“What happened next?” Pei Su asked him.
“Next” Guan Si’s gaze was distant. “Next, we entered the Calamity Undead Sacrifice examination ground, and then, all of you died.”
That dungeon was extremely difficult. Logically speaking, Guan Si should have been the first to die, but that wasn’t what happened.
As the formation master, Pei Su was the first to die, followed by He Zhu, and finally Qi Dengzui.
And Guan Si, who was originally the weakest, was the one who survived to the very end.
It was only at the moment Qi Dengzui died that Guan Si truly understood what his role was, and why he had been able to survive until the end.
Because Qi Dengzui was using his own life to protect Guan Si with everything he had, protecting him, the one who should have been the first to be buried in death.
“So, I’m NO.4, He Zhu is NO.3, then what about NO.2? Why didn’t he join Weixue?” Pei Su didn’t understand.
The moment Guan Si’s thoughts retrieved NO.2, anger surged up, and even his voice carried a gnashing of teeth: “NO.2 is Xie Bu Yu. I don’t know what wire got crossed in his brain, but he insisted on clinging to Brother Qi, demanding to be his rival.”
He couldn’t help but comment: “Psycho.”
Pei Su: “…” Guan Si was being quite spicy today
He Zhu said, “According to what you’re saying, shouldn’t we be dead? How can we be revived?”
Guan Si said, “Because I have a passive skill. As for the specific details, you’ll know once you recover your memories later.”
After all, back then, besides Guan Si, the other three all knew about this passive skill of his. They kept him completely in the dark, and didn’t even tell him until the moment of their deaths.
“Later?” Pei Su said. “How much longer until we recover our memories?”
Guan Si said, “Very soon. At most, within three days.”
“What about Qi Dengzui? Does he know?” He Zhu asked Guan Si. “You two didn’t switch naturally, did you? You suddenly took over the body and forcibly suppressed Qi Dengzui’s consciousness, was it just to tell us all this?”
Guan Si let out a soft sigh. “I just wasn’t ready yet.”
“He deserves to know,” He Zhu said. “You two handle it well yourselves. We’ll be going now.”
“Huh?” Pei Su said. “Going where? I still have things I haven’t asked.”
He Zhu swept a cold glance at him and said, “Whatever you want to ask, you might as well ask me after you recover your memories.”
Pei Su: ?
Are you insane? If I’ve recovered my memories, why would I still need to ask you?
He elegantly rolled his eyes and said, “Can’t be bothered with you. I’ve made plans with a handsome guy. I’m leaving.”
He Zhu said, “You’re going out to fool around again?”
“So what?” Pei Su said. “Does it bother you?”
He Zhu was momentarily at a loss for words.
From the very first moment he laid eyes on Pei Su, an inexplicable flutter had surged in his heart. He had never known why, but today, Guan Si told him that they had once been on the same team, that he and Pei Su had once been comrades fighting side by side.
So what exactly happened back then, to make him develop such a special feeling toward Pei Su?
Guan Si returned to the student dormitory. The moment he stepped through the door, Qi Dengzui switched back.
Qi Dengzui asked him, “What did you go do?”
“I just switched back, and Brother Qi, you’re already asking me this? I haven’t prepared myself yet.”
Qi Dengzui sat down on the sofa, his posture languid. “If you hadn’t prepared yourself, you wouldn’t have forcibly suppressed my consciousness.”
Guan Si let out a helpless laugh and said, “Brother Qi, sometimes I really wish you weren’t so sharp.”
In an instant, Qi Dengzui felt a sharp pain shoot through his body, as if his soul were being torn into two pieces. His temples twitched and spasmed, and even with his extraordinary pain tolerance, he couldn’t help but let out a faint whimper.
Before him, the shadow of a young man slowly materialized.
After the searing pain faded, Qi Dengzui finally looked at the Guan Si before him.
Guan Si still wore the same face from the “Ghost Inn” examination ground, but he was no longer in ancient attire. Instead, he wore a casual white shirt with the cuffs rolled outward.
Though he was merely a form condensed from spiritual essence, he looked no different from an ordinary person.
“You want to tell me everything yourself, don’t you?” Qi Dengzui stared into his eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately. “Guan Si, look at me.”
“Answer me.”
Guan Si met his gaze, and suddenly felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.
He said, “Brother Qi, I’m sorry. I lied to you.”
“I was never your secondary personality. I truly am… a soul that came to reside in your body.”
He recounted everything he had told Pei Su, word for word.
And with that, his mission was finally complete.
Making Qi Dengzui and the others aware of his identity was the key to restoring their memories.
Due to system restrictions, in order for them to regain their memories, Guan Si had to bring them back together and complete the team verification before he could reveal his identity and activate the key that sealed their memories.
