Kaka said matter-of-factly, “Of course! As Phantom Spiritists, even if we’re just beginners, it’s our duty to save the world!”
When he said this, Su Xing felt as if she could see flames bursting out behind Kaka. Had she wandered into some shounen manga by mistake?
Su Xing looked at Evangel with disbelief.
“You think so too?”
Evangel nodded. “I only do what I believe is right.”
Su Xing suddenly realized the difference between herself and her companions.
She had always known what kind of person Kaka was.
Kaka and Quinn were the type to meddle, that much she could understand.
But what about Evangel?
What was his deal?
“Aren’t you an assassin? Even you like to meddle in other people’s business?”
Evangel repeated what he’d just said, “I only do what I believe is right, and I only kill those I think deserve to die.”
Su Xing understood now.
She’d known for a while that Evangel’s assassin organization let its members choose their own missions.
Now it seemed, even though Evangel was an assassin, he still had a strong sense of justice inside.
…So out of the four of them, was she the only bad guy???
Su Xing frowned and instinctively skipped over that topic.
“Fine… I’m going out to buy some things. Does anyone want to come with me?”
Kaka shot his hand up and grabbed Quinn, who in turn pulled Evangel along.
Seeing Su Xing’s doubtful look, Kaka said, “We’ll go with you! Just because there was a problem at the art gallery doesn’t mean there’ll be trouble everywhere else, right?”
Quinn nodded. “Besides, you… you definitely need someone to help you carry things.”
Evangel looked annoyed.
“Why are you dragging me out with you?” But his shoulders moved of their own accord, joining the group.
Feng Jun was once again spat out by Su Xing and carried in her arms.
When they went downstairs and saw Nick, Su Xing handed him the shopping list and casually asked, “How’s the mayor’s daughter? We’re a bit worried. She’s just a mischievous kid, right? The mayor wouldn’t hit her, would he?”
That was a bit hypocritical, honestly.
If that little girl ended up in Su Xing’s hands, she’d be the first to smack her bottom.
Nick sighed.
“To be honest, ever since the young lady ran away from home, we haven’t been able to find her. I didn’t expect the first time she’d show up would be in a situation like this.”
Is that so?
Su Xing nodded thoughtfully.
The group headed to the marketplace together.
Suddenly, Su Xing felt her sleeve being tugged by Kaka.
She turned her head and heard Kaka say excitedly, “I see that little girl!”
Kaka was talking to the other three, so only Nick didn’t hear.
Evangel reacted immediately.
“Where? I’ll send Ling to keep an eye on her.”
Kaka pointed out the spot, and sure enough, Evangel caught a glimpse of a little girl in a yellow dress.
He summoned his Phantom Spirit—Ling was already in the form of a child spirit, blending into the crowd and quietly tailing the girl.
Su Xing put on a tired expression.
“It’s already noon, Nick. We’re a bit tired. Could you take us shopping again this afternoon?”
Nick nodded understandingly.
He knew the four of them had been busy all day, and after all, they were just kids.
Being tired was only natural.
He asked considerately, “Do you want me to buy the things for you? You can go back and rest first.”
Su Xing’s face showed clear interest, but she politely declined, “How could we trouble you like that?”
Nick was a shrewd man and instantly caught her meaning.
“It’s no trouble. I can send a few people to help, it’s not an issue at all. You’re tired, aren’t you? Go back and rest.”
Seeing him put it that way, Su Xing didn’t push any further and led Kaka and the others back to the inn.
Once they arrived, they sneaked out again through the back door.
Evangel checked the location of his Phantom Spirit.
“Let’s go. This time, we have to get the painting back!”
He wasn’t offering to help for the sake of uncovering the mayor’s secrets.
He just wanted to do this mission perfectly.
Although Su Xing had already solved the main problem, the painting had still been lost while in their care.
This was the team’s first field mission.
As a perfectionist, Evangel didn’t want there to be any regrets.
On the way, Su Xing suddenly thought of something and asked Kaka with surprise, “You actually knew to tell us about this behind Nick’s back?”
Kaka scratched his head sheepishly.
“I just thought maybe that little girl had her reasons for running away. If I shouted about it in front of Nick, wouldn’t that expose her?”
Hearing this, Su Xing sighed.
She really shouldn’t have expected anything else from this guy.
He and she were clearly thinking about two completely different things.
What she was concerned about was the mayor’s odd attitude toward his daughter running away—maybe he was in on it.
If they revealed the girl’s whereabouts to Nick, he might hinder their investigation.
But whatever, foolish people have their own kind of luck.
Evangel led them down a small alley, stopped, sensed again, and then said with certainty, “They’re underground.”
“They?”
Su Xing raised an eyebrow.
“Can you have Ling check how many people are down there?”
