QZ – Chapter 11

QZ Chapter 11

Translator: MoMoePom

Editor: LadyBlue, MochiMochi95

Quality Checker: MochiMochi95

First Published on Ainushi.

 

 

 

Chapter 11

Unconvinced, Ying Feng studied him from head to toe several times. Zhu Yue was also injured at a few places from that person’s crazy attacks, but it didn’t seem like Zhu Yue could have shed so much blood.

“Really?” Ying Feng said. His face was full of suspicion.

“It’s true.” Zhu Yue spoke quietly at first but then his voice became louder. “What is happening after all? Why did the blood move by itself?”

Ying Feng stared at him for a long time with a dark face. Suddenly, he took out his own dagger and slid it quickly across Zhu Yue’s fingertip.

“You!” Zhu Yue realized the other person’s intention. He wanted to withdraw his hand but he was not as powerful as Ying Feng, so he could only stare helplessly at his own blood dripping to a place not far from where Ying Feng’s blood was.

The two droplets of blood had dripped side by side. They were so close to each other, yet neither of them moved a single inch, forming a distinct contrast to the intertwined bloodstains on the other side.

Zhu Yue had never expected Ying Feng to test it out on the spot. At that moment, he was panicking and had to think of another way to camouflage himself.

“You lied to me.” Ying Feng said coldly.

Zhu Yue’s eyes gleamed a few times, his expression, however, seemingly at a loss, “How-how come? I don’t know either…”

“Tell me the truth.” Ying Feng’s hand was exerting so much force that it was almost going to crush the other person’s bones.

“I… I was hit just now and I fainted, and by the time I woke up, it was already like this. I thought the blood on the ground was mine… Because there was no way I could have stabbed that person…” he gulped.

“Who was here a moment ago?”

“Only the two of us… I don’t know anything after I passed out. I just woke up not long before you came.”

Ying Feng’s eyes were full of disbelief, but Zhu Yue held on fast to his statement. The worst part was that the other person from a minute ago turned around and ran away as soon as he saw Ying Feng coming, so Ying Feng wasn’t even able to see his face clearly.

“Who was the guy that attacked you?”

Zhu Yue shook his head timidly, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know why he came to you?”

“There are always lots of people bullying me in the Institute. I don’t have the courage to look at their faces.”

Even Ying Feng knew Zhu Yue’s words were only partially true. Since Zhu Yue was abnormally weak, the senior students had been bullying him ever since he entered the Institute. He was once cornered by three or four people. As they beat him, he only sat on the ground with his head buried in his knees and didn’t dare to fight back.

It was during that time that Ying Feng had saved him. Henceforth, Zhu Yue had been chasing after him wherever he went. However, Tianxiu people had always judged others based on their strength, so Ying Feng’s impression of Zhu Yue was even worse than his opinion of Ling Xiao, who had been provoking Ying Feng in all respects.

Seeing that he was quiet, Zhu Yue shyly asked again, “You… can you tell me what’s going on?”

The person Ying Feng wanted to find was almost within his reach, and yet they ended up missing each other by a hair’s breadth. He lost the mood to pay any further attention to Zhu Yue. No matter how Zhu Yue questioned him, he remained silent.

Out of these two people, one knew the truth and was compelled to find the cause, while the other knew the cause and was compelled to find the truth. They each had their own thoughts but could not obtain further clues from the other party by all possible means.

Ling Xiao gave a good lesson to the senior who dared to plot against him. He remembered that there was another one over here, so he rushed back in a flash just in time to witness Ying Feng, who usually cared for nobody, was now putting his hands on Zhu Yue’s shoulders. The eagerness in his expression seemed to suggest that he was inquiring whether the other person was injured or not.

The scene was so dazzling to the eyes that Ling Xiao didn’t even want to step forward and find out what was going on.

“Ling Xiao, what are you looking here?” Ping Zong happened to be passing by. Seeing Ling Xiao rooted to the spot while looking into the distance, Ping Zong was curious as to what had attracted so much of his attention.

“Nothing.” Ling Xiao turned around and withdrew his line of sight. He didn’t want Ping Zong to know how gloomy he was feeling at the moment.

Ping Zong felt from Ling Xiao’s unusual behaviour that something was not right. He lowered his head and saw the other’s bleeding palm. “Aiya, how did you get injured so badly?”

Only then did Ling Xiao remember that his hand was still bleeding, but he already couldn’t feel the pain. “It’s just a small cut.”

“You call that a small cut?” Ping Zong didn’t allow Ling Xiao to refuse and dragged him along. “Follow me to the clinic.”

Ling Xiao struggled a little, but surprisingly, he wasn’t able to free himself. Ping Zong didn’t seem like a powerful person, yet he sealed Ling Xiao’s movements in a very clever way, not giving the latter any opportunity to escape.

Being forced to the clinic by Ping Zong, Ling Xiao complained helplessly, “Does your Lan Sheng even know how strong you are?”

