TYMIMA Chapter 62.1

Qian Yun, shrouded in layers of black fog, stood like a golden mace thrust straight into the capital city’s earth.

 

Lightning flashed, striking straight down along the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

At Qian Yun’s top floor, at a height that could touch the clouds, in a magnificent bedroom, the black-eyed elder slowly opened his eyes.

 

Beside him, on high-backed chairs with deep blue fabric and golden frames, the golden-eyed elder and red-eyed elder sat properly dressed, robes trailing to the floor, expressionless.

 

Someone knocked three times outside the door, then pressed the black doorbell to the right of the bronze door. Soon, the left wooden wall slowly rose, revealing a narrow gap.

 

From the visitor’s position, only the black-eyed elder could be seen through this gap.

 

“Si Hongche has set out to find Yan Qili.”

 

The black-eyed elder lifted his eyelids, his expression unchanged.

 

“I already know.”

 

The visitor lowered his head, not daring to look directly into the black-eyed elder’s eyes: “Our people arrived early, but Yan Qili disappeared.”

 

Hearing this, the black-eyed elder’s eyeballs suddenly moved, shooting two cold, ghostly lights from his pupils.

 

“Is that so.”

 

His voice had an ethereal, mechanical quality not of this world. Hearing his still-calm two words, the visitor felt chilled to the bone and lowered his head even further.

 

“The Black Lantern Society has infiltrated the restricted zone. They’ve shaken Si Hongche’s resolve. Should we…”

 

The black-eyed elder moved his eyeballs, glancing at the other two elders beside him, but they still drooped their brows and eyes, silent as if they heard nothing.

 

The black-eyed elder turned his gaze back: “Si Hongche still has value.”

 

“Then we?”

 

“Yan Qili doesn’t know who it was. Si Hongche needs revenge, so create an enemy for him.”

 

“Yes.” The visitor bowed in acknowledgment, then raised both hands above his head, fingers crossed at the second joints, thumbs forcefully turned outward, performing a salute to the black-eyed elder.

 

At first glance, his gesture looked remarkably like the strange moth-like deity carved on the white iron gate of the back mountain cemetery.

 

Screech—

 

The off-road vehicle stopped abruptly at Star University’s faculty residential area. The driver hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt, wanting to get out and open the door for his superior.

 

However, Si Hongche had already pushed open the door and gotten out, striding inside with a cold expression.

 

The aide hurriedly capped the bottle of choline chloride sodium tablets, pocketed the medicine box, and chased after Si Hongche, jumping out of the off-road vehicle.

 

High-intensity work and the obsession with constantly checking surveillance had made Si Hongche dependent on this central nervous system stimulant. As he aged, Si Hongche’s need for the drug gradually increased.

 

The aide always felt such drug use was too damaging to the body, but for Si Hongche, this was already the most insignificant thing in his chaotic life.

 

Yan Qili lived in a three-story riverside villa in the back right of the residential area. Now in the deep of night, all was quiet and still. The complex was pitch black with all streetlights extinguished.

 

Inspection team members immediately turned on flashlights, jogging to Si Hongche’s rear to illuminate his path.

 

In the bright flashlight beams, Si Hongche quickly approached the riverside villa.

 

The drugs numbed his long-exhausted nerves, providing continuous stimulation to his cerebral cortex. His fatigue was completely gone, his spirits high, though bloodshot veins still crawled hideously across his eyeballs.

 

“Director!” The aide pointed at the three-story villa ahead.

 

As Star University’s principal, Yan Qili’s home was absolutely luxurious. In the entire faculty residential area, only he occupied three floors, with a house area of a full 600 square meters.

 

He had even built a small garden on the roof with several rattan chairs, where he would invite other deans for tea and wine during leisure time, enjoying life.

 

An inspection team member wanted to step forward and knock, but saw Si Hongche walk over and, without hesitation, raised his foot and kicked the entire metal door inward.

 

Bang!

 

The door crashed heavily onto the marble floor tiles, shattering them. Door frame debris scattered, dust flying, creating a curtain of murky smoke and miasma in the flashlight beams.

