Yan Chi revealed everything in a very hesitant manner, yet Xie Tao himself knew nothing about it. Xie Tao took a deep breath and called out to Yan Chi after they finished eating.
“…What’s wrong?” Yan Chi, feeling guilty, didn’t dare look at Xie Tao, taking small steps backward. “I…I’m going to be late for work soon, how about we talk when I get back?”
Xie Tao pulled him into the room, first tugging at his collar. Seeing the marks, he pursed his lips, cupped Yan Chi’s face, and stared directly into his eyes. “Xiao Chi, did you have sex with Shen Mingsu last night?”
This blunt question caught Yan Chi off guard. He stammered, avoiding Xie Tao’s gaze, “No, no, no…”
“Didn’t have sex?” Xie Tao raised an eyebrow. “Then what were you doing?”
Yan Chi: “…”
This wasn’t leaving him any way out.
Xie Tao's face darkened as he paced back and forth in the room. He had always thought Yan Chi's feelings for Shen Mingsu were just a passing fancy, a fling based on his good looks. But now he was being told that the two were serious?
Xie Tao, like a parent catching their child in a relationship, spoke with an air of pressure, "Did he force you, or was it your own choice?"
Yan Chi, seeing he couldn't hide it any longer, lowered his head and stammered, "I did it willingly."
"..."
Xie Tao took a few deep breaths. He hadn't expected this guy to offer himself up so willingly. He was furious, but seeing Yan Chi cautiously looking up at him, Xie Tao's anger vanished completely.
Yan Chi thought for a moment, then hugged his arm and said slowly, "Actually, it's nothing. We both like each other, and we've been dating for a long time. Doing this kind of thing is normal."
Xie Tao was silent for a few seconds, then finally ruffled Yan Chi's soft hair. "You know what you're doing."
Xie Tao knew he wasn't Yan Chi's biological father, and had no right to interfere too much.
"Of course." Yan Chi's eyes crinkled with laughter, and he rubbed his head against Xie Tao's arm. "Then I'm going to work."
"Wait." Xie Tao stepped forward, gently straightened Yan Chi's collar, and patted his shoulder. "If your students find these marks, you'll probably be so embarrassed you'll want to go home and punch your pillow."
Yan Chi: "..."
Okay, that's something he's capable of doing.
Emerging from Xie Tao's room, Yan Chi bumped into a chest as hard as a wall. He rubbed his forehead, looking up at Shen Mingsu. "What are you doing standing here?"
Shen Mingsu scrutinized Yan Chi's expression, making sure there was no trace of resentment in him, and rubbed his cheek. "I was worried Xie Tao would scold you."
Yan Chi swatted away his mischievous hand, thinking Shen Mingsu's worries were unnecessary. "How could that be? He's never said a harsh word to me since we were kids. He definitely won't scold me."
Shen Mingsu: "That's good."
Seeing that it was almost time for work, Yan Chi went back to his room to get his sunglasses, hopped on the back of Shen Mingsu's bicycle, and slowly rode towards the teaching building in the dim morning light.
In the Class 2 classroom, the little zombie eagerly awaited. Today, he deliberately didn't wear any talismans, just to wait for Teacher Yan Chi's sunglasses.
The little zombie's companion, worried that the sunlight would burn his eyes, held talismans in his hand, ready to stick them on him at any moment.
Under the little zombie's expectant gaze, Yan Chi's figure finally appeared at the classroom door.
Yan Chi's pale lips were unusually rosy today. He looked around and waved to the little zombie.
The little zombie happily hopped to his side, his gray eyes seeming to sparkle at that moment.
"Here, the sunglasses I brought for you." Yan Chi put the sunglasses on the little zombie's face.
Nervous, the little zombie's lips unconsciously pressed into a straight line. His nose was high and straight, his jawline smooth, and the sunglasses drastically changed his entire aura.
Yan Chi's eyes lit up with surprise. "Now you're a cool guy."
