"Want one?" Ding Yuan took a pack of cigarettes from the most concealed pocket of his Investigation Bureau uniform.
"I quit." Gao Ming shook his head. He and the other members of the Ringgate Investigation Office were following Ding Yuan.
They had spent the entire midday searching but still hadn't found Yan Xizhi. All the signs suggested that someone had taken advantage of the disruption to the School Rules to make a move against her.
"Principal Yan is the last spiritual pillar of Hande Academy of Letters. Her disappearance will bring down the established order and reshuffle everything at the school." Ding Yuan rested both hands on the windowsill. "If the School Rules haven't recovered, Situ An will definitely make his move tonight."
"You seem pretty confident in Situ An." Gao Ming also planned to act that night.
"It isn't Situ An I have confidence in. It's the Investigation Bureau he represents." Ding Yuan sniffed the cigarette. "Don't underestimate how capable the Investigation Bureau is. We've been losing ground steadily against the invasion of the shadow world, but there's a crucial reason for that—only when ghosts exist does the Investigation Bureau have a reason to exist. The greater the threat posed by ghosts, the greater the bureau's power."
"You think the Investigation Bureau can handle a level four anomaly event?" Gao Ming had died many times. Most of those deaths had been at the hands of ghosts, but some had come from the Investigation Bureau setting him up to die, such as the time he had become the office director of the Lishan Investigation Office.
"In the short term, the School Rules have the advantage. In the long term, they have no chance of winning." Reluctant to light the cigarette, Ding Yuan merely rubbed a little tobacco between his calloused