“Xu Chuyao.”
Lu Feng turned his head and saw Xu Chuyao. The fatigue on his face gave way to a faint smile as he waved her over.
“Come here for a bit… Let’s talk up close.”
Xu Chuyao’s response was concise: “I’m not hurt.”
Lu Feng chuckled for a moment, then looked around as if unintentionally and lowered his voice, “It’s a bit noisy here. Let’s go somewhere quieter.”
The implication was clear: too many people, too many ears around here. Better to talk where there were fewer people.
Wei Lin, an old hand, immediately caught on. He shielded the two superiors and led the way to a secluded corner.
Even if someone tried to approach, he’d handle it. Yu Jing didn’t say anything, but now that she was a Four Rank, things were different—her strength surpassed most here, so she leisurely trailed behind, unhurried.
She wasn’t here to deal with any crisis, just one mission—to protect her own students.
Once they reached the corner, Lu Feng pulled out a snow-white cigarette and was about to light it, but when he saw Xu Chuyao’s clear, youthful gaze fixed on him, he awkwardly put it away.
Not the best idea to smoke in front of the kids.
“Let me be brief. You should know about the situation now.”
Before Xu Chuyao could reply, he continued, “No, you definitely know. Probably even clearer than me.”
Xu Chuyao twitched the corner of her mouth, quickly interjected, “You overestimate me. If no one tells me anything, I don’t know.”
Like she was some kind of prophet.
“You really don’t know…? Alright, fine. I’ll make it simple.”
Lu Feng quickly explained what happened after the Brussels Airport battle. After Wang Li left, as expected, things didn’t quiet down.
She remotely directed the team, had the Research Institute finish up, and after sending Monrose into the Crystal Stone World, she swiftly recalled him to Defense Line Island, setting it up so he wiped out the entire Defense Garrison Legion in one strike.
After the incident, the higher-ups immediately sent out deployments, building a new defense line on an island up north—a classic case of shutting the barn door after the horse bolted. Still, the damage was done, and now, things from the southern continent had quietly started slipping in. Their activities were first discovered in Sihai, and it wouldn’t be long before they landed.
As he spoke, Lu Feng’s tone grew grave:
“Everyone here today is tasked with responding to the mutated creature invasion—except you.”
Xu Chuyao perked up, sensing this was the real point. No wonder he’d called her aside.
“What’s my mission?”
“You and your team don’t have to deal with the mutant beasts. Your mission is to execute Wang Li and her accomplices.”
Such a mission wasn’t surprising—Xu Chuyao had already crossed paths with Wang Li and identified her earlier, so following up was only natural.
But…
“Execute?”
She picked up on the unusual wording.
Lu Feng nodded meaningfully, repeating firmly: “That’s right. Execute. Direct order from above.”
Nearby, Wei Lin, who’d accidentally overheard, was so tense he turned his back and pretended to stand guard, acting like he hadn’t heard a thing.
But when he glanced back, he saw Yu Jing listening with great interest and hurriedly gestured at her.
Don’t listen, sis, just don’t!
Yu Jing gave him a look, confused, then ignored him.
Lu Feng didn’t say much else; he had other matters and left after a quick goodbye. Soon after, the meeting began. Everyone found seats, waiting for assignments and work allocation.
Xu Chuyao sat next to Yu Jing but barely listened, lost in thought as she fiddled with her new Award Medal.
The meeting ran late, but at least it was efficient—no pointless topics, just swift solutions. Departments were formed, everyone was given assignments, even Wei Lin was put in charge of a patrol squad.
Except for one person.
No assignment, just the Compilation Team.
In the venue, everyone was preoccupied with their future work—some anxious, some eager. No one noticed this tiny detail, nor did anyone pay attention to the beautiful Big Thunder girl in her seat.
Xu Chuyao looked at the four golden stars in her hand, a strange feeling rising inside.
Am I about to become a ghost among the living?
Or… a ghostly assassin?
“I think Li Qiu is definitely hiding something, or up to no good, or else there’s no way she’d disappear for so long,” said Broken Shadow in a low voice.
“My advice is: when you get back, just punch her. Don’t listen to all these fancy explanations—they’re all lies. Beat her first, then interrogate her.”
Broken Shadow peeked out and sighed, “Yaoli has always known how to prioritize. There’s no way she’d act like you, with such a low-level, clumsy plot… Hey, why are you nodding?”
