"Creak..."
At this mont, inside the shrine.
The wooden wall panels, previously shattered by An Le, crashed down heavily from the second floor. They landed on the gravel-paved ground of the courtyard, smashing uneven craters into the earth.
A silhouette slowly cast its shadow over the debris. It was the assassin sent to hunt down Yan Huan and Sakuramiya Hitomi.
He was a middle-aged man with a few faint wrinkles etched across his face.
He inspected the wooden splinters on the ground, then raised his gaze to glance at the gaping hole smashed straight through the second floor, a hint of confusion playing on his features.
Even with all his vast experience, he could not fathom what kind of thing could have created a hole with such jagged, irregular edges.
Sniff, sniff...
As he looked up to study the large hole in the second-floor wall, his nose twitched slightly, instantly catching a faint, fishy stench reminiscent of seafood.
He quickly lowered his head to examine the wooden fragnts on the ground again.
There, he noticed what appeared to be so sort of unknown, translucent sli clinging to the wood.
"..."
'What is this?'
The assassin frowned. He crouched down and touched it, studying the sticky fluid as it ford a stringy web between his fingers.
Just as he was about to speak, a lodious but terrified shriek from a young girl suddenly echoed from the nearby forest.
"Ahhhh! Ye Shiyu!! You... you idiot!! Stop... stop, I cannot run anymore!!"
"..."
The three n exchanged a look before one of the subordinates finally broke the silence.
"Boss, do you think they know we are here? Why did they all run outside?"
"...You two, head into the forest and chase the others. Rember, our targets are the one nad Yan Huan and Sakuramiya Hitomi. Ignore anyone else."
After a mont of thought, the lead assassin gave his orders.
"I will go check inside the shrine. If you find the targets, let
know on the walkie-talkie."
"Yes, sir."
Behind him, the two n nodded, imdiately turning on their heels and sprinting toward the forest outside the shrine.
anwhile, the lead assassin slowly shifted his footsteps, making his way into the interior of the shrine.
After Ye Shiyu's departure, the lighting inside the shrine had instantly returned to normal.
The assassin stepped onto the wooden floorboards without making a single sound.
Observing the silence of the shrine, his nose twitched slightly as he drew in the scents of his surroundings.
His sense of sll was sharp, far beyond that of an ordinary person.
This gift helped him track his prey and evade capture.
That was why the Red-Haired Demon had been searching for him for so long without even catching a glimpse of his tail.
"..."
A mont later, as the assassin took a deep breath, he instantly realized sothing, and a sinister smile crept onto his lips.
'The scent of a man...'
'A young male high school student. About 184 centiters tall. He must have soaked in a hot spring just yesterday, and he still carries the fresh fragrance of body wash and shampoo...'
He licked his lips. One hand slowly reached for the dagger strapped to his leg, his eyes widening as he frantically scanned the area for where the young boy might be hiding.
"ow."
Right at that mont, an adorable cat's ow suddenly rang out, causing his expression to instantly freeze.
He whipped his head around in disbelief, only to see a black cat sitting elegantly in the middle of the corridor, blinking its jade green eyes as it stared at him.
Yet, he had not caught even the slightest whiff of its scent.
'That is impossible.'
"Bang!"
However, in the brief second he was distracted, a nearby door was abruptly kicked open.
It was Yan Huan.
From inside the shrine, he had overheard what this man had said outside: their targets were him and Sakuramiya Hitomi.
So, naturally, he threw honor out the window and went straight for a dishonorable sneak attack.
Feeling the fierce wind approach his ear, the assassin reacted with lightning speed. Without even turning his head, he hurriedly raised his arm to block.
"Thud!"
The mont they collided, however, a colossal force slamd into him. He was sent flying backward uncontrollably, crashing heavily onto the ground.
'What kind of strength is this?!'
The assassin rolled across the gravelly surface, looking up at Yan Huan in utter astonishnt.
Kiss God.
Do not forget, Ye Shiyu had just kissed Yan Huan monts ago.
As a result, the twenty-four-hour buff from Kiss God was active once again.
Though Yan Huan certainly was not going to thank Ye Shiyu for it.
At this mont, utilizing the light inside the wooden cabin, Yan Huan looked the middle-aged man up and down, seeming to understand sothing.
"Your targets are
and Sakuramiya... Did the Sakuramiya family send you?"
"Shing!"
Hearing this, the assassin simply drew the dagger from the sheath on his leg with a harsh scrape, chuckling as he replied.
"I was sent here 'to stay alive'."
Seeing the man expertly hold the blade in a reverse grip, Yan Huan took a deep breath, assuming an expression of facing a formidable foe.
