Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5
You Xingluo agreed immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
Ji Qing suddenly found it rather boring.
All the suspicion he had built up seemed to collapse under the other’s straightforward response. However, one thing still caught Ji Qing’s attention: before leaving, You Xingluo waved to Shao Huayu.
Shao Huayu merely glanced away indifferently.
So they knew each other, but were not close? Ji Qing thought with some puzzlement. Judging from the interactions among the heirs of prominent families, Shao Huayu clearly held the central position. His background must be unusual.
The two of them soon arrived at the cafeteria.
Ji Qing pulled out his campus card with one hand, intending to find somewhere to eat first.
Although his future was completely uncertain, the system that should have been his golden finger had disappeared, and there was a prophet of unknown intentions beside him, he still had to eat properly.
Ji Qing could not help chuckling softly at the thought.
What a catastrophic opening.
“I thought the situation in Yancheng would be better than in Central City. I did not expect it to be the same here…” You Xingluo suddenly murmured.
“What do you mean?” Ji Qing asked as he turned back in confusion.
Following You Xingluo’s gaze, he noticed that a narrow corridor had mysteriously opened up in the crowded cafeteria.
Countless students were staring at them—or more precisely, at the nameplates on their chests.
When a few students met Ji Qing’s eyes, they immediately turned away in panic or hurriedly left the area.
Ji Qing calmly swept his gaze across the surroundings, forcing everyone who was watching them to retreat under his stare.
Only then did he remember that he had put on his nameplate only after arriving at the classroom earlier that morning because he found it troublesome.
“Let us go to the second floor,” Ji Qing said as he patted You Xingluo on the shoulder.
“All right,” You Xingluo replied.
The cafeteria of the Third Ability Academy had three floors, with an open central hall design.
The first floor contained traditional school food counters. The second floor consisted of contracted restaurant stalls. The third floor contained private dining rooms.
Ji Qing casually chose a seat in a corner.
He spun the receipt in his hand and asked You Xingluo in a suspicious tone, “Your face is probably quite famous, is it not?”
Ji Qing had just noticed the other members of Class S nearby, yet only the two of them had attracted such attention.
“Not really…” You Xingluo replied. “I have only appeared on television a few times. I do not have any other achievements. If anything, I feel like you people should be more eye-catching than I am.”
His gaze drifted to Ji Qing’s striking white hair.
Although people in the wasteland could have various hair colors, such distinctive features usually only appeared among high-ranking ability users.
Ordinary people mostly had black hair and black or brown eyes.
Ji Qing idly twirled a strand of hair and said calmly, “Fine. Let us assume that is the case.”
Perhaps he had been staring blankly for too long.
But Ji Qing certainly did not believe You Xingluo’s explanation completely.
An S-rank ability user, prophecy, appearances on television…
Rather than believing You Xingluo was an unknown nobody, Ji Qing might as well believe he himself was the First Emperor of Qin.
Ji Qing suddenly asked, “What exactly is your ability?”
You Xingluo grinned slyly.
“Hehe, curious now?”
He revealed a meaningful smile and said theatrically, “You are not the first person to be curious—but you certainly will not be the last.”
“Are you going to tell me or not?” Ji Qing asked expressionlessly.
His demeanor clearly implied: If you refuse, I will leave immediately.
“Can you not let me show off for a moment?” You Xingluo complained.
“We are not that close,” Ji Qing said bluntly.
“We will be in the future…” You Xingluo repeated helplessly, echoing the words he had spoken earlier in the classroom.
But he also knew that this statement would not ease Ji Qing’s vigilance.
So he abandoned his joking tone and spoke seriously.
“Prophecy has two forms: active prophecy and passive prophecy.”
“And I happen to be a prophet capable of both.”
“So it really was intentional, then?” Ji Qing said casually.
He had already suspected that repeatedly encountering You Xingluo could not possibly be coincidence.
Even their first meeting had occurred at a suspiciously precise moment—right after Ji Qing lost his memory.
No… actually—
At present, You Xingluo was the only person who had spoken with Ji Qing before his amnesia.
But that was not something Ji Qing could easily ask about.
Ji Qing felt even more frustrated.
“It really was not intentional!” You Xingluo shook his head vigorously.
“I appeared on the Dawn train entirely because of a prophecy I made.”
“Oh?” Ji Qing looked surprised.
“At the time, I was wondering whether I should attend school,” You Xingluo explained seriously.
“Originally, I did not plan to enroll at all. But when I interpreted the prophecy, the result was completely unexpected.”
“So I followed the prophecy’s guidance and boarded that train.”
“Was there something special about it?” Ji Qing asked curiously.
You Xingluo shook his head solemnly.
“I cannot explain it. The interpretation of that prophecy is extremely difficult. But I believe that meeting you is exactly what I hoped for.”
So even You Xingluo himself did not understand…
Ji Qing lowered his gaze, hiding the disappointment in his eyes.
He had hoped to obtain some valuable clues, but remaining in such complete ignorance made him feel irritated.
He even felt a faint urge to destroy something.
“Ji Qing, I hope you can trust me,” You Xingluo said seriously.
