CH 13

Jian Ning and Terry were in the same group. They got on the tour bus, and Terry whispered in Jian Ning's ear, telling him about the plants they passed along the way, where they came from, and their growth characteristics on each planet. The classmates around them heard and exclaimed, "Terry, you really know a lot."

Terry modestly and happily smiled.

"Hmph, showing off." A disdainful sneer came from the front; it was Alan.

Embarrassment flashed across Terry's face, and the classmates around them fell silent. In the hushed tour bus, Jian Ning suddenly reached out and patted Terry's back, asking, "What about that tree covered in little lanterns? Which planet is it from?"

Terry hesitated and then quietly explained to him.

Jian Ning looked towards another plant with basketball-sized fruits hanging from it and asked, "What's that? Is it edible?"

Terry glanced at it and began explaining again.

Jian Ning asked about several more plants, and Terry explained earnestly, getting more and more engrossed as he spoke, his voice gradually becoming louder. The surrounding classmates also started listening attentively. Soon, others eagerly joined in with their own questions, and the tour bus became lively once more.

This Jian Ning... Alan sat in the front with his little brother, feeling out of place amidst the cheerful atmosphere. He clenched his fist in anger and gritted his teeth.

After visiting the ordinary planting area, the staff led them to the greenhouse area. Here, they grew rare fruit trees and fresh flowers that were hard to come by.

The tour bus couldn't enter the greenhouse, so the students got off the bus and walked inside. Saint's Academy also had a greenhouse, but it was reserved for students with Grade B or above psychic abilities, so they couldn't enter. Therefore, when they saw the fruits hanging on the trees and the blooming flowers, the students couldn't help but widen their eyes, unable to look away.

Inside the lush greenhouse, the sound of water flowing could be heard. As they turned a corner, they came face to face with an elderly man with somewhat white sideburns, accompanied by several men in military uniforms, walking towards them.

"Marshal!" Some of the students recognized the tall man beside the elderly one and exclaimed.

"We have students from Saint's Academy visiting today." The old man smiled and said to Zong Ye, then turned to his assistant and asked, "Do we have seeds to give these students?"

The assistant took out a packet of seeds and handed it to him.

"Since we've bumped into each other, let's give them the seeds now," the old man said as he took the seeds and waved to the students with a smile. "Students, I am the head of the botanical garden. Come here, and I'll distribute the seeds to you."

The students rushed over like a swarm of bees, their eyes still shining, but they couldn't help glancing at Zong Ye standing nearby.

Seeing this, the head of the botanical garden said, "Shall the Marshal and I distribute the seeds together?"

The students cheered enthusiastically and spontaneously lined up.

Originally, Zong Ye had stood aside, indifferent to the whole affair. However, upon hearing the head's suggestion, he lowered his head and glanced at the students eagerly looking at him. He stepped forward and stood beside the head, accepting half of the seeds from him.

Though the plan was for Zong Ye and the head to distribute the seeds together, the students all flocked to Zong Ye without hesitation, leaving the seeds in the head's hands untouched.

The head couldn't help but sigh inwardly; getting older meant losing popularity compared to young people.

Jian Ning followed Terry slowly in the queue. Terry was excitedly swinging his arm, exclaiming, "Ah, I get to see the Marshal again and be so close to him. I'm so happy."

Jian Ning pursed his lips, feeling unhappy. He didn't want to see Zong Ye, hmph, a scumbag and a heartbreaker.

Soon, the two of them arrived in front of Zong Ye. Terry reached out, and Zong Ye gave him a seed. He was about to give one to Jian Ning, but suddenly, Jian Ning took a step back, avoiding it.

Zong Ye was taken aback and looked at him, recognizing him as the boy who clung to him on the hill behind the academy that day.

He disliked others clinging to him. Suppressing his displeasure, Zong Ye extended his hand again, about to offer him the seed, but Jian Ning walked over to the head beside him, extending his hand to him with a beaming smile. "Head, I want your seed."

