Chapter 235

What Su Bei was pursuing was human longevity. Although they were all familiar words, when combined, they formed something Ling You didn’t recognize.

She stared closely at Su Bei’s eyes, but couldn’t discern his emotions. Ling You had no choice but to ask, “What do you mean by ‘human longevity’? Are you referring to making everyone as long-lived as the people in Longevity Town?”

It was rare to see her speak so much at once, showing that Su Bei had truly surprised her.

But this time, Su Bei didn’t answer. He simply stretched and responded evasively, “Let’s keep looking. If there’s nothing, we’ll head back.”

His intention was so clear that Ling You naturally didn’t press further. She nodded silently and continued searching for clues.

In the bookshelf, Su Bei found a torn page hidden in a crevice. It appeared to be a blueprint, with an array drawn on it in red oil pen.

This array seemed somewhat familiar. Although Su Bei couldn’t recall it clearly, he knew where to find it—the Destiny Organization’s database. He was certain he had last seen this array when looking through a notebook.

Most arrays looked similar on the surface, with only subtle differences in their internal patterns. Unless one specialized in them, ordinary people wouldn’t remember them. Su Bei hadn’t originally intended to memorize these arrays; he just wanted to get a general familiarity, so that when he encountered one, he could recognize it as he did now and look it up later.

“You’ve seen this?” Ling You walked over, looked at the contents of the blueprint, and after realizing she couldn’t understand it, immediately withdrew her gaze and turned to Su Bei.

“It’s a bit familiar.” Su Bei nodded. “There shouldn’t be anything else here. Let’s go back for now.”

They returned to Officer Zhou’s house in the dark, two hours after they had left. Officer Zhou was still awake, waiting for them at home. As soon as the door opened, he immediately stood up. “You’re back. Did you find anything?”

“Some interesting things.” Su Bei smiled. “By the way, did the Old Ancestor have any relatives or very close friends before he died?”

If so, that person might have known the secret of the Life Stone and taken it.

“The Village Chief, I suppose. The Village Chief and the Old Ancestor always had a good relationship.” Officer Zhou thought for a moment before replying, “Don’t let the Village Chief’s robust health fool you; he’s actually eighty years old. I heard the Old Ancestor say that the year the Village Chief first became village chief, the Old Ancestor happened to return to the village. At that time, the Village Chief took good care of the Old Ancestor, and the two gradually became fast friends despite their age difference.”

“It looks like Jiang Tianming and the others will gather a lot of clues then.” Su Bei rose from the sofa and headed towards his room, waving to the others with his back turned. “Good night.”

Back in his room, he certainly didn’t go straight to sleep as he’d said. Instead, he pulled out his notebook and quickly searched the intelligence database for content related to arrays, then compared them one by one against the paper he’d found.

The Destiny Organization had indeed collected a vast amount of intelligence; there were a full one hundred and twenty-five pages just on arrays. Su Bei felt his eyes were going blind. Damn it! Could he remotely ask Teacher Lei Ze’en for help?

Lei Ze’en’s ability was Teleportation Array. Because it was related to array formations, he had extensive research in this area. If he were to identify the array, it would likely be much easier.

But if he did that, wouldn’t his database go to waste? After some internal struggle, Su Bei finally decided to rely on himself and find the array on his own. By meticulously comparing them one by one, he would surely become more familiar with these arrays, making similar situations much easier next time.

After an all-nighter, just as dawn broke, Su Bei finally found the array identical to the one on the blueprint—the “Aura Concealment Array.”

As the name suggested, this array was used to conceal auras. It required red cinnabar mixed with chicken blood in a 2:1 ratio to form a pigment. Then, an identical array had to be drawn in each of the four cardinal directions (east, south, west, north) around the person or object whose aura needed to be concealed, to completely hide it.

“So it’s an array used to conceal the Life Stone’s aura,” Su Bei realized the array’s purpose immediately after reading the description. This must have been the last method the Old Ancestor found to seal the Life Stone’s aura. This way, even if he died, the Life Stone wouldn’t need to be handed over to the government and could remain in the village to benefit the villagers.

But something felt off. If the Old Ancestor’s intention before his death was to give the Life Stone to the villagers and tell them how to seal its aura so they could continue to live long lives, then why would his room have ended up like that?

Clearly, he hadn’t handed over the Life Stone, which led to those coveting his secret of longevity searching his room after his death.

Unable to figure out this point for now, Su Bei shifted his thoughts and considered other suspicious details. As he pondered, he couldn’t help but think of the three deceased individuals in Longevity Town.

The three individuals had died in the east, south, and west directions of the village respectively. If one ignored that human blood was used as pigment, it did bear some resemblance to the method of this array.

But how could the villagers insist on using human blood when they clearly knew that chicken blood and cinnabar were used for the array? Surely, it wasn’t because they thought human blood was more effective, was it?

