Chapter 29
Luo Shizhen really wanted to continue touching. He politely asked Ying He again, “Can I take notes?”
Ying He: “You can.”
So Luo Shizhen seriously recorded the shape, color, and texture of Ying He’s Qi.
Chen He’an watched him write, his heart softening.
He had spent the most time with Luo Shizhen, often tutoring him after class, so he understood the child’s thought process well by now.
Chen He’an quickly guessed why Luo Shizhen was recording the appearance of his classmate’s Qi in such detail.
“Is Shizhen doing this to purify classmates in the future?”
Sure enough, Luo Shizhen nodded, eyes shining:
“Teacher, you taught me yesterday that Qi in a polluted state is different from the normal state, and Energy types observe the difference more easily.”
“I want to record the normal state of my classmates’ Qi. That way, if there’s any difference in the future, I can distinguish it!”
Luo Shizhen always remembered that his job was to purify polluted Awakeners.
But he only had a smattering of knowledge about the pollution state, always realizing someone was polluted only after feeling hungry.
But if he was really hungry and met an Awakener in a polluted state, what if he missed them?
After all, when he was truly hungry, his mind was full of thoughts about eating, and eating a lot.
When Luo Shizhen was little, he ate without knowing hunger or fullness and ate anxiously. Grandma Luo taught him to chew slowly and swallow carefully, saying it was good for the stomach.
To correct this eating habit when he was young, Grandma Luo spent a long time. But Luo Shizhen had a merit: once corrected, he would obediently eat according to that habit.
So he ate relatively slowly.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to eat bananas to save time during high school.
Luo Shizhen worried that by the time he discovered there was another kind of hunger, the Awakener might have already mutated.
Chu Xiao’s sudden mutation last time really scared Luo Shizhen a bit.
Although Chu Xiao recovered quickly, he knew Chu Xiao was very scared and in pain at that time.
It made sense. Chu Xiao had known how to groom himself since childhood, and after entering junior high, he paid special attention to his appearance.
No matter how busy he was or how much he had to do, Chu Xiao always groomed himself to look good.
The school required uniforms. Luo Shizhen wore his uniform almost every day of the year, but as soon as Chu Xiao got his scholarship, besides taking Luo Shizhen to eat good food, he bought himself nice clothes.
Luo Shizhen didn’t understand at the time. Chu Xiao couldn’t wear them out. No matter how nice the clothes were, they would be covered by the uniform outside. He could only wear them in the dorm for him to see, so why buy so many?
Chu Xiao not only bought them but changed frequently, wearing different outfits almost daily, even though the audience was only Luo Shizhen.
So, Luo Shizhen concluded: Chu Xiao loved beauty.
Such a beauty-loving Chu Xiao became somewhat inhuman due to mutation that day. He must have been suffering greatly. Luo Shizhen still remembered how Chu Xiao, who usually handled everything with ease, covered his face and broke down, not letting him look.
Luo Shizhen didn’t want to wait until everyone was in pain to help purify them.
He seriously told Chen He’an his idea:
“If I can see the signs of mutation through the changes in Qi, I can purify them before they mutate.”
Luo Shizhen confirmed with Chen He’an, “Teacher, is this okay?”
Even though he had guessed his intention, hearing Luo Shizhen say it so seriously, Chen He’an couldn’t help but be touched.
“No one has done this before…”
No one had done this before because, for Energy types, the Qi of other Awakeners was too violent.
Unless they were acknowledged teammates or close people familiar with each other, Energy types found it hard to accept.
But Luo Shizhen’s personality was too tolerant.
He seemed willing to accept everyone. Regardless of whether the Awakener’s Qi was sharp, violent, or full of aggression, he would receive them a bit slowly and clumsily.
Luo Shizhen couldn’t control his Qi yet, but Qi represented half of the Awakener and wouldn’t lie.
Allowing other classmates’ Qi to wrap around him unaffected during soothing training only showed that in his heart, he held not a shred of negative thought toward these classmates.
Human hearts were always the most complex.
But Luo Shizhen never seemed complex.
And the Qi he accepted with tolerance, no matter how ferocious, would involuntarily weaken by thirty percent after being treated gently.
Chen He’an thought, Maybe, Luo Shizhen can really do it?
He said, “But the teacher thinks Shizhen has great talent. Maybe you can do it.”
Luo Shizhen relied heavily on Chen He’an. Hearing this, he immediately looked a bit more confident, as if receiving a golden rule.
Growing up, he hadn’t found anything he was talented in. But since coming to the Awakener School, everyone seemed to praise his talent no matter what he did.
