Chapter 66: Abnormal Mutation! Return-to-Void Departing Water!

Faced with the eldest miss's outburst, not a single person present dared to breathe a word too loudly.

"Eldest Miss, they have just moved in, and the surveillance facilities are not yet fully in place. It is somewhat understandable that there are lapses," Wen Fengxian, who secretly harbored feelings for Yan Ning, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over for him. "As everyone knows, that scoundrel is a powerhouse above Level 8 abilities. If he deliberately wished to avoid being caught on camera, he simply wouldn't have been."

"As for what is most important right now, it is to ascertain the identity of the deceased. Perhaps once his identity is determined, many of our questions will be answered."

The Yan family doctor was summoned with all haste and began treating Shuisheng's injuries on the first floor. Following his diagnosis, he determined that Shuisheng's injuries stemmed from several causes: first, the attacker's assault had fractured four of his ribs; second, the shockwave of a powerful water-element ability had impacted his meridians, throwing his internal energy and blood into chaos; and third, the bruising and contusion on his left shoulder sustained at the martial arts training hall of the Yan Garden Academy that morning.

The doctor set the youth's bones, strapped two long wooden boards across his chest, and wrapped them layer upon layer with gauze infused with an unknown orthopedic medication.

"Young man, your recovery ability is quite remarkable. I can feel the bone fragments rapidly growing new tissue. Even without medication, resting in bed for a few days would heal you," the doctor remarked.

"Doctor, what should I do about the chaotic abilities running amok inside my body, completely out of my control?" Shuisheng was far more concerned about this issue.

"A formidable ability attacked the assailant, but it also affected you, resulting in this condition." The doctor, himself an ability user, made his judgment based on the scene and Shuisheng's account. "Normally, this condition gradually improves through quiet recuperation and cultivation. If you want a faster recovery, you need to take specialized cultivation drugs for ability users that nourish the foundation and cultivate vitality."

"Then let's take the medicine." Shuisheng had no desire to live the next lengthy period in a semi-paralyzed state.

"Those medicines are... expensive." The doctor looked at him with an inscrutable gaze.

The young man paused.

The Yan family was undoubtedly extremely wealthy.

For a medication to be deemed expensive by an ability-using physician of the Yan family, it had to be exorbitant beyond measure.

The problem was that he was not a member of the Yan family. Nor did he have parents or a prominent lineage to back him up. The Yan family might not necessarily be willing to shoulder this expense for him. The doctor had thought of this, which was why he offered a subtle reminder.

"Then I... I'll just recuperate on my own," he said. Living in such a fine house already made him feel like he owed the Yan family an immense debt. He absolutely could not owe them any more.

You Fengtian and Yan Ning descended from the second floor. They had led a team to investigate the scene and discovered traces left behind by the attacker in the second-floor washroom. Having pieced together the sequence of events, Yan Ning went out to the lawn to report to Yan Ruobing.

You Fengtian remained behind to maintain perimeter security.

The young man receiving treatment on the first floor was clad only in a bath towel—how on earth was she supposed to go in there?

"Eldest Miss, our preliminary assessment of the situation is as follows: The deceased was an ability user belonging to the battle-pet category with a mimicry skill. He bypassed the surveillance cameras by camouflaging himself to match the environmental colors, and entered the building through an open window. His objective remains unclear—whether it was theft or premeditated murder," Yan Ning reported, reading from the notes in his ledger.

"We analyze that theft was the most probable motive, because Shuisheng should have been attending classes at Yan Garden Academy, and only returned temporarily due to an injury sustained during a sparring match. Realizing his cover was blown, the intruder conceived the intent to kill, striking while Shuisheng was bathing. He launched the attack from the second-floor water pipes using battle-pet abilities."

"Shuisheng stated that after being attacked, he became completely immobile, his abilities were largely depleted and thoroughly suppressed, and his consciousness gradually faded. At that moment, he felt a powerful force strike out against the attacker. He knows nothing beyond that. He didn't even catch a glimpse of the assailant, nor does he know how the man died. We deduce that it was done by Mei Yulang, who had been tailing him all along."

"What about the identity of the deceased?" Yan Ruobing asked.

"No personal belongings were left at the scene—no phone, no identification documents, no ability user credentials whatsoever. Elder You judges that the deceased's strength likely did not exceed Level 3, and he bore no distinct physical features," Yan Ning stated. "I checked his facial characteristics, and they do not match anyone in the Yan family's database of enemies and unfriendly elements."

