Cliff Dancer

Setting aside righteousness and acting only out of personal resentment, Chen Nan had reason to kill Wang Yifu; besides, Wang Yifu would not spare him either. If Chen Nan wanted to enter the world of Transcendents smoothly and without obstruction, Wang Yifu was a considerable obstacle.

On the road ahead, obstacles had to be cleared away. There was nothing more to say about that.

But how was he to get rid of them? If he had not known before, Chen Nan would naturally have chosen to poison them. But for the sake of his future, he had to make new plans.

Chen Nan lay on the 1.5-by-2.0-meter bed, his phone beside him, his thoughts racing like ten thousand galloping horses.

He was immensely anxious, a very common reaction when one lacked strength. Chen Nan was not one of those transmigrators from novels, each more defiant of heaven than the last, possessed of the poise to remain unflustered even with Mount Tai collapsing before them.

That did not fit his current circumstances.

This was a matter in which failure meant death. If someone said he could remain composed and face it calmly, then he would not be a True Person.

Yet under dangerous circumstances, such tension was precisely the stress response a person ought to have, something necessary for adapting to one's environment.

Beneath those surging thoughts, countless half-formed plans rose like bubbles blown by children—each colorful and dazzling, yet liable to burst at the slightest touch.

After the great waves had washed away the sand, one thought suddenly remained in his heart:

The law!

That was right. At the very least, what Wang Yifu and Wang Yide had done was illegal. Even setting Wang Yide aside for now, Wang Yifu could not escape. Just the lives lost in that warehouse were enough to tie him to it.

What was more, Chen Nan was practically certain that the orphanage was filled with filthy dealings.

Therefore, wielding the weapon of the law was absolutely an excellent way to destroy them.

But there were problems with that as well: how was this weapon to be used, and who would wield it?

The reason for the latter question was that Chen Nan knew full well that he, a ten-year-old child with no backing whatsoever, could not wield such a weapon.

Forget that he was only a child. Given the situation at the orphanage, it could not possibly have been watertight, with no one knowing what sort of place it was.

Yet it still stood tall and unshaken. That alone said enough.

If he invoked the law, then what he would face was an enormous predicament. It involved far too many layers, all of them the kind that could not be openly spoken of.

Hard! Hard! Hard!

To fight evil men was never a simple thing; tangled roots and knotted branches linked profit upon profit.

A net was woven and woven again; tug one thread, and the whole web trembled.

How could power be untangled from the net of profit?

Untangle it?

He who tied the bell must untie it!

Chen Nan suddenly sat up in bed. A thought poured into his mind like a devil, taking root the moment it landed, impossible to cut away!

That was right. I have no ability to wield the weapon of law, but that person certainly does!

So I had to act on two fronts. Though this might very well drive me from one abyss into another, little as I am, this is the only way.

If I did not dance at the edge of the abyss, how could I speak of a brilliant future?

Chen Nan had already made up his mind. He would make himself into a tiny fulcrum, one capable of prying up the lever of power and profit.

But to make it happen, he needed targets, tools, and patience.

With that in mind, Chen Nan unlocked his phone again and entered Wu City's government website...

Time trickled by, and Chen Nan had selected his target. By then, elementary school students had also been dismissed. He immediately got dressed, went downstairs, and joined the sea of students flooding the streets.

In such a tide, no one would notice him.

Chen Nan first chose to eat. He still mainly had porridge, gradually adding meat and more solid food to his meals.

As he ate, he checked the map on his phone.

The positioning system here was highly accurate, clearly showing what shops lined every street.

He was looking for an electronics store.

There were about two nearby. Once he finished eating, he would definitely go take a look.

He quickly finished dinner, summoned Da Huang, and made sure the other dogs were positioned all around the streets before heading toward an electronics store.

It was a shop called "Little Xia Computer." It was not very large, and Chen Nan intended to scout it out first to see whether it had what he needed.

When he entered, a short bespectacled man asked, "Kid, what are you looking to buy?"

Chen Nan glanced around. Seeing that there was no one else inside, he asked, "I want to buy miniature surveillance equipment and listening devices. Do you have them?"

The man froze, then smiled. "I do, but kid, what do you need those for? Where are your parents?"

At that moment, Chen Nan truly hated responsible merchants like this. If only he had run into a crooked businessman—if there was money to be made, would there be so much fuss? But he did not want to visit any more shops.

So he made something up. "It's not for me. It's an assignment from our teacher. Things have been disappearing from our class's common lounge lately. To figure out what's going on, our teacher said we should install some surveillance equipment to catch the thief."

