Ye Yang rushed over in a flash, channeling energy into the wound to stop the bleeding before asking, “What exactly happened? Are you hurt anywhere else?”
Xing Tian currently had no head—his real face was hidden beneath his clothes, invisible, along with any expression he might have had. But the cold radiating from his entire body and the icy chill in his voice were unmistakable: “Thanks, it’s nothing serious. I have to go again. No time to talk.”
General Long glanced at him and said sternly, “You have no idea where they are. Where will you even look? Besides, the mission has already been declared a failure.”
Xing Tian said nothing, the cold around him growing even more intense.
Ye Yang asked, “What exactly happened?”
Xing Tian replied succinctly, “I failed the mission.”
“Huh?” Ye Yang thought he had misheard.
Chi Lian pulled him aside and quietly explained. Xing Tian had taken a seemingly ordinary escort mission, only A-rank. The objective was to escort a girl from Dongzhou University to the YCG Dongzhou branch.
It sounded simple, and Xing Tian hadn’t thought much of it. But unexpectedly, a pack of werewolves ambushed them and kidnapped the target.
The attack happened on a moving subway. Xing Tian was hesitant to act recklessly due to the civilians, and with so many werewolves, not only was the girl taken, but Xing Tian was also injured, leaving behind an entire train car full of ordinary humans who needed to be handled.
Xing Tian wanted to pursue immediately, but the crisis response team arrived in time and informed him that the mission was a failure, ordering him to return.
Even after coming back, he refused to accept it.
How could he? This was the first failed mission in Xing Tian’s entire history!
Suddenly, Witch Jie, sitting behind a computer, interrupted: “It’s here!”
A follow-up mission had appeared after Xing Tian’s failed one. This time, the objective was to find the girl and escort her back to the YCG Dongzhou branch.
Xing Tian immediately walked over. “Accept it for me.”
Witch Jie hesitated. “But we should be heading to Can Mountain now. We probably won’t have time for this mission.”
Ye Yang knew about this. He had even packed his bags already. Coming in early today was precisely to head to Can Mountain with everyone else.
Can Mountain City was adjacent to Dongzhou, as were Fuyuan and Qianqin Cities. Recently, these three cities had been experiencing frequent anomalies, with a surge of rogue cultivators appearing. They were severely understaffed, and Dongzhou had received a request for reinforcements, planning to send half of its operations department.
In fact, the problems in these cities had started much earlier, but no one had connected the incidents until a few days ago when YCG finally linked them together.
“Not long ago, people said Fu Ye wouldn’t even return to defend his own city. But now it seems—if it weren’t for him, the nemesis of rogue cultivators, being here in Dongzhou—Dongzhou might have ended up like Can Mountain and the rest.”
Xing Tian still insisted on taking the mission. It was rightfully his—he needed to see it through.
After some back-and-forth, General Long made the final decision: “Xing Tian, Ye Yang, you two will first help the deer spirit escape danger and send her back to her hometown. Then, you’ll head to Can Mountain for reinforcements.”
“Shu Wan, Chi Lian, and I will go ahead first.”
Xing Tian had originally wanted to go alone, not wanting to affect the Can Mountain mission. But General Long said, “Xiao Ye’s abilities can cover for any contingencies. Right now, we don’t even know what’s going on with that deer spirit.”
And just like that, Ye Yang was reluctantly dragged along. It wasn’t until they met up with Lu Xun that Ye Yang learned the person they were escorting wasn’t a girl at all, but a deer spirit. No wonder General Long had phrased it that way. But what exactly was a deer spirit?
Lu Xun had been sent out immediately to track down the mission target. As expected, he returned quickly with intel—and the deer spirit herself.
“The deer spirit wasn’t captured by the werewolves at all. She ran away on her own during the chaos. Seriously.” Lu Xun couldn’t help but complain. It wasn’t like Xing Tian couldn’t have handled it. Her escape had caused them so much trouble.
“Thank you. We’ll take it from here,” Xing Tian said to Lu Xun. Lu Xun nodded and hurried off, not even having time to exchange words with Ye Yang, as he was eager to get to Can Mountain himself.
Ye Yang looked left and right. “So, shall we go?”
They were currently in a park near Dongzhou University. The weather was cold, and the university was on winter break, so no one was around. But the werewolves were still at large, and they needed to leave as soon as possible—only the branch was safe.
Xing Tian nodded, grabbing the deer spirit with one hand and pulling out a teleportation talisman with the other.
“No, I can’t—” Xing Tian ignored the deer spirit’s protests and activated the talisman.
The next second, the talisman self-ignited. But instead of teleporting the three of them, an invisible force intercepted them, leaving them rooted in place.
“What’s going on?”
“I told you, you can’t use those things,” the deer spirit said, a little annoyed. “If they worked, why would I have taken the subway in the first place?”
Ye Yang finally took a closer look at the deer spirit. She appeared to be an ordinary graduate student, completely unremarkable, with no trace of demonic aura. He couldn’t help but remark, “I didn’t know there were other yaogui at Dongzhou University.” He had thought he was the only one.
The deer spirit looked at him. “I’m not a yaoguai. I’m a ling creature.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry.” Ye Yang felt awkward. He had made the same mistake again—it made him look so unprofessional.
But the deer spirit continued, “It’s easy to get it wrong. We deer spirits are a special case.”
Ye Yang was curious and wanted to ask more, but Xing Tian cut in, “Alright, let’s move.”
