QZ Chapter 10
Translator: MoMoePom
Editor: LadyBlue
Quality Checker: MochiMochi95
First Published on Ainushi.
Chapter 10
"Ying Feng! Ying Feng! Wait a second!"
Ying Feng had no choice but to halt his steps. How come he had never realized before how annoying this guy was?
A moment ago while Ying Feng was walking ahead, Ling Xiao had chased after him persistently. However, when they really stood face to face, Ling Xiao didn"t know what to say.
"Do you have something to say or not?" Ying Feng asked straightforwardly. The implied line was "if not then hurry up and leave".
Ling Xiao gritted his teeth, signing himself over, "Did you register with Zhu Yue?"
Ying Feng frowned. "Register?"
"Like… Like registering for Adult Ceremony or something at Dr. Yao"s place… You know."
The way he said it was rather ambiguous. Ying Feng didn"t understand him at all.
"I don"t know."
"So you didn"t register, right?" Ling Xiao"s spirit became a lot higher right away. "Then how come I saw the two of you walking out together from the medical building today?"
"You tailed after me?"
"Why can"t I run into you unintentionally?"
"Why can"t we run into each other unintentionally?"
Ling Xiao muttered in whispers, "You had no intention, but I can"t say if he had no intention."
It was hard to tell whether Ying Feng heard it clearly or not. In any case, he ignored it. "You chased after me just to ask this?"
"I can"t even ask?" Ling Xiao rubbed his nose to hide his embarra.s.sment. "Hey, did you try it with Zhu Yue?"
"Try what?"
"Like," Ling Xiao made a motion of cutting his finger, "that thing last time."
This time, Ying Feng understood it immediately, "No."
Ling Xiao became even more pleased. "Why didn"t you try?"
"Do I need to try it with every person?"
"How are you going to find your partner from your previous life otherwise? I"m just afraid that you will try it with every single person you meet, and drain your blood before finding him," Ling Xiao said, slightly rejoicing at the thought of Ying Feng"s misfortune.
"Have you finished?"
"Ay?"
"In fact, there is only one reason that you have rambled on so much."
"Huh?"
"You"re already out of money for food, right?"
"I…"
"If you want to borrow money, you can speak up directly. There"s no need to beat about the bush all this time."
Ling Xiao was shocked, and his stomach seemed to have really made an appropriate noise.
That couldn’t be right. This was the internet. How could a virtual body be hungry? Ling Xiao bowed his head and looked down gloomily. It was true that he hadn"t eaten anything in real life for a whole day, but how could Ying Feng have known?
"Don"t think that I"m unaware. I saw it all when you swiped your card last time. If you don"t have money, then don"t try to act tough."
"Who said that?" Ling Xiao shot back, refusing to give in, "I have good relations with the others. There are plenty of people that I can b.u.m meals off from, so no need at all for you to go through all the "troubles" of worrying about me."
In fact, he had been b.u.mming off Ping Zong and Lan Sheng for several days in a roll and had already started to feel embarra.s.sed.
"Really.” Ying Feng"s expression seemed to say "that"s good". "Since everything is alright, please don"t follow me anymore."
Ling Xiao stood piqued at where he was, staring helplessly at Ying Feng walking farther and farther away till he disappeared from Ling Xiao"s sight at the end.
"So he has some savings. What"s the big deal? It"s not like he earned it himself…" Ling Xiao cursed in silence incessantly, "In order to save up his living expenses, he must be eating Grain-Mill energy bread every day. That kind of bread is cheap and can keep you full for a long time. That"s why the money stayed in his card. This must be the case."
Ling Xiao imagined Ying Feng gnawing on an energy bread as he logged out from the internet. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw that the light of the transmitter was on.
When the light was on, it meant there was something in the device. Thanks to the network technology, anything purchased online could be delivered through the transmitter. The decoder that Shen He gave Ying Feng last time was transferred to the real world through it too.
But Ling Xiao didn"t bring anything out, neither could he have bought anything with his card, why was the transmitter"s light on then? Could it be Ping Zong or Lan Sheng? The three of them would sometimes buy and send things directly to each other"s address, but what could it be?
Ling Xiao was baffled as he opened the transmitter. Inside of it was actually a whole box of Grain-Mill energy bread.
This huge gift that dropped into Ling Xiao"s lap left him stunned for a long time. Only two people knew he had no money left in his card for food, and Shen He, who loved money more than his own life, was obviously not the one behind this.
He took a package out from the box with mixed feelings and became speechless on the spot.
They were actually strawberry-flavored energy bread. The pink packaging exuded shyness from inside out. There was even a little girl wearing a witch robe printed on it… "This is definitely something that girls eat. Ying Feng, are you deliberately fooling around with me?"
Despite the thought, he still opened the packaging after some hesitation, sniffed at it a few times, then took a bite.