Su Bei felt he was missing some evidence, preventing his deductions from proceeding smoothly. Perhaps once he saw the clues Jiang Tianming and the others had gathered tomorrow, everything would become clear.

Early in the morning, a knock came at Officer Zhou’s door. Opening it, he saw Jiang Tianming and Li Shu. The two quickly closed the door behind them as they entered. Then, Jiang Tianming took out a book and simultaneously sent a photo to their private four-person group chat, specially created for this mission.

“Look at the photo first,” Jiang Tianming gestured for them to check their phones.

Everyone looked and saw a dull, ordinary-looking stone in the photo. However, due to the recent Nightmare Beast unrest, everyone had some understanding of this item, so Su Bei and Ling You immediately recognized it as a Life Stone.

Compared to ordinary stones, the biggest difference of a Life Stone was that Ability users could clearly feel a vigorous life force when near it. Also, faint white stripes could be vaguely seen on its surface, almost imperceptible without close inspection.

Su Bei said calmly, “So the Life Stone is with the Village Chief, huh? Didn’t you bring it back?”

“You knew?” Jiang Tianming and the others showed surprised expressions. “Since when?”

This question was hard to answer, so Su Bei just smiled without speaking. Jiang Tianming didn’t expect an answer either. He glanced at Su Bei’s expression and directly answered his previous question: “We were afraid of alerting him, so we just showed you the photo first.”

Nobody knew how often the Village Chief checked on the Life Stone. If they took it now, they would have to leave Longevity Town immediately. But even a slight leakage of the Life Stone’s aura would attract a large horde of Nightmare Beasts. Until they found a safe way to remove it, they couldn’t take it out of the village.

“Why don’t we call the teachers?” The moment he saw the Life Stone, Li Shu no longer wanted to be involved in this kind of case. Once the Nightmare Beasts discovered the Life Stone was here, they would rush over instantly, and then it would be difficult for the few of them to escape.

If they simply handed the problem over to the teachers and the government, there wouldn’t be so much trouble. They could completely withdraw now.

“No.” Jiang Tianming refused him without hesitation. “Teacher Lei said that both the government and the academy are being closely watched by Nightmare Beasts. They originally intended to use us to find the Life Stone. If the teachers come, Nightmare Beasts will definitely follow, and then we’ll be in trouble.”

If the academy and government sent few people, they likely couldn’t defeat a horde of aggressively eyeing Advanced Nightmare Beasts. If they sent many, then humanity’s rear would inevitably be exposed.

Advanced Nightmare Beasts were no less intelligent than humans; they could fully seize this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the human world. Even if they lost a Life Stone, it would still be a gain for them.

“So what do you want to do?” Li Shu asked with a headache. He knew Jiang Tianming; his will was always firm, and decisions he made rarely changed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to break through Li Shu’s Illusion even after not using his ability immunity.

That’s right, after the mid-term exam, Li Shu finally understood why Jiang Tianming had never been affected by his ability before. Jiang Tianming no longer concealed it from him, straightforwardly telling him that one of his abilities was Ability Immunity.

Unexpectedly, while he felt relieved, his interest in Jiang Tianming hadn’t diminished. They had been together for over a year and a half. What attracted Li Shu to Jiang Tianming was no longer his initial curiosity, but Jiang Tianming’s unwavering sense of conviction.

After that, the two faced off again. This time, Jiang Tianming didn’t use Ability Immunity, but still broke through the illusion Li Shu created, relying on his own willpower.

Jiang Tianming already had a preliminary idea: “I want to first find the method Longevity Town used to continuously prevent the Life Stone’s aura from leaking, and then use that method to bring the Life Stone back to the academy.”

Once back at the academy, it would be like returning to their home base. Even if Nightmare Beasts wanted to gather forces to demand it, it wouldn’t be so easy.

Since this village had been able to hide the Life Stone’s aura all this time, there must be something special about it. Perhaps the Village Chief, who was hiding the Life Stone, knew the method. After they exchanged information, they would try to get some answers from the Village Chief.

It was worth noting that before undertaking this mission, all of them had applied to the Ability Government for permission to use abilities on ordinary people. Otherwise, things wouldn’t be going so smoothly now.

“Are you referring to…” Li Shu’s face showed suspicion, but he didn’t finish his sentence.

Jiang Tianming immediately understood what he meant, and his expression darkened. “What kind of person do you take me for? Of course, we can’t use that method! I said ‘before.’ They only started killing people recently; there must have been other methods before that.”

Su Bei blinked, then pulled the blueprint with the array drawn on it from his pocket. “Ah, I think I have a method.”

He strongly agreed with Li Shu; they should just leave as quickly as possible. It would be best if they could return to the academy without getting entangled in a series of subsequent troubles. Thus, he didn’t mind offering some help.