Not only was Zong Ye stunned, but the surrounding students were also dumbfounded. This Jian Ning dared to refuse the Marshal, didn't he see that the Marshal had already reached out his hand?

The head, on the other hand, had tears welling up in his eyes. Finally, someone remembered this old guy. He took out a seed and handed it to Jian Ning, then thought for a moment and took out another one, passing it to him with joy. "Good child, let me give you an extra seed."

Jian Ning was overjoyed with the additional gain, happily clutching the two seeds as if they were precious treasures and walked to the side.

Looking at the young man whose attitude had drastically changed, Zong Ye gave him an unexpected glance but shifted his gaze away when approached by another student.

On the way back in the school bus, Terry asked Jian Ning, "Ning, didn't you like the Marshal a lot? Why did you reject his seed?"

Jian Ning retorted without thinking, "Who said I like him? That was before I knew he was a scumbag. Now, I dislike him the most."

"You were even asking about the Marshal before," Terry looked at him in shock. "Ning, did you change your mind so quickly?"

Pah, it was he who changed his mind, Jian Ning rolled his eyes in his mind and showed the seeds in his hand to Terry, changing the subject, "Choosing the head is more worthwhile; I got two seeds."

Terry's attention was indeed shifted, and he looked enviously, saying, "That's great; we only have one each."

Later, some students chose the head to get two seeds, following Jian Ning's example. However, the head still gave only one seed, stating it was a reward for the first one.

Jian Ning laughed happily and put away the seeds. The seeds given by the head couldn't be identified as any particular plant; they could only find out what they were after they grew. He couldn't wait to go back and plant them in his small farm.

"Why would the Marshal come to the botanical garden?" a classmate whispered. "The Queen's birthday is coming up, and the Marshal must be here to ask the head to plant the fresh flowers she likes. I wonder what kind of flowers the Marshal will give her this year?"

The surrounding students quietly discussed, but suddenly, there was a loud "bang." The smoothly flying school bus shook violently as the door was forcefully kicked open. Three strong men with helmets and energy guns jumped in from the roof.

The three men acted swiftly and with clear targets. One knocked out the driver and took the driver's seat, another subdued the teacher, while the third, holding an energy gun, threatened the students, "Stay still and sit in your seats!"

Were they being kidnapped? Jian Ning was startled, and when the kidnappers' gaze swept over, he quickly pulled Terry's head down and sat still.

Seeing them quiet down, the kidnapper with the energy gun took out a bag and walked through the rows of seats, demanding they hand over all communication devices.

The school bus flew for a while before coming to a stop. The kidnapper on the driver's seat ordered, "Record a video and send it to the military department. Tell them to bring energy stones in exchange for these students."

The kidnapper in charge of the students immediately took out a new communication device, opened it, and recorded the scene inside the bus. After a few clicks, he sent it out, then threw the device on the ground and crushed it with force.

"Get off!" The school bus door opened, and the three kidnappers urged them to disembark. They tied up the unconscious teacher and left him on the bus.

Jian Ning and Terry held hands and joined the panicking students as they crowded off the bus. He quietly looked around; they were in a forest that seemed to be in the mountains.

The leading kidnapper whistled, and several more helmeted accomplices emerged from the forest.

They bound the students' hands and urged them to walk into the forest. After about half an hour, they stopped in an open area, instructing the students to sit on the ground.

"They won't kill us, will they?" Terry trembled while leaning against Jian Ning, and some of the surrounding students were already crying softly out of panic. Jian Ning also furrowed his brows with worry, not for himself, but for Tuan Tuan. Tuan Tuan was alone in the dormitory; what if he got hungry?

"Isn't energy stone easy to mine? Why do these people want to kidnap us and exchange with the military department?" someone whispered with a sobbing tone.

The kidnappers stood a bit far away and didn't pay attention to this side. Alan said mysteriously, "They are after more than just ordinary energy stones."

"Are there other special energy stones?" The students exchanged puzzled looks; after all, Alan's parents were in the military department, and what he said was likely not false. Jian Ning's mind suddenly stirred, recalling the bag of transparent stones he brought back from the hotel a few days ago.

