Chapter 46: Locked in a Dark Room
The three of them got their Incubation Chambers and headed back, leaving Jian Yu behind once again.
She followed the teacher to the first basement level of the gene cultivation center.
Something felt wrong. She quietly sent two messages, one to Ling Yanzhi and one to Xi Yu.
’Send failed?’
"My apologies," Teacher Xu said. "I forgot. The equipment on the upper floors is reserved for the nobles. Special-recruit students have to use the floor below."
Teacher Xu smiled amiably.
He walked to the panel by the door and verified his identity.
A nebula graphic floated across the screen as the lock disengaged. The door folded and retracted into the walls on either side.
"Come with me. The Incubation Chamber is just inside room 177."
As Teacher Xu stepped inside, guide lights on the floor illuminated in sync with his movements.
The space was deep, dark, and chilling, like stepping into another dimension.
The Star Brain signal was blocked on the entire floor.
Realizing this, Jian Yu swallowed nervously.
She turned and ran.
Her heart began to pound, each beat heavier than the last. She could hear the frantic rhythm in her own ears.
There were still two days until Professor Lin’s medicine wore off.
But she could already feel her body starting to revert to its original, wretched state.
"You’re going the wrong way, Jian Yu."
She had run for hundreds of steps, but Teacher Xu, who had just entered the cultivation room, instantly appeared before her, blocking her path.
"It’s just the two of us on this basement level. You don’t have clearance to enter or exit, so running is pointless."
"Oh, and save your strength. Don’t bother screaming. No one outside can hear you."
The teachers at Weis Lan Noble Academy were almost all Awakeners.
’How could Teacher Xu be an ordinary person after spending eight years at the academy?’
It dawned on Jian Yu, and she instinctively backed away.
At first, she hadn’t been sure there was a problem, clinging to a sliver of hope.
But after hearing Teacher Xu say her name so precisely and seeing his eerie smile, Jian Yu’s hope died.
’What kind of university teacher remembers the name of a single special-recruit student?’
’Oh, wait, I’m a hot topic on the forums right now. It’d be stranger if he *didn’t* know my name.’
Jian Yu pressed her lips together, her ragged breaths echoing down the long corridor.
If screaming for help would actually work, she was willing to be a lot less socially anxious for a moment.
But to insulate the sound from the operating Incubation Chambers, this place used the best soundproof energy shields.
She had learned that from Teacher Xu himself on the very first day of class.
"I’ve never had to deal with an ordinary person before, so I might not be able to control my strength. I suggest you go inside on your own. Don’t make me get physical."
Teacher Xu sighed. "I don’t want to do this either, but what can I do? Someone has held a grudge against you for a while now."
A praying mantis form materialized, overlapping with his human body.
His human features were now faint and indistinct. Two filament-like antennae on his head twitched violently.
His lower body had morphed into disgusting, segmented insect legs, while a pair of translucent, membranous wings sprouted from his back—the only part of him that looked remotely appealing.
"The person who sent me said they just want to teach you a little lesson. They don’t want you dead."
Teacher Xu took two strange, skittering steps toward her.
"I don’t want to be investigated by the academy either. As you know, Weis Lan prohibits serious injuries outside of official competitions and spars."
Jian Yu frowned.
’Compared to Teacher Xu, even Ling Yanzhi’s Red Snake seems handsome and cute.’
’Yang Zhang... let’s not even make that comparison.’
Jian Yu was puzzled. ’I have free access to Villas 6 and 7. Doesn’t this guy worry about the repercussions of his actions?’
"Aren’t you afraid of offending Xi Yu and his friends?"
A flicker of hesitation crossed Teacher Xu’s face.
Of course he was afraid. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put it off for so long.
But then he remembered Xu Shaoqing’s words and calmed himself.
He was a teacher, after all. In another six months, he’d be up for a promotion.
’Jian Yu must have her own merits to get into this academy. Once she graduates, with this place on her resume, plenty of people will be extending her an olive branch.’
’But that’s all in the future.’
’Right now, she’s a special-recruit student. Even if she’s caught the eye of Ling Yanzhi and Xi Yu, she’s still just a commoner.’
