A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

26:

The faint sympathy had completely cooled, and Wu Mingbai no longer felt there was anything excessive about his actions.

Despite the tragedy of losing a son they had raised for fifteen years, it was no excuse for their madness. The blame could be placed on the murderer, the school, even the heavens, but it certainly couldn’t fall on him.

Since they chose to be unreasonable, it was only right that they faced the consequences.

Mr. and Mrs. Sun did not understand Wu Mingbai’s words, mistaking them for a successful appeasement. In their eyes, Wu Mingbai was just a child, easily deceived.

After they finished speaking, Meng Huai snapped his fingers, and a plant cage rose from the ground, imprisoning the unconscious culprit.

The moment they saw the culprit, Mr. and Mrs. Sun couldn’t control themselves and pounced on him, their expressions ferocious, cursing him with the most venomous words they could think of for killing their son.

Once their emotions had somewhat settled, Meng Huai spoke, “The culprit has been caught, and we will send him to prison to face the law.”

“No,” Mr. Sun’s eyes were slightly red, but his expression was calm, “I hope you can hand over this culprit to us, so we can personally avenge Xiaoming. That should be included in your compensation, right?”

Since the student was killed within the academy, the Supernatural Academy bore a great responsibility. To compensate, they had given Mr. and Mrs. Sun a large sum of money, some interests in the supernatural world, and promised to catch the culprit.

But now, the Sun family clearly wanted to add a little more to their compensation: taking the culprit away.

Under normal circumstances, the school would have accepted such a request. But this culprit was no ordinary person.

Meng Huai shook his head regretfully, “Sorry, although we would like to agree, this culprit must be strictly controlled.”

“Why not? He killed my son! Why can’t I take him away?” Mrs. Sun questioned furiously, like a lioness who had lost her cub.

Mr. Sun was calmer, holding back his anger to stop Mrs. Sun, looking at Meng Huai, “What background does this culprit have?”

“A dangerous organization,” Meng Huai glanced at the culprit, a cold flash in his eyes, “We still need to investigate.”

Even the renowned Supernatural Academy needed to investigate, so Mr. Sun no longer thought about taking the culprit away. If there really was an organization behind him, forcibly taking him away might harm them instead.

Mrs. Sun, though reluctant, also understood the seriousness of the matter and likewise gave up on taking the person away. However, she had confidence in the Supernatural Academy and made a new request, “After you have thoroughly investigated the organization behind the culprit, I hope to personally deal with him.”

In reality, even if it were ordinary people, even the parents of the deceased, the law would not allow them to deal with the culprit. The law should handle the culprit.

But this was the supernatural world, where there were far fewer constraints.

“We will inform you when the time comes.” The future was uncertain, and Meng Huai gave a noncommittal answer.

Looking at the unconscious culprit, Mo Xiaotian asked curiously, “What kind of backing does he have?”

Hearing this question, Su Bei, who had inadvertently probed Mo Xiaotian’s identity, glanced at him subconsciously but quickly looked away, joining the others in looking towards Meng Huai.

Meng Huai waved his hand dismissively,

not wanting to dwell on the matter: “You kids shouldn’t stir up trouble without knowing better.”

Su Bei, however, was privy to the inside story, but he wasn’t sure if he should reveal it at this moment. After some thought, he asked his “Comic Consciousness” internally: “In the original comic setting, shouldn’t the protagonist have already discovered the black lightning by now?”

Without his hint in the original comic, the protagonist group could only find the murderer through the clues left by the deceased. Therefore, they must have deciphered the true nature of those cards.

Indeed, the “Comic Consciousness” confirmed his guess: “Yes.”

Hearing this, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, looking at the murderer. He planned to use a less exaggerated acting technique, pretending to “accidentally” discover the tattoo, and then shout it out loud.

The murderer was lying in the cage, but his collar nicely covered the lightning tattoo. To see the tattoo, one would have to go around to the other side. But wouldn’t it be too deliberate if he inexplicably walked over there?

Su Bei had always felt that the placement of this tattoo was quite unreasonable, as the probability of it being discovered on the back of the neck was not small. For instance, Mo Xiaotian’s little secret was easily discovered by Su Bei unintentionally, simply because Su Bei was taller than him.

If it were up to him, the tattoo should either be placed somewhere not easily seen by others, like the inner thigh, or made invisible, only appearing at specific times. If all else fails, even sticking a sticker over it would be better!

While Su Bei was pondering this, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a band-aid on the back of Mo Xiaotian’s neck, not knowing when it had been applied, perfectly positioned over the tattoo.

He almost laughed out loud.

It was evident that Mo Xiaotian was feeling guilty. Should he thank him for not just slapping on some tape? But a strawberry band-aid wasn’t a great choice either! Wasn’t this thing meant to be a joke?

As he let his thoughts wander, Jiang Tianming had already keenly noticed that Su Bei’s gaze seemed to fall on the murderer’s neck.

Why look there?

