Chapter 22: Lying
At this time of day, Zhu Hui’s schedule was a practical class on cold weapon combat.
It was a long class divided into three shorter sessions, with a five-minute break between each. But because it was a combat-style practical class, if the teacher got into the spirit of it, or if a spar didn’t end during the break, there wasn’t a fixed rest time.
Perhaps this was the case this time.
Xu Xunyue didn’t find it strange. Even though Zhu Hui was acting very clingy, and he did indeed enjoy his clinginess, his desire for control didn’t extend to the point where Zhu Hui had to report to him during every class break.
But he still felt… something was wrong.
This “wrongness” was like an intuition, very faint and vague, but it gave him a psychological discomfort, and along with it, a rare sense of annoyance.
This was the first time he had felt this emotion.
Strange.
Beside him, Xu Mengwei saw this and thought Xu Xunyue had received some important information. He immediately ended their idle chat, slowed his pace, and asked if he needed to stop and handle a private matter.
Xu Xunyue shook his head.
He remembered what he had said to Zhu Hui yesterday, “I’ll tell you if I’m going somewhere else,” so he opened his personal terminal and sent a message to the snow wolf’s profile picture in his contact list.
[Xu Xunyue: I’m about to start my lecture.]
It was originally just a notification, but the next second, he received a message.
[Zhu Hui: Okay, your students must be looking forward to it. I’ll wait for you at noon ovo]
It was still a cute tone, and he even used an emoticon that was completely out of character for him, but Xu Xunyue frowned.
So, Zhu Hui was out of class?
Wrong, uncomfortable, annoyed.
His fingertips flew across the screen. Perhaps due to his intuition, his wording became forceful.
[Xu Xunyue: Send me a picture of yourself right now.]
Fifteen seconds later.
[Zhu Hui: [Picture.jpg]]
[Zhu Hui: The training in class just now was a bit intense. My body temperature hasn’t gone down yet, so the picture isn’t very good [Pitiful Little Wolf.jpg]]
He had sent a half-body shot. He was still wearing the black uniform of the Sentinel Academy, the high-collared shirt, the combat belt, the half-fingered gloves… all not much different from when he had left in the morning.
His short hair was a little messy, probably due to the sparring; his face was slightly redder than usual, but not to the extent it was when he was in front of Xu Xunyue, which was consistent with the physiological reaction after training.
The edge of the photo was a white wall, and Zhu Hui himself was in the center of the picture. His expression in the photo was a little nervous, his thin lips slightly pursed, his gaze slightly lower than the camera, as if he felt uncomfortable with this sudden command but had still obediently complied without asking any questions.
He looked completely normal.
The feeling of discomfort in Xu Xunyue’s heart instantly lessened by more than half.
This result made him a little silent.
Could it be that the discomfort in his heart was really because Zhu Hui hadn’t taken the initiative to send him a message?
He continued to type.
[Xu Xunyue: Are you in the training room now?]
The other side still replied very quickly, saying yes, and then sent another picture of the training room, and even chatted with Xu Xunyue about some trivial things.
Soon, the warning bell for class rang.
[Zhu Hui: Are you about to start your lecture? Then I won’t bother you.]
[Zhu Hui: See you at noon [Little Wolf Kiss.jpg]]
By this time, Xu Xunyue had already arrived at the classroom. Xu Mengwei, as the homeroom teacher, had even gone in a while ago.
He sent an “okay” and then maneuvered his wheelchair into the classroom.
The place, which had been a little noisy, instantly fell silent.
Those who had been typing furiously on their personal terminals, whispering with their classmates, constantly looking toward the door… everyone seemed to have been put on pause. The entire classroom was like being submerged in the sea, and the deep sea was quiet.
Even Xu Mengwei, who was standing in the back row talking to the class president, Yu Yuan, was startled.
He was also a young Guide of considerable strength. Although he felt that the pressure around Xu Xunyue had been a bit low since he received the message, he also knew that Xu Xunyue hadn’t used his spiritual power or any other form of power at all.
The other had simply entered the classroom, and the usually chattering top students had become as quiet as chickens.
Although the students were usually chattering partly due to his lazy personality and lenient management, Xu Xunyue’s entrance was undoubtedly very impressive. Xu Mengwei sighed inwardly, nodded at him, and left.
The classroom was thus left with only the new teacher.
The teaching models for Guides and Sentinels were not entirely the same, especially for the specialized courses designed for the two awakening directions. This was also why the White Tower had separate academies.
All of the Sentinel’s practical classes were held in training rooms. Guides, on the other hand, only used training rooms for courses involving physical combat. The rest of the activities related to spiritual power did not require movement and were all held in a special type of classroom.
This type of classroom was about the same size as an ordinary classroom. The doors, windows, and walls were made of precious materials that insulated spiritual power to prevent mental fluctuations during training from leaking out. In addition, everyone was equipped with a limited-edition smart instrument that could measure spiritual power and simulate an enemy receiving a mental attack.
