# 51
Chapter 51 – I Understand You
(Day-two debut, four updates today—charge, everyone!)
(A name was wrong last chapter: Wang Shao should’ve been Liu Yuan… ahem, fixed.)
Li Yifei clicked his tongue. “If we’re talking ruthless, you win.”
Lin Qiye was about to reply when a voice crackled in his earpiece; his face darkened.
“What happened?”
“Hongying’s in trouble.” Without another word Lin Qiye grabbed his black case and sprinted out of the classroom.
“Hey! Class starts in one minute!” Li Yifei yelled automatically, then remembered—they were long past the days of quietly sitting through lessons.
He charged after him. At the doorway he collided head-on with the English teacher.
“Li Yifei? Class is about to start—where are you rushing off to?” she snapped.
“Class?” Li Yifei brushed past her. “Screw class—times have changed, teach!”
Teacher: (｀⌒´メ) ?!
Li Yifei dashed like a 100-metre sprinter after Lin Qiye and reached the girls’ dorm, already ringed by a crowd.
“Did you hear? An explosion just now!”
“Yeah! And something screaming—terrifying!”
“Nah, probably someone’s illegal hot-plate caught fire again.”
“Anyone call the cops?”
“Someone’s dialing; fire trucks should be here soon. Seal the area!”
“Hey, no signal?”
“Me neither!”
“Strange…”
Outside No. 2 Middle School.
Leng Xuan crouched in a hidden corner, planted a placard, and nicked his fingertip with a blade. Blood beaded.
Expressionless, he drew a long streak across the sign.
“How did Old Zhao do this…” he muttered, recalling, then slammed his palms together and pressed down.
“Forbidden Ruins—【Borderless Void Zone】.”
One second, two, three… ten. Nothing.
His mouth twitched. “Not enough blood?”
He sliced his left hand, added a horizontal smear.
“Forbidden Ruins—【Borderless Void Zone】!”
Still nothing.
Impatient, he slapped the placard like an old TV with bad reception. After two slaps it quivered; an invisible canvas unfurled, linking two other placards and cloaking the entire school.
“Got it.” He stood, satisfied, then blinked. “Huh? Why’s the color different this time…”
“Holy—look! The sky’s turned green!”
“So cool!”
“Quick, snap it!”
“Which poor guy got cuckolded so hard the sky’s showing it?”
“….”
The emerald sky pulled every eye; even classes emptied as teachers and students pointed.
“Qiye, what is this?” Li Yifei asked, uneasy beneath the verdant heavens.
Lin Qiye frowned. “Not sure, maybe linked to the Void Zone. Doesn’t matter.”
His gaze fixed on the sealed dorm entrance. “They’ve cordoned it off; I can’t slip in. Create a distraction—pull them away.”
“Distraction how?”
“Whatever—fake a heart attack, strip-tease, I don’t care.”
“I—I can’t do that!”
“Li Yifei.”
“Yeah?”
Lin Qiye turned, dead serious. “If you’re joining Night Watch after this, be ready to give everything… including your chastity.”
“Wait—why does joining Night Watch cost my chastity?!”
Rubbing his temples, Li Yifei spotted someone in the crowd, gritted his teeth, and yelled:
“Wu Shujie!!”
The roar silenced everyone; heads swiveled.
In the crowd Wu Shujie turned, puzzled.
Lin Qiye’s mouth twitched. “He’s not going to—”
“Wu Shujie!” Li Yifei bellowed. “I like you!!!”
Gasps and squeals erupted. Nothing rivets high-schoolers like sudden romance; curiosity over fire was instantly eclipsed by front-row gossip. Eyes blazed at Wu Shujie; the circle widened to give her space.
Lin Qiye vaulted the cordon and vanished into the dorm.
Wu Shujie lowered her head. “Sorry… I already like someone.”
Li Yifei’s mind blanked; in a daze he finally understood what Liu Yuan had felt.
“Who?”
Blushing, she whispered, “I… like Lin Qiye.”
“……”
Li Yifei’s face contorted. He glanced at the doorway—Lin Qiye was gone. Raising his eyes to the lush green sky, tears welled.
Liu Yuan… don’t cry. Li Yifei understands you!
——— Boom!! ———
Spear-tip whirled ribbons of fire like a long crimson tassel; rose sparks bloomed along the dark corridor.
Hongying flashed between monsters; a sweep of her flaming spear sent a head flying, incinerating mid-air.
The surviving creatures recoiled.
Before them Hongying advanced, fire-lance in hand, hair streaming, eyes ablaze.