Chapter 318:

Under this strange closed loop, Qi Huang was considered one of Li Shu’s closer friends in the class. It was worth mentioning that, in order of Li Shu’s friendship ranking, Su Bei was third. After all, besides Jiang Tianming, he was the second person Li Shu was most interested in.

Su Bei politely declined the honor.

Despite this, he still raised his hand with a smile on his face. “I want to go too. How could I miss such a good show?”

He definitely had to go. If this matter was related to the main plot, he couldn’t afford to miss it. If it wasn’t related to the main plot, then it wouldn’t be that dangerous, and it would be harmless to go.

After he stated his position, the others raised their hands one by one. They were free on Saturday and Sunday anyway. Instead of completing the tasks assigned by the academy, they would rather go check out Li Shu’s home.

“Having too many people go would be a hassle,” Si Zhaohua said, shaking his head. “Besides, Li Shu might not necessarily want that.”

He believed that if Jiang Tianming went to visit, Li Shu would probably be happy, perhaps even moved. But it might not be the same for the rest of them.

Knowing he was right, the others who had raised their hands hesitated. Although they could indeed be called friends with Li Shu, it was also true that not all of them were that close to him. A class of fifteen wasn’t large, but it was impossible for everyone to be on good terms.

After some discussion, it was finally decided that Jiang Tianming’s trio, Su Bei, Qi Huang, and the class president Mu Tieren—a group of six in total—would go to Li Shu’s house. As for the others, they would stay at the academy on standby, ready to provide timely support in case the group ran into any trouble.

Although this might sound a bit like worrying for nothing, considering the various dangers they had encountered on previous missions, everyone in S-Class felt it was a reasonable precaution.

When Jiang Tianming returned, he had no objections upon learning of their plan. He called the few people going to Li Shu’s house outside and began to share the information he had just gotten from Teacher Meng.

“Li Shu’s family is in business. I don’t know what kind of business specifically, but the teacher told me his family has many, many children. Generally, once the children reach a certain age, they have to take over the family business. Li Shu used this exact reason to drop out.”

“Take over the family business?” Qi Huang frowned. “What kind of business needs a sixteen-year-old to take over? Besides, he doesn’t seem… he doesn’t seem particularly wealthy.”

She herself was from a wealthy family and was on good terms with Li Shu, so she could naturally judge his family’s financial situation from his usual words and actions. He certainly didn’t lack for food or drink, but his daily expenses weren’t very high.

Because of this, Qi Huang had always assumed Li Shu came from an ordinary family, like Zhao Xiaoyu. The only difference was that his family clearly had Ability users and wasn’t as clueless about the Ability World as Zhao Xiaoyu was.

How could such a family require a child to drop out of the Ability Academy early to handle business?

“I find it strange too, which is why I want to go to his house and see for myself.” Jiang Tianming nodded in agreement. “Teacher Meng told us not to meddle in other people’s family affairs, so if you all…”

His meaning was clear. If they didn’t want to go against their teacher’s wishes, it was best not to go.

However, was there a single obedient child among them? Even Mu Tieren was extremely stubborn about certain things. None of them were the type to give up on a decision just because a teacher opposed it.

Qi Huang rolled her eyes in annoyance. “If we didn’t want to meddle in other people’s family affairs, we wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”

“As the class president, I can’t just turn a blind eye when a classmate is dropping out.” Mu Tieren had his own logic.

Jiang Tianming knew Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing, and he also knew Su Bei, so he didn’t even bother asking their intentions. Seeing that Qi Huang and Mu Tieren were also resolute, he stopped trying to persuade them. “Then let’s create a small group chat. I’ll send the location of Li Shu’s house in the group. We’ll meet at the location I mark at eight o’clock on Saturday morning… I think we shouldn’t notify the Li family in advance, right?”

No matter how you looked at it, the Li family, who made Li Shu drop out and block his classmates, was unlikely to welcome them. If they showed up unannounced, they would probably be kicked out immediately.

