Chapter 232: Dad, I'm Hungry

Game start, remaining countdown 8 hours.

The glaring red characters reflected in Feng Yuhuai's eyes, making them ache; her barely maintained stiff face was about to split in two.

The haze from the last game still shrouded her, exerting its effect; nightmare-like memories began attacking her split-in-two brain matter again.

One could say it's a case of once a stranger, twice familiar.

Feng Yuhuai did not hesitate too long this time, directly gritting her teeth and tapping the link below.

What met her eyes was a half-body photo of a middle-aged man, whose features bore a faint resemblance to the dead Chang Qingsen, making Feng Yuhuai's heart skip a beat.

Feng Yuhuai's pupils contracted to pinpoints, seeing the name behind the photo — Chang Wei.

Below was a string of considerate notes: Chang Qingsen's uncle is searching for the murderer who killed his nephew; he's closing in on you. For safety's sake, I suggest you strike first.

"Heh~"

Feng Yuhuai almost laughed out loud; how could she possibly believe that the mastermind hiding in the dark behind this text message would suddenly become so kind-hearted, genuinely thinking of her.

"Even across a text message, the falseness makes one want to vomit!" Feng Yuhuai's heart was filled with anger; her lowered eyeballs shifted back and forth between pupil and ring.

"First Chang Qingsen, then Chang Wei; obviously, the mastermind pulling my strings must have close ties to the Chang surname, or a deep blood feud." Feng Yuhuai laboriously turned her brain matter, deducing a conclusion.

Privately, Feng Yuhuai had not failed to investigate the last text message, but she truly had no starting point; the clues the other party left were too few.

Moreover, her brain had been a bit stiff lately, her coursework was heavy, and she was forced to participate in a martial arts competition jointly held by several universities; Feng Yuhuai truly couldn't squeeze out much free time.

Or rather, to maximize the mitigation of the Puppet Mother's side effects on her body, so that her daily expression wouldn't split and her speech wouldn't become double-voiced, Feng Yuhuai had already exhausted herself.

Recently, she had become taciturn in class, and at noon she deliberately used dieting as an excuse not to eat with her dorm sisters, trying to be alone as much as possible.

Although Feng Yuhuai could barely keep up the pretense, she could also feel that her dorm sisters had more or less sensed something was off about her.

Even though they had not yet discovered the terrifying changes on her body, the concern and strangeness in their gazes were becoming increasingly glaring by the day.

"Yu Huai, Yu Huai, your dad's asking you something?" Wang Xiuli lightly patted the shoulder of her daughter, who was staring blankly with her head lowered.

Feng Yuhuai returned from today's train of thought; she was finding it harder and harder to multitask now; the slightest distraction and her brain would fall into a half-crash daze like a computer with insufficient memory.

Feng Yuhuai put away her phone, slowly raised her head; the rings in her pupils reverted to normal pupils.

She looked at Feng Ju, forcing out a weary smile: "Dad, what did you just say? I was a bit distracted, didn't hear clearly."

Feng Ju was still very concerned about his daughter; he frowned and asked caringly:

"You've been distracted lately; is the study pressure too great? I said before, there's no need to keep running to the hospital to keep me company."

Feng Yuhuai coming to the hospital was not to accompany her father; she mainly came to gather intelligence.

Feng Yuhuai nodded lightly and replied: "Yes, participating in the martial arts competition does consume a lot of energy, but I can still handle it. Dad, you're discharged; from now on I'll focus on staying at school and devote myself even more to my studies."

Feng Yuhuai nodded lightly and replied: "Yes, participating in the martial arts competition does consume a lot of energy, but I can still handle it. Dad, you're discharged; from now on I'll focus on staying at school and devote myself even more to my studies."

Feng Ju acknowledged, his expression turning slightly solemn, and instructed:

"This martial arts competition jointly held by several universities is equivalent to a ranking assessment for all university students in the district; its results carry high reference value.

If you can stand out in the competition and achieve a good ranking, it will greatly benefit your college entrance exam. You are the pride of our whole family; Dad believes that with your ability you'll surely shine in the competition.

So you must go all out, not slack off, and not disappoint me and your mom, understand?"

Feng Yuhuai listened with some irritation; in the past, she had been happy to listen to Feng Ju's such admonitions; that feeling of being entrusted with the whole family's hopes made her feel pleased.

Especially, whenever Feng Ju praised her, he would incidentally belittle Feng Mu; that feeling of being compared would multiply the pride and satisfaction in her heart.

However, things are different now; Feng Yuhuai only felt that Feng Ju's words, heard too much, were truly a bit revolting.

Most importantly, Feng Mu didn't come to eat today; Feng Yuhuai couldn't feel that comparative pleasure.

"Why must you always unilaterally pin your hopes on me? I'm not your marionette." Feng Yuhuai complained in her heart.

She stiffly nodded, changed the subject, and asked: "Then, Dad, what were you wanting to ask me just now?"

A pale 【mask】 flashed through Feng Ju's mind; a trace of unconcealable hatred flashed in his eyes, along with a thread of deeply hidden fear.

He subconsciously moved his mechanical arm; the unparalleled sense of power from the metal's operation dispelled the lingering fear in his heart.

Feng Ju let out a long breath; whether it was an illusion or not, his exhaled breath seemed tinged with a cold metallic taste:

"Several homicide cases have occurred at your school recently; the Special Commissioner handed this case to your dad; Dad must do everything to catch the murderer hiding in your school."

Feng Yuhuai's expression turned grave; she nodded seriously and said firmly:

"Mm, I firmly believe Dad will surely catch the murderer soon and bring justice for the few classmates who tragically fell victim at my school."

Feng Ju agreed: "Rest assured, Dad will spare no effort to catch him; so Dad wants to ask, recently at school, have you noticed any classmate or teacher with suspicious points or abnormal behavior?"

Feng Yuhuai's brows lifted slightly; she asked in shock: "Suspicious, abnormal behavior?"

Feng Ju nodded: "That is, sudden personality changes, or obvious differences in behavior compared to before."

Before discharge, Feng Ju had an in-depth talk with the Special Commissioner.

His life now could almost be said to belong to the Special Commissioner; therefore, out of trust, the Special Commissioner revealed some extremely secret key information to him.

The gist was that the 【mask】 was most likely parasitized by a special type of Curse of the Evil Sacrifice.

And during this process of parasitism and fusion, the host would be increasingly influenced by the Curse of the Evil Sacrifice; the external manifestation is that personality, interests, living habits would undergo earth-shattering changes; such changes are extremely difficult to completely conceal through disguise.

Feng Ju paused, then gave examples to explain:

"For instance, someone originally fond of liveliness suddenly becomes taciturn; or someone usually with a light diet suddenly has a huge appetite increase; or someone with previously poor grades suddenly makes a leap in progress; similar cases, have you noticed any?"

With each example Feng Ju gave, Feng Yuhuai's heart sank a notch; the fingernails clenched in her palm melted into red threads.

She seemed to have been described as hungry by Feng Ju!

……

(End of Chapter)