Clap.
Thinking about what might happen next, Lin Jianqing felt his whole body trembling.
‘He wouldn’t really be written into the news today, would he? And… if questioned, how should he answer?’
‘If someone discovered his male identity, wouldn’t he end up in the newspaper… no, more like the local Douyin or Kuaishou.’
‘He even subconsciously thought of a title: “Cross-dressing Male College Student Accidentally Injured in Superpower Competition.”’
‘Just thinking about it was embarrassing enough, and the headline was too outrageous.’
But Shen Huaixue raised her eyes at that moment.
She didn’t stand up or make any obvious movement, but her eyes sank slightly. Lin Jianqing felt as if the surroundings had suddenly quieted down—the whole venue seemed to enter 0.5x speed.
At the same time, something indescribable brushed past him, like an invisible thread—extremely light, extremely cold, and terrifyingly precise.
The wind blade that had been hurtling toward the edge of the protective screen suddenly shifted course just before impact, scraping harshly along the screen and slanted outward, finally crashing into the energy layer on the other side of the arena, exploding into a ring of pale blue ripples.
A louder gasp erupted from the audience.
The commentator reacted quickly and immediately followed up, “The protection system successfully corrected the trajectory! The venue is safe and normal. Please do not panic, audience!”
But Lin Jianqing didn’t look at the protective screen. He turned his head toward Shen Huaixue.
Shen Huaixue was still sitting there, her posture unchanged, as if that moment had nothing to do with her.
Yet Lin Jianqing saw it—that faint, barely visible thread.
But the smile on Shen Huaixue’s face was very calm, and she looked at Lin Jianqing beside her with a smug expression. It was as if she was saying to him, “It was me, hurry up and ask.”
Lin Jianqing swallowed, his voice low.
“Was that you just now?”
Shen Huaixue tilted her head to look at him, as if she had been waiting for him to ask.
“Of course. So? Impressive?”
Her answer was too straightforward, and Lin Jianqing was caught off guard.
Shen Huaixue looked at him, the corner of her lips curving slightly, her tone even carrying a hint of teasing.
“What, scared?”
Lin Jianqing wanted to say no, but in that instant when the wind blade rushed toward him, his palms really did go cold.
He couldn’t say that. Shen Huaixue’s gaze landed on his face, as if she saw through all his forced calm.
“Lin Jianqing, were you more afraid of that wind blade just now, or of me?”
Lin Jianqing fell silent. This question was even harder to dodge.
He lowered his eyes, and after a few seconds, said quietly, “Can you not ask this kind of question at a time like this?”
Shen Huaixue’s smile deepened.
“Then it seems you’re afraid of me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you didn’t deny it either.”
Lin Jianqing looked up at her, the tips of his ears still flushed with the lingering heat of tension.
Shen Huaixue leaned in a little closer, her voice pressed very light, yet her tone was still lazy.
“She just wanted to make her opponent misjudge the direction, but ended up losing control herself. I’m different. If I wanted, I could casually alter anyone’s judgment without letting them know their consciousness had been modified.”
Lin Jianqing felt a chill run down his spine.
Shen Huaixue seemed satisfied with his reaction and continued softly, “And just now, I showed off a bit. I didn’t control the wind-type player’s mind. Instead, I forcibly controlled that reckless psychic rookie and made her re-control the deviation of the wind-type player’s attack.”
After saying that, Shen Huaixue subconsciously touched her hair, and her chest lifted slightly, raising it higher in front of Lin Jianqing.
“So? Were you scared?”
Lin Jianqing fell completely silent. This was no longer a matter of whether she was strong or not.
Wasn’t this a bit insane?
Did that black milk dragon really do this?
Shen Huaixue reached out and gently smoothed the wrinkled sleeve he had crumpled from tension, moving slowly and deliberately. To an outsider, it probably looked like she was just comforting her startled female companion.
“So,” she looked up at him, smiling lightly, “are you more afraid of me now?”
Lin Jianqing looked at her, saying nothing for a long time. Shen Huaixue didn’t urge him either, only moved a little closer than before. Watching Lin Jianqing’s bewildered expression, the urge to toy with him grew harder to control.
Shen Huaixue just loved seeing Lin Jianqing flustered and unwilling to beg her, standing there anxiously.
When he finally reached his limit, she, Shen Huaixue, would appear in front of him like a savior.
Make a few unreasonable little demands, then conveniently solve Lin Jianqing’s predicament, boost his affection, and then unlock the hidden CG…
At this moment, Shen Huaixue seemed to have completely forgotten her relationship with Lin Jianqing.
The audience around them was still discussing that earlier loss of control. The referee on the field had paused the match to check the psychic player’s condition.
But Lin Jianqing felt those sounds were far away. Shen Huaixue hadn’t used a heavy tone, she was even smiling.
Yet that sentence was more unsettling than the wind blade just now. Just as Lin Jianqing was about to speak, the large screen at the center of the venue suddenly switched to an audience interactive shot.
The director probably wanted to lighten the mood from the minor incident, so the camera swept across a few rows of the audience and quickly cut to the VIP seating.
Then the frame landed exactly on Shen Huaixue and Lin Jianqing.
Normally, these audience shots would deliberately avoid the VIP seats, but today’s camera seemed inexplicably controlled.
At first, it pretended to switch a few times among the other audience sections, but soon it cut to the VIP seats and aimed precisely at Lin Jianqing.
On the large screen, Shen Huaixue was slightly leaning toward Lin Jianqing, her hand resting on his sleeve. Her smile was faint, her posture intimate enough that no explanation was needed.
And Lin Jianqing, with reddened ears and lowered eyes, sat stiffly in his seat, looking like he was being coaxed softly by his beautiful and domineering girlfriend.
The whole venue fell silent for a brief moment, and the next second, a wave of cheers erupted from the audience.
When Lin Jianqing looked up and saw the large screen, he almost cracked.
‘Who is he, where is he?’
‘No, why is he so unlucky?’
‘Why is a picture of him cross-dressing and flirting with Shen Huaixue appearing on the superpower competition screen? What if an acquaintance recognizes him?’
‘This is a public execution. How is this any different from a couple sneaking into a concert and getting caught by the fan camera?’
Shen Huaixue saw the large screen too. She not only didn’t let go, but as if on purpose—and it really was on purpose—she tilted her head slightly, leaned close to Lin Jianqing’s ear, and asked in a voice only he could hear:
“What about now?”
Lin Jianqing stared at her stiffly, while the smile on Shen Huaixue’s face grew even more smug.
“Are you afraid of me?”