Chapter 104: Emptiness and Animal Abilities (4300)

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Lu Mingfei was surprised at how calm he was—normally, if Chen Wenwen spoke softly to him, he would be completely flustered, not knowing where to put his hands or feet.

But at this moment, he felt as if he were split in two. One half of him was excited beyond control, his brain clouded by hormones, dopamine drowning out reason, his mind filled with thoughts like: Chen Wenwen came to talk to me, she thinks of me, I exist in her heart.

The other half—handling all the new information—remained unaffected. Whispers from people nearby reached his ears: Zhao Menghua, Su Xiaoqiang, Liu Miaomiao, Xu Yanyan, Xu Miaomiao, and many others who usually made him run errands for the slightest profit.

At this moment, they were all whispering, exchanging glances, gestures, and voices to convey their opinions. Their eyes and expressions formed a mountain—a mountain that seemed to crush the already downtrodden, making the hunchbacked seem even more broken.

Yet, strangely, the unfortunate Lu Mingfei seemed to see through these looks and hear these whispers as if they were nothing. A phrase from Liu Tian suddenly surfaced in his mind: Ability often shapes personality; the stronger your ability, the more dominant your character becomes.

The true strong do not pay attention to the weeds swaying by the roadside.

Now, Lu Mingfei knew he was strong—exceptionally strong, beyond ordinary men. He could, he would become even more assertive than before.

So the newly assertive Lu Mingfei stood up straight, his back stiffened after a long time. Standing just right, a head taller than Chen Wenwen, he didn’t need to move much to see everything clearly—the expressions of everyone around him.

“I’m fine,” Lu Mingfei said with a smile, the perfect curve gracing his lips, his gaze radiating admiration—as if born a master of emotional control, able to display any feeling at will, like an actor who had performed countless dramas, conveying his inner world to the audience with just a look.

“You feel strange,” Chen Wenwen said, her heart beating faster, a flush coloring her jade-like face, unable to meet Lu Mingfei’s eyes as she lowered her head. “It’s like you’ve become a different person.”

“Have I?” Lu Mingfei smiled faintly, asking in return. At the moment Chen Wenwen lowered her gaze, his dark eyes scanned the crowd. Everyone who met his gaze was stunned, as if struck by an invisible force, a kind of fear born instinctively causing them to retreat.

The world fell silent, leaving only the sound of breathing.

“President,” Lu Mingfei suddenly said, blunt and direct, leaving no room for retreat. Such decisiveness, such assertiveness—things the old unfortunate Lu Mingfei never dared to imagine. “I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

There were no flowers, no perfect music, but his words were powerful, each syllable a sincere confession from a boy staking his dignity and future.

The calm voice echoed in the now quiet world. Even those who had just realized they were intimidated by Lu Mingfei’s gaze closed their mouths, their eyes involuntarily drawn to the two.

No one understood why such a bombshell emerged on this otherwise ordinary day—how could the school’s known loser suddenly have such courage?

Silence lingered. Chen Wenwen raised her head, looking into Lu Mingfei’s resolute eyes—she knew this was no joke, no casual tease.

Time passed slowly; even the ticking of the clock on the wall was vividly audible.

Should she accept?

Perhaps the unexpected shock caused a thought never before contemplated to arise in Chen Wenwen’s mind, but she shook her head and slowly stepped back.

A crucial step.

Was this truly the outcome?

Having long sensed the ending from subtle gestures, Lu Mingfei bit his lip hard, his hand trembling uncontrollably—but it wasn’t enough; he had to continue!

Stepping forward, Lu Mingfei grasped Chen Wenwen’s retreating hand. “Tell me, tell me your answer.”

“Yes, there is an answer. Is there even a need to ask? The answer—I’m sure you already know,” Chen Wenwen stammered, trying to evade, to break free, but Lu Mingfei wouldn’t allow it. Instinctively, with only his hands, he subdued all her resistance without hurting her, trapping the girl like a dragonfly caught in a spider’s web, unable to escape.

This was a highly skilled martial arts technique, yet Lu Mingfei used it instinctively, and in his subtle movements, one could faintly see traces of Liu Tian.

“It’s necessary,” Lu Mingfei replied. “I want to hear the answer from your own mouth. Only then can I be certain, only then can I give up, only then will I have courage.”

“Lu Mingfei, you’re my friend. I don’t want to hurt you,” Chen Wenwen’s chaotic mind couldn’t fully grasp what it meant that a pair of hands could completely restrain her. Having made up her mind, she answered, “But since you want to hear it, I’ll tell you my answer—I already like someone else. I can’t be your girlfriend.”

“Is that so.” Lu Mingfei released her hand. A tear lingered at the corner of his eye. Though he had expected the answer, hearing it still caused pain.

But what followed was a calmness—a stillness like a deep well.

Whether unloved or unliked, because of this, only because of this, he now had the courage and resolve to verify that matter.

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There was no need to stay here any longer; he no longer wished to remain.

Lu Mingfei turned away, but immediately stopped, because a slender hand—one that shouldn’t have been able to stop him—grabbed the corner of his shirt.

“Min… Mingfei,” Chen Wenwen’s soft voice came from behind. “Can we… still be friends?”

“...” No answer. Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and asked back, “President, I have a question. Can you answer it? You knew I liked you all along, didn’t you?”

That one question—a fatal one—finally loosened Chen Wenwen’s grip. Nothing remained to stop Lu Mingfei from seeking the truth—whether he had always been trapped in a cage, whether he was just a fish on a chopping board.

Up to this moment, had everything about him been shaped by others’ intentions?

Lu Mingfei, now abandoning everything, was damn well determined to find that answer for the first half of his life!

