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Part 2
Meanwhile.
Ji Xiaobo came out of the restroom and headed back to find the others.
By coincidence, he saw Huai Boshe and Yun Yingyao on his way back.
In the past, Huai Boshe always liked to look for Yun Yingzhi, but lately, he hadn’t been doing so much.
Ji Xiaobo glanced secretly at Huai Boshe, then at Yun Yingyao. He thought: No wonder Huai Boshe hasn’t been looking for Yingzhi lately. It’s because he likes Yun Yingyao and is busy chasing her.
Upon further thought, Ji Xiaobo felt something was very off. He had always felt that Huai Boshe was very possessive of Yun Yingzhi and seemed to like him, but…
No, he couldn’t have been wrong.
A gaze cannot lie; the feeling of love cannot be hidden.
In Ji Xiaobo’s eyes, Huai Boshe definitely liked Yun Yingzhi. So…
Why was he pursuing Yun Yingyao?
Could a person love two people at the same time?
Ji Xiaobo shook his head, pushing the complex question aside. To him, Huai Boshe’s romantic relationships weren’t important; what mattered was what Yun Yingzhi thought.
Just then, Ji Xiaobo heard Huai Boshe’s voice.
“Yingzhi contacted me the night before last,” Huai Boshe said.
Yun Yingyao frowned. “…Didn’t Yingzhi blacklist you?”
“Mm. But he contacted me that night. He seemed drunk.” After a pause, he added, “I was with you at the time, so I hung up. You know I don’t want anyone—not even your brother—to take up the time we spend together.” He let out a soft breath. “I thought he might have something to tell me and planned to contact him later, but he blacklisted me again.”
Yun Yingyao said, “…Yingzhi didn’t come home yesterday.”
“Is that so?” Huai Boshe’s gaze swept around, and he immediately spotted Yun Yingzhi with Yu Feiwen and Jing Haomiao. “…It probably wasn’t anything important then.”
Ji Xiaobo’s heart hammered against his ribs. He felt like he was about to explode with rage.
Through the brief dialogue between Huai Boshe and Yun Yingyao, Ji Xiaobo could practically piece together what had happened on the night of the mixer.
He guessed that because Yun Yingzhi was drunk that night, he had instinctively reached out to Huai Boshe, the person he was most familiar with, for help. But what did Huai Boshe do?
As a childhood friend who had grown up with Yun Yingzhi, he had actually ignored Yingzhi’s plea for help just to be with Yun Yingyao?
Yun Yingzhi was so frail. How desperate must he have been at that time?
The thought of it made Ji Xiaobo feel suffocated, his heart full of heartache for Yun Yingzhi.
His eyes turned red. He tried to hold it in, but couldn’t. He charged forward and launched an attack directly at Huai Boshe’s back.
It must be said that Huai Boshe’s reflexes were incredibly sharp.
Almost the instant he felt Ji Xiaobo’s approach, he pushed Yun Yingyao aside and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding Ji Xiaobo’s initial strike.
In an instant, the entire cafeteria descended into chaos.
Failing to hit Huai Boshe with his first blow, Ji Xiaobo launched a second wave of attacks.
Huai Boshe frowned. He couldn’t understand why Ji Xiaobo was doing this. However, he didn’t dislike fighting—especially since he disliked Ji Xiaobo. Or rather, he disliked everyone in Yun Yingzhi’s dorm.
In fact, Huai Boshe disliked them even more than they imagined.
Finding an opening, Huai Boshe’s counterattack showed no mercy.
Meanwhile, on the other end.
Yun Yingzhi and the others were completely unaware of the conflict between Huai Boshe and Ji Xiaobo.
They had finished getting their food and, out of politeness, planned to wait for Ji Xiaobo to return before eating.
Suddenly, the sound of a struggle drifted over from not far away.
If it didn’t concern them, there was no need to pay attention.
Military students were full of hot blood, and there were always those who couldn’t control their tempers and fought in non-combat zones. This wasn’t something to worry about.
Generally, students from the disciplinary committee would show up within ten minutes to stop the fight, and both the provocateur and the provoked would be punished.
However, depending on the situation, the provocateur would receive a heavier penalty, while the provoked party would usually be fine.
The three continued their conversation, keeping to themselves.
And then…
They heard someone in the crowd say, “Whoa, I heard the Second Year Chief Student is in a fight. Let’s go to the front to watch!”
Yun Yingzhi thought: Second Year Chief Student?
Huai Boshe?
Hmph. Bad luck.
