Chapter 870: The Truth?
“So… I cooperated with you to complete this scheme against that teaching assistant Yang Yuelan?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying I risked my life just to add an accident to Yang Yuelan’s experiment? Am I crazy?” Shi Ruizhi coldly questioned.
“I’m not saying that I wanted you to experience such an accident. To be honest, you should have died in this experiment. However… the Academy Head is quite skilled; you are surprisingly still alive. The cost… merely a fire? Hehe…”
“So… you deceived me and used me? Did I have some deep-seated hatred with you?” Shi Ruizhi angrily demanded.
“No… in this layout, you were just an unlucky pawn. This isn’t about hatred. Even I am just taking the blame… I had to do this; I had no choice. In fact… neither do you.”
“So… you kissed me just to tell me a truth you can’t even prove?” Shi Ruizhi looked at the familiar yet strange girl before her with disgust.
Her light words… ultimately destroyed her life! Even… without evidence.
But… the matter would only whisper in her ears for the rest of her life, continuously questioning her heart!
And she had no way out!
Unless the truth is revealed, but how could that be possible?
“I think… you really don’t want this matter to be exposed? If Yang Yuelan finds out you’re also an accomplice and you’ve spent the compensation lavishly, do you think your life after the Witch Academy will still be stable?”
“Are you threatening me?” Shi Ruizhi furrowed her brows.
At that moment, she realized she underestimated the other party’s limits. Even without evidence, as long as Ji An spills the beans, Yang Yuelan might let her go!
The other party might choose to believe she was innocent, but can she bet on that?
She can’t afford to.
“Threaten? Ah, ah… I’m already a dead person; even if the Witch Academy spares me, many people want me dead.”
“…” Shi Ruizhi stared at Ji An, feeling confused about why the person before her chose to accept this meticulously arranged death after breaking down.
But this was not the time to think for others.
“Then what do you want? After saying so much, it couldn’t possibly just be for fun.”
“Of course not…” Ji An spoke, “I hope… you will join our family’s influence.”
“Join your family?” Shi Ruizhi frowned, unsure of the situation, “Why? Is threatening me just to make me join your family? I don’t think I am one of those outstanding talents worth the family’s attention.”
“For your self-generated magic power… Although your experiment failed, being rescued made it successful in you, right?”
“You know about this?”
“I know a lot, so I have to die. However… I still need to pull in a… not so talented genius like you with self-generated magic power is a perfect choice.”
“Why? Self-generated magic power… if this experiment continues, doesn’t everyone qualify to have it?” Shi Ruizhi asked in confusion.
“Naive… There are extraordinary witches who don’t want this experiment to succeed. Do you really think it will continue? You might be the first batch, but you could also be the last batch.”
“……”
Shi Ruizhi felt somewhat confused; this matter was a bit too complex for her. Just from the current viewpoint, it involved families, student influences, and even elderly mentors’ interference…
Just as Ji An said, she might have no choice.
If she doesn’t join the family, and the family blocks this matter, then she’s sorry, but if she joins the family… she still has to face that teaching assistant’s targeting!
Moreover, it’s clear the family possesses a great tolerance for her self-generated magic power, although… she’s unclear why.
If the family wants the self-generated magic power, it should be quite simple.
She was unclear about too many things, but now… she had to make a choice that would determine her life’s path.
“Have you made your choice? Although you actually have no choice…”
“In fact, I can give you a guarantee; if you join the family, they will protect you.”
“Ah… hehe… Ji An.” After a long silence, Shi Ruizhi suddenly spoke.
“What? Have you made a decision?”
“It’s you who has no choice… We are different, because I have the right to choose to let the fish escape the net. Yes, I lost my memory; I remember nothing. I believe that teaching assistant Yang Yuelan would be very willing to know the truth…”
“Am I crazy? Are you crazy too?” Hearing this former completely different statement from Shi Ruizhi, Ji An felt a bit uneasy.
