The Hunt Could Begin

"Come in, Miss He Wei Ni Ya."

Finnis pushed open the door to the secret chamber and gestured for He Wei Ni Ya to enter.

He Wei Ni Ya nodded and followed, then she saw that there were already five people in the secret room. Only two of them were wearing school uniforms, while the other three looked like teachers or administrators.

As soon as she entered the room, everyone's eyes were on her.

"Is this the one from the Third Academy?" A male student looked at He Wei Ni Ya and said coldly, "Could this be her?"

Before He Wei Ni Ya could speak, Finnis stepped in front of her. "Miss He Wei Ni Ya is my guest, she has no problem."

"You found out again?"

"Of course I know," Finnis said calmly. "Of course, if you don't believe me, you can ask someone else. You should know, Todd, that just an hour ago, Miss He Wei Ni Ya was having afternoon tea with Principal Ulysses."

When Finnis brought up the principal, Todd stopped talking.

The oldest man in the room, around thirty years old, slowly spoke up, "Alright, everyone here is definitely fine. That guy couldn't have made a move so quickly, so... who's missing now?"

"Anita."

Todd was speaking again, clearly having been observing the people in the room.

"She won't come, and she's always by the principal's side, nothing will happen to her."

"Then there isn't one..."

"Hehe, have you forgotten about me, little brother?"

Todd's words were interrupted by a low laugh, and he immediately frowned as he watched a large, fleshy body squeeze into the secret room.

It was Ka Lun.

"It's disheartening that no one notified me of this meeting. Am I not Golden Sound?" Ka Lun stared at Todd. "I'm your brother, Todd."

"It's just a watch," Todd said coldly. "No one notified you, yet you still came."

"There's nothing I can do. My family doesn't want to take care of me, but I don't want to die."

Ka Lun leisurely found a seat and sat down. The not-so-small chair looked like a toy in front of his mountain-like, muscular body, making one worry that it would fall apart the moment he sat down.

Fortunately, no. Ka Lun cast some kind of Movement Spell on herself to reduce the weight, which made the toy-like little chair much sturdier than she had imagined, allowing Ka Lun to rock back and forth comfortably.

"I am a member of the Chu Ke Family. If I were to be killed silently in some corner, and my body were only discovered after several days when it started to decompose, wouldn't that be a huge disgrace to the Chu Ke Family?"

Before Todd could speak, another middle-aged woman in the room immediately stood up and stared intently at Ka Lun.

What are you being sarcastic about?

"I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just stating the facts," Ka Lun said with a smile. "I really sympathize with Daniel."

Just as the woman was about to explode, the middle-aged man spoke up again, "Alright, we don't have time for nonsense, quiet down!"

Upon hearing this, neither the woman nor Ka Lun spoke. However, the woman remained furious, while Ka Lun maintained her mocking smile, which, combined with her pus-covered face, made her appear even more repulsive.

The middle-aged man scanned the crowd again, finally settling his gaze on He Wei Ni Ya.

"Finnis, please have Miss He Wei Ni Ya sit down now. We need to get down to business."

"Okay, Dean."

Then Finnis and He Wei Ni Ya took their seats, while the Dean slowly rose to his feet.

"I'm sure everyone knows why we're here," the Dean said. "There's evidence that last night, that guy named Xi Ze successfully infiltrated One Academy. I don't think I need to emphasize how dangerous he is, and I doubt any of you are thinking of taking him down single-handedly, are you?"

No one spoke.

Although everyone present was Golden Sound, and mostly Golden Sound from the Primordial Two Great Families, Xi Ze's achievements in the Three Academies still greatly shocked them.

"To make a long story short, the academy will definitely take action, and the principal is aware of this," the Dean said. "The Primordial Two Great Families and the Lawrence Family will also send more Golden Sound performers to the academy for security, but it's hard to say how effective that will be. Because we must ensure the smooth running of the Grand Ceremony, no matter what happens, the Grand Ceremony cannot be stopped, so this matter cannot be made public, and students below the Golden Sound level cannot know about it. Of course, that guy is also there to participate in the Grand Ceremony, so he's unlikely to cause any greater disturbance, which means..."

