Cruel laughs echoed in the poolside.
Brown eyes looked on in malicious satisfaction. A pale thin hand, far more powerful than it should be, kept the head of the person under the water. The person flailed their hands as their lungs slowly lost air.
The thin hand got hold of the person's hair and pulled it up.
A flushed, wet face was revealed. The bloodshot blue eyes looked at their assailant with a burning hatred.
"Don't look at me like I have wronged you," Ren Yin said with a cold sneer. "I told you before that you should stay away from brother Fei. That I didn't want the likes of very courageous to still persevere. You must take me as a joke."
The girl shivered from the cold, but her face still held unyielding pride. "Brother Fei and I are friends. I won't stop being friends with him just because you are a jealous bitch, Ren Yin."
Ren Yin sneered.
"You little whore, you have learned to talk back to your betters!" one of the girls behind Ren Yin, who was enjoying the scene, said.
She plunged Chu Ying's head into the pool waters again. The girl struggled against her hold.
Ren Yin motioned her to stop.
The girl pulled Chu Ying out again.
Chu Ying heaved. Her entire body was soaked and her white clothes became transparent.
Ren Yin sneered. "Look at you, drenched in water, exposing your body for all to see. You want to seduce my Brother Fei!"
She raised her hand to slap the girl.
A jade-like hand grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her back.
Ren Yin lost her footing and fell on her back.
"How dare you!" one of the girls shouted.
Ren Yin winced at the pain on her tailbone and looked at her assaultor.
Her eyes met with a pair of Phoenix eyes. "Cheng Xiu!"
Cheng Xiu sneered. "Classmate Ren Yin, I see that stealing people's ideas is not the most despicable thing about you."
"You!" Ren Yin tried to get up. But the tiled floor was slippery and she fell back down. "Ruo! Help me up!"
"Yes, Sister Yin!"
The girl who was drowning Chu Ying a minute back rushed to her side.
Cheng Xiu turned to the victim and observed her. Her body was shivering and her head was bowed, as if in shame.
There was something very familiar about the girl.
Cheng Xiu frowned. "What's your name?"
The girl looked at her with angry eyes. "Chu Ying! Why? do you want to know whether you should bother helping me or not?"
Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "You think too much. I just wanted to know your name. You are not from the Geoenergy Department?"
The girl hunched, as though protecting herself from an attack. "Mech Tech Department."
Cheng Xiu's eyes widened. "You are the one from C-City right? The one already enlisted in the Alliance Force?"
Chu Ying blinked at her in confusion. It was weird to find someone who knew her because of her achievements in this college. Most of them only cared about the fact that she came from the Capital, and that she was the pretty childhood friend of Brother Fei.
Chu Ying Reluctantly nodded. "I am."
Cheng Xiu looked at her with a soft smile.
Chu Ying fidgetted. Why did this girl look at her like she was looking at her Kin?
Cheng Xiu turned to Ren Yin with a cold smile. "So you do have a thing for bullying those who do better than you at something."
Ren Yin finally managed to stand on her feet without Ruo's help. She glared at the Qiless in front of her.
"Get lost, you useless Qiless! This is between me and her!"
Chu Ying looked at the girl in front of her in surprise. A Qiless! She had never really seen a Qiless before!
She observed the girl. Infact, she didn't look any different than those with it!
The only difference was, this girl was prettier than the Film actresses that she had seen in her life. There was an aura around her that made it seem like she was looking at an accomplished person who knew they were valuable than a Qiless.
Did Ren Yin make a mistake in identifying her?
Cheng Xiu pulled out her Fold from her backpack.
"What are you doing?" Ren Yin asked in panic.
"Reporting this incident to the AI System. In fact, there should have been a System interference already," Cheng Xiu said with a frown. She looked at Ren Yin. "Did you tamper with the System Interface?"
"The AI Grid of this building was damaged yesterday," Chu Ying said to her. Phoenix shaped eyes with deep black pupils looked her way. Chu Ying blushed. "That's why I was here. The teachers of our department said we are allowed to observe the Grids as long as we keep a distance from the mainframe. I thought the pool side was the best place because it's far from the poolside rage and everyone chose places closer to it. I ended up alone here."
Cheng Xiu raised an eyebrow. "The Grid being damaged was enough information."
"Oh."
