The brooch in my hand glistened as I left the girls' house.
I had taken it out, as it was about time to put it to good use.
Shades of beautiful purple shone through the centerpiece gem, as eight little golden arms curled around the gem, creating a frame it comfortably sat in.
The second I pinned it against my shirt, the brooch became invisible to the naked eye.
Perfect.
I didn't need to use any of my Li-Liang for this to happen; it was a function that came with the brooch.
Of course, this is basically the bare minimum for an A-Rank gadget.
[Mr. Octopus — Rank A]
[Status: Active]
I smirked at the familiar purple screen in front of me.
Mr. Octopus was quite a useful item, especially for all those beginner stealth missions.
I'd also connected the Stingray to my phone again.
From my briefcase, I chugged a bottle of those healing potions I'd bought.
The cold liquid smoothly slid down my throat as I stuffed the empty glass away, and finally, I activated the Stingray screen.
[The Stingray — Rank B]
[Target: Found]
[Li-Liang consumption: Active]
Quickly, the screen booted up, and looking at Wei's location...
... Huh...? Am I seeing things right?
Why is Wei at Xue Plains...?
This didn't make any sense to me.
Why was he there? Why does an organization need to be at a place as useless as Xue Plains?
And I was just there a couple of days ago; Wei wasn't there yet, was he?
Could he have been spying on me? But he could spy on me without a "vacation" excuse...
A million thoughts plagued me, but of course, the fastest way to find the answers was to get there myself.
Luckily for me, Wei's tracker seemed to be staying static, not to mention Xue Plains was easy to reach by train, even if it was way slower than Grandma Guanhuai's broom.
As fast as I could, I ran to the train station, where I then bought the cheapest train ticket for Xue Plains' Memorial.
Although it didn't directly lead me to the plains, it was nearby and was less than an hour's walk away.
I made my way towards the lower-class section of the train.
It was cramped and loud.
A child wailed as its tired mother tried to calm it down, but to no avail.
Cigarette smoke filled the train, with the windows letting in just barely enough air to breathe.
I stood by one of the few open windows, taking in the fresher air and view, granted, neither was the best.
But even the windows couldn't save me from the train's increasingly hot temperatures.
At the rate I was going, I'd run out of water soon...
Hah... just great.
Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if I had the real Hanzhi's wealth and family support.
Maybe if I had transmigrated just a little earlier, would I have been able to curry their favor enough so I could stay in the manor?
I grimaced.
I should stop thinking about these things.
There's no point in changing something that's already happened.
***
It was almost evening when I arrived at Xue Plains' Memorial.
Only a couple of people got off at the same stop as me.
A huge hill stretched out, with hundreds of stone graves on top, each having distinct markings on the deceased.
From here, I needed to take a detour path to reach the actual plains. This was because Xue Plains is actually restricted to the public. Normal people aren't allowed in, but it's also not like people would break in anyway.
Although there's no actual security, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Trotting through the tall grass was a pain, but soon enough, I made it to Xue Plains.
The tall grass and vegetation slowly dwindled the closer I got.
What scared me wasn't the harsh journey, but how Wei's tracker hasn't moved an inch since I first opened the Stingray.
To save on Li-Liang, I was only periodically checking the tracker, about once every ten minutes, but then that turned into every twenty, and then thirty.
And without fail, Wei's tracker remained at the same exact spot.
Unfortunately, because it's a B-rank device, it doesn't tell me the status of the person itself, nor anything else beyond the bare minimum of tracking.
I was starting to get near Wei's location now, but getting nearer, there seemed to be some eerie fog covering the surrounding area.
... This isn't right.
There shouldn't be fog here, and there hadn't been any even when Grandma Guanhuai and I were here before.
Carefully, I put my briefcase down and clicked it open.
Inside, I finally put on the final item I had bought, a B-Rank bracelet.
I really didn't want to use it so soon, but seeing the situation right now...
The bracelet clicked neatly around my wrist.
The tiny blue gem embedded in the silver design lightly glowed.
And so, with this newfound confidence, I pushed forward into the fog.
The further I went, the thicker the fog got.
It was now just me, the fog, and the soil, which was the only thing grounding me.
My breathing became labored, but I was nearing Wei; he's only a couple—
I stopped in my tracks.
A large black hole covered the area, as dashes of magenta ever so often cut through the void.
It was something so large, yet the silence that followed it was deafening.
There was almost nothing to indicate that something so terrifying was here.
Ah, no... I... I didn't want this to be the case...
Everything started to make sense.
Why Wei's tracker wasn't moving and why Wei would be here of all places.
The sight of the infinite black made me nauseous.
The reason why Wei's tracker wasn't moving...
... was because he went inside a Zeng Meng outbreak.
His tracker must have stopped right as he went inside.
But this wasn't normal... Xue Plains does have Zeng Meng outbreaks, but not to this scale— at least, not anymore.
This one was the size of an entire building complex.
Isn't this land supposed to be desolate...? Why...
Every part of my body urged me to run, but my legs stood solid.
Wei's hasn't left this spot in hours, meaning he's been in there for hours.
... What am I supposed to do...?
Go in there?
That's a death wish...!
And with a Zeng Meng outbreak this big, shouldn't the authorities be here?
I should leave, and who knows? Maybe Wei will come back on his own in a couple of hours from now.
I said this to myself, yet I didn't move from my spot at all.
In that moment, Ruo Lan and Xi Xi came to mind.
I can't do that...
... I should at least contact the authorities. Going in right now is too rash, and who knows if I'll ever be able to get out.
Just as I turned around, something grabbed my arm.
Eh?
For a second, I thought I heard light whispering, but then-!
"Ah-!"
Against my will, a force pulled me into the pitless void.
I looked back, but there wasn't anything there pulling me.
I yanked my body around, but how could I make something let go of me if I couldn't even see it myself?
My foot tried to dig into the dirt, to find any anchor, but the soil was too compact.
No matter how much I struggled, my body drew closer and closer to the void before I lost my footing.
"W-Wait-! Stop! Just wha-!"
My vision blurred, and the scenery around me quickly faded.
Air rushed through me as I fell, spiraling into the abyss.