Evangel clearly already had the answer and replied without hesitation, “Quite a lot—thirty-four people. The oldest is in their fifties or sixties, the youngest is that little girl. Most of them are young adults.”
“That… that many?”
Quinn asked in shock.
“Are we really enough to handle this?”
Evangel nodded confidently.
“It’s just a mob. I can handle them myself.”
The four of them quickly found a manhole cover.
According to Ling’s memory, the little girl had gone down from here.
Su Xing opened the cover and had Feng Jun go down first to scout.
It was just a Phantom Spirit—if it was discovered, it wasn’t a big deal.
At worst, she could just recall Feng Jun back into the Phantom Spirit Space.
Not long after Feng Jun went down, the four above heard the voices of two young men.
“Huh? Where did this wild fox come from? Ah Si, go check if Xixi forgot to close the manhole when she came down.”
One of the guys joked, “You don’t think this fox is a Phantom Spiritist’s Phantom Spirit, do you?”
As soon as he said this, the four above instantly tensed up.
The next moment, they heard the guy continue, “Nah, that’s impossible. No way a Phantom Spiritist’s Phantom Spirit would be this dumb.”
Thanks for the insult. 🙂
Feng Jun was just as upset at being called ordinary.
It grumbled and cursed so loudly that Su Xing and the others could hear the noise upstairs.
The “arrogant snort” sounds were endless.
Kaka silently burst out laughing, tears streaming from his eyes.
He had to clutch his stomach and bend over to avoid laughing out loud.
Evangel had his back to her, still looking as cold and aloof as ever.
If not for his slightly trembling shoulders, Su Xing might have actually believed he didn’t find it funny at all.
The only true little angel, Quinn, was also struggling to hold back laughter, but still kindly patted Su Xing’s shoulder to comfort her.
Of course, if he hadn’t been grinning so obviously, Su Xing might have felt more moved.
Just then, someone below spoke again.
“I’ll go up and check. Close the manhole.”
At these words, the four instantly tensed up.
A young man came up under the manhole and looked up—sure enough, it was open, exposing the inside of the sewer.
He sighed and climbed up, planning to close the cover.
But as soon as he poked his head out, he felt a sharp pain in his leg and lost consciousness.
After Evangel knocked out the boy who’d come up, Kaka and Quinn wordlessly cooperated—one on each side—dragging the boy out of the way, while Su Xing took the opportunity to slip down the ladder.
The other boy below seemed to sense something and asked, “Ah Si, how’s it going up there? Is the manhole still open? Why aren’t you answering?”
The three above were momentarily stunned, then looked tensely at Su Xing.
Unexpectedly, Su Xing cleared her throat and, mimicking Ah Si’s voice perfectly, said, “It’s fine, I found the cover. Looks like it wasn’t closed—Xixi must’ve been careless.”
Faced with Kaka and the others’ amazed looks, Su Xing smugly raised her eyebrows at them.
How could you survive in this world without some voice-changing skills?
Evangel was the second to go down and quickly knocked out the boy who’d spoken.
The two guards at the entrance were thus dealt with.
Su Xing looked at the pitch-black passage ahead and instinctively frowned.
Although she had grown up in places like this, it never felt welcoming.
On the contrary, because of her childhood experiences, she wasn’t afraid of the dark, but she hated it.
So when she saw this corridor, Su Xing had no desire to go in.
But the mission required it—she had no choice but to aim for maximum efficiency.
“Evangel, can Ling find where they’ve hidden the painting?”
Evangel walked inside while nodding.
“It’s with that old man, but he’s always surrounded by people. If I want to get the painting back, I think…”
He hadn’t finished when his eyes suddenly widened.
The next second, a flash of white light returned to his body.
Evangel’s face turned grim.
“Ling’s been discovered.”
Su Xing’s expression changed.
“We need to get out—now!”
If Ling had been found, those people would probably come after them immediately.
The four of them were indeed strong, but they were still young and outnumbered.
Plus, they weren’t familiar with the layout—fighting here would put them at a disadvantage.
Su Xing decided on the spot to abandon this opportunity for now.
As long as they made it back aboveground, those people probably wouldn’t dare pursue them.
They could regroup and make another plan later.
Once she’d said it, the four quickly climbed the ladder back up.
Evangel was the last.
As he reached the opening, he heard the hurried sound of footsteps approaching.
Evangel scrambled out, watching as Kaka and the others quickly and perfectly replaced the manhole cover.
He let out a breath.
“The one who found Ling was that old man. He seems to be a Phantom Spiritist as well—old and frail, but his eyes are sharp.”
Su Xing nodded.
“That old man might be the mastermind behind all this. Let’s hurry back before we’re discovered.”
The four of them rushed back to the inn.
Thankfully, no one came looking for them along the way.
“Grumble grumble—”
Kaka’s stomach rumbled.
He blinked pitifully.
“I’m hungry.”