Worry, Panic

"What?! You found him?"

Xie Chong's voice on the other end of the phone spiked in surprise. "That makes sense, both of them are likely from your school. I'm heading over immediately. Remember, don't make a move unless you're certain. Find a way to keep him away from the crowds; I've already notified the Public Security Bureau to head over and handle the evacuation."

Shen Qing paused in his tracks. "The Public Security Bureau? Won't that cause too much of a stir?"

Usually, they handled these situations using a magical artifact capable of dispersing crowds, avoiding any contact with the Public Security Bureau. However, that item was currently with Xie Chong.

"Hey, now is not the time to be considering that."

Xie Chong sighed. "Ensuring there are no casualties is what matters; the target's condition might be very unstable right now. Besides, branches in other regions have already started cooperating with the Public Security Bureau... Anyway, we'll discuss the specifics when I arrive. Keep your location sharing on and don't turn it off."

His voice turned grave. "You need to be careful. He isn't that Tree Demon from yesterday; his ability is charm. My investigation here has detected traces of corpse aura. This thing has skin of steel and bones of iron—even for an F-rank, he won't be easy to deal with, and he has the ability to infect others."

"Alright, I understand."

Shen Qing hung up and repeated the word, "Corpse aura, and the ability to infect... a zombie?"

A term from mythology, folklore, or movies instantly popped into his mind.

He scanned his surroundings. Trees were everywhere, some exceptionally thick with lush canopies blocking out the sun, clearly ancient specimens.

"So, is the Tree Demon a spirit born from the school's ancient trees?"

Beyond what he saw before him, he remembered the school had several hundred-year-old locust trees that had existed longer than the school itself, and locust trees were known to be yin-aligned...

Shen Qing opened his phone, found the file Xie Chong had sent earlier, and muttered, "Wu Yuan... a senior, and a rising young entrepreneur at Guangfei Technology Co., Ltd.?"

He had some impression of this senior, as he had frequently returned to visit his alma mater over the past year.

Before the words had even left his lips, a figure wrapped tightly in clothing appeared, approaching from the distance.

Shen Qing remained composed, his right hand instinctively reaching toward the inside of his jacket.

"Junior?"

Wu Yuan's voice was hoarse, revealing a somewhat pale face. "What are you doing here?"

This area was sparsely populated, and he had been the first to sense that familiar aura of vegetation drawing near.

"Oh, you must be Senior Wu Yuan, right?"

Shen Qing flashed a smile and walked toward him. "I'm a junior in your same major. I even passed the interview for your company. I heard from the counselor that you were returning to school today, so I specifically—"

The distance between them closed rapidly.

Ten meters, five meters, one meter.

Before the sentence was finished, both men moved at almost the same time.

Wu Yuan threw a violent right hook, the bandages wrapped around his arm bursting open to reveal skin that was an unnatural, bulging, grayish-blue. He aimed straight for Shen Qing's heart.

Instead of retreating, Shen Qing stepped forward, throwing a punch of his own to meet the attack. His fist whistled through the air.

"BOOM!"

A dull, heavy impact exploded through the woods. Both men stumbled back several steps before barely managing to steady themselves.

Wu Yuan looked at the distance he had been pushed back, his brow furrowing slightly. As a half-human, half-zombie with strength and defense far surpassing a human's, he had been forced back five steps.

Yet this ordinary junior had only retreated three steps. He had lost the contest of strength.

"Junior, you're quite devious."

"Likewise."

Shen Qing flexed his fingers. That punch hadn't felt like hitting flesh; it felt like striking a sheet of iron. If he hadn't had his breakthrough yesterday, the bones in his hand might have cracked. This zombie was truly not easy to deal with.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a sharp gust of wind struck from the side. Thinking it was a hidden weapon, Shen Qing instinctively dodged.

With a "thwack," he glanced over to see it was merely a stone that had struck a tree trunk behind him, shattering into pieces.

By the time he turned back, Wu Yuan had already turned to flee. Though his movements were stiff, he covered over a dozen meters in just a few strides.

