Chapter 16: Yaoxing Academy 16 Part 1

“On your marks—”

In front of the starting line for the Ice Marathon event, over a hundred students crowded together in a dense mass. Lu Zhou absentmindedly flexed his ankles, his gaze casually sweeping over the crowd.

“Get ready—”

A head of golden hair stood out prominently among the group, striking a starting pose with eager anticipation. Lu Zhou’s expression changed abruptly. How was he here?!

“Bang!”

The starting gun fired, and the crowd surged forward like floodwaters bursting through a dam. Everyone’s ears instantly filled with the crunching sounds of Ice Claw Shoes scraping against the ice surface.

Lu Zhou didn’t charge ahead. Instead, he quickly pushed through the crowd and grabbed someone’s wrist.

“What are you doing? Why did you come to participate in the race?” His voice carried a rare trace of anger.

Xun Ji, grabbed by Lu Zhou, slowed down. He said nervously, “Be careful not to get flagged for a foul by the referees.”

“Come back with me.” Lu Zhou’s face darkened as he turned to head back.

“Lu Zhou!” Xun Ji reacted quickly, shaking off his hand and running ahead on his own. “Then you go ahead. The gold medal is mine.”

Lu Zhou laughed out of frustration but had no choice. He caught up to him and patiently persuaded, “You’re sick. Go back and rest, okay?”

Xun Ji brushed him off with the same excuse he’d used on Yan Feng. “I promised you I’d come.”

Lu Zhou fell silent for a moment, his expression softening somewhat, though he still disapproved. “Even so, you shouldn’t be competing while ill.”

“This isn’t anything serious. I’m already fine now.” As he ran, Xun Ji spun around to show him. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t joke around with my own body.”

He wasn’t lying to Lu Zhou. Just moments ago, the System’s scan results for his body had come back.

【Host, your body isn’t sick. You’ve been dosed with a drug.】

Xun Ji had already vaguely guessed as much. “What drug?”

【A drug that causes a rapid rise in body temperature. It doesn’t cause any substantial harm to the body and will wear off after a few hours.】 The System explained, 【This drug comes from another Small World and can be purchased in the System Mall.】

“System Mall? Why didn’t you tell me earlier about something this useful?”

【Although the System Mall gathers treasures from all worlds, it can only be opened once per Small World. It’s generally only activated in emergencies.】 The System sounded slightly aggrieved.

A flicker of doubt rose in Xun Ji’s eyes.

Someone had drugged him—and it was a drug only available in the System Mall. There was only one possible culprit: Another Tasker.

In the original novel, Xun Ji had caused Lu Zhou to get injured and lose his hearing during the Winter Sports Meet. Another Tasker wanted to save Lu Zhou, so drugging him to prevent him from joining the same event as Lu Zhou made sense.

What puzzled Xun Ji was that the System Mall was such a precious opportunity. Why would this Tasker waste it on a drug that only raised body temperature without any real lethality?

“Watch out!” Lu Zhou reached out to steady Xun Ji, who nearly slipped.

The ice surface was treacherous. Though the drug didn’t cause substantial harm, the rising body temperature still made Xun Ji’s limbs feel unsteady.

Normally, Xun Ji would have jumped at the chance to use illness as an excuse to slack off and rest. But not today. Today, he had to complete the Task.

Xun Ji took a deep breath and glanced at the competitors continuously overtaking him and Lu Zhou. He turned to Lu Zhou with a smile.

“If you want the gold medal, this speed won’t cut it.”

With that, he pulled ahead of Lu Zhou, accelerating forward.

He knew Lu Zhou had what it took to win. Lu Zhou had placed well last year, and this year, after taking on the ice-hauling job, his stamina had improved even more. Combined with his relentless marathon training leading up to the race, the gold medal was practically in the bag.

Xun Ji had no intention of beating Lu Zhou in the race. Quite the opposite—his plan was to let Lu Zhou take first place.

As for himself, he just needed to stay not too far behind Lu Zhou, close enough to observe. Xun Ji was confident his stamina could handle that.

Sure enough, Lu Zhou soon caught up. He had been running alongside earlier out of worry for Xun Ji, but now that persuasion had failed, he focused fully on the race, hoping to end it quickly.

The two maintained a lead-follower distance, quickly overtaking a large group of participants who were just there to make up numbers.

“Beep—You’ve reached the 1-kilometer mark. Please complete facial recognition.”

The Ice Marathon was called a marathon, but it was much shorter than a standard one—only 11 kilometers total. It was mainly kept brief to avoid protests from the students.

Facial recognition checkpoints and supply stations were set up every kilometer, both to maintain race order and ensure student safety.

“Beep—You’ve reached the 3-kilometer mark. Please complete facial recognition.”

Lu Zhou had gradually pulled into first place. He glanced back until he spotted the familiar golden-haired figure trailing not far behind, then pressed forward.

Xun Ji stopped at the checkpoint, grabbed a bottle of ice water from the supply station, and chugged it down. The scorching heat in his veins finally eased a bit.

He’d been hit with that damn drug and had been running, sweating the whole time. His whole body felt like it was roasting over a fire. The winding course only made his already foggy head dizzier.

“Who designed this serpentine Speed Descent track?” Xun Ji couldn’t help complaining.

The entire Ice Marathon course sloped downward overall, divided into three segments: the Speed Descent Segment, the Ice Waterfall Section, and the Ice Cellar Segment.