“Although I haven’t interacted with Yang Yuelan much, just that one meeting in the medical room, I think she is a very reasonable person… So guess what? If I bring the truth to her to apologize, will she accept it?” Saying this, Shi Ruizhi didn’t give Ji An a chance to interject and continued.
“This way, I can feel a bit better. If I really do this, just because she is such a big shot… she wouldn’t make things difficult for a small person like me…”
At this point, Shi Ruizhi’s expression brightened as though the previous gloom had dissipated. Maybe this is the charm of choice; perhaps one choice could lead to countless regrets, while another choice could allow oneself to achieve peace of mind.
But… in the end, Shi Ruizhi didn’t dare to be certain if what she said was true; she just didn’t want to fall into the other party’s rhythm.
“You! You…”
Ji An looked at Shi Ruizhi’s nonchalant attitude and felt very uncomfortable.
Being honest and cooperative could be a killer move; she knew… whether the person in front of her was truly an accomplice. So she had to be more perceptive.
That Yang Yuelan was also a madwoman. Shi Ruizhi, as the “victim” of this experiment, might not care about this matter.
“Put away your petty calculations; wouldn’t it be better to quietly wait for your outcome? The self-generated magic power… having one more or one less doesn’t significantly affect your family, right? Do you really need to pull me into this whirlpool?”
“……”
“Let’s part ways here; just treat this conversation as if it never happened.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Why not? You wouldn’t want me to perish along with the fish, would you? I have my bottom line. Perhaps doing so will indeed keep me from returning to a normal life, but your loss would certainly be greater. In the means of letting everyone have a hard time, I’m also not inferior to you.”
“……”
Even if you don’t think of yourself… should you think of the people in your family?
Shi Ruizhi had taken the gamble of being Ji An’s pawn; if she wins… at least it wouldn’t make things worse.
After Shi Ruizhi finished speaking, there was only silence left. Ji An was calculating, and Shi Ruizhi was gambling.
Everything had now settled into a stalemate, and both sides lacked the chips to make a decisive move to break the current deadlock.
Until… all the students at the Witch Academy suddenly received a notice from the academy.
It wasn’t the kind of notification that lay idle on the Academy System announcement board; rather, it was a pop-up announcement!
Shi Ruizhi opened the notification with consciousness, and just from the title, she could discern the general contents.
It was the investigation announcement regarding the self-generated magic power experiment accident.
Ji An naturally also received this notice.
Upon seeing the title, her eyes immediately lost their luster for continuing to tangle with Shi Ruizhi.
This was a trial for her, as well as a formal conviction.
Moreover, it was a characterization of this event.
Ji An, feeling defeated, opened the detailed content… even though her vision was a bit blurry, she saw her name appearing repeatedly on there.
Ji An slumped down on the rooftop.
“You can go… you won.”
Ji An no longer had the heart to continue entangling with Shi Ruizhi over this matter.
After all, this was just Ji An’s struggle, but clearly, it was of no use.
“I haven’t won…” Shi Ruizhi took a breath. The other party’s voluntary withdrawal was also a good thing for her?
Yet she had no intention of leaving.
Quickly, with network roots locking her, Ji An was already being monitored.
According to the announcement just now, Ji An was now considered “wanted,” meaning at this point, her confession would be of no use.
She could only comply and be taken away, then wait for the academy’s judgment.
Soon, bright red warning signs hovered around Ji An’s body, and a massive beam of light shot up from the rooftop. At this point, there was no way for Ji An to escape, or rather, she had no more thoughts of running away, only waiting for the Wei Ji Team to take her away.
“Are you not leaving…” After not knowing how long, Ji An raised her head only to find Shi Ruizhi hadn’t left.
“I… am not leaving.” Shi Ruizhi let out a sigh, but to say she wasn’t afraid would be a lie.
“I’m planning to live my life more peacefully from now on.”
