"The good news is, we’ve figured out the motive of the {Earthly Branches}," Qi Xia remarked. "Doesn’t that mean we’ve grasped their weakness?"
"Well…" Officer Li hesitated, shaking his head with a conflicted expression. "If this contract is entirely genuine, then perhaps."
Officer Li pointed at clauses five through ten on the contract and explained, "The contract states there are only four sections. That implies these clauses shouldn’t exist. Does that mean this contract has been tampered with?"
"It’s certainly true," Qi Xia nodded, adding, "But it’s not particularly surprising, is it? You can conjure cigarettes out of thin air, so I wouldn’t be surprised if extra text appeared on a contract."
"Your capacity for acceptance is almost too strong," Officer Li sighed helplessly. "Why can’t I manage to see it that way?"
"According to the contents of the contract, if {Mortal Goat} sees more than four clauses, it supposedly means they’ve lost their sanity," Qi Xia mused for a moment before continuing, "But clearly, we can also see more than four clauses. This has nothing to do with clarity of mind. It’s not impossible that this is a trick {Celestial Dragon} is using to eliminate {Mortal Goat}."
"But {Mortal Goat} suspected something… which is why he didn’t destroy the contract and kept it on him instead?" Officer Li surmised.
"Stop teasing me," Officer Li replied with a shake of his head. "I studied criminology—interrogation, investigation, examination, searches, and evidence handling. None of those skills are very useful in a place ."
"For now, let’s keep this contract business to ourselves," Qi Xia said, folding the document and slipping it into his pocket. "At least until we find another {Reverberatee} we can trust."
Officer Li nodded, choosing to bury the matter for now.
"Oh, right." He pulled out four {Dào} from his pocket. "Qi Xia, these are for you."
"For me?" Qi Xia didn’t reach out to take them. Instead, he shook his head. "Officer Li, we’re with {Passage to Heaven} now. They want us to risk our lives, so they should be the ones providing {Dào}. Keep these on you for emergencies."
"Then you should keep them on you for emergencies," Officer Li countered. "You’re much better at using {Dào}. In your hands, they’ll multiply in value; in mine, they’d just go to waste."
"Hm…" Qi Xia thought for a moment before taking one {Dào}. "How about this; if I take them all, it’ll only stir up dissatisfaction among the team’s {master manipulators}. Last time, I gave you one, so I’ll take one back this time—let’s call it even."
Officer Li sighed in resignation, agreeing to the compromise. The two then turned and headed back to the school building. In this well-lit building, Qi Xia experienced a puzzling sense of peace; it was the comfort of being with {people}.
From the distant road came the faint creaking and chirping sounds—evidence that the {insects} were already out and about. However, they instinctively avoided this area. It seemed the more people gathered in one place, the safer it became. If those insects were plotting anything untoward, {Passage to Heaven} wouldn’t have been able to maintain operations so openly for this long.
When they returned to the room, almost everyone was already asleep. Officer Li and Qi Xia exchanged a glance before each found a spot to lie down. Before long, the sound of snores filled the room.
Qi Xia quietly checked on Han Yimo’s condition, then turned to close the classroom door. He grabbed a plastic lighter from nearby and propped it against the door handle.
After finishing these preparations, he retreated to a corner, picked up a previously heated can of food, and ate a few quick bites. Then, he pulled over a chair and sat down.
Since arriving in this cursed place, this was the first time he felt like he could get a decent night’s rest.
Caught in the limbo between sleep and wakefulness, Qi Xia closed his eyes. After an uncertain amount of time, a barely perceptible sound reached him, and Qi Xia quickly opened his eyes.
The sound of the lighter falling onto the cement floor was so faint that it couldn’t even compete with the chirping of the insects outside, but Qi Xia rarely allowed himself to fall into deep sleep. So, any slight movement would rouse him.
The fire had long since died out, and the room was pitch-black. Qi Xia took a few seconds to get a rough sense of his surroundings.
It seemed like someone had opened the door and entered the dark room.
At first, Qi Xia thought it might be a teammate going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But if that were the case, the lighter would have already fallen. Put simply, it was the first time the door had been opened tonight.
As he considered this, Qi Xia quickly counted the shadowy figures in the room, and his suspicion grew stronger. Apart from himself, there were eight people lying down, and one standing.
Who was the person standing?
Qi Xia felt that the situation was becoming increasingly dire. He remained silent and checked his pockets, only to realize there were no weapons for self-defense.
The dark figure moved slowly toward one of the lying figures, bending down to look at her. If Qi Xia recalled correctly, the one lying there was Lin Qin.
‘Could there be someone with ill intent?’ Qi Xia rose slowly, moving his feet with careful precision.
The other party had been negligent; they never would have imagined that someone in the room had spent the entire night sleeping while sitting upright.
The figure reached out and gently stroked Lin Qin’s hair, then lowered their head to inhale the scent on her, before turning and walking toward another person. Qi Xia slowly stopped, quietly observing the unfolding situation.
The figure moved over to Han Yimo's side again. This time, however, they did not act but simply stood quietly next to him for a while. As Qi Xia stood there, confused, the figure then moved toward another person. It seemed to be Officer Li. His steady snoring showed that he had no awareness of the changes happening beside him.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the figure muttered the word "strange" so softly that it was almost inaudible. Then, they began moving again, as if searching for something within the room.
Qi Xia remained standing just a few steps behind them, carefully mirroring their movements, staying out of their line of sight.
The figure began inspecting the room, and Qi Xia continued to trail him at a safe distance, always three to five steps behind.
For Qi Xia, the current behavior of the shadowy figure had not yet escalated into anything that required intervention. Even if he did subdue the person, there would be no valid reason to explain it.
What if this figure was from {Passage to Heaven}, feigning concern about how everyone was settling in? What should he do then?
Or what if the figure claimed to have entered the wrong room? What then?
As the saying goes, {to catch a thief, catch him in the act}, Qi Xia could only remain cautious, keeping a close eye on the shadow, prepared to act at any moment.
After surveying the room, the figure scratched their chin in confusion, then extended their finger, counting the eight individuals lying in bed.
Moments later, they froze in place.
Qi Xia’s brow furrowed, feeling that things were taking a bad turn.
If the figure was familiar with the people in the room, they should have realized that one person was missing by now.
With that thought, Qi Xia quickly turned to close the door.
At the same time, the shadow turned and bolted.
The two rushed toward the classroom door almost simultaneously. Qi Xia knew it was too late to shut the door in time, so he reached out to grab the figure. But the shadow spun around and dodged his attempt.
‘To immediately choose to escape, it seems they at least have some brain…’ Qi Xia pondered for a moment before shouting, "Stop!"
His loud shout echoed through the entire building.
If anyone else were to wake up, the shadow would have nowhere to hide.
The figure didn't hesitate any longer and quickly ran down the hallway. Qi Xia was only three to five steps behind.
Just as he was about to reach out and grab the figure, Qi Xia saw the shadow suddenly spring off the ground.
Before he could react, he felt his foot get caught, and in an instant, he was thrown forward, crashing to the ground.
The figure had set a tripwire on the floor!
Seeing the shadow vanish at the end of the corridor, Qi Xia sensed that the situation was worsening. Ignoring the pain, he quickly thought it through and turned back, running towards the classroom. By this time, people were starting to stir awake.
"Qi Xia, what happened?" Lin Qin asked, her voice tinged with worry.
"Someone broke in!" Qi Xia yanked open the classroom window and immediately leaped out into the yard.
Qiao Jiajin, hearing this, knit his brow and hurriedly followed.