“Damn!” The monster that suddenly sprang out of the pile of corpses gave everyone a scare. Some of the creatures hadn’t been dead at all. They had been playing dead, waiting for a chance to escape.
Mei Yanlan was in front of the fleeing monster almost instantly. She smacked it with a vicious backhand and sent it straight to the afterlife.
Standing where she was, Jing Pei watched with admiration shining in her eyes.
What a stunning cold beauty. What a waste it would be if she died. The world itself would seem a little dimmer because of it.
Of course, she’d deliberately stopped Mei Yanlan from killing the Ling family members. Mei Yanlan couldn’t kill them. If she did, there would be no turning back.
Even if Jing Pei had a way to keep her alive, Mei Yanlan would end up like Chu Xusheng in the original story, forced to live as a shadow hidden in the darkness.
Judging from the results of the Wen Yuxian and Zhang Simiao incidents, any attempts to alter the plot before their storylines reached their destined endpoints were useless. The narrative would always find a way to drag events back onto the original track. It was impossible to guard against every twist of fate.
Since that was the case, changing things too early had little meaning. It was better to allow events to unfold according to the original story and only intervene at critical plot points.
She had already changed the part of Mei Yanlan’s story where she killed members of the Ling family not long ago. But Mei Yanlan’s timeline hadn’t ended yet.
Which meant the plot was bound to find a way to make Mei Yanlan kill members of the Ling family again and force the story back onto its original route.
Through a mole planted inside the Tribunal Division, they had already learned what had happened that night.
“So it was foreign Atavists behind this. They transformed all the animals on a farm into monsters. Because of the terrain here, they deliberately drove the monsters in this direction to kill people.”
“Talk about rotten luck. What are the odds?”
The prey they had almost caught had slipped away as well. The cantaloupe-tattooed man couldn’t hide his satisfaction by the turn of events.
“So we can’t arrest Mei Yanlan now, right? In that case, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be heading back.”
The woman shot him a glance.
“Why are you in such a hurry? If you leave now and I need you again tomorrow, you’ll just have to travel all the way back here. What a waste of effort.”
The cantaloupe-tattooed man’s expression froze.
“This time, Mei Yanlan got lucky,” the woman said. “But her luck won’t last much longer.”
In her eyes, obtaining Mei Yanlan wouldn’t be difficult. There was deep hatred between them. As long as they used the Ling family as bait, she didn’t believe Mei Yanlan could resist stepping into their trap.
The Ling family was quickly transported to an Atavist hospital for treatment.
Aside from those who had died outright, the most seriously injured person was the Ling Family Head himself.
The more felt his age and frailty more and more, the more twisted the ambition and greed in his eyes became.
He gripped his eldest son’s hand tightly.
“I don’t have much time left. We can’t delay any longer. We have to act quickly. The glory of our Ling family…”
“I know, Dad. Don’t worry. Leave everything to me from here on. Focus on recovering,” the Ling family’s eldest young master said, squeezing his hand.
At his age, his healing ability was nowhere near that of a young person. He wouldn’t be getting out of bed for at least a month or two.
“Remember,” the Ling Family Head said, his eyes wide as he stared at his son. “Be careful. Don’t let word get out. Outsiders must not learn about this.”
The eldest young master understood perfectly.
“Don’t worry. Until we’ve secured her and begun our plan, no one will know she’s Yilan or that she possesses that kind of ability.”
What they wanted from Mei Yanlan was a role akin to a breeding tool. The only difference was that she wouldn’t be the one carrying the children.
They hoped she would contribute her eggs so that others could give birth to healthy offspring possessing two different atavist bloodlines.
Such hybrids would most likely be stronger than individuals with only a single atavist lineage.
Once some Atavist families produced children like that, the rest would be forced to keep up.
Anyone who didn’t want to fall behind would have no choice but to seek marriage alliances with the Ling family.
But what would happen if other Atavist families learned of Mei Yanlan’s existence before the plan could be implemented?
Rather than fighting to marry into the Ling family, they would almost certainly prefer to ensure the Ling family lost Mei Yanlan altogether.
If nobody could have her, then nobody gained an advantage.
No one risked being left behind.
And no one would end up dependent on a weak, incompetent, and despicable family like the Lings.
Wasn’t that far better?
That was why the Ling family had pretended not to know Mei Yanlan earlier. They didn’t want other Atavist families paying attention to her or discovering anything suspicious.