...

It went smoothly, very smoothly. Perhaps Liu Tian had given a heads-up. Even though it was class time, Lu Mingfei left school without any trouble.

The proud guard of Shilan Middle School didn’t stop this skipping student. The stern dean even stepped aside for him.

Less than ten minutes after leaving the school, a new feeling—one he hadn’t had before—made him realize that a pair of searching eyes were fixed on his back.

He didn’t turn around; there was no need. He simply quickened his pace subtly. Soon, the follower entered his hearing range.

The street was bustling, car horns blaring, pedestrians stopping and going, hawkers crying out in layered shouts, the latest song playing from shop speakers. Yet no noise could block Lu Mingfei from hearing the low whispers of the watcher about eighty meters behind him.

Theoretically inaudible, yet as clear as if whispered in his ear—Lu Mingfei realized he had underestimated his own hearing ability. Maybe it wasn’t hearing in the usual sense, but something mysterious.

Perhaps this was the ability the Dragonblood mentioned by Brother Tian?

The thought flashed and vanished, and Lu Mingfei focused on eavesdropping.

“This is Papaya. Target with Execution Department file number 071721s has suddenly skipped school, currently being tracked. Please check for any family emergencies.”

“Mole received. After inquiry, the brother is at school, the uncle is at the mahjong parlor, the auntie is at the beauty salon. No family emergencies. Please continue monitoring and further investigate the cause.”

“Received.”

Clearly, the watcher was efficient and fast. Within a minute, new information came in.

“Confirmed: Target just confessed to crush Chen Wenwen and was rejected. Skipping school likely due to this. Please monitor the target’s emotions and actions closely to avoid chaos. Authorize lethal force if necessary per regulations.”

“Yes!”

The cold, merciless voice sounded as if the subject was not a living person but a string of data—file number 071721s.

Heh, heh, heh, number 071721s, the so-called target...

For some reason, Lu Mingfei suddenly wanted to laugh—wildly, recklessly.

But no, not yet. He still needed to confirm, to keep confirming.

So Lu Mingfei quickened his pace, hastened his steps home.

His home wasn’t far from Shilan Middle School. Normally a half-hour walk, but now he made it in just twenty minutes.

But the result made Lu Mingfei feel it would have been better not to come at all.

One, two, three, four, five...

Lu Mingfei silently counted how many eyes were watching him from the moment he stepped into the neighborhood until he entered his home. He had enough sensitivity to discern the difference between normal glances and surveillance.

Fifteen.

From neighborhood security to scavengers, property managers, water meter readers, even friendly neighbors nearby.

Each played their role perfectly, as if they truly were ordinary guards, scavengers, managers, or kind neighbors.

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For the first time, Lu Mingfei realized how important he was—important enough to warrant this many people conducting 24-hour surveillance on him.

Click.

Turning the key, opening the door, as usual, the ‘home’ was empty. At this hour, his auntie should be playing cards, his uncle wandering various upscale hotels, occasionally switching it up.

Relying on money sent by his father and mother, the uncle and auntie lived comfortably, spoiling Lu Mingfei’s younger brother, Lu Mingze, to the heavens.

Lu Mingfei had never found this improper before, even though it was his money, and even though most of what should have been his was spent on Lu Mingze attending a private prestigious high school, on a BMW that Lu Mingfei never touched, on some counterfeit luxury goods, and on mahjong tables.

Even though it was his money, his cousin Lu Mingze had the nickname “Ze Prince” at school, dressed more elegantly than him, competed to pay at gatherings, while Lu Mingfei was merely “Lu Mingze’s older brother.”

After all, what could a pitiful kid, whose own parents didn’t care, reasonably expect from the uncle and auntie who effectively adopted him?

But now, an anger surged within him—a fierce rage erupting from his soul.

It wasn’t that Lu Mingfei suddenly cared about the money, but a thought, never before conceived, forced itself into his mind: What I give you is yours; if I don’t give it, you can’t take it.

Yet, at once, a feeling—the constant sense of being watched and spied upon—calmed him down.

Even at home, could he not escape the gaze?

Then what the hell was he before?

Was he a half-blood of dragon and man? Did the parents in his memories truly exist? Were they really his biological parents?

A profound sadness welled up from his heart, a despair that everything he had known was denied and overturned. Lu Mingfei covered his face as tears fell through his fingers, streaming down to soak the floor.

Completely ignoring the surveillance, Lu Mingfei cried freely, sobbing as he walked into his room and eventually collapsed onto his bed.

He cried and cried, tears wetting his pillow and soaking his blanket, as if making up for all the tears he had never shed and all those he would shed in the future. He cried until his tears ran dry, until he could no longer cry.

At some point, the feeling of control faded, the sensation of being watched diminished.

Lu Mingfei knew he wasn’t yet free of surveillance, but he had returned to the image of the all-too-familiar loser, the one everyone could trample upon—but he no longer cared.

After crying all his tears, only laughter remained—a defiant, wild laugh—

“Ahahaha, ahahaha, ahahaha...” Though laughter, it was filled with sorrow. Liu Tian’s words suddenly echoed in Lu Mingfei’s mind.

Though the situations differed, Lu Mingfei now fully understood that darkness—the feeling of having everything denied, the emptiness as if he were nothing.

“Heehee…”

“Heeheeheehee…”

“Heeheeheeheehee…”

“Heeheeheeheeheehee…”

“Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee…”

In the small room, a chilling laugh completely replaced the previous sobbing.

While crying, a sensation returned to Lu Mingfei—that of perceiving every obstacle in the room. His skin gradually drew closer to his clothes, then slowly returned to normal.