Chapter 870: The Truth?
Chapter 870: The Truth?
“So… I cooperated with you and completed this scheme targeting that Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan?”
“Yes.”
“You are saying I threw my life away just to add an accident to Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan’s experiment? Is there something wrong with my brain?”
Shi Ruizhi questioned with a cold snort.
“What I told you was naturally not intended to cause this kind of accident. To be honest, you should have died in that experiment. However… the Academy Head’s methods were remarkable; you actually lived. The price… was merely… amnesia? Hehe…”
“So… you lied to me and utilized me? Do I have some deep-seated hatred with you!”
Shi Ruizhi questioned in anger.
“No… in this layout, you were just an unlucky pawn. It wasn’t some kind of hatred. Even I am just a scapegoat… I could only act this way, I had no choice. Actually… neither did you.”
“So… you called me over just to tell me a truth that you cannot even prove yourself?”
Shi Ruizhi looked at this familiar yet foreign girl before her with disgust.
Her few casual sentences… completely destroyed her life!
Even if… there was no evidence.
But… this matter would transform into a curse-like whisper that, for the rest of her life, would constantly echo in her ears, questioning her heart!
And she had no way around it!
Unless the truth was publicized, but how was that possible?
“I think… you must really not want this matter to be exposed, right? If that Yang Yuehan knows you were also an accomplice, yet you still took someone else’s compensation to live in luxury, do you think your days in the Witch Academy afterward could still be peaceful?”
“You are threatening me?”
Shi Ruizhi’s brow furrowed.
In this moment, she understood.
She has still underestimated the other party’s lower limit.
Even if there was no evidence, as long as Ji An informed her, that Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan… would in all probability be unable to let her off!
The other party might perhaps choose to believe she was innocent, but could she afford to gamble?
She could not.
“A threat? Hehe… I am about to be a dead person. Even if the Witch Academy lets me off, there are too many people who do not want me alive.”
“……”
Shi Ruizhi looked at Ji An before her.
She was somewhat unable to understand why the person before her, after breaking down, chose to accept such an arranged death.
But now was not the time to think for others.
“Then what do you want to do? After saying so much, it couldn’t possibly be just for fun.”
“Naturally not…”
Ji An spoke, “I hope… you will join our family faction.”
“Join your family?”
Shi Ruizhi frowned.
She didn’t know what this situation was again.
“Why? You threatened me just to make me join your family? I don’t feel like I am one of those geniuses worthy of being valued by a family.”
“It’s for the… Self-generating Magic Power on you. Although you failed the experiment, after being saved, this experiment actually succeeded on you instead, right?”
“You even know that?”
“I know a lot, which is why I must die. But… I still need to pull a… genius, though not quite that much of a genius, over for the family. And you, who possess Self-generating Magic Power, are undoubtedly the best choice.”
“Why? Self-generating Magic Power… if this experiment continues, wouldn’t anyone be qualified to possess it!”
Shi Ruizhi asked in confusion.
“Naive… there are Transcendent Witches who do not want this experiment to succeed. Do you really think this experiment can continue? Perhaps you are the first batch, and will also be the last.”
“……”
Shi Ruizhi was momentarily confused.
This matter was a bit too complex for her.
Just looking at the current situation, this matter involved the families, student factions, and even the interference of Transcendent mentors…
Just as Ji An said, she might not have a choice.
If she didn’t join the family, the family would turn around and expose this matter, and then she would absolutely have a hard time.
But joining the family… she would similarly have to face being targeted by that Teaching Assistant!
Moreover, the family was clearly very greedy for the Self-generating Magic Power she mastered, though… she wasn’t quite clear why.
If the family wanted Self-generating Magic Power, that should be very simple.
There were too many things she wasn't clear on, but now… she had to make the choice that would decide her life.
“Have you made your choice? Although it’s not like you have one anyway…… Actually, I can also give you a guarantee. If you join the family, the family will protect you.”
“Heh… hehe… Ji An.”
Shi Ruizhi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke.
“What? Made your decision?”
“The one without a choice is you… we are different, because I have the qualification to choose mutual destruction. Yes, I have amnesia, I remember nothing. I believe that Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan would be very happy to know the truth……”
“I am crazy, but could it be that you are crazy too!”
Listening to this set of words from Shi Ruizhi that was completely different from before, Ji An felt a sliver of unease.