The Dean paused.

"His target is us."

After the Dean finished speaking, the room fell silent for half a minute.

After all, being targeted as a hunting object is something that most people would experience for the first time.

And it was the first time I had a rather unpleasant experience.

After listening to the Dean's words, He Wei Ni Ya was finally able to confirm that all eight people present were "age-appropriate" Golden Sound who would participate in this Grand Ceremony.

Of these, only half are actually around twenty years old; the other half are over that age.

The Dean even looks like he's approaching forty.

Indeed, the One Academy was not lacking in players who could delay the fading of notes.

Of course, thirty or forty years old should be the limit. Like the principal, he is probably the only one who can delay until fifty or sixty years old.

He Wei Ni Ya thought to herself silently.

"I don't quite understand." Then someone else spoke up, "The One Academy is so big, can it pinpoint every single one of us? And..."

The man looked up and glanced at Finnis and He Wei Ni Ya.

"Right, all the Golden Sound who are currently exposed are students? So why drag me into this? Very few people know about my music, and even fewer know that I will be participating in the Grand Ceremony."

"You're right, Roland." The Dean nodded. "But the problem is, your band members know you. If they are killed, your identity will also be exposed, so hiding at this time is pointless."

"Yeah, you're still thinking about yourself at a time like this," Ka Lun said slowly. "How selfish of you. Haven't you thought about what would happen if you got scammed and someone used your face to approach us without us knowing your identity? Don't be so selfish."

Roland looked at Ka Lun coldly, but didn't say anything more.

"The words may be rough, but the principle is sound." The Dean nodded again. "So, after an urgent discussion with the principal, I made the decision to bring all the Golden Sound who participated in this Grand Ceremony together... Alright, now everyone look at each other and remember each other's faces. Of course, it would be best if you could introduce yourselves."

This childish way of "making friends" was truly laughable to the elite among the nation's elite present.

But under pressure from Xi Ze and the principal's approval, everyone obediently completed the ceremony, remembering each person's face and identity.

After the introductions, He Wei Ni Ya timidly raised her hand. "May I speak?"

"Of course, Miss He Wei Ni Ya," the Dean said gently. "This isn't a classroom, so please feel free to say whatever you want."

The Dean treated He Wei Ni Ya much better than others, but no one present was surprised, after all, she was the principal's "favorite student".

"Does self-introduction really make any difference?" He Wei Ni Ya said. "If he really replaced one of us, we wouldn't be able to tell, just like Mr. Daniel back then... ah, sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's alright." The Dean glanced at the woman first, then said, "Letting you get to know each other is just to give you a general idea so that you won't be caught off guard when you see each other at school. The real way to deal with this is something else... Gentlemen, check the armrests of your chairs; the things are already there."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then immediately reached for the handrail and found a strip-shaped object under it.

"Now, please fasten this chain to your hands." The Dean said to everyone as he fastened it, "Please raise your hands so that we can all see them. Don't try to be clever; this concerns everyone's lives."

Under mutual supervision, everyone put on a bracelet.

The bracelet tightened the moment it was put on, digging into the flesh, causing several people with low pain tolerance to cry out in pain, including He Wei Ni Ya.

But after crying out in pain, He Wei Ni Ya was surprised to find that the bracelet had disappeared.

... No, it didn't disappear.

To be precise, it's already tattooed on her skin, like musical notes.

"...This is?"

"These were given to me by the principal; they're called 'Soul Lock,'" the Dean said. "Just like its name suggests, they are directly tied to the soul, not the body. In other words, simply changing the physical appearance won't allow you to replicate them."

Everyone immediately understood.

"In other words, even if that guy named Xi Ze kills us and takes our form, he still can't conjure this chain. So we can tell whether someone is the real Xi Ze or not by whether they have this chain?" Finnis concluded.

"Yes." The Dean nodded. "That's right."

"... Is there no way to imitate it?" Todd asked. "And no way to remove it? As far as I know, that guy has several Golden Sound and a bunch of forbidden techniques. Is it possible for him to remove this thing as well?"

"It's impossible." The Dean shook his head. "The principal can also guarantee this, because this is not a technique of the Holy Sound. To remove it safely, one's soul strength would have to be comparable to that of the Gods."

