Afraid that Yan Chi would drag him into discussing Sethia's grades, Yi Luo turned and ran only two steps before bumping into Sethia, who was rushing towards him. Both father and son sprinted with the force of a 100-meter dash, knocking each other to the ground. "Ouch!" Sethia clutched a large leg of lamb wrapped in leaves, carefully avoiding getting it dirty as he fell. He quickly scrambled to his feet. "Luckily, I didn't get any dust on me."
Looking at the one who had bumped into him, Sethia immediately hid the lamb leg behind his back and obediently called out, "Daddy."
Yi Luo, his forehead red from the impact, sat on the ground, pursing his lips as he looked at him. Sethia smiled sweetly at him, but his feet shuffled slowly towards Yan Chi.
Making sure Yi Luo hadn't noticed his lamb leg, Sethia was about to run towards Yan Chi when Yi Luo grabbed his ankle. Yi Luo glanced behind him and held out his hand. "Give me the food."
Sethia's eyes darted around. "Where's the food? Daddy, what are you talking about?"
"I can smell it!" Yi Luo was absolutely certain. "Hurry up and give me some, I'm starving."
Sethia's grilling skills were taught to him by Yi Luo himself, and the meat he grilled was even more delicious than Yi Luo's own. Yi Luo would often miss his precious son terribly after burning the meat.
Sethia's attitude was firm. "No, this is for Teacher Xiaochi. Daddy, are you going to take Teacher Xiaochi's food?"
Yi Luo turned to look at Yan Chi, slowly withdrew his hand, and stammered, "Okay, actually I'm not that hungry."
Because he had fallen, Yi Luo's face was covered in dust. He didn't get up, but just sat casually on the ground, making himself all dirty, his watery blue eyes looking pitifully at Yan Chi.
Yan Chi met his gaze and inexplicably felt a surge of tenderness, as if he were stealing food from a stray kitten. "Sethia, you should give the lamb leg to your father. I haven't finished the chicken leg you sent with the giant wolf."
With that, he went over and helped Yi Luo up.
Upon hearing this, Yi Luo happily hugged Yan Chi, nuzzling his face affectionately. "Thank you, Teacher Chi! I like you so much! I'll trade you something!"
The moment Yi Luo leaned in, the pink mushroom on Yan Chi's shoulder, startled by the sudden contact, flopped into the little white rabbit's flowerpot.
Feeling the soft touch on his face, Yan Chi froze like a block of wood. Before he could even react, Yi Luo shoved a small, round ball into his hand.
Yi Luo released him and went to get Sethia's roasted lamb leg.
Yan Chi looked at the small golden sphere in his hand, recognizing it, and quickly protected it with both hands. "This...this is an energy sphere that can store the energy of a Super S-rank attack?"
Yan Chi vividly remembered that Lin Heng's S-rank companion had used such a sphere before.
Sethia reluctantly gave the roasted lamb leg to Yi Luo. Yi Luo took a bite, his eyes narrowing with satisfaction. "No, this is a very delicious candy. Teacher Yan Chi, you can try it."
Yan Chi: "..."
Forget it. Liu Tiancheng, an S-rank player, was burned to ashes after swallowing a "candy." He didn't want to court death.
Yan Chi put away the highly destructive sphere. "Sethia's dad, whose is the filling in this candy?"
Yi Luo thought carefully. "I think it's Lian Deng's dad's, but I don't quite remember."
What was Lian Deng's dad's ability? Yan Chi didn't know much about him, so he decided to leave it for later and ask Shen Mingsu.
Sethia, still troubled by the fact that Yi Luo had eaten the large lamb leg he'd prepared for Yan Chi, walked over to Yan Chi and said with a hint of grievance, "Teacher Yan Chi, was it because I didn't grill it well?"
Yan Chi smiled, "No, it's just that I have a small appetite. This big chicken leg you grilled is enough to fill me up."
One chicken leg is enough to fill you up? Sethia was shocked. He stepped forward, and amidst Yan Chi's gasp, hugged him around the waist and lifted him up.
Yan Chi: "...?!"