“Although I haven’t had much contact with Yang Yuehan, only meeting her once in the infirmary, I feel she is a very reasonable person… So guess what, if I tell the truth to her and apologize, will she accept it?”
At this point, Shi Ruizhi didn’t give Ji An any chance to interject and continued speaking.
“That way my heart can feel a bit better. If I truly do this, consider it an atonement. A big figure like her… won't make things difficult for a small figure like me…”
Speaking to this point, Shi Ruizhi’s gaze became bright, as if the gloom from just now had been swept away.
Perhaps this was the charm of choice.
Perhaps one choice could lead one to eternal damnation, while another choice could allow one to have a clear conscience.
But… in the final analysis, Shi Ruizhi didn’t dare to be certain if what she said was true.
She just didn’t want to fall into the other party’s rhythm.
“You! You……”
Ji An, looking at Shi Ruizhi’s indifferent attitude, felt extremely uncomfortable.
Sincerity combined with anything can be a finishing move.
She was very clear… whether the person before her was an accomplice or not, which was why she saw through it more clearly.
That Yang Yuehan was similarly a madwoman.
As a “victim” of this experiment, perhaps Shi Ruizhi truly might not hold this matter against her.
“Put away your little schemes. Isn’t it better to wait for your end in peace? A thing like Self-generating Magic Power… having one more or one less makes no great impact on your family, right? Why insist on pulling me into this whirlpool?”
“……”
“We part ways here. Treat it as if this conversation never happened.”
“You think that’s possible?”
“Why can’t it be? You don’t want me to seek mutual destruction either, do you? I have my bottom line too. By doing this, I may indeed be unable to return to normal life, but your losses will certainly be greater than mine. In terms of methods to ensure no one has a good time, I am no worse than you.”
“……”
“Even if you don’t think for yourself… you should at least think for the people in your family, shouldn't you?”
Shi Ruizhi was certain that the family was the shackle for Ji An.
If this gamble was won… at least… it wouldn't make things worse.
After Shi Ruizhi finished speaking, only silence remained here.
Ji An was calculating, while Shi Ruizhi was gambling.
Everything now had fallen into a stalemate.
Both sides lacked the chip that could finalize the situation and break the current deadlock.
Until…… all the students of the Witch Academy suddenly received an academy notification.
It wasn't the kind of notification that just lay in the Academy System announcement board without movement, but a pop-up announcement!
Shi Ruizhi instinctively opened the announcement.
From the title alone, she could see roughly what the content was.
Investigation Announcement Regarding the Self-generating Magic Power Experimental Accident.
Ji An naturally received this announcement as well.
After she saw the title, the light in her gaze instantly faded, losing the will to continue entangling with Shi Ruizhi.
This was a judgment upon her, and also a formal conviction.
Even more so, it was a characterization of this incident.
Ji An tremblingly opened the detailed content… even if her vision was somewhat blurred, she saw her name appearing repeatedly on it.
Ji An collapsed into a sitting position on the rooftop.
“You go… you won…”
Ji An no longer had the heart to continue entangling with Shi Ruizhi over this matter.
In the final analysis, this was only a struggle of Ji An’s own, but clearly it had no effect.
“I didn't win…”
Shi Ruizhi sighed.
Was it a good thing for her that the other party proactively gave up?
But she showed no intention of leaving.
Very quickly, originating from the locking of the Root Network, Ji An was already locked by Information.
According to the explanation of the announcement just now, Ji An was currently considered “wanted.”
Which was to say, at this stage, even surrendering herself would be useless.
She could only obediently be taken away and wait for the judgment given by the academy.
Soon, a bright red warning marker surfaced around Ji An’s body.
A massive pillar of light rose from the rooftop.
To this point, Ji An had no way to escape, or rather she no longer had the thought of running, and could only wait for the people of the Witch Academy Disciplinary Squad to take her away.
“You aren't leaving…”
Ji An, who had been dazed for an unknown amount of time, lifted her head only to find that Shi Ruizhi had not left.
“I… am not leaving.”
Shi Ruizhi sighed, but to say she wasn't afraid would be a lie.
“I intend for my life afterward… to be lived more frankly.”
After Shi Ruizhi said this, it was as if her mindset had truly changed.
She looked up at the members of the Disciplinary Squad riding brooms from afar; even her gaze toward them became frank.