Hearing this explanation and the principal's guarantee, everyone stopped questioning it.

At this moment, He Wei Ni Ya timidly raised her hand again. "By the way, the headmaster has always lived alone, will he be alright?"

Upon hearing this, most of the people present looked at He Wei Ni Ya as if she were an idiot.

"Don't worry, Miss He Wei Ni Ya," the Dean said gently to He Wei Ni Ya. "No one in the Holy Sound can beat Principal Ulysses... If it weren't for his advanced age and difficulty in causing trouble, that guy named Xi Ze would never dare to come in. Of course, the principal will be very happy that you care so much about him."

He Wei Ni Ya fell silent.

"Speaking of which, isn't this too pessimistic?" Roland said. "If this bracelet only has the function of reporting points, then that guy can simply kill us, steal the musical notes, and then hide in the shadows waiting for the Grand Ceremony to arrive. What can we do then?"

"It's very simple." Once he spoke with Roland, the Dean regained his calm tone. "The function of this chain is not just to verify your identity. Once you die, this chain will immediately perform another function, which is to destroy your notes, along with your bodies."

These words caused everyone to fall silent once again.

Because they finally realized that the so-called identity verification was just a bonus, and the most important function was still to destroy the notes.

In other words, they can die, but the musical notes cannot be lost.

Moreover, doing it in this way is like strapping a bomb to your body that could explode at any moment.

"Don't worry, it won't work unless you die," the Dean said. "Moreover, it also protects your safety. In the event of an attack, you can, like me, channel Magic Power into it..."

The Dean explained while demonstrating.

After the Magic Power was infused into the bracelet, everyone present felt a burning pain coming from the area where the bracelet was.

"This means someone has been attacked. We will immediately sound the alarm and rush to their aid. Although we cannot pinpoint the exact location... as long as you don't wander off during this time, we will definitely be able to find them quickly," the Dean said calmly. "Moreover, from another perspective, once that guy realizes that even if he kills us, he cannot take the notes, he will likely stop and leave quickly. This is also a way of protecting you."

"He is different from us. We can play the Seven Sound Divine Song by forming an orchestra, but he can only play it solo by collecting all seven Golden Sound."

"So once we can't gather all seven notes, and after the Grand Ceremony ends, when we can free up our hands to deal with him, even if he has seventy notes, it won't be a problem."

The Dean said this.

Then, the meeting ended.

Finnis escorted He Wei Ni Ya back to the Girls' Dormitory.

Seeing that He Wei Ni Ya still looked uneasy, Finnis smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, with the measures we've taken, that guy won't be able to cause much trouble. Besides... you're the Seventh Sound, aren't you?"

"... What does it matter?"

"He already has the Seventh Sound," Finnis said, "So there's no reason for him to attack you."

"That seems to make sense." He Wei Ni Ya nodded subconsciously, then suddenly realized, "Ah, I'm sorry, Mr. Finnis, I didn't mean to..."

"It's alright," Finnis said calmly. "Olenna is gone, but you are my sister now. Her death protected you, and I think she would be happy too."

He Wei Ni Ya looked very touched, her eyes red. "Thank you, Mr. Finnis. But you must be careful, he will definitely target you."

"Hehe, then let him come." Finnis escorted He Wei Ni Ya to the door, then chuckled and said, "I do have a score to settle with him."

After saying that, Finnis left.

After waving goodbye to his retreating figure, He Wei Ni Ya returned to her dormitory alone.

He jogged along the way, and upon entering the room, he immediately locked the door and drew the curtains.

Throughout this time, he maintained a frightened expression.

Her expression only returned to calm the moment she drew the curtains.

Then, He Wei Ni Ya walked to the desk, opened Auger's notebook, and calmly wrote down the names of the new people she had met that day and their corresponding musical notes, as if she were doing homework.

"Interesting." Bai Wei, who had been silent all day, chuckled and said, "Using such a method to bring out all the Golden Sound, what a wicked woman."

"This was done with your permission."

"Yeah, so I'm not a good person either."

He paused, then smiled and said,

"It seems the hunt can begin."