After hanging up the phone, Qin Siyang felt a bit depressed.
Although he and Wen Shu hadn't built any kind of deep emotional bond, for some unknown reason, when she caught him lying, he actually felt a little guilty.
You have to know, the reason he was able to reach where he was today was tightly connected to his talent for making up stories and his ability to lie without blinking or breaking a sweat.
It could be said that, in the art of bullshitting, Qin Siyang's skill had already reached the peak.
Qin Siyang, who could go a few rounds under the likes of old veterans Zhao Longfei, Qin Yingguang, and Han Shuo without showing weakness, was instead stammering and stumbling all over the place when questioned by Wen Shu.
"Could it be I've fallen for Wen Shu?", Qin Siyang lay on his bed, brows tightly knit.
All this time, Qin Siyang had firmly believed that Wen Shu secretly liked him. But suddenly he realized that maybe he had started to respond to her fiery feelings.
However, because of the failed precedent of his previous life's romance, Qin Siyang was extremely cautious about his own emotions.
Immediately he became alert, sat up in bed, "I haven't turned into a simp again, have I?"
A person can't fall in the same place twice.
Qin Siyang got out of bed, picked up a pen and some paper, and carefully thought back on the interactions he and Wen Shu had since knowing each other.
Then he listed on the paper what each of them had done for the other.
First, what Wen Shu had done for him:
[Helped me get rid of Li Jingwen, who kept pestering me.]
[Helped me deal with Zhou Yang, who was about to awaken his Sequence.]
[Helped me get rid of the assassins sent by Xiao Zhigang.]
[Told me there was an ambush waiting in Zone 14121, so I'd stay cautious.]
Looking at it like this, Wen Shu had killed quite a few people for him.
Maybe there were even more troubles Wen Shu had solved for him without ever telling him.
Then, what he had done for Wen Shu:
[Forced Zhao Liqi to transfer schools for her.]
[Gave her a cellphone.]
[Helped her settle the dormitory problem at Jiulong Academy.]
But after thinking about it, he felt that forcing Zhao Liqi to transfer schools was way too trivial, and besides, Zhao Liqi's troublemaking was aimed at himself, never at Wen Shu.
After mulling it over, he crossed that one out.
Then he thought about the cellphone, and that didn't seem like anything worth mentioning either.
Wen Shu's only relative was her grandmother, who she saw every day, so she didn't really need a phone.
Her phone seemed only to be used to contact him. In fact, more like for his convenience to contact her. That couldn't really count as helping her.
Qin Siyang pouted and crossed that one out too.
Only the last item was left: helping her settle her dormitory.
But up until now, she hadn't stayed there for even a single day.
The room arranged for Wen Shu was still being rented out, giving Qin Siyang two or three silver coins in rent every day. Pretty comfortable for him.
In other words, he hadn't actually helped the current Wen Shu at all.
So Qin Siyang crossed that one out too.
When laid out on paper, what each had done for the other was clear at a glance.
Wen Shu had killed many people for him and provided him with critical information.
And Qin Siyang, so far, had nothing presentable to show.
Wen Shu's list of contributions was full to the brim.
Qin Siyang's list of contributions was utterly empty.
Qin Siyang stroked his chin, staring at that paper for a long while.
Then he scratched his head.
"I didn't do anything, but Wen Shu has done so much for me…"
"So then, isn't it Wen Shu who's simping for me?"
The facts were right there. Qin Siyang felt this conclusion couldn't possibly be wrong.
"Ah, people in love are always blind."
Qin Siyang lay back on his bed again, sighing nonstop, even sighing in his sleep.
———
Over the next few days, Qin Siyang loafed around the guesthouse with nothing to do.
Lu Daoxing invited him to study God-hunting tools, Hao Liang invited him to research potions, and other professors each invited Qin Siyang into their labs to receive their personal guidance.
But Qin Siyang felt it was too tiring.
Who could possibly both hunt gods outside the Safe Zone, play intrigue inside the Safe Zone, and do lab research at the same time?
That was pure wage-slave work.
Better to conserve his energy and leave his fullest state for the gods outside the Safe Zone.
Anyway, he was thinking of finding a chance to go outside the Safe Zone again.
But Hu Chan didn't have the time.
The college entrance exams were right around the corner.
As the Holy Son of the Zephyr Sect, Hu Chan had to represent the Zephyr God, blessing the sect's followers and their children, wishing them ideal performance in the exams.
Along with him, the two remaining Protectors, the Red-robed Protector Chris and the Blue-robed Protector Jin Shengyu, also had to pray together.
When Qin Siyang heard about this, he was dumbfounded.
He thought the Zephyr Sect would find some student with outstanding exam results to give the blessing, so the others could share the luck.
But he hadn't expected it to be Hu Chan, Chris, and Jin Shengyu, representing their god to bless the exam takers.
Qin Siyang was speechless.
Hu Chan was a special recruit. Chris came from a European electric chair background. Jin Shengyu came up from the Korean mafia. [T/N: Lmao!]
Between the three of them, not one had ever even taken the college entrance exam.
'And these guys are going to bless others for it?'
There was really nothing to say.
Qin Siyang couldn't be bothered to meddle in the Zephyr Sect's affairs, so he didn't look for Hu Chan during this time.
After lying around in the guesthouse for a few days, bored out of his mind, Li Tianming came back.
After returning, Li Tianming went straight to the [Miracle Building].
With nothing else to do, Qin Siyang thought he'd go see Li Tianming and his son.
When he reached the Miracle Building, he found the professors all gathered together, discussing something.
Qin Siyang walked up and patted Li Tianming on the shoulder.
"Old Li, long time no see! Did you get your son back?"
Li Tianming turned his head to look at Qin Siyang, nodded, but didn't speak.
But his bloodshot eyes and exhausted face startled Qin Siyang.
"Old Li, what happened?"
Li Tianming sighed, then glanced at the six- or seven-year-old child sitting among them.
The boy had a neat bowl-cut, wore a cartoon shirt with denim overalls, and his brows and features faintly resembled Li Tianming.
But the boy's head was tucked down, his face full of fear, glancing nervously at the people around.
One of his hands was being gently held by Zhang Kuang.
For some reason, Zhang Kuang was wearing a mask, covering most of his face.
Li Pengfei stammered, "You… you all… who are you?"
Then he looked at Li Tianming, "Didn't you say you were bringing me to find my dad?"
Qin Siyang froze.
Seeing Li Tianming's ashen face, he felt something was wrong.
"Old Li, is this your son, Li Pengfei?"
"I'm Li Pengfei!"
The boy immediately responded when he heard his name.
"Big brother, do you know where my dad is?"
Qin Siyang didn't answer, just glanced again at Li Tianming.
He saw Li Tianming's body trembling slightly, his head lowered as he looked at Li Pengfei, and at Zhang Kuang holding Li Pengfei's hand, saying nothing.
Qin Siyang also lowered his gaze to Zhang Kuang.
At that moment, he was shocked to find that Zhang Kuang's hair had become smooth and black, his eyes bright and spirited, looking like a completely different person from before.