The city had long fallen silent.
Only lonely streetlamps remained, standing in neat rows beneath the night sky.
Yet the people in the forest outside the city remained busy.
Cleanup operations were usually handled by logistics personnel, but because they had discovered that some monsters could feign death, and because logistics staff weren’t particularly strong, combat personnel had to remain behind as a precaution.
“I’m heading back.”
“Me too.”
“…”
Most of the students and teachers from the Twelve Zodiac Academy had already returned to campus.
The remaining work belonged to the Tribunal Division.
Mei Yanlan was one of the combat personnel assigned to stay behind.
“You’re saying Long Jin was the one who suggested driving all these monsters here?” Mei Yanlan asked a colleague.
The colleague nodded.
“And Wen Yuxian was the first person to discover those three criminals in the act?”
“That’s right.”
“What a coincidence.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing.” Mei Yanlan stared into the distance with her crimson eyes and sank into thought.
The next day.
Inside a spacious and solemn conference room, government officials sat in their seats with grave expressions.
The members of Intelligence Division Nine who had once sought out Jing Pei looked more anxious than anyone else.
“The Atavist families want to whitewash themselves with this tactic. Are we really going to sit here and do nothing?”
“Exactly! Haven’t we been waiting for an opportunity like this all these years?”
“This is the perfect chance to abolish the Atavist Management Regulations. Are we just going to let it slip away?”
“We should prohibit the Atavist families from releasing this documentary!”
The woman in military uniform seated at the head of the table looked at them with a faint smile.
“In that case, the next time something like last night’s incident happens and the Tribunal Division doesn’t have enough personnel, shall we have Intelligence Division Nine provide reinforcements?”
Everyone from Division Nine immediately stiffened.
“As for whether changes should be made regarding the Atavist families and the Atavist Management Regulations, that will be discussed during our upcoming meeting with the Atavist families.”
“Since the end of the Great Cosmic Convergence, the Atavist families have made significant contributions to social stability and national security. The public may not know that, but does Intelligence Division Nine not know it either?”
“There’s no need to be so eager to beat them to death with a single stick.”
No judgment was made regarding the Atavist families’ image rehabilitation campaign, nor was there any sign that the government intended to stop it.
The people from Division Nine were furious.
They felt the government’s attitude was backing down. In their eyes, it was a sign that the government lacked the courage to confront the Atavist families head-on.
“Regarding last night’s incident, our technological weapons could have wiped those monsters out!”
“Isn’t the military trained to defend the country? Just because they’re monsters, only Atavists can fight them?”
“Doesn’t that imply Atavists are a superior breed compared to ordinary people?”
“I think everyone’s simply gotten used to the status quo and no longer dares to change it.”
“When the day comes when change becomes unavoidable, we’ll discover that humanity can defeat monsters perfectly well without Atavists.”
After the meeting ended, they returned to their offices and vented their frustrations.
Everyone in Intelligence Division Nine hated the Atavist families.
They had simply lacked an opportunity.
Now, thanks to the Zhou family, a chance had finally appeared, and they had no intention of letting the Atavists cleanse their image so easily.
“Hmph. Dig up all those old incidents that everyone has forgotten and shove them back into the spotlight.”
“Let’s give people a refresher on the crimes committed by the Atavist families.”
“There have been conflicts for decades. I refuse to believe a single documentary can erase all that!”
And so, that very day, countless past crimes involving Atavist families, both famous and obscure, began reappearing across the internet.
The public’s emotions, which had only recently started to settle, were stirred up once again.
When the Atavist families woke up and saw the entire internet attacking them again, demanding that Atavist privileges be abolished, many were so furious they couldn’t even finish breakfast.
Director Zhang Run had only just gone to sleep when a barrage of phone calls dragged him back awake.
As he listened to the person on the other end, he swore under his breath.
These Atavist family people really were detached from ordinary life. Did they seriously think making a film was as simple as eating or sleeping?
Fortunately, his team had edited the footage through the night.
Otherwise, they never would have earned the massive paycheck the Atavist families had offered.
That was the advantage of working for the Atavist families.
They paid very well.
As a result, everyone on his team stayed up all night with smiles on their faces.
“Understood. We’ll release the first episode immediately,” Director Zhang Run said obediently.
Not long afterward, a brand-new account called Atavist Glory uploaded a feature-length video.
