STG 13
Chapter 13: He Ran Away
Cangnan City, a high-rise building.
The door creaked open as Zhao Kongcheng trudged in, shoulders slumped, sighing every few steps.
“Old Zhao, what’s wrong?”
The five people in the room looked up at Zhao Kongcheng’s disheveled state, puzzled.
“Did you get hurt last night?”
“Judging by that look, more like a breakup…”
“Damn, Old Zhao, don’t tell me your wife wants a divorce?”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
The five of them tossed out guesses one after another. After a long silence, Zhao Kongcheng finally sighed.
“Am I… really that uncharismatic?”
“……”
The five rolled their eyes in unison, pretending not to hear, and went back to their own tasks—sharpening knives, cleaning guns, scrolling through their phones, or napping.
“Hey, I’m being serious here!” Zhao Kongcheng snapped.
Seeing that no one was paying him any attention, Hong Ying, who was cleaning her gun, sighed. “Kongcheng, did something happen?”
“Sort of.” Zhao Kongcheng paused. “I ran into the owner of that golden Forbidden Zone last night.”
At those words, everyone’s heads jerked up, their eyes lighting up with interest.
“That suspected Seraph’s proxy?”
“Yeah.”
“Is he strong? What kind of person is he?”
“You’re overthinking it.” Zhao Kongcheng shook his head. “Just a regular high school kid. That ‘Klein’-level energy fluctuation was probably just residual power left by the Seraph. Right now, he’s still a rookie who just stepped into the ‘Lamp’ realm.”
Hearing this, disappointment flickered in their eyes.
“I thought Cangnan had gained a ‘Klein’-level powerhouse…”
“But then again, if that extremely dangerous god had chosen a proxy and they’d already reached ‘Klein’ level, the higher-ups would’ve known.”
The man on the sofa narrowed his eyes. “Regardless, the fact that the Seraph chose a proxy and bestowed a Divine Ruin is a big deal. We need to report this to the higher-ups immediately.”
“By the way, Old Zhao, since you met him, where is he now? Didn’t you bring him back?”
“He ran away…” Zhao Kongcheng muttered. “He said he was going to grab his backpack, then took off while I was distracted.”
“……” The group fell silent.
Just as they were about to roast him mercilessly, the door opened again.
A man still draped in a dark-red cloak walked in, his face streaked with dried blood, his steps heavy as if weighed down by lead.
Seeing him, everyone—including Zhao Kongcheng—immediately stood up.
“Captain!”
“Captain, are you alright?”
The captain waved his hand, removing his bloodstained cloak, and sat down on a small stool by the door, exhaustion etched into his brow.
“I’m fine, but… the Masked Fiend King escaped.”
The mood in the room instantly turned grim.
The captain continued, “Last night, I chased it all the way to the northern outskirts and fought it. It was severely injured, but it burned its own life force to escape.”
“So, the Masked Fiend King might’ve already left Cangnan?”
“Not necessarily.” The man on the sofa suddenly spoke up.
Everyone turned to him. The captain raised an eyebrow. “Go on, Xiangnan.”
Wu Xiangnan slowly stood up, pulled out a map of Cangnan’s surrounding areas from under the sofa, and spread it on the floor.
“Cangnan is relatively isolated, with significant distances to neighboring cities. The northern outskirts where the captain fought the Fiend King last night are dozens of kilometers from the nearest urban area.” He drew a circle on the map.
“So what?” Hong Ying looked confused.
But the captain’s eyes gradually brightened. “The Fiend King is badly injured. Without recovering its strength, it can’t possibly cross that distance.”
Wu Xiangnan picked up the thread. “And if the Fiend King wants to recover, it has to eat people. Which means…”
“It’ll definitely return to Cangnan?”
“Exactly.”
Zhao Kongcheng frowned. “But Cangnan is huge. We have no idea where it’ll show up.”
“The sewers.” Wu Xiangnan adjusted his glasses and traced a red line along the map. “Masked Fiends love the sewers, and the Fiend King escaped through them before. There’s only one sewer line connecting to the northern outskirts, so the Fiend King will likely reappear somewhere along this route.”
“Deploy teams to sweep the sewers immediately. This time, we cannot let it escape!” The captain’s voice was icy.
“Understood!”
“There’s one more thing.” Wu Xiangnan turned to Zhao Kongcheng. “You must bring back the Seraph’s proxy. His potential is too great to fall into the hands of the Ancient God Church! In a way, this takes priority over eliminating the Fiend King!”
Zhao Kongcheng immediately straightened up. “Leave it to me. I’ll personally drag that kid back!”
“But he ran away. How are you gonna find him?” Hong Ying muttered.
“He was wearing a No. 2 High School uniform. I’ll stake out the school gates today—no way he’s slipping past me!”
A confident grin spread across Zhao Kongcheng’s face.
.
.
.
“Bro, why aren’t you going to school today?”
Yang Jin watched as Lin Qiye, dressed in casual clothes and without his backpack, headed for the door.
“Got something to take care of first.” Lin Qiye slipped on his shoes. “Is Auntie still asleep?”
“She just got back an hour ago.”
“Got it. Make sure you head to school early—don’t follow my example.”
“Okay.”
Lin Qiye closed the door behind him and quietly removed the black ribbon from his eyes, tucking it into his pocket.
His vision had returned, but he hadn’t told his aunt or Yang Jin yet. First, because his aunt had worked the night shift and they hadn’t crossed paths.
Second—Lin Qiye was still getting used to his restored eyes. The golden light would occasionally flicker in his pupils, and while it wasn’t obvious, if his family saw it, they’d drag him back to the hospital for unnecessary tests.
He planned to announce it once he had full control.
Now that he was outside, there was no need for the ribbon—it would only draw attention. Instead, he pulled out the sunglasses Yang Jin had bought him and put them on before striding toward the bus stop.
After over an hour of bumpy travel, Lin Qiye finally reached his destination.
Sunshine Mental Hospital.
The last time he’d been here was ten years ago.
In that decade, Lin Qiye had changed—and so had the hospital.
All the old walls had been renovated, the entrance widened, and two modern high-rises replaced the original three-story building. Even the “Sunshine Mental Hospital” sign had been upgraded to gilded lettering!
Standing at the gates, Lin Qiye could no longer connect this sleek facility to the small hospital in his memories.
The only thing that hadn’t changed was the old security guard.
Though his back was more hunched, his hair more gray.
The old man seemed to notice Lin Qiye, squinting as he raised a hand to point at him…
Just as Lin Qiye thought the guard still remembered him and was about to wave back—
The old man bellowed:
“Hey, kid! You’re blocking the cars!”
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