CH 9

Monday. Evening. Shadow Academy.

The new moon surfaced as a crescent. Within the hidden space of the Shadow Academy, the moonlight’s rays refracting through the wards, presenting a light bluish halo, sprinkling over the ground. The Shadow Academy, with its blue light, almost seemed to have sunk to the bottom of the sea.

The spacious courtyard was packed full of people, and all the students of Zephaniah had changed into their exclusive combat suits, including the Contracts.

Each school had its own combat suit which differed in color. Zephaniah’s was a snow-white military uniform, combining both pragmatism and attractive fashion, row by row of white teams assembling into the courtyard like timely snow.

Two days after the setting of bases, the four magic circles were now stabilized, each of them shining with a different glow, revolving at moderate speeds.

“Once you go through the passage, you will reach another Shadow Academy. There, a different trial awaits you. Four consecutive days, four different trials.” Gemi stood on an elevated platform, declaring the rules to the people below, “Each team has a small flag with a spell implemented on it, once you’ve completed a checkpoint, plug your flags into the flag base. The flag will then return to its original size, and the entire team will be sent back. When the time’s up, those who have yet to complete their trials will be forcefully deported. You’ll also be marked on your timing, so the earlier you return, the higher your scores!”

Feng Ping Lan was being led by Dongya, looking considerably excited. His other companions looked incredibly uneasy.

They were bringing a child into the battlefield, this was exceedingly detrimental with regards to their battle…

“If you’re worried about being held back, why don’t we separate into groups?” Byriel could read Liu Yi Chen’s concerns, saying smilingly, “Discard Feng Ping Lan, so he doesn’t become an obstacle, hehehe.”

“I won’t do that sort of thing!” Liu Yi Chen refuted.

She was slightly enraged, not because of Byriel’s words, but because a similar thought had actually surfaced in her mind. She loathed that there were such true colors in her.

Byriel smiled faintly, “With him, your dreams of becoming the champion will be hard to accomplish…”

Liu Yi Chen did not speak, her heart twisted into knots.

The competitive side of her had always wished for an opportunity to express herself. She had always wished to prove her own capabilities, prove she hadn’t worked her way up on the coattails of her own family.

It was clearly disadvantageous having Feng Ping Lan come along with their trials, but…

She gripped her hands into fists, falling into deep contemplation.

The bell tolled, announcing the start of the Trials.

“Oho, it’s too late to regret now.” Byriel smiled.

Hearing the bell, all the students started rushing forward, heading for that black magic circle. The students jumping into the portal looked like they were jumping into water, vanishing one after another, transported to a space thousands of miles away.

Dongya and the others led Feng Ping Lan along with the crowds, jumping into the portal.

*

Crossing borders, they floated in white light for around five seconds before finally landing.

A chilly wind ten times stronger assailed them, the temperature plummeting thirty degrees lower. Temperatures below the freezing point caused them to exhale white mist from their breaths, the vapor instantly turning to frost. “It’s cold!” Feng Ping Lan shrunk in, taking out his hand warmers to place on his cheeks, but it proved useless against the cold.

Dongya summoned a wall of wind, enveloping each of them to obstruct the cold air. In the next moment, their bodies gradually warmed up.

“This is one of Vladivostok’s branch schools. The first Trial is a survival game, we’ll have to defend our team flag, as well as snatch the flags of the other teams. The more flags we steal, the higher our score.” Liu Yi Chen endured the chilly wind, and spoke, “It’s too spacious over here, we’ll become easy pickings this way, let’s move—”

“Too late.”

An arrow shot high up from the skies, everyone evading it at once. When the arrow landed on the ground, an explosion of light burst out.

They turned their heads to see three troops dressed in different uniforms, each of them occupying one side, staring at Feng Ping Lan and the others with ill-intent.

They were headed by Gerard, Elvira, and Kano Chiharu.

“We let you get away for the past few days, but you won’t be able to escape this time.’ Kano Chiharu spoke proudly. Feng Ping Lan’s group had been deliberately avoiding fights with them in the past few days, or simply requesting a leave of absence.

They thought this was a display of fear towards the enemy, but in truth, Liu Yi Chen and the others had just been trying to protect Feng Ping Lan.

“Idiotic woman…” Kaido humphed in disdain, “Only a moron would ask a tiger for its skin1, don’t blame me if your allies turn their coats at the last second.”

“Isn’t that the same for you?” Kano Chiharu sneered back, “While you’re from the same school, there can only be one champion.”

A group was limited to six people, so they thought Liu Yi Chen, Byriel, and the others were different groups working together, but in reality, the Contracts in the group just outnumbered the humans.

“Moreover, we’re not really allies, just comrades who want to dispose of our personal grudges using the Trials.” Elvira smiled.

“I don’t remember offending someone as pretty as you.” Byriel smiled lightly, “If there was any misunderstanding, it must be a be beautiful understand, to let us meet.”

Elvira gave a cold smile, “I’m not interested in you.” Then glanced cooly at Igor.

Byriel could understand, “An ex-girlfriend, huh.”

“Like hell! Igor’s tastes aren’t that terrible!” Ivan spoke in outrage, “That woman lost against him once, Igor defeated her during the Dmitri Institute’s entrance exam, becoming the only Spec Ad student of their year.”

“But didn’t he come to Zephaniah to study?”

“Oh, that’s right, because Igor didn’t want to be separated from me.” Igor smiled proudly, “When Igor left, as second place, you filled the vacancy to become a Spec Ad student. You should be happy about that, I don’t get why you’re so displeased.”

“Everyone knows that’s a position unwanted by Igor.” Elvira said coldly, “Losing to a Summoner who treats his Contract like a brother is the biggest disgrace of my life—”

“You’re really annoying.” Ivan rolled his eyes.

“Can we cut the small talk now?” Liu Yi Chen drew out a card, throwing it onto the ground to summon a giant mallet, “Let’s start.”

The opposing Summoners called out their Contracts one after another, both sides starting a fierce battle.

While Yerde was a member of the teaching staff, Liu Yi Chen could always summon him for battle at any time during the Trials.

Yet, she did not wish to do that.

That noisy old man would spoil her mood in the battle. Besides, she wasn’t Yerde’s main contractor, and had yet to outstrip him. If she summoned Yerde over, it would feel as if she was cheating.

Countless Summoners attacked, besieging Liu Yi Chen.

Liu Yi Chen nimbly brandished her gigantic mallet, accurately calculating each position as she threw out spells, fluently and perfectly going on the offensive and defensive at the same time.

But it was hard to avoid any mistakes when outnumbered, and a Summoner took the moment Liu Yi Chen dodged an attack to shoot a lightning cannon at her.

Liu Yi Chen couldn’t evade in time, inwardly crying out in alarm. But the fierce lightning cannon was flung away in midair by a long whip.

“Why didn’t you call out for me?” Byriel smiled lightly, “My ‘master’.”

“I hate it when someone gets in my way during battle.” Liu Yi Chen waved her mallet, sending a Contract rushing at her flying.

“You seem to take pleasure in it.”

On the other end, Gerard approached Feng Ping Lan. His comrade tried to strike, but was halted by his cold glance.

“Do not interfere.” He said indifferently.

His teammates did not dare to act rashly, all of them backing off silently.

“We haven’t conversed in a few days.” Gerard glanced at Feng Ping Lan, “The back of my head is still aching slightly.”

“Is that so?” Feng Ping Lan nodded, “Who told you to be so bad.”

Gerard raised an eyebrow, “You’re really interesting. As if there are different sides to you, it’s hard to tell which of them is your true identity…”

“I’m not Kamen Rider, why would I have a true identity?”

Gerard smiled coldly, tearing off his wristband, summoning Peileli.

“Summon your servant to face the challenge, then.” Gerard spared Quetzal and the others behind Feng Ping Lan a glance, “Which of them is your Contract?”

“They’re my family!”

“How laughable.” Gerard shook his head apathetically, “Just because it’s full of aliens who invest their emotions in these tools, Zephaniah will always be heretics, complete jokes in the eyes of all Summoners…”

As he said that, Peileli launched an attack on Feng Ping Lan, shooting a spell at him, but it was blocked and swallowed by a shadow in mid-air.

“I didn’t think it would be you.” Gerard raised his eyebrows, “You look very powerful, but you are devoted to a useless master. It’s quite unexpected…”

Quetzal spared him an indifferent glance, not taking him as a threat in the least.

