Chapter 12: The Scarlet Parrot: Brother, One of Us

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Inside the interrogation room, the walls were clad in cold white bricks, exuding a stark and monotonous atmosphere. About one-third up on the wall, there was a patch resembling a web-like cluster of pits, as if struck by a heavy object, revealing the gray concrete beneath. Scanning further along the inner wall, a large, bold inscription caught the eye:

“Confess leniently; resist severely!”

Xu Mingsong instinctively sat upright, stealing a glance at Xia Zhuyi standing nearby, who silently gave him an OK sign.

“We’re old classmates, after all!”

Classmates don’t betray each other, right?!

As for Yuan Jing, sitting directly across from him, his piercing gaze made Xu Mingsong uneasy.

Earlier, Xia Zhuyi had taken him out on her small electric scooter, but barely had they traveled a short distance before encountering police tape surrounding the area. A large contingent of heavily armed soldiers stood like a fortress, their dark barrels aimed at anyone inside the cordoned zone who was not part of the friendly forces.

Only then did Xu Mingsong realize—without Xia Zhuyi’s help, even if he had singlehandedly defeated the insect creatures, he would have most likely been arrested on the spot by the soldiers, who were eager to earn commendations.

And the man who had emerged from the soldiers was the one calling himself Yuan Jing.

Dressed sharply in a suit, Yuan Jing frowned as he scrutinized the mission report Xia Zhuyi had submitted, then fixed his gaze on the young man sitting stiffly before him. Oh, this kid was quite handsome.

“Age?”

“Seventeen, in the prime of youth.”

“Gender?”

“Male.” Xu Mingsong paused, then answered precisely, “Physiologically male, and identifies as male.”

“Ahem…” Yuan Jing coughed, snorted coldly, and continued, “What do you do for a living?”

“High school student, Dongcheng No. 4 High School, unshakable top of the grade in both sophomore and junior years. My expected college entrance score is 686.”

“Who asked you that?” Yuan Jing widened his eyes, exhaling sharply. Muttering disdainfully, “Honor student, huh?” he nonchalantly flipped through the documents beside him.

Damn! Is this guy really that impressive?

I admit it, you’re slightly better than my entire high school career.

Yuan Jing finally said seriously, “Alright, let’s get straight to the point.”

“The situation right now is…” He picked up the file next to him, a mission report hastily prepared by Xia Zhuyi. He had frowned upon first reading it, and now his frown deepened with each line.

“Rookie Xia Zhuyi, during a performance assessment mission, unexpectedly encountered a suspected autonomous awakener—that is, this honor student gentleman here. You were originally a target marked by the insect creatures; after sensing the danger, you fled to the southern part of the city to confront them alone, successfully killing five of these insects. The last tardy insect was then eliminated by the rookie.”

Xia Zhuyi nodded without changing her expression.

Xu Mingsong nodded as well.

Yuan Jing folded his arms. “That’s why those insects ran to the south end of the city—it was you who lured them there…”

Then, turning kindly to Xu Mingsong, he asked, “Do you know what an autonomous awakener is?”

Xu Mingsong shook his head. “Not at all.”

As expected, Yuan Jing nodded. “Let me explain. The odds of this happening are even lower than winning the lottery.”

“There are currently only two types of autonomous awakeners.”

“One type comes from ancestral bloodlines containing demon blood—meaning that somewhere in your lineage, your ancestors interbred with demons, or half-demons, or fused demon blood through some means, producing descendants carrying demon blood diluted over generations. Only when human blood overwhelmingly dominates can a sane awakener be born.”

He tapped the table lightly and added, “Because the process of diluting the bloodline is extremely inhumane, those offspring with undiluted blood cannot retain their sanity—they become outright crazed monsters. Hence, such awakeners are typically passed down through specific families. However, as far as I know, at least here in Dongcheng, there is no pure-blood ‘Xu’ family…”

In a corner of the ceiling, a surveillance camera’s faint red indicator blinked silently, like an eye watching the group.

Ji Lin sat in the monitoring room, surrounded by a team of professionals who closely observed Xu Mingsong’s every gesture and reaction, not missing even the smallest expression.

“Honestly, he probably has something to hide.”

“It’s not about lying or not; look at the eye contact between him and the rookie… If he wasn’t hiding something, I’d eat this screen right here.”

Interrogating a high schooler? That’s child’s play!

If an amateur like him could conceal anything from these experts, all their years of hard work would be wasted!

“Let me handle it—I have nine ways to make him tell the truth, nine methods!” one man showed a fierce look.

Others eagerly rubbed their hands, eager to deploy their secret weapons. “Ha! Bring out my long-hidden ace; this kind who dares lie in the interrogation room isn’t an ordinary suspect. We need to hit hard!”

Amid their enthusiastic chatter, the sound of boots striking the floor approached from behind.

The room fell silent.

Zhu Ming entered from the back, standing before the monitor with interest as she watched the playful teenager on the screen. Her arms crossed, her shadow nearly engulfing everyone, silencing the group.

Soon, her expression turned to one of disdain, as if looking at something filthy, causing the men who had just been clamoring for torture to realize they were in trouble.

Damn it, they’d pissed off the leader’s favorite pet!

The interrogation continued.

Yuan Jing leaned toward Xu Mingsong. “Do you think you’re that kind of person?”

“No.” Xu Mingsong shook his head decisively, affirming his pure human bloodline.

“Of course not. Tracing your parents back three generations, every relative is clean… Actually, those with impure bloodlines wouldn’t be wandering among common folk.”

