Volume Two: The Youth of a Thousand Faces, Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Shadow After the Light

The book signing event that day was, of course, canceled. An hour and a half after the Golden Leopard was apprehended, the mercenaries previously captured by the students all began to convulse, foam at the mouth, and died without hope of resuscitation.

Afterward, the authorities sent from the colony took over. The Golden Leopard was taken away for interrogation, and the bodies of the other mercenaries were to be transported for autopsy by the medical examiner.

Originally, the signing event was scheduled for three full days, with a quota of 500 attendees per day. By the time the immediate aftermath was managed, it was already the third day. Not wanting the fans to have come in vain, it was ultimately decided to finish all 1,497 signings on the final day, wrapping things up hastily.

Although the attack didn't result in significant casualties, everyone was deeply shaken—coming in high spirits, only to leave disheartened.

Later, news reports revealed that someone had hired the Golden Toad to assassinate Night Rain and Cold Crow. The mercenaries had mingled with the teams escorting civilians into the Wild Zone.

As a result, posts appeared on certain forums blaming Night Rain and Cold Crow, arguing that it was his decision to hold the signing in Bancroft that led to such a terrorist attack—otherwise, how could mercenaries have infiltrated so easily?

Yet, these voices were swiftly drowned out by righteous netizens. Facts spoke for themselves: if someone wanted to kill Night Rain and Cold Crow, mercenaries would have attempted an attack no matter where he was. Besides, had the signing not taken place in Bancroft, there wouldn’t have been so many Awakened Walkers present to quickly quell the chaos.

In hindsight, the choice of venue for the signing proved to be extremely wise.

Afterward, as previously mentioned, Jiang Feng arranged for the campus newspaper to interview Night Rain and Cold Crow.

Question: “Mr. Night Rain, what are your thoughts on the unexpected incident during the signing event?”

Night Rain and Cold Crow answered, “To be honest, this was completely unforeseen. I never imagined that my personal safety would be threatened. There hadn’t been the slightest sign of danger beforehand. Those people struck like a sudden storm. For that, I feel I must apologize to all the readers who came to Bancroft. It was my event that put them in harm’s way.”

This was the most pressing issue of the event. Even though Jiang Feng had advised beforehand not to ask anything controversial, an interview with the always-mysterious Night Rain was a rare opportunity—this question had to be asked, lest the interview seem contrived.

Huo Ye answered only this question about the incident, responding to all others with, “No comment.”

Question: “You mentioned on stage that you’re only nineteen. Are you still in school, or are you already supporting yourself?”

Night Rain and Cold Crow replied, “I am still a student, currently attending Bancroft in my second year.”

“According to some insiders, a new VRF account under the name Night Rain and Cold Crow has been spotted. Is that you?”

“Yes, that’s me. In fact, I’ve never been well-known at Bancroft in real life. My reputation as an author far exceeds my personal fame, and I’ve always longed to grow stronger. It was only at the start of my second year that I finally earned a place for myself here. So, I registered an anonymous account in VRF, using my pen name as my ID.”

His answer was artfully ambiguous. At first glance, it sounded as if, despite being a famous author, he was a mediocre fighter who felt unworthy of his own reputation and so trained diligently. Finally, in his second year, he became strong enough to register the Night Rain and Cold Crow account, announcing to the academy that he was here.

To those in the know, and when viewed against the facts, the statement had another layer: Huo Ye had only transferred to Bancroft recently, so naturally, no one there knew him personally, though Night Rain and Cold Crow was a household name. The desire to become stronger was a universal trait among Awakened Walkers. It was at the start of his second year that he officially transferred, publicly challenged the whole school at the opening ceremony, and made it clear he intended to make his mark on Bancroft. Thus, Huo Ye—Night Rain and Cold Crow—had arrived.

Such is the art of language: two interpretations, both plausible.

When Huo Ye read Jiang Feng’s prepared draft, he couldn’t help but slap his thigh in admiration—brilliant! He once again felt lucky to have brought Jiang Feng onto his team; he was a true gem.

That said, it seemed Jiang Feng was also fond of Alice. Wouldn’t that make him a rival to Reirimi?

Huo Ye pondered this for a good five seconds before deciding to let the young sort out their own affairs.

The draft contained other questions, but the three above were the core. The interview was published as the front-page headline.

Nowadays, print newspapers had long been replaced by digital editions—swift as a storm, especially when dealing with celebrity news. Word spread rapidly, and under the deliberate linguistic guidance of the writer, the public quickly settled on the first interpretation.

——————

As the incident drew to a close, sunlight poured in, illuminating the crimes of the wicked, while in the shadows, someone moved quietly.

Amidst the chaos, Qimu slipped into Bancroft’s archives. Using techniques learned from years undercover in the human world, he managed to steal almost all the student records. There was no need to steal the faculty files, for the person Wang was looking for could not be older than twenty this year.

This would be a colossal undertaking. Qimu would have to check each file one by one—over a thousand students. Even if he worked day and night, who could say how long it might take? He also had to consider the limits of his host’s body; he couldn’t afford to burn out his vessel too soon. After all, the original owner of this body was as good as dead—brain death is tantamount to death. If Qimu ever left the body without killing it, it would be nothing but a vegetable.

Whether he could find the target quickly would depend entirely on luck—whether that person’s file appeared early in the search.

——————

At ten in the evening, Huo Ye sat in a rocking chair by the window, chatting with someone via FeiXun.

FeiXun offered three modes of communication: text, voice, and video. Voice was the plainest, much like an old-fashioned telephone—one wore headphones and listened to the other’s voice.

Text, on the other hand, was sent by a brainwave receiver on the headset, directly converting one’s thoughts into words—ideal for conversations between people who didn’t share a common language. As long as the language settings matched, communication was seamless. Even though both Chinese and English were now universal languages in the Awakened era, there were still places where only the native tongue was spoken—like the old die-hards of the Kazama clan, who used nothing but Japanese.

The video function was technologically complex, but conceptually simple: holographic projection.

At this moment, Huo Ye was using text chat, and his correspondent was Shangguan Jade Butterfly, under the identity of Night Rain and Cold Crow.

Both Huo Ye and Shangguan Jade Butterfly were at home. Huo Ye certainly couldn’t risk voice or video with her—it would be too easy to reveal himself.

The neural interface projected a virtual screen before him. No matter how he moved his arms, the screen would automatically adjust to the most comfortable angle for viewing.

The words of their conversation danced across the screen. Huo Ye had never seen Shangguan Jade Butterfly so enthusiastic. She used to be a timid, tearful girl; now she was a cool beauty of few words. Never before had she spoken so much—every topic was fair game, even what she had for dinner could be discussed at length. Wasn’t he the one who made her dinner?

Could this be... the legendary power of love?

Huo Ye seriously considered the possibility of being with Shangguan Jade Butterfly, but ultimately concluded he felt nothing.

It was as he’d always thought: they were simply too familiar. The Night Rain and Cold Crow she liked wasn’t Huo Ye; he truly only saw her as a younger sister.

A saying came to his mind, one once used to describe a certain country’s dramas: “May all lovers in the world become siblings in the end.”

If one day his identity was exposed, would Shangguan Jade Butterfly come at him with a sword? Huo Ye fell into a contemplation on life.