Chapter 77 – Part-time job

Translation: Xena
I’ll update chapter 78 tomorrow! Stay tuned!

“Please take off your mask, we need to check your identity.”

Upon hearing this, Jian Xie took off his mask and handed over the press pass hanging around his neck.

The university gatekeeper was taken aback by his good looks and belatedly realized what was happening. He then reached out and took the press pass.

The verification was finished and there was no problem with the identity.

Seeing the other person nod, Jian Xie pulled his mask up again, picked up his camera, and walked into the campus.

Wen Heshu’s voice came in clear in his ears. “The speech doesn’t start for another hour, so you can move around freely around the venue. Be careful not to attract attention, so as not to alert them… I’ll wait for you in the car. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”

Jian Xie replied, “Mn.”

This was his first time stepping onto a university campus.

But perhaps because he attended a private high school, the school facilities didn’t seem to be much different, so they didn’t strike him at particularly novel.

Since it was currently school hours, there were only a few students scattered around the campus.

Jian Xie only looked for a short while before losing interest.

【Not taking photos?】

A familiar voice reached his ears.

Qin Zhuo didn’t seem bored at all; he appeared to be in a playful mood, and lazily said, 【If I remember correctly, around this time last year, your school organized a summer camp for students to visit  a university. I think it was this one.】

Due to various factors at that time, including a lack of money and scheduling conflicts, Jian Xie was unable to attend.

But to his surprise, the evil god within him remembered this trivial matter that even he had somewhat forgotten, which surprised him.

Jian Xie glanced down at the camera in his hand.

Although it was only used for disguise, it was not unusable.

Several students walked past him, their curious glances briefly landing on the equipment in his hands.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Jian Xie’s mind, and he couldn’t help but say, “[…I don’t have a picture of you yet.]”

The evil god was always a cloud of black mist gathered around him, or a shadow under the sun. No human could see It’s form without permission, and It has only recently gained a physical form, so It always gave Jian Xie the illusion that It did not exist.

It seemed as though It could disappear at any moment.

Having a physical body wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Although there was a link that allows them to share a body, if Qin Zhuo were to appear in a physical form, that connection would be weakened.

“……”

Thinking about this, Jian Xie was a little conflicted, feeling that he had unconsciously fallen into a difficult choice where he couldn’t have his cake and eat it too.

Speaking of which, it seems that Qin Zhuo has not yet found the next material to reshape his body.

Sensing a strong possessiveness that the person himself hadn’t even noticed, Qin Zhuo subtly curled his lips, his figure slowly appearing in front of Jian Xie, looking down at him.

The evil god appeared to be in his early twenties.

Now, It was wearing a casual outfit that had never been seen before, making him look no different from the college students walking on campus.

In fact, It looked incredibly clean and refreshing.

Jian Xie had never seen It like this before, and was momentarily stunned.

…In the past, the other party always wore a suit.

He once said that Qin Zhuo’s face perfectly matched his aesthetic standards.

But perhaps because of his clothes, he always seemed somewhat aloof.

His demeanor exuded undisguised arrogance, and his eyes conveyed cold, mocking disdain.

The sense of oppression far surpassed the evil god’s  outstanding appearance, which diminished the impact of his handsome face.

Now, Qin Zhuo has simply suppressed his aura and was dressed simply in everyday clothes, yet he was still captivating.

【Do you like this outfit?】 His voice was slightly teasing. 【If you like it, I’ll wear it more often.】

【Just for you.】

That sounded a bit perverted.

Jian Xie really liked it, and seemed to understand why the other party had been so dedicated to changing his clothes earlier.

【It’s okay if you don’t have any photos, we can take one now.】 Qin Zhuo casually stood in front of him, loosened the tie over his white shirt, and said, 【You humans have long believed that cameras can capture many supernatural phenomena, and that’s true because I’m pretty much the same; it’s not that I can’t leave a trace.】

“……”

The college student who walked past Jian Xie showed no reaction and continued chatting with his friends. His normal behavior inadvertently confirmed Qin Zhuo’s statement.

After a while, he raised his camera and looked into the lens.

Some people might think that Jian Xie was simply taking pictures of the school scenery, or that he was a tourist taking photos.

No one would know that his camera lens was actually capturing the image of an evil god that descended to earth.