Jiang Tianming looked surprised. “Where did you get that?”

Ling You was equally surprised. “This array has that purpose?”

Su Bei answered both their questions in turn: “I found it in the Old Ancestor’s room. The array’s purpose is to conceal auras.”

After thinking, he added, “The materials are quite special, you can start preparing them.”

Chicken blood was easy to obtain in the countryside, but cinnabar wasn’t so simple. Delivery services probably couldn’t even reach this mountain village, and online shopping would be impossible.

“Later, I’ll ask Officer Zhou if he can go out and buy some cinnabar.” Jiang Tianming nodded. “If he can’t…”

After a moment of thought, he continued, “Then we’ll leave one person here to act as needed, and the rest will go to the city to buy supplies first.”

After speaking, Jiang Tianming took the blueprint and examined it carefully. His expression soon turned strange.

He handed the blueprint to Li Shu. “Doesn’t this array look familiar to you?”

After two glances, Li Shu immediately understood what he meant. “It certainly does.”

Seeing that Li Shu thought the same, Jiang Tianming opened the notebook to a page where there was an array 80% similar to Su Bei’s. “These two arrays are too similar, and their methods of use are also very alike. The only difference is that one requires human blood, while yours uses chicken blood and cinnabar.”

That was indeed the case; the two arrays were quite similar. However, Su Bei had stopped his search in the Destiny Organization’s intelligence database as soon as he found the chicken blood array, and thus had no idea what the second array was for.

Therefore, he ignored what the others said and began flipping through the contents of the notebook. It was the Old Ancestor’s diary. After realizing his life was nearing its end, he began to record his thoughts.

Just as Su Bei had guessed, the Old Ancestor had indeed accidentally obtained the Life Stone—which he called a “treasure” in his diary—many years ago in the Nightmare Beast World. After discovering that this treasure contained a rich life force but possessed an aura extremely attractive to Nightmare Beasts, he decisively used his ability to conceal its aura and brought it to the small mountain village.

Because Ability users had keen perception of their own bodies, after several years of research, the Old Ancestor discovered that the Life Stone could indeed extend lifespan, though the effect was very subtle, only occurring after prolonged exposure to its vicinity. After confirming the Life Stone’s efficacy, he had the village renamed Longevity Town, hoping that he and everyone in the village could achieve long life.

The beginning of the diary recorded some experimental procedures and his mental journey, making him seem genuinely like a good person. Although he was an Ability user, he wasn’t arrogant or felt superior. Instead, he often secretly helped villagers eliminate Nightmare Beasts, ensuring their safety.

However, upon flipping further, several pages were suddenly blank, and the next page with writing on it only had four words: “I am dying.”

A few pages were torn out afterwards, and then the Old Ancestor seemed to calm down, calmly narrating that he had once thought he could achieve immortality through the treasure’s power, but now realized that the treasure could only enhance vitality and prolong life, not grant true immortality.

He was dying and had already placed a message transmitting device on the treasure in advance. If no one touched the treasure within two weeks, someone would soon come to retrieve it.

Reading this, Su Bei guessed that he wanted to contact the Ability Government to take away the Life Stone. The Ability World indeed had devices that sent out timed message signals, and they were quite inexpensive.

The next page stated that if someone touched the treasure, there were only two choices. Either call immediately and have the owner of the phone take the treasure away. It was worth noting that the phone number was indeed the Ability Government’s public phone.

Or, leave the treasure in the village, but use a method to conceal its aura. That method involved creating arrays with human blood. Each array required at least four-fifths of a person’s blood, with arrays to be made in the four cardinal directions of the village: east, south, west, and north. If not successfully created, the entire village would surely be destroyed and its inhabitants killed within a month.

As an old man who had lived to one hundred and fifty years old, everyone with eyes knew he was extraordinary and he was respected in the village. His words carried considerable credibility among the villagers.

The villagers’ choice was also clear at a glance; they obviously didn’t want to lose the opportunity for longevity. Even if it was just long life and not immortality, it was precious enough for many. They were unwilling to give away such a treasure.

The subsequent deaths in the village could thus be explained: sacrificing the few for the benefit of the many. Whether the individuals themselves were willing or not, as long as the vast majority of others agreed, the act was done.

In the face of immense benefits, humanity’s depravity was fully exposed.

No wonder everyone in this village had such strange attitudes towards the deceased. No wonder Grandma Wang’s son suddenly came into a windfall, and no wonder Grandpa Zhou’s children seemed to have known he would die in advance…

Everything had a trace; this case was a collective murder by the entire village.

But now, the murders in the village were no longer their priority. The focus was that the Life Stone, which Nightmare Beasts were desperately searching for outside, was actually in this village!