He had originally thought this would be difficult, but unexpectedly, through a twist of fate, they had encountered each other in the very first examination and quickly grown close.
Perhaps this was the bond between Weixue members.
The fate forged through life and death together.
Qi Dengzui paused, studying him with an unreadable expression before asking, “Why did you end up inside my body?”
Guan Si replied, “Maybe, it’s because of obsession.”
“Brother Qi, what I said earlier was true. I really, truly like you.”
As he spoke those words, Guan Si’s entire chest was vibrating, his nerves wound so tight they felt like they might snap at any second.
Qi Dengzui was silent for a moment.
He genuinely couldn’t understand what path Guan Si had gone down that led him to fall for him of all people.
“Brother Qi, if you can’t accept it right away, I understand. We can take it slow, but… can you give me a chance?”
Qi Dengzui’s chest felt tight. “When did it start?”
“I don’t know, Brother Qi,” he said. “If love could have clear boundaries, I wouldn’t have lost control of myself.”
“If I had to say when my obsession with you became this deep, it was probably the moment I saw you die right in front of me.”
That scene was one Guan Si could never forget for the rest of his life.
The moment he learned that Qi Dengzui had protected him with his own life, that he’d survived only because of that sacrifice.
Love had surged up from the depths of his heart, drowning him in a sea of desire. Guan Si struggled desperately, trying to climb back aboard the ship called “reason” and “restraint,” but the currents of lust, grief, and shock dragged him under, plunging him into extremity.
There was no way he could give up Qi Dengzui.
For the first time, Qi Dengzui felt his thoughts in complete disarray, with no idea what to do about Guan Si.
Guan Si was someone he’d recruited into Weixue, someone he’d personally mentored step by step. Even if he no longer had memories of the past, Guan Si had still been his “sub-personality” for this long he couldn’t honestly claim there were no feelings there.
He patted the spot beside him and said, “Come sit next to me. Let’s talk this through properly.”
Guan Si walked stiffly over to Qi Dengzui’s side.
Qi Dengzui shook his head inwardly the man had been bold enough to confess his love just moments ago, yet now he was being all shy about sitting down.
He grabbed Guan Si’s hand and pulled him down. Before Guan Si could react, he’d landed in the soft sofa.
Guan Si’s voice came out muffled: “Brother Qi, I’ve said everything I needed to say. What exactly do you want to talk about?”
Qi Dengzui settled into a relaxed posture and asked, “Have you really thought this through?”
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it very clearly.” Guan Si nervously pinched his white shirt, his ears growing warm.
When Qi Dengzui looked over, his breath brushed against Guan Si’s cheek as he spoke itchy and hot.
His heart pounded wildly.
Qi Dengzui’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he repeated what he’d just said. “Guan Si, turn around. Look at me.”
Guan Si couldn’t avoid it. Slowly, he shifted his gaze to Qi Dengzui’s face from his thin lips to his straight nose, and finally to those deep, calm eyes.
He looked at Qi Dengzui, holding his gaze.
Neither spoke another word.
A long moment passed so long that Guan Si nearly sank into those eyes before Qi Dengzui lowered his head, the corner of his mouth curving up almost imperceptibly.
He said, “I understand what you mean. Await your orders.”
Guan Si stared at him blankly, his brain short-circuiting on the spot. His heart trembled, and slowly, his eyes began to redden.
Seeing him like this, Qi Dengzui couldn’t help it a laugh escaped his throat. “Didn’t get it? I mean, go back and accept the decree. You’ve been promoted.”
Guan Si’s tears came pouring down, his voice catching slightly. “Really?”
Qi Dengzui sighed inwardly, pulled him over, and gave him a hug. “Why are you crying?”
Guan Si’s eyes were misty. He shook his head and hugged Qi Dengzui tightly.
“Brother Qi, you’re so good to me.”
Then, catching Qi Dengzui off guard, he planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
…
And then he was gone in a flash.
Qi Dengzui froze for a moment.
After a beat, he touched his cheek and looked in the direction Guan Si had fled, letting out a helpless chuckle. “You little brat, pulling the emotional card on me. I really can’t do anything with you.”
He sighed, resigned, and went to wash up.
That same night, Qi Dengzui gradually began to regain his memories.
Twenty years ago, NO.1 Qi Dengzui, NO.3 He Zhu, and NO.4 Pei Su had gathered at Weixue. The final exam was approaching, but the last member had yet to be decided.
With the final exam looming, Qi Dengzui weighed his options carefully and ultimately decided to publicly recruit one final support position.
He’d obtained a testing device in one of the exams as long as the person being tested was willing, Qi Dengzui could see their innate skills and passive skills. Such testing devices weren’t rare, but the hard part was getting people to volunteer.
