Chapter 90 Seventeen-Year-Old – School Bully – Nighttime Explorer
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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[He went in]
[Couldn’t stop him]
Chu Feng looked at the air screen in front of him. The system hacked into Principal Xie’s phone QQ. Ten minutes ago, Principal Xie sent these two messages to someone with a maple leaf avatar.
The person with the maple leaf avatar is identified as “Ultimate Gardener.”
Below the ID on the chat box, there’s a string of small text: “From Maple Tree Communication Group.”
Principal Xie didn’t become QQ friends with this person but instead sent messages to him directly through the Maple Tree Communication Group. Chu Feng reasonably deduced that “Ultimate Gardener” is likely the 27-year-old Xie Shiyu and also the owner of the “Maple Tree Communication Group.”
—Not participating in any tree-planting activities, earning the genuine admiration of other Little Xies, becoming the acknowledged leader of the group.
Ultimate Gardener seems to be online 24/7 and replies instantly:
[“Where did he come from?”]
Principal Xie: [“A new face, never seen before.”]
[“You haven’t seen him either?”]
Chu Feng furrowed his brows slightly; this “new face” likely referred to X.
He carefully reviewed the chat records of the Little Xies again and sensed the implied meaning in their conversation:
The character Little Xie indeed regarded X as another “Xie Shiyu.”
Even “Ultimate Gardener – 27-year-old Xie” asked: “Where did that person who came with him come from?”
This “him” referred to Chu Feng, and “came with him” referred to X. But Xie Shiyu’s question wasn’t: Who is this person? Instead, it was asking, where did this person come from?
Going back, the reason why 27-year-old Xie Shiyu would ask such a question is that he believed X was another Little Xie and already knew who this person was. The problem laid in where this “new Xie Shiyu” came from, which one in the city.
And Principal Xie’s response, “A new face, never seen before,” followed by asking 27-year-old Xie Shiyu, “You haven’t seen him either?”
Both of them considered X as one of their own, a newcomer among their own. Principal Xie even wondered why 27-year-old Xie Shiyu, who was planning behind the scenes, hadn’t seen this new “Xie Shiyu.”
Unlike a true outsider like Lin Lan, Little Xie characters wouldn’t use such words to describe. Chu Feng thought to himself, once or twice might be a coincidence, but every time the Little Xies naturally treated X as Xie Shiyu…
His internal alarm sounded like a bell, and suddenly Chu Feng had a strange intuition…
This kind of intuition was too beautiful; two years ago, he had countless such thoughts. Until he stood on the Pacific Ocean. The vast blue sea, endless and boundless. He stood alone on the deck of the cruise ship, as small as a stranded starfish on the shore, watching the waves surging endlessly, without pause. To try to salvage a person, a corpse, from here was nothing short of a fairy tale.
The international rescue team also indicated that the fuselage should have caught fire during the descent, and it was very likely that the people had burned to death during the descent… there might not even be any bodies.
In the end, only some debris from the plane crash was found, and no one survived.
Chu Feng struggled for two years, during which he almost became a vegetable due to his addiction to games, and the Little Xies of the first-generation city committed mass suicide to save him. After waking up, Chu Feng forced himself to accept Xie Shiyu’s death and began to live a normal life. By today, it was difficult for him to naively convince himself as before: Xie Shiyu was still alive.
This tiny thread of hope once held up his entire life, making each day precarious. No matter how reasonable the reports from the international rescue team were, he didn’t want to believe.
Finally, the thread snapped, plunging into the abyss of despair, and Chu Feng didn’t want to recall that overwhelming sense of loss.
***
[Not seen before]
On the screen, Ultimate Gardener replied to Principal Xie:
[“But this person’s code is very special.”]
Principal Xie: ?
Ultimate Gardener didn’t directly answer but continued:
[“Has Maple Tree been dressed?”]
Principal Xie: [“Dressed.”]
Ultimate Gardener: [“That’s good.”]
Principal Xie: [“No need for additional measures?”]
Ultimate Gardener: [“Not for now.”]
After a pause, Ultimate Gardener sent the last message:
[“This person’s code is very secure.”]
***
System Spirit: “That’s Principal Xie’s recent records. There’s no call or message history, and as for WeChat… it’s mostly communication with school teachers, probably not useful.”
X: “Can you track the QQ number records?”
System: “Which one are you referring to? This Ultimate Gardener with the black avatar? His signal code is too complex, and he also has a stealth effect, so tracking is impossible.”
“The other one,” X said, “this record is too clean.”
Chu Feng glanced at Principal Xie’s QQ list, indeed, the entire list only had records for [QQ Reminder] and [Ultimate Gardener], and there wasn’t even any chat history from the Maple Tree Communication Group.
This indicated that Principal Xie either uninstalled QQ and reinstalled it or cleared all chat records, and then new messages appeared, causing this situation in the list.
Chu Feng: “Can you track Principal Xie’s previous records?”
The time when Principal Xie sent messages to Ultimate Gardener was when he and X entered the building for rescue. Before this, Principal Xie likely had contact with the behind-the-scenes Xie Shiyu and other Little Xies, planning today’s scheme together.
It’s even more likely that today’s plan is actually the screening of mutated characters. Chu Feng suddenly thought of the whole team of fire brigade Little Xies sent today. They weren’t actually doing rescue work but screening work.
27-year-old behind-the-scenes Xie vaguely sensed where the danger was. Generally, if there’s danger, it will be removed. But there were many high school Little Xies in this collapsing old building, and it was absolutely impossible to conceal their deaths all at once, nor did it conform to Xie 27’s principle of doing things: exchanging the greatest safety for the smallest sacrifice.
