Volume Two: The Boy of a Thousand Faces, Reality and Illusion Chapter Fifty-Six: Xiao Linghuo and the Sunflower Seeds

The leopard was sent flying by Huo Ye’s kick, slamming into the city wall with a burst of dust, embedded directly into the stonework. Huo Ye turned to glance at the four student council members who had just arrived, then at the leopard, who would need a few more seconds before it could move again. Heh, trying to play tricks with me?

He sheathed his long blade, crossed his arms, and simply stood where he was, making no further move. The wind whipped at the tails of his coat, causing them to flutter wildly. He closed his eyes, the very image of a master atop the Forbidden City.

The three who had been watching from the sidelines were baffled. The fight wasn’t over yet—why was he posing like some lone, invincible swordsman?

Yet Hua Xialan strode up to Huo Ye without hesitation and swung her palm at the back of his head. Her hand passed right through him, his figure rippling and dissolving like a reflection in water.

The four student council members had only just arrived and hadn’t witnessed the thousand-fold phantom technique before. They were astonished—so Huo Ye could do this as well? But… where was he now?

When a person vanishes into a phantom, naturally, the next step is to look for the real body. But before the three could even begin searching, a voice called out, “Hey, pfft, presidents, pfft, isn’t this a bit underhanded?”

The three turned, and for a moment, words utterly failed them. There was Huo Ye, sitting cross-legged on the ground, a handful of sunflower seeds in his grasp, leisurely cracking them open while staring at Hua Xialan and the leopard, his expression clearly saying, “Aren’t you going to fight yet?”

What a rascal!

The four student council members felt utterly humiliated. Since we weren’t planning to intervene, you decided to sit back and watch the show too? And why do you even carry sunflower seeds around—does the space in your storage box mean so little to you?

Huo Ye had no other motive but to annoy them. He had no deep grudge against the leopard; it was just that the leopard had picked a fight with him, and since everyone seemed eager to see his true strength, he simply refused to give them what they wanted. Let them guess.

As for the so-called noble airs of being from a prominent family—in informal situations, that wasn’t worth as much as a handful of sunflower seeds, which, at least, were edible.

Hua Xialan looked at her empty palm, then at the leopard, who was dragging himself out of the wall. She suddenly felt like an exasperated older sister cleaning up after a mischievous younger brother—a feeling that was strangely pleasant.

Hua Xialan had lost her mother at a young age, and her father never remarried, leaving her childhood lonely and without playmates. She often wondered what it would be like to have a little brother or sister, or even cousins to keep her company, but it never happened.

So when she learned that Huo Ye was her cousin, she’d been thrilled—only to be told by the family that they couldn’t acknowledge each other. This was what frustrated her the most.

Still, she felt the need to assert her authority as an elder sister, and she shot Huo Ye a cold glare.

Huo Ye was momentarily bewildered. That look... he’d seen it before, hadn’t he? Wasn’t that the very look he’d give when his younger cousin made trouble as a child? What was she playing at?

The leopard howled, ready to fight Hua Xialan to the death. Huo Ye thought this guy was just like a stereotypical villain in movies—he couldn’t even beat Huo Ye, and now that a whole group of equally strong people had arrived, he still wanted to fight. A real tough guy! If it were Huo Ye, his first reaction would have been to run—better to live to fight another day.

And so, Hua Xialan and the leopard began their battle.

Huo Ye thought, after all, Hua Xialan had saved both him and Shangguan Yudie before, and unlike Huo Ye, she didn’t have any rapid healing abilities. If she actually got hurt because of his antics, he’d feel guilty. So he turned to the other three and said, “Hey, pfft, are you really going to let Senior Hua take on the fight alone? Pfft, aren’t you going to help?”

Huo Ye crunched his sunflower seeds, eyes wide with feigned innocence, as if to say, “It’s your responsibility. Why aren’t you stepping in?”