But personal skills were deeply private matters. To reveal your trump card to others just to join a team heading into the infamous death exam the “Calamity Undead Sacrifice” exam was a losing deal.
Seeking advantage and avoiding harm was only human nature.
Thus, no matter how renowned Wei Xue’s name was, in the end, only a handful of people came to sign up.
And Guan Si, who had only signed up out of admiration for Wei Xue’s reputation, never imagined that he a rising star ranked outside the top 100 would be selected by sheer chance.
After seeing his skill, Qi Dengzui’s expression froze, and he suddenly turned serious, then immediately notified Pei Su and He Zhu.
Before long, Pei Su and He Zhu arrived. After Qi Dengzui whispered something to them, Pei Su and He Zhu mulled it over, but in the end, they shook their heads and said, “He’s too weak. The gap between rank 100 and rank 10 is an insurmountable step, and the gap between rank 10 and the top 5 is an even greater chasm.”
Their voices weren’t deliberately kept from Guan Si; he could easily hear them.
He didn’t find it offensive. He had long known that with his strength, let alone Wei Xue, no top-10 team in the academy would take someone who couldn’t even break into the top 100 unless the decision-maker was out of their mind.
He just wanted to see what Wei Xue looked like, to see what the universally revered NO.1 looked like.
Guan Si didn’t want to put them in an awkward position. He lowered his eyes, his thick lashes concealing the dejection in them. “I understand. Thank you, seniors. I’ll take my leave now.”
He turned to leave, but just as he was about to go, Qi Dengzui suddenly spoke from behind: “We haven’t done the team registration yet. Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Or… do you not want to join Wei Xue anymore?”
Guan Si froze mid-step, turning back in near disbelief. “What?”
Along with Guan Si’s reaction, Pei Su was equally stunned. He grabbed Qi Dengzui’s arm and gritted his teeth. “Qi Dengzui, are you insane?! Your idea is impossible to pull off. You’re too idealistic. With his strength, what are you going to use to guarantee the margin for error?”
“I’ll be his margin for error.” Qi Dengzui turned sideways to face Pei Su, speaking with an almost arrogant air. “Pei Su, do you dare to gamble on this with me?”
Guan Si couldn’t understand what they were talking about. He only knew that the three of them locked themselves in a room and argued for a long time.
Later, Qi Dengzui recalled that He Zhu had said to him at the time, “I don’t object to you recruiting Guan Si, but his skill dictates that he can’t die before any of us. With his strength, can you really guarantee he’ll survive to the very end?”
And at that moment, Qi Dengzui had only stared into He Zhu’s eyes and said, “Yes, because I’ll use my life to protect him, to make sure he’s the last one standing.”
…
By the time Guan Si was on the verge of falling asleep, Qi Dengzui kicked open the door, tossed him a team registration guide, and walked off with his hands in his pockets, looking rather pleased.
After joining Wei Xue, because of the disparity in Guan Si’s strength,
Qi Dengzui had no choice but to personally guide him through dungeons.
Guan Si’s aptitude wasn’t bad on the contrary, he was extremely talented. If given enough room to grow, breaking into the top 10 was only a matter of time.
But they including Guan Si himself, all understood one problem: he was running out of time.
So every time Qi Dengzui took him into a dungeon, he would point out Guan Si’s mistakes bluntly and without mercy, often scolding him until he couldn’t lift his head.
Pei Su, on the other hand, was always tactful and never blamed Guan Si. Even when Guan Si nearly died in an exam and dragged Pei Su into saving him, Pei Su still came out of the exam smiling, calling him “little beauty” and “little Guan” at every turn.
Even He Zhu, who was usually stern and unsmiling, rarely said harsh words to him, out of consideration for his feelings.
Thus, outsiders often thought Qi Dengzui was overly harsh and cold-hearted.
So at first, Guan Si was afraid, addressing Qi Dengzui stiffly and obediently as “Captain Qi.”
But Guan Si never forgot that no one had agreed to let him join Wei Xue except Qi Dengzui. And no one believed more than Qi Dengzui that he could fill the support position for Wei Xue.
As time went on, Guan Si grew bolder. He’d crack jokes at Qi Dengzui’s expense, and when Qi Dengzui wasn’t paying attention, he’d shove a lollipop sour enough to make your teeth ache on the outside, sweet enough to hurt on the inside into Qi Dengzui’s mouth.
But Qi Dengzui’s reaction time was truly, truly long, so long that it took him ages to process it. By the time he snapped back and wanted to scold Guan Si for the sourness, the taste in his mouth had already turned sweet.
