Chapter 42: Night Events

Midnight

Xueqiu opened her eyes to a pitch-black expanse. She lay on a soft single bed, covered by a thin blanket, wearing only light pajamas.

It was colder than expected—no heater in the room, no lights outside.

Half a day ago, she and Xia Yin had arrived at the “Investigation Team.”

They hadn’t started the “practical internship” immediately. Instead, the scruffy, middle-aged-looking man had arranged their lodging.

Apparently, the team leader was away, leaving Old Gu in charge.

But Xueqiu had no clue what they were responsible for or what to watch out for.

She carefully got out of bed in the dark. The floor, like everywhere here, was cold marble, even in the guest rooms.

The chill seeped through her slippers, spreading through her body.

This was a single room—each of them had one.

Old Gu tried hard to seem hospitable, but Xueqiu could tell this wasn’t some idyllic retreat.

She remembered the view outside.

A scarlet sky without clouds, fierce winds hurling every particle against the windows, rattling like an endless, dusty rain.

The room wasn’t large. Xueqiu fumbled for her phone on the nightstand.

It had no signal since arriving, and the battery was nearly dead.

Two hours ago, at 11 p.m., the room’s lights went out, as did the corridor’s.

Old Gu explained that the “Investigation Team” couldn’t ensure 24-hour power.

After 10 p.m., electricity was prioritized for the “core area.”

He didn’t say where that was.

No wonder Xia Yin brought physical copies of Dragon Raja, Xueqiu thought.

Using her phone’s faint light, she located the bathroom.

Since arriving, she’d been thirstier, drinking more water—but that wasn’t entirely good.

The bathroom was near the door. As she approached, she heard two faint knocks.

The first was slightly heavier, as if the knocker reconsidered.

The sound was so soft—dragonfly-light—she wouldn’t have noticed if she weren’t close.

Who could it be?

The door had no peephole, but she opened it instantly.

She didn’t want to—what if it was a monster?

With her frail frame, she couldn’t handle a wolf, let alone a monster.

Luckily, it was Xia Yin, crouching outside.

“Hiss…”

He’d been squatting, back to the door, leaning against it. When it opened, he lost balance, tumbling backward to her feet.

Xueqiu helped him up, as he’d once done for her.

But why was he here now?

It was past midnight. Even if Youdu’s sky stayed scarlet, they should be resting.

Yet Xia Yin looked like someone sulking after a rejected knock.

“I… thought you were asleep. Makes sense—you’re usually out cold by now, but this isn’t the Academy. Insomnia’s normal…” he said, voice low, sneaky.

In a way, he was a wolf sneaking into a girl’s room at midnight.

“Senior, is something up?” Xueqiu said flatly.

She watched him sit on her bed’s edge, acting like he owned the place, as if she were the guest.

“Not… exactly. I was gonna give up, so I knocked softly. Didn’t know your ‘Mirror Demon’ copied Chang Mu’s hearing,” he said.

Xueqiu shook her head. She wanted to say she was just up for the bathroom, but the words stuck.

“Maybe tomorrow, or the day after if something goes wrong. Anyway, Ou Ziyun wants Old Gu to take us outside—including you,” Xia Yin said, pointing at the window.

Xueqiu’s heart skipped, a flicker of fear.

Then, that fear was drowned by an unknown emotion.

“Outside?” she asked.

“Says it’s for a report, acting like she’s part of the Investigation Team,” Xia Yin scoffed, his dead-fish eyes darting in the dark. Xueqiu had locked her phone.

“Is it dangerous?”

“Of course. You don’t know the monsters in the Investigation Team. Old Gu was S-rank once, dropped to A for some reason…”

“I’d say don’t go. Your skills aren’t that bad, but… better not,” he said, half-suggesting, half-pleading.

Xueqiu paused, not just to consider.

Her body felt odd.

“What’s my reason?” she asked.

“Uh, reason…” Xia Yin thought. “Say it’s that time of the month.”

“That?”

“You know, your period. You’re like a normal girl, right? You’d have one. They don’t know your original identity, do they?”

Xueqiu froze.

She was indeed an eighteen-year-old girl now, and Xia Yin, her roommate for months, knew a bit.

But…

“If you hadn’t opened the door, I’d have come early tomorrow to ask the same thing. Think fast—does that excuse work?”

Xueqiu wanted to ask for a better one; she hadn’t decided whether to go.

But a strange discomfort hit first, forcing her to clutch her stomach.

“C-Can you… step out, Xia… Xia Yin…?”

Her face flushed, remembering why she’d gotten up.

She’d held it too long.

“Huh? Oh, okay. My bad—jinxed it with that excuse, huh? Or are you playing along? Never mind, goodnight! Need brown sugar water or anything…?”

Misreading her, Xia Yin scrambled out, the room plunging back into darkness.