Chapter 30: Trust Senior Jiang Yan
I stared blankly at him for a moment. He gently reached out and touched my forehead, looking at me with the tenderness of an older brother.
“Xia Xiaolan, how did these boring history books make you cry? Tell me, and I’ll burn them all.”
“Pfft.” I laughed, forgetting the momentary racing of my heart.
Senior Feng Lingcan withdrew his hand and continued to look at me curiously. I rested my chin on my hands and sighed, “I’m angry.”
“Angry about what?”
“Angry that the Shen Clan just watched as humanity perished.” I scowled at the horizon.
Feng Lingcan senior suddenly fell silent.
I, too, fell into silence because he himself was part of the Shen Clan.
“The Shen Clan didn’t watch humanity’s extinction; they witnessed the death of a civilization…” He spoke slowly. I gradually turned to look at him as he leaned back in his chair. The enchanting sunlight cast a golden edge around him, making him appear hazy and dreamlike in the golden light.
“The death of a civilization takes tens of thousands of years. Would you be sad about something that happens tens of thousands of years from now?” He turned his gaze toward me. Hearing this, I suddenly didn’t feel as sad, but there was still a sense of regret.
“It’s not that the gods don’t stop it; their powers are limited too. What leads to destruction is humanity itself.”
“Then can’t the gods do something?” I asked.
“Do what?” He countered, “Change all of humanity’s personalities into saints? If that happened, the world would stagnate.”
I stared at him in a daze.
He looked at me deeply, “The diversity in human nature is the world’s greatest gift, but it’s also its greatest danger. These differences cause conflicts, and those conflicts lead to disputes. On a small scale, it’s broken marriages and fractured families. On a larger scale, it’s teams falling apart. And on an even larger scale, it’s war. Even in your little chat group, don’t you often have arguments? Can you stop that?”
I remained silent. The gods had a more macro view, far beyond what I could see. Maybe I was overreacting? The imminent destruction I felt might have moved me deeply, but hearing Senior Feng Lingcan’s words, I realized that the destruction of a civilization takes tens of thousands of years. So, is my sorrow for something that will happen thousands of years from now a bit… paranoid?
“But humanity is resilient. Each time after destruction, they rise again. So, Xiaolan, instead of mourning for something that will happen thousands of years from now, why not protect the world now so that this civilization can last longer?”
I stared at Senior Feng Lingcan. He was right. Instead of grieving over a distant destruction, I should focus on safeguarding the present world, ensuring its longevity. Maybe then, there would be no destruction at all.
“It seems you understand now,” Senior Feng Lingcan smiled gently in the sunlight.
“Senior Feng Lingcan, you’re amazing!” I looked at him in admiration. “You made me feel so much better!”
He smiled, continuously looking at me while smiling. Slowly, he leaned away from the chair back and inched closer to me. I stared at him, dumbfounded, as his sparkling eyes studied my face. Little by little, he moved closer and closer…
Then, he stopped right in front of me, as if there was only a thin layer of air between us. He gazed deeply into my eyes and softly whispered, “It’s because of people like you that make this world worth being protected by us gods…”
I didn’t quite understand Senior Feng Lingcan’s words, but my heart felt especially warm. Knowing that humanity had the gods’ constant protection made me feel truly fortunate.
The sunlight streamed between us, illuminating his eyes like a bright lamp in the dark night, erasing the confusion, fear, and hesitation in my heart, guiding me step by step toward the light.
“Xiaolan, I hope you can come to the Royal Palace…” he spoke softly again, “and join me.”
I stared at him, stunned. Join Senior Feng Lingcan… in the Royal Palace…
But… what about my friends in the “Useless House”?
“I…”
“Whoosh!” Before I could finish, beams of light flashed around us. Senior Feng Lingcan was startled and stepped back, looking around. Gradually, Senior Jiang Yan appeared beside him, holding a large tub of ice cream!
Then, Maomao, Si Yinuo, Qing Ming, and the other classmates all returned!
When Senior Jiang Yan appeared at the table, he froze for a moment, then quickly turned his head, somewhat surprised as he looked at Feng Lingcan. Senior Feng Lingcan also looked at Jiang Yan in surprise.
“Senior Feng Lingcan!” Maomao exclaimed. As soon as she shouted, all the other students looked over. Before the dark Yang appeared, I quickly dashed past Senior Feng Lingcan. As he looked at me, I grabbed Senior Jiang Yan and smiled at him, “Senior Feng Lingcan, thank you for your concern. Senior Jiang Yan, I have something to ask you.” With that, I pulled him and ran. He hurriedly grabbed the ice cream from the table, holding a spoon in his mouth as he followed me.
“Whoosh, whoosh.” Thick books flew alongside me. Ugh! They didn’t have to chase me to read, did they?
As I dragged Senior Jiang Yan out of the room, I turned back to sneak a glance at our seats. Senior Feng Lingcan had stood up and was watching us. I quickly ducked, while Senior Jiang Yan leisurely ate his ice cream beside me. “He’s looking for me.”
“Why?” I asked.
He shrugged, still holding the ice cream spoon in his mouth, “Because he’s jealous of how handsome I am.”
