Chapter 96: There Will Be a Next Time
"Where’d you find her?" Pei Yin glanced again, barely recognizing her.
Her hair was a mess, and her neck was covered in grime.
’Did someone mess with Yan Qin?’
Duan Feiye stated succinctly, "Her lab exploded."
"It was a prank!" Yan Qin retorted, annoyed.
"You don’t even investigate it properly, just tossing out ’it exploded.’ Does that do justice to all the days I’ve spent cooperating with your check-ups?"
She stood up, her eyes fixed on Jian Yu.
"You all manage to protect *her* so well. I refuse to believe you can’t protect one more person."
Yan Qin’s hand shot up, her finger pointing straight at Jian Yu.
Her face was filled with resentment, as if she wanted to scream some sense into them.
"Is her research value to you higher than mine? Don’t forget, I’m the one who has the potential to become Awakened."
Jian Yu pursed her lips, wondering if she should say something.
Lost in thought for a moment, the badge she was fiddling with fell to the floor.
She bent down to pick up the fallen badge.
Her slender waist bent into a graceful curve.
Ling Yanzhi scooped her up with one hand, his arm circling her waist.
He took the badge and let out a soft, intriguing scoff.
Xi Yu stared at Jian Yu’s waist, a low growl rumbling in his throat.
Duan Feiye’s eyes darkened slightly.
Sheng Yue turned his head, his gaze seeming to check if those words had affected Jian Yu.
He looked away, forcing himself to calm down.
"So noisy," Pei Yin said with a frown.
Ting Ying flew out.
It slashed a claw across Yan Qin’s raised hand, which she still hadn’t lowered.
"Ah!" Yan Qin shrieked.
She clutched her hand, whimpering in pain.
’I’ve been mocked and ridiculed all day, and my lab equipment has been destroyed.’
She had come here in a blind rage, losing all sense of reason.
The sharp pain finally brought Yan Qin back to her senses.
The spectral form of the Red Snake, its attack stance, materialized around Ling Yanzhi.
The other men’s faces turned cold in silent unison.
She had overestimated her own importance.
Yan Qin quickly bowed her head and apologized. "I was just so scared."
She instinctively looked toward Duan Feiye.
After the incident, the forums had exploded, but Duan Feiye was the only one who had come to her rescue.
The few nobles she had painstakingly won over had all scattered because of a single Yellow Card and a few taunts from Li Li.
Normally, Duan Feiye might have said a few words to mediate.
But during the Threshold Devouring Period, Duan Feiye was not in a good mood.
"Fear is no excuse for recklessness, Yan Qin."
Yan Qin swallowed nervously. "It won’t happen again."
"There might not be a next time." Pei Yin drew a vial of her blood and performed a full-body scan.
"If we don’t get a result this time, you don’t need to come back. I’m not as masochistic as you seem to think; I don’t enjoy being cursed at to my face."
Pei Yin turned to his lab bench and put on his goggles.
He began the test at a deliberate, unhurried pace.
"Give you a little taste of privilege, and you really start to think you’re someone special. I’m not short on test subjects, and your research value isn’t nearly as high as you think."
Yan Qin froze.
Her face went deathly pale. "What do you mean?"
"Idiot," Pei Yin muttered coldly, too annoyed to even elaborate.
Yan Qin frantically looked to the others, trying to gauge their reactions.
Ling Yanzhi was lazily toying with Jian Yu’s hair.
Xi Yu’s fingers were massaging Jian Yu’s calf.
Sheng Yue’s gaze was lowered, but he kept glancing toward Jian Yu out of the corner of his eye.
Even Duan Feiye’s eyes would occasionally drift over to steal a glance.
’Was I wrong about something?’ Yan Qin frowned.
’Don’t tell me I’m supposed to seduce them, too?’
Everyone assumed Xu Jianjuan had that kind of relationship with them.
But Yan Qin knew for a fact they didn’t like Xu Jianjuan; Xu Jianjuan had admitted it herself.
’Was Xu Jianjuan lying?’
’Did I actually fall for a lie Xu Jianjuan told just to appease a friend?’
’Men are the most disgusting creatures. There’s no way I’ll ever grovel and beg them again.’
