ACIFITFDB – Chapter 34

“As you said, we need to adjust the plan now… Do you have any suggestions?” Yuan Fengying looked at Qin Xian.

Qin Xian thought for a moment: “First, the faster we eliminate the owner of this domain, the sooner the students can be rescued. There might not be time for you to interrogate them, and your police force might lose relevant clues.”

Yuan Fengying immediately replied: “Regardless, the third-year students are the priority. My purpose for coming here is to protect the students, not to catch these people. Of course, if there’s a chance to keep one or two, that would be even better.”

“Can you contact your colleagues who entered the school? We need to gather everyone now.”

“I’ve already contacted the six colleagues who entered. I’ll have them gather the students in the teaching building later and guard there to protect the children’s safety.”

Qin Xian shook his head: “I suggest you leave three police officers in the teaching building. We need to concentrate our firepower to kill the grotesque being as quickly as possible. The enemy has also taken away a group of students who joined them. Most of these students have disappeared until now, and they might be exploited.”

Yuan Fengying’s brows furrowed into the shape of a “川” character, and she hesitated, saying: “I’m sorry, but I’m going to be more conservative. I must prioritize protection here, as there are more students here. What if our misjudgment leads to this area being overrun… No, we can’t bear the consequences.”

Qin Xian completely understood her decision: “Fine, you arrange your subordinates as you see fit, but I won’t stay here…”

“Captain!!!”

Just then, a voice interrupted their conversation.

Zhang Min, covered in blood, jogged towards them, followed by a large group of people, about twenty in number.

Judging by their appearance and age, they were likely teachers from the school.

One of the leading female teachers, though looking disheveled, still managed to grasp Yuan Fengying’s hand with spirit and said: “Officer Yuan! I am Zheng Jiemin, the vice-principal of the school. We were locked in the school laboratory by the criminals yesterday. Officer Zhang rescued us, and we have a general understanding of the situation from him. What do you need us to do now? We will follow all arrangements and even sacrifice our lives to protect the students!”

The condition of these teachers didn’t look good. They seemed to have resisted, some were injured, and they appeared mentally exhausted, but none showed any intention of backing down.

Qin Xian glanced at them from the side and smiled at Yuan Fengying: “It seems you don’t need as many people here. We can concentrate our efforts on eliminating the culprit as quickly as possible, and the teachers and students will be safe sooner.”

Yuan Fengying pondered for a moment and said to Zhang Min: “You and Fu Quanjin will take the teachers and guard here, protecting the students and organizing order. We need to go to the source to try and solve the problem. If there’s any abnormality on your end, use a signal flare to inform us.”

Zhang Min saluted: “Yes, Captain! I will complete the mission!”

Saying that, he took out a small gun from his pocket.

Qin Xian immediately recognized it as the starter pistol commonly used in school sports events and wondered where Zhang Min had found it.

Zhang Min, being a highly competent police officer, immediately gathered the teachers, assigned tasks, and gave instructions.

Yuan Fengying withdrew her gaze with relief and asked Qin Xian: “The school is too big, do you know where they are hiding?”

Qin Xian looked up towards the north, in the direction of the school gate, an area he hadn’t examined closely. None of the four monsters that appeared during the large break were in the northern part, so it was highly likely they were trying to distract everyone’s attention elsewhere.

A golden light flashed in his eyes. As expected, the building closest to the school gate was emanating an ominous aura, and he could see figures moving on the rooftop through the windows.

His eyes began to ache intensely, and Qin Xian immediately closed them, raising a finger and saying: “Go that way, on the upper floors of that building.”

He rubbed his eyes in discomfort. Just as he was slightly letting his guard down, someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

Qin Xian flinched and immediately raised his leg to kick, but before his leg could connect, something wet licked his eyelid.

“What are you doing!?” He quickly stepped back and opened his eyes, seeing the Student Council President looking at him with feigned concern.

Qin Xian frowned, wiped the saliva from his eyelid, and cursed: “Are you sick…”

The Student Council President smiled cheekily: “How is it? Does your eye hurt less?”

Qin Xian had indeed felt it; his eye, which had been in excruciating pain due to the side effects, instantly returned to normal, and his vision was unaffected.

He could clearly see the more than a dozen pairs of eyes watching him and the Student Council President.

Some teachers even covered their mouths and gasped softly, then lowered their heads to whisper to their companions.

Qin Xian gritted his teeth.

He really wanted to pull out the guy’s tongue.

But there was no time for that now. He flicked his hand, summoned his whip, and said to Yuan Fengying: “Let’s go, we’re heading there!”

Qin Xian ran at the forefront, and the Student Council President immediately caught up, walking alongside him. He casually wrapped the tip of the whip around his finger: “Where did the blue flames on this go? Why aren’t they there anymore?”

Qin Xian ignored him.

The Student Council President answered himself: “Oh, this ability caused you a lot of damage. It seems you can only use it once in a short period.”

Qin Xian pulled his hand back, and the whip slipped from his fingers with a “snap,” even whipping his fingertip before it left.

The President’s lips curved into a morbid smile, and he sucked the hurting fingertip into his mouth. However, the next second, Qin Xian said “Pervert” and whipped at his feet, moving so fast it was just a blur.