The little zombie: "...Cool?"
Yan Chi nodded firmly. "Yeah, super cool!"
The little zombie bounced excitedly a couple of times, maintaining his composure, and pushed up his sunglasses.
"Then I'm leaving, goodbye." Seeing he liked it, Yan Chi didn't linger.
But as soon as he turned around, several tall zombies stood stiffly in front of him. The talismans on their foreheads had all been removed, and their grayish-blue faces exuded a deathly aura.
Yan Chi's heart skipped a beat. "W-what do you want?"
The large zombies exchanged glances, then returned to their seats, rummaged through their bags, and presented Yan Chi with a pile of gold and silver treasures.
A question mark slowly appeared on Yan Chi's forehead.
The large zombies all pointed at the small zombie's sunglasses. The small zombie was startled, took off his sunglasses, and bared his teeth fiercely at them, determined to protect his beloved sunglasses.
Yan Chi guessed from their actions, "You want these sunglasses too?"
The large zombies nodded repeatedly.
Yan Chi had a thought, and six pairs of sunglasses appeared in his hand. He gave one pair to each of the zombies.
The large zombies couldn't wait to put on the sunglasses. Combined with their muscular physiques, they looked exceptionally pleasing to the eye.
Having received Yan Chi's gifts, they insisted that he accept their thanks.
"Really, no need. These are all gifts for you." Yan Chi refused their obviously priceless jewelry and hurriedly left Class 2 after repeatedly declining.
A moment later, Mr. Yi, the homeroom teacher of Class 2, leisurely arrived just in time for class. As soon as he entered, he noticed the sunglasses on the zombies' faces and chuckled, "What kind of look is this?"
The little zombie, with a stern face and chin held high, declared, "This is...cool!"
Mr. Yi coldly and ruthlessly removed the little zombie's sunglasses, put them on his own face, nodded with satisfaction, and casually pressed down the little zombie's head as it lunged forward. "Hmm, not bad at all."
"...Give it back...give it back!"
"You're such a cheapskate."
Mr. Yi put the sunglasses back on the little zombie's face, and only then did the little zombie stop struggling, looking at Mr. Yi warily, and hopping and skipping further away from him.
Teacher Yi sighed, "It seems you all get along very well with Teacher Xiao Chi."
"Yes, Teacher Xiao Chi... is very good."
"Teacher Xiao Chi has a good temper."
"Teacher Xiao Chi is good-looking."
"Teacher Xiao Chi... is good in every way."
"..."
Teacher Yi chuckled and scolded, "Whoever feeds you is your mother."
Yan Chi, now back in Class 1, was unaware of his perfect image in the eyes of his classmates in Class 2. Today was the second day of the sports meet. Yan Chi first went to the office to check; there was a note Mingcai had written for him on the desk.
"This morning's shot put and javelin competitions will be held by Feng Wang and Sethia respectively.
This afternoon's orienteering will be between Ahui and Song Qian, and freestyle will be by Tan Mo."
Yan Chi put away the note and went to the next classroom. Only Li Huai, Ahui, and Tan Mo were there.
Ahui and Tan Mo sat down next to Li Huai, a rare occurrence for them.
Besides them, a strange player was standing next to Xin Xia's table. Yan Chi asked in confusion, "Who are you?"
"Teacher Yan Chi, you've arrived." The man greeted him warmly, introducing himself, "I'm Xin Xia's teammate, my name is Liu Tiancheng. I was worried about Xin Xia, so I came to check on him."
"I see." Yan Chi nodded. He knew Lin Heng's teammate had come to see him, so it wasn't surprising.
Liu Tiancheng, with his refined appearance and polite manner, asked, "Teacher Yan Chi, is this boy named Sethia?"
Yan Chi looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that he was referring to Li Huai. He shook his head. "No, he isn't. What do you need Sethia for?"
"Xin Xia likes Sethia, right? I've watched him grow up since he was little, so I wanted to see what the person he likes looks like." Liu Tiancheng smiled awkwardly. "I didn't expect to mistake him for someone else. I'm really sorry."
