"Strange. As an exchange student, didn't your parents arrange a place for you to live? I... Never mind, I talk too much."
After all, Anna Li Wei had also studied abroad, and her parents had directly left her a massive Ancient Mansion. But she could not reveal this information yet; she had to keep it secret. The reason, naturally, was connected to her surname.
Yet there was no doubt she had almost let slip.
"No. I suppose that's just their style." Lin Xiu patted his pockets.
In a daze, he discovered the very first trial awaiting him upon arriving in this unfamiliar hell.
Stealing.
"Style? Sounds like they're putting you to the test, a seventeen-year-old boy. Just a reminder—if your money is tight, you'd better look for a place to rent further away from the central residential district."
Anna Li Wei smiled slightly, her cheeks blooming like white roses.
Yet the kind-hearted reminder from this young girl dealt Lin Xiu yet another heavy blow.
What kind of city was this, renowned for technology and the occult? Technology—theft; the occult—leaving no trace?
The technique looked practiced, and his pocket wasn't even torn. His clothes were completely intact, and the zipper wasn't even undone.
If he weren't certain he had checked many times before leaving and that he had spent some loose change on the taxi, he would have suspected he genuinely forgot to bring it rather than having it stolen.
"Thanks for the reminder. I'll be going now, see you tomorrow..."
"Wait. If carrying your suitcase is inconvenient, you can leave your things in the school's storage room for now."
In reality, the school did have dormitories; he could entirely board at school. But Lin Xiu's father had said he would only periodically pay the school tuition; accommodation fees and the like were not included.
Aside from the ten thousand Anmi (the official currency of Anmi) he brought with him, all other funds had to be earned by himself. But now, with only a thousand left in his mobile phone, he was practically penniless.
Anna Li Wei walked back to her seat with her hands behind her back, crossed her legs, and picked up that creased book, glancing at him.
"It costs money and isn't safe. I'll pass." The boy declined the kind offer.
Lin Xiu hurried out of the conference room. Although he had intended to report this matter—which easily rose to the level of a national diplomatic issue—to the school administration, considering he couldn't even be sure it was lost at school, he had no choice but to handle it himself.
Dragging a suitcase around without any cash on him, trying to survive a whole day in such an unfamiliar city, would likely be a massive struggle.
The experience of this imprisonment felt like needles pricking his skin.
It truly felt like thorns on his back.
——————————
The rain gradually grew lighter.
Yet the hazy mist still cast an unstable filter over Heixia City.
Lin Xiu's temperament was soft on the outside but tough on the inside.
When he realized the welcome gift this city had given him was stealing nine thousand yuan of his money, an extraordinary story was already destined to unfold.
First, he spent a tiny bit of pocket change on a taxi to a cheap suburban hotel, renting a room that would barely suffice for two days.
Counting the money spent on food, the funds left to him were already running low.
After tidying his luggage, taking a quick shower, and changing his clothes, he prepared to venture out alone to thoroughly explore the hidden side of this city.
The hotel calendar—
"Today's date: October, 2048 of the Genesis Era."
There was less than half a month left until the critical time point his father had told him to watch out for.
"What could happen?"
At this moment, Lin Xiu already had an answer in his mind, but he was unwilling to believe it—after all, it was far too fantastical.
The specks of light in the sky, previously obscured by fog, quickly dimmed, as if whispering the prelude to the dark night.
He took a few self-defense pocket knives out of his suitcase and quickly walked down to the small snack alley downstairs to buy something to eat and stave off his hunger.
Despite the chilly weather, Heixia City, being the capital, was bustling with people everywhere. Neon lights flashed in brilliant colors, and the lingering clamor buzzed endlessly in his ears.
"Boss, get me some skewers. Pack up all of these."
"Eating them for dinner?"
"Yes."
After all, no matter where you were or which country you were in, street-food barbecue was always the most abundant and popular choice. After grabbing his dinner, Lin Xiu took the opportunity to ask the boss about a few things.
"Alright, I've transferred the money to you. Um... by the way, roughly how many theft cases are there in Heixia City in a year?"
"How would I know that? But speaking of thefts... the frequency has indeed been quite high lately. I hear the number of people claiming their money was stolen is several times higher than usual... Probably some people are stirring things up again and can't sit still."