He was suddenly suspended in mid-air, his feet landing on solid ground almost instantly, but his heart was still pounding. "Sethia! What are you doing?"
"I need to hug you to know how heavy you are," Sethia said matter-of-factly, smiling. "You're so light, you need to eat more."
Yan Chi was at a loss. "Next time, you can't hug me without asking me. It's scary."
"How is it scary? I'm very strong. I definitely won't throw you down," Sethia said, puzzled. "Was it because the principal threw you down before that you're scared?"
Yan Chi met Sethia's inquisitive gaze and fell silent. He would definitely tell Shen Mingsu next time that he absolutely couldn't hug him in front of his students again.
“Oh right, where’s the principal?” Sethia looked around, realizing two people were missing. “Uncle Zhinan is gone too.”
Yan Chi sighed and briefly explained how [I] had taken them away. “…So we’ll probably have to wait for them to come pick us up.”
Sethia: “No need, my dad can take us back to school.”
Yi Luo finished a large leg of lamb and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, I can take you back too.”
But the next second, he hugged Sethia's neck, saying weakly, "But I'm really hungry now, can you go and grill some more meat for me? Otherwise, I won't have the strength."
Sethia huffed, "You're not only taking my food, but you also expect me to be your free cook! What kind of father are you?"
Yi Luo wasn't guilty at all, and tried to negotiate, "I don't need you to catch the food, just grill it for me."
With that, Yi Luo gently raised his hand, and a huge golden ring suddenly appeared above the forest. The powerful suction caused a howling wind, green leaves flying everywhere, and large animals were sucked into the air by the ring before falling in front of Yi Luo.
Yan Chi's eyes were stung by the blowing sand. He rubbed his eyes, heard a few muffled thuds, and when he opened his eyes again, wild boars, pheasants, goats... were piled up into a small mountain. They seemed to be confined to this one place, unable to escape no matter how much they struggled.
Besides, a familiar cry for help came from the "mountain." Zhu Ge Yun and his two companions were pinned down by a large, fat wild boar. They had sensed intense danger the moment Yi Luo arrived and had fled in haste, only to be instantly swept up into the air by an invisible force and brought back to their current location.
Facing Yi Luo, the three of them were utterly powerless, completely at his mercy.
[Damn it, this time there's no escaping it.]
[Why this super S-class BOSS of all people? He's definitely doomed this time. I heard from a veteran player that this BOSS leaves nothing alive when he hunts.]
[Waaaah, I heard this BOSS also likes to roam freely between different dungeons. Every time he sees another sun appear in the sky, it's time to prepare your coffin.]
[I was lucky enough to encounter this once, thankfully he wasn't hungry at the time, I was terrified, waaaaaah...]
[…]
Zhu Ge Yun looked at the comments section, his heart sinking little by little, but there was still a glimmer of hope. What if the BOSS got full before even getting to eat them?
The next second, Yi Luo pointed at the "mountain," swallowed hard, and said, "I don't eat much, so you guys can grill them all for me."
Not much...?
Yan Chi and Sethia were both silent. Could it be that their classmates were about to graduate, and they were still grilling meat for Yi Luo?
Zhu Ge Yun and the other two choked back sobs; all hope was lost…
“Are you going to eat those players too?” Yan Chi’s voice rang out like heavenly music. “You…eat people?”
Perhaps Yan Chi’s gaze was too terrified, Yi Luo instinctively denied it. “No, humans don’t have much meat, and they’re always making a racket. I don’t like them.”
Yan Chi pointed at Zhu Ge Yun and the other two. “Then what about them…”
Yi Luo looked and then noticed three players mixed in with his food. “It must have accidentally inhaled them.”
Yi Luo waved his hand, and Zhu Ge Yun and the others were thrown out like trash. The “trash” played dead for a while, and when they were sure the BOSSes weren’t paying attention to them, they sneaked away.
This mountain of wild boar and pheasant was troublesome to process, but Yi Luo was very particular about his food, insisting that all the feathers be plucked and the meat not have any fishy smell.
Yan Chi, Sethia, and Yi Luo divided the tasks, working tirelessly all afternoon. As the sun set, they finally finished preparing all the ingredients, creating a sumptuous barbecue feast.