Locking on to her target, Peileli raised her pike, the brambles twisting into several sharp awls at once, rushing at Quetzal from all sides. At the same time, Gerard’s other teammates attacked Dongya and the others in succession.

Quetzal did not bat an eyelid, and he lifted a hand, lighting coalescing in his palm, a subtle rumbling traveling simultaneously from the skies, thunder flashing above their enemies.

Let’s finish this quickly…

Dongya could read Quetzal’s intent, and immediately rushed forth, slashing through the brambles with his wind blades, then bringing Quetzal to one side.

“There’s a detecting device installed in our combat suits to record the data of our battles, a tool to score and monitor any attempts at cheating.” Dongya spoke quietly, “If you use all your strength, it’ll definitely raise attention.”

Quetzal brows furrowed slightly, “So?”

Peileli’s thorns whipped over, Quetzal leaping backward.

He was slightly confused. Because he had never shown anyone his weakness before this, nor had he ever pretended to be weak.

To him, this was much more difficult than going all out in a battle.

Just as Quetzal was in the middle of a fierce battle with Peileli, Kaido and Tan Hua, as well as Ivan and Igor, were each being entangled by Kano Chiharu and Elvira.

Kano Chiharu gripped her katana, pointing it at Kaido, saying loftily, “Let me see what you’ve learned after joining the Wei Clan!”

Tan Hua summoned a dozen swords by the side, “Young Master Kaido, leave this to me.”

“No need.” Kaido frowned at Chiharu, just feeling annoyed. “If you hurt her, my aunt will start nagging at me. I can settle this myself.”

Chiharu boiled with rage, “Don’t act so smug!” She flung down the bell handing on her scabbard, calling out, “Muratake!”

A white and brown kitten emerged, flipping over as the bell descended.

“Tear up that bastard’s rotten mouth!” Chiharu commanded.

“Yes, master!” Muratake leaped, rushing at Kaido. Kaido waved his blade, but Muratake instantly changed directions. Its jumping stance made it seem like an insect fluttering through the air.

Muratake swung its tail in midair, a grey mist assailing Kaido. Kaido dodged it, using his sword energy to slash through the grey mist.

“Come over! Muratake!” Chiharu commanded as she jumped, landing on Muratake’s back, who was just flying back, and struck at Kaido.

A muscular figure jumped into the battle, standing before Kaido and blocking off the blade with his rigid claws.

Kaido raised his eyebrows, looking at Morris, who had abruptly crashed in, “Why are you stepping in?!”

“I have my own reasons…” Morris replied in a low voice.

He turned, glaring viciously at Chiharu. His eyes were blown wide, panting heavily, seemingly burning with anger, extremely malevolent.

“W-w-wha-what do you want?” Looking at the bulky Morris, Chiharu rebuked weakly.

“I have no interest in you.” Morris spared Chiraru an irritated glance, his gaze stopping on Muratake, who sat by her feet. “I’ll fight this battle…”

Kaido had no objections, he was dying to be rid of this hot potato Chiharu.

“Thanks.” With that, Kaido turned to face the Summoners of the other shadow academies.

“Damn it!” Chiharu looked at Kaido’s back, glaring resentfully at Morris, who had come out of nowhere, “Since you’re asking for it, I’ll dispose of you first! Summon your Contract!”

“My contract? Wrong.” Morris leaped to one side, seizing Conglong from the midst of his battle, “I am his Contract.”

Conglong was pulled in last-minute, baffled, “What are you—”

“Go along with me,” Morris lowered his voice, “I’ll get you a car model.”

Conglong’s eyes lit up at that, immediately looking at Chiharu aggressively.

“That’s right, he’s my Contract.” Conglong stuck both hands on his waist, “If you want him, you’ll have to go through me! Or I won’t acknowledge you!”

“Who would want him! You guys are weird!” Chiharu stamped her foot furiously, “Muratake! Attack him!”

The kitten jumped into the air, launching an attack at Morris. It revolved its body, two thin blade-like disks shooting out.

Morris did not evade them, waving a claw to swat the disks away. He then rushed forward, leaping straight into the air, then grabbed onto Muratake.

Muratake flung its tail, which was like a steel knife, to strike Morris’ hand.

But Morris did not back off, forcibly receiving the blow, as if it did not affect him, then tightly seized it into his arms.

Clamped down, Muratake gave an internal cry of alarm, clenching its teeth, and prepared to give Morris a counter-attack.

However, the anticipated pain did not strike, instead, a large palm was tenderly caressing its belly and back.

Muratake lifted its head doubtfully. It saw Morris looking at it with a face of infatuation, then held onto its paws, kneading it ceaselessly as if he was incredibly content.

Ah, these meatballs… this cute little belly…

He could finally touch them…

“Let go!” Chiharu roared in fury, “Muratake, turn into your second form!”

Morris heard this, pausing.

A second form? Was it going to transform into a bigger one?

He thought, his interest revived, and couldn’t help but look forward to it.

Taking advantage of his slight pause, Muratake immediately pulled away, jumping to one side. It gave a low roar, then, the skeletons under its skin protruded out, making its skin swell, starting to transform.

Morris looked at Muratake excitedly, waiting to receive a gigantic cat in its second form.

However, while Muratake had become enlarged, its shape started to twist and mutate, his roundish kitten eyes expanding, turning into the compound eyes of an insect; its nose pulled downwards, and its ears also thinned, twisting into two circular antennae; its four limbs slip up into rows of insect feet, two elliptic wings spreading from its back.

Morris’ face turned instantly rigid, as if he was the victim of a badger game.

“You’re… Not a cat?”

“That’s to match my master’s tastes.” Muratake explained, “I’m a spotted moth.”

“What!” Morris was greatly shocked, and his mind seemed to suffer a severe blow, “Then… the fur?” He looked at the fur on Muratake’s wings and neck, his face transforming into a deep green.

“I will bring out 90 percent of my strength in my second form.” Muratake smiled coldly, giving out a warning, “That was just a warm-up, I’ll take it seriously from now—”

Before it could finish, a vicious fist struck its face. The violent hit and sturdy force sent Muratake flying backward.

Muratake didn’t seem to understand what had happened, it was just dazed, trying to stand, but couldn’t move.

Morris walked towards Chiharu. Chiharu lifted her blade, looking at him uneasily.

“Take your Contract, get out of my sight…” Morris spoke malevolently, then turned, throwing himself into the other fights, bitterly swinging in a violent rage, beating each one of their opponents back.

“What’s wrong with him?” Kaido looked at the indignant Morris in puzzlement.

Conglong tilted his head to think, “Must be the sort of spiteful rage you get from buying a knock-off product, I guess.”

*

On the other hand, Quetzal, faced with Peileli’s blows, could only make frequent concessions.

Peileli’s attacks were both fast and ferocious, Quetzal defending against her blows as he protected Feng Ping Lan. While Peileli’s offense was incredibly fierce, in the end, all he did was dodge them, never striking out.

He did not know how to adjust, to what degree did he have to weaken himself so as not to attract attention.

“Is dodging all you can do?” Gerard chuckled lightly, “Looks like you’re not as impressive as you seem, you’re just feeble as your master.”

Quetzal spared Gerard a glance. The cool purple eyes caused him to tremble, making him back away subconsciously.

“Use all your strength, Peileli.” Gerard commanded, “Dig out his eyes.”

Peileli’s blows became much more violent, and her pike matched with her brambles unleashed repeated attacks, giving no gaps for breathing.

Seeing that he could no longer evade, Quetzal drew out a blade from his shadows to block.

Feng Ping Lan stood behind Quetzal, swallowing as he observed Quetzal’s fierce battle.

He pulled black crystal down from his neck, swinging lightly to transform it into a longsword, raising it before him.

If nothing else… He had to protect himself… He couldn’t let Quetzal become distracted…

“Finally planning to fight?” Gerard smiled coldly, jumping to right before Feng Ping Lan, “And here I thought you would continue hiding under your Contract’s protective umbrella.”

Feng Ping Lan raised his blade, warning, “Don’t come over! I have a blade in my hands, it’s very dangerous! You’re gonna bleed!”

“Is acting childish one of your tactics for deceiving your opponent?” Gerard humphed, “But, I still go all out against the worst of all third-rate opponents.”

Awl-shaped spines instantaneously shot out of the rings on his two hands, slashing at Feng Ping Lan.

Feng Ping Lan lifted his sword to block it, but in the next moment, the blade in his hands fell.