Yan Chi was a little bothered by his abrupt arrival, but considering that Liu Tiancheng's actions were reasonable, he didn't show his displeasure. "It's alright, then please leave quickly."
Liu Tiancheng apologized to Yan Chi and Li Huai, then left the classroom.
"Did he do something?" Yan Chi quickly walked to Li Huai and the others, looking at Li Huai with excessive concern.
Li Huai's white eyelashes fluttered slightly as he smiled at Yan Chi. "Nothing happened. Ahui and Tan Mo are both here."
It's no wonder Yan Chi was so worried about Li Huai's safety. Li Huai's "Tai Sui" constitution was too attractive to players; if something happened, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Yan Chi hugged Li Huai, feeling his warm body, and his heart, which had been pounding, slowly settled. "Where's your brother? Why isn't he with you?"
"My brother went to a competition," Li Huai said softly. "I didn't want to go outside, so I waited for him in the classroom. Besides, Ahui and Tan Mo are both here, so I'm not afraid of encountering any danger."
Yan Chi had originally planned to watch Feng Wang and his team's match, but changed his mind. "Then I'll go with you."
Around 9 a.m., after Feng Wang finished his match and hurriedly returned to the classroom, Yan Chi entrusted Li Huai to him with peace of mind. "Then I'll go watch Sethia's match."
Tan Mo stood up: "Let's go together."
On the javelin throwing field, Yan Chi saw the javelin in mid-air even before he got close. With a cheer, the javelin flew more than seventy meters.
The referee noted the result. Seeing Yan Chi arrive out of the corner of his eye, he assigned him a seat. "Sit here."
"Thank you." After Yan Chi sat down, Tan Mo stood behind him.
It wasn't Sethia's turn to compete yet. While everyone around him was incredibly nervous, he hugged a large bag of potato chips, eating as he waited, and generously shared his snacks with the two competitors in front of and behind him.
Behind him stood a middle-aged female player, trembling as she held the potato chips Sethia had given her. She didn't know Sethia's exact level, only that this sunny and cute-looking boy was more powerful than any other player or NPC she had encountered.
Would he kill her if she didn't eat his chips?
Tears welled in the middle-aged woman's eyes, but she resolutely put the chips into her mouth.
Crispy...braised flavored chips...
A few seconds later, the middle-aged woman's eyes widened. She was alright?!
"Do you want more?" Seeing her staring intently at him, Sethia reluctantly pushed the bag of chips forward, closing his eyes in shame. "You take it!"
The middle-aged woman, seeing his expression, smiled through her distress, her voice soft, "No, I don't want any."
Sethia immediately hugged his snacks tightly, then, after a moment's thought, shared one with her. Looking at her sallow face and puffy eyes, Sethia said, "You...you look a lot like a shopkeeper I know."
The middle-aged woman smiled bitterly, "I'm just a useless player, how could I possibly resemble a shopkeeper here?"
Low-level players like them were always at the bottom of the hierarchy in any dungeon. High-level players looked down on them, and the NPCs were xenophobic and ignored them.
"Really, you really do look a lot like the owner of that doll shop outside the school. Oh, right, that shopkeeper used to be a player too." Sethia had accompanied Lian Deng to the doll shop once before and remembered the owner.
The middle-aged woman paused, "A doll?"
She seemed to realize something, and hurriedly grabbed Sethia's arm, her expression urgent. "Is her name Zhou Guixiang? And she has a little girl who looks about three or four years old with her?"
"I don't know, I only call her 'boss.'" Sethia, unaccustomed to such close contact with players, pulled his hand away and took a step back. "She's on the commercial street outside the school, in a shop called Xiangxiang Doll Clothing Shop."
Zhou Hehua's eyes closed and, clutching the hem of her clothes, sobbed uncontrollably. "It's her...it must be her...she's still alive."
