One second they had been condemning Jing Pei for betrayal, and the next they discovered they had been betrayed by their own people. All Jing Pei had done was keep the mutant from being killed. Meanwhile, members of their own ranks had joined that organization, helped manufacture the very Atavist Serum they would never allow to exist, and tried to drag them down from their pedestal.

Set against that, Jing Pei’s protection of Zhang Simiao only made it clearer that she was no traitor. Otherwise, judging from everything that had happened in Yunjin Prefecture over the past three days—the events they had investigated overnight—Zhang Simiao would already have fallen into those people’s hands and become a weapon pointed back at them.

Which meant Jing Pei had to have a reason for keeping the test subject alive. A reason that benefited the atavist families. If that were the case, then perhaps they could tolerate leaving Zhang Simiao alive for the time being and kill her once this was over.

They would never permit mutants to exist—least of all intelligent ones. Atavists and mutants stood in a conflict of interest that could never be reconciled. Predator and prey. Invader and invaded. Mortal enemies who could never coexist.

To expect them to let Zhang Simiao live for long?

Absolutely impossible.

Jing Pei looked at them with a smile. “I’m keeping Zhang Simiao alive because I want to. There’s no special reason.”

The people who had been waiting for her to say something in their favor all went grim at once, and someone immediately slammed the table and stood up.

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Long Jin, make yourself clear. Which side are you on?!”

“Obviously, I’m on the side that benefits me and my family,” Jing Pei said. She spoke at an easy pace. Sitting upright on the Azure Dragon chair, she looked elegant and commanding at once, her catlike eyes so clear they seemed able to see through every face in the room.

Why do you all have to put on this act of unity and friendship? When the Huang and Bai families went to war, all you were thinking about was how to divide up the spoils between the winner and the loser. After the Qiu family massacre, didn’t you all try to claim the White Tiger’s atavistic genes for yourselves, scrambling to send people to seduce Qiu Fa? He was just a kid back then. Besides, didn’t last night’s livestream prove that the “unity” you all claim is nothing but a joke?

That hit them exactly where it hurt. Some things they had all done without ever speaking of them openly. Under normal circumstances, no one mentioned them at all. But for a junior who had only just stepped into atavist society to tear away that fig leaf in front of everyone was another matter entirely—especially with the heads of the Huang and Bai families both present.

They were furious and flustered, yet for the moment they could not produce a single sound rebuttal. All they could do was glare.

“I’ll be blunt,” Jing Pei said. “I want to send Zhang Simiao to Lou Ting. I want all of you to use the privilege granted by the Atavist Management Regulations to make that legal.”

Zhang Simiao’s existence was tied to an illegal criminal organization. If the government wanted to take custody of her, it would be perfectly normal for them to send in the military. Even Qiu Fa would have no way to interfere. So the only option was the Atavist Management Regulations.

The most frequently used clause in the Atavist Management Regulations—and the one that carried the most privilege—was this:

Atavist affairs are handled by atavists.

Zhang Simiao had become a mutant only because she was injected with a serum containing atavist genes. If the atavist side recognized her case as an atavist matter, the government would have no right to intervene. And because the opinion of the majority of the atavist families could also sway the stance of the Tribunal Division, it was an extremely broad rule with enormous room for maneuver.

Which was also why, when ordinary people suffered abuse at the hands of atavists, they usually had no choice but to swallow it.

Jing Pei’s matter-of-fact attitude made people burn with anger.

“On what grounds? I’m telling you right now—don’t even think about it! You want us to use our privilege to protect her? Not a chance. If it’s killing her, that we can do!”

“Then I’ll give last night’s video to the government,” Jing Pei said with a smile. There was no warmth in her eyes. “What do you think? Those techniques may have been designed specifically for Qiu Fa, but it wouldn’t be hard to trace each one back to its family’s style. After all, no matter how much things change, the root stays the same. An atavist’s species always shapes the way they fight.”

“You—”

“The government has wanted to abolish the Atavist Management Regulations for a long time, hasn’t it?” Jing Pei smiled. “A privilege I don’t need can disappear for all I care.”

The Atavist Management Regulations, that symbol of atavist privilege and special status, dated back a very long time.

When the Great Cosmic Convergence ended without warning, the humans in the various demon kingdoms lost their rulers, and humanity climbed back to the top of the food chain. Then came the struggle over spheres of influence, resources, and power. It nearly dragged the world back to a primitive age, and ordinary people could hardly find a way to live.

In that era, atavists had played a crucial role. The reestablishment of government, the return of central authority, the rebuilding of social order—atavists had their hand in all of it. That was how they came to enjoy these privileges.

