The devil was in a good mood.
Recently, he had manipulated No.8 to watch the show and had gained a lot of fun on the front line.
Although things didn't develop as he had expected during the second monthly exam, it wasn't bad either.
The most interesting one was, of course, the Magician who tore off the peaceful surface.
No.1 was looking forward to what kind of beast he would release, especially after the Magician said, "I want to destroy this copy." The devil's interest reached its peak.
The Magician after his attitude changed was so delicious that he couldn't help but want to open this beautifully wrapped gift box in advance to see what kind of surprise treasure was inside.
Before the Zong Jiu came to his office, No.1 was already waiting for him.
The moment the white-haired Magician opened the door, the devil was sitting behind the desk. He put down the pen in his hand and looked at him with a smile.
"Not long ago, the teaching office just contacted me. I heard that you removed all the surveillance cameras in the class?"
The man played with the pen with his fingertips and asked casually, but there was a hint of admiration in his tone.
Unexpectedly, the white-haired youth wasn't the only one who came in.
He also brought a group of people behind him.
Behind the Zong Jiu, the trainees who were forced to come in stood at the door. Their faces, which had been full of arrogance just now, quieted down after seeing No.1 in the office. They were full of fear.
These trainees were the troublemakers of the other classes. They were the managers and the former informants. They were the unstable elements in the group.
When the class leaders of each class brought these people here, none of them were convinced. But when Zong Jiu wanted to bring them to this lord, they all became obedient like quails.
"Hurry up, don't waste time, go in."
The class leader of Class 6 impatiently pushed these people into the office. He carefully looked at No. 1 with eyes full of fanaticism and admiration until the door slammed in front of him with a bang.
These trainees didn't dare to breathe after coming in. They were visibly trembling in place.
Only the white-haired young man standing in front of them was not afraid at all. He even ordered bluntly, "Make them obey me absolutely."
No.1 raised his eyebrows. Before he could say anything, Zong Jiu seemed to know what he was going to say and said coldly, "Sir, you didn't use your skills in the second monthly exam. It's not too much to use the NPC reward, right?"
There was nothing wrong with the theory, but this requirement of cooperation was really worth considering.
The demon squinted his dark golden eyes and looked at him. The curve of his mouth became more and more dangerous.
His gaze swept across the few trainees who were standing in the corner of the office, trying their best to shrink back. It was difficult to tell if he was happy or angry.
"You want me to control these ants?"
No.1 did indeed have the ability of a Puppet Master, but the problem was that he was not willing to control any trash.
Just like Sheng Yu, she was an abandoned pawn in order to get close to Magician. Lin Guoxing was a chess piece to control the black-clothed Ah Zan. Those who could be controlled by the demon were either a springboard or directly the demon's ultimate goal. Even if there was someone in the middle, they were just pawns to achieve his goal.
A few trainees thought he was angry. Their knees went weak and they trembled as they wanted to kneel on the ground.
On the other hand, Zong Jiu was like an outsider. He nodded indifferently and asked in return.
"Sir, you won't go back on your promise, right?"
The black-haired demon looked at him with a meaningful and creepy gaze for a long time.
In the next second, the tapestry scarlet curtains at the back of the office moved without any wind.
The already dark room flickered with light, making it eerie for no reason.
The man sitting in front of the desk lazily raised his hand.
A cold wind blew from the flat ground and forcefully lowered the temperature of the entire room by a few degrees.
Around the pair of white gloves, thousands of invisible threads seemed to escape from the void. Each thread glowed with a cold metallic light and was unstoppable.
Unfortunately, only two people in the office could see it.
At dusk, the dim sunlight seeped in through the raised curtains and spread out on the brown wooden floor of the office. It cast a crisscrossing shadow, revealing an indescribable fear.
The trainees all widened their eyes, their faces twisted in fear. Before they could speak, their words were forever stuck in their throats. Their heads drooped, and they all stood silently in place.
After doing all this, the man stood up from the desk with a smile in his eyes. "Is that enough?"
This was the first time Zong Jiu saw the demon use the Puppet Master's ability in front of him.
He had made the request to fulfill the reward and deliberately brought these people here with the intention of blatantly testing the demon. After all, not long ago, No.1 had tricked Zong Jiu into believing that he didn't belong to this world. Now, he was just giving him a taste of his own medicine.
It had to be said that after watching the entire thing, it was impossible not to feel apprehensive.
Such unpredictable means, no matter where it was, would evoke fear from the depths of one's heart.
The scariest thing was that Zong Jiu didn't just test the demon. He also deliberately brought the troublemakers of the entire year, roughly ten of them. He wanted to see the limit of the demon's Puppet Master's ability, how many people he could control at once, and what other conditions were needed to achieve complete control other than physical contact and bleeding.