He was the only one who could get the other party to cooperate and leave behind a series of photos with clear images.

—It was like hiding a deity away.

The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that came from this was unmatched by anything else.

……

When it was almost time, Jian Xie put away his camera and headed to the assembly hall.

The hall was located on the first floor of the school library and occupied a very large area, capable of accommodating nearly a thousand students to listen to a lecture. It was a testament to the school’s impressive financial strength.

On the other hand, the fact that the Special A-level monster’s public identity was that of a financial tycoon and they were able to hire him already spoke volumes.

As soon as Jian Xie entered the hall, a cool breeze hit him directly in the face. The air conditioning was set a little too low, filling the library with a gloomy atmosphere.

The hall’s doors were open, and many students had already arrived early to find seats.

There were also many media reporters present, all sitting in the front row, adjusting their equipment and aiming it directly at the podium.

It was empty. The person hadn’t arrived yet.

Jian Xie frowned and whispered into the earpiece, “…It hasn’t arrived yet.”

“It’s fine.” Wen Heshu said, “I haven’t noticed anything unusual. It must be its personal habit and has nothing to do with the mission.”

He stared at the computer screen remotely connected to the [Eye] device and was able to monitor the fluctuations of monster energy on campus in real time. So far, there seemed to be no abnormalities.

Even so, Jian Xie was not reassured.

He saw a woman dressed as a staff member hurry past the front of the table, approach the leader sitting at the long table, and whisper a few words in her ear. The woman immediately frowned and whispered to another leader next to her.

Half a minute later, another staff member behind them stood up and walked out of the assembly hall. 

Jian Xie spoke, “Wen Heshu.”

THe person called by name responded and immediately asked, “What did you find?”

“Something’s not right.”

After saying that, he straightened his tie, then turned his press pass over to cover the photo before walking to the front row.

[It didn’t come?]

【No.】 Although he hadn’t been paying attention, Qin Zhuo could still know anything he wanted to know. 【It had already arrived.】

[……]

But this answer didn’t explain these people’s reactions.

Jian Xie glanced at the nameplate on the long table, searched it on his phone, and then went directly to one of the leaders who had been whispering to each other earlier.

His figure blocked the other person’s view, and before the leader could show a surprised expression, he said very naturally, “Hello, Dean Li, I’m a reporter from B City Evening News. Our company contacted you before, do you remember?”

“The project you led has achieved remarkable results. We plan to conduct a one-on-one interview with you after the presentation. I wonder if you have time?”

He lied without batting an eye.

The leader was visibly taken aback. “A reporter from B City Evening News? You contacted me?”

Behind him, the staff member who had just walked out returned, and whispered anxiously in his ear, “Dean Li, they said that Mr. Zhang did go into the library. He said he was just going to the restroom but then he never came back. Now they can’t contact him.” 

Mr. Zhang was the financial tycoon, the Special A-level  monster.

“He was already inside, how could he suddenly disappear?” The leader was getting anxious as well. “Keep looking, we absolutely cannot let anything happen to him!” 

That was Jian Xie’s goal.

Now that he had heard what he wanted to hear, he said, “Since you have other things to do, let’s talk later.” 

The leader ignored him, nodded, and continued talking to the staff around him.

Jian Xie stepped back to the first row and whispered to Wen Heshu, “Did you hear that?” 

“…It went into the library and then suddenly disappeared?” Wen Heshu frowned. “Does it know?” 

It didn’t seem like it.

Intuition told Jian Xie that it had not discovered their plan.

Back then, that Special A-level monster who attended the gathering alone last time dressed as a student still had several empty chairs next to it. It had been unable to hide its anger after being dragged into the Eight Cold Hells and had cursed those absent monsters in front of Minister Zhang, revealing their identities completely.

It was evident that, upon hearing that Jian Xie was about to arrive, these individuals prioritized desertion and self-preservation.

From this perspective, if the monster knew they were coming, it probably wouldn’t have even stepped into the school, let alone entered the assembly hall before disappearing.

“Are you listening?”

“I will write the interview and report carefully, so please don’t worry about it. The editor-in-chief specifically instructed me to do so.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry.” Jian Xie interrupted him directly. 

“……”

He did not respond to Wen Heshu’s silence.