But thousands of years had passed since then. Society had changed. The arrogance of the atavist families and the tensions produced by their privileges had only grown worse. Naturally, the government had been trying to weaken those privileges for a long time. It just had never found the right opportunity.

If yesterday’s video were handed over to them, though, things would be different. After all, this was a major crime with implications for public safety across society—and possibly international security as well.

The atavist families understood that perfectly. Which was why, the moment Jing Pei said it, atavist power roared through their bodies and surged toward the surface as they all looked ready to rush her at once.

Jing Pei said, “I’m still a child. If you all team up to bully me, my second uncle will send the video straight to the government.”

The atavist power that had just begun to burst out was forced back in at once.

“Cough—cough—cough!”

For a moment, the room filled with coughing. More than one person had nearly choked on their own atavist power.

Outside, Long Yiming was still peering in, tense from head to toe, with no idea why the people inside were suddenly giving him such openly hostile looks.

“Long Jin, you’ve really gone this far for the sake of a mutant?!” They could not accept it.

“You should think about it this way. I’m only trying to keep one mutant alive, and I’m sending her to Lou Ting. You all know that with him there, once rules are laid down, there won’t be any threat.”

“And how do you know Lou Ting will agree?”

“Leave that to me.”

Jing Pei already had leverage over them. And because she had only recently returned to atavist society, she truly did not care about atavist privilege at all, something they, by contrast, treated as a badge of pride. Three months earlier, none of them could have imagined that this kind of variable would appear in their circle.

Which was why, in their eyes, Long Ankang truly deserved to die. If he had not been so irresponsible—if he had not abandoned even his own child and let her grow up outside like this—how could things ever have turned out this way?

And even more hateful than that were the traitors inside their own families.

That was exactly why Jing Pei had wanted those three days. Without that extra time, how could the organization have had a chance to move? If she had not openly said she intended to send Zhang Simiao up there, how could she have pushed them into taking desperate measures, into attacking Qiu Fa directly, even forcing the organization’s hidden members inside the major families to answer the call?

In the end, they had no choice but to agree to Jing Pei’s demand. They agreed to let Zhang Simiao remain alive under atavist rules, and to let her go up there.

It made them furious. They had thought that livestream Jing Pei arranged last night was to warn them there were traitors in their own houses.

Instead, it had all been meant to threaten them.

And just as they were about to leave, still boiling with anger, Jing Pei spoke again. “Since you’ve all done me this favor, how about I give you a gift in return?”

In life, harmony was precious. A stick first, then a date after.

Those three days she had carved out were meant to kill two birds with one stone.

When everyone had finally left, Long Yiming found his back drenched in cold sweat. “What exactly did you say to them? They looked like they wanted to eat me alive.”

“Don’t worry, Second Uncle,” Jing Pei said with a smile. “I won’t let them eat you.”

So as long as I obediently follow your lead, that’s enough, is it? Long Yiming’s temple twitched. He had the unsettling feeling that he was being boiled alive like a frog in warm water. Before he knew it, he had reached the point where he had no choice but to listen to her. The one who truly held power in the Long family now was no longer him.

It was Jing Pei.

…

Wen Yuxian and Zhang Simiao stood at the entrance to the bubble, listening to the sounds outside. Wen Yuxian’s heart pounded as he gripped Zhang Simiao’s hand tightly.

For the sake of an unknown future.

Could fate really be changed? Could Jing Pei really persuade them to spare Zhang Simiao?

The time limit of Qiu Fa’s promise to protect Zhang Simiao was almost up. And outside the bubble, Qiu Fa had run into a situation even he could not easily refuse.

The government had sent troops to take Zhang Simiao into custody.

“She can draw out members of that organization. We hope Director Qiu will assist us in capturing these criminals who endanger society.”

They no longer wanted Zhang Simiao as an experiment subject. Now they wanted to use her to catch criminals.

But how could anyone be sure there were no members of that organization among them? After the last three days, Qiu Fa had come to understand that the organization had infiltrated everywhere. There were even members inside the atavist families. Aside from up there, there truly was nowhere left that could guarantee Zhang Simiao’s safety.

Fortunately, at that moment, the atavist families arrived.

…

News spread that Jing Pei had successfully persuaded the heads of the major atavist families to let Zhang Simiao live. The families had all agreed that Zhang Simiao’s case counted as atavist business, so under the Atavist Management Regulations the government could not intervene. Zhang Simiao had therefore already been taken from Qiu Fa’s custody, and that afternoon she would be sent to the Yuewan Mountain Range—sent up there.