Yuan Jing explained frankly in front of Xu Mingsong. To these high-class people who looked down on others, the inheritance and growth of pure-blood families were crucial. Those rare sane awakeners with demon blood were generally groomed as heirs. If a legitimate demon-blood awakener went missing, Dongcheng would have erupted.

Xu Mingsong understood.

Such aristocratic bloodlines obviously had nothing to do with him!

If he truly had some half-demon heritage, he’d probably be arrogantly looking down on others, running wild in the streets, committing crimes, and embodying every cliché of a spoiled brat—no need to be so meek now.

Yuan Jing smiled. “If you were, you wouldn’t be the one we’re interrogating—you’d be interrogating us by now.”

“Well then, what about the second type?” Xu Mingsong asked eagerly.

“Let’s take a look at the second type of autonomous awakener. We prefer to call them ‘pollutants.’”

Damn, this smooth-talking guy is about to crush me.

Once those words left Yuan Jing’s mouth, Xu Mingsong knew the situation wasn’t good.

“These are usually acquired awakeners. There are two main paths. One is being contaminated by something related to demons, becoming an unlucky soul with demon blood. Their chance of losing control and going berserk is among the highest—seven or eight out of ten go crazy on the spot.”

Xu Mingsong’s expression changed slightly. “What about the remaining two or three?”

Yuan Jing raised three fingers. “Most don’t survive more than three years before losing their minds. The longest recorded survival is thirteen years. If I recall correctly, that guy holds the world record but died unexpectedly during a mission. From this perspective, if you have an unshakable will of steel, it’s not impossible.”

Not bad—that sounds like a protagonist’s hallmark.

He nodded slightly, only to hear Yuan Jing continue.

“The other type is someone unknowingly parasitized by a demon, thinking they’ve hit the jackpot, but in reality, they’re the ultimate unlucky ones making clothes for others. You should be quite familiar with this type of parasitic demon… The insect creatures you killed fall into this category.”

Having laid out all the options, Yuan Jing looked at him with interest.

“So, which type do you think you are?”

Xu Mingsong: “Probably the second type. The first?”

Yuan Jing sighed immediately. “Good, you’re sharp.”

He slammed the table. “Xiao Jiu!”

“Squawk!”

A red parrot descended from the ceiling lamp, standing on the table with one leg, wings curled around a burning cigarette, and suddenly blew out a smoke ring. Its intelligent heterochromatic eyes—one red, one blue—fixed on Xu Mingsong.

Yuan Jing stood, hands on the table. “Honestly, I can’t really tell which type you are. We’ll have to hand you over to the assessment department for a verdict… Since that’s the case, do you know why I’ve told you so much?”

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Xu Mingsong shook his head.

“I hold no ill will toward you, nor am I singling you out,” Yuan Jing said.

“I’m telling you all this to help you understand the situation and to give you a chance to explain. Everything we do is routine—it’s about maintaining Dongcheng’s order and protecting the lives and property of its people.”

“In fact, I don’t doubt the rookie’s mission report. Although it sounds a bit coincidental, after my explanation, you should understand—it’s most likely just coincidence. The probability of anything else is even lower… So, I’m willing to believe it.”

Xu Mingsong nodded hesitantly.

“However, the truth is independent of my willingness to believe. What I have to do is eliminate risks.”

Yuan Jing raised two fingers. “This is still a binary outcome: you either become one of our colleagues or get thrown into the building next door. Whether you live or die, I can’t guarantee. If you become a colleague, consider this your rookie guide. As for the other option, I don’t need to elaborate.”

“Right now, you need to prove that you pose no risk—at least that your risk is controllable—and that you’re not a ticking time bomb.”

Yuan Jing tapped the parrot’s head and smiled. “You got involved in an assessment. Coincidentally, I’m one of the main people in charge of it, and this fellow—Xiao Jiu—is overseeing the whole thing. So let’s start with the basics: before testing risk and type, let’s see if you’ve been lying.”

“Squawk! I saw it all!” the parrot screeched.

Xu Mingsong’s heart skipped a beat.

Wait a minute—these guys are talking about “risk of losing control”… but during the fight, he was practically berserk! Even recalling the scene gave him chills. Could that really be explained away?

Does that count as losing control?

Yuan Jing said gravely, “Xiao Jiu, tell me, what did you see?”

“Young master! One against five!”

“Rookie! Slacking! Slacking! Big slacking!”

Xu Mingsong’s tension eased slightly.

So this so-called full-time surveillance parrot dropped the ball at the critical moment?

Yuan Jing clapped his hands and smiled. “Alright, young man, you’ve passed the first test. Next, please explain this… sword?”

He pulled a bloodstained bronze sword from under the table. “I hope you can give us a complete and reasonable explanation—say, it’s a family heirloom or something—that’ll be easier for us to believe… Tch, alchemical equipment, how ancient is this relic?”

Xu Mingsong began to sweat profusely.

If I say this thing was brought back by my cat from someone else’s house to keep me company, would you believe it?

“Hmm… This sword looks kind of familiar,” Yuan Jing mused to himself.

Just then, the walkie-talkie in Yuan Jing’s pocket buzzed.

“Wait a moment.”

He frowned. Who dares to interrupt an interrogation?

Don’t you know I’m working?

That flash of insight just got ruined!

He took out his phone—it displayed the caller as “BOSS.” His expression changed instantly.

“Shh…”

Yuan Jing turned away, waved to Xu Mingsong, and handed the interrogation over to his adjutant, then ran outside the interrogation room to answer the call.

“Hey hey hey, Sister Ming, you need me?”

On the other end came Zhu Ming’s voice:

“Yuan Jing, recruit that kid into our Fourth Team.”

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