Chapter 31: Chapter 31: One After Another
A total of six police officers arrived, too many to fit in a single car, which showed the gravity of the situation.
They also seemed to be two different groups. Judging by their uniforms, two of them were local patrol officers, while the other four had a noticeably calmer, more competent, and even... somewhat grim Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
It was the kind of aura that came from long-term handling of complex work, of viewing everyone with a suspicious eye—something a high school student had never encountered before.
Yang Shen was surrounded by the six officers. Even with two teachers accompanying him, he still felt the pressure of a full-blown interrogation.
"Yang, where did you go after school last night? Please explain in detail, and don’t leave out any specifics..."
Yang Shen pursed his lips. He had a good idea why they were here.
’The police came straight to me, so they must already have some evidence. The surveillance footage probably captured everything clearly. I have to be careful how I answer and assume most of my movements are already known.’
"After school, I was originally planning to go straight home... but halfway there, I suddenly started to feel unwell."
"Unwell in what way?"
"Muscle spasms. It started in my stomach, then spread to my calves."
Yang Shen answered truthfully. Aside from the secret of his Cultivation, he had nothing worth lying to the police about.
If the situation became severe, he might even consider revealing the secret of his Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique.
He had benefited from it, but it wasn’t like he’d committed some unforgivable crime.
"Continue."
Yang Shen said, "Because I felt so bad, I thought about heading back to school..."
"Because the school has a nurse’s office?"
"Because the school has insurance..."
The police officers: ...
"But halfway there, my leg cramps got really bad, so I found a place to sit for a while. I tried various ways to relieve it, which took a lot of time..."
"Be more specific."
"From around... seven to eleven... When I felt it had mostly subsided, I got up and continued home."
"Wasn’t your family worried?"
"My family situation is a bit complicated..."
Yang Shen briefly explained his family situation. Although he guessed what the police were really interested in, they listened patiently.
"As I was leaving, I ran into someone wearing our school uniform. I’d seen them during the day, so I took a second look... After that, nothing much happened. I got home, ate something, and then studied."
The officer nodded, jotting something down in his notebook. The handwriting was messy and upside-down from Yang Shen’s perspective, so he couldn’t make it out.
Afterward, the officer circled back with a few more questions, as if verifying the truthfulness of Yang Shen’s earlier statements. In the end, two officers stayed behind, while the others with the grimmer auras left for the time being.
Those men hadn’t said a word from start to finish. The patrol officers had conducted the questioning, but the others hadn’t missed a single sentence.
Yang Shen’s gaze seemed to drift into the distance. The questioning officer waved a hand in front of him. "Yang? Yang? Please tell us about what happened today as well, starting from when you woke up."
Yang Shen snapped back to reality.
Just now... the system had actually triggered a "side quest"...
"Side Quest → My Turf, My Rules: A crisis has occurred in the family’s territory. As a future member of the Immortal Race, you should make your presence known."
"Option 1: Investigate the mastermind and cooperate with them to profit from the chaos."
"Option 2: Investigate the mastermind, foil their plan, restore peace to the area, and earn prestige."
"Quest Reward: One random Technique."
"Time Limit: One month."
Yang Shen’s pupils contracted...
’A quest related to the Martial Arts Psychosis?’
Although the side quest wasn’t mandatory, the risk was far too great for him right now.
It didn’t take a genius to know that the mastermind couldn’t possibly be weaker than a high school student in the Bone Training stage...
Yang Shen made a decision. ’I’m not going to actively pursue this side quest.’
’System rewards are nice if they’re easy to get, but I’m not going to lose my mind over them if they aren’t. After all, it once ordered me to kill Xu Bamboo and keep her as a plaything.’
While distractedly answering the officer’s questions, Yang Shen scrolled through the system information.
After the presentation, he had started to gain a slight reputation as a "top student" at school. Although he couldn’t compare to Xu Bamboo, he was now a "minor celebrity" of sorts.
Correspondingly, his main quest progress for Family Prestige had increased to (6/10). He estimated that it would continue to grow, especially since the "Martial Arts Psychosis" and the "Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique" now seemed to be linked...
Perhaps this time, the main quest was the more reliable path.
The main quest’s reward was "one random skill from the Hundred Skills of Cultivation." It was geared more toward legacy skills than immediate combat power, but if he got lucky, it might give him an extra bit of security.
It could help him and his family get through this crisis happening right on their doorstep...
——————
While Yang Shen was checking his system in the office.
Criminal Investigator Luo Sheng had already stepped out of the office. He looked left and right. The school building had a long, straight layout, the corridor stretching so far into the distance that it ended in a white blur of light.
