Qin Zhi and Shen Xinyun immediately fixed their eyes on Ye Yang. Ye Yang looked left and right, utterly exasperated. “What are you thinking? Of course not. When Xuanwu appears, something major is going down. I at least have that much common sense, okay?”
Zhuang Li shrugged, swiftly snatched the last bun, took a bite, and continued, “Are you sure Professor Shen isn’t trying to pursue you? Don’t worry, we’re not homophobic.”
Ye Yang didn’t hesitate. “No, absolutely not.”
Shen Xinyun looked at Zhuang Li in horror. “You just came out and said that?!”
Zhuang Li silently closed the school forum page. Forget it. No need to corrupt this innocent kid.
Unfortunately, there were bad apples among the crowd.
The next day, Li Chanyi sent Ye Yang two videos directly from the confession wall.
He deliberately put on the expression of a wronged wife who just caught her husband cheating, his eyes full of reproach. “Anything you want to say?”
Under the influence of Li Chanyi, Ji Yunrou, Ni Tao, and the others, Ye Yang was no longer the clueless little sea bunny he used to be. He knew exactly what Li Chanyi was thinking.
Glancing at this gossipy guy, he replied grumpily, “Shut it down in your brain, don’t obsess over nonsense every day. Professor Shen is just looking after me at someone’s request.”
“At whose request?”
They were in the classroom, so Ye Yang was deliberately vague. “Someone you know. Director Tu and them.”
Li Chanyi was stunned for a moment, then something seemed to click. His eyes widened, and he leaned close to Ye Yang’s ear, whispering, “So Professor Shen is also…?”
Ye Yang nodded.
Ji Yunrou was so anxious she practically wanted to shove her head under their armpits. “Also what?! What can’t I hear?!”
Li Chanyi, breaking from his usual character, said seriously, “Professor Shen just cares about his juniors. Ye Yang has been his student since the research institute days. Isn’t it normal for them to be close? You people need to stop gossiping every single day.”
Ji Yunrou’s mouth hung open, unable to speak. This was utter madness! Chanyi was the biggest gossip of them all!
Ni Tao stood up, walked a circle around Li Chanyi, looking grave. “You haven’t been possessed by something, have you…”
Li Chanyi was furious. “Shoo, shoo, shoo! What nonsense are you talking? Class is starting!”
After that, Shen Ming frequently started bringing late-night snacks, though irregularly. Eventually, not only Ye Yang and his dormmates but the entire school of gossip enthusiasts grew accustomed to Shen Ming’s thoughtful snacks.
The school’s confession wall couldn’t even be bothered to post submissions anymore. Only a few threads on the school forum kept updating, especially the Late Night (Shen + Ye) CP Record Thread.
This thread chronicled every single appearance of Shen Ming, complete with thoughtfully taken photos, becoming the most enduringly popular gossip thread on the forum.
—
Under the guise of delivering late-night snacks, Shen Ming would conduct surprise checks on Ye Yang’s condition. But either Ye Yang was too good at hiding it, or Shen Ming’s perception was off—he never caught Ye Yang slipping again.
Instead, another power capable of stirring his own divine power appeared frequently, only to vanish without a trace before he could locate it.
Shen Ming and the Spirit Snake tracked it many times but never found anything. The closest they got, they narrowed the range down to four streets. Yet, after staking out downtown all night, they discovered nothing unusual.
The Spirit Snake felt Shen Ming’s mindset was strange and probed, “Could it really have nothing to do with Ye Yang?”
Shen Ming was perfectly serious. “We can’t let our guard down.”
His reasoning sounded solid. Since sensing that pull from Ye Yang that day, Shen Ming had conducted many tests, noticed many previously overlooked details, and concluded Ye Yang was highly suspicious.
But the Spirit Snake knew Shen Ming’s true thoughts best. Despite such high-sounding justifications, it couldn’t help teasing, “Really? Are you sure you’re just not addicted to cooking for him? Hey, hey, hey—stop zapping me!”
…
And so months passed.
The final exam period approached. Classes were mostly over, leaving one week for review. The school library was packed.
Then one day, Shen Ming suddenly suggested, “Since home is so close to school, why not come home to study? I can tutor you.”
Ye Yang hesitated. Professor Shen’s research institute work was demanding; he shouldn’t disrupt it.
Shen Ming blinked. “Little Crow misses you too.”
Ye Yang: “Hmm…” Little Crow often didn’t come back to its nest lately. Who knew where it went? Sometimes when Ye Yang went home on weekends, he wouldn’t even see it. Did it really miss him? But Professor Shen wouldn’t lie, right?
Seeing Ye Yang still hesitating, Shen Ming gritted his teeth and, following the Spirit Snake’s advice, said, “I’m usually alone. No one keeps me company.”
Having said even that, how could Ye Yang refuse?
It was almost the end of freshman year, the dorm RA barely did inspections, and the older guys’ mission period was nearly over anyway. Going home was fine, right?
“Alright, sorry to trouble you then, Professor Shen.”
Shen Ming smiled. “Perfect timing. I’ve learned several new dishes lately. You can try them.”
