As the plane landed, Xu Chuyao slept soundly, Shen Ning came over to wake her.
“We’re here. Have we arrived at the school?”
“We’re at the school.”
The girl answered offhandedly, helping her girlfriend wipe away a trail of drool from the corner of her mouth.
If not school, where else would they be? Maybe the secret place where they hid their precious stones.
“We’re at the school, huh? That means I can collapse into bed.” Xu Chuyao opened her eyes at once, packed her things, and got off the plane. “Going back to sleep!”
She meant it. As soon as she left the plane, she headed straight for the dorm, flopped onto her bed, curled up under the quilt, and didn’t even respond when Mi Xiaolu called her.
In the afternoon, after a long nap, she groggily reached under her pillow and pulled out her phone, where several unread messages were waiting.
[Shen Biao: You back? Then I’m relieved.]
Message sent at 7:23 a.m., just after she’d returned to school.
[Head Teacher: Good job, rest well. No need to come to class these days—not that you ever do. (8:10 a.m.)]
[Principal Lü: Already resting for a while… Good, just rest up. Come see me later. (10:20 a.m.)]
[Yu Jing: Something’s happened, stay at school for now. I’ll let you know if anything comes up. (2:30 p.m.)]
Reading the last message, Xu Chuyao let her thoughts wander to the location of the Walrane Research Institute.
“So something really did happen, huh.”
Who knew if the institute even still existed.
Yao Yao just sighed, fished the medal out of her pocket, and spun it in her hand.
Three shining gold stars—whatever, let the higher-ups worry about it. It wasn’t her concern.
Checking the time, it was already past four. Mi Xiaolu still wasn’t back from class. After brushing her teeth and freshening up, she searched around the dorm, and found some snacks in the desk drawer—left by Shen Biao when he’d last visited.
Xu Chuyao opened a packet labeled “Black Rice Snow Cake” and took a small bite.
Crispy, soft, and tasty.
Half full, she headed straight to the administration building and knocked on the door of the principal’s office.
“Come in.”
Principal Lü seemed to have been waiting for her—or maybe he just hadn’t left all day. Watching the girl stride in and flop onto the sofa, he suddenly didn’t know how to start.
He’d meant to exchange a few pleasantries, ask if she was hurt, but she seemed far too healthy for that.
“What is it, Principal?” Xu Chuyao spoke first, “Didn’t you call me here?”
Principal Lü put down his work and looked at her, “I wanted to hear about the situation, but Teacher Yu and Mr. Cheng already told me everything.”
“If they’ve finished, you can still listen to me,” Xu Chuyao said matter-of-factly. “As the saying goes, ten people have a thousand versions of Harry Potter—same event, different perspectives…”
“What I’m really curious about is how you knew about the School of Excellence’s plan and conspiracy. Can you satisfy my curiosity?”
“…That really was just luck.”
Yao Yao wasn’t lying. From the moment Monrose joined in, the plot had changed. There was no script to follow and even the prophets couldn’t help.
Thinking it over, it was probably because she’d mentioned Walrane’s location, then by chance got Wang Li talking about it, which made the other side panic, thinking the plan was exposed, so they self-destructed.
“I guess that’s how it is,” Principal Lü believed her, “By the way, what’s up with your Class Advisor?”
Xu Chuyao paused, “Nothing, why?”
“If not for the fourth stage breakthrough, she’d be promoted over me by now, yet she still insists on being just a Class Advisor. Is that reasonable? I even asked her if there was any position she wanted—even if she stayed at Shengling Academy, she should at least be a vice principal, or at least a grade director, but she won’t have it, just wants to be a Class Advisor. Said something about a promise with someone…” The principal looked at the girl, “What exactly did you promise?”
“Nothing much,” the girl waved her little hand. Maybe the Head Teacher was just attached to the job.
It didn’t seem right to reveal big promises made at such a young age.
Principal Lü didn’t press the issue and waved his hand, “Alright, you’re here for two reasons: first, to check your condition, whether you were hurt or have aftereffects—since you’re fine, good. Also, the Minister told me to remind you: don’t run around for now, stay at the academy and wait for news.”
