The Mastermind Behind the Scenes Was Unusual

Evening.

Cheng Han pushed open the door to his home and immediately spotted no fewer than five birds laid out on the living room table, along with a pile of bird eggs of varying sizes, numbering nearly twenty.

These were undoubtedly the Sheriff's spoils.

"Meow~"

The Black Cat let out a cry and swished its tail slightly, looking as though it were asking for praise.

Over the past two days, it had received its owner's praise every time it caught a bird. This had made the Black Cat increasingly enthusiastic about hunting, and today's haul was even greater.

Cheng Han praised it without stinting. "Sheriff, you did an excellent job!"

He truly admired his cat's abilities.

Productivity in this world was not particularly advanced, and meat and eggs were relatively expensive. If he took these things to the Vegetable Market to sell, they could fetch at least two Silver Coins.

Other people kept cats only to add to their household expenses, but his cat not only reduced expenses, it also significantly improved his quality of life.

It had to be said that people were different, and cats were different too.

Cheng Han crouched down and rubbed the cat's head. "You're far too good at catching birds. There aren't many bird populations in the Tai'an Minor Spirit Realm, so don't catch any more birds from now on. Otherwise, you might wipe them out."

Of course, talk of "wiping them out" was only a joke.

But the Sheriff had even learned how to raid Bird Nests. By itself, it was entirely capable of cutting the bird population in the surrounding area by half.

"Meow~ meow~"

The Black Cat responded twice, a trace of confusion in its eyes.

It was asking: Then what should I catch? Cheng Han thought for a moment and said, "Catch Cave Rabbits from now on. They breed extremely quickly and like to destroy farmland. The more you catch, the better."

"Meow~"

The Black Cat gave a happy cry, agreeing to its owner's request.

Cheng Han picked up a bird and asked, "By the way, would you like roasted bird or braised bird meat?"

Last night, he had fed the Black Cat a cooked bird leg, and it had never wanted to eat raw bird meat again.

That was hardly surprising.

Cooked food was easier to digest and put less strain on the stomach. Cats were not stupid, so naturally they knew how to choose.

The Black Cat tilted its head to the left, looking rather adorable.

It meant—choose the former.

If Cheng Han had not mastered the Fragmented Imprint of Spirit Control, he definitely would not have understood the Sheriff's meaning. Now, however, he was increasingly finding the Black Cat's language quite interesting.

Cheng Han continued, "I'll boil a few bird eggs for you in plain water too, along with some greens and a small spoonful of rice. It'll be more nutritionally balanced. What do you think?"

The Black Cat swished its tail again. "Meow~"

Cheng Han smiled and began preparing dinner.

He first poured a little Brown Oil into the stove, then activated the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame. With a flick of his finger, a spark flew into it.

Whoosh!

Flames burst forth instantly.

He then added a piece of Honeycomb Fuel, and before long, the stove was lit.

Cheng Han whistled. "After mastering supernatural abilities, daily life really is much more convenient than before."

After quite a bit of work, he prepared four dishes: a plate of bird eggs stir-fried with mushrooms, a plate of boiled bird eggs, two golden roasted birds, and a small dish of stir-fried greens.

By ordinary standards, it could absolutely be described as a lavish spread.

Most families in this world could only eat meat once every few days. For quite a long time, the previous owner of this body had only been able to get a taste of meat in the school Canteen.

Cheng Han portioned out some of the food and placed it before the Black Cat. "Eat up."

The Sheriff rubbed against his pant leg and began diligently eating.

From the cat's occasionally swaying tail and the intermittent purring from its throat, it was clear that it was extremely satisfied with this dinner.

Cheng Han tore off a bird leg and took a bite. Feeling the fat bloom across his taste buds, he nodded in satisfaction.

It tasted good!

An hour and a half later.

Cheng Han awoke from a deep sleep and yawned.

He went to the living room, opened his schoolbag, and took out an emerald-green leaf.

This was something left behind by the Grass Hound.

He was very interested in the strange occurrence of a Vine turning into an animal, so he had picked up the leaf. He intended to use the Eye of Omniscience to analyze it and gain some Proficiency along the way.

Besides, if he somehow produced another Fragmented Imprint, wouldn't that be a huge profit?

Noticing the movement, the Black Cat crawled out from beneath the wardrobe, sat before its owner, and curiously examined the leaf.

Cheng Han stroked its head a few times, focused his attention, and silently recited, Analyze the mechanism behind the Grass Hound's birth.

The leaf was part of the Grass Hound and was naturally strongly connected to it, so the Deduction succeeded on the first try.

A cool sensation spread across his scalp.

An illusory scene slowly emerged:

Within a sea of lush greenery, a figure walked up to a Vine and quickly brushed its stem before turning and leaving.

The stem gave several nearly imperceptible twitches, then fell still once more.

For some unknown reason, the Illusion was exceptionally blurry.

A breath later, the scene vanished.

A notification followed:

Proficiency +6. Current Proficiency: 76/1000. Spirit Value: 6.3/13.8.

Cheng Han's expression turned grave. "I thought the Grass Hound was merely a special creature born by chance. I never expected someone had tampered with it behind the scenes.

"This Deduction gained 6 points of Proficiency and consumed 5.4 points of Spirit Value. The numbers are far higher than expected. There must be something very suspicious about this."

He sighed. "But the Illusion is too blurry. What a headache."

The Illusions from his previous Deductions had also been rather unclear, but he could at least barely make them out. This time, however, it was as if a layer of frosted glass had covered the image. He could not see the figure's face at all.

And that only further proved that this matter was highly unusual.

Cheng Han considered a question. "How can I drag this guy out?"

After pondering for a long time, he decided on a clumsy method. "There were probably several hundred students who had recently gone to the Botanical Garden for practical classes, which gives me a rough range.

"Then I can use the process of elimination to rule out impossible targets. The people left in the end must be the culprit who caused the Vine to mutate."

Cheng Han carefully recalled the Illusion, roughly sketched out the target's outline, then took out a sheet of paper and recorded it.

"First, judging by characteristics such as the chest and hairstyle, this person must be a boy.

"Second, he is slightly taller than me.

"Third, he is neither fat nor thin, which means his nutritional condition is fairly good. That indirectly indicates his family background should be around the middle level..."

After analyzing it for a while, he listed a total of six criteria.

Cheng Han checked them over and smiled. "There definitely won't be many boys who fit all these characteristics. With the Eye of Omniscience's help, it won't be difficult to find the mastermind behind the scenes."

After resting for a while, he began with the first task. Deduce which classes visited the Botanical Garden yesterday.

This was an effortless Deduction, and the result appeared instantly.

Class 5, Grade 3! Cheng Han wrote it down, then silently recited, Deduce which classes visited the Botanical Garden the day before yesterday.

He performed the Deduction five times in succession and found all the classes that had attended practical lessons over the previous five days.

Seven classes in total.

Assuming an average of fifty students per class, there were three hundred and fifty students altogether.

The next step was to observe the students in those classes and narrow down the target range.

Cheng Han looked over the list and chuckled. "No matter what demons or monsters you are, you won't escape This Young Master's piercing gaze."