“Ah!” Feng Ping Lan cried out.

The other Contracts or teammates in battle noticed Feng Ping Lan’s plight, and couldn’t help but cry out with great alarm, trying to intervene and help, but were momentarily unable to pull away from the enemy’s combined forces.

Gerard’s spikes slashed down upon Feng Ping Lan. Blood would soon splatter all over—

But the spikes missed, failing to hit a single target.

Gerard froze, looking down. He saw Feng Ping Lan in the form of a young child standing there, yet to recover from the shock.

Just by a hair’s breadth, the regression curse had set in, and Feng Ping Lan transformed into a child once more, his height shrinking, helping him dodge this bullet.

“A transformation curse!” Gerard raised his eyebrows, “Looks like you do have something up your sleeve.”

“Thanks.” Feng Ping Lan smiled foolishly, and at the same time, a familiar discomfort rose up in him.

Uh! Oh no!

He couldn’t control it!

Gerard raised his head, glared at Feng Ping Lan, “But you can’t use the same trick twice—”

“Ougughhhhh!”

Dark greyish sludge spewed out of Feng Ping Lan’s mouth, spraying directly onto Gerard’s face.

“Ahhhhh!” With his eyes, nose, and mouth assailed, Gerard let out a furious scream, hurriedly backing away.

Taking advantage of this, Quetzal turned, tucking the shrunken Feng Ping Lan into his chest, bringing him away from the scene.

“This guy is practically a sea urchin, spewing his intestines at the first sign of danger!” Seeing this, a wave of nausea hit his other teammates, but they couldn’t help but admire Feng Ping Lan’s unexpected tactics.

Peileli launched her attacks once again. Quetzal carried Feng Ping Lan as he blocked with one hand.

Feng Ping Lan observed for a moment, speaking out worriedly.

“Quetzal, are you alright? Why aren’t you striking back?”

Quetzal glanced at Feng Ping Lan, lowering his voice to answer, “There is a detection device, I cannot use all my power…”

“A detection device?” Feng Ping Lan tilted his head, pointing at the button on Quetzal’s chest, “You mean that thing? It flashed a little when you were about to summon lightning earlier.”

Quetzal furrowed his brows, looking at the button on his clothes. Taking a closer look, there was really a spell on it, so subtle that it couldn’t be distinguished.

He reached out to remove the button, throwing it to the ground.

The shadows on the ground curled up, transforming into a black miniature man, which received the button.

That was one of his summoned shadow familiars, which served as a clone, but its power did not even surpass one percent of his main form. The button embedded into the miniature man’s body, collecting the data of the miniature man.

This made things much more convenient…

Quetzal returned his sword into his shadows. He raised his hand.

In an instant, lightning gathered.

When Quetzal swung down his arm, several bolts of lightning struck the ground, hitting the enemy Summoners and their Contracts.

An instant victory.

Liu Yi Chen and the others looked at their opponents who had collapsed, gazing at Quetzal with astonishment.

He had actually subdued this many high-level Contracts and Summoners in an instant…

While they knew that Quetzal was strong, the power Quetzal displayed this time around far surpassed what they had anticipated, he felt like a butcher handling his cleaver with ease, deep and unmeasurable.

Where had this guy come from, to be this strong…

“We’re running out of time.” Byriel reminded.

The team hurriedly collected the flags from those who had fallen, hurriedly leaving, heading towards their finishing line.

As they had spent too much time and energy from the start, it was quite strenuous to collect the flags of other teams following that. When the time limit was over, they had collected a total of thirteen flags, ranked somewhere near the top.

Liu Yi Chen was slightly dissatisfied by the results, but when she saw that the representative teams of the other shadow academies had ranked below them, she became much happier.

The first day of the Trials had ended.

When they returned to Zephaniah, Dongya immediately carried Feng Ping Lan shrunken to the size of a child in search of Seno’s examination.

When Seno saw the curse on Feng Ping Lan’s body, he furrowed his brows.

“My deceleration spell has been offset.” He looked at Dongya and the others, “Have you guys found the spell-caster yet?”

“No…”

Seno sighed, taking out a bottle of pills and handing them over to Feng Ping Lan.

“Will I get better once I eat these pills?” Feng Ping Lan asked weakly.

“It’ll only alleviate the bodily reactions you get during your transformations, only to make you feel a little better.” Seno turned his head, looking at the Contracts, saying with a rare tone of severity, “I’ll continue finding a method to break the curse, but please work hard to find the spell-caster… Or else…”

He glanced at Feng Ping Lan, and did not go on.

When they returned home, Feng Ping Lan went straight to his room. Dongya thought he was going to sleep early, and so did not disturb him.

But Feng Ping Lan did not lie in bed to rest once he returned to his room, and instead walked over to his bookcase, taking out all the related files on the Gentleman Thief over to his desk, then, flipped through them starting from the first page.

He felt much better after eating Seno’s pills, but he knew, while his symptoms had been treated, this illness had yet to be eliminated.

They had to find the Gentleman Thief…

Not just for him, but for his Contracts.

If he died or became handicapped, Quetzal wouldn’t be able to continue living in the human world, they might even be taken into custody by the Association.

He couldn’t let such a thing happen, this wasn’t the conclusion he wanted to see.

Even if they would be separated in the future, he wanted to put his body and soul into it before the Contracts left. After all, it was their arrival that had given him a purpose in life…

*

The next day. Early morning.

Shortly after Dongya had stepped into the kitchen, the clattering of footsteps traveled from above, approaching the kitchen.

He turned his head to see Feng Ping Lan carrying a large file, running over to him.

“You’re really early today.” Dongya was astonished.

He had thought, with him being so consumed yesterday, Feng Ping Lan would sleep in for a little longer. But when he realized that Feng Ping Lan was wearing the same clothes he was wearing yesterday, he instantly understood what had happened.

“You didn’t sleep?”

“Oh, I forgot.” Feng Ping Lan answered casually, placing the file on the dining table, flipping it open, then spoke hurriedly, “I discovered something new!”

Dongya realized that Feng Ping Lan’s manner was extremely anxious, as if he was on the look-out for something.

“Speak a little slower, don’t rush.”

“No, my time’s almost up.” After eating his pills, he could detect the warning signs before his body’s transformations. He knew that he would soon return to that ignorant and helpless child once again.

Feng Ping Lan pushed the file over to Dongya.

“Look, these are the dates for all of the Gentleman Thief’s appearances, I realized that his frequency and scope of activity always coincides with our school’s daily schedule.”

He flipped through the pages hurriedly, then pointed at the page.

“Look, here, here, here. The cases away from the north all fall in July, August, or February of every year, which just so happens to be our winter and summer breaks. If he isn’t a student, he’s one of our school staff.” He flipped through the pages again, “Then, in the other months, his scope of activity doesn’t go beyond the northern region, this means his main base must be in the north, he might even be in the same city we’re in!”

“Calm down!”

Looking at Feng Ping Lan’s bloodshot eyes, Dongya worried that he might die a sudden death in the very next moment.

Feng Ping Lan did not slow down, and continued, “Also, there’s something definitely wrong with the Poetry Appreciation Club. Or I wouldn’t have collapsed in front of the club complex!”

“We investigated them before this, the students weren’t suspicious at all.”

“Is that so? What about the teachers in the club?”

“They don’t have club advisors.”

Feng Ping Lan bit his lip, “Then, return to the scene, survey even the previous crime scenes, explore all of them, including the surveillance cameras on the street! Or you can study by comparing all the evidence, find all the possibilities, you’ll definitely find a clue—”

Ah, too late.

Light shone from his infantile body, elongating into his teenage appearance.

“Ping Lan?” Dongya looked at Feng Ping Lan in concern, “Are you alright?”

Feng Ping Lan nodded, watching Dongya a little timidly.

“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”

Feng Ping Lan shook his head.

“How old are you right now?”

Feng Ping Lan lifted four fingers, pausing for a moment, then switched it to five.

Not long after, the Contracts came down. Dongya recounted what Feng Ping Lan had told him in the morning, and mentioned him having regressed once more.

“His mental age has regressed again, and the time interval has shortened.” Dongya said worried, “If this goes on, it won’t be long before he turns zero…”

“We’ll have to split into two groups.” Byriel proposed. “Besides, the Contracts aren’t restricted by the Trials. We’ll investigate, and one of us stays behind to accompany him.”