The barbecue uncle said quite helplessly, lighting a local brand of cigarettes called "Qilun", which was very obscure.
Based on his words, Lin Xiu deduced a great deal of unusual information.
Years ago, theft cases did experience peaks during certain time periods, but under Anmi's technological state, for blatant theft gangs to still exist was simply inconceivable.
Moreover, what the uncle called "some people stirring things up" was also deeply suspicious...
Just as Lin Xiu was deep in a storm of thoughts, the screeching sound of footsteps brushed past his side.
Accompanied by it was a gaze that nearly left him unable to catch his breath for a long time.
"Wait, are these red pupils? No... those eyes aren't right!" He wanted to chase after them, but found his legs seemed to be pinned in place, completely unable to move.
In an instant, Lin Xiu shifted his perspective from simply investigating Heixia's thefts to the perspective of his father's teachings etched in his memory.
"If you encounter a situation where you are immobilized after locking eyes with a Demon Eye, remember: close your eyes first, reduce the urge to lift your legs, move slowly, and then open your eyes again." — Lin Joseph (Lin Xiu's father).
"Young man, judging by your tone, you must be a newcomer from out of town. You really need to be careful then; some places in Heixia City are not suitable for outsiders to go."
Lin Xiu had no heart to consider going anywhere else right now; he only cared about the whereabouts of his nine thousand yuan.
Doing as his father had said, Lin Xiu regained his freedom of movement. But by this time, the target that had just brushed past was long gone without a trace.
Was this truly a targeted technique directed at me?
They locked onto me so quickly, and threw out a threatening hint?
Lin Xiu, who previously hadn't quite believed in so-called magic, had finally taken his first lesson through real experience—everything his father said was true.
Yet that did not mean he would be as useless as his father made out in his words.
Lin Xiu concealed two daggers in his respective cuffs and ran off in the direction where the mysterious red-eyed figure had slipped away.
In the already dim environment, he could only rely on the light of his mobile phone for illumination.
"Strange... the area around here is very spacious, and the road is bustling with traffic. If they were truly a thief trying to shake off a tail, they wouldn't head this way."
From this perspective, this person's goal was very clear: they were trying to lure him into giving chase.
Yet for Lin Xiu, he wasn't worried about what might happen to him. Though in his father's eyes, he certainly was.
He already realized that reaching this area far away from the rental district meant he couldn't avoid running into some weird occurrences. He was still carrying his dinner.
Might as well finish eating first before dealing with it, Lin Xiu thought to himself.
As he walked and ate a few skewers, he sensed a change in the environment. The bustling fireworks atmosphere of the nocturnal city that had previously filled the air vanished, replaced by an eerie tranquility.
The moment he finished the very last skewer, there was not a single person left around him.
Gone were the honking horns, the clanking of machine parts emerging from the industrial streets, or the electronic music characteristic of the pre-cyber era.
"You've come?" Lin Xiu tossed the plastic bag into a trash can and spoke precisely into the empty air slightly above and to his side.
His tone dripped with disdain.
—Along with a fierce craving for revenge. He knew this person was the grand thief of all Heixia City.
"It seems you knew I cast a barrier."
An ethereal voice came out of nowhere.
Like a targeted soundwave transmission, no one except Lin Xiu could hear it.
Of course, there wasn't a third person present to begin with, the thief thought to himself.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow flew toward Lin Xiu simultaneously from two directions. Its figure seemed very close to that of a sixteen-year-old high school JK girl.
It didn't look like a man.
Lin Xiu, who had been walking with his hands in his pockets and his head down, turned back and glared fiercely at "him", whereupon the dark shadow retreated as if cursed.
And it revealed its true form.
"The... Ran Family Demon Eye?"
Beneath the dark shadow's disguise was indeed a girl, not a man. The murderous intent revealed in her red pupils, paired with her JK pleated skirt outfit, left a deep impression on Lin Xiu.
————————
"Hey, I heard a transfer student from the West just arrived on your side. You saw him today, right, Li Wei?"
"Yes, and he... well..."
Anna Li Wei hesitated over whether she should share her first impression.
After all, she still needed to show some restraint in front of this best friend named Linglan.
They planned to grab some bites at a snack bar by the street and then head out together to check out a hot new movie.
Perhaps by coincidence, the spot they were heading to was very, very close to the temporary hotel where Lin Xiu was staying.