Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Shen Geng had originally thought that by slowly accepting the situation, he could make himself move on.

In the past, he had often heard Bai Xingshu praise Song Xiyan for all sorts of virtues, clearly having a soft spot for this teacher who came to assist with repairs in the Combat Department.

Yet after experiencing it for a few days...

Shen Geng realized it was a different kind of heartbreak.

He could tell Bai Xingshu was having an incredibly joyful and carefree time under Song Xiyan’s arrangements.

When he returned, Bai Xingshu was beaming, enthusiastically telling Shen Geng about his experiences.

But no matter how he listened, it felt just as thrilled as when Bai Xingshu had excitedly recounted catching criminals during his temporary work over the long holiday—completely identical in its pure delight.

He could hardly detect any trace of romance!!!

Was Bai Xingshu even capable of falling for someone??

At this point, Shen Geng was even reconsidering one thing: whether Bai Xingshu’s claim of having once felt a heartbeat for someone was true or not.

With these thoughts weighing on him, Shen Geng arrived at the mall the two had visited the previous week. But the moment he stepped inside, he spotted Bai Xingshu and Song Xiyan in a restaurant, having just finished their meal and preparing to leave.

Come to think of it, Bai Xingshu had indeed couldn’t stop praising this restaurant when he returned last week.

Shen Geng: "..."

Guilt hit him instantly!

His footsteps faltered as he entered the restaurant, and before the two could notice him, Shen Geng dashed out of the mall. Just as he was about to hail a flying car to get out of there fast, he suddenly noticed a crowd gathering near an intersection ahead.

Immediately, Shen Geng frowned.

Having once worked as a temporary staff at the police station, he recognized immediately that this meant trouble.

Without another thought, Shen Geng hurried over toward the gathering.

Meanwhile, as soon as Bai Xingshu stepped out, he also noticed the commotion. Out of habit, he activated his system, and his face turned serious as he looked up toward the higher floors where the crowd had gathered.

"Let’s go!" Bai Xingshu instinctively grabbed Song Xiyan’s sleeve, signaling him to follow.

Song Xiyan paused in surprise but quickly caught up, asking, "What’s wrong?"

"There’s a child on the tenth-floor ledge over there!" Bai Xingshu explained quickly.

Hearing this, Song Xiyan immediately looked up toward the spot Bai Xingshu indicated. Sure enough, he saw a tiny, shifting shape in the distance.

Too far away to see clearly, Song Xiyan took in the building’s structure.

That position wasn’t near any stairwell, nor did it have a balcony—just windows and a small platform for household external equipment.

The setup offered no gaps, with absolutely no footholds in sight.

Song Xiyan clearly saw that people on the floors above and below the child’s location had opened their windows, attempting to help, but there was no way to reach them.

"We need to call the police. Only police flyers have clearance to get there," Song Xiyan urged.

"Someone already reported it. The police will be here in about ten minutes," Bai Xingshu said matter-of-factly, pulling the info from his system.

All civilian flyers outside were unmanned and restricted to point-to-point travel, only allowed to land at designated spots like residential complexes or shopping mall entrances.

This prevented crooks from weaponizing flyers.

But right now, that policy was biting them in the ass.

The moment Song Xiyan heard Bai Xingshu's words, he immediately realized what Bai Xingshu intended to do.

Back at the shop, Bai Xingshu had pulled this kind of stunt plenty of times.

Song Xiyan looked up at the wall again, and goosebumps prickled his arms. He stopped in his tracks and grabbed Bai Xingshu's arm. "Don't go."

The grip made him jerk back as Bai Xingshu turned to meet Song Xiyan's gaze, blatant 'hell no' written across them.

"Don't go. This'll end badly," Song Xiyan said urgently. "You'll still be climbing when the police are already here."

"Whether I reach the spot or not doesn't matter. If anything happens, I can catch him," Bai Xingshu replied, yanking his arm back, but Song Xiyan tightened his grip.

"And then what? Fall with him?" Song Xiyan's voice was edged with panic, completely rejecting Bai Xingshu's reasoning.

Bai Xingshu didn't respond. He paused, staring into Song Xiyan's eyes, which were raw with worry.

Suddenly, a shout ripped through the air.

Bai Xingshu turned and saw a guy he kinda recognized climbing out of a fifth-floor window, attempting to scale up to the sixth floor.

Shen Geng.

What was he doing here?

Bai Xingshu didn't waste a heartbeat before twisting out of Song Xiyan's grip.

"Sorry."

The apology hung between them as Song Xiyan pressed his lips together, watching Bai Xingshu shoulder through the gawkers without looking back.

The wall in this direction was suicide for normies.

But...

Bai Xingshu wasn't playing by those rules.

Unlike Shen Geng, who had chosen to climb from the nearest floor, Bai Xingshu didn't bother with that approach.

He kicked off the wall like it was nothing—though in reality, he was leveraging the hidden metal in his clothes to generate force. In the blink of an eye, leaving rubberneckers gaping, his hand caught the edge of the second-floor platform.

Same move, higher floor.

Bai Xingshu quickly reached the fifth floor.

Shen Geng, still struggling to ascend to the sixth floor, did a double take at Bai Xingshu's sudden appearance before catching his drift immediately.

