Chapter 49


    The appearance of the interview invitation letter did not bring significant changes to Tian Yin’s life for the time being.


    On the surface, she was still the newly enrolled student at the Imperial Capital University, attending sses as usual, studying in the library, and carefully observing everyone around her.


    The only difference from before was that during her free time between sses, she would leave the school to wander around various parts of the imperial capital.


    During this process, she silently observed and recorded.


    Time passed unconsciously like this for a month.


    On this day, there was a mandatory mathematics ss. Tian Yin arrived neither early norte, with some time left before the ss started.


    Usually, the atmosphere before a math ss was dull and uninteresting, but Tian Yin noticed that today’s atmosphere was much more lively than usual. Many ssmates were huddled together with their phones, whispering and gossiping.


    This puzzled Tian Yin as she just entered the room.


    “…Did someone really die? Hiss, how could someone drown in such shallow water as the artificialke?”“It seems it was an old man. Maybe he was too old and not physically fit…”


    “Isn’t it just an ident?”


    “It’s not that simple. Didn’t they say the old man had a shady background? I think it might be a murder to silence him…”


    Bits and pieces of conversation reached Tian Yin’s ears. She vaguely realized that some kind of homicide had urred.


    Just as she was trying to listen more carefully…


    “Tian Tian, over here, over here!” Her lively roommate, Yu Xiao, stood up from the row behind, waving frantically at her.


    After Tian Yin sat down next to her, Yu Xiao asked with a mysterious look. “Did you see today’s news?”


    Without waiting for her answer, Yu Xiao continued to spill everything like beans from a bamboo tube. “Last Wednesday, someone drowned in North Ind Park. Because there were no people or surveince cameras nearby at the time, the forensic conclusion after examination was drowning. Moreover, he had overdosed on drugs at the time of death, which might be why he drowned in such shallow water. After all, he must have beenpletely disoriented.”


    “However, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of homicide. When the police investigatedter, they indeed found that the dead old man was a drug addict. Through investigating his social connections, they also caught quite a few of his drug-using friends…”


    At this point, Yu Xiao paused to take a big gulp of water before continuing. “But that’s not the most important part. The most important thing is that through clues found in the addict’s home and contacts on his phone, the police directly found a drug dealer. From this dealer, they traced his upstream supplier and eventually busted an entire drug trafficking gang! The way this plot developed is absolutely incredible!”


    She spoke with great animation, reminiscent of ancient storytellers. “Even novels wouldn’t dare to write it like this!”


    “North Ind Park?” Tian Yin seemed not to have heard thetter part of Yu Xiao’s words, only thoughtfully repeating the ce name, “An old man diedst Wednesday?”


    “Yes, that’s what the news said.” Yu Xiao directly opened the news on her phone and ced it in front of Tian Yin.


    Suddenly remembering something, she eximed in a low voice. “Ah, right, Tian Tian, weren’t you often exercising in North Ind Parkst month? I remember you stopped going there the week beforest, right? ording to the news, that old man was a cleaner in North Ind Park. Maybe you’ve even seen him there!”


    At this moment, the old man’s photo had been released in the opened news article. Although crucial parts were pixted, Tian Yin still recognized the familiar face through other features, after all, it was a face she had seen for a month.


    For an instant, her gaze froze in shock, appearing somewhat unusual.


    But in the next moment, she regained herposure.


    “Yes, I’ve indeed seen him,” Tian Yin nodded, her tone appearing surprised yet natural. “He often swept the area where I exercised. However, I had no idea at all that this guy was actually a drug addict.”


    Yu Xiao didn’t doubt Tian Yin’s momentary shocked reaction at all, because anyone would be surprised by such a thing. Who could have imagined that an old street sweeper was a long-term drug user, and after his death, clues about drug dealers could be uncovered from him?


    She just said in a relieved tone. “It’s good that you stopped exercising in North Ind Park the week beforest! Falling into theke isn’t scary, who could drown in such shallow water? What’s frightening is that a drug addict was lurking there. Who knows what a person might do when they’re craving drugs! If you had been there on Wednesday, Tian Tian, you might have been in danger.”


    Tian Yin’s face also showed an expression of bted fear.


    She exined, “You know it’s my first time in the imperial capital, I’m curious about everything. I heard North Ind Park has especially beautiful scenery, so I went there every day for the past month to look. But now, well, even the same scenery gets boring after a while.”


    “That’s right, there are so many fun and beautiful ces in the imperial capital,” Yu Xiao, a local of the imperial capital, proudly puffed out her chest and promised, “North Ind Park is nothing. Next time you want to go somewhere to y, I can be your tour guide.”


    “…It’s a deal then.”


    As they were chatting andughing, the broadcast announcing the start of ss sounded.


    The previously noisy ssroom fellpletely silent. Even those who still wanted to chat with their ssmates and friends consciously and quietly took out their phones tomunicate under the desk.


    University professors were different from high school teachers. As long as students didn’t disrupt ss discipline, some professors weren’t too strict. Therefore, the back few rows became prime spots for students to ck off.


    The ce Yu Xiao had chosen was very suitable for cking off.


    Tian Yin quietly took out her phone under the desk.


    Usually, she was a very diligent student, but the news she learned today made it difficult for her to maintain that focus. She just wanted to understand the whole story from beginning to end.