’With the class divide and the Xu Family’s backing, even if my own family has fallen on hard times, would the academy really expel me over a special-recruit student?’
Teacher Xu smiled. "You probably don’t know this, but Chief Ling and the others are busy entertaining guests right now. I doubt they have time to worry about you."
He composed himself. "Room 177. Just go inside and stay for two hours. That will be enough to let her vent."
’Her, not them. Just one person.’
’Someone who’s held a grudge for a long time.’
Putting the pieces together, Jian Yu could only think of one person: Xu Shaoqing, the one who’d gotten beaten up by Ling Yanzhi.
As soon as Yan Qin was out, the person backing Teacher Xu must have lost their composure, deciding to dig up old scores and get even.
’It makes sense.’
The school forums had been buzzing for two weeks. New students were intentionally "coincidentally" running into certain people all over campus.
Sheng Yue, the student council president and usually a common sight, hadn’t been seen at all for two weeks. He even missed Professor Lin’s last class.
Then he suddenly reappeared, personally escorting a special-recruit student from some minor planet to the dean’s office.
’Since she can’t get to the main target, she has to take her anger out on someone she finds displeasing.’
Jian Yu was starting to understand the plight of a female protagonist. There were so many messed-up people in the world.
"Is it Xu Shaoqing?"
She didn’t expect Teacher Xu to admit it; she just wanted to see his reaction.
She watched him for two seconds and had her answer.
’Detestable nobles. Stupid and cruel.’
"I don’t believe I have any obligation to explain anything to you," Teacher Xu said, his patience wearing thin.
Four-sectioned, foldable scythe-limbs shot out from both of his forearms, locking around Jian Yu and closing in like a pair of scissors.
Retractable claws at the tips dug into her, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Jian Yu was wearing a long-sleeved blue dress to hide the hickeys on her body. The barbs pierced through the fabric and into her skin, but the stinging wasn’t intense.
The door to Room 177 opened, revealing an empty space inside.
Jian Yu was thrown violently inside. Her body slid a great distance before slamming into the far wall.
Her vision went black.
The door shut quickly behind her.
WHIRRR.
The sound of a sluice gate opening.
Jian Yu forced herself to pull out an umbrella and open it.
Water gushed down, drumming against the surface of the umbrella.
Room 177 wasn’t large. The vent high on the wall was tiny, and with the lights out, it was like being in a pitch-black box.
It was ’raining’ in the room, and with no drainage, the water quickly rose to cover her shoes.
With no signal, her Star Brain was useless. It couldn’t send out any messages.
Jian Yu made up her mind. As soon as she got out of here, she was ditching this low-grade Star Brain for a high-end terminal that didn’t rely on a signal.
She searched her Space Ring and pulled out the beanbag chair she’d packed from her dorm.
She piled up layers of miscellaneous items underneath it to raise it higher.
She sat on the beanbag chair, wrapped from head to toe in a blanket, holding her umbrella.
She looked like a gloomy, wilted mushroom.
The damp air made her chronic leg pain flare up.
Jian Yu hugged her knees.
’I miss the Director.’
’Even being a background character is this dangerous. No wonder the system gave me two hundred million.’
"Hiss..."
A slight pain emanated from both her arms.
Jian Yu switched on her Star Brain’s light and saw that her arms were covered in fine, dense beads of blood where she’d been pierced.
In the past, she had misused anticoagulants, which had aggravated her bleeding and caused blood clots. Compounding the problem, the Alliance strictly forbade individuals from carrying such medicine for personal use.
Jian Yu could only take out her first-aid kit and bandage herself up as best she could.
Professor Lin’s medicine seemed to be wearing off early. She felt weak all over.
The Director’s special medicine was her last hope.
Jian Yu took one pill. The pain in her legs subsided, and the grogginess in her head cleared for a moment.
But the bleeding wouldn’t stop, and she still felt awful all over.
The water stopped rising, its surface just below the beanbag’s cushion.
Jian Yu hugged her knees tightly, her consciousness fading as she lay slumped on the chair, her forehead burning with fever.