Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After a moment, the blank and dazed expression on Qiao You's face slowly faded.

He lowered his gaze, taking in Lan Yexing's entire being. His face remained impassive, but his voice deepened slightly as he said, "I'm fine."

He paused, then glanced at the boy's hand still resting on his forearm. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

A familiar scent filled Lan Yexing's nose. He came back to his senses, lowered his hand, and hesitated, momentarily stunned. "I..."

What excuse could he possibly offer?

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Qiao You's teammates had come to summon him to the field—the second half of the game was about to begin.

Qiao You gave a brief reply, then walked around Lan Yexing towards the sofa. He leaned over, opened his sports bag, and pulled out a wool blanket. With a casual toss, the blanket landed neatly on Lan Yexing's head, draping down to completely cover him from head to waist.

For a moment, it was like a bride's veil fluttering down.

Lan Yexing, completely caught off guard under the blanket, could only manage a bewildered, "…?"

Qiao You had already returned to Lan Yexing's side. He watched the boy's unusually comical appearance with interest, a rare, relaxed, and carefree smile gracing his features. Calmly, he said, "I'm going to play. You can rest here."

"Water, snacks, blankets, TV—feel free to use them all."

"If you have class this afternoon, at least wait until the ambulance arrives and leaves before you go."

Lan Yexing frowned slightly. An ambulance? Why would an ambulance come?

But before he could voice his question, footsteps and the sound of the door opening and closing echoed once more—Qiao You had left.

Lan Yexing pulled off the blanket, which was infused with the scent of lime. He thoughtfully looked towards the door, his light-colored eyes filled with confusion.

"Xiao Song," he asked, "do you know what's going on?"

The System replied: "Not clear. However, judging from what just happened, Duan Chen's strategy was not successful, so the host's mission is considered successful."

Lan Yexing sighed softly. Although he wasn't sure what exactly happened, Qiao You was fine, and his objective had been achieved.

He completely relaxed, picked up the blanket, sat down on the sofa, and leaned back. After setting an alarm for his afternoon class, he slowly closed his eyes.

He had been on the go since last night, had fainted in the morning due to a pheromone allergy, and had just been extremely nervous. He was indeed quite tired.

Even though the audience outside continued cheering, he quickly drifted into a light sleep.

Vaguely, he seemed to hear an ambulance siren, and the corridor outside the room seemed to have erupted into chaos.

"Mr. Duan, Mr. Duan! Wake up!"

"Doctor, quickly see what's wrong with Mr. Duan? He's bleeding from all seven orifices and can't be woken up! Where's the person in charge? Get him over here, fast!"

"Our Mr. Duan went into Qiao You's lounge for less than five minutes and something happened. I demand you bring that student who's playing football over here! He must be reported to the police! Our Mr. Duan is in trouble; can you handle the consequences?!"

"I'm their coach, tell me what's wrong! Let's not even discuss what this Mr. Duan intended to do by entering our player's lounge without permission. As an old man, I'll tell you how absurd it is for you to stubbornly insist that Qiao You did something to him. Qiao You's original lounge had a power outage due to an accident, and the sofa was dirty, so he temporarily switched lounges, alright?! That means, the new lounge he entered during halftime, he never even entered the room your Mr. Duan was in, so it's impossible for him to have met your Mr. Duan!"

"Also, do you think only your Mr. Duan has connections? Go ask around about our humble school, okay? In this area, if you throw a brick, four out of five students you hit will have powerful backgrounds! What are you so cocky about?!"

...

Half an hour later, Lan Yexing, having finished his nap, was woken by his alarm clock. He slowly opened his eyes.

The noise outside had disappeared.

The football game seemed to be nearing its end. The lounge was almost drowned out by a cacophony of screams and whistles. Lan Yexing quietly folded the blanket that had been on him and placed it on the sofa, then got up and left the room.

Outside the stadium, countless cheers echoed even more intensely throughout the entire space.

Lan Yexing stood in the player's tunnel, where light and shadow interwove, looking at the green field in the distance. The air was filled with beautiful, colorful confetti. He saw the handsome blond youth being excitedly mobbed by his teammates. Even with a reluctant and slightly disdainful expression on his stern face, he ultimately didn't push them away.

It seemed the game was over, and Qiao You and his team had won.

A quiet, beautiful, faint smile involuntarily appeared on the boy's face. He stretched his body and turned to leave.

...

At 4 PM, it was the Department of Literature's specialized course. Lan Yexing arrived at the classroom on time, took his usual seat, and opened his textbook.

Jian Si walked into the classroom and naturally sat down next to Lan Yexing, pulling on his sleeve.

The gray-curled omega's eyes sparkled: "I heard our school's football team just won and entered the top sixteen. According to tradition, the school will put on a fireworks display to celebrate. After class, let's grab some food and then head to King's Lake to watch the fireworks!"

Fireworks...

Lan Yexing's eyes lit up, and he was about to say yes, but then he suddenly remembered something and said helplessly, "Sorry, I have something to do at that time." He had to climb over the wall to go home and check on his cat every day.

Jian Si's face fell with disappointment: "Okay."

Lan Yexing: "You could ask your cousin to go with you."

Jian Si smiled: "That's true."

At this time, other students in the classroom were also discussing the fireworks, interspersed with bits of gossip:

"I heard that Yuan Ping from the business school is still unconscious. It's really too bizarre. He has no injuries on his body, yet he's missing three ribs. I heard the Yuan family is frantic and desperately pressuring the school for answers."

"I think it's karma. How many people has his Paradise Club ganged up on and bullied over the years? I heard that as soon as he fell into a coma and was hospitalized, the school started investigating that club. But losing ribs is too bizarre. Is it some kind of psychic ability? I've never heard of such a psychic ability until now."