“Then, I’ll stay behind,” Dongya spoke.

Feng Ping Lan, who had been standing by the side listening to their discussion, let out a low cry, then ran over to Quetzal, hugging him tightly like a koala.

“Ping Lan?” Dongya asked gently.

“I want Quetzal with me.” A small voice came from Quetzal’s shoulder.

“Quetzal has something to do, he has to leave in order to break your curse.”

Feng Ping Lan shook his head with all his might, “I want Quetzal to stay…”

“But, Ping Lan—”

“I want Quetzal!” Feng Ping Lan hung tightly onto Quetzal, “I don’t want him to leave!”

Quetzal glanced indifferently at Feng Ping Lan, and in the next moment, vanished completely.

Feng Ping Lan looked at his empty hands, eyes widening, then started to bawl loudly.

“Quetzal! Quetzal’s gone! Quetzal! Uuuuuu!”

“Stop crying, he’ll return soon—”

“Liar! Quetzal threw me away! He doesn’t want me anymore! Uwahhh—”

Regardless of the Contract’s attempts to persuade him, Feng Ping Lan wouldn’t stop, crying till his voice turned hoarse, and his eyes reddened and became swollen.

Dongya sighed, “He can’t even go to school like this.”

“Want to try using my needles?” Byriel twirled a fine needle between his fingers with a smile, “He’ll turn silent once he goes to sleep.”

“Stop joking around.” Dongya reprimanded, “Quetzal, come out.”

In the next moment, a slender finger surfaced from the shadows.

Feng Ping Lan saw this, and immediately rushed up, hugging him tightly once again.

Dongya gave a long sigh, “You might as well stay behind, we’ll be leaving him in your hands.”

Quetzal looked at Feng Ping Lan, his brows furrowing slightly.

He didn’t like being touched by humans, nor did he like being bothered by one.

But this was the only way of appeasing Feng Ping Lan.

In truth, he was a little astonished. He thought the younger Feng Ping Lan would much prefer the gentle Dongya, and he hadn’t expected to be chosen…

Just what sort of place did he have in Feng Ping Lan’s heart, what role did he play? Why did he care, why did he attach so much importance to this?

For some reason, Prince Shuekan surfaced in his mind. That little prince with an unyielding character and lofty aspirations.

Shuekan had never cried and screamed like this before. But he knew, Prince Shuekan valued him.

Because he was an important soldier, who assisted Prince Shuekan, aided him in expanding his dominance, to seize imperial power.

Then, what about Feng Ping Lan?

He could not give Feng Ping Lan anything. Why did Feng Ping Lan care so much?

*

Evening.

The crescent moon was much thinner than the night before, like a strand of silvery hair than had fallen onto a black rug.

The students had assembled once more in their snow-white combat suits. When the bell tolled, they stepped one after another into the red magic circle, arriving at the Narumi Garden Academy located in Tokyo.

Liu Yi Chen had been notified by Dongya that only Quetzal would be accompanying Feng Ping Lan today. While they had lost five Contracts at once, having experienced Quetzal’s capabilities, she wasn’t too worried.

Feng Ping Lan held onto Quetzal’s hand along their way there, hiding behind Quetzal’s back, looking considerably introverted, timid, and uneasy, an entirely different personality from the previously cheerful and clamorous Feng Ping Lan.

Once they passed through the spell, the sight of a lounge appeared before their eyes.

The other students had all vanished, with only the members of the team and their Contracts left.

A few strangers were scattered across various corners of the lounge, some sitting on the couch, some leaning against the pillars. Their ages and genders varied, and were not dressed up as Summoners, but impatience and unease were written all over their faces.

“Where did you go?” A middle-aged man walked over, questioning Liu Yi Chen and the others, “The murderer’s still on this boat, don’t go running off on your own before we find the murderer.” With that, he returned to the center of the lounge, taking a seat on the sofa.

“On this boat?”

Liu Yi Chen felt a slight swaying under her feet, and she gazed out the window, finding a vast and obscure ocean outside, with a drizzle above the seas.

They were really on a boat.

“I’ve had enough!” In the lounge, a woman stood up, “All of you are suspicious! I’d rather not stay with a murderer! I’m returning to my room!”

“It’s far more dangerous moving on your own!” Another man dissuaded, “Besides, everyone has an alibi, the murderer must be someone else. Who knows, he could be hidden in some corner, planning to strike when we let our guards down.”

The woman ignored him, twisting her head to leave.

“And what’s this?” Ivan raised his eyebrows.

“It’s something similar to virtual reality games.” Liu Yi Chen explained, “We’ve entered a case scenario, we’ll have to solve the case in the game and find the flag before we’re allowed to leave.”

“Troublesome.” Kaido lightly humphed in objection, “In any case, the murderer should be one of them.”

“So?”

“We can just dispose of all of them.” Kaido drew out his blade, walking over to the people sitting in the lounge.

However, he had only taken two steps when his body froze up. Only when he let go of his blade, the sword falling to the ground, did he regain his freedom once more.

“There’s a restriction spell in here, we can’t do anything to disturb the storyline.” Liu Yi Chen drew out a card, throwing it onto the ground, and couldn’t summon her giant mallet either, “We’ve been cut off from our spiritual power and spells. We can’t cheat, better solve the mystery like we’ve been told to do.”

The team could only return to the center of the lounge, taking their seats on the couches.

“What were all of you discussing earlier?” A middle-aged woman questioned, suspicious.

“We were thinking of who could be the murderer.” Liu Yi Chen spoke, “If it’s not too much to ask, can everyone repeat what you know? We might discover a few clues from them.”

The people on site began narrating.

This was a private cruise heading for Guam, and the people on the ship were all guests invited by the ship’s captain, thirteen guests in total, each of the guests having met the captain only once, and had felt surprised and puzzled upon receiving the captain’s invitation.

The ship’s captain had yet to show up.

When it was time for dinner, a server had gone to one of their guests’ rooms, and when he did not receive a reply, he opened the door to discover the guest brutally murdered within the guest room.

“The time of death was at 5 pm, her cause of death being a stab through the heart by a sharp knife. She died on the spot.” A cultured middle-aged man spoke. “Strangely, the door was locked from the inside, and an outsider wouldn’t have been able to get in. How did the murder manage that…”

They had more or less understood the situation.

On a boat isolated from the world, a mysterious case of murder had occurred, and the murderer was definitely on the boat, except no one knew who it was. An extremely old-school locked-room mystery.

“Customarily, the murderer has to be among these few people…” Ivan rolled his eyes.

Excluding Feng Ping Lan’s group, the guests, servers, and the ship’s captain were eight people in total. Exactly who was the murder, of these eight?

If this had been before, while they were still at a loss of what to do, Feng Ping Lan would have found a clue by now, discovering the truth. But the only detective who could bring the truth to light had become someone whose appearance was of a juvenile, yet had the intelligence of a child, inferior to a normal adult.

“Ah!”

A shriek rang out once more, coming from the woman who had left earlier.

Everyone rushed over to discover the floorboards of the woman’s room splattered with blood, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Quick, we’ll look for her separately!” The cultured middle-aged man instructed. “I’ll go this way, the others will search the other floors!”

They immediately complied. There was impatience on Kaido and Ivan’s faces.

“Troublesome, how long will this play out…” Ivan grumbled, “Can’t we rest in our rooms, then dispose of the murderer when he finishes killing all of them?”

“That would mean we’ve failed the mission.”

The group wandered around one of the floors, and came out empty-handed. Just then, a panicked cry came from the floor above.

When they rushed over, they found the woman lying on the floorboards, covered in blood.

“When I arrived, she was already dead.” The cultured middle-aged man spoke.

“Was she stabbed as well?”

“I’ll have to conduct a postmortem examination to tell.” The cultured middle-aged man squatted beside the corpse, placing a purse by his feet. He took out a few pieces of metallic medical equipment, observing the corpse, and drew a spatula, extending it into the mouth, “There’s something in her mouth…”

Then, he took out a metal clip for medical use, placing it into the mouth, and drew out the foreign matter.

It was a ring.

“Has anyone seen this before?”

“That’s the captain’s ring!” A server identified. “I saw it in his room while cleaning it.”

“Looks like our culprit is the captain. He’s invited us just to kill us, one after the other…” The cultured middle-aged man spoke gravely, placing his equipment back into his purse.

“How cliché…” Ivan rolled his eyes.

“He’s a doctor?” Liu Yi Chen questioned another middle-aged man by the side.

