A Crooked Upper Beam Makes a Crooked Lower Beam

Less than ten minutes after the call ended, two people from the Martial Arts Association arrived, a man and a woman, both dressed in standard black uniforms.

"Comrade, you're the one who reported it, right?" The man who spoke was Lin Yuliang. He looked to be around forty, with a very official-looking face.

"That's right." Chu Ge nodded and pointed at the rat's corpse nearby. "That's the demonic beast I mentioned. You can go take a look yourselves."

Lin Yuliang nodded and, without another word, walked over to the rat's corpse, which had been chopped in two.

The young woman following him looked only a few years older than Chu Ge, like a rookie who had just graduated and joined the association.

She glanced at Chu Ge, then hurried over after Lin Yuliang.

The two crouched beside the rat's corpse and put their heads together, examining it for a few seconds.

Lin Yuliang's face was expressionless as he turned to instruct the young woman beside him:

"Make a note: a Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rat appeared in the northern section of Lakeside Park. Qi and Blood Realm, forty-third layer. Confirmed dead."

"Slow down, slow down! I can't write it all down!"

The flood of information left Lin Lan flustered. She hurriedly held up her phone and started typing.

Lin Yuliang glanced at her, frowning slightly. "Didn't I tell you to use a notebook when you're out in the field?"

"Oh, I'll put it in my phone first and copy it into my notebook when we get back. It's the same thing."

Lin Yuliang shook his head but didn't lecture her further. He stood up and turned to Chu Ge.

"Are you from the Chu Family?"

"That's right." Chu Ge nodded and met his gaze. "Have you seen me before?"

"A few times." Lin Yuliang didn't elaborate, changing the subject. "Please don't tell anyone about what happened today."

"I understand."

Chu Ge knew full well that a demonic beast making its way into a human city was no small matter. Once word got out, rumors would fly and everyone would be on edge.

Looking at the Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rat's corpse on the ground, he suddenly remembered something and asked an extra question:

"Does this have anything to do with the beast tide ten years ago?"

Ten years ago, a tide of Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rats had broken out in East Sea City.

Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rats weren't considered a strong tribe among the demon race, but they made up for it with sheer numbers.

Chu Ge had only been eight at the time. He had lived through it himself and still remembered it clearly.

East Sea City had paid a considerable price to hold back that beast tide.

Later, there were rumors that the Rat King who had led them hadn't been killed. He had declared that he wasn't finished with East Sea City and would return for revenge sooner or later.

Not many people had taken those words seriously at the time, treating them as empty threats from a defeated enemy.

But after seeing this Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rat in Lakeside Park with his own eyes today, Chu Ge's first thought had been of that old rumor.

"We don't know yet." Lin Yuliang shook his head and glanced back at Lin Lan, who was photographing the rat's corpse. "Bag the corpse when you're done taking pictures. Don't leave any traces."

"Okay, Dad."

Lin Yuliang's frown deepened at once. "How many times have I told you? Use my title when we're out in the field."

"Okay, boss."

Lin Lan admitted her mistake with remarkable speed and an especially sincere attitude, adding another line to herself:

Okay, Plant Lin.

The scene fell silent.

Chu Ge and Lin Yuliang stood to the side, watching as Lin Lan took out a body bag and crouched on the ground to pack up the corpse by herself.

Although Lin Lan was a rookie handling a demonic beast in the field for the first time, she had memorized her professional coursework well.

The books said that Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rats had an innate plague ability. Even when dead, they couldn't be touched with bare skin.

Once infected, the milder outcome was losing one's mind and turning into a monster; the worse outcome was the body rotting away and dissolving into a puddle.

For many people, though, death was preferable to being assimilated into a monster.

So she put on protective gloves and a mask, covering herself completely before she dared reach out.

After bagging the corpse, she set the bloodstains on the ground alight, burning every last trace of blood and rat fur to make sure no plague hazard remained.

When she was done, she dusted off her hands and looked at Lin Yuliang, a hint of a desire for praise on her face.

"All done."

Lin Yuliang grunted in acknowledgment and turned to Chu Ge. "Comrade, sorry for the trouble, but we'll need you to come back to the association with us and give a statement."

"No problem."

By the time Chu Ge came out of the Martial Arts Association, the horizon was already turning a fish-belly white.

His phone happened to buzz with a message from Xiao Yan.

Silly Roe Deer: Wait, where did you go so early in the morning? Have you already gone to school?

Chu Ge: Went out for some morning exercise. I'm on my way back.

That wasn't exactly a lie. The hours before dawn counted as morning too.

Silly Roe Deer: Oh, then hurry back. I'm waiting for you so we can go to school together.

