CH 10

In the morning, there were only two classes. After finishing their classes, Terry went to the library to search for information while Jian Ning went to the supermarket to buy groceries. Since their dormitory had a kitchen, whenever they had time, Jian Ning would cook and eat with Terry.

Just as Jian Ning was coming out of the supermarket, a male student hurriedly approached him and said, "Jian Ning, I just heard from Alan's lackey that Alan took Terry to the hillside and beat him up, then left him there without caring."

Jian Ning knew this male student; he was a classmate. He was startled and quickly tried to contact Terry through the communicator, but nobody answered.

The male student said anxiously, "Is Terry okay? Should we go check on him?"

Jian Ning frowned and replied, "I'll go check."

"I'll go with you," the eager male student followed him.

The college's hillside was quite secluded, usually with few people around. Jian Ning glanced around but didn't see anyone. Suddenly, the male student pointed ahead and said, "Is that a small house? Could he be inside?"

Having said that, the male student walked quickly toward the front.

Jian Ning followed him into the small house. It seemed to have been used as a warehouse before, but now it was abandoned, with dust and discarded debris scattered all over the floor.

"Is that Terry?" the male student exclaimed, pointing at the corner of some torn clothes behind a table.

The room was dim, and Jian Ning approached to take a closer look. He realized that liquid was flowing from under the clothes. Jian Ning's heart sank, and he rushed over to see the situation behind the table. However, there was only clothing on the ground and some intentionally spilled liquid; Terry was nowhere to be found.

A loud "bang" came from behind as the door was closed. Jian Ning turned around, only to discover that the male student who brought him in was gone. Outside the door, he heard chaotic footsteps and Alan's threatening voice.

"Jian Ning, this is just a small warning for you this time. Don't rashly interfere in other people's business in the future."

After saying that, the laughter of a few onlookers echoed outside, and the footsteps gradually faded away.

Jian Ning walked to the door and pushed it, but it was locked from the outside. He looked at his wrist communicator, intending to contact the teacher, but found that it had no signal. There should have been a signal within the college campus, but Alan probably did something outside to block the signal in this house.

He had no choice but to give up seeking help and looked around. On the right wall, close to the roof, there was a dusty window.

Jian Ning picked a sturdy and stable piece of wood from a few broken tables and dragged it over to the wall. He found an old chair and placed it on top of the wood. Climbing up onto the chair, he stretched his arms and struggled to open the window above.

The window hadn't been opened for a long time, and it took a considerable amount of effort. Though not very large, the window served as ventilation and was enough for Jian Ning to climb out. He held onto the window frame with both hands and carefully climbed out.

The Saint Academy had a defense net over it, preventing external aircraft and hover cars from entering. Zong Ye had already contacted the college principal before arriving and drove a hover car directly to the hillside of Saint Academy.

The communicator displayed the signal location of Feiyu, and Zong Ye got off the hover car, heading towards the indicated position.

When he reached the side of a small house and lowered his head to check the signal, he suddenly heard a panicked voice behind him, "Ah, ah, ah, move away quickly!"

Instinctively, he turned around, only to see a figure leaping down from the window of the nearby house.

Jian Ning climbed onto the window and was about to jump down when unexpectedly someone appeared around the corner. It was too late to retreat, so he could only exclaim in panic as he collided with the newcomer and they both tumbled down the gentle slope. 

When they came to a stop, Jian Ning dizzily lifted his head from the person's embrace and quickly got up to apologize, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Zong Ye frowned at him. He was an ordinary-looking young man, with a few traces of dust on his face, looking somewhat disheveled. He should be a student of the college, but why wasn't he staying in the dormitory or classroom properly and instead jumped out of a window here?

"I'm fine," Zong Ye replied simply. He got up from the grass and continued walking towards the location where the signal was flashing on his wrist.

Hearing his voice and getting a clear look at his appearance, Jian Ning: !!!

Just a few days ago, he had been thinking about how to meet him, and he didn't expect to see him so soon.

Jian Ning hurriedly took a few steps forward, blurting out, "Zhong."

