Chapter 128 - 127: No Choice But to Go to the Auditorium
"Enough with the ’Yanyan’," Pei Yin, furious, silenced her with a kiss.
He kissed her fiercely—a long, suffocating kiss.
Jian Yu whimpered softly.
She shook her head pitifully. "I don’t know."
Pei Yin gave her waist a light, threatening squeeze. "Guess again. Get it wrong this time, and you can forget about going home tonight."
The black blindfold gradually grew damp with tears.
Jian Yu’s fair face was flushed, adding a touch of dazzling beauty to her usually cool demeanor.
Sheng Yue stood outside the window, his fingers clenched into a tight fist.
Yin Jiu was indignant. [Damn it, he’s bullying Baby.]
It egged him on. [Master, let’s go in and beat him up!]
Yin Jiu lost it.
[AHHHH! Master, look at him!]
[Baby’s skirt is riding up!]
[Damn it, cover her! Help Baby pull it down!]
Listening to Yin Jiu’s frantic voice, Sheng Yue’s lips pressed into a thin, straight line.
He took a deep breath, turned, and started to walk away.
Before he had taken two steps, Ling Yanzhi’s figure appeared, heading in his direction.
Sheng Yue lowered his gaze, concealing his presence.
He suddenly realized he had no right to interfere.
Yin Jiu noticed the change in direction.
It started wailing again.
[Master, you’re going the wrong way! It’s this way!]
A few Instant Teleportations later, Sheng Yue was gone from the experimental sector.
Ling Yanzhi walked over. Not seeing Lin Yu, he frowned slightly.
As he stepped closer, he could still hear soft, broken whimpers coming from inside.
He didn’t use the main door. Bracing himself with one hand, he vaulted through the window.
Jian Yu could sense that someone else had broken into the lab.
’She didn’t have the mental space to think about it.’
The pressure from Pei Yin’s fingers on her waist was too light, a teasing caress that tickled.
Jian Yu couldn’t help but try to squirm away, her head tilted back slightly, her neck flushed red with embarrassment.
"Hurry up and guess," Pei Yin demanded, gripping Jian Yu’s waist.
He turned his head to stare at Ling Yanzhi, but his words were directed at Jian Yu. "Who am I to our baby?"
He was still using the unfamiliar young man’s voice from the voice changer.
Jian Yu was the type to hold a grudge.
Even though Pei Yin was handsome, she couldn’t resist getting back at him whenever she had the chance.
This included when they practiced with her; Pei Yin was always the one she went hardest on.
’Who just came in?’
’Knowing Xi Yu’s style, there’s no way he wouldn’t have joined in on the fun by now.’
’That left Ling Yanzhi as the only other suspect.’
’Since there are two of them here...’
’After the stick this morning, maybe it’s time for the carrot?’
Jian Yu swayed her hips from side to side.
She dodged Pei Yin’s fingers and called out in a syrupy voice, "Yanyan."
Pei Yin’s hand fell away.
He crossed his arms, a look of displeasure on his face.
Ling Yanzhi let out a soft chuckle, his tone rising at the end. "Good girl. Correct answer."
The restraints on her hands and feet loosened. Jian Yu’s arms were numb, and she didn’t dare to move.
Her body fell into another person’s embrace.
The soothing pats on her back, the familiar cold scent of leather in the air—even with the blindfold on, Jian Yu could guess who it was.
"They just don’t dote on my baby like I do. They even hurt my baby’s hands." Ling Yanzhi wrapped one arm around her, drawing out his words in a long, singsong tone.
He lowered his head and rubbed Jian Yu’s numb wrists.
"See? I’m the one who’s good to my baby. I can’t bear to see my baby in pain."
Unlike Xi Yu, Ling Yanzhi didn’t try to forcefully brainwash himself.
Instead, he did the opposite, subtly leaving Jian Yu with the subconscious psychological suggestion that he was the one who cared for her the most.
He firmly believed that suggesting things to her was more effective than altering his own memories.
After briefly flexing her hands, Jian Yu reached up and removed the blindfold.
She blinked. A few clumps of her damp eyelashes were stuck to her lower eyelids.
She leaned against him, wrapping her arms around Ling Yanzhi’s waist. Her soft voice was now a little hoarse. "Are you here to take me back? But my experiment isn’t finished yet."