“He doesn’t need to know. If I want him to go to the clinic, I’m sure he’ll go obediently.” On the surface, it appeared like Ping Zong was talking about Lan Sheng, while in fact, he was still lecturing Ling Xiao.

“I’m serious. You let him win every time you two fight. Is that really okay?” Whether it was stamina training or wrestling practice, Ping Zong had always excelled at playing the role of a training partner. Lan Sheng wasn’t aware of it, but Ling Xiao, who watched on the side, saw through it clearly.

“He’s strong-willed. If he loses, he’ll be unhappy and might even lose his temper, and I’ll have to coax him at that time.” Ping Zong laughed as he thought of something, “He’s actually a little like you in this respect.”

Ling Xiao was unhappy, “When have I ever lost my temper?”

Ping Zong pretended not to hear it. “Besides, letting him win doesn’t cost me anything, and he’ll be happy too. Why not then?”

“If the two of you truly fight each other in the Adult Ceremony, it’s not certain who will win yet.”

“With Lan Sheng’s character, being defeated in a major turning point in life like marriage will probably make him very sad. Besides, he can obtain my ability once he becomes Qizhu. It has always been his dream to be able to possess great strength, while for me, I don’t crave for it as much as he does.”

Ling Xiao listened to him breezing through it in such a light manner, as if he wasn’t discussing a major event in life but some insignificant trivial matter.

“You are so generous.” He sincerely admired the person before him.

“It’s not ‘generous’. Wait till you find someone you really like, you will have this kind of thoughts too, that you would be willing to become Qizi just for the other person.”

“Impossible.” Ling Xiao blurted out a denial. “I will never think like that.”

“One can forgo anything in front of the person he truly loves.”

“If there is a person that I like, then I must conquer him. Only by having more ability can I protect him better. This doesn’t conflict with the idea that loving is yielding.”

Ping Zong only smiled after hearing it, “That’s because you don’t have someone you’re truly in love with yet.”

Ling Xiao remained unconvinced, “According to what you said, if Lan Sheng really likes you, he should be perfectly willing to become Qizi for your sake too. But according to what I know about him, that will never happen.”

Ping Zong thought for a bit, then shook his head. “I don’t doubt his sincerity to me, but probably like what you’ve said, some people are just born like that. They will not yield for the sake of love —- even if they are truly in love with the other person. I can’t refute your point. Lan Sheng is exactly this type of person, and you two are of the same kind. It was me being opinionated just now.”

“So you plan to continue throwing the game like this all the way till the Adult Ceremony?”

Ping Zong didn’t comment. “Why not? Since a winner has to be determined, someone has to lose. If he isn’t willing to admit defeat, then I’ll bow my head first.”

They arrived at the medical building. Surprisingly, the place was crowded with people.

“What’s going on?” Ling Xiao was struck dumb. “An infectious disease?”

He had learned this fancy vocabulary from the biology book. Everyone knew that there was no infectious disease among the Tianxiu people. In fact, there wasn’t any disease at all. The so-called medical building, for the majority of its time, was just there to take care of the injured among those belligerent students.

“The School issued a notice that everyone has to come over to have their blood drawn.”

“Notice? How come I didn’t see it?”

“I was going to tell you yesterday, but you ran away first. Lan Sheng and I already finished ours yesterday.”

Ping Zong dragged him to the blood station, which was set up temporarily. Two staff members in white uniforms were taking blood here. There was a long line waiting behind them.

“This student was injured. Sorry for the trouble, but could you please collect his blood first?”

No one had any problem with it, so Ling Xiao was switched to the first in line.

“Fighting again, weren’t you?” There were school teachers at the front of the line as well. They started to tease Ling Xiao after seeing him like this. “You energetic Nestlings can’t even stay idle for one day without causing trouble.”

Feeling embarrassed, Ling Xiao grinned, “Teacher, so you’re here for the sampling too?”

“This time’s blood sampling event is compulsory. All Tianxiu people must participate,” the staff who was drawing blood for him replied.

“Where are you from?”

“We’re from the Disease Control Center.”

“Oh.” Ling Xiao heard this name before. Its full name was Tianxiu Mental Disease Control Center. Mental diseases might be the only kind of illness that Tianxiu people could possibly get.

“Did something happen? For such a large-scale blood sampling.”

“We’ve found a new type of blood-borne infectious disease…”

Ling Xiao’s eyes widened. “So it’s really because of an infectious disease…”

“Don’t worry. This disease is barely harmful. We are just running an inspection and investigating its causes for safety reasons.”

Ling Xiao nodded half-understandingly.

“Done.” The staff drew a full syringe of blood and recorded in detail Ling Xiao’s personal info. “You can go treat your wound now.”

Ling Xiao arrived at the clinic under Ping Zong’s escort. The medical technology in Tianxiu Planet was well-developed; adding on their special constitution, the wound healed in a moment, leaving only a light scar running across his palm.

“See? I said it was only a small cut, but you insisted on making a big fuss over it.”

“If you continue, I’ll beat you till you’re seriously injured. Then let’s see if you still think I’m making a fuss.”