Zong Ye paused his steps, turned to look at him, and then continued walking towards the signal.

Jian Ning caught up with him and stood in front of him, looking up at him with an accusing gaze, "Why are you ignoring me? Don't you recognize me anymore?"

Zong Ye glanced at him, confirming that he didn't recognize him, and furrowed his brows slightly, saying, "I have urgent matters, please step aside."

Hearing his response, Jian Ning's hands trembled with anger. This damned man was pretending not to know him right in front of him!

Amidst their entanglement, Tuan Tuan chased after the bouncing ball in the bushes. He couldn't help but prick up their ears at the sound coming from a distance. Wait, did it sound like his father’s voice?

Dad had forbidden him from coming out. Quickly, he gathered up the little ball with a "pat, pat, pat," and ran off with it in his mouth.

The signal on the communicator suddenly disappeared. Zong Ye furrowed his brows and no longer paid attention to the young man in front of him. He quickly rushed to where the signal disappeared, scanning the surroundings, but there was nothing except for the bushes.

He reached into his pocket to take out the sapphire necklace to wake up Feiyu, but he realized it was missing. He had forgotten to bring it in his haste.

Damn it, he missed it again. Zong Ye's face darkened. He quickly dialed the vice-admiral's communicator number, instructing him to immediately send the sapphire necklace to the dormitory entrance of Saint Academy.

After giving the instructions, he turned and headed towards the hover car. Jian Ning, feeling angry and sad at being ignored, thought to himself, "Who does this arrogant man think he is, a marshal? What's so great about him? It's only been a few months, and he's already acting like he doesn't know me. He's pretty much living up to his reputation." 

And to think he's probably gone to the dormitory entrance again for that boy named Shelley? Empire's number one beauty, he's just average at best, nothing compared to me...

Suddenly, Jian Ning widened his eyes and hurriedly touched his face and the soft membrane behind his ear. He remembered; he was still wearing the mask.

He rushed "da da da" towards Zong Ye, grabbed his arm, and tried to remove the soft membrane behind his ear. The sound of an aircraft came from above as it landed beside them. The college principal came out of it in a hurry.

"...Marshal." The principal was stunned seeing Zong Ye and Jian Ning standing there. He had been wondering why the marshal would come to their college again. He had never even accepted their previous invitations. Now, within just a few days, he had come twice. And what was going on now? Why was a student grabbing the marshal's arm?

Seeing Jian Ning's anxious expression and Zong Ye's frown, the principal was almost fainting from shock. Were students nowadays so crazy about idols that they dared to get handsy in a secluded place like this? This was the marshal, the esteemed Imperial Marshal!

"Come over here," the principal quickly pulled Jian Ning to his side, put on a stern face, and scolded, "Which class are you from? Why aren't you in class and end up here? Go back to class immediately!"

Zong Ye was solely focused on finding Feiyu and didn't pay attention to the principal reprimanding the student. He got in the hover car and quickly flew away.

"Go to class!" Now that Zong Ye had left, the principal scolded Jian Ning once more before getting on the aircraft and flying away behind Zong Ye.

Jian Ning stomped his feet in anger. This principal, why did he have to show up at this moment?

Feeling downcast, he walked towards the dormitory. After just a few steps, he heard rustling sounds from the nearby bushes. He stopped and turned to look, and there was Tuantuan, crawling out of the bushes.

"Tuan Tuan, why did you run out?" Jian Ning exclaimed, quickly squatting down to pick Tuan Tuan up and hugged him close, taking the little ball out of his mouth.

Tuan Tuan wagged his little tail and licked Jian Ning's chin with his tongue. He had originally wanted to run back to the dormitory, but halfway there, he remembered the story his dad told him about brave babies admitting their mistakes. So, he ran back again.

Of course, the most important reason was that he realized there was no one here, making it a perfect place to play. He wanted his dad to play with him. <(￣︶￣)>

In the hovercar at the dormitory entrance, Zong Ye took the sapphire necklace from the vice-admiral's hand and pressed it again, but it still didn't respond for a while. He looked at the activator in his hand with suspicion and tapped it, wondering if it was broken.