Today's test was another major failure.

Not only You Yonghuai, but even Si Xuanyin, who was beside him, was stopped by the invisible wall halfway through her journey.

Ling Xiuqi stood a little further away, his eyes full of confusion.

Why does this invisible wall treat people differently?

Ling Xiuqi took a spare button from his pocket and tossed it forward.

"clatter."

The button passed through the air wall blocking Ling Xiuqi and landed at You Yonghuai's feet, seemingly unaffected by the air wall.

He then tried to conjure a hurricane in his palm, but was bounced off by the air wall.

"It's blocking things with spirits?" Ling Xiuqi casually retracted the hurricane that had exploded behind him and shouted towards You Yonghuai, who was closer to the center:

"Let's see what's inside... Oh, and while you're at it, please pick up the buttons for me."

Bending down to pick up the button, You Yonghuai shone his flashlight toward the center of the underground space.

The metal floor, reflecting light, was covered with bright red patterns, forming an intricate magic circle.

Your gaze fell on the somewhat familiar pattern at the very center, and You Yonghuai narrowed his eyes slightly.

"It's a doomed node..." Si Xuanyin recognized the contents of the center of the magic circle, then frowned, "But what are those things around it?"

If it were just a point of misfortune, Si Xuanyin was certain that such a large underground space would not be necessary.

"Let's take a picture of it first," Ling Xiuqi called out from afar. "Let's hurry up and not linger here too long."

Ling Xiuqi felt that if he stayed in this dark and gloomy place for too long, something bad would happen.

You Yonghuai, who shared the same idea, nodded, took out his phone and took a few pictures. After confirming that the images were clear enough, he walked back to Ling Xiuqi's side.

"Hold on tight." Ling Xiuqi gripped You Yonghuai's gloved hand, and a hurricane quickly rose from beneath their feet, lifting the two of them upwards.

The hole that had collapsed in the corner of the campus was about the size of three manhole covers. The two landed on the asphalt road next to it and looked back.

"This thing is pretty hard to hide... You did a good job." Ling Xiuqi patted You Yonghuai on the shoulder.

"What do we do next?"

"Go find the construction team," Ling Xiuqi said, forwarding the photos You Yonghuai had taken to Su Rou. "The underground space is so large, it even exceeds the area that a school should have. I don't believe the construction team wouldn't notice the problem."

"But six or seven years have passed, haven't they?"

"We should give it a try first."

Shortly after You Yonghuai and his group left, the crisp sound of the dismissal bell rang in the senior high school building.

That's all for today, get out of class dismissed.

Dai Quan put away the test papers on the podium, not daring to look at the unfamiliar students below the stage, and walked out of the classroom with his head down.

For Dai Quan, whose memory is stuck three years in the past, continuing to work here is nothing short of torture.

A mountain of to-do items, unfamiliar interpersonal relationships, and doubts about one's future self...

Wife passed away, father fell ill, the pressure of raising two children...

The sudden increase in financial pressure was simply unsolvable for him, a person who lived paycheck to paycheck.

But he solved it in the future, or perhaps now.

Considering the current state of the school, Dai Quan couldn't think of any other possibility besides his own involvement in the embezzlement.

His conscience tormented him again and again, and the immense guilt and self-loathing made him want to turn himself in to the police.

But when he got home and saw the two children who hadn't even started elementary school yet, his hard-won determination instantly crumbled.

He couldn't let go of his family.

But those who do bad things should be punished.

He is neither worthy nor should he be an exception.

During the time he was awake from his coma, Dai Quan struggled with himself every day.

The result was obvious—he was afraid to confront the mistakes he had made.

The walk back to the office was short, yet it felt long.

After Dai Quan pushed open the somewhat broken wooden door, he saw a strange man sitting in his seat, idly typing on the keyboard.

"You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for so long." Upon seeing Dai Quan, the man's expression changed, and a smile appeared on his face.

"……Who are you?"

"Oh, I almost forgot, we didn't know each other three years ago."

The man chuckled and slapped his forehead, but didn't introduce himself. He simply took a vial of medicine out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"Drink it, and you'll regain your memories from the past three years."

Looking at the vial of medicine that seemed to be filled with dye, Dai Quan hesitated before picking it up and asking, "Why do you want to erase my memory?"

The man didn't answer directly, but pointed to the medicine in Dai Quan's hand: "You'll know once you drink it."

Looking at the man's forced smile, Dai Quan knew that if he didn't drink, the man probably wouldn't let him off the hook.

After drinking the medicine in one gulp, Dai Quan felt as if a raging fire had appeared in his stomach, burning intensely.

Immediately, three years of memories surfaced in my mind, like a slideshow playing at high speed.

On a rainy night, the roar of car horns and the flashing headlights obscured the view, but could not conceal the figure lying in a pool of blood.

The smell of disinfectant filled the air. In the brightly lit ward, the wrinkled old man seemed to never wake up again, his face pale and his head drooping.

One after another, fee deduction notices came like death knells.

Panic, fear, and then numbness.

Dai Quan watched as he connected with the man before him, how he used his position to profit himself, and how he used dirty money to support his family and get through difficult times.

But once a person breaks their vows, they can never go back to the way they were before.

Excessive spending stimulates Dai Quan's senses, while his impoverished childhood awakens the greed within him.

He discovered that as long as he let go of those vague notions of "teacher ethics," he could live a life several times better.

Gradually, he changed.

He became the person he once despised the most.

"Ugh—" Memories flashed through his mind, his conscience was tormented, and Dai Quan knelt on the ground, unable to stop dry heaving.

"Recovering your memories all at once can indeed put a strain on your body." The man walked up to Dai Quan, squatted down, and helped him up.

"Alright, welcome back, Director Dai."

Dai Quan didn't look up, a resolute glint flashing in his tear-filled eyes.

……

Outside a somewhat dilapidated building, Ling Xiuqi turned off the map on his phone and said, "This is it."

You Yonghuai followed beside him, looked up at the sign whose writing was no longer legible, and wanted to ask Ling Xiuqi if they had gone to the wrong place.

It looks like it's been closed for a long time.

"No problem, this is it," Ling Xiuqi said confidently.

As You Yonghuai slowly walked to the roller shutter door, two options appeared before his eyes:

[Lock picking (13% success rate)]

[Breaking through the goal (success rate 78%)]

It seems that after the "Eye of the Evil God" entered the second stage, it began to actively check many things.