Chapter 30
"Oh, please, you have to help ! You have to find her—she still has an event this Sunday!" The mont she stepped out of the police car, Zuo Jiangqin trailed after the officers, stressing in a frantic voice how crucial it was to bring Bai Yi back.
The officer in front adjusted his cap—its badge bore a qilin and the words Jinghe Precinct—then glanced back at Mrs. Zuo and said evenly,
"Mrs. Zuo, the event isn't what you should be worrying about right now. If we can't locate your daughter, nothing else matters. And according to your own statent, she left ho voluntarily—didn't she?"
"I—"
The single sentence left Zuo Jiangqin gaping; she had nothing to add.
"All right, Mrs. Zuo. We'll do everything we can to find her, I promise. Try to stay calm—okay?"
That was all it took. The officer's expression never changed. He knew exactly whose donations kept the precinct lights on; they were hired to serve people like her.
He looked away and strode toward the campus. The other officers scattered—one group heading for security, another for teachers.
Pressing the Bluetooth earpiece, he spoke to soone on the other end.
"Xiao Wright, any luck with the compound's surveillance?"
"Got it, Captain Edo. They checked every cara near the villa. From five to seven yesterday afternoon, no one left."
Captain Edo's brows knitted. After a mont he murmured,
"Extend the tiline a few more hours. And send soone to look for blind spots."
"Roger. But Captain, I still think the odds of her coming to school are slim. From what Mrs. Zuo told us, she hardly ever attends."
"Yeah. We've been at this all night; we're just here on the off-chance. Mrs. Zuo is wound tight—getting information out of her is like squeezing toothpaste. One squeeze, one drop. I can't do much with that."
"Mm. I know. After all that work last night, only this morning did she ntion she keeps talking to her daughter about a classmate nad Yan Huan. Apparently that's why the girl ran away."
Edo let out a silent sigh. Mrs. Zuo was still within earshot, so he lowered his voice.
"All she can think about is the big event this weekend if her daughter's gone. If Bai Yi doesn't show, they'll have to pay a huge penalty fee, right?"
"Ha, of course."
Edo had planned to have Xiao Wright continue while he hunted down the boy called "Yan Huan." But a new ssage crackled through the earpiece.
"Captain, IT just sent word. Bai Yi's ID wasn't used to register at any hotel last night. Unless our little star stooped to sleeping under a Jinghe overpass, then..."
Edo stopped in his tracks.
"She has a place to stay?"
He turned to Mrs. Zuo, who was shading herself with a designer parasol.
"Mrs. Zuo, does your daughter have anywhere to stay outside your ho? Or does she know anyone in Linn who might take her in?"
Zuo Jiangqin blinked, then slapped her forehead as if struck by lightning.
"She has a best friend! Much older, owns a place in Jinghe District—maybe—"
"Why didn't you ntion this earlier?"
"Well, that woman looks like bad news—tattoos all over. I cut contact ages ago, told them to break it off. Who knows if they kept in touch? I forgot."
Edo was speechless. Even his seasoned composure felt blood pressure spike; he could almost taste the little white heart-rescue pills dissolving on his tongue.
Damn it.
He rubbed his temples, cursing his career choice.
Whatever. Money's hard to earn, shit's hard to swallow. The rich of Jinghe District are untouchable.
Seeing Edo at a loss, Mrs. Zuo pulled out her phone from her designer bag.
"Should I try calling her?"
With a forced smile, Edo nodded.
"Please do. Let's pay this friend a visit, shall we?"
"Okay, I—oh, I don't have the number. Let find Yiyi's agent first; wait a mont."
"Mm-hmm."
Sweetheart, watch Daddy work this hard every day!
Study hard when you grow up—Daddy will save up to send you to this fancy high school!
Edo scread silently, bleeding inside.
He ushered Mrs. Zuo back into the squad car and radioed the scattered officers to regroup.
Wee-oo, wee-oo!
The siren wailed again as the car drove off campus, leaving students bewildered by the sudden arrival and departure.
Among them was Yan Huan, who'd arrived a mont too late. He'd wanted to ask a few questions, but the police were gone.
Secretly, Yan Huan hoped they wouldn't dig up anything. If the anomalies caused by the Modifier were exposed and people started asking uncomfortable questions, he'd be walking a tightrope over a volcano. If Bai Yi's insecurity made the Modifier overload, there'd be no way to fix it.
Co to think of it, among the known Modifier users, Bai Yi's was the easiest to expose. Other users had mory-editing and other cover-ups; only Bai Yi's seed to leave direct traces—like the marks on Zhou Bin's face or the paint on his own desk. Once or twice might pass unnoticed, but repeated incidents would inevitably draw attention.
