Su Tingxue's Guilt

"Wang Chong of Class Six is the most suspicious." Su Tingxue named a suspect. No. 2 High was the finest school in Chang'an, and rich heirs who had gotten in through connections were especially numerous. Wang Chong of Class Six was one of them, and Zhou You had heard of his reputation. It was said the fellow was narrow-minded and repaid the smallest slight. He often colluded with people from outside the school, and no one dared provoke him. Zhou You was in a difficult spot. It wasn't that he feared Wang Chong. The trouble was that he couldn't be sure Wang Chong was the one who had sent those men. He could hardly corner Wang Chong and torture a confession out of him. What if it hadn't been Wang Chong? "I have a friend in Class Six. I can have her help keep an eye on Wang Chong. If he does anything strange lately, she'll tell me." Su Tingxue offered. Zhou You thought it over. There was nothing else for it. The change came faster than he had expected. That same day, during the break after the second evening self-study, Su Tingxue came looking for him. As last time, she stood at the stairwell entrance, infused a folded paper airplane with spiritual power, and sent it flying. The paper airplane wobbled along its set route, turned and flew into Class Three, and flew above Zhou You's head. "Something's up?" Zhou You found Su Tingxue. "Wang Chong packed his bag and left school. From the look of it, he isn't staying for the third evening self-study." "Let's follow him and see," Zhou You said. The teacher for the third evening self-study was the English teacher, who sat at the podium every time and rarely bothered with anything. Zhou You happened to have finished all his homework, so skipping the third period wouldn't matter. Since they were cutting class, they couldn't leave by the main gate. The two chose to climb the wall. Neither of them had ever climbed a wall before, but they were immortal cultivators, after all, quick and agile. They got over it and outside the school with ease. "Is that Wang Chong over there?" Su Tingxue pointed at a furtive figure not far off. It was Wang Chong. Both of them crept along, tailing someone for the first time. They exchanged a look and saw the excitement and thrill in each other's eyes. It felt like playing secret agents in a movie, following an enemy to obtain classified intelligence. "It really is a little strange." Su Tingxue forced herself to sound calm as she analyzed, trying to look very professional. "Wang Chong is always driven to school and back, but this time he's walking home on his own. He isn't even riding a bicycle." "That means the place he's going isn't far from the school." Zhou You nodded. There was sense in what she said. Wang Chong walked ahead, eyes on his phone the whole time, never imagining anyone might be following him. Tailing him wasn't difficult. Zhou You struck up an idle conversation. "Is this your first time following someone?" Su Tingxue started. "Why do you ask?" In cultivation attainment she was stronger than Zhou You and counted as his senior, so just now she had deliberately put on the air of a reliable senior—unflappable, and professional at tailing people. She had no idea how he had seen through her. Of course he could tell. Su Tingxue's looks were pure and striking; wherever she went, she was the focus of every eye. She was sneaking after Wang Chong. Wang Chong didn't notice, but passersby kept turning their heads to look at her. She clearly had no experience tailing anyone. Whenever Chu Xiaoyao was about to do something brainless off campus, she would drag Zhou You along, and he would always suggest she put on a mask and a hat so she wouldn't draw attention. "Right—can your Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye only see with the eyes?" Zhou You remembered Chu Xiaoyao's appraisal of the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye. Su Tingxue blanked. What a strange question. If the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye didn't use the eyes, what else was there to see with? Seeing that she hadn't caught his meaning, Zhou You had to explain further. "As the saying goes, the divide between immortals and mortals should not only remind immortal cultivators to hide their identities before mortals. It should also remind them not to think about problems the way mortals do." "One who cultivates immortality shouldn't be bound by the five senses. Otherwise, what difference is there from a mortal?" "The Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye takes the heart as its eye. Named for yin and yang, it can see through heaven and earth. Reach that step, and one need not fear any Eye-blocking Ghost." At his words Su Tingxue went utterly still. Ripples rose in her heart, and Zhou You's words kept sounding in her mind. The heart as the eye, named for yin and yang, able to see through heaven and earth—so that was what the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye meant? Yes. As an immortal cultivator, how could she cling to common sense? She ought to change her thinking and seek transformation. How ridiculous that she had shut herself in her old ways, unable even to grasp so simple a truth, and had needed a classmate who had only just entered the Qi Refining stage to remind her before she could come to her senses. She felt the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye faintly changing. The angle from which she saw the world was wholly different. When she opened her eyes again, the look she turned on Zhou You was far more