Others shared the same concern, but Mu Tieren thought of a different solution than Jiang Tianming. “I think we should first get a reason to go from the teacher. It’s more convenient to act when we have a legitimate excuse.”

That was true. Who would want to sneak around when they could enter openly? Besides, there was no guarantee they could even get in by sneaking.

“Then who will go talk to the teacher about this?” Wu Mingbai asked. Although it was a question, his gaze was fixed on Mu Tieren. It was clear he already had someone in mind.

“I’ll go.” Not disappointing him, Mu Tieren readily raised his hand and volunteered.

That afternoon, Meng Huai learned of their plan. He kept them behind after school. “Jiang Tianming, I never knew you were such an impulsive person!”

Meng Huai hadn’t expected that after he explained the situation with Li Shu’s family yesterday, Jiang Tianming would still be determined to go, and even form a small team to go with him.

“Teacher, there’s definitely something suspicious about Li Shu dropping out like this. I believe that as his friends, we can’t just let it be,” Jiang Tianming said with a serious expression.

However, this seriousness failed to move Meng Huai. He rolled his eyes. “I can tell you with 100% certainty that Li Shu personally told me he wanted to drop out. It’ll be useless even if you go.”

“He could have been threatened,” Qi Huang reasonably speculated. “Maybe something was used as leverage, so he had no choice but to drop out. He couldn’t have suddenly started hating us and decided to leave, right?”

The desire to save a friend was a good thing. Meng Huai sighed. “It’s their family’s business, why must you meddle? So what if he doesn’t continue his studies?”

“That would violate the nine-year compulsory education,” Lan Subing said in a small voice.

This remark almost made Meng Huai choke. He took a deep breath and threatened with a cold smile, “You’re not socially anxious anymore, are you?”

Lan Subing immediately shut up, as quiet as a mouse. As their homeroom teacher who knew her weakness, Meng Huai had countless ways to torment her. She couldn’t afford to offend him for a moment of witty comeback.

“Just agree, Teacher!” Wu Mingbai said with a bright, cheerful smile. “We’re going to go anyway. If you give us a reason, we can be a bit safer.”

This guy really couldn’t hide his cunning nature. Right after Meng Huai had threatened Lan Subing, he turned around and threatened Meng Huai.

Seeing that he couldn’t reason with them, Meng Huai stopped trying to persuade them. He put on a stern face and said in a harsh, cold voice, “Li Shu specifically instructed me not to let you cause trouble. I will arrange a mission this weekend. Anyone who skips this mission will be kicked out of S-Class, understand?”

None of them had expected the teacher to go to such lengths to stop them from going to Li Shu’s house. Furthermore, his words implied that it was Li Shu who didn’t want them to come, which made them hesitate.

If they had misunderstood, and Li Shu blocking them wasn’t a call for help but simply a sign that he didn’t want them to come, then their unannounced visit would indeed be quite annoying.

“Teacher, are you telling the truth? Was it really Li Shu who told you to stop us?” Mu Tieren asked with a frown.

Meng Huai nodded and said irritably, “Why would I lie to you about this?”

Receiving such an answer, everyone fell silent. Jiang Tianming pursed his lips. “Sorry to have wasted your time. Teacher, we’ll be heading back now.”

“Go on, go on.” Meng Huai waved his hand dismissively, shooing them away like flies.

After leaving the office, however, Jiang Tianming showed no intention of returning to the classroom and walked straight outside. Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing were stunned for a moment, then, as if understanding something, they hurried to follow him.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Seeing the three of them walking ahead, Qi Huang quickly chased after them.

Mu Tieren followed close behind. He felt that Jiang Tianming’s attitude was off, as if he hadn’t fully accepted the situation, so he couldn’t just let it go.

Su Bei walked at the very back, hands in his pockets, following the group at a leisurely pace. Like Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing, he also knew what Jiang Tianming was thinking. There was no way he would give up on investigating Li Shu’s home.