“I do not know what will happen in the future, nor do I know how it will end. But my ability tells me that our relationship will be very good.”
“I do not want to be left behind by you… but it seems you do not need me.”
The final sentence carried a trace of melancholy.
Perhaps he was recalling what had happened on the train.
At that time, Ji Qing did not need You Xingluo.
And now, Ji Qing still did not.
“I cannot predict how the future will unfold,” Ji Qing said as calmly as possible.
The events of the past few days had already made him somewhat irritable.
After all, according to Ji Qing’s memory, he had still been enjoying his summer vacation at home just a few days ago.
Then suddenly he transmigrated.
Then suddenly he was bound to a manga system.
The most absurd part was that the manga system did not even realize he was a transmigrator.
Perhaps he should reveal some information about himself to the system…
In this completely unknown wasteland world, only he and the system formed the most unbreakable alliance.
“I am sorry. I cannot do that,” Ji Qing said with a self-mocking smile. “Our relationship is not that close.”
“It will be in the future,” You Xingluo replied weakly.
“Then let us discuss it when the future arrives.”
Ji Qing firmly ended the conversation.
Pretending to remain calm, he stood up and waved.
“I will go check whether my food is ready. I will be back shortly.”
Without waiting for You Xingluo’s reply, Ji Qing walked away.
He felt that both of them needed time to calm down.
Abilities in the wasteland world truly were mysterious…
Ji Qing pondered irritably.
But now he had another question—one that only the system could answer.
In the old version of the manga, there had been no train incident, and Ji Qing had not met the protagonist in advance.
Did that mean the previous version of You Xingluo had never enrolled in the academy?
There had to be an answer.
Ji Qing silently told himself that he should reveal the situation to the system after all.
One more ally meant one more source of support.
Ji Qing did not dare trust You Xingluo because there was no shared interest between them.
But he trusted the system because it had laid out the advantages and disadvantages clearly from the beginning.
Their alliance was built on mutual benefit.
As long as Ji Qing helped the system stabilize the manga world, the system would remain his steadfast ally.
And the task itself also benefited Ji Qing.
He had no reason not to trust it.
When Ji Qing returned with his tray, You Xingluo had already begun eating.
Ji Qing glanced around the room and quickly realized that the earlier disturbance had indeed been caused by You Xingluo.
“Appeared on television a few times… huh,” Ji Qing laughed softly.
This person could truly twist the truth.
The two of them silently avoided mentioning the earlier conversation.
After finishing lunch, Ji Qing picked up his tray and walked toward the utensil return station.
To avoid causing another disturbance, he also took You Xingluo’s tray with him.
“You stay here and wait for me,” Ji Qing ordered.
“Hey, hey. You are clearly blaming me for this,” You Xingluo protested unwillingly. “Everything I said was the truth. Who would have thought it would cause this situation?”
“Then why were you on television in the first place?” Ji Qing asked.
“Well… I predicted a few Black Tide outbreaks…” You Xingluo scratched his head awkwardly. “But I thought young people nowadays would not pay attention to such news…”
The Black Tide referred to the phenomenon in which Aberrants surged forward like a tidal wave during large-scale uprisings.
Since the Federation was established, dozens of Black Tides had occurred.
Every city caught in one had suffered enormous casualties.
In the manga, Xie Chang’an once said that his parents had died during a Black Tide.
Was that really something trivial enough to avoid mentioning?
Ji Qing replied coldly, “Fine. Sit here and wait for me.”
He carried the trays away, once again leaving You Xingluo alone.
Ji Qing sighed inwardly.
Perhaps he still needed to remain more cautious.
But now he was also worried about the upcoming team competition.
The system had mentioned that “Ji Qing would shine brilliantly during the freshman team competition.”
But a team competition meant multiple teammates.
Where exactly had “he” found those teammates?
The more Ji Qing thought about it, the stranger it felt.
He returned the utensils with a heavy expression before quickly walking back to You Xingluo and heading toward the stairs to the second floor.
You Xingluo noticed Ji Qing’s unusual mood.
He hurried after him and clasped his hands together apologetically.
“All right, all right. My mistake. I was worried that mentioning it earlier would make you uncomfortable. I did not expect it to make things worse…”
His tone was full of helplessness.
“That is not the reason,” Ji Qing interrupted.
In truth, Ji Qing did not find You Xingluo’s behavior particularly suspicious.
Although intentionally hiding information could reduce his favorability somewhat, their relationship was not close to begin with.
When people were not close, hiding things from each other was perfectly normal.
“I was thinking about something else…”
Ji Qing stopped mid-sentence.
He frowned as he noticed students suddenly running toward the second-floor railing corridor.
Something had clearly happened in the first-floor hall.
“Could it be another Class S student?” Ji Qing asked.
Following the flow of people, he quickly moved toward the corridor.
Looking down into the first-floor hall, he saw Xie Chang’an and Song Xiaoran standing face-to-face.
Song Xiaoran still looked blank and distracted.
But Xie Chang’an appeared extremely agitated.
He grabbed Song Xiaoran’s arm and demanded angrily,
“Have you really forgotten the orphanage… and forgotten me?”