The teachers were nice and took good care of him. Even Teacher Lin, who looked fierce, brought him bananas.
The classmates were also very polite. No one said what he did was bad, and no one mocked him for lagging behind in grades.
Luo Shizhen was easily satisfied. Living happily, he wanted to do his duty well even more.
At No. 3 High School, a student’s duty was to study, so he studied hard.
Here, he was a Purifier. A Purifier’s duty was to purify others, so Luo Shizhen worked hard in this direction.
Chen He’an intended to give him some help:
“Shizhen, if you want more information, you can ask Big Yellow. Big Yellow can see the manifestation of Qi.”
The little spirit called by name poked its head out of his collar, big eyes full of reluctance.
Chen He’an gently patted its little green head:
“Big Yellow, be good. You’ve known Shizhen for so long; you know he won’t hurt you.”
Big Yellow looked hesitantly at Luo Shizhen. After receiving Luo Shizhen’s expectant gaze, it slowly blinked, crawled down from its master, and moved slowly onto the back of Luo Shizhen’s hand.
Its small legs usually ran very fast, but now it moved like a snail.
But Luo Shizhen didn’t mind. He was overjoyed, taking out snacks and offering them to Big Yellow ingratiatingly.
“Big Yellow, for you to eat.”
Big Yellow hugged the snack, peeked at Luo Shizhen with big eyes, and after confirming he really had no malice, tentatively took a bite.
After the bite, seeing Luo Shizhen didn’t stop it, it began to eat in small bites.
It still dared not get too close to Luo Shizhen, only willing to stay on the back of his hand. But Luo Shizhen’s face was full of affection, almost overflowing.
Suddenly, he felt a light thing scratching the back of his right hand.
Luo Shizhen instinctively looked down first. Seeing nothing, he remembered Ying He was next to him.
Ying He was holding a cultural studies book, looking as if he was reading seriously.
Luo Shizhen whispered, “Ying He, thank you. I finished taking notes. You can take your Qi back now.”
Ying He: “Mn.”
He didn’t take it back.
Luo Shizhen had just learned to sense the existence of Qi and wasn’t very sure if his feeling was correct. After waiting a while, he asked embarrassedly:
“Did you take it back?”
Ying He: “No.”
Luo Shizhen gave a blank “Oh,” confused. “Then why don’t you take it back?”
Lin Qi, who had been ready to strike for a long time, popped up instantly, chuckling:
“Student Ying He might not have strong control over Qi. Teacher will help you retract it.”
He released his own Qi. The high-ranking Awakener’s Qi was like a rampant giant beast, unceremoniously driving away Ying He’s Qi.
Because his Qi was too massive, even though he had carefully compressed it, it inevitably touched the Qi slowly radiating from Luo Shizhen.
The touched Qi paused, then curiously and carefully touched back, expressing goodwill.
Lin Qi: …It really feels kind of comfortable.
It was his first time feeling this when touching someone’s Qi. Before, it was either mutual beating or unilateral beating.
First time encountering this feeling like being gently brushed. Being a high-ranking Awakener, his Qi had synesthesia with his body, making the sensation even more obvious.
Unexpected. He hadn’t gone easy on Luo Shizhen and usually spoke sternly and fiercely. Yet Luo Shizhen held such great goodwill toward him internally?
The arrogant and violent Qi no longer acted wild like when driving away Ying He. Instead, it tentatively wanted to touch back.
Now it was Chen He’an’s turn for eyelid twitching.
“Instructor Lin.”
His eyes warned: After helping the ‘student,’ you can retract your Qi.
Lin Qi was a bit reluctant to part. He had never made contact with a Purifier’s Qi before; so it felt this good.
Just as he said, their team lacked a Purifier!
But being a high-ranking Awakener, he could control his Qi well. With a thought, he retracted the Qi.
A bit regrettable.
Sigh, if only Luo Shizhen could join Silver Cocoon. Once teammates, couldn’t we make contact however we wanted?
Of course, regardless of his inner thoughts, Lin Qi remembered his strict instructor persona.
Retracting his Qi, he looked coldly at Ying He:
“Qi is half of an Awakener. Even a low-ranking Awakener shouldn’t be unable to control their own Qi well.”
“If you’re bad, practice more. This class, everyone release one percent of your Qi size to exercise control ability. I’ll watch from up here to see how bad you really are.”
Just in time. Didn’t Luo Shizhen want to take notes?
All students releasing their Qi would let him take notes to his heart’s content.
Luo Shizhen was stunned, then became ashamed. “Teacher Lin, I… I still don’t know how to control my Qi.”
