefully flipped over the documents.
There were plenty of photos and diagrams in the case files, the photos luxuriantly recording the outcomes of investigations. Feng Ping Lan realized that the things recorded into the file in his hands was about missions regarding the city that Zephaniah Academy was located in.
“These are the records of the city we’re in.” Feng Ping Lan paged through them, the familiar streets and sights entering his eye’s view.
He saw the abandoned hospital that they had previously battled Jiu Shao in. The words written there were: Neighborhood hearsay, no demon present, no Association’s seal. Case concluded.
The case was dated back to eight years ago.
“Yes.” Cao Ji Xian observed Feng Ping Lan’s reaction with exuberant interest, saying, “You shouldn’t be unfamiliar with the contents inside.”
Feng Ping Lan flipped through a few pages, and a snow-white residence entered his vision.
“That’s our house!” Feng Ping Lan exclaimed. “Did the Supernatural Research come to investigate this place before?”
“Of course we did. That building is within Zephaniah’s scope of influence.”
The originally bored demons, who only wanted to get out as soon as possible, instantly had their attention hooked. They exchanged glances, inching towards Feng Ping Lan without batting an eyelid, silently looking at the file from the corner of their eyes.
The things written for the residence wasn’t a lot, and the picture only consisted of the exterior of the building. The description had an overview of the rumors regarding it being haunted, the last line only reading: Phantom Symbol 5775. Case Concluded.
“What does Phantom Symbol mean?”
“That’s a code name. ‘Phantom Symbol’ represents the ‘Phantom Department’, the stuff that’s usually related to the miemoshi. That’s one of the stand-alone departments part of the Association’s system, so we can’t interfere.” Cao Ji Xian looked at Feng Ping Lan, “I am curious though, how are you able to live there?”
“This—” Feng Ping Lan momentarily did not know how to reply.
“It’s a Phantom incident, you know how it is, hehehe…” Byriel cut in, giving an ambiguous and equivocal answer, displaying an abstruse smile.
Cao Ji Xian also smiled along to show that he also understood the situation, nodding his head in pretentious profoundness.
“I understand. But for someone to live in a house that has been neglected for twelve years, it really makes me curious…”
“What?” Byriel laughed faintly, “You only know that it’s been neglected for twelve years?” His tone was full of mockery, very obviously looking down upon him.
He wasn’t doing this to infuriate Cao Ji Xian, but to draw out more information from him.
Sure enough, Cao Ji Xian was baited, unwilling to be looked down upon others, and immediately blabbed like an unceasing torrent.
“According to our investigation, that building was guarded by a demon twelve years ago. The demon lived as a retired business proprietor, and would leave the city at regular intervals to forage for food. The Association spent a long time to find him, so they sent a miemoshi to dispose of him. Right after that, rumors started going around that the residence was haunted. The Association’s report was only recorded up to twelve years ago, and the aforementioned incident has not been recorded into the club’s case files. An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to know of this.” He paused for a second, and glanced at Byriel, confirming that he wasn’t an ordinary person.
Byriel and the others exchanged looks.
The records only dated back to the previous owner, and everything related to them and the prince, being sealed off had all been concealed…
“Mm,” Byriel nodded grudgingly, seemingly displaying praise with great difficulty, “And then? Did you guys find out anything else after that?”
Cao Ji Xian furrowed his brows, “We can’t investigate. That building has a miemoshi’s seal, the Association’s people can’t simply interfere.”
The Contracts and Feng Ping Lan immediately grasped the keyword.
A miemoshi’s seal…
“Not bad.” Byriel said smoothly, “You clearly understand the rules well, no need for me to remind you. Hehehe…”
“Of course, I naturally know my propriety.” Being thoroughly fooled, Cao Ji Xian did not sense that Byriel had almost given the ploy away. “But I am still curious though, how can you live there?”
He turned to the seemingly loose-lipped Feng Ping Lan.