She saw the girl actually nod in agreement, and the world seemed to collapse in that instant.
Just then, a small, imposing door appeared overhead, and a few ropes dropped down, whisking the girl away.
When the space shifted and she opened her eyes again, Xu Chuyao found herself in unfamiliar surroundings—unknown floor, unknown ceiling, and a very familiar Big Thunder beauty she both knew and dreaded.
“Shen Ning, you’re back! I did just as you said, waited for you to come back after dark, but look, it’s just getting dark now—maybe there’s some delay on your end… Hey! What are you doing?!”
“You still have the nerve to ask?” Shen Ning’s voice was like grinding teeth as she smacked her girlfriend’s head. “What did you say when you left?”
“What about a barrel? Or not in my dreams… Wait…” Xu Chuyao suddenly remembered that strange boost to her villain value—was that you?
Dumbfounded.
“That’s right, it was me.”
Speechless. Flabbergasted.
“When did you learn to invade dreams?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Since she dared to demand a transformation stick right to her face, saying those kinds of things, there was no way she’d get away with it today.
“Wait, look around, this isn’t our dorm, and it’s not the Academy either!” Xu Chuyao clung to Shen Ning for dear life. “We’re outside now—there are hundreds of people from Zhou Nation around!”
If Yaoyao’s hand loosened just a little, the storm would come rushing in, and only several heavy rains could calm things down.
“Fine, fine.”
Hearing that, Shen Ning reluctantly regained some composure, stood up, and looked around. Unfamiliar floor, unfamiliar ceiling, even the beds, tables, wardrobes—none of it looked familiar.
“Where are we?”
“Yingxunsi City!” Xu Chuyao answered in a low voice. “A big city by the eastern sea.”
Shen Ning froze, “Why did we come here? For a vacation?”
“Emmm, if you think Yingxunsi City is a tourist spot, then yes, technically we’re here on a trip.”
Xu Chuyao briefly explained the situation—strange beings from the southern hemisphere had crossed over, might land in a few days, so the higher-ups formed a joint task force, gathering hundreds of people, including Three-Stage Spirit Power Users and even a few with Four Defenses, to suppress those lurking entities.
Shen Ning listened and was stunned again. “So this time, we’re supposed to fight mutated beasts?”
Previously, it was always about fighting people, but now, the enemy had changed species. It was a bit of a shock.
But Xu Chuyao shook her head, “See, that’s the thing—our mission is special, and no one else has been told.”
She pointed up at the ceiling, “A direct order from above. Our job is to pursue Wang Li and her gang.”
Wang Lin just let out a bland “oh,” no surprise at all.
So calm. Could it be she’s actually a master too?
Xu Chuyao felt something was off and probed, “You know, with someone like Wang Li—a high-level traitor—she must have a lot of inside info. In theory, we should capture her and interrogate for intel, but the higher-ups want us to execute directly.”
Shen Ning squinted slightly, showing some doubt.
Seeing this, Xu Chuyao relaxed—her girlfriend wasn’t a master. The calmness was just because she hadn’t understood the critical part.
“You need to understand, we already split with Wang Li and her group back in Yingxunsi City. Wang Li and her cronies are essentially the higher-ups’ white gloves, the Ghost Unit, doing all the dirty work for them. But now, they want us to quietly dispose of her.”
Xu Chuyao flattened her hand and made a chopping gesture.
This time, Shen Ning was shocked.
It really sounded like something was off.
“So, that’s the situation. We’re now… ghostly assassins,” Xu Chuyao said, satisfied, looking out the window at the brightly lit houses of Zhou Nation. “While everyone else is fighting mutant beasts, we’ll be taking Wang Li’s head.”
Shen Ning hesitated, “Is this really okay?”
No issue with killing Wang Li—she definitely deserved to die—but this felt too much like doing the dirty work for the higher-ups.
“Don’t overthink it. Just get some sleep. Whatever the higher-ups order, we do,” Xu Chuyao patted her comfortingly. “Besides, when we’re strong enough, we’ll have a say. For now, just listen.”
If you can’t win for now, just go along.
Shen Ning finally nodded without protest.
“Then… what about what you said in the dream this afternoon?”
“Huh? Why are you so petty? I told you, with everything going on, there are far more important things to worry about,” Xu Chuyao straightened up, all righteous. “Romantic matters can wait for now.”
