Lin Qingye scratched her head in frustration.
“Is that guy really in trouble?”
Su Li relayed You Xue’s lie exactly as she had told him to Lin Qingye.
She was the Defense Department director, after all—he had seen her at the entrance ceremony, so Su Li recognized her.
Su Li nodded.
“Don’t be in such a rush to answer for her. I want to confirm the truth of the information.”
Lin Qingye glanced at Su Li but did not act immediately.
Faced with the questioning, You Xue felt a bit flustered.
She knew that not everyone was as easy to fool as Su Li.
But that’s how lies work—once you throw one out, you have to keep telling countless more to cover it up.
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
You Xue said.
“Then what characteristics did those black-robed people have?”
Lin Qingye asked.
“I was very flustered at the time, so I don’t remember clearly. I only recall that among these black-robed people there was a leader. His attire was much more elaborate than the others, and he had a badge with a chariot pattern on his chest.”
After hearing this, Lin Qingye held her forehead and her face darkened.
“It’s the Chariot… They actually deployed this level of combat power.”
You Xue watched the other’s troubled expression, unmoved, because she knew that the Chariot within the Dark Crow Organization was at most Rank 3, while Anbian Du had long surpassed the Rank 4 threshold.
So dealing with this Chariot was more than enough for Anbian Du.
But in the Academy, aside from the Academy Director, almost no one knew Anbian Du’s true strength.
In outsiders’ eyes, he was just a temporary teacher who had retired and returned to the Academy to coast through life, idling about all day.
“Damn it…”
Lin Qingye cursed under her breath, then made arrangements through her communicator.
“Defense Unit 1 and Unit 2, assemble immediately! Follow me to support the east side of the city! The remaining team seal off all entrances and exits—no one is allowed in or out without my orders!”
Then she turned to look at the two who had brought the tip.
“You two stay inside the Academy and don’t wander around. It’s dangerous outside.”
After that, You Xue watched Lin Qingye hurry away in a panic.
“Come on, follow me to the Academy.”
In the silence, Su Li spoke first.
He was clearly very close, yet his voice seemed far away.
You Xue secretly looked at his eyes—they were the color of ink-black glass, and in his pupils was reflected the image of a gray-haired girl.
Unable to describe her feelings, You Xue still chose to follow behind Su Li.
Without a single word, the two arrived at a bubble tea shop.
“Until the danger is over, let’s stay in the Academy.”
The two entered.
“Would you like something to drink?”
Su Li asked.
“I don’t think so…”
You Xue instinctively wanted to refuse, but then felt it might be inappropriate.
“Hmm, just order a glass of apple juice for me.”
Su Li didn’t say much else.
In the end, the two sat facing each other with a table between them.
Su Li turned his head to look out the window, distracted.
You Xue, meanwhile, lowered her head and slowly sipped the drink on the table.
Neither of them spoke again.
‘Emotions are truly the most complicated thing about people,’ You Xue thought to herself.
‘I don’t have mind-reading abilities, so I definitely can’t fully know what Su Li is feeling.’
‘But as a reader of this book, as a transmigrator who possesses the childhood sweetheart’s memories, I seem to understand some of Su Li’s emotions.’
‘He must be thinking about why he made this decision. The childhood sweetheart who used to smile at him and share everything with him has now become a figure covered in thorns.’
‘He’s torn, but he definitely won’t regret making this decision.’
‘Hmm, after all, he’s the protagonist of the story. There’s no way he can truly harden his heart toward his childhood sweetheart.’
‘How nice.’
‘How very nice.’
‘But she doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. The childhood sweetheart from the original story, because of her, is already gone.’
You Xue buried her head even lower.
She didn’t want Su Li to see her current expression.
Those memories of a boy and a girl leaning on each other were beautiful and real, but they weren’t hers.
“Thank you.”
You Xue spoke.
The Dragon’s Eye remained silent; these words were unaffected by any other power—they were spoken from her heart.
Su Li’s gaze drew back from the window and landed on You Xue’s face.
“Why?”
Following her memories, You Xue answered like the childhood sweetheart of the past.
“Because you took me away from such a dangerous place.”
“I actually didn’t want to do that.”
“Mm, I know.”
That statement from Su Li was definitely a lie, but You Xue didn’t call him out on it.
“But I still thank you.”
She gave a faint smile and continued.
“Let’s drop this.”
Su Li’s tone was very impatient.
“Mm.”
You Xue just hummed softly in response.
Su Li didn’t understand what she was thinking.
He should have ignored her.
But she had said, “I wanted to see you.”
At that moment, his mood had been subtly happy, but later he realized it was a misunderstanding.
You Xue didn’t look back; she was still drifting further and further away.
So should he just not care and leave alone?
He couldn’t.
She was so slender, as if she might be blown over by the wind, walking alone on the street.
No one was protecting her.
She might end up covered in injuries in some alley, just like last time.
So Su Li pulled her along and brought her to the Academy.
His heart was still tangled.
He didn’t know if he should still be here.
You Xue only needed to stay in the Academy; she didn’t necessarily have to stay with him.
This was no longer the past.
That was why, when she showed that faint, flower-like smile, he became so irritated.
They clearly couldn’t go back to how things were.
Su Li looked at her.
She still wore a white eye patch over one eye.
She lowered her head slightly and hummed softly, as if she understood everything.
Seeing her like this, Su Li really couldn’t stay angry.
“Your eye… still not healed?”
So Su Li tried to change the subject.
“Almost healed.”
You Xue touched her earlobe, hesitating slightly as she said this.
“Really?”
“…Really.”
Su Li felt something was off, but couldn’t pinpoint why.
“That’s good then.”
He could only reply stiffly.
Then the two fell into silence again.
Su Li couldn’t stand staying any longer.
There were indeed many words piled up in his heart.
But in this situation, no matter how he spoke, it would only feel awkward.
He wanted to be alone for a while.
Planning to wash his face to clear his head, he stood up.
“I’m going to the restroom. Stay here and don’t wander off.”
You Xue blinked and said.
“Okay.”
You Xue watched his back as he walked away, turned a corner, and disappeared from sight.
She also stood up.
She didn’t intend to wait.
You Xue asked the server for a sticky note and wrote on it.
[I want to take a walk around the Academy, alone. Don’t come looking for me.]
Her hand holding the pen paused, then she continued writing.
[Thank you for today.]
Her strokes stopped again.
You Xue thought for a moment, then added one more sentence at the end.
[Let’s meet again someday.]
But You Xue knew clearly—she had no future, and she wouldn’t even think of meeting again.
Because she wasn’t You Xue, the childhood sweetheart that Su Li knew.
She couldn’t bear those enormous feelings that didn’t belong to her.
She placed the sticky note on the table.
Su Li still hadn’t returned, so You Xue turned around and pushed open the door of the bubble tea shop.
She looked back once.
She wasn’t discovered.