Half an hour later, Ling Xiao was lying on his bed feeling perfectly satisfied as he rubbed his stomach. A ceased and flat packet was thrown next to him. On the wrap, the little girl wearing a pink dress smiled like a blooming flower.
"Sure enough, everything tastes delicious when a person is hungry…" thought Ling Xiao in his mind.
When Ling Xiao woke up the next morning, he was quite energetic. Energy bread sure kept people full for long. After a whole night, he still didn"t feel hungry. It seemed like one loaf of bread could provide enough energy for an entire day, and the number of bread Ying Feng bought him was just enough to last until the next payday of their living expenses.
But as soon as the idea came to his mind that he had to fill his stomach with this kind of thing for each of the coming days, Ling Xiao once again became somewhat sad.
He headed towards the cla.s.sroom. Along his way there, he saw two seniors from the twelfth grade who seemed to be bullying someone.
The many bullying the few, the big bullying the small–this was not the right thing to do. Especially after Ling Xiao found out that the person being cornered was his cla.s.smate, he had even more reasons not to stand by and watch with indifference.
"Hey!" The two twelfth graders in Bikong Inst.i.tute heard someone who was actually insensitive enough to yell this way from behind them. They turned around impatiently, then laughed.
"Yo, isn"t he the one you had an eye on?" The slightly taller one on the right said in a purely flirtatious tone.
"We really seem to be destined for each other." This time, the left one was speaking. "But it"s a pity that he hasn"t ripened yet. What a waste of such a good opportunity."
The two people let out a burst of strange laughter. Ling Xiao didn"t understand a word they said. Bending his knees for a.s.sistance, he took off from the ground, stepping once on each of them on their shoulders, then landed next to his cla.s.smate effortlessly.
"Hey, are you all right?" Even though he came to help Zhu Yue out, he instinctively didn"t have any good impression of this person, so the way he spoke was not very friendly either.
The favor that Zhu Yue wanted the least was the one from Ling Xiao. He also had an innate hostility towards the person in front of him. Therefore, even though he was in a dangerous situation himself, in his heart, he still blamed Ling Xiao for meddling in other people"s business.
"I"m fine." He straightened his back, unwilling to appear inferior to Ling Xiao. But the two seniors on the other side were obviously offended by Ling Xiao"s rude behavior.
"Little junior, has anyone ever taught you that you need to respect your seniors?"
Ling Xiao ignored them and continued to ask Zhu Yue, "What happened? Why are they making things difficult for you?"
"Why don"t you ask him?" The taller senior was the first to speak. "We didn"t do anything to him. He was the one who suddenly came out and provoked us. Can you blame us for it?"
"That"s right." The shorter senior seconded, "You should take care of your own cla.s.smate first if you want to meddle in it."
"You still have the face to say that?" Zhu Yue stepped forward with indignation. "Who was the one dripping with sarcasm, saying that no one in their grade is to their taste, that since the tenth graders are about to awaken, it"s better to go and take their heart-tip blood by force while they still know nothing?"
"I"ve said it. So what?" The tall one raised his neck. "Have we said anything about you? I have no interest in someone your level even if you are to kneel down and beg me to bite you."
"You weren"t talking about me, but you can"t have your mind on Ying Feng either!"
"Ying Feng?" After listening for a while on the side, Ling Xiao finally understood what they were talking about. "These two people actually dare to plot against Ying Feng?"
Zhu Yue pursed his lips and stopped talking. Integrating with the context, Ling Xiao reached an even worse conclusion, "Don"t tell me that I"m within the scope as well."
The short guy put up a dirty smile. "I don"t want to fight with you now. Wait till you reach your awakening some time later, I promise I"ll come in the first moment to love you dearly."
"F*ck," Ling Xiao finally realized that such a disgusting person was casting his greedy eyes on him. He was practically going to vomit, "You don"t need to wait for that long. I"m going to "love you dearly" right now!"
By the time Ling Xiao"s last word faded, the short guy had already taken two punches on his face and belly in turns, yet he didn"t even see clearly how the other person had attacked. He attacked back in panic, and upon seeing this, the tall guy quickly joined the fight as well. Ling Xiao was one of the best in close combat among the tenth graders; he wasn’t pushed into a disadvantageous situation even as he faced two senior students at the same time.
Even though Ling Xiao was strong, the other party had two people after all. After dozens rounds of attacks, neither side was able to gain an advantage. The seniors started to feel a little embarra.s.sed–two twelfth graders fought to a standstill with one tenth grader, that didn"t sound good at all if the news were to spread out. In Bikong Inst.i.tute, fighting between students was neither a violation of school rules nor a shame. It was losing a fight that was shameful.
Thinking about this point, they didn"t care about their face anymore. They exchanged looks with each other and took out their daggers simultaneously. This time it was Ling Xiao"s turn to feel strenuous. He didn"t have the habit of bringing his dagger with him because he found it troublesome. At this moment, facing two people with weapons empty-handedly, Ling Xiao was soon wounded.