Classes were in session in the other rooms. Luo Sheng picked a direction, walked to a corner of the stairwell, opened a window, and lit a cigarette.
"Smoking isn’t allowed on school grounds."
His colleague, Zheng Tao, walked up from behind and reminded him.
Luo Sheng was unconcerned, merely sticking the cigarette a little further out the window. "I haven’t slept in four days. It’s either this or I take a vacation. You choose."
Zheng Tao gave a helpless look around, as if assessing the ventilation. Luo Sheng said nonchalantly:
"Don’t worry. The wind here flows upward and gathers on the west side of the sixth floor. Even if someone smells it, they’ll just think the principal is smoking."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I graduated from this school."
Zheng Tao said in surprise, "This school can produce top students for the Jianghuai Sports Academy?"
Luo Sheng turned around and said lazily, "When I got in, this batch of students was still liquid! Back then, Jinshui wasn’t even a district of Jianghuai City; it was called Jinshui County. But let’s get serious..."
The middle-aged investigator’s expression grew much more solemn. "I think there’s something up with this Yang Shen... but it doesn’t seem related to the Martial Arts Psychosis."
Zheng Tao frowned. "What do you mean?"
"From the surveillance footage, it’s true that he was feeling unwell. But for a high school student to neither call an ambulance nor tell his family, and instead sit motionless in front of a restaurant for four hours..."
Luo Sheng took out his phone and pulled up a blurry photo. It was of Yang Shen meditating in front of the restaurant.
"Given his family’s financial situation, the only Cultivation Technique he would have access to is the Sixth Set of Initial Realm Body Refining Fist. There are no postures like this in that set."
"You think he’s practicing a Cultivation Technique related to Martial Arts Psychosis?"
Luo Sheng shook his head. "Doesn’t seem like it. Like I said, I don’t think his issue is related to the Martial Arts Psychosis, but he still needs to be observed."
Zheng Tao rubbed the ring on his fourth finger, his expression worried. "Doesn’t that mean we’ve hit another dead end?"
"What dead end? This is clearly a major breakthrough. Isn’t starting with the Vajra Sect a good idea?"
Zheng Tao frowned. "Old Luo, the Vajra Sect is a huge corporation. They have many collaborations with the police system and make significant donations every year... Last year, they even organized a trip for officers’ families, all expenses paid."
Luo Sheng pinched the cigarette butt out with his fingers. A pinkish liquid seeped from his fingertips, dissolving the black ash, which he then flicked away. "What the hell does that have to do with me?"
"So far, there have been 12 cases of Martial Arts Psychosis. The higher-ups have given us a direct order: this must be solved within a month."
All the Martial Arts Psychosis cases involve individuals below the Innate Realm, between 16 and 18 years old. Moreover, their targets are exclusively ordinary people at the bottom of society with no Martial Cultivation.
The negative impact is too great.
Zheng Tao said, "What reason would the Vajra Sect have for doing this? They just have to ring a few bells in their temple, and people stuff money into their donation boxes. Do you really think they would create the ’Martial Arts Psychosis’?"
Luo Sheng replied, "All I know is that their ’Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique’ sounds exactly like something that would drive a person insane. The project’s start date also lines up, and they specifically chose high school students for testing... And the kid who went crazy last night had just been one of their ’lucky audience members’..."
"But the previous victims had no contact with the Vajra Sect."
"Or maybe we just haven’t found the connection yet?"
Just as he said that, Zheng Tao’s phone rang. He looked down, and his face paled. "Half an hour ago... another ’Martial Arts Psychosis’ attack occurred in Jinshui District... Six injured, no fatalities so far..."
"The one who went berserk... seems to be another student from Nanliang High School... also participated in the Vajra Sect’s ’product testing’ yesterday... They called in sick today and didn’t come to school."
Zheng Tao added with relief, "Luckily, a civil servant was passing by. Otherwise, it’s hard to say how the situation would have turned out."
Unlike most other professions, promotions and ranks for civil servants are highly correlated with their Martial Arts Realm.
Their actual combat prowess is another matter, but the kind of situation where one’s realm plummets drastically in the decade or so after graduation is unlikely to happen among civil servants.
Similarly, it’s much the same in other official sectors, especially in law enforcement and the military.
After hearing this, a smile actually appeared on the corner of Luo Sheng’s mouth.
Zheng Tao urged, "Old Luo, let’s go! We need to get to the scene!"
Luo Sheng’s gaze was grim as he stared down the seemingly endless school corridor.
The sound of lessons echoed endlessly, creating a strange mix of quiet and noise.
"I’m not going. I’m staying here."
"I have a feeling... the answer is right here at Nanliang High School."
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