The owner’s social apps were staggeringly abundant, but what caught Bo Ting’s eye most was the pinned group chat in the messaging app.
It was a small group of only a few dozen people, with a super chuunibyou name: Rebirth of Fire.
The people inside spoke in weird ways.
Stuff about “handling” and “hunting.”
Bo Ting even spotted their neighborhood’s name in there.
Though it was just a brief one or two lines, incomprehensible.
But it still drew his attention.
“Mr. Xu, have you heard of this Rebirth of Fire?”
Bo Ting asked seriously.
Since the group mentioned their place, he needed to know who they were to be prepared.
Rebirth of Fire…
As Bo Ting arrived at the flower shop and unlocked the door with his key.
Xu Qinglai narrowed his eyes slightly.
He hadn’t expected this rotten bunch of espers to target Taiping Luxury Garden—and for Bo Ting to pick up the phone.
He recalled briefly in his mind and typed unhurriedly.
“I’ve heard a bit. Supposedly a private organization of lunatics.”
Though insane, their abilities were mediocre.
Xu Qinglai commented inwardly as he lowered his gaze.
Bo Ting instantly felt a connection.
“Oh, so that’s it.”
“No wonder I couldn’t understand their group chat at all.”
He had thought it was because he didn’t know the Mengjia City dialect well, but it turned out the other side was just a bunch of lunatics.
Bo Ting let out a big sigh of relief. He felt a bit lucky that it wasn’t his own issue.
However, what was the deal with them coming to “Taiping Luxury Garden” to handle something?
Did their neighborhood have something that needed dealing with?
Bo Ting grew a little suspicious. After opening the flower shop door, he couldn’t help but stay on high alert in his mind.
Could it be that this phone hadn’t been dragged in by rats, but that this group’s target was their neighborhood all along?
It seemed Elder Wen had been too careless.
Bo Ting hissed softly, sensing that things weren’t looking good.
Meanwhile, a message from Mr. Xu popped up on the other side.
“Rebirth of Fire is full of scum. No need to hold back against people like that.”
Bo Ting read it and fully agreed. The thought of facing a fugitive with a gang and plans all alone in the dead of night made him unwilling to relax even a little, let alone hold back.
He had to use all his strength!
The only thing puzzling Bo Ting was: how had this group set their sights on their neighborhood?
Logically speaking, their low-key neighborhood shouldn’t have attracted any crazy organizations.
In the meeting room:
When Xu Qinglai saw Bo Ting mention how low-key their neighborhood was, his expression turned a bit odd as he thought of the Resurgence Management Office on high alert. Still, he didn’t refute it.
His knuckle tapped lightly on the screen.
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”
Sigh.
Bo Ting had no choice but to accept this explanation.
Their neighborhood must just be having a run of bad luck, always so unfortunate.
…
At midnight.
Si Ning and the other members of the Sixth Esper Squad hid in the shadows.
After staying up all day, the team members felt somewhat fatigued. But the thought of potential trouble tonight perked them right up.
Xue Hengfu and Zhao Jiang stood together. Thinking of Captain Lu’s interrogation results that had just come through, their expressions turned strange.
“That deadbeat criminal said an old man knocked him out at night?”
Xue Hengfu nearly laughed just recalling it.
Zhao Jiang nudged him. “Be serious.”
“We’re on night patrol.”
But clearly, his face didn’t look as serious as he claimed.
The team member who had just received the news nearly burst out laughing.
“Serves that trash right.”
“But, cough.”
“Who would’ve thought even an octogenarian here was so badass.”
Zhao Jiang muttered under his breath, then shook his head.
“Blocking that Qiu Tao from Rebirth of Fire was basically saving her life.”
Xue Hengfu felt the same.
The two were feeling a bit emotional when they suddenly sensed something off with the wind direction and instantly fell silent.
In the dead of night, at an angle invisible to the naked eye, the trees by the north outer wall of the neighborhood rustled in the wind. But in that one instant, the direction the leaves swayed seemed wrong.
Xue Hengfu’s head jolted as he reacted immediately. He exchanged a glance with Zhao Jiang.
“She’s here!”
The two melted into the darkness, one left, one right.
Soon after, a figure flipped down from a distant tree.
Qiu Tao, worried about drawing the Resurgence Management Office’s attention, had waited until deep into the night to come check things out.
Before coming, she had even used a disposable weird item to scout the path.
Only after getting feedback that it was clear did she quietly scale the alley wall.
Under the cover of night, the long-haired woman moved nimbly. But the moment she jumped down from the tree, a blinding light suddenly hit her eyes.
The next second, two unfamiliar voices rang out by her ears.
Qiu Tao froze for a moment, then turned and ran.
But Xue Hengfu had already notified the others. Ability Users from around the Taiping Luxury Garden perimeter rushed over.
Qiu Tao had just run out of the tree’s range when she collided head-on with Si Ning.
A few minutes later, the battle-hardened Si Ning neatly subdued Qiu Tao and sealed her ability.
Qiu Tao: …
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?”
“For such a rundown neighborhood, you’ve got this many people guarding it?”