There was only one mutated character, and there was enough time before the landslide. Xie 27 sent out the fire brigade Little Xies under the guise of rescue, but in reality, they were screening for healthy and harmless characters.
Chu Feng speculated that Xie 27 could vaguely sense changes in danger. The trapped Little Xies were concentrated on the 3rd floor that wasn’t submerged. They were brought down to the ground via the ladder and secured safety. If a mutated character ran out, the direction of danger would change from high to low. Conversely, if there was no change in the coordinates of danger until the end, then the last Little Xie left behind would be the mutated character.
Before the rescue is successfully completed, Principal Xie is likely to contact the Little Xie who remains and inform him that he is the mutated character, posing a threat to Chu Feng, and needs to stay alone in the old teaching building as the rescue team will not save him.
After sending the notification, Principal Xie naturally cleared all QQ records to prevent Chu Feng from checking his phone later.
***
Segments of code characters popped up on the air screen.
The system spirit tapped away:
“It’s restored!”
Principal Xie’s QQ chat box, one by one, popped up the previous records.
Before reporting to “Ultimate Gardener,” Principal Xie’s last contact was with a guy with a small car avatar.
ID: “17-Year-Old – Nighttime Explorer”
Principal Xie: “Classmate, you’ve won.”
Nighttime Explorer: …
“Is it me?”
Principal Xie: “Yes.”
Chu Feng looked at the chat records; 17-year-old Little Xie seemed calm. He sent an OK emoji:
“I will stay.”
Now there are 7 minutes and 14 seconds left until the landslide.
“Can we hack into this QQ account?” Chu Feng pointed at the ID Nighttime Explorer. Thirty seconds later, all QQ chat records of this 17-year-old mutated Little Xie bounced on the air screen.
Class 16 (Grade 11) Group
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer:
“Guys, I have something to say.”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Daydreamer:
“Are you planning to change your name to Daytime Explorer?”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer:
“I’ve won.”
***
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – No Afternoon Naps:
“D*mn!”
“You can’t leave?”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Adult Tree Planting Reserve:
“Really won?”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer:
“Yeah.”
“I’m staying.”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Daydreamer:
“Goodbye, good luck.”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Adult Tree Planting Reserve:
“May there be no maple trees in heaven / Moment of silence.”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer:
“Dare to compete for bamboo shoots.gif”
“Doesn’t your conscience hurt.jpg”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – No Afternoon Naps:
“You’re really leaving?”
“Maple Tree doesn’t know, right?”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer:
“He doesn’t know.”
“But he seems to have some kind of manual.”
“I heard he checks it regularly, don’t know what that thing is.”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Daydreamer:
“The Grand Master checked; it shows the patterns of the three of us, @No Afternoon Naps, @Adult Tree Planting Reserve. It seems the manual doesn’t directly display the hiders for now.”
Some of the Little Xies wrote invisible codes for themselves. Characters who couldn’t code could get the code from the adult Xie and become fixed hiders.
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – No Afternoon Naps:
“Has someone taken over your hider position? Do you want me to do it for you?”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer:
“No need. I’ve returned the invisible code to the Grand Master; he should rearrange it.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Take care of Maple Tree for me.”
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Adult Tree Planting Reserve:
“Okay.”
“Safe travels.”
***
ID: 17-Year-Old – Class Bully – Nighttime Explorer has left the “Class 16 (Grade 11)” group.
There are 5 minutes and 58 seconds left until the landslide.
Chu Feng looked at these chat records, feeling a twinge in his nose:
“Can we track the origin of the messages?”
This 17-year-old Little Xie’s character, Nighttime Explorer, has undergone code mutation, making it impossible for the system to locate the character directly. However, it can track the cellphone signal used to send QQ chat messages and determine the origin of the messages.
“It wasn’t trackable originally because this guy was originally a hider character, and everything he handled had invisible code protection…”
But just now, this Little Xie, who was supposed to be sacrificed, handed back the invisible code to the Grand Master Xie 27.
“Found it!” the system spirit said, “Between the third and second floors!”
Chu Feng: “But hasn’t the second floor been flooded by the rain?”
X seemed to understand Little Xie’s actions without needing guidance:
“He might have wanted to make a decision in advance.”
***
The minute hand on the watch moved down again.
17-year-old Xie Shiyu, legs crossed, sat leisurely on the steps of the corridor, where the second and third floors met, and the rainwater was slowly rising.
The musty smell entered his nose, and Xie Shiyu looked at the corner of the corridor, contemplating the philosophy of life:
Which is faster, being crushed by the landslide, or jumping down and drowning in the water?
Xie Shiyu stood up, gestured twice towards the corner of the wall. Due to his poor physics, he really didn’t know how two wall panels collapsing would produce, how much Newton’s force?
The water downstairs rose another inch, already at his ankles. The wet mud stains clung to the blue-and-white-striped school pants. Seventeen-year-old Xie Shiyu looked at the dark water surface and decided that suffocating to death was better; at least he had the choice.
The black water surged towards him, and the teenage Xie Shiyu was about to plunge into it—
“At seventeen, almost an adult.”
On the water surface, suddenly reflected a slender and beautiful figure:
“Dying without planting a single maple tree, isn’t it a pity?”
The soon-to-be-sacrificed Little Xie was stunned and turned his head, seeing the person he thought would never come:
“…Chu Feng?”
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