Chapter 106

Chapter 8: Clues and Pursuit (6K)

　　Of course, the answer was there, after all, it had been less than a year since the incident.

　　Qiao Lili didn’t find Wang Zhen’s current job, but she did locate his recent range of activities.

　　”Found it, the activity location is near the outskirts of the Third Ring,” Yuan Xiaoling said. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll go to the former self-media of the newspaper first, then look for him in the afternoon.”

　　The self-media was nearby, and there might still be records from back then.

　　Bai Ling put down her bowl and lightly curled the corner of her mouth. “Tomorrow? I thought you’d be so eager tonight for something this important.”

　　”It’s…already too late tonight,” Yuan Xiaoling instinctively pressed on her little waist. “It’s already rest time, others have work tomorrow.”

　　”Oh, really?” Bai Ling smiled meaningfully. “I thought you were too exhausted to get up.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling immediately became flustered, her little throat wheezing.

　　”Would I be too tired to get up? Don’t joke, would I be that kind of person?”

　　She, as the Fourth-tier Water Dragon Lord, cultivated an unceasing ability, with jellyfish friends continuously replenishing her energy. How could she possibly be unable to get up?

　　As she spoke, Yuan Xiaoling tried to stand up to prove herself… Ow!

　　With a splash, she fell back onto the bed, twisting her little waist.

　　Lying flat on the bed with her Dabeitù facing the sky, Yuan Xiaoling saw Bai Ling’s half-smiling expression and blushed.

　　”I…I’m just not used to it, didn’t control the force well, got too excited at the moment.”

　　Not being stubborn, this was indeed the reason. The first time, she hadn’t been gentle enough, twisting her own waist.

　　Bai Ling climbed onto the bed and sat beside her. “Shall I rub it for you?”

　　”No need, I’ll be fine in a bit.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling tried to flip over, but her waist went numb again, and she splashed back with a plop. After a long silence, she finally softly said:

　　”Then…you can rub it.”

　　Since Yuan Xiaoling couldn’t turn over, Bai Ling had to gently lean over her, using the elasticity of the Dabeitù to support her body.

　　Though the posture looked somewhat suggestive, it was truly just a massage, kneading her delicate and supple little waist.

　　As she moved, Yuan Xiaoling occasionally let out a small hum, unsure if it was effective or not.

　　It should be effective, they say having sensation means it’s working.

　　”Speaking of which, I never would have guessed,” Bai Ling said lightly. “You have such…spiritual techniques.”

　　Never seen before, completely surprised.

　　”That’s natural,” Yuan Xiaoling grew proud, involuntarily puffing out her chest. “Exclusive skills, got it?”

　　Bai Ling’s gaze fell, deeply looking at the Dabeitù, nodding unconsciously.

　　Indeed exclusive skills, after all, it’s hard for ordinary people to have such size, and those with such size don’t have such vitality.

　　Yuan Xiaoling enjoyed the massage, her little mouth itching,忍不住 wanting to chatter a bit more: “Let me tell you, your surprise shows you don’t know enough about animal friends. Rabbits will definitely dig holes, haven’t you heard of rabbit holes?”

　　No one knows her animal friends better than Ningning.

　　Bai Ling nodded. “I’ve heard now.”

　　”That’s right,” Yuan Xiaoling hummed. “Listen well, learn well.”

　　Just remember, Ningning is the senior, Bai Ling is the junior. What is a junior?

　　—Junior sister, learning is endless.

　　”Dear senior, I have a rabbit-related idiom, hoping to ask you about it next time.” Bai Ling said calmly.

　　”Say it.”

　　”Jiǎo tù sān kū.”

　　”…”

　　Such a small question, of course, couldn’t stump Yuan Xiaoling’s smart little brain.

　　But it stumped her soft and cute body.

　　”This…this is out of the question…”

　　Joking, yesterday Ningning was exhausted to death by just one, let alone three dens… You’re asking Ningning to do what?

　　Bai Ling just smiled meaningfully and didn’t say anything else.

　　She wasn’t in a hurry because she knew that according to Yuan Xiaoling’s nature, sooner or later, she’d become inexplicably confident due to a good mood and challenge her limits.

　　After rubbing her waist, Yuan Xiaoling felt much more comfortable and fell into a deep sleep.

