Chapter 3
The ambulance and police arrived, and the students were ordered back to the dormitories.
Luo Shizhen huddled in the corner of the dorm room, burying his face in his knees while hugging them.
Chu Xiao knelt on one knee in front of him, gently pulling out his cold hand.
There was dried blood on it, stained when Luo Shizhen held Zhang Cai down. Chu Xiao used a hot towel to gently wipe it clean.
Qin Yinian leaned against the dorm doorframe, arms crossed, looking nonchalant.
“I saw him acting pretty reliable just nowābravely stepping up, helping hold the person down. I thought he wasn’t afraid. Turns out he just didn’t react in time.”
“Hey! Little Stone, don’t be scared. How about this? If you’re afraid, come live with me. Chu Xiao’s leg is broken, mine isn’t. I’ll protect you.”
One basis for the rumor that Qin Yinian was a rich second generation was that he also had a single room.
Chu Xiao turned back coldly and glared at him. Qin Yinian shrugged and made a gesture of zipping his lips.
“Shizhen.”
Chu Xiao held Luo Shizhen’s cold hand, his tone softening a little.
He rarely used such a gentle tone. “What’s wrong? What are you afraid of? Tell me?”
Qin Yinian thought, Coaxing a child?
But Luo Shizhen really was coaxed out.
He slowly lifted his head. His eyes were red, and that face, usually carrying a bit of simple honesty, was now filled with panic and helplessness.
“I, I…”
His eyelashes gradually grew wet. He hiccuped once before squeezing out a sentence in a crying voice:
“Did I kill someone with Qin Yinian?”
“Are we going to jail?”
Chu Xiao paused.
Qin Yinian also paused for a second, then, as if hearing a hilarious joke, clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
“Hahahahaha oh my god, Luo Shizhen, how are you so funny hahahaha!!”
Luo Shizhen was stunned by the laughter, looking at him blankly with red eyes.
Qin Yinian couldn’t stop laughing. “Mama mia, Chu Xiao, now I know why you treat him like a treasure. He’s too entertaining hahahaha!”
“Hey! Luo Shizhen, didn’t you see that thing’s face just now? Looking like that, you still think it was human?”
Silly as he was, Luo Shizhen knew he was being mocked. He sullenly dodged Qin Yinian’s hand reaching out to ruffle his hair.
“I thought he wasn’t human, but what if the police don’t believe it? And he might not not be human. Maybe he was human, just sick…”
Although he felt the person was a zombie during the confrontation, now that he had calmed down, the materialism ingrained in Luo Shizhen since childhood resurfaced.
If it were anyone else, even if they believed firmly since childhood, seeing it with their own eyes would cast doubt on what they had learned.
But Luo Shizhen was different. He had been slow-witted since childhood, with slow reactions, always doing things wrong. Later, his grandmother taught him to listen to the teachers at school because the teachers were always right.
Luo Shizhen steadfastly executed his grandmother’s words. The teachers said there were no ghosts or gods in the world, so there were no ghosts or gods.
So, he killed a person.
Qin Yinian created that fireāhe admitted it himselfāso Qin Yinian was the principal offender, and he was an accessory.
But Qin Yinian did it to save him.
Grandma said to be a good person, do good deeds, and not be a person without a conscience.
Luo Shizhen looked up at Qin Yinian.
“I’ll tell the police you killed him because of me. I’m the principal offender; you were acting in self-defense.”
Qin Yinian, still laughing at Luo Shizhen, paused again, not expecting Luo Shizhen to say this.
Seeing that he was actually serious, Qin Yinian felt inexplicably awkward.
He stopped laughing, retreated to the door, and looked at Chu Xiao again. “Hey! He’s for real?”
Chu Xiao ignored Qin Yinian entirely, only reaching out to wipe away Luo Shizhen’s tears, frowning.
“Shizhen, that wasn’t a human. Remember the zombie movies we watched together? That was a zombie, a Flying Jiangshi. You didn’t kill anyone.”