    Although she knew that if she listened attentively to the ss as usual, her performance would be more perfect and wless. But humans are not creatures entirely governed by reason, and at this moment, impulsive emotions dominated her.


    She opened the news page.


    Indeed, everything was just as Yu Xiao had described. Under the hot news, the number ofments was still growing.


    <i>[??? What kind of ridiculous news is this? Because of an addict’s idental drowning, they managed to trace and catch an entire drug trafficking gang? Those drug traffickers must have been “unable to close their eyes in death” when they were caught?]</i>


    <i>[Drug trafficking gang: We never imagined we’d be exposed for this reason. We’re tired, just end it all.]</i>


    <i>[Whatever the case, well done, hehe.]</i>


    <i>[Speaking of which, was this incident really an ident? Could it be that this guy offended someone and was silenced? Isn’t this amon plot in movies? Offending a gang boss, tied to a stone and sunk in the sea or something. Well, this is ake, but it could count as a sea, right? So, sunk in ake?]</i>


    <i>[23333 What the hell, sunk in ake! The water is so shallow, they say even a 10-year-old kid couldn’t drown there. I remember a kid fell in there the year beforest, adults on the shore were about to dive in to save him, but the kid just grabbed onto a rock by the shore and stood up in theke. He. Just. Stood. Up! Someone even took a video and posted it online, it was hrious!]</i>


    <i>[Then this guy’s death is even more suspicious.]</i>


    <i>[Especially after he died, the police directly found clues about drug dealers at his ce, and even rooted out the entire criminal gang. Are drug dealers so careless nowadays? I don’t know why, but I feel like everything is so coincidental it seems orchestrated.]</i>


    <i>[Didn’t they say he was confused from drug use?]</i>


    <i>[Then maybe someone injected him with drugs.]</i>


    <i>[Emmm, the person above has watched too many movies? Where are there such bizarre plots in real life?]</i>


    <i>[That’s right, I arranged it. I secretly sent out my underlings to watch his every move, investigate his social connections, then while he was cleaning in the park every day, had someone inject him with an overdose of drugs, and ced all the clues pointing to drug dealers in his home in advance… Finally, under my careful arrangement, the addict identally drowned, and the police sessfully caught the entire gang in one fell swoop. Haha, the legendary Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix is none other than me!]</i>


    <i>[At this point, I have to tell the truth. Actually, your father had a deep grudge with him, son. All your actions were guided by me in secret. Now I have to say, son, well done!]</i>


    With the appearance of these jokingizens, the tone of thements waspletely derailed, heading in a strange direction.


    Tian Yin silently exited the page, and her phone screen went dark.


    Theseizens might just be letting their imaginations run wild, not even believing their own words. But only she knew that some people’s guesses were close to the truth.


    In fact, as one of the participants, Tian Yin herself was also confused and still unable to see the full picture of the event. But she could determine that this incident was rted to the Shadow Council. In fact, it was likely the Shadow Council’s doing.


    — She now knew that the organization she had joined was called the Shadow Council. And she was still just a bottom-level intern, with all members referring to themselves as “Shadow Middleman”.


    She had lied to Yu Xiao earlier.


    For the past month, Tian Yin hadn’t gone to North Ind Park for exercise, but because she had received an internship task.


    This task was simple, and at first left her puzzled. It was to go to North Ind Park at a specific time every day, exercise at a designated spot — now she knew it was the area that the drowned old man was responsible for cleaning — and observe everyone around her, reporting back to the Shadow Council in the form of records, including every person she encountered in North Ind Park.


    Tian Yin had thought this was just training for interns, cultivating her ability to conceal herself and observe others, so she did her utmost to carefully observe everyone.


    This of course included the cleaner’s appearance, age, his daily work schedule, the areas he liked to clean and his habits of cking off, as well as his habit of frequently taking out an unidentified cigarette to smoke, asional body tremors suggesting certain illnesses, and his hobby of chatting up middle-aged women…


    Tian Yin had written almost everyone around her in her observation records, with an attitude of devout learning. For this, she had even bought and read books on microexpressions and psychology.


    But she never imagined that just a monthter, today, one of her observation subjects would meet with such an “ident” — clearly, this couldn’t possibly be just an ident!


    “If this guy was a target of the Shadow Council, then I might have only provided some insignificant help in this operation. After all, I’m just a novice, and such a simple observation task was at most just training for me. There should be more experienced members responsible for conducting deeper investigations, someone responsible for designing the n, someone responsible for taking action…” Tian Yin thought silently, unconsciously constructing a vague outline of a massive organization in her mind, “I wonder what position the Doctor holds in the organization…”


    Just then, her phone vibrated gently.


    On the lit-up screen appeared another text message.


    <i>[Internship Task 2…]</i>


    Tian Yin skillfully deleted the message and silently turned her gaze to the window. At this moment, the daylight was perfect, with brilliant sunshine spreading across the entire university campus, causing the distant sea of green trees to ripple with ayer of golden light.


    The imperial capital in the morning was bathed in sunlight, appearing so vibrant and radiant.


    But she seemed to see a shadow descending silently, spreading under the bright light, devouring countless people’s shadows until it became the shadow of the entire city.


    “This is… perfect.”<hr>


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