“Yes,” Ye Xiangxiang also said. “If ‘Tomie’ can create replicas, then what we’re facing won’t be just a single opponent but many opponents. In other words…”
“She isn’t fighting alone.”
“You’re right.”
Zhang Mingge had just voiced his agreement when he suddenly realized that the sentence had come from Chu Tianyu, who was leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, looking very much like she was enjoying the spectacle.
He frowned and looked toward the woman dressed in men’s clothing. She spread her hands and said lightly, “Don’t look at me like that, Glasses. I’m sincerely analyzing the situation.”
…That was true. When Zhang Mingge thought about it again, there really didn’t seem to be anything wrong with what she’d said.
While everyone was talking, Ye Xiangxiang had already used her phone to find the address of the middle school.
“It’s already 7:30,” Zhang Mingge said after glancing at his watch, his brow furrowing. “We need to head to Liangchuan Middle School immediately.”
“But according to the map, Liangchuan Middle School is still nearly an hour away on foot from here. There’s no way we’ll make it in time,” Ye Xiangxiang said.
The group exchanged looks, each of them arriving at their own conclusion. Ji Fengjian snorted, swung his backpack onto his shoulders and took off running without another word.
Zhang Mingge ran as well. The two of them seemed to have some kind of speed enhancing effect; in the blink of an eye, they disappeared around the street corner.
Ye Xiangxiang, on the other hand, squatted down. She reached into midair and pulled out a sheet of paper, folding it rapidly until it took the shape of a carriage. A paper pumpkin carriage formed on the ground. Smiling, she looked toward Qiu Ran. “We’ll go together.”
After the two girls rode off in the carriage, those left behind were only the Unorthodox Master, Gu Beichen, Qu Mei and Chu Tianshu. The Unorthodox Master looked at the other three. “So you’re planning to…”
“Drive.”
“Huh?”
The Unorthodox Master watched helplessly as Gu Beichen walked toward a car parked by the roadside. Not long after, several piercing screams rang out from inside the vehicle and then Gu Beichen stepped out.
He stuffed the owner of the car and the man’s wife from the passenger seat into the trunk together. However, at the moment they lost their lives, the dead had already turned into two dimensional ink lines and by the time they were completely shut inside the trunk, they vanished without a trace.
He started the car. The engine roared and the vehicle sped away, kicking up dust.
As the exhaust fumes dissipated, the Unorthodox Master closed his eyes and silently recited a sutra for the two deceased NPCs.
He knew very well that his strengths lay only in purification and luck; in all other aspects, he was completely lacking. Judging from the situation today, he was bound to miss out on the main plot developments. At the very least, however, there were still Chu Tianshu and Qu Mei to keep him company.
The Unorthodox Master turned to look at the chestnut haired young man. He saw him crouching on the ground, staring intently at the white narration box floating in the sky.
The young man stroked his chin, as though deep in thought.
Then, all of a sudden, he pulled a mechanical grappling hook out of his pack.
The Unorthodox Master: …
He watched as the young man began swinging the grappling hook, apparently building momentum. Then, with a loud shout, the young man hurled it into the air!
And then…
That white narration box was actually snagged by the grappling hook and yanked down!
The narration box struggled and writhed in the hook yet it was still dragged to the ground like a kite. The young man pressed it down with his long legs, turned his head and asked, “Got a pen?”
The Unorthodox Master: …
He stared at the scene before him, completely dumbfounded. The young man seemed to grow impatient. “A black gel pen?”
The large, heavyset man walked over, silently handing him a pen.
“Thanks.”
Chu Tianshu bit off the cap with his teeth and used all his strength to pin down the wildly struggling narration box. Then, with crooked, uneven strokes, he wrote on it:
“Beside Chu Tianshu, a fast moving black car appeared.”
After he finished the final stroke, Chu Tianshu released his grip. The narration box shot upward like a startled chicken, struggling in panic as it flew back into the sky.
It returned to its original position and continued to tremble nonstop.
The Unorthodox Master: …
He had just opened his mouth, intending to complain, when the sound of a car horn rang out beside his ear.
In the next instant, a black car appeared right there on the street!
“Oh?” He watched as the young man bent slightly at the waist and examined the car in front of him. “That emblem’s pretty expensive, huh.”
The Unorthodox Master: …
At this moment, the only word that could describe his mood was “confused.” The same confusion was written plainly on the face of Qu Mei standing nearby.
The young man pulled open the car door and slid into the driver’s seat. Then he rolled down the window and looked at the two people outside.
“Hey, you two,” he said casually. “Want a ride?”
When neither of them moved, he laughed instead and waved his hand. “Come on, come on. We’re all teammates, aren’t we?”
