When Feng Yuhuai crawled out of the underground tunnel, the backside of Upper City had dimmed considerably.

Unlike the damp darkness of the underground pipelines, the air on the surface was suffocatingly still, permeated with the sickly sweet smell of rust and decaying flesh.

The campus was deathly silent.

The hollow windows of the school building were like countless open mouths, yet not a single sound emerged;

The corridors, which should have echoed with the sounds of study, now had nothing but the rustle of papers being turned by the wind;

The track field showed no signs of sweating figures, only dark brown stains of blood seeping into the rubber granules.

Even the always scolding dean was nowhere to be seen.

Oh wait, there he was, embedded at a bizarre angle between the two gilded words ’Eighth Academy’, his shattered skull and brain matter deeply soaked into the stone material.

It was clear that the dean had gotten his wish, as he would now be eternally ’immortalized’ with the Eighth Academy.

Under the dean’s gaze, hundreds of teachers and students lay on the field in various twisted poses, whole or in pieces.

A few members of the Arresting Bureau lazily sat cross-legged on the bodies of the monsters.

They drooped their eyelids, their blood-stained uniforms open, playing with the limbs of the monsters.

Whenever the wind rustled, they would suddenly lift their heads, eyes scanning the surroundings, as if expecting another surviving monster to jump out from some corner, allowing them to continue this ’game’.

Outside the school gate, black vans marked with the incineration plant logo formed a long procession, with sanitation cleaning trucks following closely, high-pressure water guns washing the ground.

Workers in pairs were performing textbook-like coordinated tasks.

"Old Wang, this corpse is relatively intact, it’s yours for the incineration plant!"

"Alright! Eh— then these piles of limbs and fragments are for the sanitation brothers to handle."

The two sides nodded amicably, even helping each other carry some of the body parts.

Roles were clear, there was no contention, cooperation was skilled, a depiction of harmonious order.

Feng Yuhuai stared blankly at the campus, her whole being like a lost soul.

Feng Ju noticed his daughter’s low spirits and sighed deeply to comfort her:

"Yuhuai, don’t be too sad, everyone dies, it’s just a matter of sooner or later!"

He was full of emotion, sighed deeply, and his gaze swept around, noticing two familiar figures outside the caution line.

"Hey, dad still has some issues to handle here, you go home with your mom and brother first."

Feng Ju patted his daughter’s shoulder, leading her out of the campus.

Outside the caution line.

Feng Mu supported his nearly collapsing, sobbing mother, Wang Xiuli, feeling complex emotions but speaking gently to comfort her:

"Mom, it’s okay now, look, isn’t that dad and sister, they’re both fine, your heart can rest easy."

Wang Xiuli gripped Feng Mu’s arm tightly with all five fingers, and as Feng Ju approached with Feng Yuhuai, she suddenly reached out her other hand and grabbed her daughter’s wrist.

Her ten fingers exerted so much force that her knuckles turned white, as if only such a real touch could prove that her children were alive and not turned into bloody pulp at the school, forever seeping into the ground, or casually swept into a ’dustpan’ by someone.

Wang Xiuli’s throat seemed blocked, unable to utter a word.

Feng Ju coughed and, with a frown, said:

"Alright, our family’s fine, why are you crying?"

After speaking, he turned his head and motioned, instructing:

"You drive them home."

A Patrol Office member immediately jogged over, following the order to start the blue and white car.

Feng Ju hesitated for a moment, removing the camera from his shoulder.

He hefted the heavy equipment, finally handing it to Feng Mu: "Take this home and put it away."

After a pause, his voice softened a bit:

"You all go back first, I’ll report to the special commissioner and then head home. Tonight, our family will have a reunion dinner, I have very important things to discuss with you."

Feng Ju didn’t trust his son more to let him carry the camera; it was just too heavy, and he couldn’t bear to make his wife and daughter carry it.

Therefore, he didn’t notice his daughter’s hand slightly raised and then lowered again.

Regarding why he didn’t take the camera directly to the special commissioner, Feng Ju had his considerations.

First, he wasn’t sure what the camera had captured and whether it was valuable enough.

The special commissioner only cared about [Mask], anything else was worthless in his eyes.

Foolishly taking something to waste the boss’s time, Feng Ju wasn’t that tactless.

Second, if the camera’s contents were indeed valuable, it would require careful consideration on how to use it properly.

Directly handing it over foolishly would be a stupid act done only by a novice.

Finally, the camera won’t fly away; watching it at home later won’t be too late.

His most urgent task was to find that ghost broadcast on the way to see the special commissioner and take a thorough look.

.....

The blue and white car sped along, the sound of wheels rubbing against the ground creating a rustling noise.

The atmosphere in the car was very heavy, seemingly shrouded in an invisible gloom.

After experiencing the emotional upheaval of great sorrow and joy, Wang Xiuli’s spirit suddenly relaxed, exhaustion engulfing her like a tide.

Feng Yuhuai seemed restless, her eyes wandering, with her peripheral vision unconsciously drifting to the camera tightly held by Feng Mu.

Her mind started wandering uncontrollably:

"Boyfriend exposed in a live broadcast, this is a nightmare, terrifying. But this is not the most terrifying, what’s even worse is..."

Feng Yuhuai sat uneasily throughout the journey, fingers tapping anxiously on her knees.

Suppressing the urge to take out her phone, feeling guilty like a thief, she dared not look up her live broadcast in front of others.

Finally home, she didn’t even change her shoes, rushing into the bathroom in a few quick strides.

Sitting on the toilet lid, she swiped her phone with trembling fingers, not forgetting to switch the volume to mute, starting her online search.

Compared to Imoto, Feng Mu was much more filial.

He first helped Wang Xiuli to her room, speaking softly to coax his mother to sleep.

Once her even breathing reached him, he then carried the camera back to his own room.

When he opened the door, a familiar yet unfamiliar scent greeted him.

The room’s layout hadn’t changed much, except for the wardrobe, which was now cluttered with misarranged items.

Though he hadn’t been away long, Feng Mu felt as if a lifetime had passed.

He placed the camera on the desk, a curious smile on his face.

He was also quite intrigued by what the camera had captured, but unlike Imoto, he wasn’t panicking.

After all, he lived a life of integrity and wasn’t worried about being caught on camera.

He gently closed the door and lay back on the hard wooden bed, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a while.

He stared blankly at the ceiling, and suddenly, two pairs of pale hook jade eyes emerged in his whites, rotating eerily.

The sewer earlier was truly inconvenient, but now he could finally relax and properly review the performance reports "Zheng Hang" delivered...