“Get back here right now!” shouted the man chasing them.

  He was one of the teachers at the scene of the crime. He rushed after the two children.

  Although he was a teacher, he was not very strong. He had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage and had remained at the same major stage as them. Therefore, despite the difference in their levels, he was still unable to catch up with them with ease.

  Despite everything, both May and Deng were stronger than the average adult thanks to their level of cultivation. Nevertheless, he was still many times stronger than them, which is why he managed to catch up with them after a while.

  The man grabbed Deng Zhifang by the arm and held him back. Finally, he caught up with them.

  “Stop.” he said to her. May wondered if she should abandon him and continue escaping on her own, but decided that was a bad idea.

  “We can explain.” said May, hoping to de-escalate the situation.

  “Of course you can. And you'll do it in the staff room.” He said with anger in his voice.

  It may be difficult to persuade him. But I have to try.

  “Professor,” she began tentatively. “It’s not that simple. We started running because we found some clues that might point to... the culprit behind the recent events.”

  The teacher frowned and looked at her suspiciously. It was clear that he had many doubts about what she had said.

  “Clue, you say? Well, regardless of what reason you may have had to leave your quarters in the middle of the night in order to go to the scene of a suspected murder, it will have to be explained to my superiors.”

  Unfortunately, May knew that everything he was saying was reasonable. He was simply carrying out his duties and making very logical decisions.

  But logic doesn't apply here. Plus, that explosion... It's not safe there, we can't go back.

  “We can't go back there! If we do, we'll die!” She decided to change her strategy. No more logic, now she would pretend to be a frightened child!

  She decided that she would take advantage of the fact that she was in a child's body. Although she had never been the best actress, she tried to imitate sheer panic in her voice. It wasn't difficult, as it wasn't that far from the truth.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, slightly worried. The panic in her voice seemed real.

  May was about to explain the situation to him, but before she could start, someone interrupted her.

  “I see you managed to catch them.” Suddenly, a new person appeared. May recognized him, but she didn't know where from.

  “Senior Lang...” When he said that, May remembered who he was. He was a teacher at the Foundation Establishment level of the academy, but he was more involved in bureaucracy than teaching others.

  “I'll take them now, you go join the others in putting out the fire in the girls' dormitory. They need help there,” he said briefly.

  May felt a chill run down her spine. Why did he want to ‘take them over’? The academy was now in chaos, there had just been an explosion, so why was he running after two kids?

  Although she had learned not to check other people's auras using Qi Sensing, especially when they were stronger than her, her curiosity got the better of her.

  She deactivated her Qi Suppression and activated her Qi Sensing, focusing it on the man. In an instant, she froze. He was the same person who had been watching them in the library. She felt vulnerable and didn't know what to do.

  If he's at the Foundation Establishment level, we're dead... For some reason, he wants to be alone with us, I can't let that happen!

  The teacher who was chasing them was about to leave them, but May knew she couldn't let that happen.

  Although he doesn't stand a chance against someone a stage higher, he could at least buy us some time to escape! Besides, judging by their conversation, they're not in conspiracy together! If he leaves us, we're dead!

  “Excuse me!” May shouted and grabbed him so he couldn't leave.

  “What are you doing?” He got angry and tried to push her away. But May wouldn't give up. She was desperate, knowing that if he left, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves.

  “Please don't leave us with this man! Something's wrong here!” she shouted, hoping he would decide to stay.

  “What are you talking about? This is Mao Lang, he's in charge of the entire academy during the director's absence!” he replied, breaking free from her grip and looking like he wanted to leave.

  She looked at Mao Lang, who remained expressionless. He didn't seem to want to interfere. It was quite strange, as usually everyone would want to defend themselves against such accusations.

  “I have some pretty solid evidence that he's behind this! The children's comas, the murder, and the fire.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Absurd,” he replied. “If that's all, then I'm out of here. I don't have time for this nonsense.”

  He turned his back to them and began to walk away in silence. Mao Lang remained silent, just looking at the departing teacher, then smiled slightly.

  He raised his hand slightly, and thanks to her Qi Sensing still being active and focused on him, she noticed that he was concentrating a huge amount of Qi energy in his palm. He was preparing to attack!

  “Watch out!” she shouted, trying to warn him.

  A beam of white-yellow light fired from Mao Lang’s palm. The man barely managed to dodge it thanks to May’s warning.

  The beam of light struck the grass, which began to smoke. If he had been hit, there would have been a hole in his head.

  “Hmm, interesting,” said Mao Lang, looking at May. “You really are the perfect vessel for the next queen.”

  “Lang!! What does this mean!” he shouted in shock.

  “You're just going to die, you've heard too much. Besides, it's too late anyway, the operation failed. We have to get rid of all the evidence, meaning you, the teachers, and the students we don't need.”

  He began to prepare for another attack, but this time the man was ready for it.