Then, with a resigned sigh, he raised his hands, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and started pulling it up.
This sight caught the assassin off guard. He swallowed hard and stamred,
"What are you doing? I... I do not swing that way."
Yan Huan's face darkened at those words, but his movents to strip off his shirt did not slow down in the slightest.
Because very soon, as more of his skin was exposed, his physical attributes began to skyrocket once again.
Bare-Chested!
Kiss God combined with Bare-Chested—two layers of buffs enhancing his physical stats.
Right now, Yan Huan felt like he could even serve as the "First Generation Linn Captain".
He stretched his body, which felt as light as the wind, his joints instantly letting out a series of sharp cracks.
Imdiately after, he lifted his gaze to the man before him, offering a forced smile as he muttered,
"I was already annoyed enough being hypnotized by Ye Shiyu, and now you have to co cause trouble... You know, you had better hope you also have so overpowered Modifier on you."
"..."
The assassin had no idea what the boy was mumbling about.
However, simply looking at Yan Huan's exposed, muscular physique, the previously mocking assassin seed to sense the explosive strength contained within him, his expression involuntarily turning solemn.
"Whoosh!"
The next second, before Yan Huan could even toss his shirt aside, the man violently raised his blade and charged at him.
"Ahhhh! Ye Shiyu!! You idiot!!"
anwhile, in the forest outside the shrine, Bai Yi was being dragged along in a mad dash by Ye Shiyu. They quickly sprinted deep into the woods.
The mont Bai Yi opened her mouth, Ye Shiyu whipped her head back, her face cold as she hissed,
"Shut up! Have you not noticed that An Le has not caught up to us? If you keep yelling and attract her over here, do not bla
for leaving you behind!"
Hearing this, Bai Yi paused slightly.
She turned her head to look into the dark depths of the forest, finally realizing that no one had been chasing them for quite a while.
Still, she had to admire Ye Shiyu.
How was Ye Shiyu able to drag her along for this entire distance without even breaking a sweat?
It was worth noting that Bai Yi was the type of slacker who faked her period every ti there was an 800-ter run. This was the first ti she had ever run so far, and sohow they had actually managed to lose An Le...
Well, truthfully, An Le being left behind was not entirely due to their running speed.
The trees in this forest were of varying heights, tightly packed together, and covered in dense leaves. It was a very hostile environnt for soone like An Le, who relied on tentacles acting like grappling hooks to maneuver.
"No wonder you ran toward the forest. Thank goodness you were smart about it..."
Bai Yi muttered, breathing a sigh of relief. But then she suddenly rembered sothing, and her expression completely flipped. She glared at Ye Shiyu with burning anger,
"Wait a minute, why am I praising you?! You dragged
into the filthy ss you made! Are you even human, Ye Shiyu?!"
Hearing this, Ye Shiyu imdiately looked at her and calmly pointed out,
"Yes, I did trick Sakuramiya Hitomi back there. But do you really think if I had not lied to her, she would not have tead up with An Le to deal with you? You said it yourself, she has already betrayed us and wanted to help An Le eliminate us first!"
Bai Yi flinched at the reminder, but this ti, she was not deterred by Ye Shiyu's logic.
Whether it was because she had moved past the awkward and panicked situation at the door earlier, or perhaps because this forest possessed so strange magic, Bai Yi's thoughts were currently racing like lightning.
Bai Yi let out a cold laugh and complained,
"Yes, I said Sakuramiya Hitomi betrayed us, but I never said she was definitely going to go through with it in the end!"
"What do you an?"
"Because I was confident I could make her absolutely, positively refuse to cooperate with An Le!!"
Bai Yi rubbed the space between her eyebrows. Just looking at Ye Shiyu's emotionless face made her blood boil.
"Because I used Indifference to eavesdrop and uncovered a crucial secret about An Le! She plans to take Yan Huan's first ti on the final day of the school trip!!"
"...What?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Shiyu's pupils shrank, finding it difficult to maintain her cold, indifferent facade.
But Bai Yi was still firing away,
"She is hiding this from Sakuramiya Hitomi! Do you really think if Sakuramiya Hitomi knew about this, she would still agree to work with An Le?!"
"..."
The more she spoke, the straighter Bai Yi's previously hunched back beca, and the more disappointed in expectations she looked as she stared at Ye Shiyu.
It was just like a horoom teacher scolding a worthless student.
"I originally ca back to tell you about this, but instead of finding you, I caught you sneaking food!
"If only you had not pulled that stunt just now, the two of us could have gone together and used this to pressure Sakuramiya Hitomi! Would she still have betrayed us then?