Taking advantage of the students talking, Jian Ning moved his bound hands and reached into the pocket on the right side of his clothes. The stone he brought back from the hotel was very beautiful; he planned to drill a hole in it today and give it to Tuan Tuan as a necklace, so he had it with him.

Carefully taking out the stone, before he had a chance to take a look, a kidnapper walked towards them. Jian Ning hurriedly tightened his grip on the stone, fearing it would be discovered, and his psychic power inadvertently concentrated in his palm.

Suddenly, a warm sensation arose in his hand, startling him. Luckily, the kidnapper only glanced at them and then left. Jian Ning quickly looked down at his palm, and the originally light purple and transparent stone had turned grayish.

"Jian Ning, what do you have in your hand?" a nearby classmate asked in a hushed tone, seeing him staring at his palm.

The kidnapper hadn't gone far, and upon hearing the question, he strode over, grabbed Jian Ning, snatched the thing from his hand, and seeing it was just a grayish little stone, he threw it on the ground before roughly pushing Jian Ning back to his seat.

"Ning." Jian Ning almost fell to the ground from the push, but Terry quickly supported him.

"Behave yourselves and don't move around," the kidnapper glared at them harshly before turning to leave. "Puff!" A soft sound, and a wisp of white smoke emerged from his chest, and he fell to the ground.

After this sound, more and more white smoke emerged from the surrounding kidnappers. Several fully armed soldiers stealthily emerged from the forest behind them, and within moments, they efficiently neutralized all the kidnappers.

The leader of the soldiers counted the number of students and then opened the communication device, saying, "Marshal, all the students have been rescued, and they are all safe and unharmed."

The soldiers untied the students' hands and waited for a while. Soon, a flying vehicle arrived.

"Send them back to the academy," Zong Ye got off the flying vehicle. He received a report stating that the students from Saint Academy were kidnapped right after leaving the plantation. The academy's buses were equipped with concealed locators, so he sent people to the science academy to get energy stones and rushed to the rendezvous point. They feigned a trade with the kidnappers while discreetly searching for the students using the locators.

"What about our teachers?" a worried student asked.

Zong Ye's adjutant replied, "Your teachers are safe; they are already on the flying vehicle. Hurry, get on."

There were about fifty students, but only two flying vehicles came. As the students queued to board the flying vehicle, Terry got on first, and when it was Jian Ning's turn, a soldier guarding the entrance stopped him, saying, "We are full, no more space. The rest will return with the Marshal."

Return with the Marshal? The students who had already boarded the flying vehicle had their eyes lit up, expressing their desire to get off and stay behind with the Marshal.

The soldiers were exasperated; seriously, they firmly refused, "No, once you get on, you can't get off."

Amidst the disappointed voices, Jian Ning quickly said, "Can we switch? Can we switch? I want to get on, not stay behind."

He wanted to go back to see Tuan Tuan; he didn't want to stay here and watch this scumbag.

The soldier looked surprised; everyone wanted to be with the Marshal, so why did this student seem a bit disdainful?

Zong Ye turned his head upon hearing the commotion, and when he saw Jian Ning, his brows slightly furrowed; it was him again.

The one who had been pulling and bothering him earlier; now, twice in one day, he seemed to disdain being with him. Were youth's hearts so fickle?

"...I guess you can switch," the soldier hesitated.

Jian Ning's face lit up with joy and he said to Terry, "Terry, let's switch."

Seeing him so happy, Zong Ye felt a bit displeased. He inexplicably wanted to deny him what he wanted, so with a stern face, he said, "What's the point of switching? It'll be a waste of time. Alright, let's go quickly."

"... It would only take a few minutes," the soldier complained internally, but he dared not disobey orders, so he quickly said, "No switching, no switching, get in and sit down. We're leaving."

Terry said with regret, "Ning, I'll go first. Don't worry." He winked at Jian Ning, indicating that he would go back and take care of Tuan Tuan.

Jian Ning sulkily stepped aside and watched the flying vehicle take off.