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26, searching for clues
"Mom, why did you suddenly bring up that drunk?"
Gu Qing looked at Wen Wanyi in confusion. "Isn't that drunk already dead?"
His younger sister, Gu Yao, also put down her chopsticks and looked at their mother in puzzlement, clearly curious about why she had suddenly brought up something that had happened so long ago.
Wen Wanyi sighed. "Something's gone wrong with that drunk's family."
"What do you mean?"
Gu Qing frowned slightly, feeling that it couldn't be anything good.
Wen Wanyi said, "His wife, son, and daughter have all gone mad. Every one of them has an abnormally violent temper, picking fights or getting into brawls with the neighbors over the slightest thing."
"I heard they've already injured several people. Someone even had an ear bitten off."
"Who knows whether this family was crazy to begin with, or whether the tragedy in their family left them unable to accept reality, and they became like this after breaking down completely."
"But fortunately, the relevant authorities took them all away last night. From the looks of it, they'll probably be sent to a psychiatric hospital to be kept under supervision."
After saying that, Wen Wanyi looked at the siblings and said earnestly, "Things haven't been good these past few years. A lot of people are under enormous pressure and full of pent-up anger. The smallest thing can push them to extremes. When you're out, don't get into fights trying to prove yourselves. Let things slide whenever you can, understand?"
Let things slide whenever I can?
I'm a man who's going to refuse to eat beef!
Just fight!
That was what Gu Qing thought, but outwardly, he nodded obediently. "Mom, don't worry. I'll be sure to get along with people when I'm out."
His sister beside him nodded like a chick pecking at grain.
She was timid outside anyway. Even without Wen Wanyi's reminders, she would back down whenever she could.
For all these years, she had quietly held fast to one principle in life:
-Cowards stay safe, and those who yield stay happy.
At the same time.
Inside a hidden cell.
"I'll kill you!"
"I'll kill you all!"
"Aaaah-!!"
The drunk's wife and children frantically slammed their bodies against the iron bars, screaming hysterically at those outside as they did.
Even though their throats were already hoarse and torn, they kept roaring again and again.
All three had bloodshot eyes and twisted faces. They had long since lost any normal human reason, leaving only the most primal brutality and madness.
Outside the cell.
Two people in black, a man and a woman, watched it all coldly.
After a long while.
The man in black said without a trace of warmth in his voice:
"The emotional pollution has penetrated deep. Their reason has completely collapsed. There's no point trying to treat them anymore. Humane destruction is the only option."
"I'll notify the Cleaners to come deal with them."
The woman in black took out her phone and contacted the so-called Cleaners she had mentioned.
As the man in black watched the three frenzied people inside the cell, worry crept into his eyes.
"There's still no trace of that monster. We don't know whether it's already left the residential complex or is lying low somewhere inside it."
"I think it's probably left the complex."
The woman in black offered her opinion. "After all, it caused such a huge commotion last week. Unless it's stupid, it would definitely leave."
The man in black said, "Let's hope so. Otherwise, I'm really afraid we'll suddenly get word one day that everyone in that complex has gone mad."
As soon as he finished speaking.
He looked at the woman in black beside him and asked:
"By the way, a female university student recently joined the organization. I heard she's extremely talented. Have you met her?"
"Not yet."
The woman in black continued, "But I heard that crazy woman is mentoring her. If she caught that crazy woman's eye, her talent must be truly exceptional."
The next day.
Sunday.
Gu Qing got up early, brimming with energy. After quickly washing up and getting ready, he headed straight for the Pokémon Pet Store across from the residential complex.
He had been thinking about Liu Zhiyi's [Beast Taming King] tag all night.
For the entire day ahead.
He was going to hang around the pet store with Liu Zhiyi.
And grind attributes from her tag like mad.
However.
When Gu Qing arrived at the shop entrance full of anticipation.
He was shocked to discover.
The shop was closed, its roller shutter pulled firmly down.
A notice was posted on the door:
-Closed every Sunday. Please don't make a wasted trip.
Seriously?
Weekends are when foot traffic is heaviest, and she still takes a regular day off?
Isn't Zhiyi a little too laid-back about running her shop?
How is she supposed to make a comeback running it like this?
Grumbling aside, there was nothing Gu Qing could do with the shop closed. He could only turn around and head home in disappointment.
Before long, afternoon arrived.
His sister, who was in her final year of high school, had to return to school for evening study after eating.
Figuring he had nothing to do at home anyway, Gu Qing decided to head out with her and take the bus back to Haicheng University.
Tonight.
Both Gao Fei and Xia Shuran would return to campus.
He had to get back right away and find those two to grind attributes.
Seeing that he was leaving, his parents offered to drive him, but he politely declined.
His parents had worked hard all week and finally made it to the weekend. They deserved a proper rest at home, rather than making a round trip just to drop him off.
Over an hour later.
It was seven thirty in the evening.
Gu Qing finally arrived back at the university. As soon as he got off the bus, he headed straight for the sports field.
Before setting out, he had already arranged with Xia Shuran over WeChat to meet at the sports field at eight that evening to practice with the Red-Tassel Spear.
He had only taken a few steps through the university gates.
When Gu Qing caught sight of a gray blur flashing past up ahead.
It was a rat.
It looked unusually large and fat.
Gu Qing frowned.
Didn't they just exterminate the rats a few days ago?
Why is there still a fat rat like this around?
Hmm, it must have slipped through the net...
As he thought that.
Gu Qing casually picked up a small stone, intending to rid the university of this pest.
Just as he was about to throw the stone, he suddenly remembered his Beast Language Ability.
Maybe...
I could listen to what this fat rat has to say?
With that thought in mind.
Gu Qing didn't rush to kill the rat.
Instead, he approached it with slow, light steps.
At that moment, the rat had no idea it had been spotted.
It was hiding in a landscaped strip.
Its dull gray eyes were open.
It stared eerily at the students passing back and forth.
And let out a series of squeaks.
Gu Qing quietly approached the rat and heard its squeaking.
The next moment.
A text message appeared directly before his eyes:
[Humans, tasty...]
The moment he saw the message.
Gu Qing's expression abruptly darkened, and a powerful sense of revulsion welled up inside him.
Fuck, this rat has eaten human flesh!
Without the slightest hesitation.
Gu Qing immediately hurled the small stone in his hand.
Thwack!
The stone struck the rat squarely in the head.
Its head burst with a single hit.
Red and white matter spilled out.
The rat twitched twice and died on the spot.
Gu Qing took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the violence within him as he slowly calmed down.
Just then.
An imaginative idea suddenly took clear shape in his mind.
Rats were everywhere.
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