Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 36 The Investigator in the Dark

Before self-study began in the evening, Ma Shicheng sat at his desk playing games.

He occasionally glanced towards the back door, though the teachers wouldn't care about them during this time, if school leaders who were strict about discipline saw him, his phone might be confiscated.

Back in junior high, there was a classmate who brazenly played with his phone during breaks, attracting a crowd of students, and when the grade director passed by, he walked off with the classmate's phone.

Ma Shicheng kept an eye on the door and saw Wang Yong approach the back row to chat with his classmate Wang Longlong. Their voices were so low, he couldn't make out what they were saying.

After a while, Wang Yong left the classroom via the back door.

Wang Longlong, bored, ran over to watch Ma Shicheng play and hoped to leech off his phone for a bit.

Ma Shicheng asked him, "What did Wang Yong want with you just now? It all seemed so secretive."

Wang Longlong, with his sights set on Ma Shicheng's phone, naturally didn't keep anything back. He said,

"Wang Yong was discussing the fight involving Song Sheng that happened the other day."

"Song Sheng, huh? Haven't seen him for several days," Ma Shicheng said, keeping busy with the game, looking every bit the pro.

"I'm telling you. But keep it to yourself, alright? Wang Yong told me that Song Sheng has been hospitalized," Wang Longlong whispered.

"Hospitalized?" Ma Shicheng paused for a moment, "I thought he had transferred!"

"If Guo Kunnan and Dan Kaiquan find out, they'd definitely crack open a beer tonight."

"Wang Yong seems to know a lot, his connections are broad," Ma Shicheng remarked.

Wang Longlong, having opened up his talkative box, appeared innocent on the surface, but his heart often stirred with eagerness, otherwise, he wouldn't be so eager to borrow Ma Shicheng's phone.

To get his hands on the phone, Wang Yong's instructions to keep things hush-hush were instantly forgotten:

"He even discussed with me about the day Song Sheng fought with Dan Kaiquan, asking who's desks they knocked over."

"My seat is a feng shui treasure spot; I saw everything loud and clear that day."

Ma Shicheng was curious about why Wang Yong would inquire about such a thing. He recalled,

"Indeed, several desks were knocked over, but I can't remember exactly which ones."

He was pondering how to dodge the chaos that day when Song Sheng came charging in his direction.

With a hint of pride on his round face, Wang Longlong said, "I remember it very clearly. Among the desks that fell over was Huang Yuzhu's, there was also Xue Yuantong," he continued to name several classmates.

"Not bad, you've got everyone memorized just a few days into school," Ma Shicheng was somewhat impressed.

In his mind, Wang Longlong considered himself a candidate for class president. Behind the scenes, he had taken great pains to study the class roster multiple times and even matched names to faces one by one. He planned to secretly run for class president and surprise everyone—

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Unfortunately, the competition for class president was too strong, with Huang Zhongfei and Bai Yuxia as formidable opponents. He knew he stood no chance, so he kept a low profile.

After chatting with Ma Shicheng for a bit, Wang Longlong changed the topic:

"Brother Ma, that game looks fun. Mind if I play for a bit?"

Ma Shicheng nodded, "Sure, once I finish this round."

In the last session of the evening self-study, no teacher came by.

Ma Shicheng had planned to continue playing on his phone, but unfortunately, it was out of battery. He had to resort to chatting to pass the time.

Initially, he intended to chat with Geng Lu, but given that she ignored him in the afternoon and didn't even add him on QQ, why would he approach her?

By chance, Ma Shicheng remembered his conversation with Wang Longlong and decided to share the details with Jiang Ning.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning's first reaction was that Wang Yong was investigating him.

With no grudges between him and Wang Yong, why would he be under investigation?

Jiang Ning recalled how yesterday evening, after Wang Yong and Lin Zida returned from the garden, they greeted him and Lin Zida introduced himself.

Thinking this over, perhaps it was Lin Zida who had instructed the investigation.

But why would Lin Zida investigate him?

Sure, he had some recognition in Class 8 of Grade 1, but across the whole grade, he was quite unremarkable. There was simply no reason for Lin Zida to go out of his way to investigate him.

Then Jiang Ning remembered the night he broke Song Sheng's leg, when he used the Concealing Qi Technique and it seemed like a girl had noticed something. That girl was Ding Shuyan.

