123: Chapter 93: Afraid of Being Loved, Yet Afraid of Having No One to Love!

123: Chapter 93: Afraid of Being Loved, Yet Afraid of Having No One to Love!

Tang Fei charged into the depths of the reed bed with the Xiu Xue Blade in hand, only to find it eerily empty; the Mechanic who had controlled the great snake had vanished without a trace.

“What does this mean?”

Tang Fei wondered in his mind.

“Another assessment from the Mechanical Department?”

But he had already registered and become a formal student of the Mechanical Department; what was the point of another assessment?

If it was not an assessment from the Mechanical Department, who else would use mechanical means to kill?

Tang Fei crouched down to check the area and found freshly crushed reeds with new cuts still oozing fresh juice.

The moist and loose soil by the lakeside bore human footprints.

Tang Fei measured them with his fingers; the footprints were quite large…

Tang Fei wanted to find traces of the Mechanic’s departure but soon realized there was nowhere to begin.

There were no footprints from fleeing.

This gave Tang Fei quite a headache.

Either the person’s abilities were astonishing, allowing them to fly on the wind, or they had high-end flying equipment that enabled them to leave without a trace of dirt.

An unseen enemy against an exposed self; this feeling of not knowing who the enemy was made Tang Fei very uncomfortable.

He had always preferred to remain hidden in the shadows.

Someone had stolen his spot…

Tang Fei re-sheathed the Xiu Xue Blade.

Normally, he was reluctant to use this blade, fearing he might accidentally damage it.

After the Dog Leg Knife broke, he had no other but to draw this one reluctantly.

Tang Fei cautiously returned to where the giant snake had been paralyzed.

He had counted: this great snake had one hundred and eight segments, neatly inlaid and intricately connected.

Swords could not slash through it, nor could axes cleave it.

Without any gaps or flaws, not even a single screw could be found on the entire snake which used an internal locking device.

After searching thoroughly, he turned up empty-handed.

As a machinery lover, Tang Fei could only describe the craftsmanship of this great snake as the work of Ghost Axe and Dragon.

The Mechanical Snake was no ordinary thing; it was likely the work of an Advanced Mechanic.

But why would an Advanced Mechanic go out of their way to trouble him, an insignificant person?

With Tang Fei’s limited experience, he knew that selling this great snake could net him a tidy sum.

But with such a big snake, how was he going to carry it back?

Tang Fei thought of Little Fatty…

Forget it, better to carry it himself.

Right now, Little Fatty was probably having a cozy chat while drinking tea with Dean Shang’s family.

If he called, Little Fatty wouldn’t say anything, but that old man Dean Shang would have an issue with him.

Tang Fei felt it; Dean Shang didn’t like him and even held some hostility towards him.

But wasn’t he quite adorable himself?

The old man had no taste.

Today you ignore my presence, tomorrow I’ll kneel before you, unable to get up.

I’ll show you I’m not one to be trifled with.

Dean Shang was Little Fatty’s master, and by rounding up, that made him his master as well.

Master and disciple bond could not be broken just because he wanted it to.

Not a chance.

After Phoenix left, he was determined to cling to Dean Shang, his “big leg.”

Tang Fei started dragging the Mechanical Snake and tested its weight; it was probably two to three hundred pounds.

Luckily, he was a Cultivator, and this weight posed no problem for him.

Except, it was both large and long…

Holding it made him seem a bit indecent.

So, Tang Fei hoisted it over his shoulder and wrapped it around his neck.

Hey, upon doing so…

It appeared even more indecent.

Of course, Tang Fei the Student didn’t have the burden of an idol image.

Considering the economic and research value it could bring, this minor image loss seemed insignificant.

Tang Fei walked through the campus with a black great snake on his shoulder, and every person he met pointed and discussed it.

“Look, that guy is the pride of the Old Land…

I’ve seen his videos…”

“Why is he carrying such a big snake?

Wow, it’s a Mechanical Snake…

Is he joining the Mechanical Department?”

“Impossible, right?

He’s already participated in the Ancient Martial Department’s assessment and even beat Qingping…

a dual-cultivator in literature and martial arts?”

“Where did this Mechanical Snake come from?

Looks a bit terrifying…”

“I don’t know, go and ask…

I dare not, that thing is too scary…”

——

Some people even raised their phones to take pictures and record videos; Tang Fei cooperated in time, gesturing with a scissors hand sign.

No one taught him this; it seemed innate.

He knew, at this moment, he looked like a Joker.

He hoped that while he appeared comical, he could still inspire a bit of fear.

——

Tang Fei carried the Mechanical Snake all the way to the school gate before he encountered another problem.

He didn’t have a car.

Previously, he had always been picked up and dropped off by Phoenix and had never considered the problem of transportation.

Now that Phoenix was off handling her own business, he was car-less and driver-less…

He couldn’t possibly carry this great snake all the way back, could he?

Would he get arrested for disturbing the city’s image?

Just then, he saw taxis flying by in front of him.

One after another.

He tried waving, but the taxis kept swooping past him, one after the other.

Two of them slowed down, but upon seeing the Mechanical Snake around his neck, they floored the accelerator, nearly flipping over…

No one wanted to give him a ride.

