The maid cried and screamed in the hospital, refusing to believe this could happen. What had she lost? A child? No. What she lost was a bright, luxurious future—a mountain of gold that would let her stop working forever and have everything she wanted!

“I don’t believe it! My baby must be fine!” she screamed hysterically while grabbing Old Madam Ouyang. “Mom, this doctor is a quack! He’s lying!”

Old Madam Ouyang also looked devastated, but not as crazed as the maid. She shoved her away and vented her anger on her instead. “You useless thing! You couldn’t even keep a child safe. What use are you? Give me back the bank cards I gave you!”

Without the child, the maid had no connection left to the Ouyang family. Naturally, Old Madam Ouyang would not spend another cent on her.

Old Madam Ouyang stormed away, leaving the maid screaming behind her. The maid still wanted to blame Madam Ouyang, but once the police checked the café surveillance footage and saw the man, they quickly identified him as the serial killer. It was unexpected, but after thinking about it, it also made sense.

In the end, it was simply karma.

The moment the media spread the news online, people cheered.

【LMAO, wasn’t she planning to rely on the baby to marry into wealth? Well, now it’s gone. Goodbye fortune!】

【This is the only good thing that serial killer ever did】

【Serves her right hahaha!】

【The cheating couple used the killer’s name to commit murder and got hit by karma!】

Madam Ouyang heard the news as soon as she woke up and froze. Then she burst out laughing.

Even her younger sister, who had just returned from the police station, slapped her thigh and laughed loudly.

…

Yunjin Prefecture.

Although the one-eyed boy ran desperately, how could he possibly escape so many pursuers? Not to mention he was still in the middle of an unstable Atavist awakening period.

Despair closed in on him. Did this world not even allow revenge anymore? When the law could not give him justice, what was wrong with taking revenge himself? What was wrong with an eye for an eye?

The unfairness of the world filled him with rage.

His unwillingness to give up turned into a desperate instinct to survive. He hoped someone would help him.

But all around him were only spectators.

Cars lined the road at the traffic lights, yet even as he crashed into vehicle after vehicle while running, not a single door opened for him.

He stood in the middle of a busy modern city, surrounded by crowds and cars, under broad daylight and thousands of watching eyes—yet no one reached out a hand to help him.

Summer had already arrived in Yunjin Prefecture. The morning temperature was close to thirty degrees Celsius, yet he felt as if he stood in the middle of winter.

Long Ling stood in the distance watching with everyone else. A cruel thought grew inside her.

She hoped the Zhou family people would kill him.

Why were people like him able to awaken as Atavists while she could not?

At the same time, she also considered whether he might still be useful to her if he survived. If she wanted someone’s loyalty, she preferred to wait until they had fallen into hell before pulling them back out. Only then would they see her as the sole light in their world and devote absolute loyalty to her.

So she would not help now. She would only watch. If he died, then so be it. If he survived, she could save him later and make him hers.

As the pursuers closed in, he stopped expecting help from anyone.

Yet when he slammed into another car while fleeing—

Unbelievably, the door opened.

He froze for a moment, then climbed inside without caring about anything else, barely avoiding the hand reaching to grab him before slamming the door shut.

Panting heavily, he stared at the men outside the car. Then he slowly turned his head—

—and suddenly met Jing Pei’s lazy, catlike eyes.

She sat there with one hand propping up her cheek, looking at him casually, as if this situation meant nothing at all.

Long… Long Jin?

By now, the Zhou family people had surrounded the car. One man kicked the vehicle and was about to curse at the people inside for interfering when another quickly noticed the Dragon clan emblem on the car.

People who worked for Atavist families were extremely sensitive to those symbols.

“It’s someone from the Long family,” he quickly warned his companion.

The Long family had recently regained its status among the great Atavist families and was at the height of its influence. The girl inside looked elegant and noble.

Could she really be Long Jin?

