Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 140: Chapter 133: Calculations

"You even understand these?" Yang Xiao asked with some surprise before calmly explaining, "You’re right; we usually call ourselves the Fenghua Class, and that’s what the school calls us. I didn’t think you knew, but it seems you came prepared."

All this information was what Su Tingting had once told him, and now Yang Xiao was using her identity. He hadn’t expected that it would come in handy here.

Seeing Yang Xiao’s change in demeanor, Song Yan immediately played peacemaker, "Don’t misunderstand, Brother Chu. I admit I was testing you because I really couldn’t believe that a newcomer could have such qualities. Sorry for the misunderstanding."

"Why would you test me?" Yang Xiao looked puzzled. "I’m your teammate; how could I possibly harm you?"

At this, Song Yan sighed and had no choice but to explain to Yang Xiao that it wasn’t just the incomprehensible things that could kill a person in the Nightmare World, but also human nature.

"So you’re saying that what you said before was also false?" Yang Xiao followed through.

"Of course. Since Brother Chu treats me as a friend, I won’t hide it from you." Song Yan sat up straight, and his voice involuntary lowered, "I’m a police officer."

Yang Xiao: "..."

"I really am a police officer, but not the kind you’re thinking of. I belong to a special department that specifically manages these supernatural events. You might not quite understand what I’m saying." After a pause, Song Yan looked at Yang Xiao seriously, "Now that I’ve told you, can you keep a secret for me?"

"Of course, but I want to hear the truth." Yang Xiao’s persona wasn’t naive; he wanted to exert some pressure on Song Yan to gain the upper hand in their future conversations.

"Alright, I’ll tell you, but don’t tell anyone else. Our unit’s official name is the Patrol Defense Bureau."

Yang Xiao: "!!??"

Seeing Yang Xiao’s strange expression, Song Yan thought he simply didn’t understand the intricacies, "Brother Chu, don’t ask too much. It’s inconvenient for me to say more; we have our discipline."

"Anyway, whatever you want to know, let’s find a place to talk after we get out of here. You and I are fated, and I think highly of you."

Song Yan stood up and walked toward the door. He listened quietly for a while to ensure no one was eavesdropping outside before coming back, "What’s most important now is to figure out what exactly happened in this school. You heard the conversation with Principal Wu today; they’re very resistant to us filming here, yet they don’t dare to express their anger. I think someone must have something on them, probably in the hands of the investor, Ms. Shengnan."

"Also, those slogans posted inside the teaching building are very strange. Of course, the strangest part was that last scene we played, where the male teacher who went to the countryside turned evil. This subject is too sensitive," Song Yan emphasized.

"Exactly, and Director Ding even said something. He mentioned that this film is shot in the style of a pseudo-documentary, so I’m guessing... could it be that all these are based on real events, adapted from reality?" In fact, at the moment when Director Ding asked them to turn evil, Yang Xiao had this suspicion.

Because the school had such a vile incident, public opinion was too negative, so they had no choice but to change the school’s name. The one in the script could be the original name, Fu Lin Middle School.

However, there was something that didn’t add up. With the capabilities of the Technical Department of the Patrol Office, they shouldn’t have failed to find even a changed school name.

"Tap."

"Tap."

"Tap."

A series of light footsteps sounded outside, and Song Yan gestured to Yang Xiao to be silent. Then several cards were slipped under the door crack, and the person outside quickly walked away.

Looking at the orange-colored cards, Song Yan went over, picked them up, and sure enough, each one featured a seductive lady.

"Innocent schoolgirl, gentle campus belle, the girl next door, domineering royal sister, flower-handling female dealer..."

"Is this... special services?"

A phone number was also left on the back of the card. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"It must be the owner of the shop who sent it; they take a cut," Song Yan put the card into his pocket and quickly came up with an idea, "Chu, let’s use this as an excuse to go downstairs and ask the shop owner about the school, what do you say?"