Director Zhang Run shared it as well.
As a famous director with tens of millions of followers, he quickly attracted widespread attention.
People temporarily set aside their outrage toward the Atavist families and clicked on the video.
It was a documentary titled Great Houses.
Two gold brush-written characters appeared stroke by stroke across the screen, radiating an aura of wild pride and aristocratic grandeur.
The opening narration, accompanied by top-tier animation, explained the formation of the Atavist families and the responsibilities they had borne in the unique society that emerged after the Great Cosmic Convergence.
The moment Zhang Run accepted the project, inspiration had struck him.
He entrusted the opening sequence to the finest film and animation studio in all of Hualan.
The schedule had been hectic and rushed, but the payment was so generous that companies competed fiercely for the opportunity.
Viewers were initially stunned.
Then skeptical comments flooded the screen.
[What’s this?]
[Here comes the whitewashing.]
[What purpose do Atavist families serve in society? Parasites!]
[The hearts of the Atavist families are black!]
[Give those innocent victims their lives back!]
[Even Zhang Run has changed…]
[Unfollowed.]
Then Jing Pei appeared.
The furious viewers immediately redirected their fire toward her.
[I thought Long Jin was different from the rest. Turns out she’s just the same.]
[At the end of the day, they’re all one family.]
[The best thing you can say about her is that she doesn’t commit crimes. Who actually expects an Atavist to empathize with ordinary people? What are her fans thinking?]
[This is such a disappointment.]
The Atavist families had always carried themselves above ordinary people and rarely acknowledged them directly.
At a time like this, releasing such a documentary was obviously an attempt at image rehabilitation.
Anyone with half a brain could tell.
The viewers refused to accept it.
Yet they kept watching while cursing.
The view count continued to rise.
After all, disliking something was one thing.
Being curious was another.
This was the first time ordinary people had ever been given a glimpse into what Atavists actually did in their daily lives.
If you wanted to protect the money in your wallet, the first rule was never to let someone pry the wallet open in the first place.
Likewise, if you didn’t want someone to rehabilitate their image, the smartest thing to do was avoid reading their defense altogether.
Because once you looked, you might be influenced.
And so the viewers soon saw Jing Pei and the others assisting the Tribunal Division in criminal investigations.
They watched Jing Pei and Mei Yanlan soar through the air while pursuing and arresting criminals.
The tide of public opinion began shifting beyond anyone’s control.
[So… so cool!!]
[Maybe the Atavist families actually are useful…]
[That sewer tennis match absolutely killed me. Long Jin’s disappointed expression was both wicked and adorable!!]
[That murderer finally got caught!! Nice one!]
[Is that red-haired lady a succubus? She looks like a perfectly ripe fruit. Hnnngh…]
[? Can you people have some backbone? How many members of the Atavist families actually showed up to help? Does that suddenly mean the benefits outweigh the harm? Does that justify all the privileges they get?]
But once the segment featuring the monster horde aired that evening, those voices resisting the documentary’s message were immediately drowned out. The comments were filled with either screaming or variations of “this is so exciting” and “my blood is pumping.”
[I slept like a log last night. I had no idea something like this happened!]
[Holy crap, if they hadn’t stopped it, how many people would’ve died?!]
[Damn, I’ve been proven wrong. Turns out when something serious happens, the Atavist families really do send out this many people…]
[…]
The documentary quickly climbed to the number-one trending spot, and more and more viewers poured in.
The people in Intelligence Division Nine had no idea just how dangerous the previous night’s events had been, nor how massive the operation was.
They had slept peacefully through the night. By the next morning, all they knew was that something had happened… and that it had already been resolved.
Once a crisis had been solved, who cared about it anymore? How serious could it have been?
Because of that, they never expected the documentary to have such a powerful effect.
Watching public opinion reverse course so quickly turned their faces green.
Xiao Cheng sat on the sofa at home, having stayed awake the entire night.
Mei Yanlan hadn’t come home.
After leaving with Wen Can, she hadn’t come home all night.
His wife had left with another man right in front of him and spent the entire night away!
It was outrageous.
Was it because he’d ripped up the divorce agreement last time and insisted they would never divorce?
Had that made her so fearless?
Otherwise, how dare she?
She wasn’t even a full member of the Tribunal Division, just an auxiliary worker without money or power. What gave her the right to treat him this way?
He was Xiao Cheng, President Xiao himself!
