Chapter 62: Two Freaks

"No… This can't be!" Li Yifei stared at the gunshot mark on his chest, shaking his head repeatedly. "I couldn't have killed anyone… and I'm definitely not a monster…"

 "Li Yifei," Lin Qiye grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, his piercing gaze locking onto Li Yifei's panicked eyes. 

 "Look into my eyes!" 

 *Swoosh—!* 

 Golden flames ignited in Lin Qiye's eyes, surging with the divine aura of the Seraph. It poured into Li Yifei's mental world with overwhelming force. 

 Within seconds, Li Yifei's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed in a faint. 

 But in the next moment, a strong hand seized Lin Qiye's wrist. Li Yifei's eyes snapped open! 

 His pupils had turned into eerie vertical slits—calm, profound, and chillingly alien. 

 "Interesting… How did you figure it out?" Li Yifei's voice was deep and composed. "With your level of perception at the Lantern Realm, you shouldn't have been able to see through my disguise." 

 "I didn't see through it," Lin Qiye said, the golden flames in his eyes still burning fiercely. "If I had, you would've slipped up long before, back in the agency's basement. But ever since we entered the school, everything has felt… off. It all seemed logical on the surface, but the strangeness was everywhere." 

 "So, you deduced it?" 

 "More or less. You left too many clues." 

 "Oh?" Li Yifei's eyes narrowed slightly. "Go on, then." 

 "The first clue was your sick note." Lin Qiye's tone was calm. "You brought it when you entered the classroom this morning." 

 "And what of it?" 

 "According to your story, you went back to the school last night after realizing you'd forgotten your homework and accidentally witnessed Liu Xiaoyan eating someone. You then fled in panic and sought us Nightwatchers for help. 

 But when did you prepare that sick note?" 

 Lin Qiye sneered. "Don't tell me that after witnessing a gruesome murder, you guessed you'd be joining us today and took the time to get a sick note ready—especially when the administration office was already closed by then. 

 This leaves only two possibilities: 

 First, you had already planned to skip school today, possibly for some fun, and just happened to stumble upon the scene last night. 

 Second… you knew we'd be coming from the start and prepared yourself accordingly." 

 Li Yifei fell silent for a moment. "Keep talking." 

 "The second clue was the human skins hanging on the balcony of the girls' dormitory. 

 A Nanda snake demon is an extremely cautious creature. If it's been hiding in human society for this long, it would never be so blatant as to hang human skins in the open—it's too risky! 

 And yet, that's exactly what it did. At first, I couldn't understand why, but later I realized—it was a deliberate signal. It was trying to tell us that it was hiding in the dormitory building. 

 It wanted us to find it." 

 Lin Qiye's gaze bore into Li Yifei. "And then, you appeared. Your timing was so precise, almost as if you were trying to lure Hong Ying away and trigger the school-wide chaos. 

 Then, like a hero out of nowhere, you led the students to fend off the snake demon offspring. Your actions were textbook-perfect for a survival scenario." 

 Lin Qiye paused briefly before continuing. "Still, I didn't suspect you right away. The real turning point was An Qingyu." He glanced at the thin boy behind him. 

 Li Yifei's neck twisted unnaturally as he turned to scrutinize the bespectacled youth. 

 An Qingyu adjusted his glasses and spoke. "The number of snake demon offspring attacking us has been peculiar from the start. 

 When the offspring first appeared, everyone else was running to higher floors. Only our classroom barricaded the doors and windows with desks and chairs, holding our ground. 

 Most of the snake demons either went to the fourth floor to attack your hallway or stayed on the first floor to block everyone's escape. Strangely enough, only two tried to breach our classroom on the third floor. 

 Normally, when hunters have two targets in sight—one stronger and harder to take down, and the other weaker and easier—they go after the weaker one. 

 Initially, I thought this discrepancy was due to a lack of information. Perhaps the other offspring didn't know we were there. But later, I realized—the snake demons share a collective vision." 

 An Qingyu paused before continuing, "This means they knew we were right below them. Yet they chose not to attack. It was almost as if… they were deliberately leaving us alone." 

 "Then, you showed up with your group, descending like saviors to rescue us. 

 After defeating the two snake demons, you conveniently drew six more to attack us. The number was very specific—enough to push us to our limits but not enough to overwhelm us completely. 

 Even when one more would've meant certain death for us, it didn't happen. 

 Just as Lin Qiye was about to arrive, those six offspring suddenly pressed harder, driving us into a desperate corner… Everything was too coincidental, too unnatural." 

 "And this is what made you suspect me?" Li Yifei frowned deeply. 

 "No," An Qingyu shook his head. "The real issue was the rope-cutting incident. 

 When you descended using the thick rope, the two snake demons present hadn't seen it happen. Logically, they shouldn't have known about the rope. 

 Yet, when the next six arrived, they immediately severed it, as if they were fully aware that it was your escape route. 

 For them to cut something they shouldn't have even known about, there could only be one explanation— 

 One of us was sharing their vision!" 

 An Qingyu spread his hands nonchalantly. "Of course, I didn't understand the snake demons well enough back then. It was only after exchanging information with Lin Qiye that I pieced it all together." 

 Li Yifei's slit pupils fixed on An Qingyu. With a cold laugh, he said, "If I'd known you were this clever, I should've killed you from the start." 

 "And let's not forget," Lin Qiye added, "every time a snake demon appeared, you were nowhere to be found. 

 The first incident was at the girls' dormitory. Tell me, after confessing to Wu Shujie, where were you before returning to the second-year classroom? And just now, when we were fighting the snake demon itself, you conveniently went to search for other survivors. That only solidified my suspicions." 

 Li Yifei glanced between Lin Qiye and An Qingyu, then chuckled wryly. 

 "How did I end up running into two freaks like you?"