Later, on one occasion, Guan Si was cursed by a certain exam ground and turned into a little white ball of fluff. Qi Dengzui came alone to rescue him. Before he could even locate where Guan Si was, he heard a shout from above.
“Qi-ge, I’m here! I’m coming!”
Qi Dengzui looked up at the sound, and all he saw was a blur of white before his arms suddenly grew several times heavier.
Thump, a little ball landed right in his embrace.
In that instant, their eyes met.
Qi Dengzui squinted. “Guan Si?”
“It’s me.” The white ball was plump and soft, its texture incredibly pleasant to the touch.
Qi Dengzui secretly gave it a squeeze, then said expressionlessly, “Mm.”
From then on, Guan Si learned that Qi Dengzui actually loved fluffy things and had absolutely no resistance to him in ball form.
The night before the final exam, Guan Si locked himself in his room, training nonstop behind everyone’s backs.
He always felt that the harder he worked, the more hope Wei Xue would have of surviving.
Qi Dengzui knocked on the door, seemingly having figured out what he was doing. Standing at the doorway, he asked, “Tomorrow’s the final exam, and you’re still training? Aren’t you afraid you’ll drop dead from exhaustion?”
Guan Si stroked the skull-and-bone umbrella in his hand and answered honestly, “Mm, I’m a bit nervous, so I wanted to use the extra time to train a little more.”
Qi Dengzui’s voice betrayed no emotion as he said, “Does this short while really make a difference? Rest when you should rest.”
Under Guan Si’s gaze, Qi Dengzui grabbed his hand without giving him a say in the matter.
Qi Dengzui’s hand was slender and fair, yet incredibly strong. Guan Si didn’t react in time, his mind going blank as he let Qi Dengzui pull him toward the rooftop.
“Qi-ge, what are you doing?”
Qi Dengzui replied, “Taking you to unwind.”
After becoming one of the top 10 in the Paranormal Academy, one could choose a villa independent of the academy’s dormitories. Qi Dengzui had chosen a prime location, situated at the highest point of the entire academy. Standing on the rooftop, the whole academy lay spread out before them.
He found the spot with the best view, sat down, and seeing Guan Si’s hesitant expression, Qi Dengzui slightly lifted his chin, gesturing to the spot beside him. “Come, sit here.”
His eyes gleamed with a clear luster under the moonlight, piercing straight into Guan Si’s gaze.
Guan Si walked over to him and sat down slowly, gently.
“Qi-ge, we’re heading into the exam hall tomorrow.”
“Mm, the last night.” Qi Dengzui suddenly asked him, “How old are you?”
Guan Si said, “21.”
“Pretty young.” Qi Dengzui looked down at the entire academy below and remarked, “I’m already 27. Speaking of which, it seems you haven’t celebrated a birthday in Wei Xue yet?”
Guan Si nodded, following his gaze, and said, “Tomorrow will be my first birthday in Wei Xue.”
Qi Dengzui was slightly surprised. He said, “Looks like you won’t get to celebrate it. Do you have any wishes? Tell me, consider it an early birthday.”
Qi Dengzui’s voice was calm, as if he didn’t believe he would die in the final exam or perhaps he knew full well, yet didn’t care about life or death.
“I don’t have any wishes. But Qi-ge, there’s something I want to tell you.” Guan Si didn’t dare meet Qi Dengzui’s eyes. He took Qi Dengzui’s hand and whispered a sentence into his ear, his voice ethereal and hollow, so faint it seemed ready to scatter with the wind.
He said, “Once we’re out of the exam hall, I’ll tell you.”
Qi Dengzui didn’t push him away, nor did he say anything. He seemed to use a subtle silence to silently indulge Guan Si’s “overstepping.”
After a moment, he said, “Tonight, the Paranormal Academy is setting off fireworks. The system prepares a fireworks show for every team entering the final exam hall, on the night before the final exam.”
“This is information left by the previous team that entered the final exam hall. You probably didn’t know, which is why I brought you here. After you watch it, go get a good night’s sleep. Don’t overthink just relax.”
The last few words burst forth along with the blooming fireworks.
The fireworks show was grand in scale. Whether it was examinees still lost in sleep or travelers lingering outside, everyone found a good spot to enjoy the spectacular scene.
Fireworks streaked across the sky, bursting open in the pitch-black night. The thunderous sound drowned out the crowd’s cheers, and also drowned out the frantic drumming of Guan Si’s heart in his chest.
If only time could stop at this moment, how wonderful would that be?
Guan Si watched the fireworks before his eyes, stealing a glance at Qi Dengzui from the corner of his vision, then looking away before Qi Dengzui could notice.
He lowered his head and smiled softly.
How could he have no wishes?
My wish is that we both walk out of the exam hall alive.
That’s all.