The Student Council President stumbled and fell directly to the ground, startling Yuan Fengying and the others behind him into quickly moving aside. Some officers stood dumbfounded, unsure whether to help. But seeing Qin Xian and Captain Yuan already moving away, they could only step back and run after them.

It didn’t take long for Qin Xian to return to the comprehensive building closest to the school gate, the same one where they had initially discovered a large patch of blood.

The entrance to the comprehensive building was cordoned off, and the door was locked, appearing completely abandoned. When Qin Xian and Yuan Fengying had entered earlier, they had walked past it without paying too much attention.

But now, after climbing over the cordon and reaching the ground floor, they could feel a chilling wind blowing out. The wind carried a smell of blood and mildew, making them nauseous.

“This lock is just hooked on,” Qin Xian said, reaching out and easily removing the iron lock.

Yuan Fengying held up her gun and nodded: “Be careful when going in. You two, watch the left, you two, watch the right, and the rest, watch upstairs.”

Qin Xian pushed the door open and walked in, his steps steady and relaxed. The police officers beside him were very cautious, pointing their guns in different directions, alert to any movement, which was quite professional. Bringing up the rear was the Student Council President, trailing along with his hands behind his head as if nothing had happened.

The officers on the outermost flank also carried two briefcase-style folding shields, protecting Qin Xian and the Student Council President within them. They glanced at the Student Council President, hesitated, but then included him within the shield coverage.

The group slowly walked to the center of the first-floor lobby. They found no movement nearby, except for a security camera in the corner of the ceiling blinking on and off.

The items in the lobby seemed to have been vandalized. The walls were covered in graffiti, just like the exterior walls. The display boards in the lobby were scrawled with messages like “Garbage School,” “Fck Studying,” and “Long Live Freedom.” The principal’s offices and administrative conference rooms on both sides were even worse, with knife marks on the closed doors and a strong odor of urine and yellow stains.

“It’s evident they really disliked the school and its leadership…” one officer couldn’t help but say.

Yuan Fengying frowned: “It’s likely the students who were brought here. They were allowed to destroy and vent their frustrations freely…”

Qin Xian stood at the staircase, looking up. The entire stairwell was a mess, the stench so strong he didn’t want to go up.

He couldn’t help but cover his nose: “Most of the students who were taken were the so-called ‘bad students’ in class, likely the more rebellious ones with strong negative feelings towards the school. These students are the easiest to exploit. The people practicing the Ghost-Channeling Technique are amplifying these emotions, letting them go mad… I just hope it’s not too late to salvage the situation.”

“Let’s go, they should be upstairs.”

Qin Xian, who had just raised his foot, suddenly stopped. He signaled to Yuan Fengying, immediately making her alert as well.

With a “thump,” a round object suddenly dropped from the middle of the stairs. Yuan Fengying recognized it immediately: “Tear gas!?”

“Hiss!!!” As soon as the object landed, it sprayed a large amount of gas.

Qin Xian and the Student Council President reacted faster than Yuan Fengying. Before the smoke could spread, they rushed up one flight of stairs.

Between the two flights of stairs was a window used for ventilation. The two of them, without hesitation, jumped directly out of the window. Qin Xian used his whip to wrap around an air conditioning unit on the floor above. The Student Council President’s jumping ability was astonishing; he stepped on the window frame and jumped upwards, directly grabbing the windowsill on the second floor.

Qin Xian grabbed the whip, his arm muscles flexing slightly, and in a few movements, he flipped onto the second floor. But reaching the second floor wasn’t enough. The gas was still spreading upwards, so they continued to climb the third floor like superheroes on the exterior wall.

Noisy sounds came from below. After throwing the tear gas, the criminals, wearing gas masks, rushed down, planning to capture Qin Xian and the others under the cover of the tear gas.

But who would have expected two people to directly jump out of the window and climb up?

There were two people left on the third floor who hadn’t gone down. Seeing Qin Xian and the other emerge from the window, they let out shocked yells.

“Holy crap! This is the third floor!?”

“Quick, quick, get the guns, get the guns!”

But Qin Xian didn’t want to give them a chance. His whip flew out, wrapping around the necks of the two men and pulling hard, slamming them to the ground.

Qin Xian said to the Student Council President: “Go, rip off their gas masks and throw them down.”

“Yes, teacher.”

The Student Council President smiled and leaped from the window frame towards his targets.

“You, who are you!?”

“What are you doing?! Don’t kill me! We can talk!”

“Stop.”

Qin Xian raised a finger, and the Student Council President halted his actions.

“Then tell us about the Ghost-Channeling Technique.”

The two men’s faces turned pale. They opened their mouths but couldn’t utter a sound.

This situation was within Qin Xian’s expectations. He lowered his raised finger, and the Student Council President threw the two men, who had lost their gas masks, down the stairs.

“Ah! Oww! Ahhh!”

The two screamed as they rolled down, followed by their violent coughing and wailing.

The President happily leaned over the railing to look down, but after only a couple of glances, he suddenly covered his nose and sneezed loudly twice. He then immediately climbed up to the fourth floor, looking quite displeased.

Qin Xian shot him a look and asked: “Such a sensitive sense of smell?”

The President blinked his reddened eyes, but no tears fell. He covered his mouth and seemed to retort: “Then you go smell it?”