But he miscalculated.
No.1 did not even come into direct contact with anyone. He merely moved his fingers casually and turned all the trainees present into his puppets.
But he did reveal some of the conditions of his ability before. Zong Jiu didn't think the demon would be interested in lying about this.
So, the white-haired youth raised his eyebrows. "Enough is enough, but are you sure they've been manipulated? Doesn't your ability require physical contact to activate? "
The demon smiled. "Under normal circumstances, it's not bad, but in this instance … there are always unexpected gains."
Seeing that Zong Jiu was about to speak, the man suddenly took a step forward, bent down ambiguously, and put a finger to his mouth.
"Shh, your reward has been fulfilled."
The soft fabric couldn't stop the cold body behind it, and it made the thin lips look even colder.
Zong Jiu raised his head slightly and stared back at him without backing down. In the depths of his pupils, the flame that was ignited not long ago was still shining brightly.
The demon looked down at him and felt that the cells and blood in his body were clamoring to destroy him.
But he calmed down, like an active volcano suppressing the eruption of magma. It was also because he knew that food should be cooked to the best temperature to enjoy its taste. The index finger of the glove curved slightly, intentionally or unintentionally rubbing the corner of the young man's beautiful lips.
The man's voice was deep and unbearably hoarse. It was extremely seductive.
"If I tell you everything, there won't be any fun in solving riddles, little magician."
"Now, let's see how you're going to destroy this instance."
"Don't forget, you still owe me one."
.....
After leaving the office, Zong Jiu's expression was gloomy.
This test could only be said to be a tie.
He didn't get more information about No. 1's ability, but he achieved his goal. At least he made the disobedient people obedient.
It was just that no one knew if this "obedient" being manipulated by No. 1 was really obedient.
At least he could say that even if these people didn't cooperate with his work, as long as they didn't cause trouble, it was fine. Zong Jiu didn't have any more requirements for them.
He returned to the classroom.
The next arrangement was no arrangement.
The other two class monitors obviously lacked trust in his plan. They planned to put all their eggs in two baskets, while telling the class to study hard in the remaining 30 days in an attempt to reach the 1,000 mark mark. It could be considered a two-pronged plan.
Only Class 9 didn't fit in with them.
When Zong Jiu said that they didn't need to study for the rest of the time, the Class 9 trainees really didn't study. Every day in class, they either held a seminar or gathered together to play cards with their draft paper. They went to bed at 10 o 'clock every night. After ten days, the dark circles under their eyes had mostly disappeared. They were full of energy and enjoyed everything they ate.
In the first Weekly Test, their entire class's score had dropped instead of increasing. It had even dropped from more than 800 to more than 750. This had shocked the entire grade and the bullet screen.
[No way … Class 9 trusts the magician that much? It's as if they've given up all hope.]
[I'm also worried. Seeing them eat, sleep, and play every day, the other classes are all nervously studying questions. I wonder if I've walked into the wrong place.]
[But the problem is that Class 9 doesn't have a backup plan. Let's not talk about how difficult it is to destroy the instance, they don't even have a backup plan. I'm really worried.]
[Maybe they're brave because they're skilled. In any case, this instance will be closed in ten days. By then, it'll be obvious whether or not Class 9 can pass it. What's the point of worrying?]
Indeed, no matter what the outside world said or guessed, Class 9 remained unmoved and did what they were supposed to do.
Finally, just after the second weekly test, a new clue was sent to Zong Jiu.
As early as last month, Tokumon's paper shikigami lost contact with him near the Corpse Pool at the Iron Gate.
The only thing he knew was that in the final image that the paper shikigami sent him, a faceless teacher seemed to have seen this piece of paper in a corner, picked up a broom, and swept the paper to the side.
At the same time, because the resentment in that area was too strong, the spiritual power attached to the paper shikigami was greatly reduced.
As a result, just when everyone thought that the paper shikigami had died a heroic death, Tokumon suddenly had a dream when he was sleeping a few days ago.
There was a subtle connection between Yin-Yang Masters and their shikigami, especially this kind of shikigami that was completely nourished by the Yin-Yang Master's spiritual power. It was very likely that when their spiritual power ran out or before they completely disappeared, they would transmit the last image and clue to their master in the form of a dream.
This clue came from the iron gate near the Corpse Pool, which was often used by faceless people, but no one knew what it was used for. It was very likely that the paper shikigami was coincidentally brought in and received such an unexpected clue.
The image sent by the shikigami showed piles of snow-white test papers and faceless people sitting around a round table setting questions.
That room turned out to be the test paper bank of No.1 Middle School.