Chapter 76

The trail of Xie Chang’an and Jiang Cuo’s actions last night was actually quite clear.

Two cash-strapped boys, while trying to buy affordable winter clothes with decent quality, had unknowingly wandered into an area that was basically a slum. Then they happened to run into a gang maliciously collecting debts from a shop. The two of them had originally intended to avoid it, but in the end, the gang came after them instead.

And after that came fighting, pursuit, fighting, encirclement, ambush...

Just when Jiang Cuo was so exhausted he wanted nothing more than to return to the inn and collapse, Xie Chang’an suddenly steeled his resolve and decided to go back and help the shop owner and the others. After hearing him out, Jiang Cuo had nearly blacked out on the spot, but since the whole mess had started because of the two of them, he still obediently went back to help.

And so things developed into the current situation, where the two of them did not return to the inn until the early hours of the morning.

For a moment, Ji Qing could not even find the words to describe his feelings after hearing all that. With admiration, he thought: that old thief Yuexia Cao really was ruthless.

Their chance encounter with the gang collecting debts definitely had Yuexia Cao’s hand in it.

Even though Yuexia Cao could not interfere with the manga world on a large scale, things like the lottery results or chance encounters were still within his power to influence. This chase sequence in Ning City had probably cost Yuexia Cao over another month of updates.

“All right.” Ji Qing could not help smiling as he teased them. “You two really have worked hard. But don’t forget that once we reach Snow City, we need to set out as quickly as possible to look for the black box. We can’t lag too far behind the other teams.”

“I know that already...” Jiang Cuo slumped weakly against the back of his seat.

“Mm.” Xie Chang’an let out a faint hum of agreement.

He was so exhausted he could not even manage a complete sentence anymore, but he also knew very well that his own recklessness had been part of the reason. Xie Chang’an thought distractedly: He just hadn’t expected his teammates not to have much of a strong reaction... He had thought he would get hit with some sharp-tongued remarks...

At that thought, Xie Chang’an quietly glanced at Ji Qing.

Ji Qing was still sitting by the window, calmly gazing outside. After a full night of rest, Ji Qing’s mood had visibly improved. Compared to the cold, oppressive air he had given off yesterday, his attitude toward the two of them had become much better as well.

So it really was because of the team assignment draw? Xie Chang’an guessed inwardly.

Teaming up with people you did not like really did make it easy to feel irritable, though... Xie Chang’an suddenly looked at the limp Jiang Cuo beside him and thought: It was probably also because Jiang Cuo never shut up. Jiang Cuo’s constant muttering on the way last night had nearly driven him insane too.

Jiang Cuo could talk far too much.

His mouth never stopped running. During the entire escape, he had not stopped talking for even a moment. Xie Chang’an had been forced to listen to Jiang Cuo’s endless thoughts and feelings the whole way, and had even been forced to learn about Jiang Cuo’s damned ability. Could he please stop conjuring up useless things already?

When they ran into the gang fighting, the first thing he did was conjure a white dove. When the gang started chasing them, the first thing he did was conjure a climbing rope. When they encountered...

Honestly, were those things really useful?

Xie Chang’an felt like his mentality was on the verge of exploding. He instantly understood why the top student had been in such a bad mood.

How could anyone stay in a good mood with a teammate like this?

But after resting for a while, Xie Chang’an’s thoughts inevitably circled back to that earlier sense of unease. He thought that the top student’s attitude and way of speaking resembled Li Yuan’s. Was that because he missed Li Yuan? Surely not, right?

It had been... what, about a month since he and Li Yuan had parted?

That was not even very long. In fact, it had not even been as long as the time Xie Chang’an had spent away from the orphanage. And yet he kept unconsciously catching glimpses of Li Yuan’s shadow in the top student. While inwardly despising himself, Xie Chang’an thought in despair:

Look, he had even started to think the line of the top student’s jaw looked like Li Yuan’s...