"No matter what, would it not have been better to take down that overpowered monster An Le first?
"Did you see what just happened? She flew straight out of the second floor like a monster! She is not even human anymore!!" Because they could not see the tentacles, An Le, who had lost all sensation below her neck, looked exactly like a Teru Teru Bozu doll floating nacingly in mid-air.
Having an An Le like that chase you the entire way—tell , would you not be terrified?
"Now look what happened! Just because you could not control your lower half, you ruined everything!! Even if I told her now, she would just think the two of you are birds of a feather... Oh wait, you two actually are, except you are even more disgusting than she is!"
"..."
"Could you not just take care of it yourself at night?! Trim your nails and sort yourself out!! Would it kill you?!"
"..."
Ye Shiyu's eyes went wide. Stunned by the utterly scandalous words spilling from Bai Yi's mouth, she was rendered entirely speechless.
Panting, Bai Yi glanced at the dumbfounded Ye Shiyu from the corner of her eye. She was suddenly slow to catch on, but belatedly realized she had just blurted out sothing incredibly bizarre.
With a slightly flushed face, she coughed a few tis, awkwardly trying to gloss over the topic,
"Ahem..."
"Step, step, step!"
Just as the two of them fell into a temporary silence, an urgent series of footsteps suddenly echoed from behind them.
This gave Bai Yi a trendous fright, prompting her to hastily pull Ye Shiyu in front of her as a shield,
"Ahhh, An Le... An Le has caught up!"
Hearing this, Ye Shiyu took a deep breath.
Seeing as Bai Yi's scolding earlier actually made sense, Ye Shiyu forcibly suppressed her absolute speechlessness and countered with a question,
"Do you really think An Le would be running on foot to chase us?"
"...That is true."
"..."
Soon enough, a bizarrely shaped "monster" standing nearly two ters tall suddenly erged from the gloomy woods.
The "monster" ran at an incredibly fast pace. It was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, causing Bai Yi to shrink back in terror and hurriedly ask Ye Shiyu,
"W-What is that thing? Is it human?"
"I do not know..."
Ye Shiyu narrowed her eyes, completely unsure of what that thing could be, or how it was running so fast...
"Step-step-step-step..."
"It is coming!"
Bai Yi gripped her pocket watch tightly and silently backed away, already deciding that if it was sothing terrifying, she would activate Indifference and flee imdiately.
In front of her, Ye Shiyu's heartbeat also accelerated, and her mobile phone lit up with a faint, eerie purple glow.
"Oh, they are over here!"
However, in the very next second, a familiar voice rang out from the "monster."
Upon hearing that voice, both Ye Shiyu and Bai Yi froze simultaneously.
It was only when the "monster" drew closer that they realized it was actually Spencer, sprinting wildly with Sakuramiya Hitomi on her back!
"Spencer! Sakuramiya Hitomi?!"
"It is you two!?"
As for the girl on Spencer's back, even though she had been carried the whole way, Sakuramiya Hitomi had to constantly grip tightly to avoid falling off, leaving her panting heavily,
"Hah... Ye Shiyu! Bai Yi! You two bastards who laid your hands on the president! An Le was right after all, giving you two superpowers only spells disaster for the president!"
Ye Shiyu frowned and quickly turned her head to look at Bai Yi behind her.
Only to find that this coward, having plotted to silently slip away just monts ago, was already standing several ters away.
Hearing the accusation, Bai Yi imdiately spoke up,
"Wait a minute, Vice President Sakuramiya, stop right there! Listen to !"
Sakuramiya Hitomi gritted her teeth and hopped down from Spencer's back, her aura growing increasingly dangerous,
"There is no need to explain! I have already decided, I am going to help An Le deal with you two first..."
"Can you even do it?"
However, Bai Yi pursed her lips and quickly interrupted.
Then, pointing at the surrounding forest, she stated firmly,
"Even though you never explicitly ntioned it before, your Reality Barrier can only be used indoors, right? Look around you, we are outside right now!"
"..."
Hearing this, the furious Sakuramiya Hitomi froze, her footsteps grinding to a halt.
Indeed, when her Reality Barrier was granted to her, it was specifically stated that it could only be used indoors.
Because of this, she finally began to calm down a little.
But as she regained her composure, she cast a surprised glance at Bai Yi, a doubt forming in her mind:
'Since when did this girl get so smart?'
It was not just Sakuramiya Hitomi; even Ye Shiyu looked at Bai Yi in astonishnt.
"Now, will you listen to what I have to say?"
"...Speak. What do you want to say?"
"Thank you."
At her response, Bai Yi tidied up her clothes and took a step forward.
