NOVEL NEXT 47
Chapter 47
Two flowers bloom, each showing its own branch.
Lu Xi’s life suddenly changed, causing him to be busy and preoccupied these days, and he temporarily couldn’t spare time for his old friends.
But as Lu Xi’s close confidant, Gu Qing naturally wouldn’t forget to pay attention to him.
“This is so damn cool.”
Gu Qing whistled at the screen.
The communicator in his hand was playing a video with a title that could only be described as sensational.
The titles ranged from “The Strongest and Most Gentle Male Zerg in History” to “Shocking the World: Top Male zerg Emerges,” and so on. Every month, there were over a dozen of the “strongest male zergs in history” and “once-in-five-thousand-year male leaders” in the zerg race.
Gu Qing was used to it.
But since Lu Xi was his good friend, he clicked on it anyway.
On the screen, a black-haired, red-eyed zerg sat on a roadside chair, tilting his head back to look at the branches.
The surrounding zergs were noisy, but he was extremely quiet, as if he were not in the center of the whirlwind, just lost in thought.
A little head peeked out from beside Gu Qing, looking at his communicator.
This was Gu Qing’s younger brother, who looked at the communicator in puzzlement and asked, “Why is he just sitting there by himself? Everyone is surrounding him, and he’s sulking by himself.”
Gu Qing made a disapproving noise. “He’s not sulking, just lost in thought. What could make him angry anyway?”
“Clearly there is,” Gu Bai muttered, stubbornly saying, “If he’s not angry, why would he ignore the other zergs?”
Gu Qing instinctively said, “He’s a male zerg, of course, he would—”
But halfway through his sentence, Gu Qing stopped abruptly.
Gu Bai looked at him expectantly. “Huh?”
Gu Qing closed his mouth, looking at Gu Bai in astonishment.
Why did he feel like Lu Xi behaving like this was normal?
Would Lu Xi be that kind of zerg?
Gu Qing considered himself to have a keen sense of perception, and Lu Xi’s personality was easy to guess.
That handsome zerg, although not very talkative and with subtle expressions, seemed aloof but was actually very kind.
Kind enough to make newly acquainted zergs feel flattered.
Few zergs cared about the bodies of other zergs; they were accustomed to pain and saw it as necessary polishing, like zergs that were always in extremely clean environments were even less tolerant of bacteria.
But Lu Xi always carried various bandages and medicines with him. At first, everyone secretly sneered at him for being not only disabled but also too delicate to endure bumps and scrapes. Later, it was discovered that he rarely got injured, and most of those medicines were used on his classmates.
Would such a Lu Xi be too proud to approach female zergs? He even just rescued a female zerg.
Gu Bai watched his brother daydreaming and said with hands on hips, “You’re acting weird.”
Gu Qing’s mouth opened and closed, only then realizing where his unfamiliarity with Lu Xi came from.
In his mind, what was on the screen was “that top male zerg,” not “Lu Xi.”
Gu Qing placed a hand on Gu Bai’s shoulder and said solemnly, “Thank you.”
Gu Bai: “…?”
Gu Bai: “You’re so weird; I’m scared.”
Gu Qing obediently withdrew his hand. “Fine, go play elsewhere.”
Gu Bai finally relaxed. “As expected of you.”
Gu Qing, feeling embarrassed and angry, shooed Gu Bai away, then refocused his attention on the video.
He felt a bit relieved. If he had approached Lu Xi in such a state, Lu Xi would probably have avoided him altogether…
Thank goodness, thank goodness.
He scrolled down to the comment section, filled with the joyful screams of chickens and rabbits in the same cage.
As the likes soared, he wandered through various forum and video comment sections, feeling a sense of pride in being associated with his impressive friend.
But when he saw a certain post, his finger paused, and his brow furrowed.
“Xia Baiyuan… What’s going on?”
—
Lu Xi was completely unaware of the online news; he didn’t need to look to know what it was all about.
His toes were exhausted from building the luxurious villa day and night. Give them brothers a break, for heaven’s sake.
Today wasn’t a weekend, and Lu Xi had initially intended to fulfill his student duties and attend class. But under Xia Baiyuan’s earnest gaze, Lu Xi ultimately gave in.
Well, he knew he probably couldn’t do it now anyway. If he were caught, it would only cause trouble for the police in maintaining order.
Better not to cause trouble.
He could only let Xia Baiyuan go out to class and then idle at home.
“This is the daily life of a male zerg. You should get used to it now,” Xia Baiyuan winked at him before leaving. “Stop complaining, my esteemed male zerg.”
For some reason, Lu Xi was pleased by his last words and lay on the bed, shaking his legs contentedly.
But the good mood didn’t last long; the communicator beeped.
And then it beeped incessantly.
Lu Xi had already blocked all unfamiliar messages, so only a few could message him.
He reached for his phone and saw a message from Gu Qing.
[Gu Qing: !!!]
[Gu Qing: Big bro! Boss! Look at this!]
[Gu Qing: StarNet link]
[Gu Qing: What’s the deal with Xia Baiyuan?]
Lu Xi: ?
He clicked on the link, squinting his eyes as he read the title.
[Protect our best Lu Xi. Don’t let him continue to be deceived by shameless female zergs!]
It was an article twisting the truth.
For a lie to be convincing, it must be seven parts true and three parts false. Most of what this article said was true.
The other side somehow learned about Xia Baiyuan’s physical condition and the patterns on his body, and what they said was accurate.
This wasn’t surprising; Xia Baiyuan wasn’t born with any special status; he was just an ordinary female zerg. Although his female father had worked hard to protect him, he couldn’t erase all the traces he left behind.
What this article distorted was another matter.
