Lin Yun took a look at the oncoming figure.
It was her. Nangong Qing'er. The academy's little beauty. Her face, usually bright and charming, was pale with worry. Her large eyes immediately found him, scanning his torn, bloodstained robes, the soot on his face. She gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.
Behind her, another figure stepped into the doorway, moving with a much more deliberate and calm pace.
Ji Xuan.
The young master of the prestigious Ji Clan was handsome, with sharp features and an air of innate superiority. His robes were of fine silk, embroidered with subtle clan insignias. He surveyed the destroyed room with a cool, almost detached curiosity, his hands clasped neatly behind his back.
But Lin Yun, with the heightened perception of someone who had just cheated death and was now operating on pure adrenaline, caught it. The micro-expression that flickered across Ji Xuan's face the moment their eyes met. It wasn't concern. It wasn't curiosity.
It was a split-second of pure, unadulterated surprise. A sharp, almost imperceptible narrowing of the eyes before his face smoothed back into a mask of neutral observation.
He didn't expect to see me standing, Lin Yun thought, the coldness in his gut intensifying.
More students crowded behind Ji Xuan, their faces a mix of shock, morbid curiosity, and whispers. Classmates.
"Look at this mess!"
"He actually blew up a cauldron?"
"Is he insane? Trying something so dangerous?"
"Idiot. Probably bit off more than he could chew."
Through the flood of the original Lin Yun's memories, the dynamics became clear.
Nangong Qing'er, for reasons unknown, had always been kind to Lin Yun. She herself came from the Nangong Clan, one of the seven major clans just like the Lin Clan. Their clans weren't even that close.
Similarly, Ji Xuan, proud and born into the Ji Clan, had never openly bullied him, but had never acknowledged him either.
They moved in different circles. Yet, Ji Xuan was often seen near Qing'er. The original Lin Yun, naive and focused on his cultivation, had never thought much of it.
But the new Lin Yun saw it all with fresh, cynical eyes. A love triangle? A perceived rivalry? A simple case of a noble young master eliminating a piece of trash that dared to receive attention from a beauty he fancied? It was a cliché, but clichés existed for a reason.
His instincts screamed. These two were at the center of this. The concerned beauty and the handsome young master. A perfect facade.
"I'm fine," Lin Yun said, his voice quieter and rougher than he intended. He took a subtle step back, avoiding Nangong Qing'er's reaching hand. The gesture felt overly familiar, and right now, every interaction felt like a potential trap.
"Fine? How can you be fine?" Nangong Qing'er insisted, her brow furrowed with genuine-seeming worry. "You're covered in blood! The cauldron exploded! This is serious! Come, let me take you to get help."
She moved to grab his arm, her grip surprisingly firm.
Lin Yun gently but firmly pulled his arm back. "It looks worse than it is. Just superficial wounds. I must have been lucky."
He forced a weak, embarrassed smile onto his face, perfectly mimicking the expression of a clumsy student who had a narrow escape. "I'm just... so embarrassed. I don't know what went wrong. I must have added the ingredients in the wrong order."
He watched them closely as he said it. Ji Xuan's expression didn't change. Nangong Qing'er's worry remained.
"See? I told you he was reckless," one of the students behind Ji Xuan sneered.
"Please, let the alchemy masters handle the investigation," Lin Yun said, spreading his hands to indicate the mess. "I need to... clean this up. I need to report this to the academy elders. I'll go see a physician after I've given my statement. Thank you for your concern, Young Miss Nangong."
He used the polite titles, creating distance. He needed them to leave. He needed to be alone with the crime scene and his system.
Nangong Qing'er looked like she wanted to argue further, her lips forming a slight pout. But Ji Xuan spoke for the first time, his voice smooth and cultured.
"If Young Master Lin insists he is well, then we should respect his wishes. The academy elders will indeed need a report. Come, Qing'er. Let's not crowd him."
His tone was reasonable, but his eyes held a faint, dismissive coolness as they swept over Lin Yun one last time. He placed a light, proprietary hand on Nangong Qing'er's elbow to guide her away.
She reluctantly allowed herself to be led, casting one last worried glance over her shoulder at Lin Yun before the group filed out, their whispers fading down the corridor.
The door swung shut, leaving Lin Yun alone once more in the silent, devastated room.
The weak, embarrassed smile vanished from his face, replaced by an icy calm.
He looked down at the cauldron fragment, at the system's analysis still glowing faintly in his mind's eye.
Powdered Crimson-jaw Ant Mandible.
He had found the bug in the code. Now, he needed to find the hacker.
"Heh. It seems the story cannot progress without a classic young master plot, huh?" Lin Yun chuckled to himself.
Without thinking further, Lin Yun slowly cleaned the mess up. There was no point in keeping these things as evidence. Since the mastermind decided to do this, he or she must be prepared for the investigation.
Moreover, the trace of Crimson-jaw Ant Mandible was so faint that only a system-born-from-a-game could detect it. To any master inspecting the scene, it would simply look like the tragic, clumsy failure of a talentless student. The saboteur had counted on that.
Lin Yun simply didn't want to waste time on this.
However, this grudge would definitely be pay back one day…
With a sigh that was only half-feigned, he began the tedious work. He gathered the larger fragments of the cauldron, stacking them in a corner.
He swept the scorched and useless herbs into a pile for disposal. His body ached with every movement, a constant reminder of his mortality and how close he had come to losing this new life before it even began.
Finally, when the room was in a state of less chaotic disarray, he left. ..