Framed?

If not for the hidden concern and compassion he harbored, which others could never fathom, Luo Qiusheng would never have repeatedly broken his own rules to look after Lu Mingfei—a boy who appeared ordinary but actually bore the weight of endless loneliness and a fated destiny.

This care was never a superficial social gesture; it was something that welled up from Luo Qiusheng's heart after he had peered into the trajectories of fate.

As his thoughts drifted for a fleeting moment, a familiar scene from an anime suddenly intruded into Luo Qiusheng's mind, as vivid as if he had witnessed it himself.

In a dim, oppressive alleyway on a rainy night, the Little Devil stood before Lu Mingfei, his gaze piercing through the boy's slacker facade to utter the cruelest truth: "You are the one who is truly lonely."

The world saw Lu Mingfei as a man who loved to spout nonsense and muddle through his days, seemingly indifferent to everything.

Yet, only those who had personally glimpsed the true colors of his soul knew that deep within this boy's heart lay a desolation and solitude that no one could touch.

He habitually used a cheeky grin to mask his inferiority and a carefree attitude to wrap his cowardice, swallowing all his helplessness and torment alone, living as the most out-of-place shadow in the crowd.

Luo Qiusheng pulled back his scattered thoughts, a complex sense of melancholy flashing in his eyes. His fingertips tapped rapidly on his phone screen, editing a concise message that he sent to Lu Mingfei: [I'm coming too. Where is the location?]

The moment the message was sent, there was almost no delay. The screen lit up instantly with a new reply; the speed of the instant response was proof enough that Lu Mingfei had been guarding his phone, waiting for his answer in a state of burning anxiety.

Luo Qiusheng lowered his eyes to scan the address on the screen, his expression darkening slightly. He pressed the lock button with his fingertip and slid the phone into his pocket. Without a moment's hesitation, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The low roar of the engine exploded across the road, and the red sports car shot forward like a sharp rocket, cutting through the street traffic as it sped toward the mission destination.

The evening breeze rushed toward him, carrying the night, while the neon lights along the way retreated rapidly, blurring into streaks of iridescent afterimages.

In the short ten-minute drive, Luo Qiusheng's mind remained taut. An inexplicable sense of dissonance lingered in his heart, refusing to dissipate.

Kassel College's missions were always clear in their objectives and logic, but this last-minute assignment, from the way it was notified to the choice of location, reeked of something indescribably strange.

The vehicle came to a steady stop at the side of the street. Luo Qiusheng pushed the door open and stepped out, his eyes immediately falling upon two familiar figures already waiting at the outdoor cafe.

Lu Mingfei was slumped in his seat, his posture loose, his face etched with a bored irritability. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the edge of his phone, and his brow was creased with unconcealable confusion.

Beside him, Chu Zihang remained his usual cold and isolated self. His posture was as straight as a pine, his aura sharp and calm, and his pitch-black eyes were deep and waveless. He showed no emotion, simply gazing quietly into the distant night as if he had already perceived some hidden secret.

Noticing Luo Qiusheng's arrival, both men turned to look at him.

"Sorry, I'm a moment late." Luo Qiusheng walked up, smiling with a relaxed expression to apologize, deliberately softening the slightly heavy atmosphere in the air.

"It's fine." Chu Zihang spoke calmly, his tone devoid of ripples. Without unnecessary pleasantries, he went straight to the point: "Since everyone is here, let's initiate this mission."

As he spoke, he pulled out his private phone with its dark screen and tapped it, opening the encrypted email file from the Council of Elders.

The screen's faint light flickered to life, and the clear mission terms, action location, and risk level appeared one by one—every word distinct, yet every word heavy.

Luo Qiusheng leaned in to look, his pupils constricting slightly as his gaze fell upon the listed action address. A massive wave of shock surged in his heart.

Astonishment, suspicion, and vigilance flooded his mind in layers. At the same time, a trace of extremely faint, almost imperceptible, sharp killing intent lay dormant deep in his eyes, only to be perfectly concealed in an instant.

He knew this address all too well.

Lu Mingfei, standing to the side, had also seen the area marked for the mission. He immediately furrowed his brows, raising them slightly as he asked in utter confusion and surprise: "Strange, why would the college arrange for us to go to a place like this? It's a perfectly good mission, so why is the location set in the wasteland on the outskirts of the city? What kind of abnormal Dragon Tribe activity could there be in such a desolate suburb?"

The outskirts were barren, uninhabited, and lacked both crowds and conventional spiritual pulse fluctuations. It did not fit the standard patterns of Dragon Tribe events at all; it was truly too abnormal.

Lu Mingfei was full of questions and was about to press for more, but Chu Zihang interrupted him.

"That is not an ordinary suburb."

Chu Zihang's tone was low and heavy, carrying a hint of profound seriousness. As he paused, he turned his head slightly, his peripheral vision sweeping precisely over Luo Qiusheng beside him. His gaze was deeply meaningful, yet he did not say another word.

The unspoken words hung heavy in the air.

This cryptic look instantly confirmed the suspicions in Luo Qiusheng's heart, but it also bred a deeper sense of wariness.

"So, what is the Council of Elders planning?" Luo Qiusheng withdrew the smile from his face, his tone steady and probing. "By rights, this place shouldn't even be on the college's records."

He knew better than anyone that the past hidden in that land was extremely secret—a past he had deliberately sealed away and never mentioned to anyone, a secret that very few people could ever hope to uncover.

Yet now, the powers behind Kassel College had precisely locked onto this location, and the specific details of the mission were in Chu Zihang's hands. The implications were anything but simple.

This was definitely not a routine patrol mission.

Luo Qiusheng's thoughts raced, sorting through the pros, cons, and hidden mysteries.

With the authority and intelligence capabilities of the Council of Elders and the Board of Trustees, if they truly wanted to investigate the secrets here, they would have long since known about the area's special history and all the secrets it involved. Yet, they had never revealed a single word to him, only dragging him into it now under the guise of a mission.

Was it a test? Or were they grooming him?

Were they testing his background, his hidden secrets, or his connection to this place of the past and the Dragon Tribe power lurking within it?

Or was this a carefully laid chessboard from the very beginning, where they had other motives and were using the shell of an ordinary mission to pull everyone into the game?

Countless questions swirled in his mind, making Luo Qiusheng's heart grow increasingly heavy.

After a long silence, Luo Qiusheng finally spoke, his voice soft but carrying a heavy sense of reminiscence: "That is the place where I lived for four years in the past. It could be said that it was where my youth began, and also where it quietly shattered."

A simple sentence, yet it laid bare the uniqueness of the place.

The air fell into a brief silence. A breeze swept past the three of them, carrying the chill of late autumn, making the surrounding atmosphere feel even more oppressive and stagnant.

Luo Qiusheng's fingers, hanging at his sides, tightened quietly, his fingertips turning a pale white. The internal battle and deduction in his heart never ceased.