Instead, he immediately raised his hand and quietly turned off the headset, cutting off Wen Heshu’s next words.

Jian Xie could sense that a few seconds ago, right after Wen Heshu’s voice fell, an extremely cold aura swept through the crowd and landed on him inside the hall.

He subtly glanced into the direction it was coming from without giving anything away.

There was no one there.

But this almost tangible gaze did not disappear; instead, it intensified.

“……”

Jian Xie paused, recalling what Qin Zhuo had said.

Then, he picked up his camera and turned on the lens.

He first took a few pictures of Dean Li on the stage, then took pictures of the other students in the hall, and then put away the film to check its quality.

He looked like a reporter.

Immediately afterwards, Jian Xie casually turned the camera and placed it on the corner where he had previously felt the gaze.

Suddenly the camera flashed, and a blurry image appeared.

In the corner, a body was seen with bulging eyes, a deathly pale face, and hunched limbs, resembling an old tree rooted to the ground.

It stared intently at Jian Xie, its eyes revealing undisguised drooling and desire.

In less than a second, its image disappeared from the camera’s view.

It was right here.

Perhaps it was Wen Heshu’s words over the earpiece that caught its attention, or perhaps the attraction of Jian Xie’s flesh and blood took effect once again, causing it to stare intently at him.

Even after witnessing such a horrific scene, Jian Xie’s expression remained unchanged throughout.

He put away his camera and adjusted it once again.

In order not to attract its attention, Jian Xie adjusted the camera’s focus and aimed at the same spot again, preparing to actually take a picture.

—However, the shot was completely obscured by a deformed face.

In just a few short seconds, it suddenly approached and appeared less than half a meter away from Jian Xie!

An ordinary person might be uncontrollably frightened in such a situation.

But Jian Xie simply put down the camera, as if he hadn’t seen the heart-stopping scene, remaining completely calm.

He then walked over to an empty seat in the hall and sat down with remarkable composure, displaying his exceptional mental fortitude.

He felt at ease.

What just happened confirmed his idea.

This Special A-level monster never left, nor did it discover the Supernatural Management Bureau’s plan. It probably just overheard Wen Heshu’s voice by chance, so it temporarily hid as a precaution. Though the possibility that the other party wanted to eat him couldn’t be ruled out.

After all, Wu Qinghe and Li Yucheng had both personally confirmed that no Special A-level could resist the aura emanating from Jian Xie.

Even Qin Zhuo.

However, its human social identity prevented it from immediately launching its predation field in full view of everyone.

So it must have been observing Jian Xie in advance, looking for an opportunity to devour him.

The fact that it suddenly got so close just now was probably a test to see if Jian Xie could see it and whether he was an investigator or not. It was being very cautious.

【……】

Qin Zhuo snorted coldly.

Whenever It saw a monster coveting It’s human, a bloodthirsty and brutal impulse rises within It.

It glanced at Jian Xie’s indifferent profile.

The other person has his own ideas.

It can’t.

The terrifying thought gradually disappeared, forcibly suppressed by It.

After a while, the black mist surged back into the human’s body, coldly observing everything in the hall through the other’s eyes.

Suddenly, Jian Xie realized something he had overlooked.

Come to think of it….

Even the core member of the gathering, the monster dressed as a student, didn’t know what he looked like?

Jian Xie paused for a moment.

Looking back now, it seemed that most of the monsters he encountered didn’t know that he was Jian Xie.

Those few who knew the truth were all Special A-level monsters who had long since sided with him, and they all wisely refrained from revealing their identities before he asked them.

……

He has a feeling that the clues behind this were inseparable from the work of the evil god within him.

【It’s just a fork in the road.】 Qin Zhuo knew what he was thinking and his lazy voice echoed in his mind,.【If you want to be an ordinary person, that’s fine too.】

Jian Xie: “…”

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

If he hadn’t remembered this today, Qin Zhuo might never have told him what he had done for him.

Jian Xie never took anything the evil god did for him for granted.

Now that he was an investigator, every hunt he made was indeed a choice he made for himself.

Even when Jian Xie was completely unaware, Qin Zhuo fulfilled every promise he made and never broke his word towards his human.

He suddenly felt at ease.

This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not they share a body or whether or not he has a physical form.