Lin Qi hadn’t thought of that.
Looking at Luo Shizhen, who went from happy to uneasy, Lin Qi: “…”
He looked stiffly at Chen He’an, signaling for him to save the situation.
Chen He’an kept his hand on Luo Shizhen’s shoulder, patting the child soothingly:
“You’ve been awakened for the shortest time. It’s normal not to feel your own Qi. With time, you’ll naturally learn.”
“How about this: for this class, you can finish early or do self-study. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask the teachers. We’ll be sitting up there.”
Luo Shizhen immediately chose self-study.
He was behind schedule, so naturally, he had to seize the time to study.
So, during this class, Luo Shizhen consistently reviewed other subjects seriously.
Ying He exercised his Qi under Lin Qi’s surveillance while occasionally noticing Luo Shizhen from the corner of his eye.
Sitting with Luo Shizhen for three days, though separated by two seats, he understood Luo Shizhen somewhat.
Luo Shizhen was extremely serious about studying. He definitely took notes in Cultural Class and memorized them against his notes after class.
Besides studying, he always kept himself clean.
Unlike other Awakeners who had invasive consciousness, he politely kept his distance.
Ying He liked to nap on the table during breaks, which was actually just resting his eyes.
How could Awakeners fall asleep in an external environment? Even if tired, they maintained vigilance and wouldn’t truly sleep.
Other Awakeners wouldn’t have thoughts like “Classmate is closing eyes, I should be quieter”; they all did their own things.
After all, they were a bunch of eighteen or nineteen-year-old lads. Being newly awakened with violent tempers, no one thought about whether their actions affected others.
But Ying He noticed that every time he closed his eyes to rest during breaks, Luo Shizhen, who might have been reciting materials in a low voice, would switch to silent memorization.
Even his breathing slowed down significantly.
And when he opened his eyes, Luo Shizhen would switch back to low-voiced recitation.
Even the action of turning pages was careful, carrying a specific thoughtfulness.
Ying He had felt this exclusive thoughtfulness for three days.
A wonderful feeling. Being cared for felt truly good.
Most importantly, Ying He wasn’t straight.
He liked men. Ying He had discovered this before awakening.
Therefore, Luo Shizhen’s considerate behavior was more easily perceived by him.
At first, he only noticed occasionally.
Later, he would deliberately pretend to rest, then unsurprisingly feel the person next to him soften and slow his movements, every action aimed at not disturbing him.
He remained impassive on the surface but observed Luo Shizhen, this “deskmate,” more and more.
Eyes always appearing exceptionally serious, lips pursed in a good-tempered smile, actively greeting roommates to go back to the dorm together—even though that roommate had gloom written all over his face, he still didn’t notice and treated others sincerely as usual.
Silly, but cute.
Ying He couldn’t articulate his inner thoughts clearly before.
But his Qi moved a step ahead of him.
Qi was half the Awakener, representing their inner thoughts.
Ying He was a rational person. Since his Qi had already acted, and Luo Shizhen’s Qi didn’t reject him…
Perhaps before this, modern society had many obstacles to same-sex relationships, but among opposite-sex repelling Awakeners, homosexual relationships had become mainstream.
After becoming Guardians, teammates were also of the same sex, leaving no room for contact with the opposite sex.
Ying He believed he had a good chance.
“Student Luo.”
Seeing Luo Shizhen falling into conflict while reviewing, his breathing slightly disordered as he obviously encountered a difficult problem, Ying He turned his body and spoke proactively.
“Is there something you don’t understand? I can…”
“I can teach you!” Another voice sounded abruptly.
Luo Shizhen looked up blankly and saw a face exactly like Ying He’s, only the hair was flamboyantly red.
The boy’s eyes were bright as stars, his smile dazzling:
“Hello, I’m Ying Liu, Ying He’s younger brother. Our names combined mean ‘River Flow’ (He Liu). Sounds very twin-like, right?”
Luo Shizhen looked at Ying He, then at Ying Liu. Suddenly faced with two identical handsome faces, he was a bit confused.
“Ah, hello. I’m Luo Shizhen.”
Ying Liu: “You want to record Qi?”
He released his Qi. A feather, vivid as burning red, brushed gently against Luo Shizhen’s cheek.
Finally, the red feather landed on Luo Shizhen’s shoulder.
“My brother has a dull personality, unlike me—I like helping people.”
“Shizhen, if you want to research Qi, research me!”
Ying Liu rested his chin on one hand, the corners of his eyes turning up. His brow was full of slyness and confidence:
“My feather is much prettier than my brother’s.”
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