“You!” I clenched my fist, ready to punch him, but he pointed to the classroom, “Mr. Yang is coming. If we don’t leave now, we won’t be able to, and we’ll face a ton of punishment.”
Senior Jiang Yan’s reminder snapped me back to reality. I quickly pulled him and ran. But! Could those books please stop following me?! It was practically announcing to the whole world that Xia Xiaolan was skipping class!
I wasn’t sure if it was still class time, but Xianyu was so quiet that not even the birds bothered to fly.
When we dashed out of the classroom, I let go of Jiang Yan. He continued eating his ice cream and looked at me, “So, what do you want to ask me?”
“I don’t know.” I walked aimlessly ahead, swatting at the books flying around me like butterflies.
“Don’t know? Don’t know, and you pulled me to skip class? Hmm… you treat me so well.” Senior Jiang Yan teased with a sarcastic tone.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. Unknowingly, I had walked to a long and quiet corridor bridge. I stopped and looked at him, “Maybe because I fed you, so now I feel like I raised you.”
Senior Jiang Yan stiffened, the spoon still in his mouth as his face darkened, and his brow twitched.
I looked at him and turned to lean on the window frame of the corridor bridge. “Actually, I feel like Senior Feng Lingcan was acting strange today. I suddenly didn’t know who to talk to.”
“Do I look like a relationship counselor?” He leaned on the window frame, still holding the ice cream spoon in his mouth, glancing at me sideways. I propped my face on my hand, “I don’t know… But you’re like Baidu Baike. You analyzed Fu Su’s psychology so thoroughly before. Can’t you analyze Senior Feng Lingcan for me too? Why did he suddenly ask me to join the Royal Palace?” I looked up at him. He paused mid-bite with his spoon still in the ice cream.
Slowly, he narrowed his eyes and smiled, “He has feelings for you.”
I glared at him, “You’re being ridiculous again!”
He furrowed his brow, turned his face away, and began to ponder. Removing the spoon from his mouth, he inserted it into the thick tiramisu-colored ice cream. “Xiaolan, I’ve thought about it seriously!”
“About what?”
He turned his face toward me and looked at me seriously, “He has feelings for you.”
My expression instantly darkened, “I’m going to let Mo Ming bite you!”
“Wait!” Senior Jiang Yan immediately raised his hands in surrender and pushed the ice cream toward me. “Here, have some.”
I looked at the spoon he had used in disgust. He laughed and with a flick of his finger, another spoon appeared. I grinned, grabbed it, and dug in without hesitation. Sure enough, it was tiramisu-flavored—my favorite!
As I ate, I said, “Senior Feng Lingcan was acting strange today. He kept staring at me. Do you think it’s because I saved him? What’s going on in his head?”
“He’s probably thinking, ‘Does this silly girl like me so much that she risked her life to save me? Maybe I should reward her with my affection!'” Senior Jiang Yan said gloomily. I froze for a moment and immediately looked at him, “Would he really misunderstand like that?”
Senior Jiang Yan shook his head with a soft laugh, continuing to eat his ice cream. “What do you think? A girl risks her life to enter the demon realm just to save him, even taking a sword for him. Anyone would think that.”
“But, but I just wanted to repay him, and I’m also a part of Xianyu. Isn’t that normal?” I hurriedly explained, as if the person in front of me wasn’t Senior Jiang Yan but rather Senior Feng Lingcan. “Bai Ying Xuejie and Xuan Yue Xuejie also went to save him. I’m sure they would do the same. Isn’t that what comrades do? If it were you, Xiao Nuo, Qing Ming, or Maomao lost in the demon realm, I’d go find you too!”
After I finished, I stared at Senior Jiang Yan. He was stunned, and a deep whirlpool seemed to stir in his ruby-red eyes. Slowly, he smiled, a gentle smile like that of a big brother next door. “Yes, I believe you would do that because you’re Xia Xiaolan. But to Feng Lingcan, he might not know you’re always this… foolish.”
I blinked and lowered my head, eating the ice cream in his hand. “Maybe you’re right. Because we’ve always lived together, you guys understand me. But in Senior Feng Lingcan’s eyes, I’m just a mortal. It’s not easy living in Xianyu, so he sympathizes with me, helps me, and maybe he really misunderstood that I risked my life for him because I like him.”
“Exactly. That’s why I said he has feelings for you.” Senior Jiang Yan’s tone became lazy again. “He’s Feng Lingcan. So many girls like him and chase after him, and they’d risk their lives to save him just like you did. But he’s never treated them the way he treats you. If he didn’t have feelings for you, he could’ve just thanked you and left it at that. But instead, as you said, he kept… kept…” Senior Jiang Yan slowly leaned closer, his eyes locked onto mine, “staring at you.”
I glared at him in frustration. “I’ll explain it to Senior Feng Lingcan.”
“Are you stupid? Now’s the perfect time to pursue him!” Senior Jiang Yan knocked me on the head.
I immediately covered my head, “I’ll let Mo Ming bite you!”
He paused and looked around, “Right, where is that dog? Haven’t seen him. This isn’t like him… Hmm… something’s off.”
I watched him anxiously search for Mo Ming, and I muttered in my heart, I knew it, I knew he was interested in Mo Ming.