At the time, Jiang Ning just assumed it was a young girl's sixth sense, so he didn't give it much thought and went ahead and broke Song Sheng's leg.

Now, thinking back, could it be that Ding Shuyan had detected something?

Given Ding Shuyan's close relationship with Lin Zida, it really could have been her who sought Lin Zida.

Jiang Ning felt amused. When he disabled Song Sheng, he barely used any concealment, employing only the Concealing Qi Technique.

But just a Concealing Qi Technique was enough.

Perhaps the doctors, when assessing the injuries, would be somewhat surprised, but what kind of bizarre injuries hadn't they seen in the hospital?

No one would delve into it, and it was even less likely anyone would suspect him.

As for the evidence of his attack on Song Sheng, none could be found, unless one had a wild imagination.

Jiang Ning thought for a moment. To understand why Ding Shuyan was investigating him was actually quite simple.

Since Lin Zida had shown up, he might as well start with him.

Whatever demons or ghosts causing trouble, he would know with one investigation.

After all, with his means, if someone really obstructed him, dealing with them wouldn't be troublesome.

Jiang Ning calculated the time. Now it was the last period of evening self-study; he needed to escort Xue Yuantong home after class.

Jiang Ning stood up directly, informed Huang Zhongfei, who was in charge of classroom discipline, and then left the classroom, heading to the school's bathroom.

Reaching an area with no people around, Jiang Ning's Divine Sense spread out. With no one noticing, he activated the Concealing Qi Technique, and his figure sank into the darkness.

He pinched out several Magic Formations in succession to create a 'Spiritual Sense Imprint.'

Then, Jiang Ning returned the way he came. He stood outside the door of Experimental Class 1, scanned the room, and located Lin Zida's seat.

He strolled into Experimental Class 1's classroom just like that, with Lin Zida sitting in the back row, engrossed in a flip-cover gaming console.

Jiang Ning walked up behind him.

"A 3ds console, the classic one at that."

On the screen of Lin Zida's gaming console, a small green-hatted character swung his sword to slay monsters, occasionally rolling on the ground, then tossing a bomb—it looked like quite an engaging game.

"The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time?"

That game was a masterpiece; Jiang Ning had played it before too.

Jiang Ning stood behind him, watching for a minute. Lin Zida's gaming skill was not bad, whether it was fighting monsters or solving puzzles, it was smooth as flowing water.

Before leaving, Jiang Ning dropped the Spiritual Sense Imprint and then left Experimental Class 1 just as grandly, without anyone realizing from beginning to end.

...

Evening self-study ended.

Xue Yuantong got up from her seat and saw Jiang Ning park his mountain bike, lock up, and walk towards the outer dam.

"What does he do every evening when he goes out?" Xue Yuantong wondered.

Jiang Ning walked under the dam, summoning his Spiritual Power, tracking the location of the Spiritual Sense Imprint.

"Not far, about four kilometers away," Jiang Ning swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill to replenish his Spiritual Power, and at the same time, his form became concealed.

With the Divine Step launched, combined with his Body Refining Cultivation, Jiang Ning's figure shot out instantly, racing towards his destination.

His Divine Sense spread out, always mindful of his surroundings—vehicles, pedestrians, traffic lights; none could hinder his progress, which he bypassed directly.

In less than two minutes, he stopped in front of a residential complex.

Jiang Ning looked up, gazing into the deep part of the complex at a building over thirty stories tall, and fell silent.

His target's location was around the 16th floor.

Being only at the Qi Cultivation First Layer, he couldn't fly with Qi Manipulation, and only by reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm could one fly through the air with Mana.

During the Qi Cultivation Stage, to fly, one must rely on a Flying Artifact.

Jiang Ning hadn't even found refining materials, so how could he fly?

Taking the elevator wouldn't work; although he could hide his figure, the elevators were under surveillance, and he needed to press buttons for the elevator to move—once the recordings were later reviewed, flaws might reveal themselves.

Moreover, some complexes also required elevator cards to operate.

"It seems I can only take the stairs."

"16th floor, huh."

Jiang Ning sighed. It would not be tiring, but it was just too undignified.

"To think I, a dignified Cultivator..."