Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
Lizi was a purebred flower tabby cat, with three generations of flower tabby ancestry, while the chubby orange cat was adopted from a shelter.
The other animals could still get along a bit with Reina, including Little Grey who was relatively fine, but Jiaoza and Hai-chan, these two birds of prey, were a bit too wary of strangers.
Even though Reina had been the one feeding them during the day these past few days, they still hadn’t accepted her.
The first time Hai-chan was introduced to Reina, Hai-chan nearly pecked her.
Hearing my voice, Reina first unlocked Little Grey’s leg chain.
Once freed, Little Grey immediately flapped its wings and flew to the back of the chair behind me, affectionately perching there and rubbing its face against my hair.
“Yunyan! Yunyan! Yunyan!”
“Alright, alright, let me eat properly.”
Little Grey already recognized my name, and its voice was quite clear, though any normal person could tell it was a parrot speaking.
Another thing was that Little Grey wasn’t easy to mess with—this guy… was pretty close with Wangcai.
Next, Reina unlocked Hai-chan’s leg chain first, then took out the anti-scratch gloves she always carried, and only then removed Hai-chan’s blindfold.
The moment the blindfold came off, a pair of golden pupils were instantly revealed, and without hesitation, Hai-chan bit down on the glove.
Its sharp beak clamped directly onto the glove.
“Hai-chan!!”
I immediately shouted, and Hai-chan finally noticed my presence, releasing Reina’s glove.
It spread its wings and, like Little Grey, flew to the back of the chair behind me.
As soon as Hai-chan landed, Little Grey started shouting.
“Get lost! Hai-chan! Get lost! Get lost!”
However… Hai-chan ignored it and just swept its sharp eyes around the surroundings.
Little Grey continued to yell stubbornly.
“Get lost! Hai-chan! Get lost!”
It even used its claws to scratch at Hai-chan’s wings.
Hai-chan turned its head, spread its wings, pressed its claw on top of Little Grey’s head, then hooked its claw around Little Grey’s neck and pinned it down.
It turned its head again to survey the area, wearing a look of dominance over all.
Little Grey, being trampled, naturally refused to back down.
Its head pressed against the back of the chair, it opened its beak and shouted:
“Wangcai! Dead dog! Wangcai! Bite it! Wangcai! Wangcai!”
Immediately, barking and scratching at the door could be heard from the other room.
“Awoo!!”
Just like that, another morning began in the usual familiar chaos.
I quickly put down my knife, fork, and spoon, turned around to calm Hai-chan, and also warned Little Grey not to cause trouble.
I also had to calm down Sha Ha, who was joining the chaos with excited howls, and Jiaoza, who stood on top of Sha Ha’s head with wide eyes, clearly enjoying the show.
Five minutes later, peace was finally restored to the room.
Lizi and Fat Orange didn’t care how noisy the others were; they just kept acting cute as always, making the living room lively.
Wangcai was let out too.
It looked coldly at Hai-chan behind me, full of displeasure.
No idea what was up with these two, but they fought whenever they were together, with Little Grey on the side waving a flag and egging them on.
It was truly hard on Reina, who took care of them daily.
After breakfast, I took the whole group out to the yard.
Today, there were some fish added to the pond.
Looking at the few little fish swimming around in the clear pond, I sat in the pavilion directly above the water.
Shao He also came to sit next to me.
After a while, Reina came over carrying a teapot, having finished brewing the tea.
Stolen leisure for half a day helped calm my still somewhat chaotic thoughts.
Who cares about strange things—right now, I was Zhang Yiwei.
Once I figured that out, everything else… became unimportant.
Leaning back against the chair, I leisurely listened to the gentle sound of water in the pond and watched Wangcai and Sha Ha running wildly in the yard.
My mood suddenly lightened.
“Sure enough, sometimes taking a day off is really necessary.”
Shao He gave only one response to that—she rolled her eyes at me, then calmly picked up her teacup and took a sip.
Reina, on the other hand, smiled.
“Sometimes it’s like that. When you feel tired, you should rest. Only then will you have the energy to face tomorrow.”
“Ah~ Reina understands me best. Reina, Reina, look, Shao He rolled her eyes at me again.”
“Young Miss… you’re sixteen now, officially an adult. You should understand what’s proper and what’s not. Taking a day off is fine, but if it affects your studies, it’ll be very hard to catch up later. If this keeps up, will you even be able to graduate? I’m just thinking about what’s best for you.”
“Yes, yes… Shao He is right. Whatever Shao He says is right. But… Shao He, I can very confidently tell you that I’ve already self-studied all the high school curriculum.”
“Oh? If Young Miss has that kind of ability, then why not skip a grade?!”
