Chapter 43: The Human Heart

Little Leopard Cat felt sullen after receiving Zhou Kai’s shameless threat, but she still looked at Meng Hao. “You said that you rushed forward afterward, so you shouldn’t have known that they were playing the Pen Spirit game. Why do you know this so clearly? How did you know that Shi Xueru led them?”

“Because I told him.”

Suddenly, a voice was heard, answering Little Leopard Cat’s question.

Zhou Kai looked over to see a girl.

She wasn’t old, she was wearing glasses, and her hair was in a ponytail. She looked rather delicate and pretty, but she was petite and her chest was flat.

Zhou Kai knew this girl, as she was the fourth person living in the dorm with Shi Xueru. She was Li Mengxiang, the girl who hadn’t played the game with them.

She looked very calm even though her classmates, who had been staying in the same dorm as her, had suffered vast changes. Two of them were dead, and one of them had gone crazy. This made Zhou Kai feel a little surprised.

Little Leopard Cat looked at her, her gaze flickering before she said, “You know about the Pen Spirit?”

Li Mengxiang replied faintly, “I’m not sure, but I felt the danger and also noticed the evil, deadly aura on Xueru and the others. I actually tried to persuade them, hoping that they would stop playing it. However, this instead made Xueru and the others play. I had no way of stopping them, so I could only inform Meng Hao and tell him that Xueru had completely fallen in love with him. Therefore, he could take her to a hotel room that night. Unfortunately, her fate had already been decided and Meng Hao arrived late.”

Meng Hao looked at Li Mengxiang, seeming a little dumbfounded.

In his eyes, this girl was more ordinary than Zhou Kai. She was also a student with good grades, morals, and health who was particularly fond of ancient books. Besides learning, she basically didn’t take part in any activities and she rarely talked to other people. She lived a particularly low-key life. Thus, he had deliberately enticed her and bribed her with an ancient book he had at home so that he could spy on Shi Xueru and keep tabs on the situation.

However, he hadn’t expected this ordinary girl to be extraordinary.

Little Leopard Cat started getting serious and asked, “May I know your name?”

Li Mengxiang answered, “I’m Li Mengxiang from the Li Family in Qingcheng.”

Little Leopard Cat suddenly came to a realization. “So you come from a family of physiognomists. No wonder.”

Li Mengxiang looked at Little Leopard Cat with a burning gaze. “You’re not human.”

Little Leopard Cat was speechless.

That doesn’t sound wrong, but how am I supposed to answer when you said that so suddenly? Are you looking for a fight?

“And you’re not an ordinary person. Did you guys come here to deal with the Pen Spirit?” Li Mengxiang looked at Zhou Kai, looking confused and surprised.

Even though she knew Zhou Kai, she had thought he was an ordinary man with nothing unusual about him after she had met him at the dorm.

However, now that she had seen Zhou Kai again, she could see that he had a terrifying power about him.

What kind of miracle could turn an ordinary man into a transcendent existence in such a short time? Li Mengxiang found this incomprehensible.

“No,” Zhou Kai said, decisively refusing her.

Li Mengxiang was stunned.

Meng Hao came back to his senses and looked at Zhou Kai suddenly. He said with a burning gaze, “Zhou Kai, can you deal with that Pen Spirit?”

Zhou Kai paused and shook his head before saying, “I’m not sure about that.”

Meng Hao said while clenching his teeth, “I’m begging you, brother. Find the Pen Spirit and kill it.”

Zhou Kai fell silent.

Meng Hao was a little annoyed. “Since you have the ability, can you help once for my sake? That spirit has killed two people and driven Xueru crazy.”

Zhou Kai looked at Meng Hao and suddenly asked, “Do you love Xueru?”

Meng Hao answered bitterly, “Am I not demonstrating my love? She’s the first woman I’ve ever set my heart on in my life.”

“In that case, can you take her with you when your father sends you abroad? Given her current state, she will definitely have no one to take care of her in the future. That’s when she will need you the most,” Zhou Kai added.

Meng Hao, who was stunned, couldn’t answer him for a moment.

His father had only arranged for him alone to go abroad.

Even if he could make arrangements for two people, he was afraid that his father wouldn’t be able to spend money on a crazy woman like Xueru.

“I… I can’t do that. She’s now…”

“She’s crazy, so you’re turning your back on her?”

“No, I’m not turning my back on her.”

“Then take her away.”

“But my father…”

“Then don’t leave. Stay for Xueru’s sake. Stay with her and help her recover.”

Meng Hao fell silent and asked himself silently what he should do.

He was truly scared now. That terrifying monster had become a shadow in his heart that he didn’t dare face a second time.

Going abroad was something he used to resist the most in the past. He had even said he would never go abroad. That was why he had entered a third-rate college like the Anyang Institute of Engineering.

However, he hadn’t opposed his father’s arrangements this time. He had not resisted in his heart either.

Upon seeing Meng Hao’s behavior, Zhou Kai laughed. “You don’t even care about that woman, yet you are asking me to fight against a terrifying anomaly for her sake. Is this where your dignity lies?”

Meng Hao quickly answered, “That’s not what I was thinking. I…”

“You what? You wanted me to kill the Pen Spirit, but have you ever considered that I might not be as good as the Pen Spirit and I might even get killed instead? It’s just a verbal agreement for you. You’ll be free and careless once you leave this place and go abroad. Even if you know I was killed and feel sad or sigh, I’ll slowly disappear from your memory over time and you’ll forget about me. You’ll also forget about Xueru. Xueru is the first girl you had a crush on, but she’s not the only one you’ve had a crush on. Tell me, am I right?” Zhou Kai sighed.

Meng Hao was left speechless.

Zhou Kai shook his head. “You’d better lead a carefree life abroad. Don’t spare a thought about anything else.”

As he said that, Zhou Kai signaled to Little Leopard Cat and they turned to leave.

He had come to console his good friend, who he’d been hoping was doing well.

After all, Zhou Kai hadn’t talked to many of his classmates in college. On the other hand, Meng Hao had relied on his bright personality and gentleness to let Zhou Kai approve of him.

However, Zhou Kai had come to many realizations now.

Humans always looked forward, but time would always erase even the best of feelings.

Naturally, even people who usually seemed nice would also have a dark, selfish side.

Since I’ve stepped into the mysterious world, I shouldn’t expect any more mundane feelings.

“Hold on. Are you guys leaving like this? This fierce spirit was injured by the Dharma artifact that I left behind and ran away. If we don’t eliminate it now, it might attack the entire school,” Li Mengxiang said quickly, trying to keep Zhou Kai there.

Without turning his head around, Zhou Kai walked and said, “Didn’t you learn this as a child? Call the police if you’re in trouble. If you encounter a fierce spirit, you’ll naturally go to the Analogous Department.”

“I’ll offer an Origin Fostering Pill.”

Zhou Kai stopped in his tracks and looked at Little Leopard Cat.

“What’s an Origin Fostering Pill used for?”

Little Leopard Cat said, “It’s a pill meant for elementary cultivators. I think it has a rather good tempering effect on the body.”

Zhou Kai looked at Li Mengxiang. “I want 100 of those.”

Li Mengxiang was speechless.