 

Si Hongche walked through the dust.

 

“Director, be careful!” the aide called out.

 

But S-level superiority made Si Hongche almost fearless and needing no protection. He stood in the first-floor hall and said in a deep voice: “Yan Qili!”

 

His voice echoed in the spacious hall with no response.

 

The inspection squad rushed toward the stairs in trained formation: “All listen up! Three-three-four formation! Immediately search for Yan Qili!”

 

“Yes!”

 

Over ten inspection team members worked together, quickly searching the entire villa from top to bottom. Even the wardrobes were checked, but Yan Qili was nowhere to be found.

 

The aide ran downstairs to report: “Director, Yan Qili’s room window is open, bedding disheveled, with sleeping impressions still on the mattress. He should have left not long ago.”

 

 

Si Hongche’s pupils slowly contracted, his injured fingers clenching even tighter. His knuckles turned blue-white, as if about to split his skin.

 

What he feared most had still happened.

 

Yan Qili had disappeared. He was too late.

 

He just didn’t know whether Yan Qili had been silenced or captured by the Black Lantern Society as a key weapon to reveal the truth.

 

Si Hongche walked upstairs and, following his aide’s panicked directions, found Yan Qili’s bedroom and pushed the door open forcefully.

 

In the bedroom, window gauze fluttered, the window wide open, bedding rolled into a ball, the bed empty.

 

There were no signs of struggle in the room. Even the slippers were neatly placed beside the bed, as if Yan Qili had simply gotten up on a whim for a late-night walk, not forgetting to open the window for air.

 

But outside, it was clearly about to rain.

 

The aide held onto hope: “Director, could the Black Lantern Society have kidnapped Principal Yan? They deliberately left clues on the underground third floor to lure you here, then kidnapped Principal Yan in advance to make you doubt the truth from back then and become suspicious of the Federation’s interior!”

 

Si Hongche walked to the window, his fingers brushing the windowsill and picking up a layer of white dust.

 

He asked: “Why would the Black Lantern Society want me to become suspicious of the Federation’s interior?”

 

The aide stammered: “Because… because you’re too formidable, making them wary. They want you to lose your position as Second District director so they can complete their next murder plan!”

 

Hearing this, Si Hongche couldn’t help but laugh coldly: “They’ve already broken into Blue Pivot’s underground third floor. Killing a congressman sleeping in his room would be easy—why go to such trouble?”

 

He really wanted to believe this was all a Black Lantern Society conspiracy to sow discord, but he couldn’t suppress the heart palpitations that suddenly arose when he saw those spread-out materials in the archive room.

 

He didn’t know why the Black Lantern Society was targeting him, why they were targeting the case from eighteen years ago—whether because of Uriel, the Federation government, or something else.

 

He just wanted to know the truth.

 

Ring ring ring!

 

The landline phone beside the bedroom bed suddenly rang.

 

In the dark room filled with flashlight beams, the abrupt phone ringing had a particular horror that instantly gave everyone present goosebumps.

 

“Director—” Before the aide could finish speaking, Si Hongche had already walked straight over and picked up the phone.

 

A voice came through—the aged, weary voice of Yan Qili.

 

“Director Si, I was also forced back then. If you want to know what I concealed, then I’ll tell you—the killer mainly used his right hand to strangle your sister and leave marks on her body. If you don’t believe it, you can try the difference between left and right hand marks yourself. As for who that person was and why they did it, I know nothing.”

 

Beep beep beep…

 

The call ended.

 

“You—” Si Hongche’s emotions surged, his vision spinning. The phone creaked in his palm before finally unable to withstand the enormous grip, cracking apart.

 

Ejected metal wires pierced Si Hongche’s fingers. The aide gasped, about to step forward, when he saw Si Hongche’s throat tighten and a mouthful of blood spray onto the wall.

 

“Director!”

 

“Director Si!”

 

…

 

Si Hongche fell backward, his eyes losing focus.

