Chapter 49

Chapter 49

The appearance of the interview invitation letter did not bring significant changes to Tian Yin’s life for the time being.

On the surface, she was still the newly enrolled student at the Imperial Capital University, attending classes as usual, studying in the library, and carefully observing everyone around her.

The only difference from before was that during her free time between classes, she would leave the school to wander around various parts of the imperial capital.

During this process, she silently observed and recorded.

Time passed unconsciously like this for a month.

On this day, there was a mandatory mathematics class. Tian Yin arrived neither early nor late, with some time left before the class started.

Usually, the atmosphere before a math class was dull and uninteresting, but Tian Yin noticed that today’s atmosphere was much more lively than usual. Many classmates were huddled together with their phones, whispering and gossiping.

This puzzled Tian Yin as she just entered the room.

“...Did someone really die? Hiss, how could someone drown in such shallow water as the artificial lake?”

“It seems it was an old man. Maybe he was too old and not physically fit...”

“Isn’t it just an accident?”

“It’s not that simple. Didn’t they say the old man had a shady background? I think it might be a murder to silence him...”

Bits and pieces of conversation reached Tian Yin’s ears. She vaguely realized that some kind of homicide had occurred.

Just as she was trying to listen more carefully...

“Tian Tian, over here, over here!” Her lively roommate, Yu Xiao, stood up from the row behind, waving frantically at her.

After Tian Yin sat down next to her, Yu Xiao asked with a mysterious look. “Did you see today’s news?”

Without waiting for her answer, Yu Xiao continued to spill everything like beans from a bamboo tube. “Last Wednesday, someone drowned in North Island Park. Because there were no people or surveillance cameras nearby at the time, the forensic conclusion after examination was drowning. Moreover, he had overdosed on drugs at the time of death, which might be why he drowned in such shallow water. After all, he must have been completely disoriented.”

“However, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of homicide. When the police investigated later, they indeed found that the dead old man was a drug addict. Through investigating his social connections, they also caught quite a few of his drug-using friends...”

At this point, Yu Xiao paused to take a big gulp of water before continuing. “But that’s not the most important part. The most important thing is that through clues found in the addict’s home and contacts on his phone, the police directly found a drug dealer. From this dealer, they traced his upstream supplier and eventually busted an entire drug trafficking gang! The way this plot developed is absolutely incredible!”

She spoke with great animation, reminiscent of ancient storytellers. “Even novels wouldn’t dare to write it like this!”

“North Island Park?” Tian Yin seemed not to have heard the latter part of Yu Xiao’s words, only thoughtfully repeating the place name, “An old man died last Wednesday?”

“Yes, that’s what the news said.” Yu Xiao directly opened the news on her phone and placed it in front of Tian Yin.

Suddenly remembering something, she exclaimed in a low voice. “Ah, right, Tian Tian, weren’t you often exercising in North Island Park last month? I remember you stopped going there the week before last, right? According to the news, that old man was a cleaner in North Island Park. Maybe you’ve even seen him there!”

At this moment, the old man’s photo had been released in the opened news article. Although crucial parts were pixelated, Tian Yin still recognized the familiar face through other features, after all, it was a face she had seen for a month.

For an instant, her gaze froze in shock, appearing somewhat unusual.

But in the next moment, she regained her composure.

[Emmm, the person above has watched too many movies? Where are there such bizarre plots in real life?]

[That’s right, I arranged it. I secretly sent out my underlings to watch his every move, investigate his social connections, then while he was cleaning in the park every day, had someone inject him with an overdose of drugs, and placed all the clues pointing to drug dealers in his home in advance... Finally, under my careful arrangement, the addict accidentally drowned, and the police successfully caught the entire gang in one fell swoop. Haha, the legendary Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix is none other than me!]

[At this point, I have to tell the truth. Actually, your father had a deep grudge with him, son. All your actions were guided by me in secret. Now I have to say, son, well done!]

With the appearance of these joking netizens, the tone of the comments was completely derailed, heading in a strange direction.

Tian Yin silently exited the page, and her phone screen went dark.

These netizens might just be letting their imaginations run wild, not even believing their own words. But only she knew that some people’s guesses were close to the truth.

In fact, as one of the participants, Tian Yin herself was also confused and still unable to see the full picture of the event. But she could determine that this incident was related to the Shadow Council. In fact, it was likely the Shadow Council’s doing.

— She now knew that the organization she had joined was called the Shadow Council. And she was still just a bottom-level intern, with all members referring to themselves as “Shadow Middleman”.

She had lied to Yu Xiao earlier.

For the past month, Tian Yin hadn’t gone to North Island Park for exercise, but because she had received an internship task.

This task was simple, and at first left her puzzled. It was to go to North Island Park at a specific time every day, exercise at a designated spot — now she knew it was the area that the drowned old man was responsible for cleaning — and observe everyone around her, reporting back to the Shadow Council in the form of records, including every person she encountered in North Island Park.

Tian Yin had thought this was just training for interns, cultivating her ability to conceal herself and observe others, so she did her utmost to carefully observe everyone.

This of course included the cleaner’s appearance, age, his daily work schedule, the areas he liked to clean and his habits of slacking off, as well as his habit of frequently taking out an unidentified cigarette to smoke, occasional body tremors suggesting certain illnesses, and his hobby of chatting up middle-aged women...

Tian Yin had written almost everyone around her in her observation records, with an attitude of devout learning. For this, she had even bought and read books on microexpressions and psychology.

But she never imagined that just a month later, today, one of her observation subjects would meet with such an “accident” — clearly, this couldn’t possibly be just an accident!

“If this guy was a target of the Shadow Council, then I might have only provided some insignificant help in this operation. After all, I’m just a novice, and such a simple observation task was at most just training for me. There should be more experienced members responsible for conducting deeper investigations, someone responsible for designing the plan, someone responsible for taking action...” Tian Yin thought silently, unconsciously constructing a vague outline of a massive organization in her mind, “I wonder what position the Doctor holds in the organization...”

Just then, her phone vibrated gently.

On the lit-up screen appeared another text message.

[Internship Task 2...]

Tian Yin skillfully deleted the message and silently turned her gaze to the window. At this moment, the daylight was perfect, with brilliant sunshine spreading across the entire university campus, causing the distant sea of green trees to ripple with a layer of golden light.

The imperial capital in the morning was bathed in sunlight, appearing so vibrant and radiant.

But she seemed to see a shadow descending silently, spreading under the bright light, devouring countless people’s shadows until it became the shadow of the entire city.

“This is... perfect.”

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