First, she cast an annoyed glance at Ye Shiyu, then explained,
"First of all, I did absolutely nothing to Yan Huan just now! It was all Ye Shiyu's plot! I was only there to stop her!"
Sakuramiya Hitomi frowned, while Ye Shiyu closed her eyes and said coldly,
"If you are going to talk about An Le, just say it... Stop rambling about useless nonsense."
"This is not useless nonsense! This is about my reputation!"
"..."
Seeing everyone wearing speechless expressions, Bai Yi finally cleared her throat softly and continued,
"Furthermore, thanks to my forceful intervention, she did not succeed at all! In other words, Ye Shiyu did not even have the ti to do anything to Yan Huan before you showed up!"
"!!"
Yes, this was the crux of the matter.
Earlier, out of stubbornness and to assert her dominance over Yan Huan, Ye Shiyu had misled both Sakuramiya Hitomi and An Le into believing she had actually gone through with it.
In reality, she had not even managed to unbuckle his belt.
Hearing this, the massive boulder weighing on Sakuramiya Hitomi's heart finally dropped.
'Thank goodness...'
'The president... The president has not slept with anyone else yet... Thank goodness...'
However, before Sakuramiya Hitomi could celebrate for more than a second, Bai Yi fixed her with a sharp gaze, pointed a finger at her, and declared strictly,
"Ye Shiyu may have failed, but, Vice President Sakuramiya, do not forget that An Le is planning to do sothing huge on the final day of the school trip!"
Hearing her say this, it instantly clicked for Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Bai Yi must have used Indifference to eavesdrop on what An Le was planning to do!
"So, what exactly does she..."
"An Le plans to take Yan Huan's first ti on the last day!!"
"!!"
Those words instantly paralyzed Sakuramiya Hitomi.
She narrowed her eyes, asking with deep suspicion,
"So, you are still trying to claim that An Le is dealing with us just to satisfy her own selfish desires?"
"Of course she is! She is not even planning to buy condoms or pills! I heard it with my own ears while using Indifference, believe it or not! If that does not an she wants to violently... uh, do that to Yan Huan..."
As Bai Yi spoke, she coughed bashfully.
She looked completely different from the girl who had furiously spouted those scandalous words just monts ago.
"Heh... Not planning to buy condoms or pills..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi felt the urge to laugh upon hearing this. What kind of girl would use sothing like this to show they wanted to 'violently do that'?
Unless she wanted to have a child this early, completely disregarding her own future...
As she thought about it, the mocking smirk on Sakuramiya Hitomi's face gradually faded until it vanished completely.
At that mont, An Le's warning flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning.
She had said that using superpowers cos with a price.
Previously, Sakuramiya Hitomi had believed An Le was mistaken. After all, the personal experiences of the three of them could not be wrong.
But was there a possibility...
That An Le was right, and their own feelings were also right?
It was just that the three of them had not used their abilities enough, so the price had not yet beco apparent.
Since An Le used her superpowers so frequently and consecutively, she would definitely have a much deeper understanding of it.
And what if the price was so steep—so devastatingly high—that An Le believed that once she went all out to eradicate the other superpowers, she would not even have a future with the president?
That would explain why she was not even bothering to buy condoms or pills.
She was dead serious.
"..."
Instantly, connecting everything thanks to An Le's warning, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face changed drastically. She was completely at a loss for words.
Bai Yi, however, assud Sakuramiya Hitomi still did not believe her, so she hurriedly continued trying to convince her,
"Vice President Sakuramiya, you saw it just now. The sheer output of An Le's superpowers is already getting out of control.
"I feel like her powers are not even on the sa level as ours anymore. If she wants to take Yan Huan's first ti, would you even be able to stop her without the two of us?
"Only if the four of us join forces will we stand a chance at stopping her!"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi looked up at Bai Yi and Ye Shiyu, just as she was about to speak...
Behind them, as Spencer listened, she furrowed her brow and interrupted,
"Hold on a second, I do not know if I am misunderstanding this..."
None of them had expected Spencer to suddenly speak up, so they all turned their heads to look at her.
"Are you saying that, all this ti, you guys were supposed to be the Study Group mbers helping
study...
"But in secret, every single one of you has been using superpowers behind my back to grope and assault Yan Huan?"
As soon as these words left her mouth, Bai Yi and Sakuramiya Hitomi's expressions turned to sheer shock, utterly speechless at the accusation.
They had always treated Spencer like an idiot, never expecting her to be unusually sharp today.
Hiss...
Could it be that they were standing beneath a Wisdom Tree?
Was there an Intelligence Boost from standing under the Wisdom Tree?!
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