Lu Zhi’s hand shot out, pressing down on Shen Qi’s ill-intentioned hand. Before he could forcefully shake it off, his hand was grabbed from behind, fingers slotting between his own, locking them tightly.
Lu Zhi tried to wrench his hand away with hidden strength, but it was no use.
Jiang Yue: “Lu Zhi?”
“Here!” Lu Zhi jolted, guiltily responding loudly.
Jiang Yue looked confused. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Why is your face so red?”
Lu Zhi’s face burned red. His free left hand scratched his cheek, and he smiled bashfully. “I-I’m fine. I’m just wearing too many clothes and I’m hot.”
Shen Qi chuckled softly.
Lu Zhi gritted his teeth and stealthily kicked the culprit with his foot. However, the other person’s long legs were like iron, unyielding and unfazed. Instead, Lu Zhi’s hand was gripped even tighter.
“We’ve decided to split into two groups to enter the Sacred Island, two groups will enter the divine tower, and another two groups will investigate the Sacred Island.” Jiang Yue pulled up the profiles of the team members and glanced cautiously at Shen Qi. “What do you think, Senior Shen?”
“I have nothing to do recently, and I’m quite curious about matters within the divine tower,” Shen Qi said, resting his chin on one hand as he looked at Lu Zhi beside him. “Little Six and I will be in a group, entering the divine tower.”
Shen Qi’s repeated special attention to Lu Zhi, and his use of Lu Zhi’s familiar nickname, did not go unnoticed by anyone present except Lan Yushan. These astute individuals immediately understood the nature of their relationship, and their gazes towards Lu Zhi were like those directed at a rare specimen.
Lu Zhi’s attention was diverted, and he didn’t notice the others’ odd looks. He asked, “Is the divine tower very dangerous?” Shen Qi wouldn’t make a useless decision. Did the divine tower hold other secrets?
“For you, yes, it is indeed dangerous.” Shen Qi didn’t hide anything. “Whether human or god, both have two sides, yin and yang, light and dark. If yang represents goodness, then yin represents evil. Deities have their divine manifestations, but no one can be certain whether this awakened manifestation is good or evil.”
Lu Zhi mused, “You mean that the deity within the divine tower is not fully recovered, and what has awakened is likely just a divine manifestation, whose nature—good or bad—cannot be determined?”
He knew Shen Qi would definitely know the secrets of the divine tower.
“Then this is problematic,” Jiang Yue clicked her tongue. “If we face the dark side of the deity’s manifestation, we’d just be fodder, wouldn’t we?”
“Actually…” Lu Zhi hesitated before voicing his doubt, “Deities aren’t supposed to be able to fully descend into reality, are they?”
Lu Zhi recalled that novels had mentioned deities’ powers were too immense; their true forms descending would shatter the world’s rule barriers, thus they could only lend their power to their believers.
Wait… if that were the case, what about Shen Qi? Was Shen Qi’s true form descending now?
“It’s just as you’re thinking,” Shen Qi seemed to always guess Lu Zhi’s thoughts. “Soon you’ll understand the meaning of the imprint…”
He raised his hand and, ignoring everyone else, pointed to his chest, saying words only they could understand: “My believer.”
Thump…
Lu Zhi’s heart involuntarily skipped a violent beat. As Shen Qi stared intently at him, his silver-gray eyes were tinged with emotion, like soul-captivating demon eyes.
“Cough—” Jiang Yue, blinded by the pink bubble surrounding the two, couldn’t help but interrupt. “Lu Zhi means that deities cannot descend in their true forms, so the awakened manifestation’s power shouldn’t be too great. Is it possible for humans to defeat it?”
“This is just my guess,” Lu Zhi couldn’t be sure. This world had changed, and even the male protagonist, Qin Huai, seemed to have become an insignificant existence in the book.
“If that’s the case… Senior Shen, you’ve decided to only bring Junior Lu into the divine tower?” Jiang Yue hesitated, then forced herself to say, “I think we could bring one more person, perhaps myself. I may be weak, but I can certainly run errands.”
Lu Zhi sensed Jiang Yue’s evasiveness, as if she wanted to follow Shen Qi.
Thinking about it, as a member of the student council, Jiang Yue should be acting with the senior students. Instead, she was with them, the freshmen.
“Student council members require approval from an Elder before they can enter. The Elder in charge of the student council this year is He Bingfeng,” Shen Qi, having released Lu Zhi’s hand at some point, slid his fingers across the light screen, bringing up the school Elder’s profile.
He Bingfeng was the Director He whom Lu Zhi had met on his first day of school.
In truth, Lu Zhi’s understanding of the school’s system was rather vague. For instance, the highest authority in the school was the Principal, below whom were several Elders, and below the Elders was the student council.
This management system was somewhat like a company. The Principal was the major shareholder, the Elders were the shareholders holding equity, and the student council was the Elders’ capable assistants, responsible for leading the students…
“You know all of this,” Jiang Yue, surprisingly, seemed relieved. She quickly glanced at Lu Zhi before saying, “I was also forced into this. You know how much of a stir you caused this time, that’s why Director He asked me to…”
“This is the final warning,” Shen Qi’s tone suddenly dropped. The previously harmonious atmosphere in the private room instantly became oppressive. Everyone trembled, gasping for breath, a heavy sense of deterrence pressing down on them like a mountain, rendering them immobile.
Lu Zhi, sitting beside Shen Qi, felt it most acutely. But perhaps he was accustomed to the intimidating aura Shen Qi occasionally exuded, or perhaps he knew this person liked him and wouldn’t harm him. When Shen Qi’s expression darkened, Lu Zhi was merely surprised, wondering why he was suddenly angry.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Zhi saw that the others’ faces had turned pale and they were clearly uncomfortable. He directly reached out and tugged at Shen Qi’s sleeve. “Are you angry?”
Shen Qi held his hand and said faintly, “Jiang Yue is here to monitor you on behalf of the school.”
Lu Zhi was stunned, not expecting this. He said with a wry smile, “Even so, what are you angry about? Restrain yourself. Don’t make everyone so tense.”
Shen Qi stared at him, clicked his tongue, and the oppressive feeling in the private room suddenly vanished. The others quietly sighed in relief, but the atmosphere remained tense.
Lu Zhi nudged Shen Qi’s arm with his elbow and said, “Have you forgotten that I’m also being monitored by the military? Senior Jiang is just following the school’s arrangements. Does one more or one less make a difference?”
Jiang Yue looked at Lu Zhi with gratitude, her large eyes pitifully conveying the message, ‘Junior is a good person.’
Shen Qi squeezed his fingers. “Did I forget to tell you that the military’s surveillance was already withdrawn?”
Lu Zhi was surprised, then his face lit up with joy. “Really? When did that happen?”
“It was cancelled as soon as you entered the Cage,” Shen Qi said, his gaze cold. “A bunch of profit-driven old geezers. It would be better to just kill them directly.”
The others: … ??? !!!
Was this a topic they were supposed to hear?
Lu Zhi could sense the seriousness in Shen Qi’s words. If he really felt displeased and decided to kill the Elders, even Lu Zhi couldn’t stop him.
In the end, it was Lu Zhi who pulled Shen Qi away, saying they were leaving in half an hour, fearing he might say something astonishing next!