Chapter 22 part 1
Chu Xiao had attended the classes.
He certainly knew the textbooks stated that as long as a Purification Awakener in the initial awakening stage had trust and affection for someone, they could use their ability—it wasn’t limited to romantic love.
But textbooks were textbooks. The difference between Chu Xiao and Luo Shizhen was that he would analyze, think, and question these academic viewpoints.
The reality was, in thirty years, the three Purifiers who could use their abilities upon initial awakening had all used them on their lovers.
Without exception.
Didn’t this prove something?
“How long have you known him? Only two days.”
He clenched his back teeth, his originally fair neck turning red with anger, his whole body tense.
“What did Xiao Shan do to you? Two days… I haven’t seen you for only two days, and he made you able to use Purification on him!”
Luo Shizhen didn’t understand why Chu Xiao suddenly became so angry.
He could use Purification; shouldn’t Chu Xiao be happy for him?
Moreover, Chu Xiao’s anger in the past was always restrained—at most, his voice would be a bit colder, his face a bit unpleasant, but as long as Luo Shizhen showed some concern, he would be fine.
This was the first time he was like this, as if he had lost his reason.
He almost didn’t recognize this as Chu Xiao.
Luo Shizhen shrank his neck in intimidation, not knowing how to answer.
But he was afraid that if he didn’t answer, Chu Xiao would be even angrier.
He could only whisper his reply: “Well, he helped me put on my combat uniform, taught me training, asked someone to get my food, gave me a massage, and said he’d cover me. Big Brother is really nice, he…”
Luo Shizhen’s voice gradually faded until it was inaudible because Chu Xiao was visibly becoming more distressed.
He didn’t know if he had said something wrong, so he could only ask cautiously:
“I… should I not have said that?”
The classroom door behind Chu Xiao had rapidly turned into a door of ice following Luo Shizhen’s narration of “My wonderful daily life with Big Brother.”
Luo Shizhen scratched his head and asked with concern, “Chu Xiao, why are you angry? You shouldn’t always get angry; it’s bad for your health.”
—Clang.
An ice pillar on the door, having grown to its limit, fell off and made a heavy sound.
Sui An and Lin Qi walked to the doorway just in time to see this scene, and both stopped in their tracks.
Lin Qi frowned. “What’s the situation?”
Sui An didn’t seem to mind, leaning lazily against the wall with a teasing tone:
“Young people these days.”
Seeing that things were going south, Chen He’an had retreated outside the door. He took off his glasses and began wiping the frames slowly, as if doing something incredibly important that prevented him from stopping the students’ quarrel.
Lin Qi looked at him. “Not going to stop them?”
“I just used my ability, so I can’t replicate two students immediately. It just so happens that Chu Xiao was detected to have a pollution level nearing the critical point. Rather than waiting for him to explode later when it’s hard to save him, it’s better if he explodes now.”
While Chen He’an claimed it was inconvenient to use his ability, his hands conjured a duplicate of another teacher to create a field preventing the sound from leaking out.
Lin Qi understood. “No wonder his emotions are so unstable.”
Chen He’an’s tone remained gentle, but his attitude was calm.
“If he loses control and falls into pollution, there is a certain possibility that Shizhen can purify him.”
Shizhen?
Lin Qi had read the files of all the students. He quickly matched the name Luo Shizhen with the eighteen or nineteen-year-old young man in the room who had dark, bright eyes, a hint of honest simplicity between his brows, and a slightly distressed expression.
“So that’s the Purifier. He looks like he has a good temper. It must be hard on you, bringing him to the school under such pressure.”
The students didn’t know, but the teachers knew very well that Luoxia City wasn’t the only Awakener school.
With Anomalies running rampant and increasing in number, if only twenty-seven Awakeners appeared in a city over three years, Xia Country would have been finished long ago.
Ordinary Awakener schools had a minimum of two or three hundred students.
This school was special. The twenty-seven students, excluding Luo Shizhen, had all lost the balance of Qi in their bodies before being found by the Awakener Center. They were in a state of chaos.
This meant they were very strong, but they could also completely break the balance between their bodies and Qi at any moment due to various events, becoming polluted by the Qi surging from within.
Either they crossed this hurdle and became stronger Awakeners than others.
Or, they would be polluted and mutate.
Every student here was like this. Some knew their physical condition; others didn’t.
Most of them probably wouldn’t live past twenty-five. Some would die in battle, while others might mutate and die before they could even become Guardians.
Eternal Day and the school teachers carefully tried various methods to maintain their balance as much as possible.
Chu Xiao and Qin Yinian had reached critical levels last year. Especially Chu Xiao—in that situation, he could have mutated at any time.
But the good news was that the two could suppress each other, and once Chu Xiao returned to No. 3 High School, his emotions would tend to stabilize.
So, it evolved into both of them attending No. 3 High School, with Chen He’an accompanying them as a Safety Officer.
Chu Xiao’s broken leg before was also because Chen He’an sensed he was on the verge of mutation. To delay the process, he lied about a school training exercise and deliberately let him be heavily injured by an Anomaly.
Although the severe injury required Chu Xiao to recuperate for a while, the injury also caused a loss of Qi, which bought him some time.
“Shizhen is very special. Chu Xiao cares about Shizhen very much, so I’m not surprised that the Qi in his body stabilized temporarily after contacting Shizhen. But Qin Yinian’s situation is the same.”
Chen He’an’s eyes lit up.
“Shizhen’s personality is different from other Purifiers. He is more tolerant, gentler. Maybe that’s the reason.”
The moment he discovered this, Chen He’an suddenly had an idea.
What if Luo Shizhen came to this school?
If he could develop feelings for some students and use his Purification ability on them…
Perhaps a few of these young students, gifted but destined for early deaths, could be saved.
Lin Qi said, “No wonder you withstood all the arguments and insisted on Luo Shizhen coming to this school.”
He glanced at Sui An. “I said it was strange. Captain Sui originally drew lots for another school, but suddenly we were switched here.”
“Captain Sui, is your purpose here to protect this new Purifier student?”
Sui An remained lazy, even leaning against the wall with his eyes closed to rest, his tone languid:
“He doesn’t need my protection. See the watch he’s wearing? That was newly developed by Eternal Day. There are only ten in the country. Ten Controllers’ partial power is locked inside, automatically triggering upon danger.”
The Controllers were Xia Country’s top combat force. Even a portion of their power was enough to handle ninety-nine percent of dangerous situations.
This was why Chen He’an felt safe sending Luo Shizhen to the dormitory.
It wasn’t that he trusted his students not to harm the innocent, but he knew:
With the power of the Controllers protecting him, none of the twenty-seven students in the school could hurt a hair on Luo Shizhen’s head.
Lin Qi looked closely. It was true.
“Chief, so you’re saying a part of your power is also locked in one of those watches?”
Wasn’t Sui An a Controller?
Lin Qi peered into the classroom.
“Could the power in that student’s watch be yours? What is this? This is fate! Captain Sui, use this point to chat with the little classmate. Maybe you can coax him into our team.”
Their team had never had a Purification Awakener.
The higher-ups had assigned some before, but with a Controller in the team, those Purifiers couldn’t stand the overly violent Qi and would apply for a transfer within two days.
But Lin Qi observed that although Luo Shizhen seemed a bit dull, he had a poise that remained composed even under the pressure of Qi.
Maybe he could adapt to their team.
“Coax him. This kid looks silly and easy to coax. Get some food and drinks, buy some toys or something, and you’ll definitely win him over.”
Sui An asked, “Why do you make me sound like a pervert abducting children?”
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
