Instructor An Wen's shout echoed from outside the dormitory.
Xu Youyou, who had been lying dejectedly on his bed with a blank mind, immediately leaped up.
He flung the door open with a loud slam, not even bothering to close it behind him, and rushed outside.
“Instructor, what did you say? What news? Is it news about Brother An?”
An Wen didn't waste any breath. “Get in the car. We're picking him up!”
Only then did Xu Youyou snap out of it. “Right, right! I'm getting in!”
The car quickly sped out of the training base, tearing down the empty road.
Xu Youyou asked nervously, “Instructor, is it really true?”
“Would I lie to you?” An Wen replied. “It's just a bit far. Driving there at our current speed will take about an hour.”
Xu Youyou took a deep breath, his entire body finally relaxing.
“It's fine, Instructor.”
“It doesn't matter how long it takes, as long as he's alright.”
An Wen stole a glance at Xu Youyou and saw that the boy's emotions had mostly stabilized. Though he still wasn't smiling, he looked much better than before.
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive.
An Wen focused on the road, stepping hard on the gas pedal and pushing the speed up to a hundred kilometers per hour!
In the end, they arrived at the other training base more than ten minutes ahead of schedule.
Inside the car, Xu Youyou stared intently out the window, his emotions swelling. He had already spotted a familiar figure through the glass.
The figure was currently standing right outside the main gates of the training base.
The moment the car screeched to a halt, Xu Youyou threw the door open, lunged out, and yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Brother An!!”
Zuo Lin'an looked over, about to say something, but Xu Youyou charged straight at him and locked his arms around his leg, wailing like a banshee.
Zuo Lin'an looked down at Xu Youyou with a face full of disgust, yet he didn't push him away.
“Alright, get up. We're going back.”
Just as Instructor An Wen got out of the car, before he could even get a good look at his prized student, he was cornered by two instructors from the other base.
“Oh, if it isn't Instructor An Wen! Seeing is indeed believing. I didn't expect you to have such incredible luck, producing two successful students at once!”
The two instructors harbored no ill intent; they were simply dripping with jealousy.
Hearing their envious remarks, An Wen grinned and looked over.
He recognized the two instructors, though they weren't close.
Still... a chance to gloat was a chance to gloat.
“You misunderstand, my friends. What does luck have to do with this? The moment I laid eyes on these two kids, I knew they had what it takes.”
“After all, some people are just born with a natural aura. That's not something you can easily replicate!”
“Of course, it's also thanks to my constant guidance. I poured my heart and soul into them, barely resting even after class just to mentor them.”
“If you guys have any promising students, you should put more effort into training them. Who knows, maybe you'll produce two at once as well?”
An Wen was shamelessly bragging about his eye for talent and his teaching abilities.
If anyone didn't like it, they could try training two successful students of their own to slap him in the face. He wouldn't mind at all.
Seeing his smug attitude, the two instructors immediately felt their blood boil.
“You really don't possess a single ounce of humility, do you?!”
An Wen had no need for humility. Strength was status.
“Haha, alright, let's not talk about that.”
“Today is a joyous occasion, so we won't take up any more of your time. I need to take them back to rest. They must be exhausted after their ordeal in Sin Hunter City!”
After exchanging brief goodbyes, the car quickly departed from the training base.
The atmosphere on the ride back was exceptionally relaxed, and An Wen slowed down his driving.
By now, Xu Youyou had completely regained his usual energetic self.
Zuo Lin'an couldn't help but recall the expression on Xu Youyou's face when he had first jumped out of the car...
He sighed softly. It was because he had delayed for an hour before coming out, making them believe he had died in Sin Hunter City.
Forget it, he would let it slide that this guy had wiped his tears and snot all over his pants just now.
“By the way, did you call your aunt to let her know you're safe?”
Xu Youyou stiffened. He stared at Zuo Lin'an, blinking blankly.
“Huh?”
Zuo Lin'an was speechless.
“Did you bring your phone?”
Before they went to Sin Hunter City, they had left all their belongings in the dormitory, including their phones.
Xu Youyou looked down at his clothes.
He was still wearing his prison uniform.
Let alone retrieving his phone, he hadn't even changed his clothes after returning.
“Uh...”
“Never mind, a little longer won't hurt,” Zuo Lin'an said. “Just don't forget to call her once we get back to the dorms.”
“After that, take a shower, change your clothes, and we'll head to the cafeteria to eat.”
“Got it!” Xu Youyou replied.
But shortly after agreeing, he suddenly realized something.
“Wait, Brother An, why did you only come out just now?”
Zuo Lin'an felt rather helpless about it himself.
“Because of the rule.”
Xu Youyou looked utterly confused. “What?”
An Wen, however, understood immediately. “Ah, of course! Because Student Zuo's rule is like that—killing on the hour!”
“Even his specter body has to execute its actions according to the rule.”
Zuo Lin'an nodded. “I killed my final prey at exactly two o'clock in the afternoon. My specter body fully formed a few minutes later.”
“In principle, even though the specter body hadn't truly fused with me yet, it didn't change the fact that we were one entity. Therefore, it also had to act according to the rule I established.”
“Since it wasn't on the hour at that point, it had to wait until exactly three o'clock to execute the strike.”
Xu Youyou nodded in realization, but then a thought struck him.
“Wait a minute!”
He leaned in closer, staring intently at Zuo Lin'an's face, before slowly letting out a mischievous, cheeky grin.
“I remember at the very last moment before I blacked out, I saw you being pinned to the ground by your specter body. That was just past two o'clock. If you say the rule could only be executed at three, then...”
He snickered.
“Does that mean you were pinned to the ground by your own specter body for an entire hour?!”
At those words, Zuo Lin'an's eye twitched.
Though Xu Youyou's tone was incredibly annoying, he had hit the nail right on the head.
At the time, the specter body had pinned him face down, rendering him completely immobile. The tip of the boning knife, condensed from pure specter energy, was pressed directly against the back of his head.
He had remained in that exact posture for a whole hour.
While he had felt a bit of fear at the very beginning, as time ticked by, he had simply found the situation absurd, even slightly boring.
Of course, it wasn't entirely without its benefits.
The specter body was a specter, after all. Its form was constantly shrouded in a thick specter aura, which was freezing cold.
Even though the living body and the specter body were ultimately one and the same...
But at the moment the specter body fully formed, the sensory connection between them had temporarily severed, allowing the icy specter aura to affect his physical form.
Over the course of that full hour, his body had become completely numb, losing almost all sensation.
But there was one most important detail.
Once both the living body and the specter body manifested, both sides would naturally develop an instinctual urge to completely fuse with one another!
Rate on N.U.