Ten minutes later, Chu Ge arrived home carrying breakfast he had bought on the way.

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up the moment she saw him, and she pounced straight at him-

Snatching the breakfast bag from his hand.

"Wow, there are grilled sausages too!" She didn't mind the heat, grabbing one and biting into it, grease all over her mouth as she ate.

Chu Ge didn't fight her for it. He carried his Tang saber back to his room and put it away.

The blade had been stained with the Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rat's blood, so he had disinfected it while he was at the association.

He had just gone into the bathroom to wash up when Xiao Yan's voice drifted in from the living room again.

"Little bro, how come you passed out by the door yesterday?"

"An accident. Don't bring it up." Chu Ge's voice came through the door, sounding somewhat awkward.

Passing out by the door really was a little embarrassing to talk about.

"So that's what happened."

Xiao Yan said "oh" and picked up a second grilled sausage, not finding it too greasy even this early in the morning.

"When I came back from school yesterday, I saw you lying facedown in the entryway. I thought you were dead and was about to call the crematorium."

"But when I got closer, you were still breathing. You were just terribly weak, so I had to work really hard to drag you onto the bed. I was afraid you'd get cold."

She gnawed on the sausage and began lecturing him in an elder's tone.

"Little bro, not to lecture you as your older cousin, but young people need to know their limits too."

"As the saying goes, a little deer pleases the heart, a big deer harms the body, and a forced deer turns you to ash."

"If you really have that much energy, go find a girlfriend. Stop picking on the toilet paper all day."

Xiao Yan considered herself very familiar with Chu Ge and thought that, young as he was, his head must be full of all sorts of messy things.

-Or perhaps her own head was so full of dirty thoughts that she saw everyone else as being just like her.

After all, a crooked upper beam made for a crooked lower beam.

In the bathroom, Chu Ge listened to her words with facial cleanser foam still clinging to his face, having forgotten to rinse it off.

He was seriously considering whether to show this Silly Roe Deer what he could do.

The two of them had made a bet during the last class placement exam. Xiao Yan had lost and owed him a favor.

Chu Ge still hadn't decided how to use it.

-Get a very thick stick and give her a beating to vent his anger?

He washed his face and pulled over a towel to dry it. When he came out, Xiao Yan had already eaten most of the breakfast and was sitting on the sofa scrolling through her phone.

Seeing him come out, Xiao Yan raised her eyes, half a grilled sausage still dangling from her mouth.

"Hey, what exactly did you do yesterday to end up that weak? I thought you'd suffered qi deviation."

"I got into a fight with someone. We both came away hurt," Chu Ge replied casually, without going into detail about Instant Overload or the poisoning.

Even if he told this Silly Roe Deer, she wouldn't understand. She might even let her imagination run wild.

"Wait, who could beat you?"

Xiao Yan looked unconvinced as she sized him up and down. "You haven't been secretly practicing some wicked martial art, have you? I'm telling you, don't go down the wrong path."

"If you drew fewer doujinshi, you wouldn't have so many weird ideas in your head." Chu Ge glanced at her, then turned and went to the entryway to change his shoes. "Hurry up. If we dawdle any longer, we'll be late."

"What's the rush? We won't be late." Despite her words, Xiao Yan's hands didn't slow down. She finished the sausage in two or three bites, dusted off her hands, and followed him.

The two walked side by side toward school. The morning streets were busy with people, most hurrying to school or work.

Chu Ge walked beside her, but his thoughts were still on what had happened before dawn.

For a Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rat to have made it into the city, something must have gone wrong somewhere.

There was a Primordial Force barrier around the city, and Martial Arts Association patrol teams made their rounds on schedule. By all rights, demonic beasts shouldn't have been able to get in at all.

How had that rat gotten past the defenses and made it to Lakeside Park?

Was it the only one, or had a whole group already slipped in?

And what about the rumors of the Rat King from ten years ago? Were they baseless, or was there truth to them?

A string of questions circled in Chu Ge's mind, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Hey, what are you thinking about? You look so serious." Xiao Yan nudged him with her elbow. "You're not still thinking about passing out yesterday, are you? It's fine, I won't laugh at you."

Chu Ge turned his head and glanced at her without answering.

It would be pointless to tell this Silly Roe Deer. She might even go shouting about it until the whole school knew.

He had better wait and see whether the Martial Arts Association could find anything.

If a rat tide really was coming again, it would be no small matter like a student martial arts competition.

As they talked, they reached the school gates. They had just entered when they saw a large crowd gathered around the notice board, making a racket.

"What's going on?" Xiao Yan stood on tiptoe and peered into the crowd, curiosity written all over her face.

"Maybe some celebrity's here," Chu Ge said casually, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.