Like Yun Yingzhi, Yu Feiwen and Jing Haomiao also felt it was a stroke of bad luck.
The next moment, they heard a student in the crowd say, “It seems the other person attacked Huai Boshe first.”
Yun Yingzhi thought: He deserves it. If Huai Boshe weren’t such a piece of trash, why would he be attacked?
Yu Feiwen and Jing Haomiao felt a bit of joy, hoping that unknown person could give Huai Boshe a good lesson—ideally an upperclassman.
However, they knew it was unlikely. From the chatter around them, they gathered that the student fighting Huai Boshe was unknown, which meant he didn’t have much strength.
Someone in the crowd asked, “Who is that person?”
“I think his name is Ji Xiaobo?” came a voice that didn’t sound very certain.
Yun Yingzhi and the others were shocked.
The three looked at each other and stood up at the same time, rushing toward the direction of the fight.
While it would normally be difficult for someone to push through a crowd, it wasn’t hard for Yun Yingzhi. Partly because he and Ji Xiaobo were roommates, and partly because of his beautiful appearance.
The Fanse Academy students were exceptionally tolerant of their “School Beauty,” who was famous for his beauty and fragility.
When the three burst into the center of the fray, they saw that in the battle between the two, Huai Boshe held the absolute upper hand. He threw a punch that landed solidly on Ji Xiaobo.
Shifting his gaze to Ji Xiaobo, Yingzhi saw his face was covered in bruises, his uniform was disheveled, and several parts of his body clearly bore the marks of being hit.
Yun Yingzhi felt a surge of rage. He shouted, “Huai Boshe, stop!” As he spoke, he had already activated his source weapon.
Instantly, twelve massive cannon barrels appeared directly above the cafeteria, all aimed squarely at Huai Boshe.
Huai Boshe, in the heat of battle, had an expression full of hostility, as if he intended to vent all his frustration from the past few days onto Ji Xiaobo.
However, hearing Yun Yingzhi’s voice, he halted his movements and looked toward him, but said, “Yingzhi, why should I stop?”
At the same time, a student cried out in surprise upon seeing the twelve cannon barrels. “Hey! Isn’t that the source weapon skill used by the battle-rabbit?”
At the student’s words, more and more people looked upward.
Hearing the words “battle-rabbit,” the image of the video replay showing the rabbit spinning on one foot flashed through Yun Yingzhi’s mind. His face flushed red, and he immediately retracted the source skill, glaring at Huai Boshe with eyes full of fire.
The students looked at Yun Yingzhi with suspicion.
Relying on his sharp hearing, Yun Yingzhi occasionally heard students say:
“No way, right? Is our School Beauty really the battle-rabbit from the Yaoming Battle Arena?”
“If the battle-rabbit were only cute, I’d believe it. But our School Beauty has always been so frail?”
Some students said there couldn’t be that many coincidences, while others believed their own judgment more. Their School Beauty, whom they had known for years, was so fragile; how could he be that fierce little rabbit?
Under the suspicious gazes of the crowd, Yun Yingzhi walked forward to Ji Xiaobo’s side and supported his arm. He stared directly at Huai Boshe and said, “As the Second Year Chief Student, is this how you treat other second-year students who are weaker than you?”
Huai Boshe met Yun Yingzhi’s eyes. “Why don’t you ask him why he attacked me first when his strength was lacking?”
Many people in the cafeteria had witnessed the entire fight, and several spoke up to confirm Huai Boshe’s claim, stating that Huai Boshe was the victim in this conflict.
Yun Yingzhi was a bit biased. If he and Huai Boshe were still in a relationship, he might have tried to smooth things over. But now he detested Huai Boshe. He said, “Why don’t you reflect on yourself? If you hadn’t done something you shouldn’t have, why would Xiaobo attack you?” He was always one to side with his own.
Huai Boshe: “…”
Everyone present: “…”
The crowd looked at Yun Yingzhi with complex expressions, thinking his words were incredibly punchable.
Huai Boshe’s eyelids twitched. His already foul mood worsened. Or rather, ever since Yun Yingzhi blacklisted him, he hadn’t been happy.
He felt uneasy, but didn’t know why.
“Yingzhi, that is the victim-blaming mentality,” Huai Boshe said.