“In the end… you still chose mutual destruction… what is the meaning……”
“But in my view, this is not mutual destruction. The ending is destined… but I also need to thank you for telling me the truth…”
Just after Shi Ruizhi finished this sentence, and before the distant Disciplinary Squad had arrived, a third figure appeared here.
“Yue… Yue? Why are you here?!”
Shi Ruizhi’s eyes widened in disbelief! She had clearly left a marker on Yue before!
“I came over right after you left.”
“So…… you know everything… that I…”
A sliver of panic flashed in Shi Ruizhi’s gaze.
Even though she clearly knew what kind of path she had chosen, when truly facing all of this, reality was always that unexpected.
“No need to explain. I saw the whole process. Additionally…… let me re-introduce myself. You can call me Yang Yuehan.”
“Wh… what?!”
Shi Ruizhi looked at the figure before her in disbelief.
Within this figure, she truly couldn't see the feeling from their previous interactions.
“You… you are the true Yang Yuehan?!”
“No, I am busy right now. This… is just my avatar.”
“A… avatar?”
Hearing this answer, Shi Ruizhi fell into silence.
As expected, how could Yang Yuehan, as a Teaching Assistant, not have some methods?
But she still couldn't imagine that such a figure would use an avatar to teach her and play with her at every moment during these past few days…
At this moment, I walked up to Ji An and looked at her.
Right now, she was like… a stray dog.
“I must say, you allowed me to see your loyalty. But actually, for some matters… you are too presumptuous. From the very beginning, I was clear that the one wanting to target me was in all probability another Transcendent. However… I wouldn't do something beyond my capability. From start to finish, the ones who would get hurt were only you all.”
“And that so-called harboring of grudges of yours against this person or that… is merely your naive fantasy. To me, these are all trivialities, matters I don't care to waste time specifically dealing with.”
After I finished this sentence, the people from the Disciplinary Squad also surrounded the place.
They hovered above the rooftop on their brooms and quickly blocked off this side.
Although the Disciplinary Squad had a very low presence in the Witch Academy, it didn't mean their efficiency would be low.
After all, every one of them was a graduated senior from previous batches, and their accumulated strength was not to be scoffed at.
“Take everyone under control! Do not let a single one off!”
The people of the Disciplinary Squad quickly took control of the situation as soon as they arrived.
“Wait. You are arresting me… isn't that overstepping? The only person wanted in the announcement is Ji An alone.”
I spoke at an appropriate time as I watched their posture of wanting to take both Shi Ruizhi and me under control.
“So what? You are with her; perhaps you are an accomplice?”
“I am Yang Yuehan’s avatar. So… are you sure?”
I took out a name card; it was precisely my name card.
This name card could be described as known to everyone within the special student groups of the Witch Academy.
Because its function was only one: to summon Yang Yuehan here.
“You…”
The pupil of the girl leading the Disciplinary Squad shrank.
Clearly, she recognized what this thing was.
“If you don’t want my true body to come and chat with you, I advise you to just do your job.”
I spoke with an unceremonious tone.
After all, my identity as a Teaching Assistant was right here; the Disciplinary Squad might not necessarily be able to manage me.
The Disciplinary Squad—this was the place the people of those families liked to stay in most after graduation.
After all… this was a position of actual power for executing school rules within the Witch Academy.
The Disciplinary Squad coming so fast was naturally in the hope that Ji An wouldn’t cause any trouble.
After all… those families wouldn't want Ji An to spit out any evidence unfavorable to them.
But clearly, their expectations had fallen through.
They never expected that I would intervene in this matter at the final moment.
“Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan… may I ask if your hand is stretching a bit too far?”
“I like this arrogant tone of yours. It’s just, isn’t your family’s hand stretching far too? But I won’t hold it against you. However, what follows is not a negotiation. That person over there… don’t think about taking her away either.”
“……”
The captain of this Disciplinary Squad was clearly suppressing her rage, but she indeed didn't dare to vent it.
Just like the current situation, she couldn't afford to offend the Teaching Assistant named Yang Yuehan, even if it was just an avatar.
“Please leave. The wanted criminal has been caught; you should have no reason to stay here, right? After all, this matter is being personally investigated by the Academy Head. You wouldn't want to make the Academy Head wait that long, would you?”