Damn, they're like ghosts that won't stop haunting me, Wu Yuan cursed inwardly.

He had already guessed that Shen Qing was with the group that had been tailing him yesterday. If one person had found him, reinforcements were sure to follow. Since he couldn't take the opponent out in an instant, only a fool would stay and fight.

"So decisive?" Shen Qing was a bit surprised.

Running away after one punch failed to gain the upper hand—with this kind of situational awareness, it was no wonder he could become a young entrepreneur.

But since he already understood the opponent's situation, he wasn't in a rush. His right hand was already touching the inside of his jacket, feeling the cold surface of his weapon.

On the way to the cafeteria, Chen Chen was still wondering why Shen Qing had lied.

Just as he reached the plaza and prepared to turn a corner, he saw two police cars driving toward the office building.

Although their sirens were off, it was clear that something had happened.

"What's going on?"

It is human nature to be curious, and many students, including Chen Chen, subconsciously changed direction to follow them.

He saw the head of the school security department had also arrived and was speaking with a middle-aged officer who had stepped out of the car.

"According to reports, we have discovered that a murderer has infiltrated the school. We are now evacuating the crowd; do not approach the office building."

To prevent causing a panic, the middle-aged officer kept his voice low.

At the same time, other officers began to disperse the crowd and set up caution tape.

"Student, please do not come any closer."

A young officer stopped Chen Chen, but having been close enough to overhear some of the news, Chen Chen's eyes widened in shock.

A murderer? In the school?

He suddenly thought of something and asked the young officer urgently, "Officer, is there a murderer behind the office building?"

He lowered his voice and added, "One of my classmates just went over there!"

"What?"

Counselor Zhou Ming had just been evacuated from the office building and was walking this way. Hearing Chen Chen's words, his eyes widened—wasn't Chen Chen one of his students?

"Chen Chen, are you sure?" Zhou Ming rushed over anxiously.

If this were true, and if the student were injured, or even worse... he didn't dare to imagine how much trouble he would be in.

He might have been able to cover up minor incidents in the past, but this time the police had arrived directly, and there was no way to hide it.

"Your classmate?"

The middle-aged officer in the distance also heard the commotion and walked over, his brow furrowed. Aside from the member of that special department, there were students inside as well?

"Yes, his name is Shen Qing," Chen Chen said, trembling. How could a murderer suddenly appear on campus?

Hearing the name, Zhou Ming became even more flustered.

It was that kid again; could he not just save him some trouble? If he had just listened and joined Guangfei Technology Company, he would have brought back his employment agreement long ago.

Why did he have to go deliver food? If he hadn't called him back, he wouldn't be here. And even if he did come back, why didn't he leave the school immediately after filling out the forms?

"What do I do, what do I do..."

Zhou Ming muttered to himself, thinking only of how to distance himself from the situation.

The more he thought, the more afraid he became. If something happened to Shen Qing, the parents would come looking, the school would hold him accountable—how could a mere counselor bear that responsibility?

He had only wanted to make a little extra money.

The more Zhou Ming thought, the more panicked he became, rushing up to the middle-aged officer. "Officer... this student of mine, he's always been a bit of a maverick. His coming to school today was purely a personal choice.

I followed standard procedure in notifying him to come, but who could have known something like this would happen?"

The middle-aged officer had no time for him and frowned, saying, "Specialists will inquire about the specific details later. Please follow the evacuation."

Shen Qing—the member of that special department inside also had that name, but he wasn't sure if it was the same person. The call had been cut off before they could clarify.

Could a student really be involved with a special department?

He only knew that such a department existed; he had never dealt with them before.

The head of the school security department quickly pulled Zhou Ming away to keep him from losing his composure and saying something he shouldn't.

Chen Chen stood behind the caution tape, his palms slick with sweat. He wanted to call Shen Qing to ask where he was and why he hadn't returned yet.

But he was afraid that if Shen Qing really had encountered the murderer, a call might expose him. After much hesitation, he sent a message, but it was like a stone dropped into the ocean—there was no response at all.

Suddenly, a voice, not loud but clear, drifted over from behind the office building.