　　Zzzz

　　Bai Ling lay down beside her but couldn’t fall asleep for a while, looking at the golden-haired maiden sound asleep on the pillow, sighing silently.

　　She originally wanted to ask about the matter supposedly related to the Yun Family, but feared losing control once she knew. To suppress her eagerness, she could only distract herself by talking about suggestive things.

　　Surprisingly, this method worked, though she didn’t know why, afterward, she felt a bit empty, like in sage mode.

　　Looking at the phone, then it’s time to sleep.

　　…………

　　”Huff~”

　　Under the bright summer sunshine, the blonde-haired maiden stretched lazily.

　　Thanks to the bedtime massage, she slept incredibly well, waking up feeling refreshed and invigorated, all traces of yesterday’s fatigue gone.

　　Time to get down to business.

　　Yuan Xiaoling went out, found Luo Zou Cheng and the others, planned and announced the arrangements for today. She asked them to bring some people, starting to gradually take over the beach area based on proximity principles. Meanwhile, she headed to the Third Ring to search for clues regarding the mystery of the Four Squares Academy from a year ago.

　　Bai Ling wanted to follow but was persuaded to stay behind in case the beach side encountered tough opponents and needed her support.

　　Yuan Xiaoling only brought Ah Lan and Ting Ting, two acquaintances. In fact, if not for needing someone to drive, she originally intended to go alone.

　　”Let’s go to the Third Ring, this place called ‘Tianhai Major Events’ studio.”

　　Taking advantage of the time in the car, Yuan Xiaoling explained the reason for this mission to them.

　　”Yesterday, I received a secret message saying that a major event happened at the Four Squares Academy in Tianhai a year ago, and this event is related to our opponent.”

　　”A year ago? Four Squares Academy?” Ah Lan scratched her head. “Seems familiar, but not very clear.”

　　A year ago, the Nameless Bar was peaceful, attracting many interested employers and mercenaries with its employment system. Everyone made a little money during the day, drank and boasted at the bar at night, thinking the entire world of Spiritual Energy Manipulators in Tianhai City revolved around Queen’s Road.

　　”I think I’ve heard of it,” Ting Ting sitting in the passenger seat said. “I remember when I was little, my family took me to the Four Squares Academy to burn incense on New Year’s Eve, praying for better exam results, though we didn’t know which deity we were worshiping.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling tilted her head. “When you were little, when was that?”

　　”More than ten years ago.”

　　”…That’s irrelevant.”

　　She was investigating clues from a year ago, you directly jump to more than ten years ago, too far off.

　　”So what happened later,” Ah Lan was curious. “Why didn’t you go anymore?”

　　Ting Ting shook her head. “Don’t know, apparently it was requisitioned by higher-ups later, and no one cared much. Those years, Tianhai City developed rapidly, many unknown scenic spots were taken for development, including the Four Squares Academy.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling nodded silently. Indeed, Tianhai City developed greatly more than ten years ago, including commerce and factories like Yunhai Company. A lot happened during that time.

　　So according to current intelligence, Tianhai City once had an ancient temple named “Four Squares Academy.” It was an unnamed temple without a specific deity, existing quietly as an obscure tourist attraction.

　　Later, at some point, roughly ten years ago, the ancient temple was requisitioned by higher-ups, used for unknown purposes, eventually belonging to others.

　　Then, a year ago, something happened at the Four Squares Academy ancient temple. All traces were erased afterward, almost no one knew.

　　This is all the known intelligence.

　　Yuan Xiaoling felt this matter was very complicated, but the two older sisters driving didn’t know how deep it went. Compared to these, they were more concerned about—

　　”Xiaoling, how exactly did you and Miss Bai Ling…end up together?”

　　Upon hearing Ting Ting’s question, even Ah Lan driving couldn’t help but perk up her ears to eavesdrop, conveniently slowing down at a red light.

　　Yuan Xiaoling hesitated slightly. “Didn’t I mention this before? We were in the same school, I was her senior, she was my junior, and that’s how we met…”

　　”No, you misunderstood, I mean,” Ting Ting’s face turned slightly red. “How did you…get together?”