The Unorthodox Master, who had just mocked Chu Tianshu moments earlier, climbed into the car in shame. After him came the burly man who was still hesitating in place. Seeing that the Unorthodox Master had already gotten in, he found himself stuck in an awkward position. Gritting his teeth, he was just about to step up,
“That puppet’s huge. Will it even fit?” the young man suddenly asked, the earth shattering question delivered in an utterly offhand tone. “Put the puppet away and get in yourself, don’t pretend. I can see you, behind the utility pole. Isn’t that right?”
A corner of fabric flickered behind the pole. Then, a gloomy looking teenager in a school uniform stepped out.
The moment he appeared, the Unorthodox Master’s eyes lit up.
To be fair, the boy was strikingly good looking, black hair, snow pale skin, catlike eyes, like a finely crafted doll. Behind him followed another doll, vivid and lifelike.
Bringing the doll with him, he sat properly in the back seat, hands resting on his knees. “How did you find me?”
“Your doll isn’t wearing a school uniform.” Chu Tianshu tugged at his own collar. “The system may be stingy but it wouldn’t be so cheap that it can’t even afford to hand out a standard uniform.”
The boy fell silent. Just as he was about to control the doll to climb onto the roof of the car, he heard Chu Tianshu’s voice.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?” Chu Tianshu said with obvious disdain. “Can’t you let it sit in the back seat?”
Qu Mei: “…It’s too big. There’s no room.”
“Tch. What I hate most is you puppet masters. One person takes up the space of an entire car.” Chu Tianshu scratched his head. “And you want to stick it on top of my car? Something that huge, it’d look awful.”
The Unorthodox Master said weakly, “Actually… it wouldn’t look that bad…”
“No way.” Chu Tianshu tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “I’m driving over there to make a dramatic entrance for someone to see. With you doing this, I won’t look cool at all.”
In the end, the boy chose to put the doll in the back seat and squeezed himself awkwardly into the narrow gap between the two dolls. Chu Tianshu curled his lips into a smile. “That’s more like it.”
“Um, Brother Chu,” the Unorthodox Master reminded him cautiously. “There are only seven minutes left. We- ”
“Hold on tight.” He spoke with a half smile. “Remember this. I’m giving you a ride, so you owe me a favor now.”
When they heard the words “hold on tight,” neither the Unorthodox Master nor Qu Mei understood what he meant.
However, ten seconds later, they finally understood what “real driving skills” truly meant.
The accelerator was slammed all the way down. Amid the deafening roar of the engine, the black car shot forward at lightning speed. It tore through roads large and small alike, executing high speed turns at every corner that came rushing toward them.
The two people in the back seat and the passenger seat were thrown violently from side to side. Their eyes were squeezed shut as they clung desperately to the cushions beneath them, gasping for air.
“Damn, ” the Unorthodox Master shouted. “Slow down, don’t rush, we’ll make it in time-”
His words were answered by a burst of carefree laughter.
“I’m not in a hurry because of the game,” the young man said as he handled the steering wheel with practiced ease, smoothly turning to avoid a pedestrian. “I’m just too eager to get to the school and find someone.”
In sharp contrast to the two passengers who felt as though their brains were about to be flung out of their skulls, the young man in the driver’s seat remained perfectly composed. Every turn, every acceleration, every precise maneuver to avoid pedestrians was executed flawlessly.
The arrogant sports car raced like a gale, tearing through the streets and alleys of Liangchuan Town in mere moments. Swept up in this wild gust were not only the dumbfounded residents but also the rest of the team.
“That gust just now was…” Qiu Ran, seated in the paper pumpkin carriage, poked her head out the window.
She seemed to glimpse a sports car speeding past. Ye Xiangxiang, sitting beside her, also looked over. “Wow, whose car is that? So outrageous.”
“Probably that handsome guy’s,” Qiu Ran said after catching sight of the driver. “But…”
“How is there even a car here?” Ye Xiangxiang complained.
Zhang Mingge, Ji Fengjian and the others also saw the scene. The sports car sped away arrogantly, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of exhaust.
What the three people inside the car did not know was that this utterly inconsiderate gust of wind did not only sweep away pedestrians’ handbags and girls’ skirts, it also passed over two middle school students who were hiding in a narrow alley at that very moment.
After watching the black car disappear down the street, the two students, thoroughly intimidated by the spectacle, finally stepped out of the alley.
“Heh,” one of them said. “Why so rushed?”
The two of them patted their chests with lingering fear. At the same time, a slender, tall figure passed by their side.
He, too, was dressed in a school uniform. His gloomy gaze followed the car that had already sped far away, the one that had stirred up a violent gust of wind and left him standing in its wake.
“Heh,” he said coldly. “In such a hurry, rushing to be reincarnated, are you?”
He lifted a hand to rake his wind tossed hair back, carried his briefcase in one hand and trudged forward listlessly.
Behind him, the two students who had been chattering noisily just moments before instantly fell silent, as if struck dumb.
Before their bodies could be shaken completely apart, the gates of Liangchuan Middle School finally came into view before the three people in the car.