“Huh, then come! I’ve always wanted to have a real fight with you to see how much strength you’ve been hiding.” Ling Xiao rubbed his palms and fists, eagerly anticipating it.

A voice suddenly cut in, “Fighting is prohibited inside the medical building. Do you need me to lock both of you up in the ICU?”

Embarrassed, Ling Xiao put down his fist, and along with Ping Zong, greeted Dr. Yao extremely respectfully.

Right behind Yao Tai was a Nestling that Ling Xiao had never seen before. His pair of big eyes filled with curiosity surveyed up and down their bodies.

Yao Tai opened her mouth, but she was talking to the Nestling behind her, “They are all negative models in the Institute. You must not follow their bad examples.”

Ling Xiao: o(╯□╰)o

“He is a new student who just entered the school today,” Yao Tai introduced him to them, “His name is Xing Lou, and from now on, he will be your junior.”

“Hello, I’m Ping Zong from tenth grade.”

“Ling Xiao.”

Xing Lou bowed politely, “Good morning, seniors.”

“This little junior seems very mellow and obedient.”

“There are too many people here today. I can’t leave.” Yao Tai instructed, “You two go bring him to the first-grade dormitory and help him settle down.”

“No problem,” Ling Xiao flung back his head, “Let’s go.”

“Thank you, seniors! I’ll count on you then.”

Ling Xiao and Ping Zong led Xing Lou all the way to the destination, introducing the various kinds of buildings in the Institute along the way. After they arrived at the dormitory section’s main gate, Ling Xiao said to Ping Zong, “You can go back first. I can bring him over myself.”

“Okay then,” Ping Zong patted Xing Lou on the head. They appeared to be of the same age, but everyone would subconsciously consider themselves seniors in front of these Nestlings who had just woken up. “If anything happens, come to me at any time.”

“Alright. Goodbye, senior!”

After parting with Ping Zong, Xing Lou followed Ling Xiao to the first-grade dormitory and learnt his room number from the dorm manager.

“When you were at the Base, the staff gave you a card…”

“Is it this one?” Xing Lou took out his magnetic card.

“Yes, this card is very important. You’ll need it for things in everyday life such as shopping. Your living expenses will also be deposited into the card regularly.” Ling Xiao pointed to Xing Lou’s room door. “Its other function is to open the door.”

Xing Lou swiped the card in the scanning area, and the door to the dorm room automatically opened. The dorm rooms in Bikong Institute were all private suites. It was the same for all grades.

“Woah, there’s such a huge bed! Everyone’s room has a double bed?”

“That’s right, so as to prevent you from falling down during your sleep.” Ling Xiao was kidding, but Xing Lou thought what he said was real.

“Really? The Institute is so considerate.”

“This is the network connection device. You can access the internet through it. You can also bind it to your terminal, that way you can go online whenever and wherever you want.”

Xing Lou nodded and took note in his heart.

“And this. This is the transmitter. If you ever purchase anything online, it will be sent to you through this device. It’s very convenient.”

“This is so cool.” Xing Lou carefully felt the outer shell of the transmitter with his hand. Ling Xiao was amused by his action, but it was understandable. Just like Xing Lou, he had also found great novelty in these things back then when he first touched them.

After Xing Lou pretty much learned the basic functions of every device in the dormitory, Ling Xiao was also preparing to leave. “That’s it for now. Call me if anything happens.”

They exchanged numbers with each other. “Thank you, senior. I’ll probably trouble you for help in the future!”

“You’re being too courteous.” Ling Xiao couldn’t help patting his head.

After seeing Ling Xiao off, Xing Lou immediately turned to the network connection device.

Go online? It should be fun.

He followed the method Ling Xiao taught him and linked the connector to his own terminal.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!”

The shrill scream alarmed Ling Xiao who hadn’t walked far off yet. He dashed back like an arrow and kicked open the door to Xing Lou’s dormitory. “What happened?!”

Xing Lou was sitting in his chair, staring at Ling Xiao with his large innocent eyes. “There was a spider on the ceiling just now…”

Ling Xiao’s face was covered with black lines [1]. “As a fearless Tianxiu person, how can you be afraid of spiders?”

Xing Lou felt greatly embarrassed hearing his words.

Ling Xiao let it pass. This was his first time seeing a spider anyway, so it was pardonable. “Where is the spider now?”

Xing Lou raised his head and looked around, “I must have scared it away.”

Ling Xiao: “…”

“I’m fine now. Sorry for worrying you, senior.”

Ling Xiao waved his hand, “It’s good as long as you’re fine. Just don’t make a fuss about nothing again in the future. ”

Xing Lou nodded hard, “Got it!”

Ling Xiao left, not feeling particularly relieved.

Behind the wall, in a place where Ling Xiao could not see, Bikong Institute’s newly arrived first-grader Xing Lou was looking at his own hands, his eyes overflowing with interest. The corner of his mouth sketched into a meaningful curve.

“It’s been a long time. I’m back.”

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Translator’s Note:

[1] Like an anime effect. → -_-|||

 

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