Chapter 44: Mysterious Arrival

"Ding dong—Welcome!"

 Lin QiYe pushed open the door of the office and saw Hong Ying sitting upright on the sofa, lost in thought. He waved at her.

 "Good morning, Hong Ying."

 "QiYe! You're finally here!" Hong Ying sprang up from the sofa as soon as she saw Lin QiYe.

 "What's going on?"

 "Something happened." Hong Ying spoke seriously, grabbing Lin QiYe's wrist and quickly heading downstairs.

 This was the first time Lin QiYe had seen Hong Ying with such a serious expression. He frowned slightly. "The mysterious... has arrived?"

 "Yes, and it's quite tricky."

 They pushed open the door and entered the activity room, where Lin QiYe noticed that the entire 136th squad was already there.

 Chen MuYe, who had been leaning against a pillar, stepped forward as soon as he saw Lin QiYe. He walked over to the meeting table and sat down, still expressionless.

 "Everyone's here, let's start the meeting."

 Once everyone was seated, Chen MuYe tapped his fingers on the table and slowly spoke:

 "Last night, we received a report that another suspected mythical creature has appeared."

 "The location is... Cangnan City Second High School."

 "Second High?!" Lin QiYe was taken aback.

 "Yes, the very same school you attended," Chen MuYe nodded. "And apparently, the report came from someone you know."

 Chen MuYe shouted toward the back room, "That kid, is he awake yet? If so, tell him to come out!"

 Everyone turned their heads, and soon the door to the back room creaked open. A young man with bloodshot eyes stepped out.

 Lin QiYe was shocked. "Li YiFei?"

 Li YiFei blinked and rubbed his eyes, confirming it was indeed Lin QiYe.

 "Lin QiYe? What are you doing here? Did you also see that creature?"

 "No, he's one of us," Wu XiangNan shook his head and replied.

 "Temporary team member," corrected Chen MuYe.

 Li YiFei gaped at Lin QiYe, still stunned. "Holy crap! I heard you joined the military, but I didn't know you were with them now!"

 Lin QiYe shrugged. "A few things happened."

 "You can talk later, but let's focus on the case now." Chen MuYe reminded, then added, "Normally, if there's a suspected mysterious case, it's first reported to the police, who then pass it on to us. But this kid had a run-in with the Ghost Face Man case last time, came into contact with us, and signed a confidentiality agreement. So, he called us directly, cutting out the middleman."

 Everyone nodded, but Lin QiYe knew Chen MuYe's explanation was mainly for him.

 "Go ahead," Chen MuYe said.

 "Okay." Li YiFei swallowed hard, recalling, "Last night, I went back to school to grab my homework, and I just happened to see..."

 Li YiFei recounted what he had seen the previous night. As he spoke, the team's expressions grew increasingly tense.

 When he finished, Wu XiangNan nodded.

 "If what this kid says is true, there's a 95% chance this case is related to the mysterious." He turned to Li YiFei and said, "You know the consequences if you report false information, right?"

 "I know, I know. Everything I said is the truth, really!" Li YiFei answered sincerely.

 "Good." Chen MuYe turned to Wu XiangNan. "What's your take on this?"

 "From the information we have so far, this mythical creature seems to have strong camouflage abilities. It can transform into others and communicate normally without revealing any signs."

 Wen QiMo sighed. "Camouflage... another troublesome one."

 "Besides that, it seems to have the ability to assimilate creatures it swallows. This is what we really need to watch out for," Wu XiangNan said.

 "Like the zombies in movies? Infinite infection?" Hong Ying asked.

 "Though the method of infection is different, the effect is almost the same."

 "So, if we rush into the school, we just need to kill that Liu XiaoYan?" Hong Ying's eyes lit up.

 "It's not that simple." Lin QiYe suddenly spoke up. "Since it can infect others, we can't be sure if Liu XiaoYan is its true form... she could have been infected by someone else."

 "QiYe is right," Wu XiangNan nodded. "The biggest challenge with this mysterious case is that we don't know where the source of this strange infection is. It's like killing zombies—if we don't find the zombie's origin, killing the others won't help."

 "Also, we don't know how long this mythical creature has existed or how many people it has infected," Wen QiMo added. "Liu XiaoYan might be its first infection, or she might be the 100th—"

 "Or worse, the whole school could have turned into a monster school," Wu XiangNan said slowly, his eyes full of seriousness. "And this creature could have infected not just the school, but other parts of Cangnan City."

 Hearing this, Li YiFei suddenly shivered. "What are you guys saying?"

 "Have you ever thought..." Wu XiangNan slowly stood up and stared directly into Li YiFei's eyes, speaking calmly, "That everyone at your school, except you, might have turned into monsters?"

 "No, even... even you might unknowingly have become part of the mystery."

 Li YiFei's pupils suddenly contracted. He felt a chill run from his feet to his brain, and his mind went completely blank!

 "Alright, XiangNan, stop scaring him." Wen QiMo chuckled, standing up. "If it were that bad, the [Raven of Calamity] would have already called us. Since it hasn't reacted yet, it means the situation isn't as dangerous as we think."

 "[Raven of Calamity]? What's that?" Lin QiYe asked, looking at Hong Ying.

 "It's a raven, but also a cursed object with its own forbidden domain." Hong Ying patiently explained, "When a great disaster is about to strike in Cangnan City, it will give an early warning by screaming. It's like a detector."

 "Ah." Lin QiYe nodded.

 "Anyway, since the mysterious has already appeared, we must investigate thoroughly. If we let this creature continue to grow, we might be facing the future XiangNan described sooner than we think," Chen MuYe said slowly. "XiangNan, do you have a plan?"

 Wu XiangNan sat down, pushed up his glasses, and said seriously: "I believe the priority is to find the source of this mythical creature and figure out how many people it has already infected. So, I propose we split into two teams."

 "One team will focus on the area around Second High School to look for traces of other infected individuals; the other will infiltrate the school and try to find the creature's true form."

 Chen MuYe nodded and glanced at everyone.

 "Since we're infiltrating the school, we mustn't alert the creature. We need to blend in as high school students..."

 "Hong Ying, XiangNan, and... QiYe, you'll be responsible for infiltrating Second High and finding the creature's true form."