Chapter 40: The Surveillance Eye

June 17th.

Early in the morning, Qiao Sang arrived at Mingpei Junior High School accompanied by her mother.

The distribution of the high school entrance exam venues was based on districts, with candidates from each school randomly assigned to different exam sites within the district.

Qiao Sang was assigned to Class 17 of Mingpei Junior High School.

"Did you bring your admission ticket?"

"Yes."

"Did you bring your pens and other supplies?"

"Yes."

"During the exam, do the questions you know first, and leave the ones you don't know for last, okay?"

"Got it."

"Go in, and I'll come to pick you up when you're done." Her mother said softly.

This was the first time her mother had been so gentle since the loss of Jiantian Bear's signature, and Qiao Sang was a bit unaccustomed to it.

"Mom...?"

Her mother became even gentler, "What's wrong?"

"The time hasn't come yet, I can't go in." Qiao Sang said helplessly.

If she could, she would change this habit of always arriving half a day early wherever she went.

Mother: "..."

...

There were not just two teachers monitoring the class, but also two pet beasts.

Qiao Sang sat quietly in the fifth row, sixth seat.

A purple-blue rodent pet beast was touching each candidate's body with its antennae. Its blue antennae, about seven to eight centimeters long, were antenna-like and located on its forehead.

Qiao Sang, who had recently improved slightly as a struggling student, recognized this pet beast as a Purple Vase Rat.

The Purple Vase Rat is an electric-type pet beast.

It can detect electronic devices through the antennae on its forehead.

The Purple Vase Rat touched each candidate one by one. When it touched the third row, third seat candidate, its antennae suddenly emitted a purple electric current.

"Ah!"

The third row, third seat candidate involuntarily cried out, and the pen in his right hand rolled onto the table.

The electric current was low, and the candidate only felt a slight numbness in his hand with no other effects.

"Vase, Vase."

The Purple Vase Rat pointed at the third row, third seat candidate and called out.

"Take it out." The female teacher, who was sitting at the podium, stood up and walked to the Purple Vase Rat's side.

The candidate's face turned pale, and he tightly pursed his lips without moving.

"I'll say it again, take it out." The female teacher repeated.

Under the gaze of the surrounding people and the pressure from the female teacher's eyes, the candidate parted his hair and took out a small electronic device, about the size of a button battery.

This kind of product was not unusual; it could transmit answers to multiple-choice questions over a distance through mental signals, but it couldn't help with fill-in-the-blank or short-answer questions.

Only psychic-type pet beasts could achieve this level of transmission ability.

This indicated that he had another accomplice with a psychic-type pet beast who could see the exam paper.

Of course, this accomplice could not be another candidate.

"This subject's score will be canceled." The female teacher said mercilessly after confiscating the device and taking away his exam paper.

After the candidate left in tears, the female teacher raised her voice, "If you have any electronic devices, take them out now. Don't be lucky; if the Purple Vase Rat detects them, your scores will be invalidated."

No one spoke.

Fortunately, the Purple Vase Rat continued touching each candidate without any further incidents.

Another pet beast, shaped like an eyeball, split into five or six smaller ones as the candidates began writing, floating in different directions around the room.

This pet beast was called the Surveillance Eye. The images seen by its split bodies could be directly shared with the main body.

It monitored the exam room comprehensively and without blind spots.

It was a must-have pet beast for exam monitoring, appearing not only in the high school entrance exam but also in the college entrance exam.

However, the Surveillance Eyes used in the college entrance exam had a more powerful ability, capable of splitting into at least ten bodies.

Qiao Sang focused on her exam paper, but suddenly a Surveillance Eye floated near her writing hand.

Qiao Sang's hand involuntarily trembled.

The eyeball with spiral-patterned pupils kept changing angles, sometimes staring at the exam paper and sometimes at her face.

After five seconds, the Surveillance Eye left without detecting any abnormalities.

Qiao Sang felt that the high school entrance exam not only tested knowledge but also psychological resilience.

Who wouldn't be startled if a pet beast shaped like an eyeball suddenly appeared and stared at them while they were answering questions?!

The thought process she had just formed was stifled!

Fortunately, after two days of such an exam environment, Qiao Sang became numb. Even with two Surveillance Eyes appearing on either side, she could calmly finish her exam.

June 19th.

The last day of the high school entrance exam's cultural test.

After finishing her last exam, Qiao Sang went home and fell into bed, covering her head to sleep.

She had been in a state of high tension for a long time, and once the exam was over, she just wanted to have a good sleep.

Unexpectedly, she slept until 7:02 PM.

When Qiao Sang woke up, her mind felt much clearer than usual after waking up from sleep.

She leaned against the bed and looked out the window.

The sky outside was completely dark, but it still appeared slightly bright under the moonlight and the city lights.

The room was dark, and the gap in the door showed that the living room lights were also off. It was quiet all around, and Huoyagou was not by her side.

Feeling a bit lonely, Qiao Sang got up and looked down at the neighborhood from the window.

At that moment, there were many people in the neighborhood: children playing, couples walking, and elderly people enjoying the cool evening.

But Qiao Sang immediately recognized three figures at the edge of the neighborhood.

It was her mother, Huoyagou, and Fat Home Pigeon.

She watched them quietly for three minutes, then she felt hungry…

She remembered that she had made plans to eat with Fang Sisi before going to bed.

Down in the neighborhood.

"Ya!"

Huoyagou saw Qiao Sang and happily called out, pouncing into her arms.

Huoyagou was still wearing a 15 kg weight ring, and Qiao Sang felt the weight but caught it steadily.

"Mom, I'm going out for a bit." Qiao Sang said.

"Okay." Her mother nodded.

Qiao Sang had already told her mother about going out to eat with Fang Sisi before going to bed, so her mother didn't ask any more questions.

…

20 minutes later.

Qiao Sang, carrying Huoyagou, arrived at the agreed-upon hotpot restaurant.

"Wow!"

"Huoyagou!"

Two exclamations came from Table 27.

Besides Fang Sisi, Lu Siya was also there.

The agreed time was 7:00 PM, and although Qiao Sang was more than half an hour late, Fang Sisi and Lu Siya forgot to question her because they were completely focused on Huoyagou.

"You actually contracted a Huoyagou!" Lu Siya exclaimed in shock.

"Qiao Sang, you're not being fair. You only show us Huoyagou now." Fang Sisi said.

She looked at the seemingly obedient Huoyagou, wanting to touch it but not daring to.

This was the first time she had been so close to a fire-type pet beast…

Qiao Sang, eating her hotpot, asked, "Siya, you seemed to know I had awakened early?"

A normal person would ask why a classmate who hadn't awakened was holding a Huoyagou, not directly say, "You actually contracted a Huoyagou."

Fang Sisi instantly fell silent.

Lu Siya glanced at Fang Sisi and betrayed her, "Fang Sisi told me two weeks ago."

Indeed…

Qiao Sang was not surprised; she should have expected it.

Fang Sisi had already told everyone about the old teacher's hair incident. Expecting her to keep a secret was like expecting Huoyagou to climb a tree.