　　Yuan Xiaoling initially didn’t understand, but seeing her expression in the rearview mirror, she immediately got it.

　　That refers to intimate matters.

　　”Cough cough, well, it’s a bit awkward to talk about… It was a quiet night, we had never met, by the riverside, I was taking a walk, wearing very cool clothes in the summer, and as I walked, suddenly she rushed out from the side…”

　　After listening to Yuan Xiaoling’s account, both Ah Lan and Ting Ting were shocked. “So she saw you and…?”

　　”Cough, it’s because she had heard of me in school, already harboring admiration,” Yuan Xiaoling opened her little mouth. “At first sight, the feelings hidden deep inside surged forth, endlessly, uncontrollably.”

　　Ting Ting hesitated a moment before asking, “What surged forth was really just feelings?”

　　”…”

　　”However,” Ah Lan interjected, “even though Miss Bai Ling rushed out from the side, Xiaoling must have responded afterward, leading to mutual affection.”

　　”Exactly,” Ting Ting nodded. “Many things are like that, one-sided effort isn’t enough; both sides need to be interested.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling couldn’t help but glance at her. For some reason, she felt this statement carried a bit of wisdom.

　　But speaking of that night, did I really respond…?

　　Never mind, whether I responded or not, I won anyway.

　　”By the way, Xiaoling, what kind of movement did you use that night…”

　　”Cough cough, we’ve arrived, no idle chat,” Yuan Xiaoling cleared her throat. “We must focus on the task at hand.”

　　What are you doing, always chatting about these things during field operations, making her feel a bit dragon-like.

　　The Third Ring was within the city but not as crowded as the downtown area. They parked the car randomly by the roadside and followed the address on the mobile app.

　　This area wasn’t very prosperous. The “Tianhai Major Events” studio simply filmed outside their door, currently shooting a new episode.

　　A person was holding a mask, putting it on their head while telling the camera assistant beside them:

　　”The bigger the event, the less you can talk about it. The less you can talk, the lower the heat. The lower the heat, the smaller the event. So the bigger the event, the smaller it becomes.”

　　The camera assistant seemed to understand somewhat. “So Director, what can we say today?”

　　”We definitely can’t talk about Tianhai Tower, the event is too big. Neither can we discuss the live streams and videos of Justice Execution; it doesn’t look good.” The masked man said, “But I recently received a tip that there’s a goddess in Tianhai’s Spiritual Energy Manipulator circle, a super beautiful young beauty, a blonde-haired girl with a childlike face and large assets, who’s also the school flower somewhere. Look, I have a picture.”

　　The camera assistant took a look and couldn’t help but marvel. Indeed, she was very pretty, and…indeed, quite large.

　　”But Director, isn’t gossiping about others inappropriate?”

　　”How inappropriate? Let me tell you, gossip is the safest thing. Gossip about busty beauties is safe and liked by audiences, making it the best material, heaven-sent.”

　　”But wouldn’t the person, being a Spiritual Energy Manipulator, come after us?”

　　”Impossible, we’re just chatting about gossip, and mentioning a beautiful girl and big assets is actually praising her,” the director confidently stated. “Would she really come after us?”

　　The camera assistant glanced at the door, then at him, hesitating for a moment before whispering, “But Director, she seems to have already come.”

　　”…?”

　　The mask stiffly turned its neck and saw a blonde-haired girl with a childlike face and impressive assets smiling sweetly at the entrance of their studio.

　　Splash!

　　”Sister, it’s a misunderstanding! We haven’t started writing yet, nor have we filmed anything… Could we…”

　　”Get up, I just want to ask you about something from the past,” Yuan Xiaoling retracted her smile, indicating the studio. “Let’s talk inside.”

　　The studio’s office environment was decent, clean and bright tones. The camera assistant earlier served tea in a mug and placed it on the table.

　　”Miss Yuan, you mentioned you wanted to ask me about something from the past. What is it?”

　　Apparently, they had some connections, knowing not only about the existence of the blonde-haired beauty but also her name.

　　”I’ll be straightforward. Did you…when you were still doing online newspapers…” Yuan Xiaoling was about to speak when she suddenly frowned. “Take off that mask first.”

　　Talking to an exaggerated comic-style head was too strange.

　　”Oh, right, forgot.” He hastily removed the mask.