Luo Shizhen obediently let Chu Xiao wipe his tears, looking at him with red rabbit eyes holding a mix of timidity and stubbornness.
“Grandma said there are no ghosts in the world. It’s all fake.”
Chu Xiao said flatly, “Before, there weren’t, but now it’s different. The world has changed.”
Luo Shizhen didn’t understand this sentence. What did it mean the world changed? Could the world change?
He was a person who wrote almost all his emotions on his face. A confused wrinkle of his brow let people know exactly what he was thinking.
Chu Xiao spoke slowly. “I don’t know why it changed, but it just did. Now there are ghosts, zombies, and other non-human things. Thirty years ago, before you and I were born, the world changed. We just didn’t know.”
“Not only has the world changed, but people change too. Look.”
He spread his palm. First, a swirl of fine ice crystals appeared out of thin air. Under Luo Shizhen’s shocked gaze, these crystals swirled together to become a diamond-shaped ice cone.
Qin Yinian watched this scene, thinking he really should let the other teammates see this. Chu Xiao, that dead-face, could actually be this patient.
Luo Shizhen blinked, rubbed his eyes, and saw there really was an ice cone.
Chu Xiao guided his hand to touch the ice cone. It was cold, just like the ones they used to pick off the eaves in winter when they were little.
Luo Shizhen suddenly remembered that before the zombie burned, it was frozen first.
His eyes widened. “That ice was you?!”
“It was me.”
Chu Xiao answered quickly. “Shizhen, I am an Awakener. I awakened early this year.”
Luo Shizhen didn’t understand. “What is an Awakener?”
“Awakeners are people with special abilities who can fight those bizarre forces. Like today’s zombieāordinary people can’t beat it, but Awakeners can.”
Luo Shizhen was befuddled. His brain reacted slowly; learning new knowledge always required long recitation. He needed a long time to understand Chu Xiao’s words.
Chu Xiao understood this. Rather than making Luo Shizhen understand new things, it was best to point out a path directly and let him follow it.
This was a habit cultivated by Luo Shizhen’s grandmother. A clumsy child had to be obedient to live better.
Luo Shizhen might not quite understand what this path meant, but he would obediently walk along it. Just like when Fifth Uncle told him to go to the construction site, he went to the construction site. When the teachers told him to go to technical college, he obediently went to technical college.
Now, Chu Xiao pointed out a new path for Luo Shizhen.
“This world is no longer safe. I might leave the school later, but I will take you with me and arrange for you to go to a safe place. That way, even if chaos breaks out, you won’t be hurt.”
“I’ll be very busy, but as long as I have time, I’ll visit you. You don’t need to think about finding a job either. I have a salary and can support you. You don’t have to do anything, just stay in the safe zone.”
Awakeners naturally had more benefits. They could arrange for some relatives and friends to live in family areas protected by the military and Awakeners.
Chu Xiao had no other family left. Only Luo Shizhen had grown up with him; the two had never been apart. He had long decided to give the slot in his hand to Luo Shizhen.
Before Luo Shizhen even knew it, Chu Xiao had already arranged his future.
Looking at Luo Shizhen, who was still dazedly trying to absorb the meaning of his words, Chu Xiao tapped his forehead.
“You want to take the college entrance exam, so we’ll leave after the exam. It’s a good chance to pack your luggage too.”
Luo Shizhen’s eyelashes were wet with tears. He looked damp all over, like a puppy.
But this puppy wasn’t as obedient as Chu Xiao thought. He whispered:
“I’m not going. Grandma said people have to support themselves and find a job. I can’t let you support me. I want to go to technical school, learn to be a chef, and then find a job.”
Chu Xiao paused.
“Ha!”
Qin Yinian at the door laughed loudly at him.
Chu Xiao took a deep breath. “Luo Shizhen, do you understand? It’s dangerous everywhere now. The Flying Jiangshi you met just now might appear again tomorrow, and the day after. All over the world, they are everywhere. You are only safe if you follow me.”