Zhu Yue was extremely anxious as he stood outside and watched. It was true that he disliked Ling Xiao, but it didn"t mean he could see him suffering a defeat unfeelingly. He turned over his hand and drew out his dagger. After spotting a good timing, he threw himself at the tall guy at once.
His movement was slow and weak. His opponent had seen through Zhu Yue"s intention long ago. The tall guy dodged his attack with a mere turn of the body. Only a corner of his clothes was ripped.
"A weakling like you dares to provoke me?" The tall guy was enraged by Zhu Yue"s action. He pa.s.sed through Ling Xiao with a deceptive movement, raised his dagger high up, then thrust.i.t at Zhu Yue ferociously.
Zhu Yue cried out in alarm. He closed his eyes out of fear, but after a long period of waiting, the pain he was expecting did not arrive.
He cautiously opened his eyes into a slit. In front of him, a hand was grabbing tightly onto the blade. Blood ran down the dagger, dripping onto the ground one drop after another, creating a crimson puddle under his feet.
"You, are indeed no help at all." Ling Xiao squeezed out a few words between his teeth. All of a sudden, he broke out into a series of attacks. As if he had changed into a different person, he beat the other two guys to the point where they had absolutely no power to resist. Zhu Yue gaped at the sight. Was this Ling Xiao"s true strength?
The tall one was already knocked down to the ground. The short guy, after seeing that the situation was not too encouraging, broke into a run. Ling Xiao chased after him without a word, and both of them disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Yue was still in shock. The person on the ground stumbled and got up on his feet. Seeing that Zhu Yue was the only one left, he pounced on him exasperatedly.
He was covered in dirt due to all the beatings from Ling Xiao. With resentment in his guts now, he really wished he could tear Zhu Yue to shreds. Zhu Yue was frightened by his zero-defense violent offensive. All he could do was close his eyes, waving his dagger in total randomness, trying to scare him off.
"Enough." He suddenly heard a deep and low voice. Zhu Yue"s body jolted as if he had heard something unbelievable.
He opened his eyes. The one standing in front of him was none other than Ying Feng, and the senior who had been desperately attacking him was already nowhere to be seen.
"Where is he?" He asked very carefully.
"Driven away already."
"You, I…" Zhu Yue screamed out of fright because he had accidentally cut Ying Feng"s arm while he was blindly stabbing around.
"It"s only a small cut, don"t make a fuss out of it." Ying Feng scolded him to stop.
"But," Zhu Yue worriedly pointed at his wound, "It"s bleeding."
Ying Feng didn"t pay attention to such a small wound; instead, he started to criticize Zhu Yue, "Your combat ability is indeed too weak. You are bringing shame to the Tianxiu people."
Being condemned by the man he loved, Zhu Yue lowered his head out of shame, and his eyes fell right on the wound he had just created. A stream of blood wriggled down Ying Feng"s arm, pa.s.sed through the back of his hand, lingered a moment at his fingertips before finally rushing towards the ground. It happened to drip at a place not far from the bloodstain left by Ling Xiao.
"Ahhhh——"
Zhu Yue screamed once again. Even the dagger in his hand dropped because of the shock, hitting the ground with a clang.
Ying Feng impatiently raised his voice, "What are you screaming about this time?"
Zhu Yue covered his mouth as he pointed to the ground. His face was seized with terror, as if he had seen the most horrifying scene in this world.
Ying Feng followed his gesture and looked down. The bloodstain on the side which had already seeped into the ground, as if they had been instilled with life, was slowly spreading towards the blood he dropped, leaving a ghastly scarlet trace on the surface of the ground.
This was a frightening scene. If he hadn"t read Tai Yin"s research journal beforehand, Ying Feng would definitely have thought it was some supernatural phenomenon.
By comparison, Zhu Yue who didn"t know the truth was not as calm. His face was so pale and terrified that it was like he was looking at a ghost.
The bloodstains on the ground finally stopped moving, but they were already intertwined with each other, and no distinction existed between them anymore, exactly like what Tai Yin described in his journal.
Zhu Yue suddenly felt pain on his shoulders. Ying Feng had grabbed his shoulders tightly.
"Whose is it?"
"W-what?" Zhu Yue didn"t understand.
"The blood on the ground." Zhu Yue had never seen Ying Feng so nervous before. All of Ying Feng"s composure in the past ten years evaporated at this moment with practically nothing left.
"You–You tell me first, why is it like this?"
The pain on Zhu Yue"s shoulder sharpened. It was Ying Feng exerting more power with his hands. Zhu Yue cried out in pain.
Ying Feng totally ignored the other person"s question. "Say it. The blood on the ground, whose blood is it?"
Zhu Yue bit his lower lips, then made up his mind. "It"s my blood."