Huo Qiuliang waited outside for ten minutes before returning. He carefully pushed the door open and saw that the two inside had returned to normal and were sitting beside the injured Hu Zihao, healing him again.
The pillow on the bed had been carefully taken apart, and the ring inside had been removed.
Only then did Huo Qiuliang enter with peace of mind, standing beside Shi Yu and Han He as he looked at Hu Zihao lying there.
"..."
Things were getting awkward again.
As Huo Qiuliang thought this, he was just about to speak up to lighten the mood when Shi Yu spoke first.
"Come to think of it... we still don't know each other's names, do we?"
"Oh, right! Right, right, right! Let's start with introductions. I completely forgot."
Seeing someone start a conversation, Huo Qiuliang hurried to pick it up and introduced himself first.
"My name is Huo Qiuliang. As you can see, I'm with the authorities. I'm a Gifted."
"Oh, hang on."
Shi Yu finally heard that term again. He hurriedly raised his hand to interrupt Huo Qiuliang. When Huo Qiuliang looked at him, Shi Yu asked:
"What's a 'Gifted'?"
Huo Qiuliang froze for a moment, then turned to Han He.
But Han He didn't understand why Huo Qiuliang had suddenly looked at him, and a questioning expression appeared on his face.
Huo Qiuliang drew his neck in, even more confused, and chose his words before speaking.
"You are an Heir, right?"
Han He nodded.
"And you don't know what a Gifted is?"
Han He nodded again.
"..."
For a moment, Huo Qiuliang was speechless. There were so many things to comment on that he didn't know where to start.
Normally, aside from those with special inheritances, an Heir capable of using a Minor Ritual had to have reached at least the Ninth Art to master that technique. An Heir of the Ninth Art could no longer be considered a novice and should, logically, understand the situation over the past few years-unless he was someone who lived cut off from the world.
That actually seemed to be the case.
Finally accepting that Han He was also ignorant about how the world worked, he sorted out his thoughts and said:
"You must already know about Heirs: people who obtain a special inheritance by studying a particular art."
Shi Yu nodded to show he understood, and Huo Qiuliang continued:
"Gifted are the opposite. Their abilities awaken when certain conditions are met, without any need to study beforehand. Like me, for example, or you and the one lying on the bed."
Huo Qiuliang pointed at Hu Zihao.
"...Let's finish exchanging names first. It's really inconvenient talking like this."
Shi Yu and Han He each gave Huo Qiuliang their names, along with Hu Zihao's.
After committing them to memory, Huo Qiuliang nodded and said:
"You and Hu Zihao are Gifted. You can introduce yourselves that way when dealing with relevant personnel elsewhere."
Shi Yu indicated that he understood, then said:
"I already know what Evil Sins are, so what's this Netherworld you mentioned?"
Hearing this, Huo Qiuliang stepped back a few paces and sat on the desk in front of the surveillance monitors. He glanced at the quiet corridor on the screen and slowly began:
"Put it this way: we can't yet fully determine how Netherworlds appear, but you can think of them as nests. The appearance of a Netherworld is bound to be accompanied by Evil Sins."
Huo Qiuliang pointed at the dorm room doors on the monitor and said:
"In other words, a Netherworld is a dorm room, and Evil Sins live inside. Does that make sense?"
Shi Yu nodded, following Huo Qiuliang's finger toward the monitor as he said:
"Then if we destroy the Netherworld, will all the Evil Sins inside die? How do we destroy a Netherworld?"
Huo Qiuliang shook his head, rejecting one of Shi Yu's questions, and said:
"It's exactly the opposite. You don't destroy a Netherworld to kill the Evil Sins; you kill all the Evil Sins to destroy the Netherworld."
But something else occurred to Shi Yu, and he asked:
"What if the Evil Sins hide and won't come out?"
Huo Qiuliang wagged a finger, an expression on his face that said he'd known someone would ask that.
"Good question. But Evil Sins have a close connection to their Netherworld. If they hide and won't come out, you only need to strike the Netherworld, and their instincts will take over, making them defend their Netherworld against damage. So you only need to find the Netherworld, and once you've gained experience, you'll be able to locate it through deduction."
At this point, Huo Qiuliang narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the surveillance footage outside the dorm building as he said:
"As I just said, a Netherworld isn't a portal, but a nest. The number of Evil Sins inside is fixed at the start. It won't replenish them on its own afterward."
Huo Qiuliang cupped his hands together and gently shook them as he said:
"But it is flexible. If the Evil Sins later reproduce inside the Netherworld or do something else that produces new Evil Sins, the Netherworld will continue to shelter them."
"To destroy a Netherworld, you have to kill every Evil Sin contained within it. Then the Netherworld will collapse on its own.
"But if a Netherworld is left alone, it will slowly expand, drawing more Netherworlds into appearing nearby. Nobody has tested the limit of this expansion, and nobody dares to. I'm afraid it may be endless. We won't let that happen."