“Eh eh, Shao He, that’s what you don’t understand. This is youth~ High school life only comes once and never returns. Such a precious time—why would I skip it?”
“Then how do you explain your actions today being completely contrary to your words? If it’s such a cherished time, why do something like taking a day off that ruins the mood?”
“Eek~ Shao He, sometimes your seriousness is such a hassle…”
“Facing life seriously is my personal standard. Young Miss, you are simply too careless!”
And just like that, chatting while watching the crystal-clear pond, sipping the tea brewed by Reina, the entire morning passed in leisure.
Today’s relaxation wasn’t without reason—just that this reason, I couldn’t tell them.
I had to give myself a generous amount of time to fully relax both mentally and physically.
Only by doing so could I truly begin to blur the line of “I am the anomaly.”
Understanding something was one thing; truly comprehending it was another.
Experiencing it firsthand and seeing it with your own eyes—those feelings were completely different.
After all… at the very least, the two people sitting next to me right now couldn’t possibly see it.
That malicious, chilling smile reflected on the pond’s surface less than three meters away from me.
Heh!
What the hell are you laughing at?
I’m just like you—I’m also an anomaly.
Even if you laugh, you’re no match for me.
At the very least, I’ve already obtained everything an anomaly could want.
The afternoon passed quickly as well.
By evening, I told Shao He that I was going to meet two friends and asked her not to follow.
But Shao He refused no matter what.
There was no choice—I had her drive me to that same barbecue restaurant.
I arrived at the restaurant at 4 PM.
Naturally, I didn’t let Shao He come in with me.
I went in alone and booked the same private room as yesterday.
The other two hadn’t arrived yet.
I casually picked up my phone and sent a text to the number on the business card Jiang Yulong gave me yesterday, telling him my location.
After sending the message, I put the card away.
And then… I saw the photo of that skull tattoo.
This photo seemed to be a zoomed-in shot of someone’s body—specifically the right arm.
The skull itself was enlarged so the teeth were clearly visible.
Just as Jiang Yulong had described, each tooth was composed of letters forming two English words: “Death” and “Coffin.”
“Death” was above, “Coffin” was below.
When I saw the skull last night, my mind was in complete chaos and I hadn’t had time to think.
But now, looking at the image, a thought suddenly struck me—
“Wasn’t this tattoo on the arm that extended out when I redeemed the World Watch? So that watch really was retrieved from some player?”
Death Coffin.
Just from the name alone, it was clearly not a friendly organization.
Judging from the conversation between Jiang Yulong and Xu Han yesterday, there seemed to be conflict—or even hatred—between their Survivor Alliance and this Death Coffin group.
Maybe Death Coffin had played dirty in some game?
Or maybe it was the Survivor Alliance who wronged them first?
Either way, regardless of who was at fault, one thing was clear:
The Survivor Alliance and Death Coffin were currently in conflict.
And that conflict likely wouldn’t end until one side was destroyed.
I ordered some food and started grilling beef over low heat while thinking about what these two people had revealed.
Piecing everything together, I tried to deduce their background.
Tianding Everything Co., Ltd… why did that name sound familiar?
A flash of memory came to me—I’d seen it in Gong Lianyu’s personnel files.
It seemed to be a subsidiary under Gong Lianyu’s company.
Who was the general manager for Gong Lianyu’s office in the Provincial Capital?
It wasn’t Sister Sisi.
I remembered it was a girl from Liu Family Village, not much older than me.
Right!
It was Liu Feifei.
I pulled out my phone, recalling the details, and dialed Liu Feifei’s number.
After a few rings, a sweet female voice answered.
“Hello, may I ask who’s calling…”
“Sister Feifei, it’s me, Yunyan. Mm… I’d like to ask for some information on someone named Jiang Yulong, a manager at Tianding Everything. Yes, that’s right. Nothing serious—we just met yesterday, and I want to do a background check. Okay… please send it to my email. Oh, also—does the company have a woman named Xu Han? Mm, great, send her info to my email too. Alright, thank you, Sister Feifei. Bye-bye.”
After hanging up, I turned and took a notebook from my satchel.
Of course, it wasn’t the one with dual 2080ti graphics cards.
It was the Surface Book 2—much more convenient and still decently powerful.
I pressed the detachment button, then extended the Evil Spirit Form out of my body.
Using the Evil Spirit Form, I picked up all the grilled meat from the fire.
Compared to chopsticks, the Evil Spirit Form was completely immune to flame, quicker, cleaner, and more dexterous.
Now that I knew I was an anomaly, I didn’t need to be as cautious when using it anymore.
Still, I would make sure to control the duration precisely, to keep my sanity intact.