“No problem, I was planning to do that anyway.”
After all she’d been through, now that the breakthrough to fourth stage had happened, Xu Chuyao still felt a lingering dread. Even if you asked her to go out, she wouldn’t want to.
Nothing else to discuss, Xu Chuyao left the administration building and returned to the dorm.
Just then, Mi Xiaolu got back from class. Seeing her sprawled on the bed, she waved.
“Good afternoon, Xu Chuyao, queen of the travel group.”
“What travel group? It was a business trip, and not a pleasant one.” Xu Chuyao grumbled, “Didn’t you see the news? We even smashed the equipment—how could it be fun?”
“There was a fight?” Mi Xiaolu put down her bag, looking puzzled. “They didn’t mention anything on the news.”
“Of course they didn’t. Let me show you.”
Xu Chuyao took out her phone and searched for Brussels-related keywords—only to find, nothing.
“Let me tell you, the news released an obituary—a very important deputy minister from one of the departments, a fourth-stage. She was with the Supreme Society, arranged an assassination attempt targeting me and Shen Ning.”
Mainly targeting Yao Yao—she couldn’t resist boosting her own status by tacking the protagonist’s name on.
“A deputy minister, huh? No wonder. Something that big would never be on the news,” Mi Xiaolu, used to such tales, was unfazed—just a little curious, “So how did you guys turn things around?”
“The Head Teacher broke through at the crucial moment—she’s fourth stage now.”
Xu Chuyao emphasized this for her roommate. That situation was so dangerous—just when it seemed hopeless, the Head Teacher must have had a flash of inspiration and broke through like a goddess descending from the heavens.
That’s what she said, but Xu Chuyao knew in her heart, most of the credit belonged to the group’s collective efforts.
“Didn’t expect that, the Head Teacher’s amazing,” Mi Xiaolu marveled.
Though Yu Jing was the Class Advisor, in reality, she didn’t teach any actual classes. In this full-boarding academy with no real holidays, the Class Advisor’s job was more like that of a guardian. On most days, she wouldn’t bother you, but sometimes, during study periods, she’d patrol outside the windows.
So, to other students, the Class Advisor was a bit of a mysterious, distant teacher.
“That’s right. Even I didn’t expect it,” Xu Chuyao rolled on the bed, switching positions. “But honestly, what we went through was nothing. The real big problem these days is still down south. You’ll probably see it soon—no, you won’t, there won’t be any news coverage.”
“What’s wrong?” Mi Xiaolu asked casually. “What can’t be said?”
“Nothing much,” Xu Chuyao stared up at the ceiling blankly, “It’s just that the Equator Defense Line’s been smashed. There are mutated beasts coming.”
“Oh, that’s… ah!”
In another girls’ dorm room, the reserved girl sat by her bed, watching the reflection on the water, a little lost in thought.
“Don’t look at me. Looking won’t help,” said the Shadow of Inheritance, folding its arms, “Even if you stare at me, I can’t find a way to hack the Milestone System cooldown for you. There’s still 13 days, 8 hours, and 25 minutes left.”
But the girl really wanted to get stronger, especially after the battle at Brussels Airport. The gap between third and fourth stage was just enormous, as big as the gap between second and third.
Shen Shu remembered how, in the parking lot outside Feng, when she reached third stage, she could handle several second-stage peaks at once. But now, facing a fourth stage, third stage was just powerless.
“The Milestone System’s cooldown is there. No way to hack it,” the Shadow of Inheritance climbed into a small cabinet, “Why don’t you try something else to improve yourself?”
Shen Shu looked at it, “What else? Train myself?”
“That won’t work. Even for those guys, it takes years to go from third to fourth stage. Besides, you didn’t get here by self-training—you don’t have that kind of foundation. You should think of something else,” the shadow mused, and finally remembered, “Oh right, the Moonlight Ritual!”
The Moonlight Ritual—the very thing that helped Shen Shu break through from second to third stage. Right now, she still had enough points left for one more try. The only problem was, she was missing one thing.
The second moonlight.
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