Borrowing

Another day passed.

Su Mian ultimately didn’t head out to look for clues last night. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to test if the “limited recovery” state was effective, but the weather yesterday afternoon had been terrible. Just as night fell, it began to rain as expected, and the downpour only grew heavier.

He waited until past ten at night, but the rain showed no signs of stopping. Since he had classes this morning, he had no choice but to postpone his plans.

“It’s not like I’m in a huge rush anyway.”

Having attended Jade Capital University for over a year without encountering any major incidents, Su Mian truly wasn’t that anxious. He left the house leisurely in the morning, only to be slapped in the face by a gust of cold air.

It was mid-to-late September; high summer had already retreated. Although its tail end lingered, there was a noticeable autumn chill in the air, resulting in weather that fluctuated between hot and cold. The temperature difference between day and night was gradually widening.

Especially after it rained.

Su Mian, who habitually dressed very lightly, shivered several times upon stepping out. He considered going back to grab a jacket, but felt it wasn’t worth the effort. After hesitating for a moment, he headed to school as he was.

Of course, he didn’t forget to buy some breakfast on the way.

However, he wondered if his other self’s words were coming true again. The steamed buns that had tasted delicious yesterday felt somewhat bland as he chewed them today. He couldn’t help but feel that the pedestrians on the street looked much more appetizing than the buns in his hand.

“What kind of Jade Capital foodie am I becoming…”

Irritated, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed as he walked onto campus. As he passed the school gate, he unexpectedly spotted a somewhat familiar black van. A face that also looked familiar flashed past the window.

Huh?

He recognized the man in the passenger seat as that strange police officer he had encountered repeatedly. He wondered what they were doing at Jade Capital University. Could it be related to him?

Su Mian frowned slightly, but the black vehicle didn’t stop for him. After being cleared at the security checkpoint, it drove into the campus and quickly disappeared from view. He paused for a beat, then maintained his original plan and headed toward his classroom.

On the other side.

“Captain, how exactly did you convince the school authorities?”

In the driver’s seat of the black van, Old He carefully navigated the vehicle to avoid hitting students while casting curious glances at the man beside him.

Although they had agreed yesterday to use a Relic to find the [Eye Hunter], their initial attempt to communicate with the school had been rejected as a matter of course. It wasn’t that the school didn’t want to help, but Relics involved too many complications.

The [Kinship Finder] might seem of little use—it could only find a person or their relatives, and it required the target’s blood. However, the research value of a Relic wasn’t always proportional to its function. The mere existence of many Relics held immense research significance.

The [Kinship Finder] was the same. As one of the few Relics held by Jade Capital University—and the only one classified as Harmless—its value was extremely high. Even if the school administration was willing to lend it, the laboratories and researchers responsible for it were not.

What if it gets lost? What if it’s damaged? If something goes wrong, who takes responsibility? Who even can?

Thus, a refusal was the normal response.

The group hadn’t held much hope yesterday. After a brief discussion with the university, they were indeed turned down. But just as Old He and An Ye were feeling disappointed and starting to brainstorm other ideas, Jiang Xun stepped up. He went outside to make a phone call, and suddenly, the matter was settled.

The two of them had no idea how he had done it, nor did they realize their Captain possessed such significant influence. However, Jiang Xun was completely unwilling to elaborate, only saying he had borrowed some people’s “energy.” Since he didn’t want to talk, Old He and the others naturally couldn’t pry anything out of him.

But that didn’t stop their curiosity.

Having been asked many times today already, Jiang Xun was getting annoyed. Sitting in the passenger seat, he spoke expressionlessly: “I kidnapped their principal and told them I wouldn’t release him unless they gave me the item. I threatened them into handing it over, alright?”

“…”

Old He and An Ye in the back seat fell silent.

That story was obviously fake!

However, they understood that there was likely something involved that was truly difficult to discuss. Thus, they had to suppress their inner curiosity. Old He apologized decisively: “Alright, Captain, my bad. I shouldn’t have asked so much.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you.” Jiang Xun closed his eyes. “It’s just that many things shouldn’t be spoken of, or they’ll invite trouble.”

The atmosphere in the van became somewhat heavy after those words. Fortunately, they reached their destination quickly.

After parking the car, they walked into a laboratory and met the supervisor in the outer area. The supervisor was an elderly man with white hair but sharp eyes and a vigorous spirit. He seemed quite displeased upon seeing them and spoke bluntly: “I have received notice from above. The [Kinship Finder] can be handed over to you, but you may only hold it for one day! It must be returned by this time tomorrow, without any damage or…”

He then droned on about a long list of regulations, including how to handle issues and who would be held responsible, even making them sign several documents.

By the time they left the lab carrying the metal box containing the [Kinship Finder], even Jiang Xun—let alone Old He—was wiping cold sweat from his brow. Only the glasses-wearing youth, An Ye, remained calm.

“Good grief, I feel more tired than if I’d fought a Fiend or a Demon Tamer!” Old He rubbed his bald head. For the first time, he felt the sky outside looked exceptionally bright and beautiful. Stepping out of the research institute felt like entering a new world.

Jiang Xun didn’t say much. He just wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurriedly carried the box toward the parked car. “Enough. We only have this for one day. Time is tight; let’s get moving!”

“Understood!” The two team members naturally grasped the urgency.

Although the [Kinship Finder] had a large search range, Jade Capital was no small city, and the target might still be on the move. Time was indeed of the essence.

The group didn’t waste words. Once inside the van, they immediately mobilized. After leaving the campus, Jiang Xun opened the box. Inside was a jade plaque wrapped in soft black cloth.

The others leaned in at this moment, curious to see it. It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen other Relics, but Harmless-class ones were truly rare.

After staring at it for a while, they couldn’t see anything particularly useful. On the surface, the [Kinship Finder] looked like a strange jade plaque, dull golden-yellow in color, with many blood-vessel-like red veins running through it. Aside from those, there were many weird lines on the plaque that looked like patterns or perhaps writing, but upon deeper observation, they seemed like random, nonsensical scribbles.

Since they weren’t researchers, they gave up after a quick look.

“Get the item out.”

Jiang Xun had An Ye bring out another pre-prepared box from the back. Inside was a test tube containing blood that still looked relatively fresh. This was exactly what they had obtained beforehand—the blood left behind by the [Eye Hunter] after he was wounded.

Jiang Xun took the test tube and carefully let a single drop fall onto the [Kinship Finder]. The blood was silently absorbed by the jade plaque, and those red veins inside and out instantly became vivid.

In the next second, the jade plaque suddenly emitted a red glow, and the entire thing became scalding hot!

The men looked at each other, instantly realizing what it meant.

“The Eye Hunter is nearby!?”