novelraw Chapter 196 : Rising Storm
Chapter 196 : Rising Storm
At 11 PM, a serene mountain peak stood in the eastern district of White Light City in the ancient kingdom of Solan. This renowned wealthy area featured hillside homes with picturesque views and privacy.
On the mountainside, a man with a sweatband around his forehead was busy working in the yard of a detached villa. He was removing a flower bed filled with pink blossoms and replacing it with fine sand and gravel.
"What are you doing?" a voice called from behind.
The man quickly set down his rake and bowed, saying, "Teacher, I'm making some arrangements to make your stay more comfortable."
Takeda Tatsuya stood in the doorway, half his face hidden in shadows untouched by moonlight. He spoke softly, "Stop that. Fill the dirt back in later. Come inside now, I have a task for you."
The man responded with a quick "Yes," asking no questions. He thoroughly washed his hands in the corner of the yard and changed out of his mud-covered shoes before entering the house.
Looking at his obedient subordinate, Takeda felt frustrated despite showing no outward emotion. This underling was very compliant and eager to help, but not particularly clever - at times even dull-witted. Just now, he had tried to create a sand and stone landscape to make Takeda more comfortable, an action that could potentially reveal their identities. Of all Takeda's former students, only this one would act so thoughtlessly.
Takeda found himself missing his previous disciples - Red Fox, Black Rat, and White Ant. But he had no choice now; having someone to use was better than nothing.
After fleeing back to Yin Country from the Free Federation, the higher-ups had stripped Takeda of his various privileges. Though soldiers were assigned to protect him, this close guard that didn't fully obey him was also a form of monitoring.
Takeda had patience. He lay low for over half a year, finally awaiting the opportunity to be entrusted with an important mission again. The Prime Minister of Yin Country needed the Dragon Horn Ginseng to extend his life. This time, Takeda came here with Cabinet Minister Kitahara Tei to bring back that medicinal herb.
Takeda had been here for over a week. He planned to use his psychic manipulation ability to influence those who came in contact with the herb and secretly steal it. Kitahara Tei served as a backup plan - if Takeda failed, he would compete with other bidders at the auction.
Just as Takeda led his subordinate into the house, a young man resembling a student reluctantly capped the lens of his telescope several miles away at another villa.
It was a 600x astronomical telescope with night vision capabilities, set up on the top floor balcony railing, perfectly concealed by lush green vines.
The young man loosened the collar of his white shirt, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began sending messages to a group chat called "Elite Study Squad" while snacking on fruit.
[New discovery! The tenants at my place are definitely suspicious! I just saw them making big moves in the yard!]
After sending the message, there was no response for a long while.
The young man continued typing on his own: [They're digging holes in the yard! Maybe they're burying something shady.]
[What do you think, could they be burying bodies in the yard? So scary!]
A few minutes later, Sun Yu in the group finally couldn't help but reply: [Go to sleep, we have a mock exam tomorrow morning.]
Seeing this cold response, the previously excited young man instantly deflated. How could someone with a warm 37°C mouth say such icy words?
……
The next day, Yan Lin took Shen Han to visit an old sailor. He was a senior seaman in the fishing conglomerate who had led the team that dug up the only Dragon Horn Ginseng from the deserted island recently.
Shen Han thought that since they couldn't make a breakthrough with the auction house, they might as well look for answers at the source. If they could get a lead on a second Dragon Horn Ginseng, their chances of completing the mission would increase significantly.
Unfortunately, Shen Han's approach quickly ended in failure.
The old sailor was Yan Lin's friend, so he didn't beat around the bush with them.
He told Shen Han that the deserted island was a death island recorded in Solan's history. It moved on its own, as if it had grown legs.
If it weren't for the fishing conglomerate's trawler discovering it while avoiding a storm this time, the old sailor wouldn't have believed that the island from the legends really existed.
The fishing conglomerate wanted to use this information to add new tourist routes, so they made a lot of exaggerated and false promotions.
In reality, finding that deserted island again was nearly impossible.
Another point was that the sailors had already dug up every inch of the island, taking anything of value.
Even if a ship used advanced technology to locate the position of that deserted island, there would be nothing left to find.
After this lead was cut off, Shen Han felt somewhat disappointed but not discouraged.
She sent Yan Lin back to the old mansion and arranged a time to visit the auction house staff the next day.
These private visits through local connections allowed Shen Han to obtain much information that even intelligence agents couldn't uncover.
Though this information couldn't directly solve the current problem, it was crucial in preventing them from wasting energy pursuing the wrong direction.
When the two returned to the old mansion, they happened to run into Sun Yu coming back from cram school.