complicated. She pressed down the swell of feeling in her heart and said sincerely, "Thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist Zhou." "You..." Zhou You felt that she seemed to have changed, yet he couldn't say where the change was. "My Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye broke through." "Broke through?" Being thanked so formally left Zhou You quite embarrassed. "Don't thank me. All of that was said by my deskmate." "Your deskmate? Chu Xiaoyao?" Su Tingxue was greatly astonished. Wasn't Chu Xiaoyao a mortal with no cultivation attainment? How could her insight be so keen that even words passed on through Zhou You could help her break through? "Just what kind of person is Chu Xiaoyao?" Zhou You very much wanted to say that Chu Xiaoyao was a reborn empress, but that would count as exposing her identity. To say it without her consent would be far too rude. "I can't tell you the details. I can only say Xiaoyao's origins are astonishing. Ask any more, and I still can't tell you." Seeing how carefully he spoke, Su Tingxue wore a look of just-as-I-thought. No wonder Zhou You trusted Chu Xiaoyao so much. Her origins were extraordinary. This Carefree Sect was probably far more powerful than she had imagined. The two went back to focusing on Wang Chong. After a little while, Zhou You's expression turned odd. He had been chatting with Su Tingxue the whole time and hadn't noticed—why did the route Wang Chong was taking look so much like his own way home? No. It couldn't even be called similar. It was exactly the same. Wang Chong raised his phone, checked the direction, turned, and stepped into a small alley. Zhou You's expression grew stranger still. This seemed to be the very place where he had been ambushed yesterday. He ran a hand over the lamppost by the road. The imprint of Lishi's fist was still on it. Yesterday Nianshi and Lishi had suddenly appeared in front of him. Could they have been hiding in this alley all along? Zhou You was about to follow into the alley when Su Tingxue pulled him back and signaled him to be careful. "I sense quite a few people in this alley. Don't go in." "Then what do we do?" "I have a way." Su Tingxue took a sheet of yellow paper from her pocket and folded it in a flash into the shape of a little person. She blew a gentle breath at the paper figure. It stretched its limbs and seemed to come alive. What kind of technique was this? Zhou You was astonished. Seeing him stare wide-eyed and blank at the paper figure, Su Tingxue couldn't help feeling smug. "This is one of the basic variations of our Mount Longhu talisman arts. This is how it's used." The paper figure leapt from her palm, hurried on its little legs into the alley, and vanished. Su Tingxue silently recited an incantation, pressed her index and middle fingers together, and touched them to the center of Zhou You's brow. His vision went black. When it brightened again, he found he could already see what was happening in the alley—only the angle seemed wrong. He had to look up. Su Tingxue's voice came beside his ear. "I've shared both our lines of sight with the paper figure." Zhou You nodded and watched closely. There were many students in the alley. To the paper figure, they looked like giants. Wang Chong stood at the very front and asked the underling beside him, "This is the right place, isn't it? Zhou You comes through here after school?" Fanning him with a fan, the underling reported eagerly, "Don't worry, boss. I've already checked. This is a place the boy named Zhou has to pass after school, and at night basically no one walks through. It's a blind spot. The street cameras can't see it. Absolutely foolproof." "Well done." Wang Chong knew this underling. He was thorough, and he wouldn't make a slip. "Zhou You, daring to have some ambiguous entanglement with Su Tingxue—he's asking to die!" A cold smile hooked the corner of his mouth. Zhou You glanced at Su Tingxue beside him. See? It really was because of you. Su Tingxue was overcome with shame. She lowered her head and dared not look him in the eye. "How many people did you gather?" Still uneasy, Wang Chong asked one more question. "Boss, time was a bit tight, so I only found nine. But they're all students from the sports school nearby. They'll definitely give that Zhou a lesson!" The nine wore short sleeves, thick arms bare, their stances lazy. One look said they were not to be provoked. Wang Chong nodded. Nine sports-school students against a Zhou You who only knew how to grind at his books—that was enough. "Brother Wang Chong, I train in sprints. When Zhou You realizes something's wrong and tries to run, I'll drag him back!" One sports-school student stepped forward to pledge his loyalty. "Good. Add two hundred for him." Wang Chong instructed his underling. The sports-school students stirred. They had long heard Wang Chong was free with his money, and seeing it today, it was true. "Brother Wang Chong, I train in weightlifting. I'm strong. One punch and I'll knock Zhou You flat!" The man shoved his sleeves higher. Of the nine, his arms were the thickest. "Good. Add two hundred for him too." "Brother Wang Chong, I study sports rehabilitation. I know how to hit someone so it hurts the most and still leaves no scar!" "Good. Add two hundred for him too." "Brother Wang Chong, I study boxing. I can throw four punches in a second. I guarantee I can beat him dizzy!" "Good. Add two hundred for him too." "Brother Wang Chong, I'm Zhou You. One punch and I can lay you out!" "Good. Add two hundred for him too... huh?"