From the bottom of his heart, Xie Chang’an felt that if he kept projecting like this, he would absolutely be treated like a peeping creep and end up isolated by Class S. Ever since the beginning of the school year, Xie Chang’an had known that the top student held an extraordinary status within Class S.

Projecting recklessly like this could very easily provoke the dissatisfaction of Class s' members.

Xie Chang’an absolutely did not want to be isolated again, and the culprit behind all of this really was himself. But how could the more he looked, the more alike they seemed? Now even the hesitant look the top student gave him when lifting his eyes made him think of the moment before Li Yuan left.

“What exactly are you looking at?” the top student said darkly.

“Sorry—” Xie Chang’an immediately dropped to his knees in surrender.

This was the second time during the winter break field assignment that Ji Qing had caught Xie Chang’an red-handed on the spot. Even Jiang Cuo, who had been listless up until just now, noticed that something was off. He eagerly leaned toward Xie Chang’an and whispered like a little devil, “Brother, were you originally gay?”

“I’m not, I’m not!” Xie Chang’an shook his head so hard it looked like a rattle drum.

The “stay calm and don’t talk” principle Xie Chang’an had been repeatedly hinting to himself about not long ago was instantly flung straight out of his mind by his own actions. But his reaction obviously did not dampen Jiang Cuo’s malicious interest.

Jiang Cuo immediately scooted closer to Ji Qing and, like a bootlicker, raised a hand to swear, “I swear I genuinely had no idea before that he was this kind of person! Heaven can testify to my sincerity—I’m standing on your side, Top Student! So let’s isolate him!”

“You bastard, shut up!” Xie Chang’an got so angry he started hitting him on the spot.

“How is it not true? Sure, the top student is really handsome, but that’s not a reason for you to keep staring at him. Even I haven’t kept looking at the top student over and over. There’s only one truth!!!” Jiang Cuo argued back. “And that truth is that you have a secret crush on the top student so badly that *&%...”

Inside the cramped train compartment, the two of them instantly started wrestling.

Expressionless, Ji Qing used his ability to create an invisible air wall, separating the two of them. He sighed inwardly: The effect was almost too good. Even though he had only deliberately imitated Li Yuan’s posture a little...

“Stop,” Ji Qing said coldly. “Do both of you want to be crushed by gravity?”

“Of course not.”

Jiang Cuo dejectedly sat back down beside Ji Qing. Covering the cheek that had been hit, he cast a somewhat displeased look at Xie Chang’an. As an S-rank ability user, Jiang Cuo naturally could not beat Xie Chang’an in close combat, where the latter excelled in blade techniques.

Under the scrutiny of the two of them, Xie Chang’an flushed red and said, “I really wasn’t thinking that.”

“I understand,” Ji Qing said coldly. “But then why were you looking at me?”

Still shamelessly acting like a lackey, Jiang Cuo rubbed his hands together and emphasized, “This is already the second time~ Don’t use that same excuse as before to brush it off anymore~”

Xie Chang’an fell silent after hearing that.

Looking at Jiang Cuo’s smug expression, he once again felt his fists itching. But with Ji Qing present, Xie Chang’an could only say awkwardly, “Can I ask one thing first? Top Student, do you have any brothers or anything like that?”

“No.”

“Mm, well, then...” Xie Chang’an explained dryly, “I sincerely think you look a lot like someone I know.”

“Yet I don’t think that’s possible at all,” Ji Qing deliberately stressed in a casual tone. “I hate the way people scrutinize me, especially when someone is deliberately looking at another person through me.”

“S-sorry...” Xie Chang’an lowered his head again.

Xie Chang’an was practically ashamed to death over how poor his explanation sounded, but this matter really was his fault. It was just...

He thought in despair: How could there really be people who looked that alike?

Previously, Xie Chang’an had never interacted with Ji Qing at close range. Their few brief meetings had mostly been from afar, which was why he had actually started doubting that the two of them might be the same person. But how could that possibly be?

