Chapter 51: Infiltration

One Week Later, Youdu

Xueqiu stood by the bed, folding her last white dress into her bag.

The room was tidied, and Su Xi sat at the desk, writing about the previous day with a ballpoint pen.

Su Xi was keeping a diary.

Even in 2024, when market vendors used WeChat and Alipay, Su Xi still wrote by hand.

Xueqiu learned of this habit after that night.

Su Xi said her parents made her record her daily activities since childhood.

Those diaries ended up with her parents, who reviewed them like case reports.

Su Xi told Xueqiu this herself, though Xueqiu didn’t feel worthy of such trust.

A rapid knock, like raindrops, sounded at the door.

“Ready? We’re waiting! Ou Ziyun sent me, but I didn’t wanna come—though I’m more eager to leave than you guys,” Xia Yin’s lazy voice seeped through the door.

Xueqiu grabbed her packed bag. Su Xi, done with her diary, stuffed the palm-sized leather notebook into her pocket.

Today was their eighth day at the ruins lab—and their day to return.

More precisely, to return to the Academy.

Xueqiu opened the door. Xia Yin leaned against the wall, his dead-fish eyes radiating “finally” exhaustion.

This week-long “practical internship” felt like nothing to Xueqiu.

Since the dream-related Contract incident, her life here was bland.

Days were spent trailing Ou Ziyun, taking notes or photos.

Nights were spent idling in the room, waiting for the next day.

Sometimes, she wondered if the student council president brought her just to gild her record, boosting her from D to C rank.

But she wasn’t sure a simple internship could raise her a full rank.

The student handbook said moving from D to S required multiple assessments.

Leaving the lab, the wind and sand didn’t hit Xueqiu immediately.

Old Gu, the middle-aged, boisterous deputy leader, had deployed his domain, shielding them from the elements.

Xueqiu only recently learned his Contract was ‘Xuanwu’—a bit cliché.

It didn’t just block sand; it could deflect sharp arrows too.

As for other mythical names like Qinglong or Baihu, Xia Yin had asked for her.

Old Gu’s answer: none existed.

“Our Contract names come from ancient texts. If foreigners discovered them, they’d use names like Kronos or Ares…” he’d said.

Xueqiu was more curious about Ou Ziyun and Su Xi’s Contracts.

They never mentioned their Contract names.

She only knew Su Xi’s seemed tied to invisibility.

At the hospital, they’d likely used her ability to stay unseen.

“Once I’m back, I’ll be a junior. Kinda sad to leave sophomore year after four or five years… but no matter, Xia Yin, being a junior senior to underclassmen sounds way better,” Xia Yin said, holding his chatter until they neared the Investigation Team base.

Shadow Ghosts rarely appeared here.

They hadn’t encountered any on the trip, except the snake-like one in Xueqiu’s “dream.”

“Don’t forget to look after your current junior, Xia. Xueqiu might get jealous,” Su Xi teased.

Xueqiu shook her head quickly.

She couldn’t tell if it was a joke or a misunderstanding.

As an early-admission freshman, Xia Yin’s care was real, and so was her limited circle beyond him.

But she still remembered who she used to be.

“After becoming a junior, you’ll likely intern at a city branch for six months. That decides if you stay as a Pivot reserve. Slack off, and you’ll repeat,” Ou Ziyun said, lecturing.

After summer, she and Su Xi would be juniors, leaving Xueqiu as the only freshman.

“Tch, are branch offices any different from freeloading? Madam President, you haven’t forgotten that guy from Ting’an branch, have you? ‘Useless’ was practically written on his face,” Xia Yin scoffed.

Xueqiu remembered him.

Back then, she didn’t know what the Ting’an branch was.

Now, it seemed like Academy outposts in various cities.

But per Xia Yin, these outposts weren’t very competent.

“I hope it’s just Ting’an’s Pivots who are like that,” Ou Ziyun said. “Antidote hasn’t been fully eradicated. Even if they were, the branches have no reason to stop fighting.”

“Antidote… what’s that?” Xueqiu asked, trailing Xia Yin, puzzled.

The term wasn’t new—she’d heard it alongside “Javier.”

“Think of them as villains—really bad ones. The kind who say ‘I’ll be back’ every episode but never die,” Xia Yin explained.

“But they can be killed.”

“Has Uncle Xing gone to Qingtan, Xia?” Su Xi asked suddenly.

Xing? Xueqiu wasn’t sure which character Su Xi meant.

But she felt she’d heard of someone surnamed Xing.

“Yup, we saw them before we left. Maybe they’ve nabbed Javier by now. Who knows, we might hear ‘Antidote wiped out’ when we get back,” Xia Yin said.

Xueqiu wanted to ask about Javier, but they’d reached the base’s gate.

The gate was unmanned but required multiple authentications: password, fingerprint, voice, and iris.

Old Gu stepped forward to verify, but after all checks, the gate didn’t open.

“Hello, Deputy Leader Gu An. Due to a recent unauthorized intrusion, we require registration of all members,” a soft female voice said from the speaker.

“Unauthorized intrusion? What nonsense,” Gu An muttered, wiping sweat, his voice sharp with questioning.