She hadn’t expected so many Ability Users lying in ambush when she turned to run.
If she had known there were this many, she wouldn’t have come to probe no matter what.
Si Ning ignored her.
He pulled out his phone and called the Resurgence Management Office to report.
“Qiu Tao’s been caught.”
“Mm.”
“Didn’t alert Taiping Luxury Garden, right?”
On the line, Lu Jingshan asked uneasily.
Si Ning was about to reply when he turned his head and his voice suddenly went hoarse.
He abruptly noticed that the pitch-black Taiping Luxury Garden had lit up at some point!
The neighborhood lights flared to life, stunning everyone in the dim suburbs.
Even the captured Qiu Tao instinctively turned her head.
“What’s going on?”
Sensing the odd atmosphere around her, her voice trailed off.
Xue Hengfu was dumbfounded too.
The excitement of catching a Rebirth of Fire team member vanished.
He hesitated.
“It couldn’t be… from my flashlight just now, right?”
He had indeed turned on the strong light to grab Qiu Tao.
But… could that have affected the inside?
—Facts proved it had.
Bo Ting was staying in the neighborhood flower shop that night.
The shop was right by the north gate.
Probably considering future business across all of Mengjia City, Miss Du had specially hired an upstairs designer to install a skylight on the shop’s outer side, connecting it to the outside world.
It left just a tiny gap.
Bo Ting had just closed his eyes to sleep when a beam of light hit the ceiling without warning. He froze, then frowned slightly.
This light… from outside the neighborhood?
He instinctively turned on the flower shop lights.
Bo Ting’s mind flashed to the group chat messages he’d seen that day, and he instantly grew serious.
Suspecting the crazy group from the phone had sent more people?
That River Ghost guy had indeed assigned a mission today.
Bo Ting thought for a moment, gripped his phone tightly, beckoned the big dog over, and slowly led Doudou toward the skylight.
The air grew tense.
The moment Bo Ting held his breath and approached, the footsteps outside stopped dead—eerily synchronized.
Bo Ting was baffled for an instant.
He noticed that after he turned on the light, the flashlight beam outside vanished.
As if avoiding something?
He blinked, hesitating over what was happening outside.
A minute passed, two minutes… and outside remained silent.
The good news: Doudou wasn’t looking around, so probably no one had come in?
Bo Ting relaxed a fraction but stayed tense.
No footsteps came from beyond the wall, so he couldn’t tell if they had left.
For now, he could only stand motionless in the flower shop corner, staring down the crowd outside the north gate from afar.
All sounds vanished the moment the lights flared.
Si Ning even silenced his phone notifications, and all team members shut their mouths.
Only then did the captured Qiu Tao belatedly realize it wasn’t that the Resurgence Management Office had mobilized so many just to catch her.
This neighborhood… had issues?
A chill rose from the depths of her heart.
Looking at the once-ordinary neighborhood again, her hands and feet grew cold.
Wait, if this neighborhood was the problem…
Then Huaiya yesterday… might not have had a relapse of his madness, but fallen here?
Her mind exploded with realization.
Qiu Tao quietly swallowed, glancing at the wall everyone tensely watched.
But the weirdest part was that inside, aside from the lights coming on, there was no other movement.
Si Ning looked calm on the surface, but his heart tensed instinctively.
For the Resurgence Management Office, this was their first close-range contact with Taiping Luxury Garden.
And it was after provoking a reaction.
No one expected this to happen when the capture was nearly done.
Si Ning took a deep breath. From the corner of his eye, he saw that when the lights came on, the signal on their phones uniformly vanished—they couldn’t contact the outside anymore.
Even Captain Lu’s call wouldn’t come through.
And now, judging by the nearest light, that “presence” that turned on the light stood quietly just five meters away, “inside the wall.”
—Watching them.
For some reason, it hadn’t come out.
Si Ning’s expression grew grave when suddenly, a “Woof” sounded.
Bo Ting stood by the wall listening for a long time with nothing, suspecting they had left. He sighed in relief.
Then he patted Doudou’s head, signaling it to bark toward the outside and see if there was a reaction.
The next second.
The lazy big black dog stood up, bared its fangs, and let out a “Woof-wooo” at the wall corner.
The howl-like bark echoed.
The Sixth Esper Squad froze, then exchanged glances as if receiving a signal. They unanimously stepped back and moved quickly.
“Let’s go!”
Si Ning signaled, leading the team in a cautious retreat.
Scattered footsteps rang out from the wall corner again.
Inside the flower shop: Bo Ting led Doudou, utterly confused.
Huh?
They hadn’t left?
Wait, were they leaving now?
He listened intently and heard a group’s footsteps slowly fading from the north gate, followed by car doors opening.
Seemed like they were really leaving this time.
He eyed Doudou suspiciously. “What did you just bark?”
Doudou: …
“Woof-wooo.”
Doudou wagged its tail, completely not understanding human words.
Bo Ting snapped back, feeling a bit embarrassed. He realized he was being silly.
Why ask Doudou?
He had really thought Doudou’s IQ was human-level.