“Yes. He identified the time and cause of death.”

Feng Ping Lan looked at the corpse, his brows scrunching together, and hid behind Quetzal.

The cultured middle-aged man spotted Feng Ping Lan’s reaction, and said gently, “Do you feel unwell? Would you like for me to have a look?”

Feng Ping Lan stared at him, not speaking.

The man smiled, turning to leave.

Feng Ping Lan kept on gazing at him strangely, a puzzled look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Yi Chen asked.

“Is he a doctor?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Because he’s not wearing a white coat, or the thing to hear your heartbeat.”

“Doctors don’t wear white coats all the time, or carry a stethoscope along with them always.” Liu Yi Chen explained smilingly.

“Then, why does he carry the tools to treat his patients all the time?” Feng Ping Lan asked quietly, “Besides, he put the tools back into the bag without washing them. Qiaohu2 says, there’ll be many germs…”

Hearing this, a thought flashed across their minds.

Right, not many doctors would wear a white coat after their work, nor did many carry around a whole set of medical equipment while on vacation.

It felt as if he was deliberately creating a professional doctor’s image, to win the confidence of those around him.

“So, chances are he’s not actually a doctor?” Su Li Wan guessed.

“He might be the culprit.” Liu Yi Chen concluded, “Under the guise of a doctor, he can lie about the time of death, as well as create an alibi for himself. If he isn’t a doctor, there’s no need to go through so much trouble.”

“What about the locked-room? How did he manage the locked-room? When was the exact time of death?” Ivan questioned. “If we don’t have definitive evidence, we can’t actually identify the culprit, can we?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Liu Yi Chen patted Zong Yu, “We have an actual specialist here.”

*

Thirty minutes later, Feng Ping Lan’s group returned to the lounge.

Su Li Wan walked straight over to the doctor, taking out her rope before he could react, instantly binding him with gorgeous knots.

“What are you doing!” The doctor tried to stand up from his seat, but was knocked back into his place by Liu Yi Chen’s foot.

“The first victim died of poisoning, traces of poison were detected on the wine glass in her room. Her time of death should be around four o’clock, and the only one who wasn’t present when it occurred, was you.” Liu Yi Chen didn’t beat around the bush, going straight to the point.

“How would you know that! You have no evidence!”

Liu Yi Chen flicked her finger.

Zong Yu flung the corpse he had dragged out of the freezer onto the table, pointing at the corpse’s mouth.

“Most of the blood loss was spat out of her mouth, not much blood coming from the wounds on her heart. The victim was stabbed after her death.” Zong Yu slit open the victim’s throat, “Look, these are traces of corrosion by drugs. What you used was white arsenic, how classic… Heeheehee…”

The people turned their heads away in succession.

“What about the second victim? I was with you when she screamed!”

“There was chicken blood on the floors of her room, at the time, anyone would scream if they saw traces of blood the moment they returned to their rooms. Then, we discovered this in the trash bin.” Liu Yi Chen displayed a slip of paper written in blood, “You wrote, ‘those who know the truth won’t live for long’. She was the only one who guessed the murderer was among us, and naturally escaped to the upper floors after seeing this slip, away from the lounge. You deliberately prompted us to other areas to find her, just to kill her while she was alone. Alright, mystery solved, the culprit is you.”

The other guests let out successive cries of disbelief.

“How can this be?”

“Why?!”

The doctor was silent for a moment, then threw his head to laugh loudly, “Very well, how terrific…” Then, he started his assertion with the voice of someone who had experienced many vicissitudes in life, “But do you know why I did it? For revenge! Twenty years ago…”

Liu Yi Chen and the others weren’t interested, turning to leave the lounge, allowing the true performers to finish their act.

After making a few rounds around the ship, they still had yet to find an exit.

“We’ve solved the mystery, why are we still here?”

“We have to find a place to stick the flag.” Liu Yi Chen looked at the flag shrunken by a spell, “Do any of you see a base for a flag?”

They shook their heads.

“Then, where should the flag be placed?”

“Perhaps we have to stick it on the corpse…” Zong Yu speculated. “The hole on the corpse could be for sticking in the flag’s pole…”

“It’s can’t be that unusual! Not everyone is like you!”

Feng Ping Lan gave Quetzal a pull, pointing at the dining hall by the side.

“That…”

Everyone glanced in that direction to discover several sumptuous dishes placed on the table. The ship’s scheduled dinner had been interrupted by the murder, and so no one had eaten.

“Are you hungry?” Liu Yi Chen asked.

Feng Ping Lan shook his head, pointing at the table.

On the table, there were pieces of steak as the main dish. On every piece of steak, there were tiny flags stuck on them, with only one of them missing a flag.

Everyone exchanged glances, “Could it be?”

“Who knows.” Liu Yi Chen walked forwards, “Let’s try it.”

When she stuck the little flag onto the steak, the steak shone brightly, a door of light appearing by the table.

“They really know how to make a hash of things!” Ivan couldn’t help but comment.

The group went through the portal of light, returning to Zephaniah’s campus.

Liu Yi Chen’s group was the first to arrive. Their group’s ranking instantly rose into the top twenty, but still had a long way to go before reaching the championship.

That night, when Quetzal and Feng Ping Lan returned to their residence, Dongya and the others had yet to return from their investigation. It seemed hey still hadn’t found any clues.

Quetzal tried to shake Feng Ping Lan off, but he would bawl very loudly the moment he left. Once, he thought about paying him no mind, but by the time he thought of letting go and leaving, Feng Ping Lan had already fallen asleep.

He lowered his head to look at Feng Ping Lan, who was tightly gripping onto him in his sleep. He recalled his expression when Feng Ping Lan had previously wanted him to leave, and told him he didn’t need his company.

So he could cry, after all…

What caused him to no longer cry? To no longer try to seize the things he wished for?

*

The third Trial would be carried out in Guam’s shadow academy.

After stepping out of the portal, they were faced with a room covered left and right with glass. The mirrors reflected each other, duplicating the infinite identical mirror images.

“What are we supposed to do for this trial?” Ivan glanced into the mirrors surrounding them, poking out his tongue at the mirrors.

Suddenly, the one in the mirror moved differently to his own actions.

“Ah!”

In the next moment, their clones stepped in succession out of the mirrors, starting to launch attacks upon themselves and the other teammates.

“Hey! Careful! I’m the real one!” Kaido reprimanded angrily as he dodged Liu Yi Chen’s attack.

“Sorry, I can’t tell!” Liu Yi Chen spoke, “They’ll copy our moves and manner of speaking!”

“It’s me! Don’t come over!”

“How would I know if it’s you or a fake!” Kaido asked in turn.

“Only we’ll know ourselves.” Zong Yu spoke indifferently, and at the same time, slashed through the chest of another Zong Yu, “So we’ll just have to annihilate everyone besides you, and the one left behind will be the genuine one…”

“Are you that certain of yourself?”

“After all, someone who is defeated by his own replica has no more need to exist… Heehee!”

“You’re quite ruthless!” Liu Yi Chen smiled coldly, at the same time lifting her mallet to strike the Su Li Wan attacking her.

All the members fell into an arduous battle, fighting against themselves. Quetzal was surrounded by seven to eight people with similar features to himself as well.

Quetzal swung his blade to meet their attacks, the others performing similar strikes, cutting down at him. One of them even summoned a shadow, the large shadow pouncing over.

Quetzal did not bat an eyelid, letting the shadows envelop him, curl up.

In the next second, the shadows covering him retreated, like a black cloth that had been pulled down.

On the ground, much denser black shadows were swallowing up those counterfeit shadows.

Quetzal’s clones launched their attacks on him once again, and he evaded, no longer going on the offensive. His clones summoned lightning, several bolts striking upon Quetzal’s body.

When the light and dust scattered, Quetzal was as calm as ever.

They were similar…

But not completely, and besides—

He lifted his double blades, spinning and slashing.

Each one of ‘him’ halted their movements at the same time, then became dismembered, collapsing, then vaporizing into dust.

Their strength was considerably inferior…

Quetzal turned his head, and spotted a crowd of Feng Ping Lans childishly pounding each other with their fists.

“It hurts!”

“You’re not real!”

“You are!”

“Ah! You bit me!”

The clones were duplications of the original, so their capabilities and mannerisms were similar, but they had an aggressiveness the original did not have. Although a crowd of Feng Ping Lans was beating each other up, in truth, it did not create any severe damage.

