The Year Eater's intelligence had indeed evolved. It had grown sly and cunning.
It had actually woken up a long time ago, but deliberately stayed motionless. It knew that if it struggled, it might get another dose of anesthetic.
If that happened, it would never get another chance.
There wasn't much hope in its current situation, but it was still better than being anesthetized and knocked unconscious again.
It had gone so long without a meal that its bodily functions had declined and it had begun to age. If it didn't eat soon, it would revert to its original form before long.
It had originally needed only 24 hours to complete its initial evolution. Once it did, its resistance to aging would improve dramatically, and its other abilities would increase severalfold.
Who could have guessed that its perfect evolution would be interrupted, leaving it trapped, its hands and feet tightly shackled, with almost no chance of turning things around?
So it had to play dead and wait for an opportunity, however slim.
Look, hadn't that opportunity finally come?
The moment a gap opened in the glass enclosure, it sensed someone approaching.
Prey was drawing near. Food was drawing near!
Just then, a mocking voice reached its ears.
"All right, quit playing dead. I know you're awake."
Jiang Yue nudged the Year Eater's back with his toe.
The Year Eater had been facing away from Jiang Yue and hadn't seen his face, but why did that voice sound so familiar?
Never mind that. It should feed first.
Though the long fast had caused its body to deteriorate, the Year Eater hadn't lost its abilities.
Hm?
Something was wrong!
Why was there no response, no matter how desperately it tried to feed?
And that voice did sound familiar...
Jiang Yue simply walked around to face it, crouched in front of it, and patted its face. "Look at you. It's only been a few hours, and you've aged this much. Don't tell me you don't remember me?"
Seeing how rapidly the Year Eater had deteriorated, Jiang Yue felt somewhat relieved. Its condition looked like someone suffering from drug withdrawal. This ability was no different from drinking poison to quench one's thirst. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad thing that he'd chosen not to claim the Year Eater's ability.
The Year Eater could no longer keep up the act. It opened its eyes in fury.
When it saw Jiang Yue's grinning face, its own turned green.
This bastard was its absolute nightmare—the one who'd made it tremble even while it was anesthetized!
"All right, stop baring your teeth. You couldn't beat me last night, and in this state, you might as well give up. I know how frustrating it is to hate someone and still be unable to do anything to him..."
The Year Eater's eyes were bloodshot as it glared at Jiang Yue. "Why don't my abilities work on you? Are you not from this world?"
"Want to know?"
Though humiliated, the Year Eater still nodded.
"Then answer one question for me first."
Jiang Yue told it about his mother appearing in his dream, but looking older, and asked what it meant.
The Year Eater curled its lip. "What's that got to do with our kind? Your mom's been missing for ten years. Of course she'd have aged. Every time we feed, our victims lose 24 years of their lives. That's why we usually go after young adults. Old people don't last long. We might not even get halfway through before they die."
Jiang Yue couldn't hide his disappointment.
He could tell when someone was lying, and the Year Eater didn't seem to be making this up.
"Your kind?"
Jiang Yue's expression changed sharply. "Did you say you're part of a whole kind?"
The Year Eater only snorted and sneered, refusing to answer.
It had been beaten by Jiang Yue. It couldn't win in a fight, and it couldn't feed on him. It was resigned to its fate.
"You don't have to tell me. You can either sit here and slowly grow old and die, or they can send you to a lab to be dissected. Neither ending will be pleasant."
Jiang Yue hadn't gotten the information he wanted. Disappointed, he headed outside.
When he came out, Director Luo looked him up and down.
"You're really not afraid that thing will attack you?"
"If it could attack me, it wouldn't have ended up in my hands last night."
"Director Luo, it just mentioned that it belongs to a kind. If that's true, there may be more than one or two of these things. You'll have to take this seriously."
One of them had already been enough to give them a massive headache. If there was a nest of them—a whole kind—just thinking about it was enough to make his head spin.
Director Luo and Officer Han exchanged glances, each catching the flicker of fear in the other's eyes.