However, he didn’t guess Jiang Tianming’s thoughts because he knew him well. Rather, it was because he understood the manga, understood the plot, and knew that the trip to Li Shu’s house was bound to happen, which allowed him to deduce Jiang Tianming’s intentions.

Sure enough, once they reached an area with no surveillance cameras, Jiang Tianming spoke concisely but with a determined attitude, “I still plan to go to Li Shu’s house and check it out.”

“Why?” Mu Tieren asked, confused. In his view, what the teacher said was clear enough. By all rights, they shouldn’t continue to cause trouble and make things difficult for others.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Tianming explained, “Even if Li Shu himself said he doesn’t want us to go, there’s a chance he’s afraid of involving us. I can only be at ease after seeing with my own eyes that he’s okay.”

That was a possibility, but it wasn’t enough to make Qi Huang risk getting kicked out of S-Class. She crossed her arms, for once showing a coolness different from her usual silly-big-sister persona. “Are you sure you want to give up your spot in S-Class for such an unsubstantiated guess?”

If there were even a shred of evidence, Qi Huang wouldn’t mind taking the risk. What was a spot in S-Class compared to saving a friend? If Meng Huai really used that to threaten them, she would be the one who’d feel disdain for staying in S-Class.

But the current situation was that Li Shu had clearly stated he didn’t want them to go, and Meng Huai didn’t think it was the right thing to do. Qi Huang was not someone who refused to listen to advice; she didn’t think being so stubborn was right.

“But as long as there’s even a small possibility that he’s asking for help, I won’t stand by and watch him suffer,” Jiang Tianming said firmly. Then, his eyes twinkled with a hint of cunning. “Besides, who says we’ll have to pay a price?”

At these words, Qi Huang’s red eyes flashed. “Oh? What do you mean?”

Jiang Tianming said confidently, “The teacher only said there’s a mandatory activity on the weekend. We can just go on Wednesday night and skip class the next day. We’ll be kicked out of S-Class for not participating in that activity, but skipping a regular class won’t have such a severe consequence.”

That was true! Everyone’s eyes widened. They had completely forgotten they could just skip class. If that was the case, the problem was solved. Meng Huai couldn’t possibly wait for them to return and then announce that skipping class would also get them kicked out of S-Class. If he did, they would have a valid complaint to take to the principal.

“Great idea!” Qi Huang clapped her hands in excitement. “In that case, the plan is back on! When do we leave?”

Since they were no longer tied to the weekend, the sooner, the better. Jiang Tianming answered decisively, “Wednesday. We’ll spend today and tomorrow looking into the Li family, and we’ll leave together on Wednesday. Hopefully, Teacher Meng won’t tell Li Shu’s family that we’re coming.”

Judging by Meng Huai and Li Shu’s behavior, the Li family was unlikely to welcome them. If Meng Huai told them, they would surely be sent back. Of course, that was assuming those people could even find them.

Suddenly, Lan Subing remembered something and looked at Su Bei, who had been silent ever since they went to see Meng Huai. “Su Bei, why aren’t you saying anything?”

At her words, Su Bei, who had been looking at his phone, raised his head and showed the screen to everyone. “I just asked Feng Lan for a prophecy. For this trip to the Li family’s home, the keywords are transaction, bloody, redemption.”

After speaking, he tilted his head and said with a smile, “Sounds like a good show.”

“Then it seems we have no choice but to go.” Upon hearing the word “bloody,” Mu Tieren’s expression grew grim. He had been hesitant before, but now his resolve was completely firm. Misunderstanding or not, he had to go and see for himself.

Back in the dormitory, Su Bei began to prepare for the event. First, there was no doubt that something was wrong with Li Shu’s family. Even without Feng Lan’s prophecy, this point was undeniable.

Although he didn’t know the specifics, since it involved a family secret, it was likely something bad that couldn’t be made public.

