A Wanted Notice That Hardly Mattered

Fan Rongchang watched coldly as the Li Family representative was taken away. He felt so pleased that he nearly burst out laughing at the meeting.

Back when his young disciple Xie Wutong had set herself ablaze, he had received images transmitted across space directly into his mind.

Amid the great blaze, the faces of the scions of several influential families at the front, led by the Li Family, had been clearly visible.

Because Xie Wutong's cultivation realm was too low, the images had lasted only two seconds and were quite blurry, but that was enough for Fan Rongchang to identify his targets.

"Grand Speaker," Fan Rongchang said, pressing his advantage now that the influential-family faction was on the back foot.

"Judging by the Beastfolk remains left inside the secret realm, the troops came from the Beastfolk of the Spirit Resonance Rainforest."

"They unilaterally tore up the Spirit Resonance River peace agreement. We absolutely cannot let them off lightly for this."

"Since the Spirit Resonance River is near Yin City, I propose that the Southern Kaiyang Garrison near Yin City lead an expedition against the Beastfolk of the Spirit Resonance Rainforest and make them pay for their blood debt in blood!"

After hearing him out, Fan Yuxin, commander of the Southern Kaiyang Garrison, immediately understood what his grandfather meant.

He rose and bowed. "I am willing to fight for the Human Race!"

"Mm, so be it."

The neutral speaker glanced up at the Grand Speaker, then brought down the gavel to settle the matter.

Although they could not openly show favoritism in the name of unity, the influential-family faction was in the wrong this time, so the Grand Speaker tacitly agreed to give the reformists the lion's share of the profits from the expedition against the Beastfolk.

Seeing that the question of accountability for the unified exam incident had been settled for the time being, the neutral speaker presiding over the meeting turned the discussion to the aftermath.

"Next, we will discuss how to properly provide for the victims, compensation for the victims, repairs to the unified exam secret realm, and the restoration of public trust in the Human Race high command."

For a moment, silence fell over the meeting hall.

There were more than two hundred thousand victims and over eighty thousand dead, most of them teenagers. Almost every family in the Human Race was affected.

Even quite a few major factions had lost their heirs as a result.

The costs of providing for and compensating the victims could not be covered by confiscating the Li Family's assets alone.

Moreover, there was so much to be skimmed from repairing the unified exam's secret-realm space that no one wanted to give up an opportunity both to make money and to install people through the back door.

"As for restoring public trust in the Human Race high command, I believe we should first reveal the chief culprit to the public and execute them publicly to quell popular anger!"

"That's right, and we must also issue a wanted notice for the unknown Yellow Realm seventh-realm expert who appeared and capture them as soon as possible!"

"We should raise the overall cultivation realm of the garrison troops within each city and require mayors to be at least at the Yellow Realm seventh realm."

"Emphasize unity and solidarity, and stand together against the other races!"

The council members spoke at length and eagerly offered their views on the question of public trust, the easiest issue to resolve.

As for the earlier items on the agenda, everyone tacitly put them off.

There was only so much pie to go around. Did they even need to choose between dividing it among a few people and sharing it with everyone?

When there was profit to be made, of course they needed to discuss it with colleagues from their own faction first, so they could scoop it into their own camp's bowl!

The many senior figures were deep in heated discussion, while beyond the stained-glass windows, the unrelenting rain still hung over the sea of black umbrellas in the central square.

"Extra! Extra! The latest investigation report on the bloody college entrance exam! The Human Race has issued its highest-level wanted notice for the first time in ten years!"

People eager to spread the news shouted through the streets and alleys of Chen City's southern district, prompting residents who had not yet had time to read the morning paper to stop what they were doing and listen for a bit of gossip.

A black-haired young man wearing a black mask walked up to a newsstand.

He tapped lightly on the metal doorframe. When he raised his hand, the sleeve of his loose-fitting hoodie slipped down a little, revealing his exceptionally pale skin.

The sound immediately caught the attention of the owner, who had been absorbed in reading a newspaper.

"One copy of the Chen City Morning News, please."

"Coming right up!"

The owner stood and pulled a black-and-white copy of the Chen City Morning News from a row of assorted tabloids and magazines.

"That'll be two yuan."

Seeing that even the mask could not hide how handsome the young man was, the owner struck up a conversation without thinking.

"Young man, I don't recognize you. Just moved here?"

"I'm here as a tourist."

"Tourism's a fine idea! Our Chen City is famous for its beautiful mountains and rivers. The Three-Race Exchange Conference is coming up soon, too, so you can broaden your horizons while you're here!"