Quetzal looked at the group of Feng Ping Lans, his brows furrowing slightly.

Which of them was real?

Every one of them was weak, every one of them was a child, how should he differentiate them without hurting the original?

The Feng Ping Lans spotted Quetzal, swarming around him.

“Quetzal—”

“Quetzal, he’s a fake!”

“Quetzal, save me!”

Quetzal stared at the Feng Ping Lans, completely unable to identify which of them was the real Feng Ping Lan. While he could use the shadow blade he had given Feng Ping Lan as an identifier, there was a possibility the shadow blade had fallen or torn down in the midst of the scuffle, so there was a risk to this method…

Quetzal was silent for a moment, then, he took refuge in his shadows, vanishing.

“Quetzal’s gone!”

“It’s all your fault!”

The Feng Ping Lans started to quarrel, then began to wave their fists against each other.

“Quetzal—” Feng Ping Lan sobbed loudly, tears flowing continuously, “Don’t leave me behind! Quetzal! Uuuuu!”

The fists struck him, but he didn’t even bother to strike back, only caring about seeking Quetzal’s figure from his surrounding.

A moment later, the Feng Ping Lans fighting each other let out miserable shrieks. The shadows captured them, placing a hole into each one of them.

The Feng Ping Lans fell in succession, leaving just the sobbing Feng Ping Lan to gaze at the scene before him in astonishment.

Quetzal emerged from his shadows, and Feng Ping Lan immediately rushed forward, throwing himself at him, hugging him tightly.

“You can’t leave…”

Feng Ping Lan sniffled, whispering.

Quetzal pushed Feng Ping Lan away from him indifferently, only allowing him to grab onto his hand.

The Third Trial was considerably easier, but many teams had accidentally injured their teammates in the process, and the injuries were much more disastrous than the previous two Trials.

That night, Dongya and the others still did not return.

*

On the morning of the next day, Liu Yi Chen was contacted by Byriel, and, after being informed of the location, headed over in a taxi to meet up with Dongya and the others in the city, where the Gentleman Thief committed his last crime.

Byriel had already cast an intimation spell on the house’s owner, and the group headed straight into the room to conduct a blanket search.

“How’s the investigation going?” Liu Yi Chen stood by the door of the master bedroom, inquiring.

Dongya shook his head, gazing at the tracking apparatus in Conglong’s hands, sighing.

“Absolutely no response.”

They had visited every crime scene. Some places were now deserted, some places had switched tenants, and even if it was a house that kept its original appearance, there were no more clues to be found within. Most importantly, they hadn’t been present on the crime scene at the first pass, had never experienced the previous pursuits, and so for those cases, it was as if they had completely missed the main point of the topic, unable to pinpoint the problem.

At last, they returned to the place they had last fought with the Gentleman Thief, to conduct an investigation on the scene of the crime they were familiar with. Yet, they had still come out of it empty-handed.

Liu Yi Chen circled around the house and found a delicately blooming flower placed in a flower vase. The flower petals had a simple and elegant color gradient, where indistinct cilium and veined patterns could be seen on its tender surface.

“There are lotus flowers in this season?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Those are fake.” Dongya explained, “The Gentleman Thief left them behind.”

“Oh. She’s quite daring, to keep something left by a stalker.” Liu Yi Chen smiled.

However, she could understand why she hadn’t thrown those flowers away.

While the flowers were fake, they were beautifully made, vivid, and lifelike, much more enchanting than an actual flower.

A woman would not simply throw away something as beautiful as this. That was why many girls kept the presents gifted to them by their exes, not because they were dwelling on the past, but purely because of practical purposes or out of vanity.

She looked at the tracking apparatus in Conglong’s hands, pacing back and forth impatiently. Suddenly, she recalled the Trials the day before, a hypothesis flashing across her mind.

“The tracking apparatus… you couldn’t detect ‘anything’ in this house?”

”That’s right.” Conglong said exasperatedly, “If it hadn’t reacted to that anthology, I would really have suspected the fatso of giving us something defective.”

“If that’s so…” Liu Yi Chen drew out the fake flowers in the flower vase, walking over to Conglong, “This was something the Gentleman Thief left behind, why isn’t the tracking apparatus reacting to it?”

Everyone stared blankly at it, as if they had been given a rude awakening.

“The anthology and tracking apparatus were both on Feng Ping Lan, who’s to say the Gentleman Thief didn’t do something to it, so he didn’t take it away?” Liu Yi Chen speculated.

Conglong threw the tracking apparatus on to the ground in anger. The bottle broke as it fell, exploding into tiny sparks, then gave off a fresh and clean fragrance.

Dongya bent down, taking a whiff, “It’s the smell of green tea.”

“Green tea? I knew it, the damn fatty gave us a counterfeit!” Conglong was enraged.

Liu Yi Chen smiled lightly, then gave Zong Yu a phone call, “Let me ask you, what’s the liquid in the tracking apparatus.”

“Corpse oil.”

“What does corpse oil smell like? Does it smell like green tea?”

“…Of course not… It smells like the putrid smell of sewers…”

Liu Yi Chen hung up.

“Clearly, we’ve been fooled by the thief.” She recalled the circumstances of the Poetry Appreciation Club’s investigation, “The people of the Poetry Appreciation Club mentioned a rotten compost-like smell in their club, it could have been the smell of the corpse oil.”

“The smell just happened to appear the day after Feng Ping Lan was attacked.” Conglong continued, “The original tracking apparatus could have been destroyed before that, there’s something definitely suspicious about that club!”

“Hurry!”

The group of people quickly retreated, using their demonic powers to rush back to Zephaniah. Liu Yi Chen originally intended on using a soaring wind curse, but Byriel stopped her.

“It’s too slow.” He smiled, “Want to hitch a ride?”

Liu Yi Chen raised an eyebrow, deliberately giving him a hard time, “I won’t sit in anything less than a deluxe car.”

“Alright.” Byriel reached out a hand to place on Liu Yi Chen’s waist, then put forth his strength to pick her up side-ways.

Liu Yi Chen didn’t blush from it, the corners of her lips quirking up in provocation instead, “Just this? It’s quite shabby.”

“This is a seat that usually takes up to two months to reserve,” Byriel spoke smilingly.

“Alright then, that sounds a little fancier.” Liu Yi Chen smiled, patting Byriel’s shoulder. “Let’s go, horsekeeper.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

*

The group arrived at Zephaniah within a half-hour’s time, informing Yin Su Shuang of the results of their investigation. Hearing this, Yin Su Shuang immediately looked into the addresses of the Poetry Appreciation Club’s club members. All four of the club members lived in a city not too far away from here, and he dispatched the staff to investigate. In the evening, they received some news.

“Gemi and Yerde reported those four students being placed under intimation spells.” Yin Su Shuang spoke, “Those spells had similar imprints to the curse on Feng Ping Lan. Having learned from the past, they can’t act rashly, but the students have been brought back for investigation. They’re on the way back.”

“Since the club members were placed under spells, we can’t gain anything from them…” Dongya lowered his head, dismayed. They still had to spend quite some time breaking the spell, Feng Ping Lan might not be able to hold on until then.

Byriel looked at the anthology placed on the desk, his eyes roving about, “I know a guy who has never participated in any club activities ever since he joined the club, perhaps we might discover something…”

*

Bai Li Rui’s ringtone sounded. He picked up his phone, the caller displayed as Simo. He immediately picked up the call, overjoyed.

“Good evening, did you miss me during the consecutive holidays?”

“Nope.” Byriel’s voice transferred over from the other end.

“Why is it you! Why are you calling me on her phone?”

“Because you wouldn’t pick up my calls, you little pervert. What are you currently up to? Careful of getting carpal tunnel.” Byriel mocked, then went straight to the point, “There are a few things I need to confirm with you.”

“What, can’t it wait till school reopens?”

“Whose anthology did you take from the Poetry Anthology Club? Have you ever seen any of the club members reading it?”

“You called me just to ask that?”

“It’s very important, just give me the answer.”

“That anthology’s been there for quite a while, the members might not necessarily read the books in the club, they prefer creating their own works.”

“Then, did you find anything strange about the club? Was there anyone who felt self-complacent, made a fuss about nothing, lived in their own fantasies, or had the delusions of being a heartthrob?”

“Everyone in the Poetry Appreciation Club fits your description.”