This was all thanks to several barbecue grills that Sethia had somehow acquired.
The enticing aroma wafted through the forest. Yan Chi stood by the grill, flipping the skewers. Eating the crispy lamb skewers, he watched the magnificent sunset, his mood relaxing.
It felt as if he weren't in a perilous, unfamiliar world, but rather at a friendly outdoor barbecue.
The little rabbits and the pink mushrooms all received skewers. The pink mushrooms ate elegantly, while the little rabbits started arguing over the uneven distribution.
"This was grilled for me by Teacher Xiaochi, you're not allowed to take it from me!"
"You've already eaten one piece, the next one is mine."
"You've already eaten two pieces, and I've only eaten one."
"Nonsense, I saw you steal some!"
"..."
Yan Chi sighed, picked up the rabbits and placed them on his lap. He gave each rabbit a skewer and told them, "Come ask me for more after you finish eating. Don't fight anymore, or I'll get angry."
The little rabbits lowered their ears and obediently agreed.
"Teacher Xiaochi." Yi Luo sat next to Yan Chi, holding a skewer of meat in his hand, eating as he spoke, "When I came, I think I saw your rabbits fighting with someone. Was someone bullying you? Do you want me to help you?"
Yan Chi frowned. Qiu Yu's appearance was strange. He didn't know this person at all, but as soon as he appeared, he clearly targeted him, even trying to steal the pink mushrooms and little rabbits.
Yan Chi glanced at the little creatures running around with lamb skewers in their hands. Could they be of some use to Qiu Yu?
Yan Chi asked Yi Luo, "Do you often hunt here?"
Yi Luo nodded proudly. "Yes, this whole area is mine."
"Do you know a dandelion named Qiu Yu?" Yan Chi described Qiu Yu's appearance to Yi Luo.
Yi Luo looked blank. "This is [No Man's Land], there's no way a humanoid plant could appear here."
"Right, then he must be a player." Yi Luo concluded decisively, taking a bite of his skewer angrily. "To be able to disguise himself as a plant... and completely conceal his player aura, this person must be one of the termites."
Yan Chi was surprised for a moment, but then he thought about it. Players disguising themselves as NPCs wasn't unprecedented; Shen Mingsu had handled a similar case before.
Upon hearing that Qiu Yu was also one of the termites, Yan Chi's disgust for him deepened.
Seeing Yan Chi's expression, Yi Luo said considerately, "Then I'll kill him for you."
Yan Chi nodded, suddenly feeling the dark green gem on his wrist heating up. He heard hurried footsteps approaching, and realizing a possibility, he stood up in surprise.
Shen Mingsu, reeking of the salty scent of the sea, had rushed back from the Azure Sea, fearing something might happen to Yan Chi if he was left alone.
Upon seeing Yan Chi, Shen Mingsu hugged him tightly, burying his face in his neck, inhaling his faint fragrance. His heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, finally settled. "I'm back, it's alright, it's alright..."
Hearing his reassuring words, Yan Chi felt a sudden pang of grievance and complained, "Why did you take so long?"
Shen Mingsu instantly sensed the change in his tone, his eyes darkening. However, not wanting to frighten Yan Chi, he remained gentle. "Tell me, did someone bully you?"
Yan Chi: "It wasn't exactly bullying..."
Qiu Yu hadn't gotten anywhere with him either.
The little rabbits, seeing Shen Mingsu arrive, huddled around him, starting to complain. Although they didn't like Shen Mingsu, they couldn't resist his strength.
"That dandelion is so annoying! He keeps clinging to the teacher's hand and calling him 'brother.'"
"Even when the teacher doesn't want to, he still comes closer! I've never seen such an annoying dandelion!"
"Yeah! He even tried to grab us and threatened the teacher!"
Listening to the little rabbits' comments, Shen Mingsu's aura grew increasingly oppressive. Seeing the situation was turning bad, Yi Luo grabbed his meat skewers and ran to Sethia's side.
"Old Shen's face is so scary." Yi Luo huddled close to Sethia, who nodded repeatedly. "I've never seen the principal so angry."
