He Ran Away

Cangnan City, in a certain high-rise building.

Creak.

The door slowly opened, and Zhao Kongcheng walked in dejectedly, sighing from time to time.

"Old Zhao, what's wrong with you?"

The five people sitting inside looked at Zhao Kongcheng's state and asked in surprise.

"Did you get hurt last night?"

"Judging by that expression, it's more likely he got dumped..."

"Holy crap, Old Zhao, don't tell me your wife wants a divorce?"

"Don't talk nonsense."

The five of them tossed out one guess after another. After a while, the silent Zhao Kongcheng let out a faint sigh.

"Am I really... that unattractive?"

"..."

The five of them rolled their eyes in unison, pretending not to hear him. They went back to what they were doing—some sharpened knives, some cleaned guns, some played on their phones, and some slept...

"No, I'm seriously asking you guys!" Zhao Kongcheng grew anxious.

Seeing that no one paid him any attention, Hong Ying, who was cleaning her gun, sighed. "Brother Kongcheng, did something upset you?"

"I suppose so." Zhao Kongcheng paused. "Last night, I ran into the owner of that golden Forbidden Ruin."

At those words, everyone abruptly looked up, stopping what they were doing as their eyes lit up.

"That guy suspected of being Seraph's proxy?"

"Yeah."

"Was he strong? Who was he?"

"You're overthinking it." Zhao Kongcheng shook his head. "He's just an ordinary high school student. That Klein-level energy fluctuation was probably only residual power Seraph left in him. He's still a newcomer who has only just stepped into the Lamp realm."

Hearing that, disappointment appeared in their eyes.

"I thought a Klein-level powerhouse had come to Cangnan City..."

"But that makes sense. If that extremely dangerous god had truly chosen a proxy, and that proxy had already grown to the Klein level, the higher-ups couldn't possibly not know."

The man sitting on the sofa narrowed his eyes slightly. "No matter what, Seraph choosing a proxy and bestowing a Divine Ruin is a major matter. We need to report it to the higher-ups immediately."

"By the way, Old Zhao, since you ran into him, where is he? Didn't you bring someone that important back?"

"He ran away..." Zhao Kongcheng said faintly. "He told me he was going to get his backpack, then ran off while I was distracted."

"..." Everyone was speechless.

Just as they were about to give Zhao Kongcheng a thorough mocking, the door opened again.

A man still wearing a dark crimson cloak walked in. Bloodstains remained on his face, and his steps were as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

The moment they saw him, everyone, including Zhao Kongcheng, immediately stood up.

"Captain!"

"Captain, are you all right?"

The captain waved his hand, removed his bloodstained cloak, and sat on a small stool beside the door. An indescribable weariness filled his expression.

"I'm fine, but... the Ghost-faced King escaped."

Everyone's expressions immediately turned grave.

The captain continued, "Last night, I pursued the Ghost-faced King all the way to the northern suburbs outside the city and fought it. It was badly injured, then it forcibly escaped at the cost of damaging its own origin."

"So the Ghost-faced King may have already fled Cangnan City?"

"No, not necessarily." The man on the sofa suddenly spoke.

Everyone looked at him. The captain raised an eyebrow slightly. "Go on, Xiang Nan."

Wu Xiangnan slowly stood up, pulled out a map of the area surrounding Cangnan City from beneath the sofa, and spread it on the floor.

"Cangnan City is relatively remote and far from nearby cities. The captain fought the Ghost-faced King in the northern suburbs last night. Other than Cangnan City, the nearest city from there is still dozens of kilometers away." Wu Xiangnan drew a circle on the map.

"So what?" Hong Ying's eyes were full of confusion.

At that moment, the captain's eyes gradually brightened. "The Ghost-faced King is badly injured. Before it recovers its strength, it can't possibly cross such a long distance."

Wu Xiangnan continued from where the captain left off. "And if the Ghost-faced King wants to recover its strength, it can only do so by eating people. Which means..."

"It will definitely return to Cangnan City?"

"That's right."

Zhao Kongcheng frowned slightly. "But Cangnan City is so large. We have no idea where it will show up."

"The sewers." Wu Xiangnan pushed up his glasses and traced a curved line across the map with a red pen. "Ghost-faced Men love hiding in the sewers, and the Ghost-faced King escaped through the sewers before. There is only one sewer line connecting to the northern suburbs, which means the Ghost-faced King will most likely appear somewhere along this sewer route."

"Immediately send people to search along that sewer line. This time, we absolutely cannot let it escape again!" A cold gleam flashed through the captain's eyes as he gave the order.

"Understood!"

"Oh, and one more thing." Wu Xiangnan turned to Zhao Kongcheng. "We must bring Seraph's proxy back. His potential is enormous. We absolutely cannot let him fall into the hands of the Ancient God Church! In a sense, this matter takes even higher priority than eliminating the Ghost-faced King!"

Zhao Kongcheng immediately puffed out his chest. "Leave it to me. I'll personally bring that brat back!"

"Didn't he run away? Can you still find him?" Hong Ying muttered quietly.

"He was wearing the Second High School uniform. I'll wait at the school gate today. I don't believe I won't catch him!"

A confident smile appeared on Zhao Kongcheng's lips.

"Brother, why aren't you going to school today?"

Yang Jin looked curiously at Lin Qiye, who was neither wearing his school uniform nor carrying a backpack.

"I have something to do today, so I'm not going for now." Lin Qiye opened the door while putting on his shoes. "Is Auntie still asleep?"

"She only got back an hour ago."

"Got it. Go to school early later. Don't imitate me."

"Okay."

Lin Qiye closed the door, silently removed the black silk covering from his eyes, and put it into his pocket.

His eyes had recovered, but he had not told his aunt or Yang Jin yet. First, his aunt had worked the night shift last night, so they had not seen each other at all.

As for the second reason, Lin Qiye had only just obtained these eyes and still could not fully control the power within them. Golden light would sometimes suddenly emerge from the depths of his eyes. It was not very obvious, but if his aunt and the others saw it, they would definitely force him to get his eyes examined again, wasting money for nothing.

He wanted to wait until he could completely control his eyes before announcing it.

But since he was already going out, there was no need for Lin Qiye to keep the black silk wrapped around his eyes. That would be far too conspicuous.

Lin Qiye took out the sunglasses Yang Jin had bought for him earlier, put them on, and strode toward the bus stop.

After more than an hour of bumping along, Lin Qiye finally arrived at his destination.

Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital.

The last time Lin Qiye had come here was ten years ago.

Over those ten years, Lin Qiye had changed a great deal, and this psychiatric hospital had changed a great deal as well.

All the old walls had been renovated, the entrance was twice as wide as before, two modern high-rises had replaced the original three-story building, and even the six characters "Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital" had become gilded lettering!

Standing at the entrance, Lin Qiye could no longer connect the modern hospital before him with the small building in his memories.

The only thing that had not changed was perhaps the old gatekeeper.

He was merely much more hunched over, and his hair much whiter.

The old man seemed to spot Lin Qiye. He squinted, raised his right hand, and pointed at him...

Just as Lin Qiye thought the old man still remembered him and was about to greet him,

the old man shouted:

"Hey, you dumb kid over there! You're blocking the car behind you!"