Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-435

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Mo Fan asked Lingling to replay the recording. As she had observed, Liu Xian suddenly came to a stop halfway, but Mo Fan still could not see anything in front of her after taking a closer look.

Mo Fan saw her take a few more steps forward. The place did not have much light, and the girl slowed down her pace in the shadow, coming to a stop. Unfortunately, a huge pillar was blocking most of her figure. It seemed like she was using the pillar as a support as she was trying to catch her breath, like a patient suffering from a disease breaking out.

However, after replaying the recording a few more times, it felt more like something was grabbing onto the girl, preventing her from moving.

After quite some time, she seemed to be worn out, as if she were suffocating. Her body stiffened as she slowly fell to the ground.

Soon after, the surveillance cam caught Huo Tuo rushing toward the girl in a panic. He did not inspect her condition, but seemed to be chasing after something. He was yelling furiously at the empty station.

Following that, Huo Tuo carried Liu Xian out of the station, but he could not get her to treatment in time.

"It looks like he did see something," said Mo Fan.

"I've already checked the recording. There's no one hiding by the pillar, yet when half of Liu Xian's figure was blocked by the pillar, it did seem like something was grabbing her. Mo Fan, you're a Shadow Magician. Do you think someone might be using a Shadow Element Spell to hide behind the pillar? The recording is in greyscale, so it's hard to tell if the shadows were moving," analyzed Liu Xian.

"It's possible. Places like subway stations would have plenty of shadows, so a Shadow Magician could easily move between them," Mo Fan nodded.

Those were all the clues provided by the recordings, basically confirming that the culprit had abilities of the Shadow Element.

Mo Fan and Lingling paid the man whom Mo Fan was disguised as a visit, but they discovered that he was only an ordinary shopkeeper. He did not provide any useful information.

Without a lead, Mo Fan and Lingling had no choice but to head to the girl's college where Liu Ru was studying at, to see if she could provide any more useful information. Otherwise, it was impossible to proceed with the quest.

------

Mo Fan had just learned of the existence of the girls' college in Shanghai. The place seemed to be educating nurses, stewardesses, and models, hence there were lots of gorgeous students. The people nearby referred to it as Men's Heaven.

Mo Fan deeply agreed with the saying. Just a few keywords were enough to trigger his unlimited imagination.

Mo Fan saw a class full of beautiful girls when he found Liu Ru's classroom. He almost forgot why he was there.

"Are you looking for Liu Ru? She went back to her room as she suddenly felt uncomfortable, probably because of her period," said a rather blunt girl.

The girls nearby giggled when they heard her words. One among them who was fairly busty said, "No one would have period three to four times in a month. I bet she's sick because of messing with men too much outside of the school."

"Don't say it like that, her sister has just passed away."

"We're only stating the truth. She has been occasionally asking for leave, and always says no when asked to see a doctor. God knows if she's contracted some disease."

It was obvious that Liu Ru was not well received in the class.

On second thought, it seemed fairly reasonable. Liu Ru had a delicate and pretty look, and a good physique. Her melancholy appearance was urging someone to give her tender affection. Mo Fan did have a good first impression of her, and it was quite common for girls like her to be excluded by a group of b**ches.

------

Mo Fan decided to pay her a visit as a friend.

Most of the students were in class at this time. The dorm was under the supervision of an elderly woman, yet Mo Fan managed to sneak inside with the help of his Shadow Element.

Liu Ru's room was located at the end of the corridor, close to the woods outside of the dorm. Mo Fan did not barge in straight away, he knocked on the door politely.

"Are you skipping classes again… huh, it's you?" Liu Ru did not seem well, and looked quite surprised when she saw Mo Fan.

"I want to ask you about something, but your classmates told me you were sick, so here I am paying you a visit," said Mo Fan.

"I'm fine, thanks for your concern. Besides, I've already met the friend my sister mentioned beside her workplace, so please stop disturbing me," said Liu Ru with an alert look.

Mo Fan was startled. He did not expect his disguise to fall apart so quickly.

He let out an awkward smile, and when he was about to explain himself, Liu Ru had shut the door closed.

Mo Fan left helplessly. The situation was rather grim, and it felt extremely difficult to complete the quest. They had no leads at all, and even if they could prove that Liu Xian had died after being bitten by something, they had no chance of capturing the vampire.

------

After meeting up with Lingling at the school gate, Lingling immediately asked about his progress.

"Say, Liu Ru has been unwell recently, could it be..." Liu Ru speculated wildly.

Mo Fan's eyes gleamed.

Her classmates did mention that she was having periods, which could be linked to anemia.

Perhaps she was not falling sick, but the vampire was secretly sucking her blood without her noticing?

"Huo Tuo did mention that most vampires have their own fetishes. Liu Xian and Liu Ru were twins, so it's likely that the vampire's fetish is twins. Therefore, after getting his hands on the elder sister, he has now come to prey on the younger sister!" interpreted Mo Fan.

"So we can find the guy by keeping an eye on Liu Ru," said Lingling.

Mo Fan felt an urge to give the smart Lingling a kiss after finding a glimpse of hope to complete his quest. Unfortunately, Lingling had already seen through his motives, and blocked her red face with her little palm.

"Please, I still plan to marry in the future," said Lingling, her face full of disdain.

Mo Fan uttered a hollow laugh.

------

Mo Fan and Lingling waited until night time. They were crouched in the bushes outside of the fence, hoping that a hare would kill itself by crashing into a tree trunk while they waited.

Nothing happened on the first night. Liu Ru stayed in her room, even her meals were brought home by her roommate.

On the second night, there was some movement in the woods, but it turned out to be some student having a secret date with some guy from outside of the school.

"Can't they find a room?" Mo Fan crouched in the bushes while hearing the out-of-place voices coming from the close distance.

Luckily Lingling was not around, as it was surely not the best scene for her to witness.

During the second half of the night, Mo Fan felt like falling asleep, but he suddenly felt the presence of the Shadow Element lingering in the air.

Mo Fan quickly gathered his focus.

The fish had taken the bait!