Griping to his best friend over the phone, Xiao Cheng said, “The guy vanished without a word for ten years even though he was alive. How much could Wen Can really like her? Can’t she see that? Where’s her common sense? Has she forgotten how to do basic cost-benefit analysis?”
At least Fang Bihe had spent the past decade often chat him, checking in on him, and keeping him interested.
Had Wen Can ever done that?
He had barely finished venting when his parents arrived.
As the saying went, good news never travels far, but bad news spreads a thousand miles.
Someone who knew both Xiao Cheng and Wen Can had happened to witness Mei Yanlan abandoning Xiao Cheng outside the Tribunal Division and leaving with Wen Can.
The story had spread through high society overnight.
The last time around, the Xiao family had been forced to suppress their dislike of Mei Yanlan after learning she was an Atavist and that Xiao Cheng was pregnant.
Now, however, the very scandal they’d feared had finally happened.
It had humiliated the entire family.
“You must divorce Mei Yanlan!”
“My marriage is none of your business!”
The man who had just been complaining moments ago immediately reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on the instant he heard the word “divorce.”
“Xiao Cheng, Xiao Cheng… Have you no self-respect at all? What kind of spell did Mei Yanlan cast on you? What’s so great about her that you’ve completely lost your head? She has neither looks nor ability. She’s not even comparable to Fang Bihe!”
“If you divorce her, we won’t stop you from getting together with Fang Bihe.”
But Xiao Cheng wasn’t moved in the slightest.
So his parents brought out their trump card.
“If you don’t divorce Mei Yanlan, you won’t get a single thing from the Xiao family!”
Back then, this very threat had been what forced Xiao Cheng and Fang Bihe to come up with their plan of finding an honest woman to carry a child and then discarding her afterward.
On the surface, it had seemed like Fang Bihe’s idea because she couldn’t bear to give up the Xiao family’s wealth.
But Xiao Cheng’s parents knew their son.
Perhaps his feelings for Fang Bihe weren’t as deep as he imagined.
Perhaps part of it was simply the obsession of not obtaining what he wanted in his youth.
As a result, his love for Fang Bihe had never outweighed his ambition.
That was why he had agreed to the proposal so easily.
Of course, nobody should expect too much morality from him.
It was only surrogacy.
At worst, he could give the woman a few extra houses after the divorce.
Not long after Xiao Cheng and Mei Yanlan got married, his parents had tried the same tactic again.
This time, however, Xiao Cheng only replied:
“Do whatever you want.”
Damn it.
That useless, poor woman Mei Yanlan had really bewitched him, hadn’t she?
Meanwhile, Fang Bihe was happily treating several friends to morning tea.
Naturally, she had heard the gossip that spread the previous night.
Her mood couldn’t have been better.
She was certain that after this incident, even if Xiao Cheng refused to divorce, his conservative parents would force the issue sooner or later.
And even if they somehow stayed married, their future wouldn’t be pleasant.
After all, Wen Can’s “green hat” would remain permanently perched over Xiao Cheng’s head.
People would always gossip behind his back.
What man could stand that?
“But seriously, what does Mei Yanlan even have going for her?” one friend said. “One Xiao Cheng and one Wen Can! I remember Wen Can was very popular back in school. Good-looking, great personality, tons of girls chasing after him. Who would’ve guessed he’d been secretly dating Mei Yanlan all along?”
“This is officially the biggest unsolved mystery from our class,” another girl said.
Their class group chat had been very active recently.
Almost every topic revolved around Mei Yanlan.
By now, the story had already evolved into:
“Mei Yanlan abandoned Xiao Cheng and eloped with Wen Can.”
As for why the incident happened outside the Tribunal Division headquarters, nobody thought much about it.
[I’ve stared at our graduation photo forever. No matter how I look at it, Mei Yanlan seems completely ordinary.]
[She even looks kind of gloomy in the picture. What exactly did they see in her?]
[Could she be using black magic?]
[Exactly! She’s a nobody. If she doesn’t have some kind of dark sorcery, how could something this ridiculous happen?]
[What do you mean by “nobody”?]
[No looks, no money, no personality.]
Fang Bihe had been thoroughly enjoying the group chat lately.
The shock and disbelief from her former classmates restored some of her sense of superiority.
It wasn’t that the school beauty had lost to an invisible nobody.
Clearly, the invisible nobody had only succeeded through underhanded means.