“‘Cause the previous owner’s not there anymore, and I got kicked out from the dorms.” Feng Ping Lan replied.
“That’s not what I meant—”
Byriel interrupted him once again, “Phantom incident, we can’t tell you.” His smile read ‘my-hands-are-tied-what-can-you-do’, “You understand, don’t you? Hehehe…”
Cao Ji Xian was not really satisfied with this answer, but to not seem like an unknowing outsider who did not understand the situation, he could only keep his mouth shut.
“Is there anything else special? Other than these old and ancient past events.” Byriel changed the subject, acting as if those case files were completely uninteresting to him.
Cao Ji Xian turned to place that file back into the cabinet, saying as he walked: “Of course. Although our club just provides support for the Association, we will occasionally discover something in our missions.”
“Oh?”
“The Supernatural Research has a club treasure that has been passed down for generations, a gem that was discovered by our twentieth club president. It is rumored to be previously a possession of the demons’ Royal Clan. Our twentieth president donated it to this club, as a commemoration to encourage our juniors.”
“A possession of the Royal Clan?” This was indeed quite rare.
But, this didn’t hold much interest in the Contracts. They were originally the Royal Clan’s military, Prince Shuekan’s closest confidants, and the only royal they cared about was Prince Shuekan.
“Apparently, this gem has the abilities to cure and bring you youth. With it, you can attain incredible power.” Cao Ji Xian paused for a while, “Although it is powerful, attracting quite a coveters, those who attain it with no skill will risk being devoured instead.”
“Woah! That’s so cool!” Feng Ping Lan sighed in admiration, “But aren’t you scared of someone stealing it if you keep it in the school?”
Cao Ji Xian displayed an insufferably arrogant smile, throwing down these conscientiously cool words, “I dare those who have the guts to try.”
After leaving the archive room, Feng Ping Lan and the others then started touring around the club. Although there were many novel pieces of machinery, their uses were virtually the same, and some of them were perplexingly malfunctioning. For example, that little sound detector capable of probing minuscule sounds, for some sort of reason received some sort of soundwave that caused it to let out tiny little explosion sounds. It couldn’t be operated anymore after that.
Feng Ping Lan did not know what had happened, but felt that Simo looked a little flustered, twitchily avoiding that machine from then onwards.
There was even a haunted house simulator built in the club, which could create different scenarios, imitate various supernatural effects. One of the themes today was a wrist-cutting suicidal female ghost who haunted an apartment building.
The simulator arranged an old and battered female’s suite, with blood everywhere, completely covered in dust and cobwebs. Not long after Feng Ping Lan stepped into it, the female ghost jumped out from the shadowy corners of the room.
The female student that acted as the female ghost was supposed to strangle Byriel, but when Byriel gently placed a light kiss on the back of her hand, her face turned red, using her artificial blood to trace her phone number down on Byriel’s palm, then retreated coquettishly.
In the chaos, Dongya turned the entire room squeaky clean with inhuman efficiency, not a single trace of dust left behind and looking like a brand new house. Even the blood-stained clothes were neatly folded and placed on the bed.
Liu Yi Chen and Morris were shut into the ‘escape room’, and they agreeably decided to break down the windows, walls and ceiling, creating their own path out of it.
“When God closes a door, he also opens a window for you.” Morris told the others when they gathered together, “That’s what the language teacher told us yesterday.”
“Uh, I don’t think that’s what it means…”
The chaos Feng Ping Lan’s group sowed had disrupted the club’s original gait, and Cao Ji Xian felt thoroughly discredited, hurriedly chasing Feng Ping Lan and the others out of their club.
Leaving the Supernatural Research Club, there was not much time left of their lunch break, so they all agreed to retreat, and come back tomorrow.
TL Notes
Xiao (小) means small, something you say as a nickname. -er and -zi are both suffixes for ‘son’. What Feng Ping Lan basically does is just switch the small with big, Da (大).