Her sister and niece were still alive.
The struggle between Sethia and Zhou Hehua was witnessed by those around them. Tan Mo frowned slightly and said to Yan Chi, "Teacher, I'll go check on Sethia."
Yan Chi was also worried about Sethia: "Okay, go ahead."
Not far away, a nervous player rubbed the sweat from his palms. He picked up a javelin, took a few steps forward, leaned forward, and threw the javelin with all his might. Just then, a gust of wind blew, and the javelin flew straight at Tan Mo. Tan Mo, used to this, easily dodged it by sidestepping.
Yan Chi turned his head and witnessed the dramatic scene, patting his pounding chest.
The referee turned to him and asked, "Is this student Tan Mo?"
"Yes."
"That's not surprising." The referee muttered, "This kid's luck is still so bad."
Once, twice, three times…
Tan Mo seemed to possess a magical attraction to javelins; they seemed to follow him.
Tan Mo: "…"
Forget it, he'd better go back.
Seeing Tan Mo return, Yan Chi tried to give him a lucky buff. Because Tan Mo's level was too high, he couldn't change much, so he could only give him a small amount of luck. "Why don't you try again?"
Tan Mo felt a warm sensation all over his body and knew that Yan Chi had done something to him. He didn't resist, nodded, and returned to the edge of the arena. This time, no javelins chased him.
Yan Chi nodded his head, very pleased.
The competition resumed normally, and the players who had chased Tan Mo with javelins resumed their matches.
Soon it was Sethia's turn, but Sethia hadn't finished his large bag of potato chips. He looked around and stuffed the snacks into Tan Mo's arms. "I'll come get them right away."
After saying that, Sethia returned to the arena, picked up the javelin, tested its feel, and easily threw it. The javelin sliced through the air with unstoppable force, landing more than a hundred meters away.
Hidden in the crowd, Xin Xia's eyes widened. This strength seemed capable of killing ten of him.
The players stared, speechless, at his arms, which were mostly smooth, white flesh.
[Kid, why don’t you go work on your muscles? Get a really strong, muscular build, like that. That way, we’d feel better after beating us, waaaaah!]
[Golden…Golden Barbie?!]
[Go ahead and humiliate us! You wait! I’ll turn into a block of tofu and smash you to death! (Tofu impact) (splat) (shatters)]
[Wait, I saw that beautiful teacher again…no way…could this student be in his class too? Ahhhhh—beautiful teacher, don’t hang out with these high-risk NPCs! You’re a sweet, gentle beauty!]
[…Do you think the beautiful teacher’s level is low if he’s with them?]
[…]
Yan Chi walked over to Sethia and Tan Mo. Sethia generously offered Yan Chi some of his snacks, but Yan Chi only ate one piece. The three of them had only walked a few steps when a commotion arose behind them.
"It was a mistake this time, please give me another chance, just one!" The man stood frantically in front of the referee's table, trying to grab the score sheet. The referee held the sheet down, coldly looking at him. "Each person only has one chance."
The player seemed to feel a tremendous injustice, or perhaps the referee's relatively reasonable attitude emboldened him. The male player pointed at several other players, "They get another chance, why can't I?! This is unfair! How dare you call yourselves teachers?!"
The players he pointed at turned pale, fearing the referee would declare their scores invalid as well.
The referee looked at the man calmly, leaning back in his chair. "So? What do you want?"
The man's face lit up. "My request is simple: either give me another chance, or they get zero."
Some players glared at him with bloodshot eyes. "You bastard."
The man didn't care what they said. Anyone else could die, but he had to live. As long as these people got zero, he wouldn't be at the bottom.
[Damn it, someone should just kill this idiot!]
[To be fair, he didn't do anything wrong. Everyone has a survival instinct. If you were in his situation, you would have done the same. Don't be so harsh on him.]
[Heh, then I wish you'd become his stepping stone to survival. Fairness, my foot? You disgusting piece of trash.]