Shen Ning seemed convinced, and started looking for something.
“What are you looking for?”
“Nothing,” the girl said, picking up a small notebook and a pen, “I’ll write it down for now, and ask you again when we get back.”
Xu Chuyao jumped out of bed in a hurry.
“Don’t you dare write that down… you—!”
Central City, Shengling Academy, Special Intelligence Training Meeting Room.
Flower, dressed in a green dress, moved between the kitchen and the hall, occasionally bringing out some tea and pastries. In the hall, a sturdy man and a much thinner young man were digging through a mountain of data.
Cheng Qi didn’t go along, but she was still concerned about Teacher Yu and stopped by Flower now and then to see if she could help with any of the reports.
Then one day, Xiao Si Nuo brought up an idea:
“I’ve been thinking about something. If the Ghost Unit really exists, then who’s at the very top?”
Xiao Si Nuo proposed the “1+1 theory”: The Ghost Unit should have two leaders—one out in the open in the Pacification Council, a public figure with name and title. According to Yu Jing’s stories, Wen Shengqing is highly suspicious.
The other would be in the shadows, directly leading the Ghost Unit, with no traceable information—because he’s just another member within the unit.
“He couldn’t have been born with a Ghost Protocol, so before the team was formed, he must have left some traces behind. Even if he tried to erase them later, it couldn’t be perfectly clean.”
So he and Cheng Qi spent the whole day searching here, working till nightfall with nothing to show for it.
Their range was limited to the time from the middle of the Pacification War to the postwar period—after that, media was easy to control; before that, the world was too chaotic for the media to keep any record.
Even in a country as strict as this, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.
“I’m just thinking, should we start with Wen Shengqing?” Cheng Qi suggested. “If he really is the one out in the open, then whoever is inside the Ghost Unit must be very close to him.”
Even if the shadowy one could do whatever he wanted in secret, when considering the bigger picture, the two were like a pair: one plowing in darkness, the other basking in light—serving as each other’s support.
If they weren’t close, it would be impossible to keep things running.
“I know, but with Wen Shengqing’s status, how are we supposed to dig up any reliable dirt on him?” Si Nuo said instinctively, “Before, I’d never even heard of him until we helped Shen Ning last time…”
He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly stunned.
Cheng Qi noticed the sudden silence and looked up, puzzled, “What’s wrong? Did you find something?”
“There is! It’s a huge problem!”
Xiao Si Nuo put down what he was doing, ignoring the valuable old documents in the hall, and shouted outside, “Flower! Did you keep the suitcase I brought from Li’s place?”
“Yeah! The brown one!”
“It’s under the study cabinet, with the bag for the herbal medicine!”
Cheng Qi saw him running back and forth, not even caring about the data on the floor, and just hugged the brown suitcase, flipping through its contents page by page.
“What’s going on?”
Xiao Si Nuo didn’t answer, just muttered to himself, “Let me think, it was more than half a year ago… should be a bit further down… this page—not it, this page—not it… this notebook—yes, this is it!”
He grabbed a notebook packed with old newspaper clippings and laid it on the floor.
“What is it?”
“More than half a year ago, Shen Feng was curious about our grade director, wanted to know why he was so unpleasant, so he asked me to dig up some old stories. I found this.”
Xiao Si Nuo opened the clippings and pointed for Cheng Qi to see.
“Look here.”
[Mouth of Light Descends! In the late stage of the Pacification War, Double Star Wen Shengqing rises to fame, preparing to lead an attack on the notorious Four Bandit Leaders: Xiaoti, Suishi Qian, Luo Kang, and Pin Yu.]
Cheng Qi studied it and frowned in confusion, “The grade director’s name isn’t here. I don’t see it…”
“Luo Kang, that’s him. He changed his name later, but that’s not the point,” said Xiao Si Nuo. “If Wen Shengqing was known as one of the Double Stars, here’s the real question: who was the other? I’ve gone through tons of records from that time—no one else was ever called by that title, except Wen Shengqing himself.”
Cheng Qi frowned even deeper.
Even a third-year student of culture would know: ‘double’ means two, and words like ‘Twin Stars’ shouldn’t refer to one person.
“But if you couldn’t find anyone after searching so hard, how are we supposed to dig up info on the other one?” he asked.
Xiao Si Nuo smiled excitedly: “There’s one person who might know.”
Former Shengling Academy Grade Director—Luo Kang!