Not only them, but Yan Chi had also never seen Shen Mingsu angry. When Shen Mingsu's playful demeanor vanished, the warmth disappeared from his dark green eyes, and the arrogance and aloofness emanating from him made Yan Chi feel a sense of fear.
Yan Chi slowly reached out and grasped his hand.
It was cold.
Yan Chi gripped his fist tighter and called out, "Shen Mingsu..."
"Hmm?" Shen Mingsu saw the worry and tension in his eyes, immediately composed himself, and smiled at Yan Chi. "It's my fault, I wasn't always by your side."
Yan Chi shook his head. "It has nothing to do with you."
"Then do you want to kill him?"
Yan Chi was stunned. "Me? I'll kill him?"
"Yes." Shen Mingsu kissed his forehead reassuringly. "I'll teach you how to kill."
Yan Chi's heart tightened. Although he had changed drastically from his past self, killing remained an insurmountable line for him.
The illegality of killing was a concept ingrained in his bones since childhood, deeply rooted in his very being.
Yan Chi struggled internally for a long time. He slowly clenched his fist, looked up at Shen Mingsu, and said, "Okay, teach me."
Shen Mingsu gently took his hand, and to Yan Chi's astonishment, a longbow appeared in his hand.
Shen Mingsu stood behind him, carefully teaching him how to draw the bow and nock an arrow, correcting his posture bit by bit. His frame was a full size larger than Yan Chi's, so much so that he seemed to sink into his arms.
Yan Chi turned to look at him: "Shouldn't we go find Qiu Yu first?"
"He can't escape," Shen Mingsu said coldly. "No matter where he runs, the arrow will pierce his heart."
Following Shen Mingsu's instructions, Yan Chi drew the bow fully and aimed at the air. Qiu Yu's face flashed in his mind, his lips pressed tightly together, and then he released his grip.
The arrow pierced the air, and time seemed to stand still.
Yan Chi saw Qiu Yu, hiding among a field of dandelions, his white fluff swaying gently in the breeze.
The arrow pierced him with pinpoint accuracy. Qiu Yu sensed the danger and tried to appear, but his body wouldn't obey him. Trapped within the dandelion, he let out a silent scream, forced to watch helplessly as the arrow pierced his body.
He expected pain, but felt nothing at all.
Qiu Yu turned his head blankly. The arrow pierced his chest but continued its advance. In that moment, he saw himself 150 years ago, when he had just joined the termites, gaining immortality by eating the Tai Sui, a smile on his face.
But the arrow mercilessly pierced his body.
Then, he saw himself in college, in high school, as a toddler…
Finally, the arrow pierced his infant self.
At this moment, Qiu Yu finally felt pain. He felt as if he had died countless times in that instant, countless deaths driving him mad, his body disintegrating.
It was as if he had never existed in this world.
Yan Chi witnessed Qiu Yu's death clearly. His hand holding the longbow trembled. "I...I killed someone."
Shen Mingsu pulled him into his arms, his warm hand gently patting his back. "You did well."
Yan Chi pressed his entire weight against him, the longbow transforming into a streak of light and entering his body. He clung tightly to Shen Mingsu's neck, feeling the reassuring aura emanating from him.
After a long while, Yan Chi's emotions gradually calmed down. "Time...why can I use your ability?"
Shen Mingsu pointed to the dark green gem on his wrist. "It contains the power I left behind. I can also use it to know your location. If you're not used to it..."
"It's okay."
Yan Chi shook his head. He raised his amber eyes, which seemed to hold a ray of brilliant sunshine. "I'll be scared alone, so no matter what, you must find me."
Shen Mingsu hugged him tightly. "Okay."
Seeing Shen Mingsu's complexion finally return to normal, Yi Luo and Sethia seemed to come alive as well. Yi Luo shook the meat skewers in his hand. "You two, would you like something to eat?"
"You guys eat, I still have some here."
Yan Chi gave his portion to Shen Mingsu, then remembered that someone was missing. "By the way, where's Zhinan?"
Shen Mingsu took a bite of his skewer. "He's still in the [Azure Sea]. I'll go pick him up later."
"Teacher Xiao Chi, would you like to see the sea?"
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