So, to make the operation run a little smoother, Su Bei prepared a recording pen in his Storage Ring and attached a micro-camera shaped like a gear brooch to the clothes he planned to wear that day.

Looking at his self-provided equipment, Su Bei thought with satisfaction, I’ll reluctantly act as a war correspondent. If they provoke me, I’ll expose their scandal.

After doing all this, Su Bei opened his phone to check the location information Jiang Tianming had sent in the “Rescue Li Shu Squad” group chat.

Unexpected yet reasonable, Li Shu’s family was indeed very wealthy. Their house was built on a lake island, and the surrounding lake was also part of the Li family’s property. The island had a small pier and several buildings.

The question was, how were they going to cross the river and get to the lake island unnoticed? They couldn’t possibly swim across!

Leaving aside whether they could make it and whether everyone could even swim, the very presence of defenses in the lake was a problem. If the Li family truly had some secret, they would never allow outsiders to cross their moat.

Whatever, the protagonist group will always find a way. I’ll just follow behind and slack off, Su Bei quickly stopped troubling himself and waited for the event to begin.

Sure enough, the next day at school, Jiang Tianming shared his idea: “There are boats that pass by the Li family’s island every day. There’s a regular boat at 8:30 PM. I think we can blend in with it to get on the island.”

“Why do they have boats coming and going every day?” Lan Subing’s focus was peculiar.

“For business, I guess,” Wu Mingbai answered casually.

However, Lan Subing shook her head, clearly not accepting this answer, or rather, she wanted more than such a simple response. “If it’s for business, what kind of business requires a daily trip, and in such a troublesome way?”

That was indeed a good question. Su Bei rested his chin on one hand. “Maybe it’s a business that can’t leave the island.”

They’d be caught if they left the island.

Lan Subing didn’t understand his underlying meaning but was more or less satisfied with the answer. “I wonder what Feng Lan’s ‘bloody’ refers to. Was Li Shu punished?”

“It could also be referring to the Li family’s business,” Qi Huang guessed wildly. “The mafia or something?”

“That sounds a bit dangerous for us…” Wu Mingbai said thoughtfully. “By the way, has anyone looked into the situation with the Li family’s Ability users?”

This was something only Qi Huang or Mu Tieren could investigate, as they were the ones with connections in the Ability World. As for Wu Mingbai, he did have backing now, and powerful backing at that. Unfortunately, the mountains were high and the emperor was far away; it was usually useless.

On this topic, Qi Huang said cheerfully, “I looked into it. Their family has a lot of Ability users. More than half of the family members become Ability users, which is quite impressive.”

It was a known fact that the union of two Ability users did not guarantee an Ability user child; it was a matter of probability. Even if both parents were Ability users, the child generally only had a one-in-four chance of being an Ability user. If one parent wasn’t an Ability user, or if neither was, the probability was even lower.

While this was surprising, what Qi Huang found even more interesting was another piece of news. “But do you know what’s even more surprising? The people in their family are incredibly prolific! The information I got says that each small family unit has at least seven children, and that’s only counting the ones who survived. It’s rumored that because they have so many children, many are born weak and sickly and die before reaching adulthood.”

Seven or more? That’s way too many! The group looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief. Lan Subing’s mouth hung open for a long moment before she finally managed a吐槽, “They must spend all their time making babies!”

Su Bei, however, found this setup very interesting. Since it was a manga plot, such a special setting couldn’t be useless. What was the purpose of having so many children? It must be closely related to the Li family’s interests. And were the children who died really dead due to being weak and sickly? Was there some conspiracy?

And what role did Li Shu play in all of this?

Just as he thought of Li Shu, Jiang Tianming asked, “Which child is Li Shu? What’s his family’s status on the island?”

“I couldn’t find out much about that.” Qi Huang shook her head; her family’s intelligence network wasn’t omnipotent. “But Li Shu’s own status on the island shouldn’t be low. This kind of Ability family values talent the most.”