 

Right hand… strangled with right hand…

 

But Uriel was left-handed. He knew Uriel was left-handed…

 

Inspection team members frantically rushed forward, supporting him and carrying him downstairs.

 

The aide pulled out his phone, dialing numbers, shouting frantically at the other end.

 

But Si Hongche could hear nothing anymore.

 

When he decided to be ruthless toward Oliver, he had repeatedly checked all the evidence.

 

Uriel’s computer contained those disgusting videos, all featuring girls the same size as Sui Sui. Si Hongche felt nauseous just looking at the video thumbnails.

 

After Dawn Day, the entire society fell into chaos, with many Awakened ones using their abilities for unconscionable, filthy acts.

 

Later, the Federation government reorganized the Blue Pivot inspection team and Hong Suo Research Institute, granting them more functions and greater authority, reestablishing order from chaos.

 

Due to the vast territory and numerous Awakened ones, for management convenience, Federation law was implemented almost harshly for a period.

 

Countless people were imprisoned and executed daily. Under extreme high-pressure deterrence, those with evil intentions hid back in darkness, not daring to act rashly.

 

But under this policy, stability didn’t last long. Even Si Hongche admitted the Federation government changed from initially suppressing evil to eliminating dissidents, then to upper-level privilege.

 

Those evils hiding in darkness and existing in upper levels began flowing again.

 

At that time, Si Hongche was just an ordinary inspection team member in Blue Pivot’s Second District, while Uriel was already a renowned sociologist at Hong Suo Research Institute.

 

After the incident, they even blocked him, not allowing him to see Sui Sui or approach the rainforest ecological zone.

 

They stated categorically that as a blood relative, he should avoid suspicion. The case would be thoroughly investigated by Second District higher-ups, who would naturally give him results. But if he overreached and interfered with the investigation, they could only expel him from the restricted zone.

 

He still remembered humbly begging them to allow his participation in the investigation, promising not to let emotions affect his judgment, but they were cold-blooded and unmoved.

 

Later, he accidentally overheard the former Second District director whispering with subordinates about how to suppress the matter and reduce negative impact.

 

After all, one was a half-disabled little girl without even glands, destined never to awaken, while the other was Hong Suo’s backbone, the Federation’s iron bone, a great scholar who brought them a good reputation for listening to all sides.

 

Upper-level privilege, upper-level privilege, upper-level privilege…

 

Si Hongche could only think of these four words then.

 

He was so angry he nearly lost control, wanting to slaughter the entire restricted zone and fight to the death.

 

However, at this crucial moment, the Council of Elders, who had long stopped concerning themselves with Federation affairs, summoned him. Though the three elders had reached the ultimate realm, they still retained humanity and granted him sympathy.

 

Thus, everything reversed. All permissions opened for him, all materials spread before him.

 

He saw Sui Sui’s body, saw all surveillance footage and interrogation records.

 

He hadn’t failed to give Uriel a chance then. For Oliver’s sake, he allowed Uriel one final defense.

 

But Uriel absolutely refused to mention where he went that night, only repeatedly swearing he hadn’t harmed Sui Sui and that this was a conspiracy—DNA testing would clear his name.

 

Si Hongche was disappointed.

 

No bodily fluids were left on Sui Sui, only those unbearable strangulation and pinch marks all over her body.

 

Uriel dared say this because he was certain DNA couldn’t be traced to him.

 

Then came Oliver releasing Uriel and assuring him that using [Heart Questioning], Uriel hadn’t lied.

 

But how could he believe? No matter how good Oliver was to Sui Sui, they had no blood relation, while Uriel was Oliver’s biological brother.

 

Human nature couldn’t withstand testing. In life-and-death moments, how could he be certain Oliver wasn’t covering up?

 

He never suspected Yan Qili because before the autopsy, he had also examined Sui Sui’s body. What Yan Qili wrote in the autopsy report was flawless. Moreover, Yan Qili was only transferred to Star University four years later, when it was difficult to connect the two events.

 

He didn’t know Yan Qili was coerced or that Yan Qili had concealed part of the truth.

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 (advanced chapters available on kofi)