It was currently summer vacation, but for students preparing for college entrance exams next year, this hot summer was destined to have little leisure time.
After doing practice questions all day, Sun Yu was already dizzy and exhausted.
Now, seeing his father's love rival's envoy coming to contact his mother again, he immediately became angry.
Their family was actually quite perfect, but just because his mother had an old flame in her heart, there were some flaws.
In recent months, a real estate company had been trying various ways to demolish the nail households in this area.
Yan Lin simply stayed here every day to stand guard, and her alpha couldn't do anything about it, only allowing her to guard her most precious memory.
Sun Yu shook his head, as if trying to shake these troubles between the adults out of his mind.
He threw his backpack to someone beside him and rushed up to Shen Han in a few steps. Raising his chin, he looked at the woman who was half a head taller than him and said, "Why are you here again? I'm warning you-"
Before he could finish, Yan Lin interrupted him: "Little Yu, if you're going to be so rude to guests again, go back to live with your father."
Hearing this, Sun Yu immediately shut up.
He didn't want to leave this place. What if the real estate company tried to use underhanded means to force his mother to sign the demolition agreement?
Also, that guy surnamed Tang hadn't even shown up but had his mother running around for him. He needed to keep a close eye on things to prevent his mom from being taken advantage of!
Seeing the young man guarding against her like a thief, Shen Han found it quite amusing.
Teacher Tang and Aunt Lin were actually innocent, but this kid's exaggeration made it seem like they had an affair.
Wasn't this framing people?
Teacher Tang had it tough too!
A night passed.
Shen Han arrived at the old mansion before the appointed time with Yan Lin. She held a heavy-looking gift box in her hands, with Fang Yue following closely behind, carrying a shoulder bag.
As soon as the two stepped into the courtyard, Sun Yu's voice, along with his person, came straight at Shen Han.
"Running here so diligently? It's the weekend, can't you let people rest a bit longer?"
Seeing that Shen Han didn't pay attention to him, Sun Yu glanced at the exquisite box in her hand and said, "Planning to give someone a gift?"
"You have no experience at all. How can you give gifts so openly? You dare to give it, but others might not dare to accept it!"
Shen Han smiled and handed the box to the young man, saying, "This is a gift I brought for you."
"I've been quite a bother these past couple of days, and I feel bad about it. Aunt Lin said you don't lack anything, so I chose something based on my own ideas. I hope you'll like it."
Seeing the sincere smile on Shen Han's face, Sun Yu was stunned.
He never expected that she would give him a gift!
He carefully looked at the logo and pattern on the gift box, and a flash of light suddenly passed through his eyes.
That was the logo of a world-famous gaming company!
So, could the box contain a professional gaming equipment?
After a brief struggle, Sun Yu ultimately couldn't resist the temptation of the gaming console.
He changed his previous arrogant attitude and tentatively said, "This doesn't seem right..."
Shen Han directly pushed the box into his arms: "What's not right about it? Take it, Aunt Lin won't say anything."
Sun Yu was extremely excited inside, but on the surface, he put on a reluctant expression.
After thanking Shen Han, he started walking towards his room with the gift box. Halfway there, he couldn't contain his curiosity and lifted a corner of the gift box.
Upon looking, he nearly threw the box he was holding.
The box was neatly packed with review materials and reference books.
The heavy weight that felt so substantial came from the number of reference books!
Sun Yu could hardly believe his eyes.
He put the gift box on the ground and, with a questioning view of life, reached out to lift the entire lid.
Then, the brightly colored book covers appeared in everyone's view in the courtyard.
"Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations", "Zero-Error Comprehensive Explanations", "Top Student Study Guide"
Sun Yu was about to explode with anger.
He stood up, his eyes glaring at Shen Han as if they could shoot fire the next second.
Shen Han raised an arm, made a fist, and gave him a gesture of encouragement: "Success in the college entrance exam!"
Sun Yu's lips trembled, unable to say a word for a long time.
He really couldn't understand how a person with a body temperature of 37°C could do such a cold thing.
Just then, a sudden "rumbling" sound came from outside the mansion, getting closer and closer. It sounded like the noise heavy vehicles make when rolling over the road surface.
Following the mechanical sounds, human arguing voices also appeared noisily.
Sun Yu's face was still red with anger from the study books Shen Han had brought, but upon hearing the commotion outside, his expression immediately turned gloomy.
He tugged at the collar of his shirt and was about to walk out.
Unexpectedly, after just a few steps, he was stopped by Shen Han pressing down on his shoulder.
"I'll go out and take a look. You go inside and call Aunt Lin."