It portrayed Xia Baiyuan as a female zerg who used his physical disability to gain sympathy from Lu Xi, claiming that Xia Baiyuan was a manipulative opportunist, a person who manipulates people everywhere, and Lu Xi happened to be an innocent little fish caught in his net.
Lu Xi unexpectedly rose to become a top male zerg, and Xia Baiyuan happened to benefit from it.
At the end of the article, the unnamed author expressed his righteous indignation, claiming that he only wanted to prevent Lu Xi from being deceived again, igniting the audience’s passion.
For a moment, online condemnation of Xia Baiyuan surged like a tidal wave.
——It has to be said, once it involves male zerg matters, the entire zerg race will lose its rationality in an instant. Even this level of reporting can incite so many zergs.
Lu Xi angrily pulled at his collar.
Before he could think about what to do, the communicator beeped again.
[Gu Qing: They’ve gone mad.]
[Gu Qing: They’re going after Xia Baiyuan!]
[Gu Qing: Live broadcast link.]
Lu Xi’s blood boiled with anger. With a gurgle, he jumped out of bed, grabbed his windbreaker, picked up his mask and hat, and rushed out.
There were still traces of Eric’s blood on the windbreaker.
—
【Inside the school】
Xia Baiyuan sensed something was wrong.
Since leaving home, everyone’s gaze had been fixed on him.
This didn’t seem like a problem; there were only a few people close to Lu Xi, so it was normal for them to pay attention to him.
But he soon heard strange whispers.
“That’s him, that’s him.”
“He looks so good but acts so cold, who would’ve thought he’s so scheming.”
“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“Let’s follow and see.”
“What if Lu Xi finds out?”
“Are you okay watching Lu Xi continue to be deceived?”
Xia Baiyuan furrowed his brow.
But he still entered the training room.
The moment he opened the door, the entire training room fell silent.
Those stretching, disassembling guns, and shooting… all zergs stopped their activities and stared straight at Xia Baiyuan.
There were expressions of resentment, jealousy, indifference, and disgust, among others.
Before Xia Baiyuan could react, a red-haired figure suddenly appeared beside him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a compartment.
It was Di Yan.
“Why didn’t you answer the call?!”
Di Yan slammed the door shut, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hair. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”
If it weren’t for the ban on female zergs approaching Lu Xi’s house now, he would have rushed over to find Xia Baiyuan long ago.
Xia Baiyuan took out his communicator and checked it. “Forgot to charge it.”
Di Yan felt like he needed oxygen immediately.
He was so angry that he couldn’t even speak. He took out his communicator from his pocket and slammed it into Xia Baiyuan’s arms, saying irritably, “Check it yourself.”
Xia Baiyuan glanced at him, then lowered his head to pick up the communicator and slide it open.
Silver strands of hair fell on his face, and the white light from the screen made his face appear even more delicate, giving his exquisite features a fragile illusion.
After a while, Xia Baiyuan put down the phone. “Is that all?”
Di Yan: “…”
He sneered, “What, were you hoping for the end of the universe?”
Xia Baiyuan tossed the communicator back to Di Yan. “Boring. Instead of wasting time on this, you should accumulate more points.”
Di Yan was momentarily stunned by his calm attitude, and his overheated brain gradually cooled down. Shaking his head, he said, “Indeed, these things are completely ineffective.”
Xia Baiyuan pulled the strap of his backpack and reached for the door of the compartment.
An annoyed voice came from behind Di Yan, “Who came up with this nonsense? Mixing a male and female zerg? Ridiculous.”
Xia Baiyuan’s hand paused imperceptibly in the air for a moment, but eventually he grasped the handle.
“Hmph, who knows.”
As the door opened, a dark figure suddenly lunged out and pounced towards Xia Baiyuan!
Xia Baiyuan’s steps faltered, and he raised his lowered gaze. A dark glint flickered in his azure eyes.
In the blink of an eye, he gracefully sidestepped, catching the assailant off guard, and the shadow flew past him.
“What…”
The shadow turned in astonishment, only to see Xia Baiyuan’s expressionless face.
—And his raised left hand.
With tremendous force, Xia Baiyuan’s hand gripped the assailant’s shoulder. In a whirlwind motion, the assailant was thrown forcefully onto the floor, landing on his back!
!!!
“Speak, what were you planning to do?”
Xia Baiyuan lifted his foot, firmly pressing down on the assailant’s shoulder, preventing him from flipping over.
He recognized the newcomer, a straightforward female zerg with good grades, but because of his straightforwardness, he often couldn’t discern the situation and was easily manipulated.
“Hmph… I’m not as good as you, I admit it!”
The female zerg snarled angrily, his voice squeezed from his throat, “Losing to a female zerg like you… it’s shameful!”
“Me?”
Xia Baiyuan ground his foot against his shoulder, contorting his face.
“Cheng Fang, I gave you advice a long time ago.”
“Bravery without strategy, lack of thoroughness in your actions, always one step behind others, always seen through at a glance, never able to find the right direction.” Xia Baiyuan released his foot and picked up the bag Cheng Fang had thrown earlier, brushing off the dust before slinging it onto his back. “I told you to think twice before acting, but you just don’t get it.”
Cheng Fang lay on the ground, limbs sprawled out, mouth agape, looking as absurd as a flipped-over chicken.
“You… you…”
“Oh right, I was the virtual combat assistant for your third-grade online classes.”
Cheng Fang: “…”
Damn.
Xia Baiyuan ignored him and walked towards the exit.
But after just a few steps, he stopped again.
Looking at the female zergs flooding into the training room, blocking the exit, Xia Baiyuan closed his eyes.
His luck was so terrible.