"Seal off the scene and notify the Tianting organization to investigate. Catching culprits, investigating cases—that is their profession," Yan Ruobing said. "Furthermore, Shuisheng—how did the attacker find out that Shuisheng was living here? Investigate this thoroughly! Find out who within the family is leaking information and collaborating with outsiders, and once found, punish them severely without leniency!"

She was genuinely furious.

It was one thing if Mei Yulang could come and go as he pleased, for he was, after all, a Level 8 ability user, one of the very top-tier powerhouses in Fuling City who could be counted on one hand.

How was it that the dead attacker, whose abilities did not exceed Level 3, managed to obtain information on Shuisheng's whereabouts and bypassed surveillance to enter Building 19? The team led by Yan Ning was stationed in the adjacent building yet remained completely oblivious—were they merely for show?

Had the Yan family's once-prideful security force truly become like a sieve, riddled with loopholes everywhere?

...

The Tianting organization dispatched four enforcement officers and a forensic pathologist. After a period of on-site investigation and the recording of testimonies, Chang Bao's corpse was removed, the various parties dispersed one after another, and Building 19 gradually returned to its former tranquility.

Security both inside and outside the Yan family's Courtyard No. 3 was comprehensively heightened. Even the delivery driver who arrived somewhat later to bring Shuisheng a bowl of beef noodles for lunch was subjected to rigorous inspections. Yan Ning even took two bites of the beef noodles himself to test whether they contained any poison.

Shuisheng looked at him with a resentful gaze.

Shuisheng stood before the floor-to-ceiling window on the upper right, obscured by Boston ivy, gazing out at the lawn, the other buildings in the distance, and finally up at the sky.

He knew the tranquility was merely superficial. All around them, within Courtyard No. 3, and even outside the courtyard walls, countless eyes were likely still staring at this place, staring directly at him.

He cast his gaze around the interior of the house.

Changes had taken place inside. After the eldest miss departed, someone had come to clean up, delivering new bedding, daily necessities, and essentials. They had also scrubbed the mildewed corners of the walls, repaired the electrical wiring and gas pipelines, replaced faulty appliances, hung new curtains, and brought in fresh potted plants.

Perhaps, had it not been for this assassination attempt and the eldest miss's arrival, those people would never have paid him such meticulous attention.

Deep within his body, his abilities darted about erratically and restlessly, as if the power absorbed from Chang Bao had shattered the equilibrium of his personal cultivation entirely. Even exerting his utmost effort to circulate the "True Water Technique" for control proved utterly futile.

Damn it all.

He cursed under his breath, turned, grabbed the back of the sofa, and slowly seated himself.

The sofa was very comfortable, maintaining its springiness while retaining a soft plushness.

He felt somewhat thirsty.

A few bottles of mineral water sat on the coffee table. Originally, there had been many more, but the maintenance workers had consumed the greater part of them. They had been prepared for them in the first place.

He picked up a bottle and unscrewed the cap. This movement once again strained the fractured bones in his chest and aggravated the chaotic abilities rampaging inside him. The pain forced a sharp hiss through his teeth, his grip loosened, and the mineral water bottle dropped to the floor, water gushing out from the opening and soaking a patch of the carpet.

Damn it! Damn it all!

In the past, Shuisheng practically never uttered curses. Even when the uncles, aunts, and children of all ages in the fishing village cursed up a storm left and right, he had resolutely held his tongue, refusing to wallow in the same mire.

Many different books had taught him the rules of life, and refraining from vulgarity was one of them, as well as one of his bottom lines.

The events of recent days, however, had tested his patience beyond endurance, leaving him with an unvented reservoir of simmering fury in his heart.

He had been arranged to live in Yan Garden under full surveillance, and saddled with a fabricated identity as the "long-lost grandson of an old friend of the late Elder Yan, wandering among the common folk."

Upon stepping out to sell an item on Spirit Street, he had nearly been swallowed whole by a mutant pitcher plant and almost digested on the spot.

On his first day attending classes at Yan Garden Academy, before his foot even crossed the threshold of the classroom, he had been dragged into an inexplicable duel. Though he emerged victorious, his shoulder suffered an injury with persistent, throbbing pain.

Returning home to rest, he faced an assassination attempt even while taking a bath. If not for that inexplicable, mysterious force, he reckoned he would have already kicked the bucket by now...