Chapter 235

Chapter 235

Chapter 235

Su Bei? Seeking humanity’s longevity? The words were familiar, but together, they baffled Ling You.

She stared into his eyes but couldn’t read them. Finally, she asked: “What’s humanity’s longevity? You mean making everyone live as long as Longevity Town’s people?”

It's rare for her to say so much—Su Bei’s answer had truly shocked her.

But he didn’t reply, just stretched lazily, dodging the question: “Let’s keep looking. If there’s nothing else, we’ll head back.”

His meaning was clear, so Ling You didn’t press. Nodding silently, she resumed searching.

In a bookshelf crevice, Su Bei found a torn-out page. It seemed to be a blueprint, with a red-inked array drawn on it.

The array looked familiar. Though he couldn’t recall exactly, he knew where to check—the Destiny organization’s database. He’d seen it in the notebook.

Arrays often looked similar, differing only in subtle patterns. Unless specialized in arrays, most couldn’t remember them. Su Bei hadn’t studied to memorize but to recognize, so he could look them up later, like now.

“Looks familiar,” Su Bei nodded. “There’s probably nothing else here. Let’s go back.”

Returning to Zhou Zijian’s in the dark, two hours had passed. Zhou hadn’t slept, waiting for them. Seeing the door open, he stood: “You’re back. Find anything?”

“Some interesting stuff,” Su Bei said with a smile. “By the way, did Old Ancestor have any close relatives or friends?”

If so, they might know the Life Stone’s secret and have taken it.

“The Village Head, probably. They were close,” Zhou thought, then answered. “Don’t let the Village Head’s vigor fool you—he’s eighty. I heard from Old Ancestor that when he returned to the village as the new head, he took care of Old Ancestor. They became unlikely friends.”

“Then Jiang Tianming’s group might find good clues,” Su Bei said, standing up from the sofa and heading to his room, waving back: “Good night.”

In his room, he didn’t sleep as claimed but opened the notebook, searching the database for array-related info, comparing them to the paper.

The Destiny organization had vast intel—125 pages on arrays alone. Su Bei felt his eyes would give out. Couldn’t he just call Teacher Lei Ze’en for help?

Lei Ze’en’s Ability, [Teleportation], was array-related, so he knew them well. He’d make this much easier.

But that’d waste his database. After some debate, Su Bei decided to do it himself. Checking thoroughly would familiarize him with arrays, making future cases easier. Staying up all night, at dawn, he found the match—“Aura Concealment Array.” ȐÅ𐌽Ổ₿Εȿ

As the name suggested, it hid auras. Mix red cinnabar and chicken blood at a 2:1 ratio for ink, then draw identical arrays in the east, south, west, and north around the target to fully conceal its aura.

It was for hiding the Life Stone’s aura. Su Bei understood—this was Old Ancestor’s final method to seal it. Even after his death, it didn’t need to go to the government, staying in the village to benefit everyone.

But something felt off. If Old Ancestor meant to pass the Life Stone to the villagers with this method for longevity, why was his room trashed?

Clearly, he hadn’t handed it over, leading those coveting his longevity secret to search his house after his death.

Unable to solve this, Su Bei shifted to another question, thinking of the three deaths.

They died in the village’s east, south, and west. Ignoring the human blood, it resembled the array’s setup.

But why use human blood when they knew chicken blood and cinnabar worked? They couldn’t think human blood was better, could they?

Su Bei felt he lacked evidence, stalling his reasoning. Maybe Jiang Tianming’s clues tomorrow would clear things up.

Early morning, Zhou Zijian’s door was knocked. Opening it, Jiang Tianming and Li Shu entered, quickly shutting the door. Jiang Tianming pulled out a notebook and sent a photo to their task’s four-person chat.

“Look at the photo,” he gestured to their phones.

The photo showed a dull, ordinary stone. But with the recent Nightmare Beast frenzy, Su Bei and Ling You instantly recognized it as a Life Stone.

Unlike regular stones, Ability users could feel vibrant life force near it and see faint white stripes if looked closely.

Su Bei said flatly: “The Life Stone’s with the Village Head? You didn’t take it?”

“You knew?” Jiang Tianming and the others looked shocked. “When?”

