### Chapter 317. Three Rules【1/99】
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The next day, Chen Yao walked into the class with a face as dark as a stormy sky.
Lin Nan followed behind him with a poker face, stealing glances at Chen Yao’s sour expression and the faint handprint still lingering on his cheek. She couldn’t help but lower her head, feeling a bit guilty.
They found a row of empty seats and scooched together.
Chen Yao was still a bit dazed.
Last night, he had managed to hold Lin Nan’s hands tightly, so why had he suddenly received a punch and a slap out of nowhere in the dark?
Could it be that the place was haunted?
He grimaced and rubbed his cheek, the pain reminding him all too well that this was no dream.
Could it be that in his sleepy excitement, he mistook her wrist for a pillow or something?
And seriously, where did Lin Nan get that much strength?
He was utterly baffled, sneaking a look at Lin Nan’s ice-cold expression. He cautiously asked, “You’re not mad, are you?”
“Nope.”
Lin Nan shook her head but, with a guilty tone, asked, “Does it hurt?”
“…….”
Chen Yao was itching to say it hurt like hell! He never knew Lin Nan could slap him right off his bed, almost knocking his teeth out!
Where did all that muscle come from?
He was starting to suspect Lin Nan was just pretending to be weak all this time.
“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt.” He gingerly touched his swollen cheek and grinned, almost yelping from the pain.
There was still some ointment left from Lin Nan’s fall yesterday, which he had used, but it clearly wasn’t working. He’d have to hit up the nurse’s office for more medicine.
“Holy cr*p! Who beat you up?!” Tu Junhui waltzed in and plopped down beside Chen Yao, his eyes popping as he spotted the swollen cheek. “Who did this?! That’s some serious brutality!”
Chen Yao stayed silent.
Xiong Da furrowed his brows and asked, “Did you get into a fight with some punks outside?”
“d*mn it, who was it! I’ll go teach them a lesson!” Tu Junhui rolled up his sleeves, revealing arms thicker than Lin Nan’s thighs, cursing, “MLGB! Who dares hit my roommate? I’ll call Lin Yuan and the Big Dog! We’ll sort this out!”
Xiong Da wasn’t one for fighting. He pulled out his phone, his expression deadpan: “Why don’t we just call the police? If you didn’t fight back, we can get that guy locked up for a few days and maybe even get some money out of it. Fighting’s not exactly a great idea.”
Lin Nan buried her head on the desk, arms wrapped tight around herself.
One suggested revenge, the other suggested a legal approach, while Chen Yao stayed quiet, and Lin Nan felt super awkward.
After a long silence, Lin Nan finally whispered, “Um… I was the one who hit him.”
“???“
Tu Junhui stared in bewilderment at Lin Nan’s spindly arms and legs, then back at Chen Yao’s swollen face, struggling to wrap his mind around the idea that Lin Nan had the power to do that.
“Was it a shouting match?” Xiong Da scratched his head, puzzled.
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be…”
“Where did you get the strength to hit so hard?”
Lin Nan kept her head down. She couldn’t say it was because of magic that she slapped him, right?
And she wasn’t exactly great at controlling her magic, so the force had been a little too much… but in a moment of panic, she didn’t think it through.
She had been just as shocked when Chen Yao flew off the bed last night.
Chen Yao sighed helplessly, nodding. The swelling made his speech a bit unclear: “It’s my fault for pushing her too far.”
He groaned dramatically, “She sent me flying right off the bed…”
Tu Junhui and Xiong Da exchanged glances, completely unable to picture Lin Nan’s tiny fist packing such a punch.
Class started, and they quieted down. After a discreet exchange of glances, Tu Junhui and Chen Yao suddenly realized that during the past year and a half living with Lin Nan in the dorm, they had been walking a tightrope between life and d*ath.
After all, Lin Nan had endured their relentless teasing every single day—everything from her height to her looks, to gaming skills—he could pick on Lin Nan from any angle.
Thank goodness Lin Nan had a good temper. Otherwise, if she had slapped him too, he might have ended up six feet under.
“Nansan?” Tu Junhui cautiously altered his address for her, winking nervously, “I hope you didn’t hold a grudge over all the teasing from before!”
Lin Nan shot him a sideways glance, feeling grumpy, and just buried her face deeper into her arms.
In Tu Junhui’s eyes, she probably looked like some kind of fearsome dragon at this point.
“Nansan! From now on, whatever you say goes! If you tell me to go east, I won’t dare go west! I’ll even help you out with any art-related final exams!”
Tu Junhui slapped his chest with bravado. “Just don’t hit me! I may be chubby, but I can’t take your hits!”
“Stop fretting, you’re annoying.” Lin Nan rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look at him.
The Void Hand had already been unlocked, and she had experienced its power thanks to Chen Yao last night. If it weren’t for that magic, Lin Nan might’ve been done for.
Unfortunately, the other purification magic hadn’t unlocked yet. Initially, Lin Nan had made the first move, but halfway through, Chen Yao had flipped the tables on her, making her set alarms every half hour to wake herself up just to throw a purification spell to ensure no accidents happened and she didn’t end up drenched in her own mess.
This led to a sleepless night, and now she was dozing off on her desk after attendance was taken.
Chen Yao—well, he hadn’t slept a wink either because of the pain and now wore a sorrowful countenance, starting to contemplate the rest of his life.
No wonder Lin Nan had never fought; turns out she was afraid of accidentally killing someone!
If he wanted to guarantee his safety, he had to lay down some ground rules with Lin Nan.
So, gritting his teeth against the pain, he whispered to her, “Hitting people is bad.”
“I know.” Lin Nan nodded slightly, still with her head on the desk.
“From now on… don’t hit me anymore.” He forced a smile. “Let’s agree on this: we’ll talk things through first; no more hitting or kicking.”
Lin Nan felt awkward and shot him a glare, saying, “You pushed me to it! I said it was no go!”
Who knows what “no go” really meant when a woman says it in bed?
“If I make you angry again, just yell at me! Don’t hit…” Chen Yao gingerly touched his cheek again, flinching from the pain. “A few more of those, and I might actually kick the bucket.”
“Maybe you should take a day off and check in at the health center?”
“You have to promise me not to resort to violence! No matter how mad you get, you can’t! Otherwise, I’m not going to the health center today!”
“……” Naturally, Lin Nan nodded in agreement.
This new magic was primarily to deal with Lilith’s possible revenge, and it wouldn’t hurt to grab things from afar when she was alone! But her first outing in combat had been against Chen Yao.
The effect was outstanding; Lin Nan would definitely not back down from future fights.
Seeing Lin Nan agree, Chen Yao finally let out a sigh of relief.
Lin Nan still felt guilty, biting her lip, and asked, “How about I treat you to something nice for lunch to make it up to you?”
“I think I’ll be living on soup for the next few days…”