　　Yuan Xiaoling didn’t care what he looked like in real life, directly stating, “Did you ever report on an event—the Four Squares Academy Incident—when you were doing online newspapers?”

　　The camera assistant appeared confused, having joined the studio not long ago and not experiencing the online newspaper era.

　　And the director quietly muttered “Four Squares Academy Incident” several times before finally recalling, “Was it something from about a year ago?”

　　”Yes.”

　　”That incident, it was quite a big news story back then, we did a bit of reporting, but later we heard rumors that we shouldn’t talk about it, so we stopped paying attention.”

　　Ah Lan raised her voice, “Not paying attention?!”

　　She drove all the way here, and he says this?

　　The director shrank back, looking aggrieved. “We really didn’t pay attention. Usually, with events like this, we would first check if we can talk about them. If it’s too big, we ignore it, happens often.”

　　Like the Tianhai Tower incident, he didn’t dare to investigate further.

　　Yuan Xiaoling signaled Ah Lan to calm down and continued asking, “How much do you know?”

　　The director looked around, hesitating for a long time before whispering, “I just heard, just hearsay, that at the time, there were many Spiritual Energy Manipulators at the Four Squares Academy, and they clashed, resulting in severe casualties… That’s all I know.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling stared at him calmly, making him sweat coldly.

　　”I really don’t know more. I’m not frontline personnel, believe me.”

　　”Fine, but where is the frontline person, the reporter named Wang Zhen?” Yuan Xiaoling asked again.

　　”Wang Zhen? Yes, it was him who wrote and published the article back then, we didn’t know. As for Wang Zhen,” the director sighed, “he was fired not long after.”

　　Ah Lan, upon hearing this, immediately raised her voice, “Just touching this matter got him swiftly fired, and you still claim you know nothing!”

　　”It’s not like that, Wang Zhen leaving was due to his own reasons,” the director hurriedly explained. “He kept misspelling words in his articles, and that was tolerable, but he had a habit of using his own terms.”

　　He wiped his cold sweat and said helplessly, “For example, when writing articles about Spiritual Energy Manipulators, he insisted on calling them superheroes because he was a movie enthusiast. Tell me, can we use terms like superheroes? Isn’t that going against official guidance by defining Spiritual Energy Manipulators for the public? I thought someone without political sensitivity working in journalism would surely cause trouble someday.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling nodded and placed the water cup down.

　　”That’s enough, let’s go.”

　　The director and the camera assistant stood up to see them off.

　　”Miss Yuan, ladies, please walk slowly~”

　　Back in the car, Ting Ting curiously asked, “Xiaoling, aren’t we going to ask where that person went after being fired?”

　　”It’s fine, I know,” Yuan Xiaoling closed her eyes. “Outskirts of the Third Ring, Dongdong Road, Sci-Tech Digital Mobile Phone Shop.”

　　Sitting in the car, she thought for a moment. According to what the director said, that incident was likely related to government affairs. Only they had the authority to dictate what could and couldn’t be spoken about back then.

　　So, probably something involving government personnel happened, and later the Yun Family intervened? Regardless, the priority was still to figure out what event occurred.

　　Yuan Xiaoling remembered Li Li’s words. The connection to the Yun Family was merely bait to catch her interest. The most crucial part of the entire event was the event itself. Clearing the truth would clarify all clues.

　　After they left, at the Tianhai Major Events studio, the director hugged the mask and told the camera assistant,

　　”You see, as a journalist, having a nose for news is the most important. Knowing what to say and what not to say. Regarding that incident earlier, even if I knew, I wouldn’t have said it.”

　　The camera assistant nodded, feeling like she learned a lot.

　　But just then, the lights in the room dimmed, and a person dressed entirely in gray robes quietly sat beside him.

　　The director nearly fell off his chair in fright.

　　”Don’t be nervous,” the gray-robed figure rasped with a laugh. “I just want to know what the beautiful blonde girl just told you?”

　　”Her, she…”

　　The director looked at the camera assistant, who was also looking at him, as if asking, can we say this, Director?

　　Bang! A loud crack, and all the bulbs in the room shattered, falling to the ground with a clatter.

　　”I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” The director broke out in a cold sweat. “I’ll tell you everything!”