Presumably, even the pinky promise they made earlier, which was probably considered child’s play by the evil god, would have been met with an almost eternal response from him, had it been fulfilled.

……

The facts were pretty much the same as Jian Xie’s thoughts.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a man in a suit and tie appeared at the entrance of the hall right on time with a very friendly smile on his face.

Although the monster had reverted to its normal human form, Jian Xie had not forgotten its true, hideous appearance.

The leaders and staff present breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him appear, but due to his status, they could not complain and quickly welcomed him onto the stage.

As the monster passed Jian Xie in the third row, it seemed to glance at him a few more times, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

He pretended not to notice the gaze, and simply raised his camera again, pressing the shutter a few more times.

“……”

It might not be quite the same as Wen Heshu’s original plan, but Jian Xie only needed to wait for the speech to end and then walk to a quiet spot on campus.

Based on that look in its eyes just now, he was 90 percent certain that the monster would follow him.

It probably saw him as prey.

The speech lasted an hour and a half.

When the closing remarks came to an end, the students applauded, and as the monster walked backstage, Jian Xie also stood up to leave.

He reconnected his headset to Wen Heshu, turned around, and walked towards the grove of trees behind the library.

At the same time, he kept an eye on what was behind him out of the corner of his eye.

Wen Heshu had been waiting online for a long time. As soon as communication was restored, he immediately asked, “How’s the situation?” 

The computer’s energy peak remained at an extremely high level, indicating that the monster had harbored a desire to hunt Jian Xie from beginning to end.

Even though he knew Jian Xie’s level, he was still worried about him because of his age and physical condition.

In addition, Wen Heshu didn’t want the other party to get hurt and have his recommender Cheng Li become angry with him.

“The speech is over.” However, the other party talked about completely unrelated topics, saying, “Dean Li’s interview is not finished yet, so just wait for me in the car.” 

Jian Xie had already caught a glimpse of the figure appearing behind him.

He justified his decision to go to a secluded place by making a phone call, which also dispelled the monster’s suspicions about Wen Heshu’s identity.

It had been holding back for a long time, but in the end, it finally came.

“……”

Fortunately, Wen Heshu only paused for a moment before quickly recovering and cooperating, “Then why aren’t you hurrying up? I’ve been waiting for a long time. The editor-in-chief needs the photos urgently!”  

Jian Xie replied, “I see.” 

He had already gone deep into the woods.

The shade of the trees completely blocked his figure The leaves were so dense that even sunlight could not penetrate through the gaps. The cold air tried to seep into one’s bones, making it feel nothing like a sunny morning.

Jian Xie stood with his back to the entrance for a few seconds before turning around.

Sure enough, behind him, the man called Mr. Zhang had stopped and was openly staring at him.

The gaze, seemingly turned tangible, was like a slippery tongue, licking his entire body, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

“I’m really lucky to run into you here alone.” It gave a half-smile. “Dean Li doesn’t have time, but I do.” 

It slowly approached Jian Xie, reached out and hooked the edge of his mask, gently stroking it.

“What kind of interview is it? Can I have it in his place?” 

Jian Xie: “…”

Was it just his imagination? Why did he have a feeling that this monster isn’t quite right in the head?

He didn’t try to dodge. After it successfully removed his mask, its eyes lit up, and it said in an ambiguous tone, “You’re still a student, right? A freshman in college?” 

Jian Xie did not deny it.

He was wondering what the monster was up to.

These first few seemingly polite words left him a little speechless.

If Jian Xie had his way, it probably wouldn’t be able to talk this much.

He gave it such a good opportunity. It should have just immediately activated its predation field, and then he would have counterattacked. That would have been the expected, normal course of events.

“Are you from this school? Are you doing a part-time job? Do you usually find it hard to earn money?” 

For some reason, Wen Heshu on the other end of the earpiece let out several shocked sounds that were out of character for him.

The adult seemed to realize what was happening first and were left speechless by these questions.

Jian Xie took a step back, dodging its increasingly aggressive hand, and frowned. “What exactly are you trying to say?” 

He was getting a little impatient.

Unexpectedly, the monster withdrew its hand from mid-air and clicked its tongue in dissatisfaction.

“You really don’t understand? Or were you just pretending not to understand?” It squinted and said, “I have a part time job here that can make you money faster and easier, it just depends on whether you’re willing to take it.”