“Miss Long, this person attempted to murder our young lady. He’s a criminal. Please allow us to take him away,” one man said cautiously.

The one-eyed boy clenched his fists nervously, sweat covering his forehead.

Without changing her posture, Jing Pei asked, “And who exactly is your young lady?”

The man stiffened before answering unwillingly, “The Zhou family. Zhou Yongzi. Are you the Young Master of the Long family?”

“My young lady is Long Jin, Young Master of the Long family,” the driver answered.

So it really was Long Jin.

That made them even more careful. If it were another Long family member, they might still use Zhou Yongzi’s status to pressure them. But Long Jin was different.

Jing Pei said, “Since this involves attempted murder against an Atavist family member, then it falls under the Tribunal Division. Since we’re all from Atavist families, go tell your young lady that I’ll deliver him there for her.”

They exchanged uneasy looks. Sending a criminal to the authorities was perfectly reasonable.

Just then, one of their phones rang. It was the manager asking what was happening. After hearing that Jing Pei intended to take the boy to the Tribunal Division, the manager immediately panicked and gave rapid instructions.

“Young Master Long, there’s no need to trouble yourself with this. We can take him ourselves. You still need to go to school, right? No need to waste time on someone like him,” the man quickly said.

Jing Pei looked at them in surprise before glancing at the boy.

The one-eyed boy’s heart pounded violently. He looked at Jing Pei with pleading eyes.

Jing Pei smiled. “It’s no trouble. I was already planning to go to the Tribunal Division anyway. It’s on the way. Or do you want to come too? We can all go together. I’ve never met Miss Zhou before.”

“No! No, that won’t be necessary.” The man quickly changed his tone after hearing the manager’s instructions. Sweat rolled down his face. “Actually, our young lady says there’s been some misunderstanding with this boy. It’s not serious enough to involve the Tribunal Division. We intend to settle it privately.”

“Oh? You’re willing to settle even this?” Jing Pei asked meaningfully while looking at the boy.

The boy forced himself calm and said, “If they want to settle things, then let’s arrange another place to talk. This is a public road.”

“Fine. Time and place?” The man stared at him warningly.

The boy gave them a time and place, then turned toward Jing Pei.

“Miss Long, could you give me a ride?”

“Sure.”

The Zhou family people were more afraid of the Tribunal Division than the boy himself. They could only watch helplessly as the Long family car drove away.

Long Ling had not expected things to turn out this way. She stood on tiptoe, but since she was not an Atavist, she could not see the Dragon clan emblem from that far away and had no idea who had taken the boy away.

A faint fragrance drifted through the quiet car.

Jing Pei looked at the cuts and bruises on his face and head from all the falls and handed him a pack of disinfectant wipes.

“Clean yourself up.”

The boy lowered his head and accepted them. His voice was hoarse.

“Thank you.”

Jing Pei noticed tears running down his face. She could not tell whether they came from fear or something else.

“So,” she asked, “should I take you to the Tribunal Division? If an Atavist family hurt you, the current Director of the Tribunal Division is a fair person. He could help you.”

The boy raised his head. His eye was red.

“Can he guarantee a life for a life?”

That was difficult to answer.

If the dead person was ordinary, an Atavist would almost never pay with their own life. In the current legal system, Atavist lives were simply considered more valuable than ordinary ones—unless they killed too many people.

Even in the ordinary world, true equality of “a life for a life” rarely existed.

He clearly already knew this, so he did not seem surprised.

“Then why did you help me this time?” he asked quietly. “Before this, you always ignored me.”

With his tearful expression, the question strangely sounded aggrieved.

Jing Pei stared at his face for a moment, as if only now recognizing him.

“Oh, it’s you.”

He had not expected that she genuinely had not remembered him.

Tears immediately poured down harder. Even his ears turned red, though it was hard to tell whether from shame or anger.

