He had always felt a great fondness for the Lianbang, after all, his parents had once worked for the Lianbang as well.
Even though it seemed like they parted ways later, that didn’t change the fact that during that time, things had gone well, and Quinn believed the Federal Government was a good employer.
So when he learned that Nuzhabi had once sought help from the government, only to be betrayed, Quinn found it even harder to accept than Kaka, who firmly believed the government was just.
Su Xing pondered for a moment, “If nothing went wrong by accident, then the Mayor must be able to bring more benefit to the Lianbang than this incident.”
But then another problem arises: “What kind of benefit could possibly be greater than so many prodigies losing their gifts? Does the Linggan Yuanbi have some other use?”
Su Xing shook her head; she couldn’t figure it out either.
If she were the one in charge, seeing so many prodigies lose their talents, she’d definitely be furious and pursue the truth.
If the Lianbang was an utterly incompetent government, then this could all be blamed on the rulers’ stupidity or their subordinates’ laziness.
But that’s not the case—the Federal Government is actually very responsible, as anyone can see from the lives of the people.
Su Xing shook her head and decided not to think about it anymore.
In the end, these were matters for those above—she was just an ordinary citizen and wouldn’t get involved.
If they really succeeded this time, maybe it would disrupt the Federal Government’s plans.
But that was fine.
Once Su Xing decided to take part, she wasn’t afraid anymore.
After all, she had the mighty Lingyu Academy behind her, and Kaka’s background wasn’t simple either, so nothing too bad should happen.
In the blink of an eye, it was already six in the afternoon, and the art exhibition officially began.
When Su Xing and the others arrived, a long line had already formed outside.
There were quite a lot of invited guests.
Most of them were artists not from the City of Art, because the purpose of this exhibition was artistic exchange, so there weren’t any high-ranking officials—almost everyone present was an artist.
When Su Xing first heard about this, she’d thought it was all about the City of Art’s pursuit of art.
But now, being here, there was a strange sense of irony she couldn’t quite put into words.
Su Xing and her group walked to the back of the line and soon reached the entrance.
The guards at the door were checking tickets.
Since Su Xing and the others had been properly invited, there was no problem at all.
But they still remembered what Nuzhabi had said—they needed to stall for a while.
Even though they didn’t know where Nuzhabi was right now, the mission still had to be completed.
As usual, Su Xing sent Feng Jun to cause a disturbance.
As a Phantom Spirit of a novice Phantom Spirit Master, Feng Jun running wild was a very common sight.
After all, it was normal for new Phantom Spirit Masters to struggle with controlling their Illusory Spirits.
Of course, as a student of Lingyu Academy, even if she was only in her first year, failing to control her own Illusory Spirit would bring shame to the Academy.
After all, everyone knew that Lingyu Academy’s students were elite among elites.
Su Xing glanced at her three teammates and sighed from the bottom of her heart.
Noticing her gaze, Evangel, for once, curled his lips into a faint smile, while Kaka blinked innocently.
Quinn, on the other hand, made a cheering gesture at her like a little angel.
But no matter how angelic Quinn acted, it couldn’t warm Su Xing’s icy heart.
Quinn’s Illusory Spirit was a plant—useless for causing chaos.
Evangel’s was a ghost, and while its job was to scare people, everyone present was a big shot, so nobody would be frightened by such a low-level Illusory Spirit.
Kaka’s Illusory Spirit couldn’t be revealed either—it had another mission and couldn’t be exposed ahead of time.
So in the end, the embarrassing task naturally fell on Su Xing’s shoulders.
Feng Jun had already discussed things with Su Xing, and very cleverly, just as Su Xing was about to step into the exhibition hall, it leapt out of her arms and dashed outside.
Su Xing feigned panic, and hurriedly shouted, “Hey! Don’t run off!”
She made as if to chase after it.
Quinn stopped her at just the right moment, “You’ve already had your ticket checked. If you go out again, your ticket will be voided.”
Su Xing pretended to be conflicted, “Then what should I do?”
The guard at the entrance immediately said, “I’ll help you find it.”
With that, he summoned his own Illusory Spirit—a Kaosu, wearing a yellow helmet on its head, looking especially comical.
Quinn recognized it right away, “That’s a Mining Mouse! It’s good at digging and treasure-hunting, and has a very keen sense of smell.”
The guard looked at him appreciatively, “As expected of a Lingyu Academy student.”
Their invitation had their identities on it, so he recognized them.
At first, seeing Su Xing’s rookie performance, he’d been a little disappointed in this year’s batch from Lingyu Academy.
After all, in the eyes of ordinary students, Lingyu Academy’s students were all prodigies.
But Su Xing’s earlier actions didn’t seem like those of a prodigy at all.
That disappointment vanished immediately when Quinn identified his Illusory Spirit at a glance and accurately stated its abilities.
He himself hadn’t been able to recognize Illusory Spirits that well in his first year.
Lingyu Academy really was still the same talent-packed school.
Even key city schools have students who struggle, so maybe Su Xing was just the “straggler” of the class, while Quinn and the others were the typical prodigies.