"There are different types of Netherworlds, too, but we'll discuss those another time. Also, Netherworlds can be moved, but Evil Sins can't move them themselves, except for a very few with special abilities. Moving a Netherworld requires..."
Huo Qiuliang paused. On the surveillance feed of the dorm entrance, a man was being carried in Liu Yiyi's arms as she raced toward them.
Huo Qiuliang returned his gaze to Shi Yu and Han He and finished his explanation.
"Humans."
Crash!!
The dorm building's door was shoved open hard. With a glance, Liu Yiyi spotted Huo Qiuliang in the guardroom and rushed inside in a few quick strides, carrying Shen Bai.
"That's the kid. Stitch him up. A newly awakened Gifted-so fresh I can smell his Origin."
Hearing that, Shen Bai sniffed too and looked at Shi Yu and Han He. Both instinctively tensed.
"Indeed... Don't be nervous. I'll stitch your friend up, but he'll still need hospital treatment afterward."
As he spoke, Shen Bai motioned for Liu Yiyi to put him down. Once he was standing on the ground again, he walked toward Hu Zihao. Shi Yu and Han He stood and moved aside.
"Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself."
Shen Bai walked up to Hu Zihao and pulled out a long, thin, transparent thread with his right hand. It glimmered faintly in the dim daylight beneath the overcast sky.
"My name is Shen Bai, and I'm this team's vice-captain. The one at the door is our captain, Liu Yiyi. The girl in pink you've met is He Siying. We should be in touch again, whether or not we end up working together."
With that, Shen Bai fell silent and quickly set to work.
"Oh, come on, enough of that useless stuff!"
An energetic female voice rang out. Liu Yiyi strode up to Shi Yu and Han He and immediately said:
"Boys, you've seen it for yourselves and experienced an incident like this. I can say without any exaggeration that these incidents will only become more common, not less. This is something we won't be able to escape in the future."
Liu Yiyi's voice seemed to carry power, and her expression grew serious.
"I'll tell you all the potential risks first. The main one is undoubtedly danger. We have to be the first to face every incident involving Evil Sins. One day, we might die at their hands. If you really join us, I won't allow any deserters."
"Yiyi, it's too soon to say all that. They're still only children."
Shen Bai's voice came from behind her.
Meanwhile, Huo Qiuliang found a corner to tuck himself into and quietly watched Shi Yu and Han He.
Liu Yiyi paused and looked at Shi Yu and Han He. Their expressions were different.
Han He's expression hadn't changed much. He was simply thinking about something.
Shi Yu looked more conflicted, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.
Liu Yiyi began to regret it too. Why had she been so impulsive? Seeing a new Gifted and an Heir had gotten her too excited. She'd actually pressured two children.
Liu Yiyi bit the inside of her cheek bitterly, hating herself for being so impatient. She collected herself and said:
"Sorry... I got ahead of myself, hah. For something like this, we really should ask your families..."
The moment she finished, she saw Shi Yu's fingers pause in their picking at his clothes, and he grew more uneasy.
Han He, meanwhile, stopped thinking and looked at Liu Yiyi.
"I'll join. I'm the only one left in my family."
Liu Yiyi froze, wishing she could slap herself twice on the spot.
What the hell was wrong with my damned mouth today!!
Well, there it was. Although she'd successfully recruited someone, Liu Yiyi felt even more dejected.
"Ah... there's no rush... okay... We'll be in touch later, then."
Shi Yu turned to look at Han He,
Shi Yu's gaze was somewhat complicated. Han He looked down at him but couldn't make out everything in those eyes.
Looking at Shi Yu, Liu Yiyi thought she should leave it for today. Nothing seemed to be going right. She could ask what the boy wanted another day, then contact his parents if he was willing. Taking it step by step would be fine.
The atmosphere grew awkward again. Neither Shen Bai nor Huo Qiuliang spoke. Liu Yiyi sighed inwardly and gave an awkward laugh as she walked toward Shen Bai.
"Ah... Shen, you're stitching awfully slowly today. Wh-"
"I'll join too."
"Huh?"
Liu Yiyi froze and turned back to look at the speaker.
Shi Yu still looked somewhat conflicted, but his gaze had cleared considerably.
Having learned her lesson, Liu Yiyi hurriedly said:
"There's no rush, no rush. We can talk another day. Besides, your brother Bai was right. Your family still..."
"...I don't have any family left either."
"...still..."
Seemingly noticing Liu Yiyi's unease, Shi Yu quickly changed his expression, making himself look as though he didn't care much.
"It's okay. It's not my first day like this."
Liu Yiyi's words broke into scattered syllables, trapped in her mouth and unable to come out.
The temperature in the room abruptly rose, and Huo Qiuliang hurriedly turned to look at Liu Yiyi.
Liu Yiyi wrung her hands together. In nearly thirty years of life, she had never wanted to die as badly as she did today.
Before you continue