[After playing this game for years, you've become this inhuman? Do you even deserve to be called human? Being in the same species as this kind of thing makes me lose face!]
[…]
It seems the players' breaking point came sooner than Yan Chi expected. Now that the students at school haven't attacked the players because of their assignments, they're pushing the boundaries even further.
Yan Chi is also curious about how the referee will decide.
The referee looked conflicted. He didn't bother trying to reason with the men, arguing that the other players were only able to retake the game because of external interference; he didn't want to waste his breath on such useless arguments.
"So, do you agree?" the referee asked the group of players who had replayed the game, grinning. "How about we cancel your scores as your friend suggested? It's just zero points, but it'll make your friend happy. Why not?"
"No...no! No way!" A slightly overweight man stepped forward, his voice trembling. He glared at the referee as if he were facing his father's killer, then knelt down and pleaded with the referee, "We earned our scores ourselves! You can't just dismiss them because of one sentence!"
The referee looked troubled. "So you don't want to?"
The players protested loudly.
"No way! I'd rather die!"
The referee glanced dismissively at the troublemaking player. "Well, his suggestion puts me in a difficult position..."
Some players had already made up their minds. One stepped forward, and the others followed, surrounding the troublemaker.
Two held his arms, two held his legs, and one held his head. The player with the knife approached step by step.
"No...no..." The man struggled in terror, tears streaming down his face. "We're teammates! Didn't we agree to support each other? You liars, NPC lackeys!"
Seeing they were unmoved, the man frantically searched for a savior, finally settling his gaze on Yan Chi.
He'd heard of this NPC; he was neutral. If he could please him, he could gain protection.
The man clung to his last straw, crying, "Teacher Yan Chi! Teacher Yan Chi, please save me! They've all gone mad, please save me! You're so kind, you wouldn't bear to see me killed, right?"
Yan Chi frowned, looking at the man's tear-streaked face. He felt nauseous and said to Tan Mo and Sethia, "Let's go."
Yan Chi wasn't going to save him… The man's face contorted, and he began to curse, spewing out all sorts of disgusting and filthy words.
Sethia angrily turned around, about to rush forward and devour the player, but Yan Chi grabbed his wrist.
Yan Chi, though good-tempered, wasn't a pushover. "Eating this kind of thing will give you a stomachache, don't go."
"As for you…" Yan Chi's clear eyes revealed a hint of coldness, "If you don't want your tongue, just spit it out."
"Ugh…" The man's body convulsed, as if he had suddenly fallen ill. The player holding him released him in panic, afraid of infecting himself. Blood dripped from the man's mouth. He was hunched over in agony, a lump of bright red flesh falling from his lips.
The players gasped and retreated, staring at Yan Chi as if he were a monster.
They always managed to unite because of fear or the prospect of losing something.
Yan Chi took in their expressions and said to Sethia and Tan Mo, "Let's go."
Sethia glared angrily at the players, grabbed Yan Chi's hand, and followed him.
Tan Mo lagged a step behind. His unfathomable eyes glanced at the man, and a dark shadow silently darted out from beneath his feet.
The shadowy figure swelled and grew larger, gradually taking on a human form. The boy, barely a teenager, was reduced to half a body. He limped towards the man, murmuring sorrowfully, "Brother...didn't you promise to protect me? Why did you push me? That giant snake bit me so badly! My body is melting in its stomach..."
"Get...get away..." The man completely broke down upon seeing the boy. He crawled away with difficulty, trying to distance himself.
Half of the boy's face had become a skull. He suddenly burst into laughter, pounced on the man, who screamed in agony. Then, a giant black snake appeared out of thin air, swallowed both of them, and vanished into the shadows.
The entire place was silent, broken only by the occasional, distinct sound of swallowing.
Sethia's clear, sunny voice broke the deathly silence, "Tan Mo, you're so slow! The teacher and I are almost far away. Hurry up and catch up!"
Tan Mo indifferently withdrew his gaze: "I'm here."
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