The Lou family had already agreed to the request.

Bang!

With a violent crash, a tabletop was smashed to pieces.

“Can somebody tell me what was said at that meeting? How exactly did Long Jin persuade them?” the man demanded in a fury.

“I—I don’t know. Only family heads were invited, and the contents of the meeting haven’t come out yet…” the person reporting stammered, shaking.

“What exactly did she say? No matter how I think about it, there’s no way she should have been able to persuade them to spare Zhang Simiao. No matter how I think about it, it makes no sense!” The man’s brow bulged with veins as he racked his brain. They had spent the last three days acting on the assumption that Jing Pei might actually pull it off, but now that the day had come, he still found it hard to believe.

The door opened, and the doctor walked in with a dark expression.

“Doctor, we still have a chance!” The man broke out in a cold sweat and hurried to explain. “Those atavist families don’t trust Qiu Fa, so they want to deliver the test subject to Lou Ting themselves. They’ve already started pulling people in from their own families, and they’ll move this afternoon. We can intercept them halfway there. Without Qiu Fa, and with our people still inside their families—or rather, this is exactly the chance we’ve been waiting for!”

“It had better be,” the doctor said with a grim look. “That test subject is our hope. If we lose her, then all of you can become my test subjects instead.”

His cold, snake-like eyes slid across the room, and everyone there shuddered.

As soon as the doctor left, the man immediately ordered elite personnel from every branch to take part in that afternoon’s operation to seize Zhang Simiao.

…

The major atavist families did not trust Qiu Fa, the “traitor,” and they did not trust anyone in the Tribunal Division either. So they refused all help from the Tribunal Division and insisted on escorting Zhang Simiao to the Yuewan Mountain Range themselves.

They each sent word back to their families, ordering any available atavists to come help in case members of the evil organization tried to seize her on the way.

Time was tight. The sooner they sent Zhang Simiao up there, the sooner they could rest easy. So the various families even mobilized private planes faster than commercial airships. The planes were not as safe, but everyone involved was an atavist, and few of them were truly afraid of a crash.

The vessel chosen to transport Zhang Simiao was also a large private airship owned by one of the atavist families.

A large cage draped in black cloth was wheeled aboard. Wen Yuxian, pale from injuries that had clearly not healed, stood guard outside it.

People from the major families all stared at him, each with a different expression.

“So that’s the traitor. And he’s a teacher at the Twelve Zodiac Academy.”

“He teaches my kid, actually. I just hope he hasn’t filled their head with anything strange.”

“He’s a lovestruck fool, I’ll give him that.”

“So this is the Teacher Wen that Tang family child kept talking about…”

Voices rose all around him.

Some people also exchanged strange looks in private, passing silent messages between them.

When everyone was aboard, the airship lifted off.

Yunjin Air Force Base.

They had naturally already received the flight filing for that airship, but the personnel in charge of monitoring air safety discovered that several unregistered airships had taken off as well.

The message was sent up the chain immediately, but no follow-up orders came.

The Yuewan Mountain Range lay at the outermost edge of Yunjin Prefecture and contained the highest peak in the world. The climate there was the exact opposite of the rest of Yunjin Prefecture. Even in the height of summer, it remained snow-covered year-round, home to snow leopards, snow foxes, snow wolves, and other polar creatures.

Ahead, the white peaks were already visible. The chained cage hanging in the sky grew larger and larger, and something in the air already seemed to be changing. Three airships closed in from three directions, yet no warning appeared.

The people aboard the main airship noticed nothing. Many of them were still pressing their family heads for answers, demanding to know how they could have agreed to Jing Pei’s proposal—surely only a dead Zhang Simiao, reduced to ash, could ever be truly safe. In return, they got a savage scolding.

“If any one of you were even half as capable as her, I wouldn’t still be this pissed off!”

They were furious, yes—but they also had to admit it: Jing Pei had nerve, and she had brains. Then they thought of their own children, who were also her classmates yet still so naïve and foolish, and nearly collapsed from frustration. Looking at these clan members—who were technically Jing Pei’s elders—only made it worse.

“Achu, you’re hurt? What happened?” the Feng family head suddenly asked with a frown, noticing one of the younger clan members.

The person he called on was a young man in his early twenties. He wore a diamond-shaped earring set with a red gemstone in his left ear. Like every member of the Feng family, he always had some kind of red ornament on him. He was one of the Feng family head’s many nephews, highly capable, and had graduated from the Twelve Zodiac Academy the year before.