Since it was hard to answer, Su Bei just smiled. Jiang Tianming didn’t expect a reply, seeing his expression, and answered: “Didn’t want to tip them off, so we’re showing you the photo first.”

No one knew how often the Village Head checked the Life Stone. Taking it now meant leaving Longevity Town immediately. But even a slight aura leak would draw hordes of Nightmare Beasts. Without a safe way to move it, they couldn’t take it.

“Why not call the teachers?” Li Shu, seeing the Life Stone, wanted out of this case. If Nightmare Beasts found it here, they’d swarm, and escaping would be tough.

Handing it to the teachers or government would simplify everything—they could leave now.

“No,” Jiang Tianming rejected instantly. “Teacher Lei said the government and Academy are being watched by Nightmare Beasts. They want us to find the Life Stone. If teachers come, beasts will follow, causing trouble.”

If the government sent a small team, they might not beat the high-level Nightmare Beasts waiting. A large team would leave human defenses vulnerable.

High-level Nightmare Beasts were as smart as humans. They could exploit this, attacking elsewhere, making a Life Stone loss worthwhile.

“Then what’s your plan?” Li Shu asked, his head aching. He knew Jiang Tianming’s resolve—once decided, he rarely budged. No wonder, even without his [Ability Immunity], he broke Li Shu’s [Illusion].

Yes, after midterms, Li Shu learned why Jiang Tianming was never affected by his Ability. Jiang Tianming didn’t hide it, admitting one of his Abilities was [Ability Immunity].

Surprisingly, Li Shu felt relieved but no less drawn to him. After a year and a half, it wasn’t just curiosity—Jiang Tianming’s firm conviction captivated him.

In a later duel, Jiang Tianming didn’t use [Ability Immunity] but still broke Li Shu’s illusion with sheer will.

Jiang Tianming had a plan: “I want to find how Longevity Town hid the Life Stone’s aura before, then use that to bring it back to the Academy.”

Once at the Academy, their stronghold, even if Nightmare Beasts came for it, it wouldn’t be easy.

Since the village hid the Life Stone for so long, it had something special. Maybe the Village Head knew how. They’d swap intel later and probe him.

Notably, before this task, they’d applied for permission to use Abilities on civilians, or it wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

“You mean…” Li Shu looked skeptical, not finishing.

Jiang Tianming caught his meaning, his face darkening: “What do you take me for? Not that way! They only started killing recently. Before that, they had another method.” Su Bei blinked, pulling out the array paper: “Oh, I might have the method.”

He agreed with Li Shu—leave and avoid the mess. He didn’t mind helping.

Jiang Tianming looked shocked: “Where’d you get that?”

Ling You was equally stunned: “That’s what the array does?”

Su Bei answered both: “Found it in Old Ancestor’s room. It conceals auras.”

He added: “The materials are special. You might want to prepare them.”

Chicken blood was easy to find in a village, but cinnabar wasn’t. With no delivery here, online shopping was out of the question.

“I’ll ask Zhou Zijian if he can buy cinnabar,” Jiang Tianming nodded. “If he can’t…”

After a pause, he continued: “One of us stays to act as needed, the rest go to the city for supplies.”

Taking the paper, Jiang Tianming studied it, his expression turning odd.

He handed it to Li Shu: “Does this array look familiar?”

Li Shu glanced and nodded: “It does.”

Jiang Tianming opened the notebook to a page with an 80% similar array: “They’re too alike. The only difference is that one uses human blood, yours uses chicken blood and cinnabar.”

True, they were similar. But Su Bei had stopped searching after finding the chicken blood array in the Destiny database, unaware of the other’s purpose.

Ignoring them, he flipped through the notebook—Old Ancestor’s. Realizing his end was near, he’d recorded his thoughts.

As Su Bei guessed, Old Ancestor found the Life Stone, called a “treasure,” in the Nightmare Beast world years ago. Noticing its strong life force but beast-attracting aura, he used his Ability to hide it and brought it to the village.

Ability users were attuned to their bodies. After years of study, Old Ancestor confirmed the Life Stone extended life slightly, requiring long exposure. He renamed the village Longevity Town, hoping for eternal life for all.

The notebook detailed experiments and his journey, painting him as a good person. Not arrogant despite his Ability, he secretly protected villagers from Nightmare Beasts.

But later, pages went blank. The next with text had four words: “I’m going to die.”