So Tang Fei with the great Mechanical Snake made his way to the patrol car at the school entrance and said, “Officer, I need to report a crime…”

“What crime?” The two on-duty police officers’ hands had already moved to their waist holstered submachine guns, looking at Tang Fei with a wary expression.

Had it not been for the student badge on his chest, they would have reacted even more aggressively.

“I’m lost,” said Tang Fei.

“I don’t know where my home is.”

“…”

Tang Fei was brought back by a police car.

He truly needed a police car, because the Mechanical Snake he had found was simply too large, and only the spacious and solid police vehicle could accommodate it.

Tang Fei dragged the Mechanical Snake out of the car, thanked the police officer, and warmly invited him, “Thanks for the ride home, Officer.

Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”

“No need.”

The police officer responded perfunctorily as the car sped away.

He seemed to be in a hurry.

Tang Fei didn’t mind, walked to his gate, then hoisted the Mechanical Snake into the house.

Now it was entirely his.

Tang Fei grabbed a Coke from the fridge, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp before remembering a very serious problem:

“Somebody wants to kill me.”

“Somebody wants to kill me.”

“Somebody wants to kill me.”

——-

What he could do now was to work hard to increase his strength.

Tang Fei then thought of the “Netherworld Scroll” he had been training tirelessly at night, which wasn’t suitable to practice in the room as he had already chopped up a table.

Exercising in the yard was too noisy, and he worried it would disturb the neighbors.

Tang Fei walked around the house and thought about converting the basement wine cellar and audio-visual room into a Training Room.

Renovating the Training Room required money…

He had no money.

He didn’t even have a bank card.

Plan aborted.

“Ding!”

Was it the system?

No, it was a notification on Tang Fei’s phone.

He picked it up to see a message—his personal account had received twenty million star coins.

“Twenty million?” Tang Fei’s eyes widened.

Who was so generous to give him twenty million star coins all at once?

And the timing of the money couldn’t have been better.

Just like receiving sleeping pills right when you’re about to sleep…

The transfer account was a string of unfamiliar numbers, which Tang Fei had never seen before.

Of course, nobody had ever transferred money to him before either.

He was both surprised and amazed now.

“Ding!”

His phone rang again.

This time it was a message from Phoenix: I’ve opened a bank account for you.

The password is eight zeros.

The one who cares about you the most is always silently supporting you from behind.

Tang Fei wanted to reply with a thank you, but after typing it out, he deleted it again.

It was too polite, so polite that it didn’t seem like him, and she didn’t seem like herself.

He wanted to say something else, but for the moment he didn’t know what.

So, Tang Fei closed his phone.

When you don’t know how to choose, the best choice is to escape.

If the house is stocked with grain, the heart is at ease.

With twenty million star coins in hand, Tang Fei suddenly felt that life was filled with substance.

He finished the Coke in the bottle, then walked outside—the Training Room must be built.

Starting today, right now, he was going out to spend money.

——-

“Transferred already?” Sheng Xinhua sat in the office chair holding a cup of “Classical Poetry Theories,” yet fixated on Phoenix sitting on the sofa.

“Transferred already,” Phoenix said, as if she had completed an important task, feeling much lighter in both body and mind.

“Twenty million star coins…” Sheng Xinhua looked up at the ceiling, feigning a pained expression, “Let me calculate how many years I’ll have to work…

My annual salary is six hundred thousand star coins, plus various bonuses and allowances, at most less than eight hundred thousand…

What’s twenty million divided by eighty?

Quick, do the math for me…”

“Twenty-five years,” Phoenix said.

“Twenty-five years, by then this old lady will be fading and sagging…”

Then, she looked at Phoenix with a flattering face, her voice dripping with sweetness, “Princess Xiu Xue, do you still need help warming your bed?

I can offer that too.”

“I don’t want you,” Phoenix rolled her eyes, “What would I need you for?”

“What for?

I can do anything.”

“…Could you not just blurt out anything that comes to mind?”

“Blurt out without a prelude?”

“…”

Sheng Xinhua stretched lazily, patted the book in her hand, and said, “Look at this book…

‘Classical Music Theory,’ ‘Art of Rhetoric,’ ‘Study of Song Lyrics,’ ‘Comprehensive Annotations of Er Ya’…

Dealing with these books all day, I feel like I’m about to grow mold…

Do you smell a musty scent on me?”

“No, I think you smell nice,” Phoenix shook her head.

“Why should people be so hard on themselves?

Do whatever makes you happy.

Work is already so dreary, won’t you let me indulge myself orally?

I’ll die, I really will die.”

“You’re a literature professor, all filled with dirty jokes, what if the students hear…”

“Will the students like me more?”

“…”

“Forget it, there’s no use talking about this with you,” Sheng Xinhua waved her hand dismissively, “Have you really kept your distance from him?”

“Yes,” Phoenix nodded, her voice soft, “I haven’t spoken out, but he seems to have understood already.”

“Your worries, aren’t they also his worries?” Sheng Xinhua sighed, “Having had close contact with him once, I have a little understanding of him…

He’s an extremely smart yet particularly sensitive guy…”

“Longing for friends, yet afraid to trust…”

“Fearful of being loved, yet afraid of having no one to love…”

“Right now, he might only have himself, right?”

Phoenix just felt an oppressive sadness in her heart.

She wanted to cry!