　　…

　　If the Third Ring still retained some urban atmosphere, the outskirts of the Third Ring looked more suburban. Besides residential areas, most of the streets consisted of low old houses. On one street, there were only a few breakfast shops, two small stir-fry restaurants, and a barber shop.

　　Sci-Tech Digital Mobile Phone Shop was located among the breakfast shops. Business was slow today, and the few people inside were idly playing around.

　　As soon as Yuan Xiaoling entered, the front desk staff lit up instantly.

　　”Hey, pretty lady, buying a phone? What price range and brand are you interested in?”

　　There’s that saying, when you’re a cute blonde with impressive assets, every clerk greets you enthusiastically.

　　”I’m looking for someone,” Yuan Xiaoling asked directly. “Is Wang Zhen here?”

　　The bespectacled young man at the front desk exclaimed in surprise, “That’s me, are you looking for me?”

　　He was excited, though he didn’t yet know what it was about.

　　”About a year ago, when you were still working at the online newspaper, did you write a news report about the clash at the Four Squares Academy?”

　　”Clash at the Four Squares Academy…”

　　Wang Zhen carefully thought for a long time before finally recalling faintly, “I seem to have written something, but it was deleted shortly after.”

　　”Do you know what happened at the time?” Yuan Xiaoling asked him. “As a frontline journalist, you must have been on-site back then, right?”

　　Wang Zhen bitterly laughed, “Not really, I’m just a minor online journalist. Besides, normally, it’s impossible to enter the Four Squares Academy, let alone during extraordinary times.”

　　Normally, it’s impossible to enter the Four Squares Academy…meaning it was sealed off or in a secretive state, perhaps.

　　Yuan Xiaoling was glad she visited the studio first. Although the masked director wasn’t frontline, his political sensitivity and level were clearly several tiers higher than Wang Zhen’s.

　　From the masked director, she learned that the Four Squares Academy belonged to the authorities, combined with Wang Zhen’s information, suggesting that it was highly possible to have been a former base for Spiritual Energy Manipulators under official jurisdiction.

　　Or some kind of experimental site, anything requiring secrecy falls into these categories.

　　”How did you write the article if you didn’t know what happened?” she asked.

　　Wang Zhen wiped his glasses, looking embarrassed, “Well, I pieced it together based on the situation at the time, rumors, and hearsay, filling in the gaps, then used some vague wording…”

　　Yuan Xiaoling’s lips twitched, thinking no wonder the studio fired him.

　　Turns out you were just making it up, everyone who understands gets it, the matter was too big to talk about, and has been PR managed, right?

　　Being looked down upon by a blonde beauty of this caliber, Wang Zhen felt a bit embarrassed.

　　”Although I didn’t go inside at the time, I hid outside for two days and managed to take some photos,” he said. “They’re on my old phone, let me fetch them for you.”

　　Hmm? Not bad.

　　”Fetch them quickly. If it’s useful to me,” Yuan Xiaoling gave a sweet smile, “thank you in advance.”

　　Wang Zhen immediately perked up and turned to find the cabinet, but just then, Ting Ting’s pupils contracted sharply:

　　”Quick, dodge!”

　　Without time to think, Yuan Xiaoling waved her hand toward Wang Zhen, and a water frog appeared out of nowhere, slapping Wang Zhen down with a single palm. Immediately after, a metallic gleam flashed at the height where his neck had been, striking the glass cabinet behind filled with model phones, causing it to explode violently.

　　Crash crash crash crash crash crash crash—!

　　The employees in the phone shop were stunned, sitting on their chairs with their phones in hand, unsure what to do. Wang Zhen lay on the floor, too scared to get up immediately, merely groaning “Ouch ouch.”

　　Only Yuan Xiaoling understood what had happened. If it weren’t for the “Tide Agreement” allowing zero-casting delay, saving Wang Zhen at the last second, he would have been decapitated by now.

　　Ting Ting picked up a piece of glass from the ground, closed her eyes for a moment, and said, “Xiaoling, at least Third-tier power.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling shut her little mouth and quietly looked out the window.

　　She wasn’t afraid of enemy attacks, but the opponent was clearly targeting Wang Zhen, and she had no idea how many more were hiding outside.