“Then he probably won’t be in any danger for the time being.” Mu Tieren seemed to let out a sigh of relief. “We just need to find him, talk to him, and find out why he dropped out.”

After hearing the word “bloody,” he had been worried they would arrive on the island to find Li Shu’s corpse, or a heavily injured and unconscious Li Shu. Now, learning that his status wasn’t low, he was no longer so concerned.

After school on Wednesday, the six of them gathered and took a train straight to the city where Li Shu’s family lived. Normally, fifteen or sixteen-year-olds couldn’t even travel by themselves, but as Ability users, they were more than experienced. They encountered no problems along the way, and the process of taking the train was very familiar.

At 7:30 PM, they finally arrived outside the Li family’s island. From a distance, they could see lights on the lake island, while the surrounding area was very dark, with streetlights only near the pier.

There were no residential areas in the periphery, only a few scattered shops that were currently closed. It was clear that the Li family had considerable influence in the area around the lake island; perhaps this entire area was their territory.

“So we’ll just wait here and get on the boat when it arrives?” Hiding in the bushes and looking at the distant pier, Qi Huang asked suspiciously.

Because Jiang Tianming had said to leave the plan to him, she hadn’t asked too many questions, only knowing the general outline of the plan to get on the island. Now that it was time for action, she finally couldn’t help but ask for details.

“Of course not.” Jiang Tianming shook his head and turned to look at Wu Mingbai.

Wu Mingbai sat on the ground, not a speck of dust clinging to him. “We’ve prepared two plans. The first is to try and board the 8:30 PM boat. The method is to use Bing’s [Word Spirit] to implant a suggestion that we are crew members. If this fails, then everyone scatters. We’ll regroup here in ten minutes, and I’ll create an underground tunnel.”

In the past, he definitely couldn’t have done this. Both the concentration of his Earth Element and his control over it were insufficient to dig a tunnel under the deep moat. But with the blessing of the Guardian Deity, the current Wu Mingbai was no longer the same. A mere secret passage crossing a river was nothing to him.

Su Bei asked doubtfully, “Why not just use Plan B from the start?”

It was obvious that the first plan was very risky. Once Lan Subing’s [Word Spirit] failed to work, they would be immediately exposed to the Li family, and the difficulty of exploring the island would increase dramatically.

Digging a tunnel, while more troublesome, was much safer and sounded far more feasible than the first plan.

“Firstly, because of the time issue, and secondly, because digging a tunnel under the lake can easily lead to problems. If we can go above ground, it’s naturally best to go above ground. You don’t actually think digging a tunnel is easy, do you?” As he said the last sentence, Wu Mingbai rolled his eyes at him.

He had never experimented with doing something like this before, but Su Bei had confidence in him.

Su Bei was merely confident in the plot designed by the author. He directly ignored Wu Mingbai’s eye roll, glanced at the Destiny Compass above everyone’s heads, and made a decisive choice. “Then I’ll just stay here and wait for Plan B.”

Everyone understood what he meant. Jiang Tianming frowned and asked, “We won’t be able to get on the boat successfully, so we have to use the tunnel?”

Su Bei nodded. “I don’t know if the tunnel will succeed, but getting on the boat definitely won’t.”

The luck above these people’s heads was all uniformly bad. Only Wu Mingbai was slightly better, but even his was skewed to the right of center. This made it impossible for Su Bei to make an accurate judgment; he felt that even the tunnel plan wouldn’t go too smoothly. However, staying here would definitely be smoother than going with the others.

“Then we won’t try that. Mingbai, you start digging the tunnel directly,” Jiang Tianming made a decisive choice. “The rest of you, stand guard. If Mingbai makes a noise, find a way to lure people away.”

He then looked at Su Bei, probably afraid he would disappear midway again, and emphasized, “If you find anything else, don’t forget to tell us. The show hasn’t started yet. You wouldn’t let the actors die halfway through, would you?”