The two agreed immediately; it was only their first evening, and it had just gotten dark. Yang Xiao decided to gather information while assessing Song Yan, since they were sharing a room and both were favored by Director Ding. If possible, Yang Xiao still wanted to cooperate with him.

As they opened the door and went downstairs, they saw that only the male shop owner was present—his wife had probably gone back to rest. Upon seeing Yang Xiao and Song Yan coming downstairs, the shop owner obviously panicked, confirming Yang’s suspicion that he was the one who had sent the card.

Song Yan feigned anger and pulled the card out of his pocket, slamming it on the front desk, "What’s this about? Does your place offer special services?"

At first, the shop owner tried to intimidate them with a fierce and hostile demeanor, but Yang Xiao and Song Yan were not intimidated and turned to leave to call the police, "We are teachers from a school, the gardeners who nurture the next generation. How can you tarnish our reputation like this and expect us to face our students?" Yang Xiao stood at the doorway, shouting loudly.

"Hey, hey, come on, stop shouting, let’s talk inside. Let’s talk inside," the shop owner pleaded, dragging them back in.

"Please, stop shouting, okay?" the shop owner said with a mournful face. "It wasn’t me, really, it wasn’t. Look, there’s surveillance footage—I... I’ve been right here the whole time, I never left."

"Then who put the card here?" Yang Xiao was relentless, sensing something amiss from the owner’s demeanor.

"I can’t say," the shop owner kept glancing outside from time to time.

Following the owner’s gaze, Yang Xiao looked out and saw a white van parked at the corner across the street, which soon started up and drove off in a hurry.

"The one who brought us here?" Yang Xiao immediately realized it was Teacher Meng.

The shop owner did not respond, which was as good as an admission.

"No, have you lost your mind?" Song Yan played along with Yang Xiao, intensifying the pressure on the shop owner, "Do you realize how serious this crime is? If the police come, you won’t be able to extricate yourself, and do you still want to keep your business running?"

"No, no, it’s not related to me. Those girls will meet you outside; they won’t cause trouble here," the shop owner asserted confidently.

After a back and forth, Yang Xiao roughly understood that this was all a trap set by Principal Wu and his people. Since they had compromising evidence in Ms. Shengnan’s hands, they wanted to gather some on Yang Xiao and the others as well; if both parties had dirt on each other, they wouldn’t be so passive.

"How cunning..."

"Hmph, how much did Principal Wu bribe you to take such a big risk for him?" Song Yan sneered.

"He didn’t pay me, it’s just... my son was expelled for fighting, and they promised they could let him go back to school," the shop owner said, grief-stricken by the thought of his unworthy son.

"Do you know why they wanted to do this?" Yang Xiao wanted to extract more information, but the shop owner remained tight-lipped, adamantly claiming ignorance.

Even when Song Yan threatened to call the police, the shop owner wouldn’t budge. Yang Xiao and Song Yan had no real intention of calling the police anyway; a few cards were hardly evidence, and on this town turf, Principal Wu and his people were the local tyrants. If relations were strained, their mission wouldn’t be able to proceed, and they would be the ones to suffer. ƒrēewebnovel.com

"Alright, we won’t make it hard for you. Just want to ask you something. Why are there slogans posted all over town?" It wasn’t strange that slogans promoting gender equality were posted, but the sheer number of them was quite unusual.

"Oh, that. Our town is a bit backward; the preference for boys over girls has always been present. In the past, in remote village areas of the town, there were even elders who would throw their daughters-in-law’s newborn baby girls into wells. So there’s been continuous propaganda throughout the years, but it’s much better now."

"That’s all?"

"Yeah, isn’t that enough?" the shop owner asked, puzzled.

Yang Xiao couldn’t immediately tell if he was feigning ignorance or telling the truth, so he changed the subject to see if he could startle the shop owner into revealing more, "Then explain to me why Fu Lin Middle School changed its name. What was the need to change it to Ru Lin Middle School?"

To Yang Xiao’s surprise, the mention of the name change completely baffled the shop owner, "What Fu Lin Middle School? There’s no such school in town; it’s always been Ru Lin Middle School for decades."