Yun Yingzhi knew his words were wrong, so he shifted his method of accusation. “Huai Boshe, as the Second Year Chief Student, you are the leader of the second year. No matter the reason, even if you were only fighting back, you are in the wrong. You must understand that there is a gap in physical power between you and Xiaobo. Today, it was a classmate who couldn’t help but strike you because you did something wrong. If it were a child who struck you tomorrow, would you still plan to retaliate without any regard for moderation?” He attempted to stand on the moral high ground to criticize Huai Boshe.
A student in the crowd whispered, “My logic tells me our School Beauty is being quite unreasonable, but seeing him speak with such a serious face makes me feel like he might have a point.”
“Wait, weren’t Yun Yingzhi and Huai Boshe on exceptionally good terms before? You used to see them walking together almost every day. What’s going on now? Yun Yingzhi is calling him by his full name. Have they had a falling out?”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen them together at all the past few days.”
Huai Boshe’s face turned grim. Seeing Yun Yingzhi’s brainless defense of Ji Xiaobo made his already terrible mood even worse.
In particular, he saw Yun Yingzhi take out a handkerchief and gently wipe the injuries on Ji Xiaobo’s face.
He even thought that if he’d known it would turn out like this, he might have just stood still and let Ji Xiaobo hit him. The next moment, he found the thought absurd; he couldn’t afford to lose face like that in front of everyone.
Instead of that, he should have struck harder and warned Ji Xiaobo to keep the three of them away from Yun Yingzhi.
Huai Boshe hadn’t noticed himself, but his gaze toward Ji Xiaobo was incredibly sinister and cold. It wasn’t until a student mentioned it that he was startled and reined in his expression. He asked, “So, Student Ji Xiaobo, could you tell me why you attacked me?”
Ji Xiaobo was already furious, his emotions fluctuating wildly. Seeing Yun Yingzhi unconditionally defend him without knowing anything made his heart ache even more for what Yingzhi had endured on the day of the mixer.
Ji Xiaobo’s eyes were bloodshot. He said angrily, “Huai Boshe, do you really not understand what you’ve done?”
Yun Yingzhi also looked at Huai Boshe with a furious gaze, thinking to himself that the man was a scumbag. Being a trash boyfriend wasn’t enough; he actually bullied his classmate too! It was too much!
Many students in the cafeteria were confused. What on earth had Huai Boshe done to make Ji Xiaobo so angry?
Huai Boshe narrowed his eyes. He truly didn’t understand what he’d done. He said, “I don’t believe I’ve ever done anything to wrong you.”
Ji Xiaobo was beyond furious. He shouted, “The night before last!”
Yun Yingzhi froze, his eyelids twitching violently. As soon as he heard the timeline, he felt things were about to take a turn for the worse.
He belatedly shifted his gaze from Huai Boshe to Ji Xiaobo, thinking he had to stop the furious Ji Xiaobo from speaking further.
Yu Feiwen and Jing Haomiao looked at Ji Xiaobo, their minds racing. The night of the mixer, the night Yun Yingzhi encountered the biggest accident of his life… did something else happen that made Ji Xiaobo so angry?
Amidst their confusion, Ji Xiaobo continued, “The night before last, Yingzhi contacted you, but you hung up just so you wouldn’t be disturbed while you were with Yingzhi’s sister. I’m asking you, why didn’t you ask Yingzhi more? Why didn’t you wonder if he had something important to tell you?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
Yun Yingzhi’s brain had stalled. Before he could figure out how to stop Ji Xiaobo, the other had already given a simple account of what happened that day.
The onlookers looked even more confused.
Huai Boshe frowned. Yun Yingzhi had contacted him that day. Based on Ji Xiaobo’s reaction, he guessed that something very important must have happened.
What was it?
The feeling of not understanding anything made him very uncomfortable.
In particular, he remembered what Yun Yingyao had told him not long ago: she said Yun Yingzhi hadn’t come home that night.
Yun Yingzhi’s lips parted slightly. “Xiaobo, don’t…”
He wanted to say that the day had passed and there was no need to mention it again.
But before he could finish, Yu Feiwen and Jing Haomiao also suddenly understood what had happened that night.
The string of logic called “reason” snapped in an instant. Thinking about how helpless Yun Yingzhi must have been then…
Like Ji Xiaobo before them, they immediately launched an attack on Huai Boshe.
Huai Boshe reacted quickly, instantly dodging their blows.
Yun Yingzhi frowned. “Stop fighting!” Even as he said it, he had already activated his source ability, the twelve massive cannon barrels aiming once more at Huai Boshe.
He currently regretted not upgrading his source weapon. Those twelve barrels should have been at least thirty-six—or twenty-four at the very least.
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