"Haha, you guys don't know about today's events, do you? That Mr. Duan from the Duan family is also very bizarre. He came to watch the game today, and for some reason, he fainted and is bleeding from all seven orifices, ugh. I heard he's currently undergoing urgent examinations at the best hospital in the city, but no problems have been found so far! Even the old master of the Duan family was alarmed!"

"How do you know such top-secret information?"

"Haha, one of the doctors at that hospital is from the Duan family's sworn enemy's family. They're eager to spread such news far and wide."

...

Jian Si listened to these messages with a calm expression, a hint of cool weariness surfacing in his deep blue eyes. He sighed softly, as if in reflection: "Sometimes, I think it's truly meaningless."

Lan Yexing looked at him.

Jian Si's eyes curved into a smile as he met Lan Yexing's gaze: "Although my way of thinking is an extreme minority among us, I often feel that our families, including the descendants of these families—for example, some people you've met, myself included, and what we are doing now—are truly like they're cursed."

Lan Yexing listened quietly, not speaking, and unsure what to say.

Just then, the class bell rang, and the professor walked into the classroom. The space instantly quieted.

Jian Si seemed to genuinely love literature. He smiled at Lan Yexing, opened his thick notebook, and a focused expression settled on his face.

...

After class, it was already evening. The setting sun descended upon the world, painting the sky an irregular crimson-purple, with a few cold stars twinkling within.

Lan Yexing said goodbye to Jian Si and was about to walk out of the school when the system's voice rang out: "At 6:30 PM, an alpha will confess his feelings to Qiao You on one knee under the large walnut tree by King's Lake. Please prevent this strategy event from happening."

The information it provided Lan Yexing was more accurate than before.

Lan Yexing: "..."

He twitched his lips, deciding he would just have to climb over the wall to go home after resolving this strategy event.

He resignedly changed his direction and walked towards King's Lake—he was determined to buy a bicycle next week.

Otherwise, constantly running around to various colleges in a campus as large as a town would be unbearable for anyone.

Lan Yexing walked along the road, stretching as he asked, "Do you have any information about this alpha?"

Perhaps it was his imagination, but the system sounded faintly happy: "Yes. His mental power is space-based. His last name is Qi." After upgrading, it could provide the host with more information than it used to.

However, it didn't know anything more.

A hint of confusion appeared on Lan Yexing's face: Space.

Could this person be the friend of Duan Chen that Zhou Yanqiu mentioned?

And he couldn't imagine what kind of mental power space was, nor could he imagine what a sufficiently powerful space-based mental power could achieve.

Could it be as Zhou Yanqiu said, that this mental power could only create a small pocket dimension to imprison people?

Without data and without having seen it firsthand, it was impossible to fully grasp such things.

So Lan Yexing noted these suspicious points and focused on his journey.

...

By the time he reached King's Lake, the sunset had faded, leaving only the burning edges of the horizon.

The deep blue night sky began to descend, and countless cold, brilliant stars had quietly appeared.

Many students and teachers had already gathered by King's Lake. Countless couples, either holding hands or embracing, sat on the grass, waiting for the fireworks that were about to appear in the sky. The good spots were mostly already taken.

Some even pitched tents on the grass, determined to break the rules and spend a night full of fireworks by the lake instead of returning to the dorms.

Lan Yexing was a little out of breath. When he saw the shimmering lake, he checked the time on his watch: 6:20 PM.

He didn't want to directly provoke this space psychic for now, so he decided to start with Qiao You: as long as he pulled Qiao You away from that walnut tree beforehand, and the alpha couldn't find him, this strategy event would be resolved.

So Lan Yexing started walking towards the large walnut tree—those trees were a bit secluded, with horizontally growing branches and dense foliage that obscured vision, making them unsuitable for watching fireworks. Thus, there were few people under the tree.

Lan Yexing arrived under the empty tree, looked around, and then checked his watch: 6:25 PM.

But Qiao You hadn't arrived yet.

Instead, not far away, a tall, long-haired man was walking briskly towards them, holding a large bouquet of roses. He looked to be in his twenties, wearing an expensive tuxedo, with his long hair tied back with a silk ribbon, and a pair of round, rimless glasses perched on his nose.

Lan Yexing: "..."

Could he be so unlucky as to have to confront him head-on today?

This person's mental power was somewhat special; he wanted to observe him from the shadows.

He sighed lightly and simply walked towards the man, deciding to try to trick him away.

As he reached the edge of the tree canopy, a large, well-defined hand slapped him on the shoulder from the side.

Lan Yexing's pupils contracted. He turned to look.

With a "bang," the first cluster of fireworks exploded in the sky tonight.

The blond youth stood there, fireworks simultaneously exploding in his emerald eyes—it was the first time Lan Yexing had seen so clearly what fireworks looked like when reflected in someone's eyes.

Qiao You raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a half-smile, his voice relaxed and casual, with a hint of playfulness: "Junior, if I'm not mistaken, this is our third meeting today. Do you have anything to say?"

Lan Yexing: "..." What could he say?!

The Alpha holding the roses was getting closer and closer. Leaving now would definitely mean a collision.

Lan Yexing twitched his lips, then, as if making a decision, he forcefully pulled the youth's wrist for the second time. As the other's expression instantly turned blank and surprised, he strode towards the back of the walnut tree.

Walking too fast, Lan Yexing tripped over a stone.

With a "bang," both of them fell into the extremely dense bushes behind the tree.

Crackling and popping, more brilliant fireworks bloomed in the sky.