Chapter 8: Unmasking Keno

Su Xing walked to the door and gestured for Evincel to move aside, “Let me check the situation outside.”

After Evincel moved, she opened the door a tiny crack.

Outside, it was empty, very spacious. Su Xing turned to Keno, “Don’t the Snow Maidens hurt you? Why don’t you go out and check for us? I always feel a bit uneasy.”

Keno hesitated, but seeing Su Xing’s genuinely worried expression, he nodded.

He thought to himself: Indeed, she’s still just a fifteen-year-old child.

No matter how mature she acts on the surface, she still can’t help but rely on adults.

As soon as he left, Su Xing immediately let her phantasm slip out through the crack in the door.

Quinn looked a little confused, “Su Xing, what… what are you doing?”

Su Xing looked in the direction the fox disappeared and exaggeratedly winked as she explained, “A cunning rabbit has three burrows—always leave yourself a way out.”

Quinn nodded in understanding.

It was understandable for Su Xing to do this.

What if Keno couldn’t control the Snow Maidens?

Then they would be in trouble. Of course, they needed a backup plan.

“Oh, right! Take these!”

Kaka suddenly spoke, holding several items, “These are life-saving treasures I brought from home. Each of you take one, just in case something happens.”

“Heh?”

Evincel couldn’t help but mock,  “I didn’t expect you to actually come out with your brain?”

Su Xing quickly stepped forward, took a necklace, and played with it in her hand.

The necklace had a blue heart-shaped gem pendant, looking quite beautiful.


She sweetly uttered a string of flattering words, “Thank you, Kaka, you’re so kind. I knew you wouldn’t really come out alone like an idiot. So, how does this work?”

Kaka said, “It’s a passive skill. When you face a fatal threat, it will take one life for you.”

Quinn also held such a necklace.

Hearing this, he immediately panicked and tried to hand the necklace back to Kaka, “No, no! This is too… too precious. I can’t take it.”

Su Xing skillfully put on her own necklace, then snatched the necklace from Quinn’s hand, “Is your life more important, or is a necklace more important? At worst, just don’t get into trouble, and return it to him after we get out, okay?”

She finished, then waved to him, “Come here, I’ll put it on you.”

Quinn’s face flushed a little, but he also knew Su Xing was right.

So he obediently walked over and let Su Xing help him put it on.

Girls usually developed earlier, and 15-year-old Su Xing was clearly a head taller than Quinn.

In fact, among the four of them, only Evincel could barely compare to her; Kaka and Quinn were both significantly shorter than her.

So she easily put the necklace on Quinn.

Su Xing looked back and saw that Evincel had already put on his necklace on his own, no persuasion needed.

Despite his proud exterior, this guy’s self-awareness was truly comparable to hers.

Another period of boring waiting ensued, during which Su Xing and the others were extremely bored.

Su Xing noticed that Evincel’s black hat had been removed, and his smooth, flowing golden hair was exceptionally striking.

Because it was slightly long, he had tied it into a small bun at the back.

Paired with his black earrings, he surprisingly had an artistic aura.

She couldn’t help but ask with a smile, “Hey! Evincel, do you wear a hat to cover your overly dazzling hair?”

Evincel glanced at her, closed his eyes, and didn’t answer.

Su Xing knew this meant he admitted it.

She nodded in understanding, “Your hair is quite nice, but for a killer, it’s indeed a bit conspicuous.”

Quinn had been circling the cylindrical culture vat with great interest, observing it.

He seemed to have immense interest in such things.

Suddenly, Quinn’s expression changed, “This Snow Maiden seems to have a problem!”

Su Xing was about to ask when she heard Keno push open the door and walk in, “What’s the problem?”

Quinn’s face was pale, frozen on the spot.

Su Xing quickly reacted and interjected, “Quinn said his phantasm isn’t feeling well, like it has indigestion, and it’ll take longer to help Little Blue recover.”

Quinn quickly nodded, “Ye-yes, that’s right.”

Keno was a little disappointed but also understood. He consoled them empathetically, “After all, they’re novice Phantasm Masters; it’s normal for phantasm skills to be unstable.”

He even made a little joke, “It’s fine, we have plenty of time. As long as you don’t faint from hunger.”

Su Xing subtly glanced at Quinn, thinking about how to get the information about his discovery.

Because Quinn looked extremely nervous and scared now, it was clear there was a big problem with this Snow Maiden.

Suddenly, she noticed Quinn pause slightly, then become even more nervous.

Su Xing scanned Quinn, then realized there was a small white ghost to his right.

A ghost?

Su Xing sharply looked at Evincel, and indeed saw that he was also watching Quinn.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this ghost should be Evincel’s phantasm—the Fright Ghost.

Fright Ghosts were commonly employed phantasms in haunted houses; generally, they had no other abilities besides scaring people.

Quinn was also looking at Evincel.

After receiving his hint, he immediately tensed up, making small gestures with his fingers on the ghost.

As he gestured, Evincel’s face gradually became grim.

He quickly looked at the culture vat, staring for a moment, then his sharp gaze pierced the unwitting Keno like a knife.