They left the underground chamber and returned to the surface.
Jiang Yue said his goodbyes. Director Luo looked like he had something to say but couldn't get it out, yet he said nothing and escorted them all the way to the door.
Officer Han was waiting in the car, ready to drive Jiang Yue and his brother home.
"Little Jiang, I'm guessing Director Luo will come looking for you again."
"What for?"
"Heh. He's probably got his eye on you. The fact that the Year Eater's abilities don't work on you is enough to make him think highly of you."
He hadn't gotten any useful information from the Year Eater, but somehow he'd wound up entangled with the Special Department. Jiang Yue wasn't sure whether this trip had been worth it.
He took out his phone and turned it back on. Two missed calls appeared: one from his sister, Jiang Ying, and the other from his homeroom teacher, Sun Bin.
It wasn't unusual for his sister to call, but it was rare for Sun Bin to call during the holidays.
It wasn't convenient to call back in the car, so Jiang Yue decided to return the calls after he got home.
When the brothers arrived back at New Moon Bay and had just entered the compound, an ambulance came speeding out with its siren blaring.
Even from a distance, Jiang Yue recognized the ambulance as belonging to Star City Second Hospital.
Just as Officer Han had gotten jumpy when he heard a phone ring the day before, Jiang Yue now felt his scalp prickle at the sound of an ambulance.
Whenever one showed up, it meant trouble.
Could it have happened so soon? Had another Year Eater appeared?
The small plaza in the compound was where residents gathered every day, especially the elderly, women, and children, who liked to congregate there.
As Jiang Yue approached, he heard the onlookers talking.
"Which heartless bastard did this? What a monster! Assaulting a girl wasn't bad enough—he had to kill her too?"
"The ambulance came, but I wonder if she'll make it."
"There's no way she'll make it! Her skull's been cracked open, and both her eyes are bulging out of their sockets. There's no saving her. I bet the ambulance is just for show."
"I know that girl. I think her parents sell vegetables at the market. She's supposed to take the college entrance exams this year. If it weren't a holiday, she'd be at school right now."
"She lives in Building 8, Unit 2, right? I remember the family's surname is Su."
"Yeah, it's the Su family. She's their only child. How are her parents supposed to go on?"
"There are too many criminals these days. The government needs to organize a serious crackdown."
"Such a shame. She was a lovely girl."
Jiang Yue listened for a while and pieced together what had happened.
From what the bystanders were saying, it didn't seem to be the work of evil spirits. It sounded like a murder.
The police would handle it. Jiang Yue felt sorry for the victim, but there was nothing he could do to intervene.
As soon as he got home, his sister called again. "Jiang Yue, what's going on with you? Why is your phone off all the time? Your homeroom teacher came by earlier, but he couldn't reach you."
"Oh? Did Teacher Sun say what it was about?"
"He did. He wants you at school before two this afternoon. Apparently, they're organizing a last-minute physical examination." Jiang Ying was busy. After a couple more words, she said, "Get in touch with Teacher Sun yourself."
After hanging up with his sister, Jiang Yue called his homeroom teacher, Sun Bin.
"Jiang Yue, you're a busy man, aren't you? Your sister told you, right? Try to get here a little early this afternoon. We need to have a quick chat alone."
Old Sun had always been good to Jiang Yue. A top student like him never caused trouble at school or gave the teachers any headaches.
It was fair to say that for years, Jiang Yue had been one of Old Sun's most treasured students.
Throughout his six years of secondary school, from first year to sixth, whenever the school had something good to offer, Old Sun always thought of Jiang Yue first.
And Jiang Yue had certainly lived up to it. He'd won award after award in all kinds of competitions, bringing Old Sun plenty of recognition.
They were as much friends as teacher and student.
Since Old Sun had asked, Jiang Yue wouldn't keep him waiting. He made lunch, wolfed down a few bites, left San Gou to watch the house, and headed out.
As long as there were pretty young women to look at, San Gou could keep watch all day without getting tired.
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