The Unorthodox Master was slumped crookedly in the passenger seat, feeling as though his entire body had been hollowed out. Qu Mei was curled up in the back seat, wedged between two puppets, trapped in a state somewhere between carsickness and emotional shutdown.
Only Chu Tianshu, seated in the driver’s seat, remained refreshed and energetic. Even though they had already reached the school gate, he did not get out of the car.
His fingers tapped rhythmically against the steering wheel, as though he were waiting for something.
“Wow, look! Someone drove a car to school!”
“What the hell is this… why would anyone drive to school?”
“Holy crap, who is this guy? Isn’t this way too arrogant?”
“How is there even a car here?!”
Author’s Note:
Also, Zhang Mingge… he’s the cold, ruthless Celestial Master from Jiang Village, the one who designed the plan that sent Ren Qiu to dig up Ren Chun’s grave, attempted to kill two ghosts with one arrow, sided with the Taoist priest with the ox nose and harbored extreme prejudice against Huaihuai.
And then he got completely played while Chu Tianshu was undercover and was even knocked unconscious by him. After waking up, he ground his teeth and swore revenge.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
⚠️ TRANSLATOR COFFEE LEVELS CRITICALLY LOW ⚠️
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 111 · Although the author really didn’t want to writeChapter 112 · An explanation of the main storylineChapter 113 · Lin Huai’s QuestionChapter 114 · Hello classmateChapter 115 · Let me introduce the protagonist’s family backgroundChapter 116 · The innocent and naive Lin XiaohuaiChapter 117 · The Trisolarans ArriveChapter 118 · He Isn’t Fighting AloneChapter 119 · Why Here?Chapter 120 · A World Where Everyone Is Sculpted in ClayChapter 121 · How Could It Be YouChapter 122 · I want to sell my carChapter 123 · The Mysterious Transfer StudentsChapter 124 · Gu BeichenChapter 125 · The Male Lead of This StoryChapter 126 · A Voice Never Heard BeforeChapter 127 · You’re Tomie, aren’t you?Chapter 128 · I’ll give youChapter 129 · I just want to be with youChapter 130 · The Principal’s OfficeChapter 131 · Chu: I Disbanded Your Hate GroupsChapter 132 · Speak ProperlyChapter 133 · A Trisolaran Enters the Grand View GardenChapter 134 · Ji FengjianChapter 135 · About Me and YouChapter 136 · Kayako Likes ItChapter 137 · YouChapter 138 · I’ll Beat MyselfChapter 139 · I Want to See MyselfChapter 140 · The Trisolarans’ First Experience of Love and SexChapter 141 · The Trisolarans Try Romance Once MoreChapter 142 · The Trisolarans Try Romance for the Third TimeChapter 143 · It’s All This Buff’s FaultChapter 144 · The Way You Straight Men TalkChapter 145 · Why are you taking it so seriously?Chapter 146 · Chu Tianshu Shows Off His MusclesChapter 147 · Enter the DreamChapter 148 · Leave a little secretChapter 149 · Shadow StreamerChapter 150 · Don’t Look at MeChapter 151 · The Trisolarans betrayed StalinChapter 152 · Then I WillChapter 153 · The Trisolarans rewrite the Book of Life and DeathChapter 154 · What Career Could Be More Important Than Your Wife?Chapter 155 · Aren’t We Already Together?Chapter 156 · MVP of the Entire FieldChapter 157 · Meeting the FamilyChapter 158 · A Phone Call Across Time and SpaceChapter 159 · Lu Jin, You’re So MiserableChapter 160 · The Lands Of DaughtersChapter 161 · The So Called Pregnancy StreamChapter 162 · The Street Where Only the Two of Us ExistChapter 163 · No bare faceChapter 164 · Question 1: Do you have hair loss?Chapter 165 · LaxativesChapter 166 · Where Exactly Do You Exist?Chapter 167 · Seven ZeroChapter 168 · The issue of 0 and 1Chapter 169 · Wind ChimeChapter 170 · Visa and Wind ChimesChapter 171 · Continue to persecute Lu JinChapter 172 · Examiner: I’ve fallen in love with himChapter 173 · Lin Huai intimidates scalpersChapter 174 · Night of EvilChapter 175 · Congratulations to the Male Guests on Successfully Finding Their PartnersChapter 176 · Before ThisChapter 177 · The gong says he is terrifiedChapter 178 · The Tasker CampChapter 179 · I’m So ScaredChapter 180 · The Final Transitional ChapterChapter 181 · Four Beauties Among the FlowersChapter 182 · Plum FragranceChapter 183 · Dry Weather and Flammable ThingsChapter 184 · The Heartless Sword ManualChapter 185 · Only MeChapter 186 · The North PoleChapter 187 · Let Brother Lin Learn to Meow Like a CatChapter 188 · Good Night