“I was just on my way to school and saw a boy being chased and beaten, so I stopped it. If the Zhou family hadn’t wanted to settle privately, I would only have sent you to the Tribunal Division. Whether I know you or not has nothing to do with it. But…” Jing Pei looked puzzled. “Did you ever ask me for help?”

He froze.

“I don’t remember,” Jing Pei muttered while touching her chin.

For some reason, although she had not said anything cruel, he suddenly felt deeply ashamed, as if he had been sitting there acting like the world owed him sympathy and attention.

Then Jing Pei suddenly leaned close to his neck.

A soft fragrance surrounded him instantly.

His wet eye widened. His entire body stiffened, and his fingers curled nervously.

“There’s a faint smell of Atavist power on you,” she said softly, her breath brushing his skin. “You’re awakening.”

“What?” He froze. Awakening? Him?

At that moment, the car entered the Twelve Zodiac Academy.

“I’ll drop you off here,” Jing Pei said. “I don’t know what issue you have with the Zhou family, but… be careful.”

The one-eyed boy stepped out of the car in a daze and watched the Long family car drive away.

That was it?

Why did she not ask more questions? Why did she seem so unconcerned? Hadn’t she just said he was awakening? Did she really not care?

Then her earlier words echoed in his mind again.

“Did you ever ask me for help?”

If… if I asked you for help… would you help me?

He walked back to his usual place outside the school gate, eyes full of caution.

The Zhou family claimed they wanted reconciliation, but he knew that was not true. They were only afraid the Tribunal Division would expose what they had done.

What should he do now?

His awakening had already been exposed. Even if they could not immediately figure out who he was or why he acted this way, he still needed to hide until the awakening finished.

Just then, Long Ling arrived.

Seeing him still at the gate, she paused. Then she quickly adjusted her expression, got out of the car, and jogged over with concern.

“Are you okay?”

…

Jing Pei arrived unusually early today. She originally thought she would be the first one in class, but someone was already there.

Tang Qiaoqiao.

She sat in her seat crying quietly. The moment she saw Jing Pei enter, she immediately turned around so her back faced her.

Jing Pei scratched her cheek, pretended not to notice, sat down, and continued training her Atavist power.

After sitting there for a while, Tang Qiaoqiao finally turned around angrily.

“You’re not even going to ask why I’m crying? You have no classmate spirit at all!”

“Do I look like someone you can summon and dismiss whenever you want?” Jing Pei replied casually while continuing her training.

Then she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh right, want to fight me? I want to see how strong I am compared to people our age.”

Tang Qiaoqiao stared at her in shock.

What kind of awful straight-man response was that? A girl was crying over love, and Jing Pei wanted to fight?

Tang Qiaoqiao turned away angrily again.

Jing Pei felt disappointed.

Tang Qiaoqiao had not slept all night. Following the plan she made with Long Ling, she confessed to Wen Yuxian again—and got rejected again.

She cried the whole night. Her eyes were still red. Afraid her family would notice and cause trouble for Wen Yuxian, she snuck out early before anyone woke up.

Still, even while sad, she instinctively searched for hope among the broken pieces.

She suddenly turned back toward Jing Pei.

“This time Teacher Wen didn’t say he had a girlfriend! You lied!”

Jing Pei looked surprised.

Tang Qiaoqiao instantly looked pleased and even stopped crying.

This time, Wen Yuxian did not reject her by claiming he already had a girlfriend. Although she could not understand the painful look in his eyes, her limited life experience and self-centered youthful view kept her from understanding the stories hidden there.

She could feel there was some kind of gap between them.

But she did not care.

If there was a gap, she would cross it. If there were problems, she would solve them. And if she could not solve them… then she would think about it later.

At worst, she could ask her family for help. What problem could a great Atavist family not solve?

“So what?” Jing Pei looked at her calmly, showing rare sternness. “Whether that girlfriend exists or not, Teacher Wen doesn’t like you. Anyone with eyes can see that. What else do you want? To stalk him? Invade his privacy?”

