chsdbacks Chapter 13 I hate bad endings
Chapter 13 I hate bad endings
The sky outside the car window was being slowly painted with a nearly transparent, cool, crab-shell-blue hue. On the distant horizon, a rising sun, like gold leaf, carefully smeared itself onto the cold skyline.
Looks like I won't be able to go to school today.
Lu Mingfei sat in the passenger seat of Chu Zihang, his whole body sinking into the leather seat, looking at the increasingly bright golden-red color on the horizon, which flowed onto Chu Zihang's profile!
"Holy crap..." he muttered to himself, "We actually talked all night?"
The magical energy within his body flowed through his meridians, dispelling all his physical fatigue and even giving him an unusual clarity of mind. For a seeker of the Dharma, staying up all night was nothing more than a piece of cake.
He stole a glance at Chu Zihang in the driver's seat. His senior's posture was still as straight as a drawn sword, and his knuckles gripping the steering wheel were slightly white.
Accompanying Chu Zihang on his search for the other party's father—clearly, there was no option for a break during this search.
This means that for the first time in his life, Lu Mingfei will probably be skipping class openly.
A subtle feeling, mixed with a sense of rebellion, welled up in my heart, as if a seed was beginning to sprout.
Although he didn't think skipping class was a big deal, he used to be a model student who had never skipped class! At school, just being watched by a teacher would make him anxious, and he dared not leave a trace on the attendance sheet!
Although it was because he didn't dare... after all, if something went wrong, his parents would have to be called in, and since they weren't home, the only person they could call was his aunt...
"I'll help you ask for leave."
Chu Zihang's voice came smoothly from the driver's seat, interrupting Lu Mingfei's thoughts. His hands were firmly on the steering wheel, his expression as calm as if he were stating, "The weather is nice today."
He felt no guilt whatsoever for helping a junior student fake skipping class, as a graduated senior. Helping him with such trivial matters at school was as natural as breathing to him.
"Do you still have the school's phone number?"
Lu Mingfei was somewhat surprised. After graduating from junior high to high school, he had barely kept in touch with his former classmates, let alone his teachers. He couldn't even remember his teachers' full names...
Then he thought about it again and realized that made sense.
Who is Lu Mingfei? A nobody in the vast universe called "Shilan," barely even a firefly. Unable to contact his teacher? That's practically a privilege inherent to low-level NPCs like him.
But what about Chu Zihang?
This name itself carries a halo effect at Shilan High School, and it remains a legendary figure even years after graduation. Student council president, Olympiad gold medalist, undefeated legend in the kendo club... any one of these titles is enough to make ordinary students look up to them with bated breath.
Having a good relationship with your teacher? That's as natural as the sun rising in the east; it's an objective law.
"I have a pretty good relationship with the student affairs director of Shilan Middle School." Chu Zihang nodded and opened his phone with one hand to start dialing.
"Hello, I am Chu Zihang."
Without any pleasantries or preamble, the name Chu Zihang seemed to be a golden pass; he could even faintly hear the gasp on the other end of the phone.
Lu Mingfei opened his mouth but no sound came out, and sank his body back into the chair.
Well, that's exactly what he thought.
The "good relationship" that this senior brother Chu refers to is probably worlds apart from his understanding of "good relationship"—the difference is like the distance between two track and field stadiums.
After a brief silence, a middle-aged man's enthusiastic voice, still palpable even through signal transcoding, came through the phone: "Oh, Zihang! What a rare guest! What brings you here today...?"
"Director Zhang," Chu Zihang calmly interrupted the potentially lengthy pleasantries, his tone flat and direct, "Could you please arrange a leave of absence for Lu Mingfei, a senior in high school? He has important matters to attend to and will be unable to attend classes regularly."
Just listening to their conversation, Lu Mingfei's face began to tense up.
He could even picture the astonished expression on the face of Director Zhang, the notoriously serious and rigid "Living Yama," on the other end of the phone.
After all, the power to get a legendary alumnus who has already graduated to personally call and ask for leave for an ordinary student... this scenario is probably unprecedented in the entire school.
This is Chu Zihang!
"Turn left in a bit." Lu Mingfei glanced at the sign in his hand, then at the red light at the intersection, giving Chu Zihang directions. "I've never been here before, senior brother, do you know where this is?"
Looking at the distant buildings, their glass facades seemed somewhat out of place compared to this small town. Lu Mingfei hadn't expected the place where that uncle used to work to be so luxurious; compared to his uncle Lu Gucheng's workplace, it was like one was flying in the sky while the other crawled on the ground.
"Yes, he used to work as the boss's driver here," Chu Zihang said, looking at the building. "I've been here before, but no matter how I looked, the driver's position in the records was always someone else..."
Lu Mingfei was speechless; he felt a lump in his throat just listening to Chu Zihang's words.
He couldn't even imagine what that feeling would be like.
Fortunately, he now has the cheat code to see through objects, so he doesn't have to worry about getting nothing at all.
that is........
"Hopefully we can find some valuable clues."
Lu Mingfei muttered to himself that Chu Zihang had obviously come with hope, and both emotionally and logically, he hoped that he wouldn't find any clues that were practically nonexistent.
He hates tragedies, but this is reality, not the game "Heaven and Earth Tribulation" he used to play. There's no save/load magic here, so he can't keep reloading and restarting for a happy ending, taking the most difficult route and collecting all the mysterious items, just to reach that happy ending.
He didn't want to see a bad ending unfold before his eyes...
"It's okay, as long as it's related to him."
Chu Zihang reassured him, "I'm already very grateful that you were able to find his things."
"Uh...it was nothing?" Looking at the serious Chu Zihang, he shuddered. "It's nothing, after all, I also want to know more about the Dragon Clan."
He was now certain that he had a secret, and the abnormality had already become apparent during those three months.
Something was wrong with him: his abnormal constitution, the memory of being tampered with, and the 'law' hidden within his body—everything was off.
But if you really connect all of this with that so-called dragon, then everything makes sense!
His parents, both historians, traveled the world to explore history when he was very young. But history itself is full of traces of dragons, and the only other possibility besides a naive young man is that they are the natives of "that world".
The answer is obvious.
His parents... they were from that world from the very beginning, not historians at all. They were... mixed-race people disguised as ordinary people, and probably of quite high rarity!
And as their child, I'm probably not immune to it either. He's not human! He's a monster! He's a hybrid of human and dragon!
Most of them have a fairly high bloodline level...
But he still knows nothing about that world, and Chu Zihang in front of him is obviously a good opportunity!
Thinking this, Lu Mingfei turned to look at the sky outside the window, and then...
His gaze froze.
He didn't know when it started, but from the window of the car next to him, a pair of eyes had been fixed on him, their eyes filled with undisguised astonishment.
No, it's not just him!
Lu Mingfei could feel that the gaze had even passed over his face and his shoulder, and was now piercing straight into Chu Zihang in the driver's seat.
And as he turned around, their eyes met.
Time seemed to have been paused.
Lu Mingfei could clearly see those pupils, which were slightly wide open due to extreme shock, and even feel the waves of doubt surging in those eyes.
"Su Xiaoqiang?"
"Chu Zihang!"