Had Li Yuan drugged him or something? Or was there something wrong with his memory?

Just as Xie Chang’an was overwhelmed by complicated emotions, Ji Qing said flatly, “All right, get ready. We’re about to get off.”

Beep, beep—

Right on cue, the whistle announcing the train’s arrival sounded.

Xie Chang’an abruptly turned to look out the window. The scenery outside had already been covered by a snowy wilderness. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but pure white snow. A few pine trees stood off in one corner of the snowfield, and scattered broken branches dotted the thick snow.

Two or three squirrels, startled by the whistle, fled in panic.

For a moment, Xie Chang’an was completely transfixed. He murmured softly, “So beautiful...”

Xie Chang’an had been born in Spring City, in the southern region.

Spring City had never seen long-lasting snowfall, and in the past, he had never looked forward to snow either. The orphanage’s heating facilities were poor, and the children had very little warm clothing. If winter lasted too long, quite a few children would suddenly die from the drop in temperature or from a shortage of medicine.

But now, for the first time, he finally had the leisure to simply admire winter’s pure, snow-covered scenery.

As Jiang Cuo pulled their luggage down from the rack, he shouted at the still-dazed Xie Chang’an, “Hurry up and put on that new jacket you bought. Snow City is at minus fourteen degrees right now. If you go out dressed like that, you’ll be in the hospital by tomorrow!”

“Got it, got it,” Xie Chang’an quickly replied.

He hurriedly pulled out the thick jacket and put it on, then ran toward the two people who had long since been waiting by the door. For some reason, a sense of anticipation for what awaited them in Snow City rose inside Xie Chang’an. Even though their team’s start had not been very smooth, it had not been bad either.

Before leaving Snow City, Ji Qing planned to rent a snow off-road vehicle.

No one knew how much time the three of them would have to spend outside the city on this trip, and having an off-road vehicle for transportation would be quite useful. Ji Qing had specifically checked the conditions in the danger zone where the crash site of the train their team was responsible for was located, and the appearance frequency of some small- and medium-sized mutant species was very high.

If they were ambushed by them at night, the situation would become extremely unpleasant.

The off-road vehicle’s windows happened to be made of specially treated glass as well, which would save the three of them a great deal of trouble at night.

So Ji Qing directly took these two along and went off to look for a car rental place in Snow City. After hearing his explanation, Jiang Cuo exclaimed repeatedly, “The top student has thought things through so carefully. If this had been left to me, as a commoner, I definitely would have chosen to go on foot. That danger zone doesn’t look very threatening.”

“Anyway, the school will reimburse it. It’d be a waste not to use it,” Ji Qing casually tossed out that line.

The moment he said that, the eyes of the other two instantly widened.

Jiang Cuo had not expected the top student to be this down-to-earth, while Xie Chang’an was thoroughly shocked.

This was not quite the same as the top student he had imagined.

Once Jiang Cuo recovered, he even tried dragging Ji Qing toward the most expensive off-road vehicle. As he walked, he said excitedly, “I almost forgot about that! If we don’t enjoy it now, when will we ever get another chance? How about we just go get a good meal first!!!”

His proposal, however, was mercilessly rejected by both of them.

Ji Qing first used his own money to advance the rental fee and deposit, then stared expressionlessly at the staff member while they filled the vehicle up with gas. His attitude was cold, and his words were cold too. Every part of his manner radiated the underlying implication of, “I can turn around and kill all of you at any moment.”

Jiang Cuo and Xie Chang’an were so frightened that they did not dare say a word.

But once the three of them got into the snow off-road vehicle and drove out of Snow City, Ji Qing suddenly turned back in confusion as though something had just occurred to him. “Why didn’t either of you talk the whole time in there? Did you leave something behind in Snow City? Hm? And why is no one willing to sit in my passenger seat?”

The two people in the back seat: “...”

At the moment, it seemed that the top student did have a bit of a naturally black-bellied streak in him.