Before the official class bell rang, Xu Xunyue didn’t speak, just briefly looked at the materials Xia Feng had given him and the few lesson plans he had written before.
The classroom remained silent. It was already very quiet, but it felt like it was getting quieter and quieter, more and more deathly still.
It was indeed too quiet. Xu Xunyue looked up and saw that everyone had their heads bowed even lower.
Xu Xunyue: “…”
Am I that scary?
The scene was a bit comical, but since it was like this, let them stay quiet until class officially started.
Two minutes later, the official bell rang and then ended.
Xu Xunyue turned off his personal terminal, briefly introduced himself to the thirty-six pairs of eyes in the class that had finally looked up, and then went straight to the topic.
Although it was a practical class, the theory still needed to be understood. Beginners often couldn’t truly understand the meaning behind the written explanations, but the impression of the lecture would be engraved in their minds. Their skills would improve with each practice, and one day in the future, when they fully understood, that feeling of sudden enlightenment would hit their brains, overlapping with the knowledge they had first learned.
When Xu Xunyue was a student, he didn’t like to answer questions. Now that he was a teacher, he didn’t ask questions when he taught theory either.
“…Mental interference is a technique that consumes an extremely large amount of spiritual power. It cannot be used at will. When using it, you must pay attention to how much spiritual power you have left and how long you can maintain it. If the interference is interrupted at a critical moment, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
“Before the Poseidon Era, the academy’s teaching only covered mental interference on humans. Now, on top of that, there is also interference on cataclysmic beings. If you go to the Undeveloped Zones after graduation, you must remember one thing: mental interference is most effective against cataclysmic beings. They are more unstable than any human, and also more intelligent than any other cataclysmic creature.”
“Do not use mental interference on basic cataclysmic creatures, because they have no cognitive ability.”
The high-level Guide with the low ponytail spoke in a calm tone, sometimes letting his gaze sweep lightly over the whole class. Everyone here knew that he wasn’t specifically looking at anyone, that those ice-blue eyes were not lingering on them, yet they would still straighten their backs and hold their breath in the instant they were being watched.
They didn’t dare to be distracted at all, or more accurately, the thought of being distracted didn’t even enter their minds.
Yu Yuan listened with a frown. She would subconsciously frown when she concentrated, and after concentrating for a long time, the lines between her brows were like they had been carved with a knife.
The explanation of the basic points quickly ended. As per Xu Xunyue’s request, they began to practice on the smart instruments assigned to them.
As the class president of Class 1, Yu Yuan had always been the top in the grade in terms of using spiritual power. Before formally learning this course, she had actually grasped similar techniques through accumulated learning and practice. It wasn’t just her; a small number of other students were like this too. But because her data was good and stable, she was the first to be chosen by Xu Xunyue.
The course was already in its last third.
“This student,” Xu Xunyue paused for a moment, matching her with Xu Mengwei’s previous introduction. “Student Yu Yuan, please open the instrument’s evaluation record mode and launch a mental interference on me.”
Yu Yuan was stunned for a moment, her voice a little tight.
“O-Okay.”
She did as she was told, took a deep breath, and sent out her spiritual power, approaching him.
Then, she saw a deep sea.
A sea just like the ones depicted in the picture books of the cataclysm zones, blue-black, with slight ripples, no living creatures inside, boundless and endless. Looking at it for more than two seconds made her feel dizzy.
Her originally determined mindset became blank.
She…
What was she trying to do again?
So scary.
Why is there nothing here?
“That’s enough.” The still-calm voice pulled her back to reality.
Yu Yuan’s pupils contracted. She shook her head vigorously where she stood before completely coming back to her senses.
She looked at the screen of the instrument beside her.
Evaluation completed. Evaluation result: fail. Evaluation difficulty: SSS.
“You got lost. Your spiritual power should be more concentrated.”
Xu Xunyue looked at her obviously disappointed expression and actually smiled slightly, as if in some kind of comfort or encouragement.
“Mental interference is not a direct attack. When you can use it, you are often not yet at a life-or-death moment. The spiritual world of another is unknown. When using mental interference on any creature, you must first protect yourself. Otherwise, before the interference takes effect, you will have been left there forever.”
“Okay… I understand. Thank you.”
After that, the remaining thirty-four students received the same treatment. It started quickly and ended quickly. Everyone was a little dejected, but they also received targeted comments and guidance.
Time passed quickly. The final bell rang just as Xu Xunyue finished his last sentence.
As he was leaving the teaching building, he sent a message to Zhu Hui asking for his location.
However, almost at the same moment, a message came from the other side.
[Zhu Hui: I’m sorry.]
[Zhu Hui: I’m actually in the infirmary. It’s not convenient for me to come find you right now.]
[Zhu Hui: If it’s convenient for you, can you come?]