Ye Yang fell silent and flanked the deer spirit with Xing Tian, one on each side, as they got onto a shared electric scooter.
The scooter was quite small, and Xing Tian was especially cramped in the driver’s seat. But he didn’t care about that—he just wanted to get the person delivered as soon as possible.
Fortunately, this time they succeeded without any further incidents.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Xing Tian, in particular, kept watching until the deer spirit was led into a private room. Only then did he turn to Ye Yang and say, “Let’s go. To Can Mountain.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Someone suddenly called out to them. It was Lu Xun.
“Weren’t you heading to Can Mountain? What are you doing here?”
Lu Xun was panting heavily, waving his hands and shaking his head. “Don’t ask. I got pulled back halfway to track down a spirit core. I’m sure it’s at Dongzhou University, but I can’t get in. You’ll have to take it from here. Oh, right—the werewolves might be there too.”
“Huh?”
Just as he finished speaking, a message popped up on Ye Yang’s phone—an S-rank mission assigned specifically to him: Retrieve the deer spirit’s spirit core.
“Wait, how can it be assigned like that?”
Lu Xun explained, “Half of Dongzhou’s personnel have been reassigned. This mission might involve a direct confrontation with those werewolves. Among those left, only you and Captain Xing Tian have the ability to handle it. But Captain Xing Tian has to leave for Can Mountain immediately—the situation there is urgent!”
“Besides, Dongzhou University is a protected ground. We non-humans can’t enter easily. You have to apply for permission, and it’s a huge hassle. But you studied there—you’re the best fit.”
Ye Yang said nothing. He had studied at Dongzhou University for years and had no idea about this concept. But come to think of it, he’d never seen any mission affect the university.
Still—if non-humans couldn’t enter, how did the deer spirit and the werewolves get in? Did that make any sense?
“Go. Be safe. And remember to call Lord Xuanwu.” Xing Tian patted Ye Yang on the shoulder. Having made up for his earlier mistake, his urgency had subsided, and he was calm again.
With that, he and Lu Xun headed straight for the teleportation array. Since they were already at the branch, using the inter-branch teleportation array would be much faster than going to Can Mountain on their own.
Ye Yang was left alone in the corridor. He raised his phone and opened the mission details.
The mission brief stated that the deer spirit’s spirit core had been taken by werewolves. Without it, the deer spirit was like a fish without gills—every aspect of her body was impaired. She could now only stay at the YCG Dongzhou branch, relying on the dense spiritual energy there to maintain basic bodily functions.
No wonder the deer spirit had looked so pale. Ye Yang had assumed she was just frightened.
But then he tilted his head in thought. The deer spirit’s spirit core had been taken before the first escort mission. Why hadn’t they asked Xing Tian to retrieve it then?
Ye Yang didn’t understand.
The brief also mentioned that the deer spirit’s spirit core was a brown, glass-like sphere, very fragile and requiring gentle handling. If they encountered werewolves, they shouldn’t get entangled in battle and should try to disengage quickly.
At the end of the document, a large, urgent mark was stamped at the bottom. It seemed best to go now and not delay.
“Should I call Mr. Shen?” He didn’t want to bother Shen Ming. After thinking it over, he decided to go alone.
It wasn’t just any place—it was Dongzhou University, the place he knew best. What was there to fear?
Besides, Xing Tian had said that while the werewolves were fierce, they weren’t particularly strong. There were only seven or eight of them—Ye Yang could handle them. And if he couldn’t, he could always escape. Knowing how frugal Ye Yang was, Xing Tian had stuffed a handful of talismans into his pocket before leaving.
The mission was urgent. He didn’t have time to overthink it, nor did he dare skimp on cost. He immediately teleported to the vicinity of Dongzhou University.
Although Lu Xun couldn’t enter the university, his nose was exceptionally sharp. He had pinpointed a range for Ye Yang—if his judgment was correct, the deer spirit’s core should be underground in the medical school’s laboratory building.
Dusk had fallen. In the lab building, only the fifth and sixth floors had students studying in the classrooms. Below the fifth floor, there were only a handful of students. The nighttime security patrols hadn’t started yet.
Ye Yang didn’t let his guard down for a moment. Avoiding the crowds and cameras, he quietly made his way to the elevator hall of the lab building.
The basement level of the lab building housed anatomical specimens—”silent teachers” and human tissue samples for dissection courses. To prevent curious students or outsiders from wandering in, the staircase leading to the basement was locked, and the elevator required a card swipe.
Not wanting to cause too much commotion, Ye Yang shifted into his original form—a tiny sea hare—and slipped through the iron railings at the stairwell entrance.
“This place is pretty big.”
When Ye Yang was still in school, he had heard classmates talk about this somewhat mysterious place, but he hadn’t paid close attention. He only knew it was the source of many horror stories.
After coming down the stairs, the temperature dropped sharply. Neat rows of rooms stretched out before him, the layout not much different from upstairs.
Ye Yang didn’t change back to human form. Remaining hidden as a sea hare, he flattened his soft body into a thin sheet and squeezed through the crack beneath a door.
The first two rooms contained movable metal beds and rows of sinks, likely for transporting the “silent teachers.” In the third room, behind a heavy door, the temperature dropped even further. Rows of stainless steel refrigerators lined the walls, resembling a morgue.
“Could it be inside one of these freezers?” Ye Yang mused. It seemed unlikely, but what if?
“Maybe I should still check…”
Just as he was about to shift into human form to open one of the units, voices echoed from the corridor outside.
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