Clue

Jiang Ning withdrew his wooden stick and casually spun it in a stylish flourish.

Unfortunately, he was in the middle of a bustling city, yet no one appreciated it. The Aura Concealment Art hid his entire body, so no one noticed him, nor did anyone know he had attacked someone in broad daylight.

The methods of immortals were profound and unfathomable, far beyond common sense and difficult to imagine.

He could easily have set a trap for Song Sheng. For example, while Song Sheng was crossing the street, a Soul Shocking Spike might have caused a car accident, making it even harder for anyone to notice anything suspicious.

So why did he insist on using a stick?

Because it felt great! Breaking his leg with his own hands and sending him to the hospital—how satisfying was that? Jiang Ning's aim was precise, and his control over the force was superb. One blow from the wooden stick snapped Song Sheng's leg.

With an injury like this, a hospital could fix it with current medical technology. A surgery to install a steel plate would solve the problem.

After a year or two, the plate could be removed. If the surgery went smoothly and he did his rehabilitation properly, there would be almost no lasting effects.

The process would still be quite painful, and he would need to recuperate for several months. After suffering through this, Song Sheng would probably rein in his temper a little, right? Even if he did not, at least he would not be able to go back to school and be an eyesore. How was someone with a broken leg supposed to bully others? The students Song Sheng had been destined to bully would likely get to enjoy their three years of high school in peace.

Jiang Ning had come to the city for only one matter. Once it was done, he wasted no more time and turned to leave the noise behind, taking only his wooden stick with him.

Song Sheng sat on the ground, cold sweat pouring down his face from the pain.

Zhuang Jianhui and the others were not far away and had clearly noticed the commotion.

Lin Zida, in particular, had been chatting when the sudden scream made him jump.

"What the hell happened?" Lin Zida cursed.

Ding Shuyan stared at Song Sheng's leg. Her eyesight was good, and the twisted shape of his lower leg made her unable to bear looking at it.

"His bone's broken," she said.

Lin Zida was puzzled. "Wasn't he fine just now? How did it suddenly break? Did he fall?"

Ding Shuyan shook her head slightly. "No. It would be hard to fall and end up like that. It looks like something hit it, like a stick."

Her aunt's ex-boyfriend had studied medicine. When Ding Shuyan used to visit her aunt, she would flip through medical books, and over time, she had picked up some basic medical knowledge.

She watched the crowd gathering around them and described what she had seen.

"I was looking over there the whole time. I didn't see anyone attack Song Sheng. He took a step, and before his foot even touched the ground, I heard the sound."

"That's strange," Lin Zida said with a frown.

Zhuang Jianhui was watching as well.

Someone had already noticed the strange state of Song Sheng's leg and started calling an ambulance. People formed a circle around Song Sheng, and more and more onlookers gathered. After all, something like this was quite rare.

Song Sheng felt utterly humiliated. The intense shame even overwhelmed the pain for a moment. He desperately wanted to turn around and leave, but with his leg broken, he could not walk.

Zhuang Jianhui and the others did not simply leave him there. They were from the same school, after all. Although they considered themselves superior to others, lending a hand to a classmate in trouble was not much to ask.

Besides, in Yuzhou, no one dared scam them.

Lin Zida unscrewed a bottle cap and handed it over. "Have some iced cola. It might ease the pain."

Song Sheng struggled to take it and gulped down a large mouthful. The sharp fizz of the soda made him feel a little better.

Then Lin Zida asked, "What happened to you, man? Did you fall?"

Song Sheng had suffered this inexplicable disaster and was feeling stifled. Lin Zida seemed friendly, and with his influential background, he was the right person to talk to.

Song Sheng could not help saying, "I don't know! I was walking, and before my foot even came down, my leg suddenly broke. How unlucky can I get?"

Lin Zida had never heard of anyone breaking a leg just by walking. He recalled what his cousin Ding Shuyan had said earlier.

Although asking about the cause of someone's injury now felt a bit like rubbing salt in the wound, he felt much better after having given Song Sheng a bottle of cola.

"Did you feel like something suddenly hit your leg? Like a stick?" Lin Zida asked tentatively.

Song Sheng's experience was truly bizarre. Judging by how twisted his leg was, it was horrifying. There was no way it had broken simply from walking.

Combined with what Ding Shuyan had said earlier, Lin Zida finally asked the question.

The moment he said it, Song Sheng's expression changed. As the victim, he knew best what he had felt in that instant. Perhaps the intense pain had prevented him from judging it earlier, but at Lin Zida's words, he immediately remembered.

"Yes, yes, it was hit by a stick!" Eager to prove it, Song Sheng held up his lower leg and revealed the injured spot. A rod-shaped wound lay across it, looking savage and terrifying.

Lin Zida had wanted to say something else, but the sound of an ambulance came from the distance. Soon, the medical staff helped Song Sheng into it.

Ding Shuyan stood where she was, watching the ambulance drive away, then suddenly said, "That ambulance was from Third People's Hospital. I'll ask Uncle Han to help us check with them later."

Zhuang Jianhui and Lin Zida looked at her in surprise. They knew Ding Shuyan's personality well; few things ever made her this invested.

Ding Shuyan murmured to herself, Strange. Strange. Too strange.

The whole incident was simply too bizarre. Lin Zida and Zhuang Jianhui were one thing—they had not seen what happened clearly—but she had watched Song Sheng's ordeal from beginning to end.

"If I had to describe it, an invisible person picked up a stick and struck Song Sheng's lower leg," she said slowly.

The group fell silent for more than ten seconds.

Zhuang Jianhui asked, "With current technology, can someone become invisible?"

He looked at Lin Zida. When it came to the breadth of knowledge, Lin Zida really was impressive. He ran a Tieba forum with a million followers and managed two QQ groups with over a thousand members each.

Seeing that the two had brought up the subject, Lin Zida thought for a moment. "It would be difficult."

"I know of a concept called Transformation Optics."

"It uses metamaterials to manipulate refractive indexes, making light bend around an object and creating an invisibility effect."

"Light can bend. For example, when you look underwater from the surface, refraction bends it."

"If someone wore clothes made from so-called metamaterials and attacked Song Sheng, perhaps they could achieve something like that."

After hearing him out, Ding Shuyan said, "If such a material really existed, then the weapon used in the attack would also need to be made from metamaterials, right?"

Seeing his cousin take it so seriously, Lin Zida gave a wry smile.

"Shuyan, what are you thinking? That kind of material hasn't been put into practical use yet. It doesn't exist."

"There was no Invisible Man who attacked Song Sheng."

Ding Shuyan said, "I'll call Uncle Han and ask about the doctors' diagnosis. He's the professional. If Song Sheng really was attacked, then this definitely isn't a simple matter."

The reason she was investigating so thoroughly was that she had a reason she could not explain to the two of them.

Since childhood, she had possessed a strange gift. If someone stared at her for a long time, she would sense it.

That special feeling had never been wrong.

Once, while staying at a hotel, that sixth sense surfaced again. She could not find the cause, so she eventually had someone investigate the hotel. Sure enough, they found a pinhole camera inside a wall outlet.

It had never been wrong, not once. From then on, she had complete faith in her Sixth Sense.

When she had walked out of the gym earlier, that same inexplicable feeling had appeared in her heart.

She looked around but did not find that person.

Not long after Song Sheng was attacked, that hidden gaze disappeared.

Thinking of Song Sheng's injuries, Ding Shuyan felt a chill run down her spine. Someone had been hiding in the dark! Then a powerful thirst for knowledge rose within her.

Ding Shuyan, who had always been unconventional since childhood, formed an almost fantastical thought.

Could Invisible Men really exist?