He looked puzzled in the same direction, and took a few steps closer. With this approach, the black lightning that was originally hidden under the collar was now clearly displayed before him.

Jiang Tianming’s eyes widened suddenly, and he instinctively wanted to ask out loud. But the next second, he closed his mouth, remaining silent.

If this symbol was indeed related to that organization, then speaking out about his discovery now could likely drag him into it. As an orphan, Jiang Tianming understood the basic principle of self-preservation.

He didn’t want to get his friends involved in such troublesome matters.

However, Su Bei was clearly not within the range of these friends. From his performance just now, Jiang Tianming guessed that he had already noticed the symbol.

With this thought, he moved discreetly to Su Bei’s side. Taking the opportunity while Meng Huai was recounting the capture of the murderer to Sun Father and Sun Mother, he quietly asked, “Did you notice the thing on the back of the murderer’s neck a while ago?”

Upon hearing this, Su Bei’s pupils shrank. Truly worthy of being the protagonist, to have discovered this secret. He had intended to reveal it himself, but now it seems there’s no need for the trouble.

There was no need to hide this matter, so he nodded. Curiously, he asked, “Why do you ask me?”

Jiang Tianming replied softly, “I saw you looking in that direction just now, so I guessed you already knew.”

Listening to his soft reply, Su Bei suddenly realized what he was being cautious about.

What could it be? The only thing to be cautious about was not wanting others to know that he had discovered this secret.

Indeed, one didn’t need to think too hard to know that this matter must be dangerous. Given Jiang Tianming’s character, if it weren’t for the plot’s push, he wouldn’t have gotten involved with these things.

Admittedly, even though he was now a man of riddles, Su Bei actually quite liked the talkative protagonist. He was fond of Jiang Tianming’s straightforward nature.

With that thought, he didn’t mind elaborating a bit: “That organization is no simple matter; not just any demon or ghost can stand against the Psychic Academy.”

What he really wanted to reveal was that there was more than one member of the Black Lightning organization in the school, or even further, to directly tell him that Mo Xiaotian was a member of this organization.

But saying too much would be uninteresting and not fit his character. According to the character of a person who enjoys the fun, if he knew there was an insider from the organization in the school, he would choose to watch from the sidelines, and even to see a good show, he might intentionally help Mo Xiaotian conceal it. To directly reveal the truth would break character.

But in reality, if Su Bei were to act according to his own nature, upon discovering Mo Xiaotian, he would have gone to a teacher to reveal his identity on the same day.

So Su Bei only said this much, but in fact, if Jiang Tianming thought deeply enough about this sentence, he might realize: How could an organization capable of confronting the Psychic Academy only plant one member inside?

However, to make such a connection was indeed too far-fetched, and Jiang Tianming did not think further, his expression becoming solemn due to the organization’s strength.

After the handover of the culprit, Meng Huai ushered Su Bei and the others out. Mo Xiaotian jumped excitedly: “Are we going to eat now? A celebration feast! A celebration feast!”

It was now five-thirty, just the right time for dinner.

Lan Subing nodded and sent everyone the restaurant she had booked on her phone. Although everyone needed to stay on campus, they were actually allowed to leave before the eleven o’clock curfew. However, aside from Mo Xiaotian, the others present didn’t really like going out, so they hadn’t explored the area around the school.

For this celebration feast, Lan Subing had made a special effort to find out more. After spending some time together, she was now able to say a few simple words in front of everyone. At this moment, she pulled down her scarf and introduced in a faint voice, “There’s a snack street outside the school. I’ve booked a six-person set meal at a stir-fry restaurant there, which is said to taste very good.”

As she spoke, she clenched her fists and looked down nervously, as if she would encounter something terrifying the moment she looked up.

Jiang Tianming and the others were also very considerate, holding their breath and keeping silent, providing her with a quiet environment to speak.

After Lan Subing finished speaking and took a deep breath, as if she had completed an incredible task, she covered her mouth with her scarf again. Only then did everyone else also take a deep breath and start to liven up.

“Your choice must be good,” Wu Mingbai winked at her, a picture of ingratiating charm. He understood all too well the saying, ‘the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach’—there was no reason for a guest to find fault.

Jiang Tianming, who knew him very well, decisively complained to Lan Subing, “He’s just humoring you.”

And with that, he successfully started a playful scuffle with Wu Mingbai.

Already hungry, Mo Xiaotian cheered, “I’m a big eater! I’ll definitely finish everything!”

Mutie Ren searched the restaurant and nodded affirmatively, “It has many good reviews, and the comments are all from our school, so they’re likely genuine. The restaurant Subing found is reliable.”

After saying this, he smiled at Mo Xiaotian, “Then we should have a good competition, my appetite is not small either.”

“Ding!”

Suddenly, Lan Subing’s phone chimed. She opened it to find a transfer of 50 yuan from Su Bei.

The note read— “AA for the meal, no need to treat for a celebration ^-^”!