The Feng family head valued him greatly. He had personally instructed him since childhood and given him the same treatment as Feng Yilian. In a great family like theirs, that was no small honor.

The young man froze for a moment, then smiled. “You caught the smell of medicine on me? It’s nothing. I got hurt a little sparring with a friend yesterday. It’s no big deal.”

Among atavists, getting hurt while sparring was common enough.

“That’s good.” The Feng family head nodded and withdrew his gaze, though his hand had nearly clenched into a fist.

Feng Yichu slipped away from the crowd, exchanged a look with certain others, then walked off to a quiet corner of the airship where no one else was around. He took out a cigarette and lit it.

“The organization wants you to stay with the Feng family,” said another young man from a different family as he came over. “After this operation, there’ll be no going back. It’ll be open defection.”

“Who cares.” Feng Yichu exhaled a long stream of smoke, a vicious smile spreading across his face. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces in a minute.”

The other young man smiled too, looking just as eager. “Exactly. A rotten family system like this should’ve been torn down ages ago.”

Outside the porthole, the three airships drew closer and closer. Only then did someone inside finally notice.

“What’s going on?”

At that point, people throughout the cabin started rushing outside, while some of those who remained behind took the chance to head for the area where Wen Yuxian and Zhang Simiao were being held.

Their target was Zhang Simiao. There was no need for unnecessary fighting. While everyone else’s attention was drawn away, the important thing was to kill Wen Yuxian and take Zhang Simiao.

They quickly entered the holding cell where the two of them were supposed to be confined. The space was large, as though it had been deliberately cleared out.

“Where’s Wen Yuxian?” They stepped inside, only to find the room empty. Wen Yuxian was nowhere to be seen.

A sense of dread rose in someone’s chest. He rushed forward and tore away the black cloth.

The cage was empty.

“Not good!”

Too late.

Bang. The door behind them slammed shut.

“Didn’t see that coming, did you?” Wen Yuxian’s voice rang out over the room’s speaker system, thick with cold fury. “Traitors.”

When he called them traitors, he did not mean traitors to the atavist families.

He meant traitors to humanity.

Only creatures stripped of all humanity would join that organization, offer up their own atavist genes so that thing could be made, and from some arrogant height use one innocent person after another as a test subject.

As his voice faded, the mechanisms in the room activated. Several vents opened, and with the press of a button, white gas burst out and rapidly flooded the cell. One by one, the traitors dropped.

At the same time, the atavist who had volunteered to serve as an observer was also pinned down.

The elites aboard the three incoming ships still had no idea they had walked into a trap. Following orders, they leapt across once the ships drew close enough, ready to slaughter their way through—

and then saw a man half-hidden in shadow, only half his body and face visible.

…Qiu Fa?!

Why was he here?!

“Director, people are fair game, right?” Mei Yanlan asked with a smile from not far away.

“Do as you like.”

…

After Qiu Fa, Zhang Simiao, and Wen Yuxian left the waterfall, the organization’s people went over to inspect the area and discovered several hidden cameras that had not been recovered.

“What are these?” the man said, staring at them. “Looks like Long Jin didn’t trust Qiu Fa all that much either, if she had cameras set up to watch him.”

“Idiot,” the doctor suddenly said.

The man looked up.

The muscles in the doctor’s face were twitching. He gritted out the words. “That was her goal all along. We walked straight into it.”

“Doctor? What do you mean? Walked into what?” The man jumped to his feet, panic rising at once. He ran through everything in his head, unable to see where they had gone wrong.

“From the moment she went to Qiu Fa, she was already laying the groundwork. Lou Ting was the catalyst. She said those things on purpose for us to hear, and we let her lead us around by the nose. We handed her both the leverage and the weapon she needed to strike back. No wonder she put them up at a Lou family hotel. That way no one would warn us in advance.”

The man was slow to catch up, but at last it hit him.

“So that means…” His face changed. “The elites we sent out…”

The doctor burst into wild, hysterical laughter. He looked deranged. “So she didn’t persuade them after all. I knew it—There was no way she could have persuaded those people. This is too interesting. It’s been a long time since anyone plotted against me this well. And it’s been a long time since the atavist families produced anyone this interesting. I want her genes so badly. More and more, I want her genes. Imagine the kind of mutant I could make with them.”

The man’s face looked dreadful.

He could not laugh.

The operatives they had spent years planting in the various families, and the battle elites they had spent years cultivating, had just been wiped out in one sweep. It felt like having both kidneys cut out.

How was he supposed to laugh?