Once they discovered this, as the Old Ancestor said, not a single person here would escape, and the entire village would inevitably be annihilated. And they were now passively trapped here, unable to seek help from their teachers.

Fortunately, Su Bei had found an array that could conceal auras. They only needed to acquire the necessary items to safely leave with the Life Stone. Once the Life Stone was in the hands of the government or the academy, everyone would be safe, and it wouldn’t be too late to deal with the Longevity Town murders then.

However, Su Bei didn’t think that way. After Jiang Tianming finished speaking, he lightly tapped his finger on the table. “Aren’t you curious about the Human Blood Array that the Old Ancestor mentioned in his diary, the one that requires human blood to create? What is it used for?”

As soon as he said this, everyone, who had almost overlooked this point, was startled. This was indeed a very suspicious detail. It could be confirmed that the Human Blood Array was definitely not for concealing auras. Otherwise, if there was an array that could be made without sacrificing lives, why would the Old Ancestor insist on providing this kind of array?

Therefore, the Human Blood Array must have another purpose, and that purpose might not be something they could ignore. Throughout history, things that required human lives to create invariably carried a touch of malevolence.

Although in his diary, the Old Ancestor appeared to be a good person, not only living a long life himself but also wanting to bring the villagers along with him. Upon learning of his impending death, he didn’t go mad but instead gave the villagers multiple choices. He even anticipated that someone would come to steal the Life Stone but didn’t set traps, instead offering the potential thieves two options.

It could be said that the villagers’ decision to kill for the Life Stone was entirely their own will. It was because they greedily wanted to retain the longevity for the entire village that they harmed those few deceased individuals.

The culprits here were not just the families of the deceased, but all those in the village who were aware. And judging by the current situation in Longevity Town, it was likely that everyone was in the know; they either watched, incited, or took action… Everyone jointly orchestrated the deaths of the victims.

But why were the arrays different?

“Are you sure the array you have is for concealing auras?” Li Shu asked with some suspicion. “Since when did you start understanding arrays?”

Those without related abilities generally wouldn’t actively seek to understand such things. After all, they were rarely used, required a long preparation time, and unless one was an array-type Ability user, even if an ordinary person created an array according to a blueprint, its efficacy would be greatly reduced.

For example, the description of the concealment array Su Bei saw in the Destiny intelligence database explicitly stated that if made by an ordinary person, it would only last for a week, the concealed item couldn’t be too large, and a large amount of mental energy would be drained. However, if made by a related Ability user, the duration could be extended to two to three weeks, and the array’s range would also be much larger.

“I’ve always been knowledgeable, didn’t you know?” Su Bei replied confidently. “I consistently rank in the top five in my grade for exams, show me some respect, alright?”

He wasn’t lying; he was even being a bit modest. Su Bei’s general education subjects were genuinely good. The top three spots in exams were usually dominated by Si Zhaohua, Lan Subing, and Su Bei. Sometimes Su Bei would surpass Lan Subing, or be surpassed by Qi Huang, mainly depending on whether he studied before the exam and the familiarity of both him and Qi Huang with the specific exam content.

He felt like Su Bei wasn’t lying, but it didn’t sound entirely true either. Li Shu hesitated for a moment, then quickly thought of a good way to expose Su Bei. He pointed to the array in the notebook and asked leisurely, “Since you claim to be so knowledgeable, tell me, what kind of array is this?”

Jiang Tianming, who had been listening to their conversation, immediately chose to “aid the villain,” agreeing, “Li Shu is right. Someone as smart as you would surely recognize it.”

Ling You also nodded uncharitably. “Mm.”

Unfortunately, all three underestimated Su Bei’s thick skin. He was never one to be cornered by words. “No need to flatter me; being knowledgeable doesn’t mean being omniscient.”

After saying this, without giving the others a chance to react, he yawned. “I’m exhausted. Don’t call me until it’s time for lunch.”

Once he returned to his room, Li Shu finally frowned and asked, “Do you think he knows or not?”

Don’t be fooled by Su Bei’s refusal to answer their questions; he was cunning in that he didn’t reveal whether he knew the purpose of the Human Blood Array. He merely deflected the topic.

This was actually a retreat Su Bei deliberately left for himself. If he could find relevant content in the notebook, he would have an opportunity to reveal it in the future. If he didn’t find it, it didn’t matter; as he said, being knowledgeable didn’t mean being omniscient, so not knowing was fine.

“I don’t know…” Jiang Tianming replied, then realizing his words were ambiguous, he quickly clarified, “I mean, I don’t know if he knows or not.”

Ling You calmly summarized, “Whether he knows or not, he definitely won’t say.”

That was true. The three exchanged helpless glances, and Jiang Tianming calmly said, “I’ll go ask Officer Zhou for cinnabar. You guys send this blueprint to Teacher Lei and ask him about it.”