Lu Zhou seemed stunned by the man’s actions and didn’t resist at first—until the sweat-drenched hand touched the Scholarship box. He snapped awake and shoved the man away.
Staring at the ragged-breathing, mad-eyed man before him, a trace of bewilderment showed in Lu Zhou’s eyes.
“Dad,” Lu Zhou called softly, his tone pure confusion. “Why did Mom die? Why didn’t you die?”
The man froze in place. Moments later, rage and hatred filled his eyes. He swung a vicious slap across Lu Zhou’s face.
“Pa!”
“Thud!”
Startled by the noise, the bus driver peeked out, hesitated, then closed the doors and slowly drove off.
The slap sent Lu Zhou sprawling sideways, his head smashing heavily into the bus station’s metal pole. Blood instantly trickled from his forehead.
From his collar, a piece of white jade on a thin black cord tumbled out and fell to the ground.
Xun Ji bent down to pick it up. The plain oval white jade was of mediocre quality, with “Peace” carved in relief on the front and a small “Zhou” incised on the back.
Lu Zhou clutched his dazed head and instinctively reached for the Peace Jade:
“That’s mine…”
“Fake junk. Toss it,” Xun Ji said indifferently, flicking his wrist.
The bus accelerated away. The white jade on its black cord shattered on the road, crushed under the heavy wheels.
Amid the roar of the engine, Lu Zhou vaguely heard the crisp crack of the jade breaking.
“Little Zhou, you’re about to start high school. Mom begged for this Peace Jade for you. If Mom’s ever gone, let it protect you in her place. Oh, and don’t tell your dad…”
Blood trickled into his eyes, then down his silently mouthing lips. He seemed to be calling for Mom—or perhaps nothing at all.
“Give it here!” The middle-aged man snatched the box from Lu Zhou’s hand, hurling curses as he spat.
“Little Ungrateful Wolf, daring to curse your old man dead! Wait till I win the money—you’ll still come crawling to me for food!”
Lu Zhou’s gaze shifted from the shattered Peace Jade on the road to the departing man. He took two steps forward as if to chase, but collapsed straight down when he tried to move.
【Ding! Key Plot Point Task completed.】
【Successfully prevented Protagonist Lu Zhou from obtaining the Scholarship and destroyed [Mother’s Keepsake: Peace Jade]. Reward: 1000 Points. Current Points: 1020.】
“Young Master, you alright?” The driver hurried over, tense.
Xun Ji glanced at the boy now limp on his arm, fully unconscious, and let out a long sigh. “Brother Wang, how many old ladies do you have to help across the street to make up for doing one bad thing?”
Driver Brother Wang: “?”
Though half of it was the Protagonist’s father barging in unexpectedly, Xun Ji couldn’t deny that this time—unlike their first meeting’s mere verbal humiliation—he had truly harmed the Protagonist.
Xun Ji removed the watch from his wrist and put it on Lu Zhou’s hand, then handed the boy over to Brother Wang.
“Take him to the hospital.”
Brother Wang nodded, then asked, “Where to now, Young Master?”
Xun Ji thought for a moment and decided. “To the Maldives!”
Brother Wang: “?”
This world had no Maldives, but the Xun Conglomerate owned several private Sea Islands for vacationing.
The next day, Xun Ji rounded up a bunch of his underlings and flew to the most luxurious one.
He even brought along Luo Xunan, the Protagonist’s only friend at school.
No particular reason—just “good people cherishing good people.”
“You’re special,” Xun Ji said, patting Luo Xunan’s shoulder with the benevolent air of an elder to a junior.
Thus, Luo Xunan happily scored the chance to do good deeds alongside Xun Ji.
Of course, there were no old ladies needing help crossing the road on a private Sea Island. So Xun Ji took Luo Xunan island-cycling to pick up trash, trudging through fine white sand to collect garbage, even diving underwater for it.
After trash pickup, they helped the boat captain repair seafaring gear, prepared lavish seafood feasts for the island staff, and even hired a film crew to shoot an ocean conservation PSA.
Whenever Luo Xunan asked why they were doing this, Xun Ji devoutly replied with four words: “I need to make up for it.”
They played like this for seven days, doing good deeds for seven days, until Luo Xunan finally cracked.
“Young Master Xun, you dragged me here against my will and tormented me for seven days. Surely you’re over it now?”
Luo Xunan sat by the bonfire, swallowing a plump oyster Xun Ji had grilled for him, and probed, “Can I go back to school? Midterms are next week; I need to study.”
“Yeah, yeah, I—I need to study too!” someone nearby echoed with a sob. “Young Master Xun, I want to study! Let me go back!”
The man was sunburned black and red all over, sand caked in his messy hair, his calves trembling pitifully—utterly wretched.
It was Yan Feng.
The other underlings doing squats around the bonfire chimed in eagerly upon hearing: “Young Master Xun, we want to study! We want to go back!”
Over these seven days, Xun Ji and Luo Xunan had enjoyed charity tourism, while Yan Feng and the underlings endured Full Gear Special Forces*.
Xun Ji had set them an brutally rigorous training schedule—no meals or sleep until completed. Yan Feng, in particular, had been dragged along before his injuries fully healed, doubling his misery.
Lin Yule added, “A Xun, we should head back. Otherwise, the Principal will complain again.”
Lin Yule had served as Xun Ji’s overseer for seven days and once asked why he was tormenting the underlings like this.
“I need to make up for it,” Xun Ji had replied, same as always.
Punishing evil was also the work of good people. He wasn’t a guide to lead them toward virtue, but he was a good person.
Of course, there was a tiny bit of selfishness too. These underlings’ fighting skills were sorely lacking; better drill them now so they could at least hold off a bit when Lu Zhou came for revenge later.
He could dodge the first strike but not the fifteenth. He couldn’t hide on the Sea Island forever. Sighing at the fate awaiting him, Xun Ji said, “Alright, back tomorrow.”
Cheers erupted around the bonfire.
Xun Ji stood and walked barefoot onto the beach, making the best of this final vacation moment amid the bitterness.
In the thick night, waves crashed with cool seawater lapping at him.
“Splash—”
【Zzzt—】
“Splash—”
【Zzzt—zzzt—】
【System connection successful.】
【Host! I’m back!】
The familiar nagging voice rang in his mind.
【Host, I have something very important to tell you!】 The System’s voice was urgent, barreling on without waiting for a reply.
【In this Small World, there’s another system—the ‘Dark Protagonist Redemption System’ that prevents the Protagonist from blackening. In other words…】
The System’s voice cut clearly through the waves into Xun Ji’s ears.
【There’s another Tasker in this world!】
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