Several pages were torn out, then he calmly wrote he’d thought the treasure could make him immortal, but it only extended life, not prevented death.

He was dying and had placed a signal device on the treasure. If untouched for two weeks, someone would retrieve it.

Su Bei figured he meant the Ability Government. Such signal devices were common and cheap in the Ability world.

The next page said if someone took the treasure, there were two options: call the listed number—indeed the Ability Government’s public line—to have it taken, or keep it in the village using a method to hide its aura.

That method was a human blood array, each requiring four-fifths of a person’s blood, drawn in the village’s four directions. Failure meant the village’s destruction within a month.

As a revered 150-year-old, his words carried weight. The villagers’ choice was clear—they didn’t want to lose longevity. Even if not immortality, it was precious. They wouldn’t give it up.

The deaths made sense now. Sacrificing a few for the many—whether the victims agreed or not, most did, so it happened.

In the face of great gain, human nature’s flaws shone through.

No wonder the villagers acted odd about the deaths, Grandma Wang’s son got a windfall, and Grandpa Zhou’s kids seemed to know he’d die…

Everything traced back to the array. This was a village-wide murder.

But the murders weren’t the focus now—the Life Stone, sought by rampaging Nightmare Beasts, was here!

If they found it, as Old Ancestor said, no one would escape—the village would be wiped out. And they were trapped, unable to call teachers.

Luckily, Su Bei found the aura concealment array. With the right materials, they could take the Life Stone safely. Handing it to the government or Academy would save everyone, and they could deal with the murders later.

But Su Bei thought differently. After Jiang Tianming spoke, he tapped the table: “Aren’t you curious what Old Ancestor’s human blood array in the notebook is for?”

His words stunned the group, who’d nearly overlooked it. It was suspicious. The human blood array wasn’t for concealment—otherwise, why choose it when a harmless one existed? It had another purpose, likely sinister, as things requiring lives often were.

In the diary, Old Ancestor seemed good, wanting longevity for all. Facing death, he didn’t go mad but gave options. Even knowing someone might steal the Life Stone, he set no traps, offering two choices.

The villagers’ choice to kill for it was their greed, harming the victims to keep longevity.

The sin wasn’t just the victims’ families but all who knew—spectators, instigators, or perpetrators, all planned the deaths.

But why the different arrays?

“Are you sure your array conceals auras?” Li Shu asked skeptically. “Since when do you know arrays?”

Those without related Abilities rarely studied them. They were hard to use, took long to prepare, and unless you were an array Ability user, their effects were weaker.

The Destiny database noted the concealment array, if made by a non-Ability user, lasted a week, worked only on small objects, and drained Mental Energy heavily. An array Ability user could extend it to two or three weeks with a larger range.

“I’m always well-learned, didn’t you know?” Su Bei said confidently. “I’m consistently top five in our grade. Show some respect.”

He wasn’t lying—almost modest. His academics were strong, with Si Zhaohua, Lan Subing, and him usually dominating the top three. Sometimes he’d surpass Lan Subing or be overtaken by Qi Huang, depending on his prep and their familiarity with the material.

It sounded true but dubious. Li Shu, sensing a way to call his bluff, pointed to the notebook’s array: “If you’re so learned, what’s this one?”

Jiang Tianming piled on: “Li Shu’s right. I bet a genius like you knows it.”

Ling You nodded unhelpfully: “Mm.”

They underestimated Su Bei’s shamelessness. He wasn’t swayed by flattery: “No need for high hats. Well-learned doesn’t mean omniscient.”

Not giving them a chance to react, he yawned: “I’m exhausted. Don’t wake me till lunch.”

Back in his room, Li Shu frowned: “Does he know or not?”

Su Bei cleverly avoided saying whether he knew the human blood array’s purpose, just dodging the topic.

It was a deliberate out. If he found details in the notebook, he could reveal them later. If not, as he said, being learned didn’t mean knowing everything.

“Don’t know…” Jiang Tianming said, then clarified: “I mean, I don’t know if he knows.”

Ling You summed up coldly: “Whether he knows or not, he won’t say.”

True enough. The three exchanged helpless glances. Jiang Tianming said calmly: “I’ll ask Zhou Zijian for cinnabar. Send the array to Teacher Lei to check.”