The man let out an "Oh," then asked, "Can you figure out how to use it?"

Putting on a child's pride, Chen Nan said, "Of course! I'm the computer genius in my class. Whenever the teacher can't figure out a computer problem, I handle it. Otherwise, why would she send me?"

The man began looking for surveillance equipment as he asked, "What does your teacher teach?"

Chen Nan answered casually, "Language arts."

The man stopped asking questions and focused on searching. Before long, he had found everything.

"Here, this is a miniature surveillance camera. It has a five-megapixel pinhole camera and infrared capability. It can connect to computers and phones for remote control. You only need to..."

Chen Nan patted his chest. "Uncle, I understand all that. How much is this?"

The man curled his lip, somewhat doubtful of Chen Nan, but still gave him a price. "This set is thirty-five yuan."

Chen Nan continued, "What about that listening device?"

Pinching the listening device between his fingers, the man asked, "What does this have to do with catching a thief?"

Chen Nan cursed inwardly: What a busybody!

But he smiled and said, "I don't know either. It's what the teacher told me to get. Uncle, you're making things difficult for me."

The man smiled. "I was just curious. Oh, right—this listening device can also be controlled remotely. It detects sounds in the surrounding environment, automatically starts recording when people speak, and automatically goes into standby when it's quiet.

"This one is cheaper, fifteen each."

Chen Nan examined it and felt that it should be enough. After all, there was little point in him needing more advanced equipment. What mattered most was sufficient concealment.

And both the camera and the listening device were only the size of a thumb. They should do.

So he smiled and said, "Uncle, I'm buying quite a lot of these. How about this: one surveillance camera and one listening device count as a set. I'll give you thirty-five per set."

The man laughed. "Kid! You're trying to bundle me up here. So I sell you one surveillance camera and have to throw in a listening device, right?"

Chen Nan smiled broadly. "Uncle, your stuff is gathering dust."

"Hah, then I'm not selling it!" The man was displeased.

Chen Nan was not flustered and continued smiling. "I'm buying a lot. I need at least ten sets."

The man fell silent for a moment, while Chen Nan pretended not to care. "Forget it. I'll look elsewhere." With that, he turned and left without the slightest intention of lingering.

"Wait!" the man immediately called out. "Kid, why are you in such a hurry? Fine, thirty-five a set. I'll sell them to you. Come pay up."

Chen Nan smiled. "Uncle, I don't have any money."

"You—" The man looked ready to strike, but because the person before him was only a child, he could only give up. Like a deflated balloon, he made a shooing gesture.

Chen Nan said, "I don't have money in my pocket right now. I just came to ask about it first. Wait here, I'll go get the money."

With that, Chen Nan left.

Though some time had passed, a few students were still walking along the streets. Chen Nan returned to that alley and had Rat hand over the money. He took out another five hundred yuan, leaving Rat to keep the remaining less than four thousand.

When he returned to the "Little Xia Computer" store, Chen Nan handed the man four hundred yuan. At the sight of the money, the man finally smiled and gave Chen Nan ten sets of surveillance cameras and listening devices.

Chen Nan asked to test them, and the man patiently did so. Their performance was fairly standard, with no major problems. Chen Nan then took the fifty yuan in change and left.

He went to the appliance market and bought a small electric cooker, then bought instant noodles, eggs, ham, some fruit, and other things before returning home.

Carrying such a large pile of things back exhausted Chen Nan thoroughly. Yet the moment he entered, someone tried to put him in his place.

A tall boy, though still an elementary school student, looked rather mature. He crowded Chen Nan against the doorway and pinned him to the wall as he asked, "You're the new kid? Listen up, that room is mine now. And you're giving me some of this stuff too! Otherwise..."

"Get lost!" Chen Nan said in a low voice, staring directly into the boy's eyes.

That single shout was like a thunderbolt exploding inside the boy's heart. At the same time, he found Chen Nan's gaze terrifying, as though Death itself had fixed its eyes on him.

His heartbeat sped up, and cold sweat streamed down his back. Between fear and pride, he searched for a point of balance. But he was still only a child. External maturity did not mean inner maturity.

He still failed to find that balance. Fear utterly crushed him, urine running down his pant legs as the boy screamed and fled back to his room.

The other elementary school students all watched. Even the "king of the kids" had been frightened into such a state, so the others did not dare meet Chen Nan's eyes.

Chen Nan let out a helpless breath, mocking himself for being reduced to frightening a child, before returning to his room.