Yan Huan drew a slow breath, his face perfectly calm.
Just then, the security guard from the gatehouse wandered over, puzzled, looking toward the entrance.
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow and greeted him first.
"Uncle He!"
"Ah, Yan Huan, perfect timing. They said a student nad Bai Yi ran away from ho and went missing. They ca to the school looking for her and even asked for you by na. Did they talk to you?"
Looking for ?
So Bai Yi's disappearance is probably connected to .
And she did seem to resent .
Yan Huan thought as much, but outwardly he smiled and shook his head.
"No, I just ca out of curiosity. I didn't get to speak to anyone—they'd already left."
"Strange. Well, let's hope nothing bad happens. She's just a kid."
The guard shook his head and ambled back to the gatehouse.
Yet Yan Huan felt an itch between his shoulder blades, as if soone were watching him. He turned sharply, but behind him only the curious eyes of students moved across the campus.
He turned away without a word.
He didn't see, tucked in a shadowy corner of the teaching building, a strand of black hair lifted by the breeze then falling back into place. Hidden there, in full fisherman's hat, sunglasses, and mask, stood Bai Yi herself—solid, not translucent.
Thump-thump-thump.
Her heart pounded; her mouth felt like sandpaper. It was the first ti police had hunted her like this, and with her inexplicable superpower—if the Indifference effect wore off while she was on cara, she'd look like a ghost. If anyone noticed—
Drip. Tick-tock.
Just as she worried she'd have no way to explain and would be dragged away for experints, a clock-like sound chid, and text appeared before her eyes.
[Accumulated usage ti: 3 minutes]
Since last night, she'd been running it nonstop. Ten minutes a day—that's all she got. Couldn't it last longer? Even if she could bank minutes, the limit was too stingy.
Clutching the pocket watch, Bai Yi turned her anxiety into a simple, silent complaint.
And the mont the thought ford, the air around her seed to grow colder, as though freezing solid.
Crack-crack-crack.
[Congratulations! Continuous use has raised the pocket watch to the next level!]
[Level 1 → 2]
[Daily Indifference duration increased to 20 minutes!]
[New trait acquired: Transparency Corrector]
[All implausible phenona that might expose you before or after using Indifference will be automatically corrected by the watch.]
[Corrections cover—but are not limited to—security caras, phones, caras, and other recording devices. Human and animal eyesight, however, will still notice anomalies; please remain cautious to avoid revealing the watch's existence.]
Behind her sunglasses, Bai Yi's eyes widened a fraction. The tir had just jumped by twenty minutes.
She said nothing; the mask hid every flicker of expression.
Only the hand holding the pocket watch clenched tighter.
The sun was sliding west when Yan Huan stepped out of the locker room, gym kit swapped for his regular uniform. Sakuramiya Hitomi had skipped her elective; her kitten Mitsuki needed her, so she'd gone ho early.
He bought a sports drink from the vending machine and strolled toward Class A, sipping as he walked.
The building was quiet—sa as Monday—bathed in golden peace.
Nothing moved except the shadows cast by the pillars and... a half-transparent girl in a mask, arms folded in the corridor.
Wait. Sothing's off.
The mont the thought registered, Yan Huan nearly sprayed lon-flavored electrolytes across the floor.
Perfect Expression Managent kicked in just in ti. He walked past her as naturally as breathing, while the masked girl's gaze tracked him like a laser.
Her Modifier tir should've run out ages ago. I counted fifteen minutes last Friday in the exam room. It's been way past fifteen since noon—how is she still invisible?
Hello, custor service? I'm a parent, and I'd like to file a complaint!
Please add an anti-addiction system to Modifiers—your product is corrupting my child Zihan!!
Whatever Bai Yi was planning, Yan Huan knew it was ti to make a move.
Still sipping, he kept his face relaxed and drifted toward Class A.
Before he even reached the doorway, the 500 ml bottle was empty. Bai Yi, trailing behind, stared at the speed-guzzling display.
That thirsty?
He tossed the bottle into the recycling bin; the clink echoed down the hall. Bai Yi followed, the sa dark impulse from noon resurfacing.
Twilight bled across the corridor—one shadow stretched long, the other bathed in crimson, half-girl, half-void.
Yan Huan pushed open the classroom door. His vandalized desk had already been replaced; the school had acted fast.
Was he here to pack up? But his backpack was already on his shoulders.
He slid the new desk aside, revealing the wall behind it—still streaked with multicolored paint.