After Shi Ruizhi spoke this sentence, it was as if her mindset truly changed. She looked up towards the distant figures of the Wei Ji Team riding their brooms, and even her gaze towards them turned calm.
“In the end… you still chose to perish together… what’s the meaning of this…”
“But to me, this isn’t a perish together; the outcome is destined… but I have to thank you for telling me the truth…”
Just after Shi Ruizhi said this, before the Wei Ji Team arrived, a third figure appeared here.
“Yue…? How did you get here?!”
Shi Ruizhi widened her eyes in disbelief! She clearly left a mark for Yue earlier!
“I came right after you left.”
“So… you already know… about me…” Shi Ruizhi was shocked in the sunlight, fearing that she knew what kind of path she had chosen, but when she truly faced all this, reality was always so unexpected.
“No need to explain; I saw everything. By the way… let me reintroduce myself,”
“You can call me Yang Yuelan.”
What… what?!
Shi Ruizhi’s eyes widened incredulously at the figure before her.
She couldn’t discern the previous connection they had with this figure.
You… you are really Yang Yuelan?!
No, I’m busy now; this… is just my clone.
Clone…?
Upon hearing this answer, Shi Ruizhi fell silent.
As expected, that Yang Yuelan, as a teaching assistant, couldn’t possibly lack skills.
But she still couldn’t imagine how someone like her used clones to guide her and play with her day in and day out…
At this moment, I walked up to Ji An, thinking of her, who seemed like… a pet of the family at this moment.
I must say, you’ve shown me your loyalty, but some things… you’ve taken for granted. From the very beginning, I knew the one targeting me would likely be another extraordinary one, but… I wouldn’t do anything reckless. In the end, only you would get hurt.
And your grievances… are nothing but your naïve fantasies.
Thinking, these matters are trivial to me; they’re not worth my time to deliberately handle.
After I finished speaking, the Wei Ji Team surrounded the area, hovering above the rooftop, quickly sealing it off.
Although the Wei Ji Team has a low presence in the Witch Academy, it does not mean their efficiency is low, as they are all graduates who have accumulated considerable strength.
“Control them all! Let none escape!” The Wei Ji Team quickly took control of the situation as soon as they arrived.
“Wait, capturing me… isn’t that overstepping? The wanted notice only mentioned Ji An.” I watched them trying to restrain both me and Shi Ruizhi and spoke up.
“So what? You’re with her; you could be an accomplice!”
“I am Yang Yuelan’s clone, so… are you sure?” I took out a business card, which was indeed my card.
This card is well-known among the special student groups in the Witch Academy.
Because it has but one purpose: to summon Yang Yuelan to come.
“You…” The girl at the head of the Wei Ji Team’s pupils contracted; she clearly recognized what this was.
“If you don’t want my true self to come and chat with you, I will do my part.”
“I spoke bluntly.
After all, my identity as a teaching assistant is there; the Wei Ji Team can certainly restrain me.
The Wei Ji Team is a place people from families are most fond of after graduation, as it holds real authority in enforcing school rules.
The Wei Ji Team came over quickly, hoping Ji An wouldn’t cause any trouble.
After all… those families wouldn’t want any damaging evidence against them to come out.
But clearly, their expectations fell flat.
They never expected I would intervene at the last moment.
“Yang Yuelan teaching assistant… are you stretching your hand too long?”
“I like that tone of yours. But isn’t your family’s reach just as long? Though I won’t count it against you, I wonder if we could negotiate; that one over there… don’t think of taking her away.”
“……”
This Wei Ji Team leader was clearly repressing her anger, but she indeed didn’t dare to unleash it. Given the current state, she couldn’t afford to provoke the teaching assistant named Yang Yuelan, even if just a clone.
“Please, the wanted criminal has been captured; you should have no reason to remain here.”
“After all, this matter is personally investigated by the Academy Head; would you want her to wait for so long?”