But what the guard didn’t know was that he’d only guessed half right.
In reality, all four of these kids in front of him were so-called “bottom of the barrel” students.
Since the whole point was just to buy time, Feng Jun didn’t run very far and was soon caught and brought back.
The Treasure-Seeking Mouse gripped the loose fur on the back of Feng Jun’s neck and dragged him back with all its might.
Feng Jun, knowing he’d completed his mission, didn’t struggle at all, flopping down like a pancake and letting himself be dragged along the ground.
Su Xing watched with amusement as Feng Jun squinted his eyes lazily, not caring about the dirt, and scooped him up into her arms.
She didn’t cause any more trouble and obediently walked inside.
As soon as they entered the main exhibition hall, the first thing they saw was a giant calligraphy brush.
It looked as if it was carved from stone, and was as long as a person lying across.
Su Xing glanced at it meaningfully a few times, then suddenly turned to the others and said, “Wanna bet? I think that stone brush is the so-called Linggan Yuanbi.”
“Huh? How could it be?”
Quinn asked, confused.
“Shouldn’t the Linggan Yuanbi be hidden in some secret place? If it’s just left out in the open like this, wouldn’t anyone be able to steal it?”
Su Xing didn’t explain, just bumped his shoulder with a grin, “Just say if you’re in or not. Loser treats the others to breakfast for a month.”
Quinn hesitated and looked at the others, “Are you guys betting?”
Evangel eyed Su Xing suspiciously, then firmly shook his head, “Not betting.”
He didn’t know what Su Xing was basing her judgment on, but seeing how confident she looked, she probably wouldn’t lose.
Since that was the case, there was no way he’d pick the opposite side.
But Su Xing’s smug look annoyed him, so he didn’t want to side with her either.
He wasn’t short on money anyway—better not to bet at all.
“Then, Kaka, what about you?”
Kaka nodded: “I trust Su Xing. I bet that brush is the Linggan Yuanbi too.”
Seeing this, Quinn also agreed, “Then I won’t bet either. I trust your judgment, Su Xing. You wouldn’t joke about money.”
“You guys are no fun!” Su Xing let out a long sigh.
Her teammates weren’t particularly smart, but somehow she still couldn’t trick them.
That was really frustrating.
Kaka asked curiously, “So Su Xing, what did you base your guess on?”
Since she couldn’t fool anyone, Su Xing answered straightforwardly, “Just a hunch. Nuzhabi said only by letting the Linggan Yuanbi see a Gifted One can it steal their talent. So, to make sure nobody misses it, the Linggan Yuanbi has to be somewhere everyone passes by. Plus, there’s the ‘hidden in plain sight’ mindset, so I guessed this brush is the Linggan Yuanbi.”
She gave the stone brush one last look, then strode forward: “Kaka, start the operation. Just loosen the painting closest to the brush.”
Kaka nodded, and Xiao Lan slipped out of his sleeve, flying low and quietly to a painting without attracting attention.
Su Xing didn’t pay much mind to Xiao Lan and began admiring the paintings instead.
Since all of them were painted by Master Xisailu using the Linggan Yuanbi, each painting had a unique effect.
Most of Master Xisailu’s works were landscapes—if you touched them with your hand, you could enter the painting and experience the scenery for yourself.
Come to think of it, the “Happy Town” they’d seen before was probably a landscape painting too, only with happiness as the source, so the ghost’s effect was different.
Soon, Kaka whispered, “It’s done. When the time comes, we should be able to take down that painting directly.”
Su Xing gave him a thumbs up: “Nice work!”
Kaka scratched his head shyly and looked around: “I wonder if Nuzhabi has made it in yet? Why hasn’t there been any movement?”
Su Xing shook her head: “He’s probably inside by now—maybe he’s looking for the Linggan Yuanbi?”
Hearing this, Evangel gave a concise answer: “The man under the third painting on the left is Nuzhabi.”
“What!” Su Xing was stunned for a moment, but didn’t look directly in that direction.
Quinn reacted quickly, holding Kaka back to keep him from moving.
Evangel explained, “Every time Nuzhabi stops after a few steps, he habitually taps his foot. That man has the same habit, so it should be Nuzhabi.”
As an assassin, his observation was always more meticulous than Su Xing and the others.
If Su Xing was sensitive to emotions, he was sensitive to behavior.
Kaka stayed perfectly still under Quinn’s hold and whispered, “Why aren’t we moving? Shouldn’t we go meet up with Nuzhabi?”
Su Xing sneered, “Do you see him trying to meet us? We came in fair and square, but he hasn’t approached us at all. Clearly, he doesn’t want us involved in the next step.”
As she spoke, she naturally turned to look at another painting, but her peripheral vision remained on the man Evangel had pointed out.
That person didn’t look like Nuzhabi—he seemed much younger, wearing a loose trench coat and a hat, strolling and pausing in front of the paintings like an ordinary visitor to the exhibition.
After just a glance, Su Xing looked away and whispered, “Happy Town should be in his clothes—I saw the corner of a frame. Looks like he’s searching for the Linggan Yuanbi…”