Chapter 180 - Ye Xinya (11)

When tomorrow came, around lunchtime, several batches of worn out and weary teenagers appeared on the different parts of the towns nearest to the internet rehabilitation school. Dressed like high-schoolers, all of them looked famished and in bad condition.

Not few even collapsed upon stepping into the bustling streets near the town's center. Their companions labored into bringing them to the police station where they sought help in contacting their trusted loved ones.

"Ren Lian... we ask around and even had the officers contact the other nearby police stations. They said Jing Mo and that new student are never sighted in their areas." The short-haired girl sadly shook her head.

The group of students was ushered into a large conference room within the station, made to sit on the chairs of the floors, while the kind police officers were distributing lunch boxes and water.

Ye Xin was standing not far away from the two girls hence she heard what they said. The disguised girl lowered her head and then focused her eyes again on the computer screen. Her chest felt stuffy for some reason.

On their way back, despite getting lost several times and ending up only finding the exit in four hours, at least they had proven the forest didn't hold many dangerous terrains or creatures. Escaping from it should actually not be difficult. So what happened? Did she do wrong?

While several thoughts were churning and turning in her head, she spoke in a low voice to the female police officers next to her. "Miss, I'm sorry for the trouble. But can your people trace who sent the files about us and the teachers in that place?"

That place, of course, referred to the hellish school.

The lady in blue fitting uniform shook her head. "No, little brother. We received around late noon yesterday, but an anonymous account is used so even after so many hours we can't say who. All we manage to trace is the location. And to be honest, it's very unnerving because when we investigated it's a place not usually receiving signal so while it's doable to contact it through the telephone, sending simple SMS through a cellphone is quite difficult."

Eyes holding endless pity to her and the other students, the female police officer pursed her lips and then told the miserable-looking teenage boy a few comforting words. Apparently, the woman thought she misspoke and made 'him' remember several unhappy moments there, 'his' inability to contact people outside one of them.

Ye Xin stared blankly at the screen. After blinking and reassuring the lady that she was fine, she exclaimed. "How are these files sent then? In my estimate, everyone's profiles plus the pieces of evidence at least added up to a gigabyte!"

The girl was just surprised, finding it hard to imagine how a large folder of data was sent given that place lack of internet access. Not long after, she regained her wits and realized, it was not truly the issue worth pondering over. It was the person who did it.

"By the way, I tried to check again, but the officers from the other stations once again confirmed there is no Jing Mo or Han Su who approached them for help. There are many other students who came to them though. Do you have friends or perhaps, family members you want to find from them?"

"No. I have already contacted my family earlier through the telephone in the lobby."

"Hmm. I see. I'm glad for you then. Don't let your heart be in too much burden. I assure you those heartless people had already been captured by the officers from the other police station."

"Thank you."

She told the woman before giving her a weak smile and closing her eyes.

She then wondered why a selfish person who kept pushing others deeper into the abyss or making them more depressed suddenly changed and even led everyone out. What were the odds he had been planning this all this time? Does it mean, in everything he did, he merely had no choice but do since getting close to the staff was one of the crucial steps in his plan?

'What have I done then?'

Anger budded in her heart. It was like a fire swiftly engulfing her whole system. She was angry because the guy did not explain. However, after a couple of seconds, the anger got directed to herself since it was her who did not give Jing Mo a chance to speak his mind to the rest.

'I need to find him then and apologize.'

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that another policeman in blue entered the large room and walked towards the lady seated in front of the computer situated near the entrance.

Seeing they would talking about important stuff, she took the initiative to move away and walk towards her friends who were busy comforting and talking about life in the opposite corner.

However before she managed to get far from the two officers, she somehow heard the man said in a regretful tone, "... Ah, That Jing Mo you're asking me to check, whoaaa, I didn't know it's that one... the poor guy from Ruby city mayor's family."

She pursed her lips and kept her head low again. But that information she captured from the older man, she silently engraved in her mind.

...

Hours ago, when Jiang Li kept lying to those people interrogating him, he felt that Jing Mo's remnant soul was disagreeing with him and making him feel a bit uncomfortable with his body. Obviously, it was for not abiding by the second wish which was to live honestly. However, it was almost negligible. The discomfort brought to him could simply be brushed off as the night wind giving him a slight chill.

Seemed like while it was true that Jiang Li was not yet assimilated with Jing Mo's body, the latter was at least reasonable and wouldn't protest like crazy, unlike He Chen before who nearly vanquished him from his body when he went against his plans in wooing Tang Lan.

Remembering those days made Jiang Li feel like going back again to give He Chen a good thrashing, or if he couldn't meet that guy anymore, he would stick to his plan, to correct everything from the start.

Now, back to the current world.

Contrary to what the system thought he was doing, he did not actually hack into any other group or organization, but only sent some gifts to the police and some truly honest and upright politicians. He then checked the students' profiles one by one before transferring the funds in his own account to another not named after Jing Mo, but Jiang Li.

The Original's stash, for a mere student having a difficult life in a huge family, was quite substantial, 30,000 credits. However, it was not an amount Jiang Li of the three previous modern lifetimes would rejoice for or glance twice.

For a while, his hands parted from the keyboard. He tiredly leaned his back against the backrest and looked heavenward. 'If food, rent, new stuff, and tuition are brought into question, the money I have will only last me for a month.'

He was having a headache again. How he badly wanted to bankrupt the Jings or even steal money and assets from some shady group!

But no matter how he wished to do all of these, whenever his hands hold the mouse with the intention of enacting the plan, the damn remnant of the Original would suddenly act up and give him headaches, or make him extremely dizzy, or outright paralyzed. It simply did everything it could to prevent him.  

It was just a tragedy to have the skills which could not be used without worrying if he would end up a ghost-like being in the next coming second or not.

'Damn. What a joke have I become? Those f*ckers froze my account. And I had to waste time hacking it. Now I have to worry about how to get living expenses without being dishonest. This. ain't. funny!!!' He gritted his teeth and almost pounded his fist on the table surface next to the keyboard.  

Not long after though, he managed to calm himself down. Then simply accepted his fate that he had to do more work than simply invading somebody's accounts or system.

Well, yup. In reality, he was merely feeling a bit lazy, or maybe, eager for sleep and rest.

When he realized the easiest shortcut to richness could not be used, he resorted to researching the current technology and creating a program to sell. After managing to get money from one client from abroad who he spent an hour enticing, he gained enough money to get himself a decent place, a laptop, and stuff to last him for another three months.

By then though, five hours already past. Jiang Li sighed, supported his chin with the back of his left hand, and decided to forgo sleep in favor of checking a certain someone's profile again.

Using the mouse, he clicked something on the screen then enlarged the image that popped up. His eyes went to the side where a few data were listed.

Ye Xin... name of the villainess' twin brother, somebody who died three years ago due to an illness.

He then spent some more time researching. A corner of his lips arced up upon seeing the records for the villainess who was supposed to only appear a year after the leads' escape from the disciplinary institution.

...