Luo Shizhen was still unwilling. “You said you wouldn’t let me find a job, that I wouldn’t have to do anything, and you’d support me. That won’t do. The teacher said people like that are leeches; they become useless. I can’t learn to be that.”
Grandma raised him because he was her grandson. But he and Chu Xiao were just friends; how could he let Chu Xiao support him?
He looked at Chu Xiao. “Chu Xiao, I understand. You are very powerful, but you don’t need to worry about me.”
“That person just now… actually, I could have head-butted him, but he looked too dirty and smelly, so I didn’t. If I had rammed him, he wouldn’t have beaten me. If that happens again, I’ll fight properly. So if you want to go, just go yourself. No need to take me; it’s too much trouble for people.”
Chu Xiao: “…”
Anyone could see he was furious, except Luo Shizhen.
Behind them, Qin Yinian laughed even harder.
Chu Xiao stood up abruptly. “Luo Shizhen, you are coming with me to Luoxia City. That’s final.”
Luo Shizhen: “I’m not going.”
“You have to go even if you don’t want to!”
Luo Shizhen: “I’m not going. If I don’t scan my face to buy the ticket, you can’t take me.”
He had taken the high-speed train; he knew buying tickets required facial recognition.
Qin Yinian laughed until his stomach hurt. “Ouch, ouch, oh mother. I’ve laughed more today than all year. Chu Xiao, even you have a day where you hit a wall. Oh my, dying of laughter…”
With a dark face, Chu Xiao went straight up to hoist the shrinking Luo Shizhen off the floor.
He knew Luo Shizhen was truly obedient sometimes, but when he got stubborn, there was really no way to deal with him. Once he made up his mind, eight bulls couldn’t pull him back.
Before, only Luo Shizhen’s grandmother could suppress his stubbornness. Now that she was gone, Chu Xiao really couldn’t handle him and could only use force.
Luo Shizhen wasn’t willing, shrinking desperately into the corner. He was strong; even though Chu Xiao was an Awakener, he couldn’t do anything to him for a moment.
One pulling, one dodging, with Qin Yinian laughing in the background. Just as they fell into a stalemate, a knock sounded on the door.
Knock knock.
The visitor looked at the scene, slightly surprised, and asked, “Did I come at a bad time?”
Luo Shizhen, huddled on the floor, looked up and saw a person standing at the door.
It was a man. At first glance, he exuded a refined and scholarly feeling. His features were handsome, his brow had a bookish air, and the eyes behind his glasses looked over gently.
It was the school’s new art teacher, Mr. Chen He’an.
Luo Shizhen, who had always been a good boy in front of teachers, looked down at his wretched state, and his face instantly turned red.
He sprang up. “Hello, Mr. Chen!”
Chu Xiao looked at Chen He’an in confusion. “Why are you here?”
Chen He’an smiled good-naturedly, tapping his watch. “Yinian said there’s a new Awakener, so I came.”
Chu Xiao frowned, looking at Luo Shizhen, who had instantly turned into an obedient student standing neatly beside him.
A guess rose in his heart, but he felt it was unlikely. He frowned and looked at Qin Yinian.
Qin Yinian was still leaning bonelessly against the doorframe.
“Yep, it’s your precious darling. I saw it. He absorbed Corpse Qi but wasn’t affected at all.”
Chu Xiao shook all over, snapping his head to the side. “You absorbed Corpse Qi?!!”
Luo Shizhen was still out of the loop. “What is Corpse Qi?”
Chu Xiao grabbed Luo Shizhen’s hand. Ice crystals rose in his other hand, acting like a scanner, sweeping him from head to toe. Only after confirming the ice crystals had no reaction did he heave a heavy sigh of relief.
“It’s fine.”
Absorbed Corpse Qi but was fineāthere was only one possibility.
Sure enough, Qin Yinian watched him nervously check Luo Shizhen like watching a play, and only after he finished did he leisurely say:
“I suspect his ability is Purification.”
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