  “You'd better give up, you don't stand a chance against me. Do it and I'll kill you painlessly.”

  “No way, you bastard! You two! Run away.”

  “You can run. There's no way to escape from here anyway.” He said with a disgusting laugh.

  May didn't need to be told twice, she grabbed Deng by the arm and started running.

  We're fucked!

  “May?! What the hell was that!?” He was in tears. Suddenly, he stopped.

  “What are you doing? We have to run!”

  “I-I... I... I have to... I don’t want to... But... it’s just... that...” He was so scared that he couldn’t form a sentence. May knew he was a child, but she didn't have time for such nonsense.

  She walked up to him and slapped him so hard that the slap was so loud you could hear it from far away. He fell to the ground.

  “Are you calm now? Yes? Now come on.”

  Pain is always a good solution. His entire cheek was red from the blow, but it seemed that the pain allowed him to regain some composure. He continued to cry, but May ignored him; it was too late to abandon him. He knew where she planned to hide, so she couldn't leave him alone and wait for him to betray her.

  “Shhh.” she whispered, covering his tear-stained and snotty mouth with her hand to silence him. “Get down.”

  They hid behind trees and bushes covered in snow. There were corpses lying in the schoolyard. Not just one or two. Piles of corpses.

  She recognized some faces; some were teachers, others were students.

  So it's a parasite? They must already be infected.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw teachers fighting in the distance.

  So not everyone had been taken over. For some reason, the parasites had to reveal themselves.

  “Let's go. Be quiet." She pointed to the place where they were supposed to go.

  He said I was the perfect vessel for a queen? Too bad the book didn't have more information. But it's the queen who scatters her ‘seeds’. But at least I know they want me alive if I'm to be the next ‘queen’. The coma that the students were falling into must have been a symptom of their bodies being taken over by parasites spread by the queen.

  “Is this it?” asked Deng Zhifang.

  “Yes. Stand behind me.” She slowly opened the door, an unpleasant smell wafting out even with the door closed. But she needed time, and this was the best hiding place she could think of.

  They entered the building, closed the door behind them as securely as possible, and found a place at the very end. They wanted to hide as well as possible. They climbed onto a wooden beam and entered the second floor, which was locked. However, May did not feel safe. Mao Lang is the only person at the Foundation Establishment stage in the entire academy. And he's against us. That guy is probably dead by now. Who knows when help will come? Maybe never?

  “May... What now?” asked the boy, in tears. May herself was not in good shape and had someone else on her mind. She didn't like it.

  Maybe I'll have to abandon him. I'm only at stage 4, and our opponent is at the Foundation Establishment stage. I won't even be able to avoid him, let alone defeat him. The only logical option is to escape. But they must have blocked all escape routes.

  “We have to run,” she told the boy truthfully.

  The boy looked at the ground. Even he knew it was impossible.

  But I still have the system... Hey Minnie, you're finally useful for once. Can you show me some possible escape routes that I can get through safely?

  “I can do anything as long as you have the right amount of resources. However... You've asked for a lot. Safe escape routes would require analysis of the terrain, analysis of the power and abilities of all opponents, their possible movements in time, and much more. The cost of something like that would be at least a hundred thousand.”

  Her request required a huge amount of data. However, May discovered that by limiting this, the cost could be reduced.

  I don't need all possible escape routes, just one.

  “This will only cut the cost in half, as it would still require analyzing the same thing. Besides, are you sure you want to take that guy with you? It significantly increases the risk."

  I don't want him to die, but I'm not going to sacrifice myself for him. And getting back to the costs... Do you have any abilities that could remove the parasite from these people's bodies?

  "I don't have the skills for this particular type of ‘parasite’. System would have to create it from scratch, which would increase the cost to millions. Besides, it would only work on people whose bodies haven't been taken over yet."

  Hmm, my options aren't very good, I still don't have enough money... Minnie, maybe you have an idea.

  “I'm sorry, May, but I don't know much more than you do. The system limits my knowledge, so I basically only know what you've found out yourself.”

  May sighed, it seemed that she couldn't rely too much on the system either. However, she knew she had to hurry; someone could burst in at any moment.

  “Okay, we need more time to come up with a plan... Deng, turn around and don't look."

  “What, but why?”

  “Don't ask questions, just do it.”

  “O-Okay?” he replied.

  It was time to use Potion Shelter for the first time in a real situation.

  Minnie, sell me the Assassin's Aura Concealment Potion!

  "Sure."

  Then she used her ability [Potion Shelter]. The potion disappeared and a tetrahedron with the properties of the potion appeared. May decided to test it out. She went inside and immediately felt her aura being hidden.

  I can stop wasting Qi on Qi Suppression now.

  She came out and approached Deng. You can look now.

  “What is it?” he asked, looking at the shelter.

  “My ability, come inside, I'll explain later.”

  Nico Wei?!