Chapter 26: Searching for Clues

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Searching for Clues

"Mom, why are you suddenly bringing up that drunkard?"

Gu Qing looked at Wen Wanyi, a bit confused. "Isn’t that drunkard already dead?"

His sister, Gu Yao, who was sitting beside him, also put down her chopsticks. She looked at her mother with a puzzled expression, clearly wondering why she was suddenly bringing up something that happened so long ago.

Wen Wanyi sighed. "Something’s wrong with that drunkard’s whole family."

"How so?"

Gu Qing furrowed his brow slightly. He had a bad feeling about this.

Wen Wanyi said, "His wife, son, and daughter have all gone crazy. Every one of them has become abnormally short-tempered, and they’ll pick fights or argue with their neighbors over the slightest thing."

"I heard several people have been injured, and someone even had their ear bitten off."

"I don’t know if they were always this crazy, or if the tragedy made them unable to accept reality, leading to a complete emotional breakdown."

"But fortunately, the relevant authorities took them all away last night. It looks like they’re being sent to a mental hospital for institutionalization."

After she finished, Wen Wanyi looked at the two siblings and said earnestly, "Times have been tough these past few years. A lot of people are under immense stress and full of pent-up hostility. It’s easy for them to go to extremes over the smallest things. When you two are out and about, you must not be competitive or confrontational. If you can endure something, then endure it, understand?"

’Endure if I can?’

’I’m the kind of guy who carves his own path!’

’Just go for it!’

That’s what Gu Qing thought to himself, but on the surface, he nodded obediently. "Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be sure to get along with everyone when I’m out."

His sister beside him also nodded her head repeatedly, like a chicken pecking at grain.

She was naturally timid when she was out anyway. Even without Wen Wanyi’s reminder, she would always back down whenever possible.

For all these years, she had silently lived by one personal creed:

—The timid stay safe; the blessed back down.

...

「At the same time.」

In a secret holding cell.

"I’ll kill you!"

"I’m going to kill you all!"

"AHHHH—!!"

The drunkard’s wife and children were frantically slamming their bodies against the iron bars, roaring hysterically at those outside the cell.

Even though their throats were already hoarse and raw, they continued to roar over and over again.

All three of them had bloodshot eyes and twisted faces. They had long since lost all human reason, left with only primitive violence and madness.

Outside the cell.

A man and a woman dressed in black watched on coldly.

After a long moment.

The man in black spoke, his voice devoid of any warmth:

"The emotional contamination runs deep, and their sanity is completely destroyed. There’s no point in trying to treat them. They can only be humanely euthanized."

"I’ll notify the ’cleaners’ to come and take care of this."

The woman in black took out her phone to contact the so-called cleaners she had mentioned.

The man in black watched the frenzied trio in the cell, a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Still no sign of that monster. We don’t know if it’s left the complex or if it’s just lying dormant in some corner."

"My gut says it’s already left the complex."

The woman in black offered her opinion. "After all, it caused such a huge commotion last week. If it’s not an idiot, it would have definitely left."

The man in black replied, "Let’s hope so. Otherwise, I’m terrified I’ll suddenly get a report one day saying every resident in that complex has gone mad."

Just as he finished speaking, he turned to the woman beside him and asked:

"By the way, a new female university student just joined the organization. I hear she’s exceptionally talented. Have you met her?"

"Not yet."

The woman in black continued, "But I heard the Mad Woman is mentoring her. To be picked by the Mad Woman, that student’s talent must be truly exceptional."

...

「The next day.」

「Sunday.」

Gu Qing woke up bright and early, full of energy. After a quick wash and getting dressed, he headed straight for the Little Fairy Pet Shop across the street from his complex.

He had been thinking about Liu Zhiyi’s [Beast Taming King] tag all night.

He was going to spend the entire day at the pet shop with Liu Zhiyi.

And frantically farm Attributes from her tag.

However, when Gu Qing arrived at the shop entrance full of anticipation, he was shocked to discover that the shop was closed, its rolling metal door pulled down tight.

A notice was posted on the door:

—Closed every Sunday. Please don’t make a wasted trip.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

’Weekends are the busiest time for foot traffic, and she still takes a fixed day off?’

’Sister Zhiyi is way too casual about being a boss, isn’t she?’

’How is she ever going to make a comeback running her business like this?’

Grumbling was one thing, but with the shop closed, Gu Qing was out of options. He could only turn around and head home dejectedly.

...

「In the afternoon.」

His sister, a high school senior, had to return to school for her evening study session after lunch.

Since Gu Qing had nothing to do at home, he decided to leave with his sister and take the bus back to Hai City University.

That evening, Gao Fei and Xia Shuran would both be back on campus.

He had to get back right away to find them and farm some Attributes.

Seeing that he was leaving, his parents offered to drive him, but he politely refused.

His parents worked hard all week and had been looking forward to the weekend. They deserved to rest at home, not go to the trouble of driving him back and forth.

「Over an hour later.」

It was now 7:30 PM.

Gu Qing finally made it back to campus. The moment he got off the bus, he headed straight for the athletic field.

Before leaving home, he had already arranged with Xia Shuran on WeChat to meet at the athletic field at 8:00 PM to practice with the Red Tassel Spear.

He had only taken a few steps inside the school gates when he spotted a gray shadow flash past up ahead.

It was a rat.

It looked abnormally large.

Gu Qing frowned.

’Didn’t they just exterminate the rats a few days ago?’

’How can there still be a fat rat like this one?’

’Hmm, must be one that slipped through the cracks...’

With that thought, Gu Qing casually picked up a small stone, intending to rid the school of this pest.

Just as he was about to throw the stone, he suddenly remembered his Beast Language Ability.

’Perhaps...’

’I can try to listen to what this fat rat has to say?’

With this thought in mind, Gu Qing didn’t rush to take out the rat.

Instead, he approached it with light, quiet steps.

The rat was completely unaware that it was being watched.

It was hiding in a patch of shrubbery.

Its dull gray eyes stared out eerily at the students coming and going.

It let out a series of squeaks.

Gu Qing crept closer to the rat and heard its squeaks.

The next moment.

A line of text appeared directly before his eyes:

[Human... tasty...]

The moment he saw the message, Gu Qing’s expression turned grim, and a strong sense of revulsion washed over him.

’Damn it, this rat has eaten human flesh!’

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Qing immediately flung the stone in his hand.

"SPLAT!"

The small stone struck the rat’s head with perfect accuracy.

A perfect headshot.

Red and white matter splattered out.

The rat twitched a couple of times, then went still.

Gu Qing took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the violent rage in his heart, and slowly calmed himself.

Just then, a wild idea clearly surfaced in his mind.

’Rats are everywhere.’

’In corners, in sewers, in the dark...’

’You can find them anywhere.’

’If I could understand what all the rats are saying...’

’Wouldn’t that mean...’

’I could use their squeaking to find that perverted Cannibal Giant hiding on campus?’

’That perverted Cannibal Giant is suspected of feeding human flesh to the campus rats.’

’As long as I keep checking in with the campus rats...’

’...and slowly piece together the clues...’

’...I might actually be able to drag that perverted Cannibal Giant out from the shadows!’

...

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