Yan Qin dug her nails into her palm to calm herself.
’In my past life, right before I was tortured to death, Xu Jianjuan managed to Awaken successfully!’
’Even though she was only a Half-awakened with a low mental reading, she still successfully became Awakened.’
’Did they develop some other medicine to help Xu Jianjuan Awaken in the last life?’
’How could that be? I haven’t been held back by commoners like Xu Jianjuan was, and I haven’t cared about whether anyone else lives or dies.’
’So why is this happening to me? Haven’t I already successfully taken Xu Jianjuan’s place?’
Several of their families included commoners. Sheng Yue’s younger brother, in particular, was a commoner who had failed to become an Awakener.
’When commoners grow powerful, it’s a threat to the nobility, which is why they secretly developed that medicine in my past life.’
Yan Qin was sure she remembered correctly.
’And yet, they don’t seem to care at all about my progress toward Awakening.’
’This doesn’t make any sense.’
Her gaze fell on Jian Yu.
Yan Qin calmed down.
’Still, something is different. This life, there’s someone new.’
’Their attention is divided by Jian Yu. That’s why they’re putting far less effort into me than they did for Xu Jianjuan.’
’They aren’t even willing to spend a little more time on me. How could I possibly Awaken?’
Yan Qin decided to make one last attempt.
Subtle hints wouldn’t work; she had to be explicit.
"After all this research, shouldn’t there be a medicine to assist the Awakening process?"
Jian Yu was trying to be part of the background, not wanting to get involved.
But Yan Qin dragged her into it anyway.
Getting no response from Pei Yin, Yan Qin walked over and bowed low.
Blood dripped from her palm, a painful-looking sight.
"I’m sorry, Jian Yu. Please forgive my rudeness."
Yan Qin began to recount her miserable day, trying to elicit sympathy.
Her eyes welled with tears as she looked to Jian Yu for compassion.
Her gaze lowered slightly, her back turned to Pei Yin and Sheng Yue.
Perhaps noticing that Xi Yu wasn’t looking up and Ling Yanzhi had his eyes closed in rest,
Yan Qin’s expression shifted in an instant, all pretense dropping.
The moment Jian Yu looked up, she clearly saw the malice in the other woman’s eyes.
’She must think I’m a total pushover.’
Yan Qin gave a silent, cold smile. "Forgive me, won’t you?"
"No," Jian Yu said. She didn’t forget her act just because she thought no one was watching. A panicked look filled her eyes.
She turned her head and tugged on the collar around Ling Yanzhi’s neck.
The Red Snake’s childlike voice spoke up: [I don’t want to touch her.]
Ling Yanzhi kicked Xi Yu with the toe of his shoe.
A clawed tentacle shot out, wrapped around Yan Qin, and tossed her next to the lab bench.
Before she could even get up, Pei Yin placed a vial of medicine in front of her.
"The assisted Awakening you wanted."
Yan Qin snatched the vial in delighted surprise.
Pei Yin’s expression flickered.
He said softly, "Don’t blame me for not warning you. Quite a few commoners have died from the pain of drinking this medicine."
Yan Qin couldn’t be bothered with that. She tilted her head back and downed it.
’Without the medicine from Duan Feiye, my family would have probably abandoned me already.’
’I don’t want to be married off.’
’I have to take this gamble.’
Screams and wretched howls erupted as Yan Qin thrashed on the floor, her breath coming in hoarse, ragged gasps.
Her skin split and her flesh tore open.
Jian Yu closed her eyes, only to realize the sounds had vanished.
When she opened them again, a sound-dampening shield enveloped Yan Qin.
A nearby robot, following a command, hurried over to bandage Yan Qin’s wounds.
Half an hour later, Pei Yin walked up to Yan Qin. "Congratulations. You get a next time."
The pain made Yan Qin’s eyes roll back in her head, but she couldn’t stop laughing.
Watching her pass out, a swarm of glowing insects billowed from Duan Feiye as he lifted her and walked out.
"I’ll take her to the school infirmary. I look forward to better results next time."
Sheng Yue retracted the shield and left without lingering.
It was as if his only reason for coming was to see the results of Yan Qin’s test.