Chapter 166
Chapter 166
People were still taking photographs outside the gates of Clear Spring Academy.
They had been unable to gain admission to the prestigious institution, so this was the only way to ease their regret.
Whenever the academy’s students walked past those visitors, they unconsciously straightened their backs and raised their chins, proud of their status.
What they did not know… was that a “tragic” disaster was about to unfold.
Amid the passing crowd, Qin Lan stood just inside the school gates and tentatively took one step forward.
[Excellent! The worst-case scenario didn’t happen!]
Yin Manqing’s voice sounded relieved.
“What do you mean, the worst-case scenario?”
Qin Lan suddenly sensed something wrong and grew suspicious. “What did you think was going to happen?”
[Oh, the worst case was that the instant you showed your face, someone would lock onto your identity and location. Then a giant hand would descend from the sky and slap both of us into ash.]
[But it looks like we’re fairly lucky.]
Yin Manqing answered cheerfully.
“Holy fucking shit!”
Qin Lan stared in disbelief. “Why didn’t you say that before?!”
[What good would telling you have done?]
Yin Manqing clicked her tongue disdainfully. [If someone of that level appeared, it wouldn’t matter where you hid. The only difference would be whether you turned to ash sooner or later.]
[Besides, nothing happened, did it?]
Qin Lan ground his teeth. “Nothing happened, sure… but people really are waiting for me.”
His gaze swept the area and immediately locked onto several perfectly ordinary-looking “passersby.”
A tourist taking souvenir photos.
An unemployed drifter smoking while playing with his phone.
A vendor enthusiastically hawking grilled sausages from a roadside cart…
Judging by curse fluctuations alone, they appeared to be ordinary civilians with no possible connection to the United Government.
But Qin Lan’s mental senses were extraordinarily sharp. He immediately detected what set them apart.
“What sophisticated aura-concealment techniques… They’re clearly experts, yet they seem completely harmless.”
Qin Lan’s heart sank.
Every one of them possessed a Tier Four Curse Core.
Even in the Central Region, reaching Tier Four meant entering the ranks of the truly powerful. Yet several such experts had appeared at once…
“They certainly think highly of me.”
Qin Lan sighed.
These people specialized not only in concealment but also in tracking. If Qin Lan moved even a little farther forward, their Talents would identify him.
Disguises capable of fooling ordinary people were useless against them.
Qin Lan could stand precisely beyond the outer limit of their senses only because his immense mental power gave him the advantage.
[They don’t think highly of you. They think highly of me.]
Yin Manqing sneered.
[These are carefully cultivated operatives of the United Government. They receive orders only at critical moments.]
[If not for me, you wouldn’t even qualify for their attention.]
[To arrest you, they’d send a few interns and call it a day. Only a premium target like me could put them on full alert. Understand?]
Yin Manqing sounded smug. Qin Lan could practically picture the proud look on her face.
If she had possessed a tail, it would be pointing straight at the sky.
“Are you really that impressive?”
Qin Lan felt annoyed and retorted in his mind, “Weren’t you just someone who got slapped dead in one hit? What gives you the confidence to brag this hard?”
“What difference would it make if you were alive?”
[What do you know, brat?]
Yin Manqing grew agitated. [Nothing can overturn the gulf between peak Tier Four and Ascension!]
[If I had reached Ascension and stood at the same level as them, I would have had absolute confidence in crushing them!]
[My accomplishments in mental cultivation are beyond anything those worthless fools could comprehend!]
“Braggart.”
[Fuck!]
[Believe me or don’t!]
Yin Manqing seethed, so furious with Qin Lan that she nearly began cursing his ancestors again.
“A true hero doesn’t boast about old glories… If they catch me, your last hope disappears too.”
“Now tell me how to use that glass ball.”
Qin Lan curled his lip, taking none of Yin Manqing’s claims seriously.
[You little bastard… Fine.]
Yin Manqing wanted to curse him out again, but she had to admit that every word he said was true.
If she wanted revenge–if she wanted to survive–Qin Lan truly was her only hope.
[Take out the glass ball.]
Qin Lan obeyed.
[Inject a trace of curse energy.]
Qin Lan obeyed again.
[Good. Put it on the ground and run. You have… uh, three seconds left.]
?
Qin Lan nearly failed to process her words. He hurriedly set the glass ball down, spun around, and fled without looking back.
[All right, that’s far enough.]
[Now sit back and enjoy the show.]
Yin Manqing sounded mysterious, as though barely suppressing her laughter.
“What exactly is that thing? A cursed artifact? It doesn’t look like one…”
Hidden in the shadows nearby, Qin Lan could not resist asking.
Yin Manqing merely laughed.
[It has many names… Some call it This Monk’s Going Secular. Others call it I Love a Stick, and some prefer Love’s Savior.]
[Most people, however, call it Pink Mood.]
[The scientific term would be ‘industrial-strength a*rodisiac.’]
When Yin Manqing uttered that last word, Qin Lan froze in place.
Then he cursed under his breath.
“Holy shit!”
“One letter was censored so we’d pass review, but somehow I understood you perfectly…”
“But aren’t a*rodisiacs only effective on ordinary people?”
[Ho ho ho. That is precisely what makes this thing so terrifying.]
Yin Manqing laughed sinisterly.
[It is famous in our circles… Its main ingredient is extracted from the corpse of a four-star anomaly. All its curse energy has been removed, but as for the effect…]
[Heh heh…]
Yin Manqing’s laughter said everything.
[I know your body is strong, but no matter how strong it is, a single trace will make wicked fire surge up from–]
“Sister Yin, if you keep talking, the censors are going to kill someone…”
Qin Lan covered his face, unable to bear imagining it. “I don’t even dare think about how the next scene can be described without getting deleted…”
“I suppose that’s one way to test an author’s skill.”
At that moment, the trace of curse energy Qin Lan had injected into the glass ball began to tremble.
The pink wisps inside instantly churned as though ignited, erupting in a heartbeat.
The thin, specially made glass dissolved like snow and ice.
Great quantities of pink mist spilled out and rode the breeze, spreading through the area.
[Even the most righteous gentleman with an iron will…]
[Will turn into a beast after touching the slightest trace. Ho ho ho…]
Qin Lan stared in horror. “Then aren’t we screwed?”
“It’s drifting everywhere! What if this turns into some massive ** scene? It would violate every law of human decency, Sister!”
“A plot like that… A plot like that isn’t allowed!”
Qin Lan hesitated.
“Back during those internet cleanup campaigns… this would’ve been the first story they banned.”
[Why are you panicking? I haven’t finished.]
Yin Manqing laughed even more freely. [A small dose awakens certain instincts.]
[But this dosage… makes everyone automatically ‘arrive.’]
[Again and again.]
[What you’re imagining won’t happen… Everyone will remain absorbed in the wondrous experience of entertaining themselves until their minds clear or their stamina runs out.]
?
Sister, how did you use entirely safe words to describe something so bizarre?
Qin Lan’s expression went blank. He slowly turned his head.
The pink fog had already spread across the school gates.
A damp storm was coming.