For a mont he simply stared. Then he set his bag down, shrugged off his jacket, and rolled up the sleeves of his black T-shirt.
Monts later he returned with a damp rag and a spray bottle of disinfectant from the restroom.
Bai Yi watched, puzzled, as Yan Huan misted the paint with alcohol and began to scrub in small, patient circles.
He's... cleaning the wall?
The paint had dried; even with solvent it fought back, but Yan Huan worked without complaint, rubbing the sa spot over and over.
Those stains were her doing—born of spite she could barely na.
To him, it must look like so random poltergeist, the sa way the girl from Class A must have felt when her window was peppered with pebbles.
While he scrubbed, Yan Huan suddenly pulled out his phone—an older, well-worn model.
Bai Yi recognized the brand; she'd handled plenty of tech.
He dialed, wedged the phone between ear and shoulder, and answered the ringback with a smile.
"Hi, Tong Sis. It's . I'll be a little late tonight."
"Mmm... sothing ca up at school. I'll miss the campus shuttle, so I'll catch another bus back."
"Sorry—really sorry."
All the while, he kept wiping the wall, polite apologies interlaced with the squeak of cloth on tile.
Upstairs in the tavern, Tong Yingying lay starfished on her bed, half-asleep, phone pressed to her ear.
Huh? What's gotten into him?
Since when is he this polite?
Am I dreaming?
Must've dozed off.
"Mmm... okay." She mumbled, hung up, scratched her exposed belly above pajama pants, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
Back in Class A, Bai Yi listened.
So the rumors were true—Yuanyue's popular student-council president actually worked part-ti to stay afloat.
And he apologized for being five minutes late like it was a mortal sin.
A nasty little bloom of superiority unfurled in her chest.
She'd been on variety shows, starred in indie films, earned good money. Her clothes, her gear, her apartnt—everything was comfortable.
So what if the TV execs praised his brains, his work ethic? So what if the station director had spotted him in a single glance?
So what if he was... maybe... kind of good-looking?
He still had to struggle like this.
The feeling flared, then fizzled.
Under Indifference, no one could see her; this was her truest self.
The superiority was nothing but a spring uncoiling after being compressed too long—the sa impulse that had driven her reckless anger.
Rational thought said they barely intersected. In his eyes, he'd done nothing and still got targeted.
Study, student-council chores, part-ti shifts—on top of all that, random "supernatural incidents" dumped extra chores in his lap.
It was her fault.
Economics 101 assus every agent is rational, always choosing the optimal path.
Reality says otherwise.
When you're asured against soone day and night—told he's smarter, harder, more valuable—you end up hating the comparison itself.
And deeper down, you hate him.
Especially when a pocket watch lets you vanish, magnifying every dirty thought in silence.
But reality also says no one can stay irrational forever.
Take this mont, for example.
Bai Yi, still locked in the blankness of Indifference, parted her lips. The sordid little plan she'd ant to carry out refused to co to life.
—Right.
I'm the one who always hated the road Mother and the agent mapped out for .
"With looks like yours, of course you should cash in—corner the pretty-face market."
That's why I kept writing songs, why I wanted to create sothing real.
Yet here I am, watching soone even better-looking than refuse that sa path, and feeling smug because my face buys status?
Sha, jealousy, and bafflent hit her all at once.
She was ashad that she had used the Modifier on an innocent boy, ashad of the haughty way she'd mocked his situation.
She was jealous—because for the first ti she understood what her mother had ant, how hard he worked, how good he really was.
People can lecture you forever and nothing sticks; let life hit you once and the lesson sticks forever.
But why did soone like him have to cross her path?
If I'm Yi, why does Huan have to exist?
Bai Yi clenched her teeth, fists bunching.
And the question that truly puzzled her:
Back then the station chiefs had already spotted him—so why had he chosen this grinding life instead?
Whatever the reason, it had to be easier than what he was doing now.
Curious.
Are you honestly this gifted and hardworking, or...?
Fine. Let take another look at the boy my mother won't stop talking about.
"Whew—finally done."
A while later Yan Huan straightened up, having scrubbed the last streak of paint from the tiles.
He exhaled, slapped the alcohol sll off his hands, and pretended to gather his things to leave—
all so he could check on Bai Yi without being obvious.
But when he looked back, the classroom was empty.
The girl had vanished.
Well... looks like I've bought myself a little breathing room.
Yan Huan rolled his wrist, glanced at the ti on his phone, and slung his bag over his shoulder.
He was due at his part-ti job, yet every instinct told him the day wasn't over.
Bai Yi and I are far from finished.
(end of chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)