Chapter 42 - Xinran’s True Colors
“I was,” Xinran timidly nodded her head.
Gu Lingzhi sighed, “I won’t be going to the Alchemy District tomorrow and the day after, so you don’t have to look for me.”
“Ah?” Xinran looked at Gu Lingzhi inquisitively. “Don’t you have Alchemy classes to attend?”
Given Gu Lingzhi’s aptitude for making medicine, it would be easier for her to score if her core subjects were related to Alchemy.
“Indeed I do,” Gu Lingzhi continued, “When I enrolled I was not entirely sure about the process of picking classes, so I just picked every class that was available to me.”
Xinran looked at her with a pitiful look, “That means you have to earn 180 points in order to be promoted.”
Gu Lingzhi laughed bitterly, “Actually, I took 4 subjects so I have to earn 240 points. I realized that I had a water-based Spiritual Root on my way to the capital.”
“There’s only two more months left until the end of the semester. Don’t worry, even if you don’t earn enough points this semester, the school will not expel you, but you can’t keep this up next semester.”
Gu Lingzhi wanted to take a long sigh, thinking that she would be successful in every endeavor when she was reborn, but she was wrong.
This awkward topic had made the two of them fall into an uncomfortable silence.
It was only until dinnertime when Gu Lingzhi realized that people were avoiding her.
She did not understand why people disliked her. She kept her head down and went to return the crockeries, she did not notice Xinran, who had her head held high. She flashed a sly grin to the people around her. Those that were watching secretly from afar immediately looked away.
After dinner, Gu Lingzhi returned back to her hostel after walking around the campus with Xinran for a little while.
Entering the Great Hall located on the first floor of the hostel, she was shocked to see that Tianfeng Jin was still there. Tianfeng Jin stopped practicing her swordplay when she saw Gu Lingzhi, and stared at her blankly.
Ye Fei, who was originally talking to Tianfeng Jin, also stopped to look at Gu Lingzhi.
“…Is there something wrong?” Gu Lingzhi asked.
Ye Fei stepped forward and put both of her hands on Gu Lingzhi’s shoulders.
With a serious face, Ye Fei asked, “How do you know Qin Xinran?”
“Xinran?”
“Do you know any other girls named Qin Xinran in our school?” Ye Fei rolled her eyes.
“I met her yesterday in class, she’s a really cute girl. Why?”
“Cute?” Ye Fei’s mouth twitched at her response. “You would not think that if you stayed in our school for more than a month.”
Gu Lingzhi did not understand. “Why? Don’t you find her cute?”
“Haha…” Ye Fei gave her a funny look. “You’ll have to see it for yourself to understand. Whatever it is, as your friend, I am kindly suggesting that you do not get too close to her.”
“That person is dangerous,” Tianfeng Jin added coldly.
“She’s not just dangerous. She is the only daughter of the head of the Qin Clan, there is no way that she could be a simple person,” Ye Fei remarked.
Gu Lingzhi was silent. Could a girl who looked so innocent be as dangerous as they said?
This question was answered the next day when she saw Xinran cruelly roasting a Yellow-maned Beast. Furthermore, the students in her class always kept a distance from them, so Gu Lingzhi could gradually understand what Tianfeng Jin had said about Xinran.
A moment ago, they were having combat lessons behind the school at the Red Leaf Hill. Everyone was stunned when they saw the Yellow-maned Beast. On the other hand, Xin Ran ran straight for the beast and mounted it without hesitation. She smashed its head to the ground and made a huge dent in the ground. Blood spilled everywhere and the ground turned red.
That was not all. When she dismounted, she summoned a fire arrow and light the beast’s hair on fire, cooking it. Just half a minute later, it had been cooked almost entirely.
“The meat of the Yellow-maned Beast is pretty tasty, Lingzhi, do you want to have a taste?”
Qin Xinran used her dagger to cut out a piece of the beast and ate it.
“No, thank you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to try it?” Qin Xinran felt that it was a shame. “It’s really delicious.”
“Haha, yes, I’m sure. I had a heavy breakfast.”
Qin Xinran did not probe any further and took another piece of the Yellow-maned Beast.
When she left, Gu Lingzhi felt the people around her take a sigh of relief.
Was Qin Xinran really as dangerous as what others had described?
Her suspicions were confirmed yet again later in the day.
Gu Lingzhi headed to the Training Tower after her afternoon lessons. She did not think that she would see Qin Xinran on the combat arena next to hers. She stopped in her steps.
Initially, she was afraid that Qin Xinran would be bullied, but she was surprised to see that Xinran had nailed her opponent to the ground.
Sensing Gu Lingzhi looking over at her, Qin Xinran suddenly turned and smiled shyly at Lingzhi. If it was not for the murderous expression in Xinran’s eyes when she defeated her opponent, Lingzhi would definitely have been fooled by Xinran’s timid smile and thought that she was really a harmless person.
It turns out that whoever could enter the Royal School were truly not simple-minded people.
With a loud sound, Qin Xinran flipped her opponent onto the ground once again, causing the entire Arena to vibrate.
“The victory goes to Qin Xinran.” The teacher who was in-charge of the combat stage looked pitifully at Xinran’s opponent, before allocating points to Qin Xinran.