Jian Yu never for a moment forgot to play the part of a captive with no freedom.
"That stupid experiment is completely useless. It won’t improve your abilities and is just a waste of your time." Pei Yin dropped his disguise, his voice returning to normal.
His condescending tone was as infuriating as ever.
Jian Yu turned her wide eyes on him, staring without blinking.
’So damn seductive.’ Pei Yin swallowed hard.
He looked away awkwardly. "I already did the experiment. The data can’t be wrong. You can just submit it directly."
He stared back at Jian Yu intently.
He saw that the faint pink on her cheeks hadn’t completely faded and the corners of her eyes were tinged red, making her look a little drowsy.
Pei Yin’s expression softened.
He walked over and pinched the soft flesh of Jian Yu’s cheek. "Sleep if you’re tired. This kind of worthless rookie experiment isn’t suitable for our smart baby."
’He changes his tune so fast.’ Jian Yu looked up at him, a beat too slow, a dazed look on her face.
Ling Yanzhi scoffed lightly.
Without avoiding Jian Yu’s presence, he asked directly, "You went through all that trouble. What were the results?"
Pei Yin snapped back to reality and checked the emotional fluctuation readings.
"???"
He was a bit confused. "There’s some change, but it’s not as big as your fluctuation from this morning. But..."
’Can someone please tell me why Jian Yu’s fluctuation graph spiked twice before I even got here?’
’And each spike was higher than the last!’
It only took a moment for Jian Yu to understand what they were talking about.
’They wanted to tease me, and also to scare me.’
’I just don’t know how effective it was.’
Looking at the black line on her wrist, Jian Yu tried to activate it.
’It seems to be reacting a little.’
’I might need a therapist. I’m seriously not well in the head; I like being scared.’
Thinking about what just happened and the confusion in Pei Yin’s voice...
Jian Yu didn’t hesitate. She decisively pulled out the love letter. "Maybe it’s because of this?"
’I’m not sure who the pervert who sent the love letter is, so I can’t let my guard down yet.’
She pretended to be angry, her face flushed and her eyes and nose a little red.
"He threatened me, telling me to go find him at the auditorium by myself."
Jian Yu hugged Ling Yanzhi, her eyes timid. "I’m scared."
The inter-school league drew a motley crew.
Her intuition told her that tomorrow would be very dangerous.
Not just because of the person who sent the love letter, but also because of Yan Qin and Xu Sheng.
Jian Yu decided she wouldn’t leave Ling Yanzhi and the others’ side for a second.
But plans are no match for reality. A moment later, she heard some bad news.
Pei Yin came to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ling Yanzhi, reading the letter.
His brow was tightly furrowed. "Hasn’t Si Xu’s side found the person yet?"
A red glow ignited on Ling Yanzhi’s fingertip. "Not yet."
The pink letter was consumed by the fiery red starlight.
He set Jian Yu down and took her hand, leading her out. "All the freshmen have to go to the auditorium tomorrow. I’ll have Lin Yu and the others follow you."
Pei Yin had almost forgotten. "Oh, right. Si Xu is coming back tomorrow. All the new students have to go chant prayers and receive a blessing."
He tidied up the experiment report, copied a version to his Star Brain, and followed them out the door.
Hearing that she had to go to the auditorium, Jian Yu’s panic spiked to its highest level. Her breathing even hitched for a moment.
She clenched her fists, her palms breaking out in a cold sweat.
Ling Yanzhi stopped, took her hand, and wiped it on his own clothes.
"Tonight, we’ll help our baby try to condense the smoke into the shape of a Soul Beast."
His eyes were half-lidded. "Instead of worrying about yourself, baby, you should be worrying about how many of your attacks that person can withstand."
It dawned on Pei Yin a moment later.
He comforted her, "What are you afraid of? It’s not like there’s a rule that only new students can go in."
The words had barely left his mouth when Jian Yu received a notification.
[To all students:
Due to Chief Si Xu’s need to attend the opening ceremony of the Beast Taming Competition tomorrow, time is limited. The originally scheduled prayer and chanting event in the auditorium will be restricted to first-year students only. The auditorium will be temporarily closed to upperclassmen.
This is an official notice.]