“You should grow up already. The world doesn’t revolve around you. Not everyone will like you just because you’re the young lady of an Atavist family.” Jing Pei paused. “For example, I don’t like who you are right now.”

Tang Qiaoqiao immediately stood up, face red with anger.

“Who cares if you like me?!” she shouted before running out with tears in her eyes.

It was the first time in her life anyone had spoken to her so harshly. Since childhood, her family spoiled her, her friends indulged her, and classmates comforted her. She had barely faced any setbacks at all—except failing to win Wen Yuxian’s love.

Perhaps because of that, she had become even more obsessed with him.

After running out, Tang Qiaoqiao never returned to class that day.

…

The car sped down the road.

“These are all the adult canine-type male Atavists living in Jiangnan District that the organization has investigated,” the driver said while handing a thick stack of files to the woman in the passenger seat.

They were the same two people who had killed the homeless man earlier.

“That’s quite a lot.”

“Mm. It also includes information on people closely connected to them.”

After all, it had already been four years. Without an extremely close relationship, who could continue acting as a protector for that long? It was like driving a car with no brakes straight into a dead end.

The woman flipped through the files.

“Wen Kai… Jiang Jie… Fan Xize… Wen Yuxian…”

“Wen Yuxian?” The woman suddenly paused.

The driver immediately asked, “Is it him?”

“No. I just think the name sounds nice,” the woman replied.

The driver was speechless.

Every file included photographs. The woman picked up Wen Yuxian’s photo and studied it.

He looked gentle and refined, with the warm temperament of a golden retriever and the alertness of a German shepherd. He seemed approachable without looking weak.

Occupation: history teacher.

Yes, that suited him.

His file was very thin because he had very few close relationships.

On the family side, he only had his mother, who remarried after he became an adult and now lived overseas with her husband.

He only ever had one girlfriend.

Zhang Simiao.

“Hm?”

“Something wrong?” the driver asked.

“Their names sound really good together. Wen Yuxian. Zhang Simiao. Wen Yuxian. Zhang Simiao.”

“…”

The woman continued reading.

Wen Yuxian and Zhang Simiao grew up together and only separated in middle school after Wen Yuxian awakened as an Atavist. Even during years of long-distance dating, their relationship seemed unaffected.

Later, Zhang Simiao attended university in Yunjin Prefecture. After graduating, she and Wen Yuxian both stayed there and worked as teachers at the same elementary school.

Then four years ago, Zhang Simiao suddenly broke up with Wen Yuxian, returned to her hometown, and entered arranged marriage meetings.

The reason was that Wen Yuxian was too popular at the Twelve Zodiac Academy. Female students repeatedly said things to Zhang Simiao, and eventually she could not endure it anymore and broke up with him.

The breakup hit Wen Yuxian hard, so he requested half a year of leave from the academy.

This information had been gathered in a very short time. They had not yet gone to Zhang Simiao’s hometown to verify it, but from the detail level and photographs, nothing seemed suspicious.

Everything made sense.

Wen Yuxian truly was popular with students. Even now, there was a female student named Tang Qiaoqiao pursuing him obsessively.

Zhang Simiao’s wedding had even invited coworkers. One invited coworker was Mei Yanlan.

“Four years ago…” The woman narrowed her eyes slightly. “The timing overlaps.”

“That kid Chen Mo clearly has obsessive tendencies. He investigated all the way to that point, so why did he suddenly stop? Either he touched something he wasn’t supposed to touch and his family stopped him, or he encountered someone important.”

And Wen Yuxian just happened to be the homeroom teacher of Chen Mo and the others.

Still, Wen Yuxian was not the only person whose life changed dramatically four years ago. Two other people in the files also experienced major events during that same period.

“Focus on checking whether Wen Yuxian’s mother really lives overseas, and whether Zhang Simiao really returned to her hometown. Do the same for the other two,” the woman ordered.