He took the change and handed the paper to the black-haired youth.

"Could you recommend a few popular sights, sir?"

"You've come to the right person! Our Fuhua Commercial Street in the southern district is famous for how lively it is. You can shop there from nine in the morning all the way until two in the morning!"

The young man took the paper, thanked him, and walked away without looking back.

"That young fellow's awfully aloof."

The newsstand owner watched him turn into an alley up ahead, then sat back down and continued reading.

As it happened, he was also reading that day's Chen City Morning News, which carried the Human Race's newly released findings on the bloody unified exam.

It also listed the execution time for the Li Family of Zi City, along with a series of subsequent punishments and compensation payments.

Below the front-page article was a string of wanted notices of various sizes.

[Human Race highest-level wanted notice:

Fugitive code name: Eight-Tailed Owl. Race: unknown. Sex: unknown. Cultivation realm: suspected early Yellow Realm seventh realm.

Previously stole an Awakening Stone from West District No. 1 Middle School in Yin City's West District. Currently suspected of involvement in the bloody unified exam incident.]

The paper also included two blurry pictures in which the figure's face could not be seen.

They showed Shisui himself, with four wings growing from his back and eight tails behind his waist.

One showed him atop a warehouse at West District No. 1 Middle School, his white hair particularly striking in the moonlight.

The other was from inside the unified exam secret realm.

A pitch-black exoskeleton covered Shisui's entire body, which occupied only a quarter of the image.

His enormous Kagune behind him took up most of the picture, twisting and coiling through the air.

It seems the Human Race high command really can find out what happened inside the secret-realm space, but not through the space itself. They "saw" it indirectly through witnesses.

Otherwise, they would not have obtained the picture from West District No. 1 Middle School, nor would they have been unaware of what he looked like and that he had once been Chen Xiao of the Chen Family in Yin City.

It was most likely a talent for probing other people's memories.

But "Yellow Realm," huh? It seems this wanted notice isn't just meant for ordinary people in the cities. It'll also be passed among the various races, warning them not to shelter the criminal.

That's why they had to specify the realm.

If it were only circulating among ordinary people, they'd naturally assume the target was a low-level awakened individual within the Yellow Realm, so there'd be no need to specify it.

Still, issuing a highest-level wanted notice for a mere Yellow Realm awakened individual? I'm truly flattered.

It seems the Human Race suffered heavy losses and lost a great deal of face this time.

But the Human Race has only put up a wanted notice. They haven't made any real effort to hunt me down.

That must be because Eight-Tailed Owl's realm is too low to put the Human Race on its guard.

Before Shisui had transmigrated here, when he was still weak, the investigators in the world of Ghouls had likewise not bothered to go out of their way to hunt him down.

Lou Shisui finished reading his own wanted notice in a rather good mood, having confirmed that, for now, he could still slip about unnoticed in the Human Race's cities.

Then he casually tossed the newspaper into a dark corner of the alley.

Whatever mess the Human Race has to deal with afterward, what does it have to do with a Ghoul like me?

He turned out of the alley, walked another two blocks, and returned to the guesthouse where he had rented a room.

The money for the room had naturally come from the Lou Family inheritance. He had retrieved the Lou Family's Spatial Ring as soon as he left the secret realm.

Before reaching the Fifth Realm, he had yet to enter the transcendent domain, and his grasp of space had not been sufficiently practiced. Naturally, he could not have retrieved the ring from ten thousand miles away.

But after stepping into the Fifth Realm, his control over his abilities had risen to another level, and his use of the spatial attribute had become increasingly effortless.

As long as he knew where the ring was, retrieving it from afar was as easy as turning over his hand!

Once he had retrieved the ring, he had immediately spent money to rent a room at a nearby guesthouse.

Guesthouses and hotels could be found everywhere here, so finding a place to stay was quite easy.

Shisui had even checked in without showing any identification.

Chen City lay between the territories of the Beastfolk and the demon race, on a flat plateau beneath the Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain Range. It was a pleasant place to live, commercially prosperous, and blessed with beautiful scenery.

Its tourism industry could be counted among the three most developed of the Human Race's cities, and it also ranked near the top for the sheer mix of people it drew.

Shisui, accustomed to hiding in crowds, felt quite at home in such a chaotic environment.

Back then, he had even infiltrated a human university to audit lectures.

If some idiot had not later hunted there and alerted the police, causing Ghoul investigators to set their sights on the university, he might even have been able to sit in on classes for a full academic year.

Ah, a true hero doesn't boast about past glories. Better think about what to eat tonight.