Xiao Linghuo finally understood why the Infernal Hall gritted their teeth whenever Huo Ye was mentioned. He seemed so proper on the surface, but when he got mischievous, he was unbearable. If you’re so capable, why didn’t you jump in earlier?

Qin Shiqian and Feng Wuming were equally exasperated. But Feng Wuming, a monk who had cultivated tranquility for years, was quickest to recover his composure. He pressed his palms together and said, “President Huo is right. I’ll join in—you three can just watch.”

“Go ahead,” Huo Ye replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as though Feng Wuming were his underling asking permission to fight.

Feng Wuming’s mouth twitched, but he turned and left.

With Hua Xialan and Feng Wuming joining forces, subduing the leopard was child’s play.

When Huo Ye finished his handful of seeds, Xiao Linghuo thought, finally, he’s done. Now, whenever he heard the sound of sunflower seeds being cracked, he’d think of Huo Ye’s infuriating grin—he’d probably get a headache every time for a long while.

But just as that thought crossed his mind, Huo Ye smacked his storage box and took out another handful of seeds.

Xiao Linghuo rubbed his temples and went off to calm himself.

Huo Ye achieved a new milestone: “Shadow of Annoyance x2,” successfully traumatizing both the president and vice president of the Infernal Hall.

Qin Shiqian, meanwhile, sat calmly beside Huo Ye and asked, “President Huo, do you know how these people died?”

Huo Ye replied, “My club hasn’t even been formed yet; calling me president is a bit premature. As for the cause of death, I’m not sure. That guy took out a transmitter, switched it on, and everyone died on the spot. It’s probably a means of silencing people within their organization. So, from the start, they must have planned for everyone except the bald man to die here in Bancroft. Any survivors probably won’t last long—there’s nothing to be gained by questioning them.” Speaking of business, Huo Ye stopped eating seeds.

Qin Shiqian said, “Is that so? Then it’s a good thing you stopped him. Otherwise, if our only lead escaped, Bancroft would have lost a lot of face.”

Huo Ye said, “About that lead—I know this man. He’s from a mercenary group called ‘Golden Toad.’ If mercenaries are involved, that means someone hired them, so our focus should be on their employer and what their specific mission was. I think the most likely targets are Night Rain Crow or Shangguan Yudie, since they’re the only ones known to have been attacked with clear intent.”

Qin Shiqian glanced at Huo Ye but said nothing.

As they spoke, the leopard had been subdued. Huo Ye was quite content; he wasn’t suited for these restrained battles. In the earlier fight, if he hadn’t needed to leave someone alive, he could have beheaded the leopard outright, no matter how tough he was, rather than just knocking him down.

Huo Ye stood, brushing the dust from his clothes. With everything settled, there was no reason to stay—the rest was student council business, and Night Rain Crow was still needed at the book signing.

Before leaving, Huo Ye walked up to Xiao Linghuo, handed him five pounds of sunflower seeds, and turned away with a flourish.

Xiao Linghuo watched Huo Ye’s retreating back, his mouth twitching, then squeezed the seeds in both hands, incinerating all five pounds in a flash.

From that day on, there was never a sunflower seed to be found in Xiao Linghuo’s home.

Huo Ye transformed back into Night Rain Crow and hurried to the central square.

Shangguan Yudie was curled up in a corner, hugging her knees, cheeks burning with a mix of excitement and shyness. She had always been troubled by her psychic abilities; the world appeared too transparent, and she could see through so many lies and betrayals. Over time, she stopped believing in people—only her family and the three close friends, including little Ye, earned her trust.

But Teacher Night Rain was different. Years ago, her powers had to be activated deliberately, so she didn’t know if she could read Night Rain Crow’s feelings. In the past two years, however, her empathy had become a passive ability, and upon meeting Night Rain Crow again, she found herself unable to sense any emotion from him—not even by reading his mind.

When the entire world is black and white, a person of dazzling color stands out all the more. Shangguan Yudie stared at her crystal brain, grinning foolishly. They say a woman’s pursuit of a man is as easy as lifting a veil—just wait and see.