There wasn’t a shred of evidence supporting those claims, but reading them still made her happy.
So happy, in fact, that she ordered several more dishes.
“Hey, that’s too much. We won’t be able to finish it.”
“It’s fine. If there’s leftovers, you can take them home and let your family try some,” she said with a smile.
“Sounds good.”
Just then, someone abruptly interrupted the heated discussion in the class chat.
[HOLY SHIT, GO LOOK AT THE TRENDING TOPICS!]
[Huh? The Atavist families released a documentary? Are they starting a PR campaign?]
[No! Well… yes! Just watch it! I refuse to be the only person who fell out of my chair!]
The group chat instantly went silent.
Fang Bihe and her friends opened the documentary as well.
Xiao Cheng, meanwhile, was alerted by a panicked phone call from his best friend.
“Xiao Cheng, hurry and check the trending topics! Your wife’s in it! She’s in that documentary called Great Families!”
#GreatFamilies# was sitting at the top of the trending list, followed by the bright-red marker indicating an explosive trend.
Ignoring his parents, Xiao Cheng expressionlessly turned on the television and connected it to the internet, clearly signaling for them to leave.
Opening Great Families, he saw that it was a documentary about the Atavist families and frowned.
Had Mei Yanlan appeared in it somehow?
It wasn’t impossible.
The Tribunal Division had been incredibly busy lately and chronically short-staffed.
As a logistics worker, Mei Yanlan could easily have been caught on camera.
But soon, his expression slowly changed.
Before the audience saw her, they heard her.
The crisp ringing of bells sounded first.
Then appeared a red-haired succubus with long, wavy hair and curved horns atop her head.
The red beauty mark beneath her eye glittered.
Red eyes.
Red lips.
Crimson horns.
She was so beautiful enough to steal everyone’s breath, simultaneously fierce and cold.
Every glance she cast seemed seductive yet distant.
Then the documentary narrator introduced her.
“Mei Yanlan. Succubus Atavist. Number One of the Tribunal Division Special Forces.
“The Special Forces are the Tribunal Division’s strongest combat unit, responsible for capturing the most dangerous criminals.
“There are only ten positions within the Special Forces. The lower the number, the stronger the member.
“Within the Tribunal Division, Mei Yanlan is second only to Director Qiu Fa.”
The screen instantly flooded with comments from viewers completely captivated by her.
Even the furious Xiao parents fell silent, staring at the screen in disbelief.
“Th-that’s someone with the same name, right?”
Yet upon closer inspection, they could still recognize traces of the Mei Yanlan they remembered.
The difference was that the woman in their memories had been dim and ordinary.
This woman seemed dazzling enough to steal everyone’s breath.
Fang Bihe’s expression changed as well.
Her pupils practically underwent an earthquake.
The class chat exploded.
[HEY! Is that really the Mei Yanlan we know?!]
[HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!!]
[I literally fell out of my chair! It hurts so much!!]
[I checked that photo from last night again and realized it was taken in front of the Tribunal Division headquarters…]
[…]
Mei Yanlan wasn’t exactly a common name.
Combined with everything they’d been discussing, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
No looks?
No money?
No personality?
The truth was the complete opposite.
She had beauty, wealth, and more personality than anyone in the room.
If countless men fell at the feet of the woman in the seductive red dress, what was there to be surprised about?
Wen Can wasn’t blind.
He had been the only one with clear vision while everyone else was drunk.
And Xiao Cheng?
Being able to marry her was punching far above his weight.
When they reached the later scenes of Mei Yanlan throwing herself into the monster horde like a living inferno and slaughtering monsters left and right, they ended up screaming alongside countless online viewers.
Fang Bihe’s face changed colors like a palette.
Her two friends became so excited they nearly jumped out of their seats.
Then they remembered Fang Bihe and sat back down looking embarrassed.
In the end, Fang Bihe put away her phone.
She couldn’t even pretend to maintain her dignity anymore.
Turning her wheelchair, she left.
Damn it.
At first, she’d thought she was a king while Mei Yanlan was bronze.
Later, she’d thought they were both kings.
Only now did she realize the truth.
She was the bronze one.
Mei Yanlan was the king.
Then why the hell didn’t you say so earlier?!
If I’d known you were this level of Atavist, why would I ever have fought with you over a man?
I’d have packed my bags and gotten the hell out of your way long ago!