“Then you—”

“I’m currently very busy.” Bai Li Rui cut Byriel off, “Since you have so many questions, why don’t you ask the consultant?”

“The consultant?” Byriel was startled, “The Poetry Appreciation Club has a consultant?”

“That‘s right.” Bai Li Rui felt impatient, blurting out everything he knew, “He’s apparently someone the club members recruited, not an official staff member. The consultant has a job selling goods in a coffee cart, his shop is called Cleansing Moon’s Lotus. I think the reason why the club recruited him was that he gives out free coffee to the club members.”

“Does he always participate in your club activities?”

“As far as I know, he came last week.” Bai Li Rui was incredibly certain, “As long as he comes, there’ll be a coffee cart in the car park. It’s pretty conspicuous.”

“Then, how do I contact him?”

Bai Li Rui humphed exasperatedly, “Google it, you primitive man. He has a fan page, you’ll get a free cup of coffee if you like it or check-in. I would personally recommend the vanilla latte—”

“Thanks.” Byriel hung up.

“How was it?” Everyone asked nervously.

“Wait, let me leave a like…” Byriel said as he scrolled through his phone, typing into the search engine. A fan page quickly appeared on the screen, with a lotus flower as its portrait.

“It’s time for afternoon tea, hehe.”

*

Evening.

The skies were completely clear of the moon and stars. Feng Ping Lan found himself in a spacious classroom, with a desk and a chair placed right in the center.

He was the only one in the room. His other teammates and Contracts had vanished.

Feng Ping Lan glanced around tensely, then walked over to the desk. There were a few pieces of examination papers, and he flipped through them, completely unable to make sense of what was written on them.

A strong sense of unease and grievance rose welled up in his heart, and he started to weep.

“Don’t cry.”

A deep voice sounded out, as if it was coming from somewhere far away.

“Quetzal!” Feng Ping Lan glanced around in pleasant surprise. “Where are you?”

“Nearby.”

He and the other Contracts had been isolated in another space, but he could feel Feng Ping Lan’s position through the necklace of the shadow blade, and so he had been able to slip into the examination room through the shadows.

As he had expected, Feng Ping Lan was wailing loudly in the examination room.

He did not know why he had to do this, but when he thought of Feng Ping Lan sobbing, there was a sort of unpleasant, restless feeling that surfaced in his heart…

“I want to leave this place…” Feng Ping Lan sniffled. “This place is weird, no one’s here…”

“This Trial is a written exam, there are no battles.”

“Oh.”

Feng Ping Lan obediently took a seat, trying his best to look at the test papers, but his mind was a huge blank.

“I don’t know anything…”

“It doesn’t matter, you’ll be sent back once the time is up.”

“I don’t know anything…” Feng Ping Lan said, his tears rolling down once again, “Will Quetzal get angry?”

Quetzal did not reply.

“Will you ignore me? Are you going to abandon me?” Feng Ping Lan continued to ask, “Because I’m so useless…”

For a moment, only Feng Ping Lan’s sniffles could be heard in the classroom.

Suddenly, a deep voice rang out once again.

“…I won’t.”

Feng Ping Lan paused, “What?”

He felt the necklace around his neck heat up, and he reached out to clutch it tightly, as if he was holding Quetzal’s hand.

“I will not leave you for now.”

He wasn’t lying. He still needed the contract between him and Feng Ping Lan, to keep him in the human world, to find Prince Shuekan.

Just that.

“Y-you can’t lie to me…” Feng Ping Lan rubbed his eyes, whispering, “I know you guys will leave, I’ve always known… But you have to tell me, you can’t suddenly run away, along with everyone else… Leaving me all alone…”

Quetzal did not reply.

“You have to tell me even if you hate me, I’ll change, I’ll really change…” Feng Ping Lan yawned, laying over the desk, “Don’t abandon me like Jing Lan did…”

The person in the dark stayed silent for a long time.

“…I will accompany you.”

A smile bloomed on Feng Ping Lan’s face, “That’s grea—”

His words cut off.

Feng Ping Lan’s body started to shrink, instantly turning back into his infantile body. But this time, he did not vomit, his face vacant, almost like an empty puppet.

“Feng Ping Lan?”

Quetzal sensed something odd, but he was unable to appear.

The operating curse came to a standstill.

Stopped.

Quetzal could faintly sense the incredibly weak throbbing of Feng Ping Lan’s heart, so faint it almost couldn’t be found. In that instance, he could explicitly feel his heart clench ruthlessly.

What was this? Was this the pain felt when your contractor was on the brink of death?

There were no injuries, so why, why did it hurt so much…

The shadows on the ground started to warp, and Quetzal broke through the layers of defense and protective enchantments, coming to the space Feng Ping Lan was in.

He lowered his head, looking at the small figure lying over the desk. Then, slowly reached out, pushing that soft arm.

“…Get up.” Quetzal commanded lowly at the figure on the desk.

However, the tiny figure with its eyes open did not move.

“…Get up.”

What answered him, was still silence.

Quetzal felt a bout of ire.

He did not understand why he was furious, for whom he was raging, there was one thing he knew, and that was he did not want to see such a situation.

“I said, get up!” Quetzal became agitated, letting out a bellow.

He very rarely lost control. The last time he had lost control was when Prince Shuekan had fallen into the hands of the miemoshi. He had been so helpless, and had let out a pained and self-loathing wail.

This time, he was still helpless, but the one he faced was an insignificant human.

He placed a hand on Feng Ping Lan’s tiny one, the little hand which had been holding onto his in the past few days.

Return.

I will accompany you…

The necklace hanging around Feng Ping Lan’s neck flashed slightly.

In the next moment, Quetzal felt his own palm heat up. A warm and intangible power flowed out from the palm of his hand, streaming towards the body that was gradually turning cold.

The briefly extinguished fire of life, once it had gained energy, gradually reignited, sprouting slowly.

The curse enveloping the soul had also received energy, unleashing once more, yet, as if it was a jammed gear, tried to turn onwards, but was unable to move. The curse persisted in its operation, trying to proceed, but a precipice stood ahead of it. It struggled free of the resistance, pushing onwards, at last falling into nothingness.

It shattered and disintegrated in the darkness.

*

The curtain of night hung low.

There was a coffee cart parked by the community park in the city, a rich fragrance wafting from it. The three words Cleansing Moon’s Lotus was written on the top of the vehicle’s awning, with the totem pattern of a lotus and a moon drawn by the side.

Yue Wang Shu, who wore a set of thick glasses, was leisurely gathering his things, preparing to close shop.

Suddenly, he felt an abnormal fluctuation, as if his hand had been hit by a rubber band.

It had been lifted?

Not bad, looks like there were a few talents among the Summoners.

He was silent for a moment, sensing the touch he had just received.

No. It didn’t feel as if it had been lifted, but self-destruction caused by an execution error…

“Owner, I’d like to order.” A frivolous voice rang out from the side.

“Sorry, we’re closed—”

Yue Wang Shu turned, his face stiffening when he saw who it was.

He tried to fight back, but Morris was a step quicker, clamping directly around his two hands, a hand simultaneously hooking around his throat.

“We’ve seen what you can do, we know you know how to use a few odd spells. So we confronted you straight on, restricting your movements with this method.” Morris laughed maliciously, “Don’t move, or I’ll instantly crush your throat.”

“Roaming around in your coffee cart committing crimes, you’re really in a leisure and carefree mood.” Byriel smiled lightly, “How should I punish you, Mr. Thief?”

“Okay okay okay, you guys win.” Yue Wang Shu gave up. Faced with a physical battle, he had no way out of this.

“Lift your age regression curse you cast at once.” Dongya stood before Yue Wang Shu, a wind blade in his hands.

“Ah?” Yue Wang Shu was puzzled, “Wasn’t it already broken?”

The wind blade slashed past, a bloody gash appearing on Yue Wang Shu’s face.

“I’m telling the truth!” Yue Wang Shu cried out in grievance, “If you don’t believe me you can verify it yourself!”

Dongya glanced at Byriel, who took out his phone.

“Hello! Is this Byriel?” Carefree laughter traveled from the other end of the phone.

“Ping Lan, you’re alright?”

“I’m fine now! I returned to my old self after the last age regression.” Feng Ping Lan said happily.

When Feng Ping Lan woke up, he was the only one left in the classroom.

Once Quetzal realized Feng Ping Lan had regained his original appearance, and that there was no more threat to his life, he slipped back into his shadows.