When he smiled, the lines of his entire face softened considerably, his pupils like thick ink diffusing. Ye Yang froze for a second, not knowing how to describe it. Had Professor Shen’s smile always been this heart-fluttering?
It was June in Dongzhou City, the beginning of summer. Mostly sunny days, the sunlight warm but not harsh. Having breakfast in the morning, then studying by the window afterward—it was incredibly comfortable.
No need to fight for a spot in the library. No need to endure inconsiderate people eating, drinking, loudly reciting, sleeping, snoring, or clacking away on mechanical keyboards in the library.
Even better, Shen Ming next door kept him supplied with three meals and two snacks a day.
Ye Yang felt bad after the very first day, but Shen Ming was firm. He single-handedly took over the kitchens of both apartments, not even letting Ye Yang step foot in the kitchen. Ye Yang couldn’t even touch a cutting board.
“Focus on your studies. Leave these trivial matters to me.”
Ye Yang really wanted to say, Professor Shen, have you forgotten that I’m also a yaoguai? I can photosynthesize. It’s fine if I don’t eat for ten days or half a month…
Late at night, the Spirit Snake returned empty-handed from another external investigation.
“It’s been this long. Could that little bunny really be innocent? What if it’s just a diversion tactic to make us focus all our attention on him? Otherwise, how do you explain that cunning power in the city center?”
Shen Ming glanced at him. The Spirit Snake flicked its tail and understood. “Oh, I get your point. You think the power constantly luring us to investigate is the real diversion, but that little bunny is so good, I believe in him anyway.”
Shen Ming turned his face away, pressed his palm downward, and the Spirit Snake instantly fell silent, slinking back into his spiritual sense resentfully.
Standing up, Shen Ming went out alone.
He wasn’t sleepy at all, still constantly analyzing Ye Yang.
He remembered talking with Ye Yang about the Divine War and realizing that Ye Yang knew things from before the Divine War—things known only to the ancient survivors and to Shen Ming himself, who had lived since before the war.
Not just now, but from much earlier, Ye Yang sometimes displayed an uncanny knowledge of ancient history. Some things, neither Ye Yang’s teacher Yu Bei nor even the commander of the YCG knew, but Ye Yang had an extraordinary understanding and familiarity with the Divine War history he never personally experienced.
But when questioned closely, Ye Yang couldn’t say where he’d learned these things. It was as if a segment of memory had appeared in his mind from thin air.
Shen Ming believed Ye Yang wasn’t lying. Otherwise, he’d have to be an incredible actor.
Once doubt takes root in the mind, perspectives on many things naturally shift. Apart from that sudden burst of attraction that day, Shen Ming had never sensed anything else from Ye Yang. And precisely because he sensed nothing, he grew even more suspicious.
Ye Yang had too many questionable points.
The creature of his original form, the leaf sheep sea slug (Costasiella kuroshimae), is an indisputably low-level organism. It should only have instinct, no thought, and certainly couldn’t become a yaoguai.
Apart from Ye Yang, the only exception was Director Bai of the YCG, but Director Bai was a well-known accident.
Setting that aside, the abilities Ye Yang displayed were also very off.
His water abilities were mediocre. His wood abilities, originally unremarkable, had undergone mutations they shouldn’t have. Not to mention his immense physical strength and attack power, which didn’t match either his original form or human form.
Lost in thought, Shen Ming began recalling his dream. His dreams couldn’t be manipulated. Ye Yang… Vermilion Bird… what was really going on?
When that power that stirred Shen Ming’s divine force appeared, he was certain it had to be related to the Vermilion Bird. But after all these days, he was starting to doubt himself.
The Spirit Snake, annoyed by Shen Ming’s churning thoughts, yelled in his spiritual sense, “Why overthink it? Apart from the Vermilion Bird, whose power could stir your divine force? Unless it’s your own?”
Shen Ming shot to his feet. Actually, now that he thought about it, the characteristics of Ye Yang’s abilities did seem somewhat connected to himself. He closed his eyes. Xuanwu’s power—overwhelming force conquering all finesse.
“Wait! Could it be from back then?!”
Shen Ming suddenly recalled that he had been severely injured back then. For a long period, his consciousness was very hazy, acting purely on instinct. His control over his own divinity wasn’t very effective. When his divinity dispersed, any blood he shed might have carried part of his divinity.
He’d rarely been fully conscious throughout those thousands of years. He was constantly forcing himself awake from slumber, acting on instinct to move to another location, sleeping briefly again, the cycle repeating. Looking back, he truly couldn’t remember whether or where he’d left behind divine blood.
Looking at historical precedent, when divinity is absorbed by other living beings, bad changes generally follow.
For example, in ancient times, many gods were slaughtered. Their remains caused great danger in the mortal realm—pollution or triggering struggles among evil spirits—resulting in the deaths of countless innocent beings.
A being that accidentally absorbs divinity must be eliminated because they’ll likely go berserk, gaining immense power while losing rationality, leaving only instinct. If not dealt with promptly, they cause massive destruction.
But Ye Yang had never shown any sign of being unable to bear divinity and going berserk…
“If that little bunny really absorbed your divine blood, which is why he can stir your divine force… heh. You’ll have to personally take care of him then. Don’t go soft again~”
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