Without hesitation, Shen Geng removed his wrist-mounted 'chute and tossed it to Bai Xingshu.

Bai Xingshu flashed teeth as he snatched it and fastened the device to his own wrist. "Try to keep up."

"Meet you on ten," Shen Geng replied.

With a brief remark, Bai Xingshu disappeared from Shen Geng’s view in an instant.

Less than two minutes later, Bai Xingshu reached the tenth-floor platform.

There was a child, roughly two years old, hiccuping hard after crying for a long time. With each hiccup, the kid edged closer to the drop.

The kid flinched at Bai Xingshu’s sudden arrival, jerking backward and losing balance immediately.

Just as the child was about to fall, Bai Xingshu reached out and caught them.

He caught the kid with a firm grip.

Not exactly a happy ending!

With a sharp *smack*, Bai Xingshu delivered a slap to the child's bottom. "Little troublemaker," he scolded.

Then, grabbing the kid by the collar, he slipped smoothly through the open tenth-floor window, wrapping up the rescue.

Shen Geng returned to the fifth-floor apartment, thanked the helpful residents, and made his way to the elevator.

Pressing the up button, he soon heard a *ding*.

The elevator dinged open.

Shen Geng saw Song Xiyan standing inside.

The two locked eyes silently for a few seconds before Shen Geng stepped into the elevator.

A thick tension hung in the air, like a silent standoff.

A dozen seconds later, the elevator *dinged* again.

Bai Xingshu’s usual grin appeared before them as usual.

Song Xiyan had just relaxed when he noticed—the moment the doors opened, Bai Xingshu’s gaze instantly zeroed in on the guy next to him.

Song Xiyan’s gut dropped.

Stepping forward, Song Xiyan exited the elevator first, cutting off Bai Xingshu’s view of Shen Geng.

He said nothing, only locking eyes with Bai Xingshu.

Bai Xingshu knew what that look meant.

Back when he used to goof off on mechas, Song Xiyan often wore this expression.

After the Exchange Fair, Bai Xingshu broke the habit, and he hadn’t seen it much since.

Bai Xingshu gave a nervous laugh, quickly removing the unused 'Umbrella' gadget from his wrist and chucking it at Shen Geng. Then, dragging Song Xiyan off before they vanished, the two swiftly disappeared from Shen Geng’s view.

Gripping the 'Umbrella' gadget in his hand, Shen Geng watched the doors shut without a word.

Meanwhile, Bai Xingshu and Song Xiyan had already ducked into the empty stairwell within a few strides.

Song Xiyan clenched his jaw.

He was still mulling over how Bai Xingshu had yanked him away from the elevator... The intention to avoid Shen Geng was so obvious that Song Xiyan couldn’t ignore it.

Was there something Shen Geng wasn’t supposed to hear?

Or did Bai Xingshu get nervous around Shen Geng when they were together?

Song Xiyan’s mind flashed back to that glance Bai Xingshu had given Shen Geng when the elevator doors opened.

A glance Bai Xingshu might not have even realized he’d given.

Clueless about Song Xiyan’s thoughts, Bai Xingshu only noticed his even colder expression.

Bai Xingshu jumped in first, his usual opening line being an apology: “Professor, my bad—it was an emergency—next time, I’ll be more careful!”

His apology rolled off the tongue, same as always.

But in reality, what he said was that he’d be more careful next time, not that he wouldn’t do it again.

Shoving aside the wild guesses in his head, Song Xiyan looked at Bai Xingshu, whose face showed no real remorse: “Even the best riders take a spill, the best swimmers drown, the best drinkers get drunk, and the best warriors die in battle.”

Then, his voice softened: “I don’t wanna lose you.”

That hit home—Bai Xingshu had no comeback.

Hell, he was basically the poster boy for “the best warriors die in battle.”

Bai Xingshu could also sense the genuine concern behind Song Xiyan’s words.

That was Song Xiyan’s philosophy.

A no-nonsense, engineer’s take on safety.

There was nothing wrong with that.

But…

Bai Xingshu went quiet, then looked up at Song Xiyan and asked, “Professor, are you saying this as my teacher… or someone who’s into me?”

Bai Xingshu was no longer smiling—his face settled into seriousness.

A calm that came from knowing his own mind.

Song Xiyan’s gut twisted with dread.

Instead of smoothing things over like he always did, Bai Xingshu continued without pause, “Professor, I’m from the combat division.”

“Dangerous jobs don’t do themselves.”

“Might as well be me.”

From a teacher, that advice made perfect sense.

But for life partners…

This gap in how they saw things…

Song Xiyan read between the lines.

They just didn’t fit. Song Xiyan went pale: “…I’ll adjust.”

Bai Xingshu looked up at Song Xiyan, his voice softening. "Professor, if I liked you, how could I ever ask you to change?"

It was a losing battle.

"Sorry," Bai Xingshu hung his head.

Song Xiyan stayed silent.

He knew Bai Xingshu had already made his choice.

Song Xiyan wanted to try harder, but seeing Bai Xingshu's remorseful expression...

"You said you’d stay till finals... just a little longer?" Could you... just stay a while longer?"