Feng Ping Lan scratched his head. He was a little unclear on what had happened, but when he saw the ‘You have 90 minutes to answer the questions’ written on the blackboard and the test papers on the desk, he immediately understood, taking up his pencil to quickly answer them.

Byriel smiled, “Is the Fourth Trial over? How did you do?”

“70 percent.” Feng Ping Lan gave a ‘tee-hee’, “I didn’t have enough time, so I only answered 70 percent, haha! Where are you guys? When will you be back?”

“We’ll return soon.” Byriel hung up, glancing at Yue Wang Shu, “That was sensible of you.”

“Not even Seno could break your curse.” Dongya looked at Yue Wang Shu, puzzled, “With your capabilities, why would you do such a senseless thing?”

“It’s called having some excitement in life.” Yue Wang Shu smiled, “I’ve always dreamed of becoming a wandering bard and a swashbuckler.”

“Where’s your Contract,” Conglong asked.

“He’s gone on a mission and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Or he could have gone to get reinforcements.”

Yue Wang Shu shrugged, “At least he isn’t here at the moment.”

“As an Opposer, why would you deliberately infiltrate Zephaniah? How did you avoid those wards?”

“What’s the use of asking all these? That’s the judicator’s job.” Yue Wang Shu sighed, “In any case, you’ve caught me, please hurry with however you’re planning to punish me.”

Seeing that Yue Wang Shu had no intention of confessing, the Contracts exchanged glances.

Indeed. Their mission only involved capturing him. The motives and techniques used to commit a crime had nothing to do with them.

Simo, Byriel and Dongya placed several restrictions and binding spells on Yue Wang Shu, even tying him up with rope before escorting him to Janus.

*

“Wow! Not bad.” Shen Yang looked at Yue Wang Shu, who was rigidly lying on the ground, tied up, clapping with a smile, then drew out a check, “Here’s your reward!”

Dongya took the check.

“The superintendent from the Association’s center will be coming to collect him in a short while.” Shen Yang reminded, intentionally or otherwise, “Would you like to relate the entire process of your pursuit to them? It might be written into the textbooks, you know!”

“There’s no need.” They didn’t want to confront anyone from the Association.

“Bye-bye! Visit me if you have time!”

Shen Yang waved in farewell.

When the Contracts had left, they gazed at Yue Wang Shu lying on the ground, “They’re gone now, how long are you going to act like barbequed pork?”

Yue Wang Shu, who was incapable of moving, confined by the heavy enchantments, sat up directly, his movements smooth and easy, as if he wasn’t being restricted.

“How tiring, I had to act like I was immobile all the way here, troublesome.” He took a seat, stretching his muscles. Shen Yang drew out a short knife, helping him slash through the rope.

“How much did they discover?”

“Nothing at all.” Yue Wang Shu smiled, pleased with himself, “They thought I was a Summoner from the start to end.”

“Then,” Shen Yang asked, “Where is your ‘Contract’?”

“I dumped it, it got destroyed in my last operation.”

“What a pity. Where did you get your current one?”

“Bought it online.”

That night, the Contract he had summoned was actually an inflatable doll. He had hidden it away from the start, and had summoned it in his escape, constructing the image of being saved by his Contract.

He did not need a Contract. A demon’s spell was no use on him, his capabilities were far above a demon’s.

“It’s fine if it’s destroyed. It was cheap, and the picture was taken beautifully, but I never thought they would send me something that looked like a ghost.” Yue Wang Shu grumbled.

“It can still be used, you can’t see a single difference once you switch off the lights, it would fester at most once you’ve used it.” Shen Yang returned to their seat, taking out a product, “This way you’ll be able to operate with the identity of a beautiful thief lady.”

“Don’t give me that! I won’t use that kind of thing! I bought it just to admire the view!” Yue Wang Shu glared at Shen Yang, “Tell me, then, what you want this time. A new arcade machine?”

He and Shen Yang had known very early on, and Shen Yang knew of his identity too. He wasn’t an Opposer, but a miemoshi the Association had yet to snare. He had been an ordinary human, until he had come across the existence of demons by chance, discovering another side of the world. At the same time, he had discovered his own hidden powers.

He had always been in contact with Shen Yang, exchanging information with each other for a price. He had infiltrated Zephaniah at Shen Yang’s suggestion. There were many Summoners and demons in Zephaniah, and there, he could express his talent, gathering more ‘abilities’.

As for why he had used his identity as the Gentleman Thief to stalk the streets, one of the reasons had been to attract many more powerful Summoners and Contracts to display his abilities, another reason being that it had been out of simple interest.

He had always adored the swashbucklers and thieves in the novels he read, and had always dreamed of one day becoming an elegant and handsome swashbuckler.

He knew that his actions were ridiculous and silly, but it was also due to these silly actions that the Association hadn’t faced a criminal like him head-on, merely taking him to be a third-rate Summoner with an unusual mindset.

“No way. The previous game you delivered to me was absolutely awful, I tried everything to guess and curry favor with those damn idiots, but I still couldn’t get through the level.” Shen Yang lay over the desk, looking at the little fish tank on the table. There were two red goldfish, water plants, and a small house for the landscape in the fish tank.

“Impossible! That game is really therapeutic!”

Shen Yang reached out a hand, pushing the game console towards Yue Wang Shu, “Then help me settle it.”

Yue Wang Shu took the game console exasperatedly, and stood before the computer to start playing.

“Seriously, though.” He stared at the screen as he spoke, “Have you ever thought of escaping from this place?”

“I’ve always been thinking of that.” Shen Yang stared at the fish tank, replying, “But sometimes you can’t do it by just thinking of it, you’ll have to add fuel to the fire yourself, hahaha…”

Yue Wang Shu sighed, “You’ve helped me again this time, what do you want? I’ll do my best to help you.”

“You don’t need to give me anything this time around…” Shen Yang smiled, looking on as the color of the fishes in the fish tank turned from red to black, “Because I’ll be exchanging you for a prize.”

Then, they overturned the little fish tank on the table.

When the fish tank crashed onto the ground, the little decorative house instantaneously transforming into something as tall as a person. The door of the little house opened from within, and a man in a black overcoat strolled out.

Yue Wang Shu detected something amiss, and reached out to summon two wind blades, launching them on him. It was the move Dongya had used, reappearing in its original form at this very moment.

The wind struck the person’s body, but it did not create any damage.

Yue Wang Shu made another move, throwing out several binding and suppression spells in a row, the ones Byriel and the others had placed on him while transporting him.

These spells swept onto the man, and in a moment, the enchantments vibrated, then became dulled and loosened. The man lightly dusted himself, as if he was patting dust from his body, sweeping them away.

The man’s lips cracked into a smile, “So this is the miemoshi who can duplicate a demon’s abilities…”

Yue Wang Shu realized that his face was extremely monstrous, a sort of unnatural swelling and distortion, like someone who had just completed a plastic surgery.

“You notified the protection team?” He questioned Shen Yang.

“Nope.” Shen Yang chuckled, “The protection team arrived much earlier, they’re currently asleep in the deep freezer.”

Yue Wang Shu was shocked, “Why did you sell me out?”

Shen Yang smiled lightly, “I’ve never stood on any side.”

Yue Wang Shu looked uneasily at the man, “…Are you going to kill me?”

“Of course not,” The man smiled faintly, his face becoming much more distorted, “You have excellent talent, we’re not as narrow-minded as the Association. You’ll have many opportunities to display your gift.”

The black-clothed man muttered an incantation, and black mist bundled Yue Wang Shu up. The man reached up to cover his face, and the skin immediately fell off, revealing another face.

“The disguise demon was captured a while ago, the face he left behind is no longer sufficient enough, I need a new identity.” The man reached into Yue Wang Shu’s pocket, taking out that domino mask, “I will take your place as the Gentleman Thief.”

With that, the man smilingly placed the mask onto his face. On the sleeve of his black overcoat, there was a turquoise cuff embedded with a lion’s head.

“Didn’t you bring the little young master along with you today?” Before the man left, Shen Yang smiled, questioning.

“He’s resting at home…” In the man’s chilly voice, there was a clear note of tenderness.

“Hope he ‘gets well’ soon, then.” Shen Yang waved with a smile, “And send my regards to the Third Prince.”

TL Notes

‘Ask a tiger for its skin’: An idiom (与虎谋皮) which refers to a doomed petition for requesting someone to act against his own interests.Qiaohu is a popular Chinese show for kids.