He quickly retracted his gaze, meeting Su Xing’s eyes with a solemn expression.

This made Su Xing’s heart sink.

Whatever could make Evincel show such an expression must not be an easy matter.

Soon, the ghost floated towards Su Xing, and a line of bloody characters appeared on its blank back.

“This Snow Maiden is not made of snow.”

Upon seeing this message, Su Xing was initially stunned, not reacting.

Then she quickly looked at the culture vat, trying to find anything amiss.

However, there was nothing.

The Snow Maiden in the culture vat was snow-white all over, as if made of blood, showing no flaws.

She wondered how Quinn had discovered it.

But not doubting teammates was a fundamental quality in times of crisis.

Su Xing temporarily trusted Quinn’s judgment and began to ponder Evincel’s intention in relaying this information to her.

With Su Xing’s intelligence, she quickly understood what Evincel wanted to convey.

If the Snow Maiden in this culture vat wasn’t made of snow, then she wouldn’t be melted by high temperatures.

This meant Keno’s earlier statement about not pressing the switch for the sake of his wife and daughter was clearly a lie.

However, this Snow Maiden herself indeed looked like a Snow Maiden and was preserved in a culture vat.

Once released, it was highly likely she would ally with Keno to harm Su Xing and the others.

Having figured this out, Su Xing wasn’t actually surprised; she had already determined that Keno was problematic.

The three exchanged glances, none intending to pass this information to Kaka.

Not only was it uncertain if this little simpleton could even receive the message smoothly, but once he knew that Keno, who had just moved him to tears, might actually be a bad guy, it was a separate question whether Kaka could even maintain his composure.

Su Xing thought for a moment, pointed at Keno towards Evincel, then drew a line across her neck with her hand.

Don’t misunderstand, this wasn’t a sign to kill him, but merely to have Evincel restrain him.

Evincel indeed understood Su Xing’s meaning.

He casually approached Keno, then suddenly erupted with lightning speed, directly grasping Keno’s neck.

With a swift movement, he pinned Keno beneath him, holding a dagger to his throat, “Don’t move!”

Keno was shocked, “Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?”

Kaka also stood up in surprise, asking worriedly, “Evincel, what happened? Why are you treating Uncle Keno like this?”

Su Xing’s face darkened, “This guy harbors ill intentions towards us. It’s better to control him beforehand.”

Hearing her confident tone, Keno no longer struggled.

His glasses had half-slipped off due to the previous violent movement, revealing a bright, keen eye.

He asked with interest, “How did you find out?”

This was an admission.

Kaka gasped, finding it hard to accept at the moment.


Quinn stammered an explanation, “Normal Snow Maidens are, are, are made of snow, but… but the Snow… Snow Maiden in this culture vat isn’t.”

Despite being restrained, Keno remained surprisingly relaxed, even having the composure to ask, “How did you discover she wasn’t made of snow? I thought my disguise was flawless?”

Quinn, “Logically speaking, low temperatures in… in water should at least cause… cause… cause a layer around it to freeze. But she… she has no… no ice around her.”

Keno nodded appreciatively, “Detailed observation. The ability to connect common phenomena in daily life with specific scenarios. You have great potential as a scientist.”

He laughed morbidly, “Does this mean people with white hair are suited to be scientists? Or are green-eyed people more suited to be scientists?”

Su Xing and the others, who had seen the photo, knew he was referring to Raile as the white-haired person and Mina as the green-eyed one.

It seemed Keno and the Raile couple had an untold story back then.

“Behave!”

Evincel fiercely pressed Keno’s head down with his other free hand, reprimanding him.

Keno remained unconcerned and looked at Su Xing again, “What about you then? Just what Quinn discovered shouldn’t be enough to confirm that I’m problematic, right? Why were you so sure? Or rather, when did you realize I was problematic?”

Su Xing felt a bit uncomfortable with the other party’s passive yet still seemingly at ease attitude, but she still replied, “From the very beginning, I thought you were problematic.”

Facing Keno’s curious gaze, Su Xing pointed out his incredibly obvious blunder, “You initially said you were Raile and Mina’s life assistant, but from your fanaticism towards research, you’re clearly more than just a simple life assistant. Besides, you were wearing a white lab coat in your photo! You wouldn’t really take us for fools just because we’re young, would you?”

Kaka and the others felt inexplicably guilty hearing this; they really hadn’t noticed the problem.

Primarily, the “life assistant” detail was too subtle for them to pay attention to.

Keno didn’t get upset when she said this; he just chuckled, “You’re right, I underestimated you. Each of you has your own unique qualities. How about you stay and do experiments with me? I can make an exception and let you be my assistants, not my test subjects.”

Evincel’s dagger pressed further against Keno’s neck, the sharp blade almost cutting him.

Evincel snapped, “You’re a prisoner, and you still dare to threaten us?”

“Threat? No, this isn’t a threat; it’s a benevolent act.”

Keno’s expression was calm, “And you seem to have misunderstood something. I’m not a prisoner.”