Cheng Xiu looked at the blushing face and smiled. She then glared at Ren Yin who was glaring at Chu Ying.
Cheng Xiu activated her Fold.
"There can be no Penalty Bots here! The grid is damaged! Were you not listening?" Ren Yin informed her with a malicious smirk.
Everyone around her understood her intentions. This was a great opportunity. She could teach this arrogant Qiless her place and there would be no proof of what she did.
Cheng Xiu gave her a condescending look.
Ren Yin's face froze.
"The Penalty Bots are not controlled by the Grid. They have their own mainframe which is in the college Dean's office."
Ren Yin and her two lackeys shivered in fright and panicked.
"But…" Chu Ying said, her face twisting in unwillingness.
Cheng Xiu frowned at her. "What?"
"You are not a student of the Mathematics Department. Only students of this department can access such privileges."
Cheng Xiu wanted to hit her head somewhere. Was this girl stupid? Why would she give such information to people who was hurting her?
Ren Yin laughed coldly and walked towards the two girls. "Well, that's just convenient!"
Cheng Xiu sighed. She accessed her student profile through the Fold and put it on speaker. "Grant Access to Penalty Bots of the Mathematics Department."
'Access Granted' a mechanical voice said in the Fold. Everyone around her froze.
"You know what's more convenient, Ren Yin?" Cheng Xiu asked with a smirk. "My privilege as a scholarship holder."
Ren Yin looked at her Fold Device in shock. The other two girls looked at the Qiless girl in horror.
Chu Ying felt like her three world's view was just stamped over by elephants and then shit on it by mules.
Since when did Qiless become people who could access Scholarships? Were they not inferior and primitive people?
"As a scholarship holder, I am given power to access the Penalty Bots of any Department. After all, the college is spending resources on me, so they need to safeguard me."
Cheng Xiu tapped on the screen.
'Opening Complaint Form. Bot 626 is the closest Bot to you. Please report your Complaint,' the mechanical voice said.
"Sister Yin?" the Ruo girl called in fear.
Ren Yin gritted her teeth and was unwilling. "Cheng Xiu! Don't cause trouble unnecessarily!"
"Unnecessary? So should I ignore the fact that you were trying to drown a fellow student and raised your hands to hit her?" Cheng Xiu asked incredulously.
Ren Yin glared.
The other girl next to Cheng Xiu burst into tears.
Everyone looked at her in shock.
The girl ran towards Cheng Xiu, trying to hug the girl. Cheng Xiu dodged.
"What do you want?" Cheng Xiu asked with a sneer.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I was possessed to have done something like this! Rui was possessed! I'm sorry! Please don't complain! I will be ruined! My future will be destroyed!"
Cheng Xiu frowned. "Did you think of your future when you were bullying Classmate Chu?"
The girl turned to Chu Ying. "Classmate Chu! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for my part in your misery! Please!"
Ruo also came forward with tears in her eyes. She fell to her knees next to the Rui girl. "I'm sorry too. Please forgive us!"
Chu Ying looked at the crying girls at her feet who were on their knees and holding her feet. She then looked at Cheng Xiu.
"Miss…maybe…"
Cheng Xiu frowned. She looked at the crying girls. Her eyes then went to Chu Ying and Ren Yin, who was looking at her two lackeys in shock.
She relaxed. "Fellow student, what guarantee do you have that these people won't do the same despicable thing? Today it was trying to drown you. Tomorrow they will set you on fire if they get the chance. And just because they will leave you alone does not mean they won't do the same thing to other people. Be reasonable."
Chu Ying looked at crying girls with pity. "They are girls. If they are charged with bullying then their future will be ruined. I'm sure they have learnt their lesson."
"We have!" Ruo quickly said. "We have!"
Cheng Xiu looked at Ren Yin.
The Ren heiress snorted. "Since when are you Miss. Saviour? Didn't you let me take your idea, as you said?"
Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "I don't speak up when there are authorities present, Ren Yin. Ms Bo was there and she is a B Ranked employee of the college. Right now, in this room, I am the one with the greatest authority unlike this morning. You should know this as you w, ere so quick to kiss Ms Bo's ass."
"Whatever!" Ren Yin walked away.
Cheng Xiu looked at the crying girls and signed. "Leave before I change my mind and don't think that you are off the hook. Think of this as a Probationary period." The girls looked at her in confusion. Cheng Xiu slouched. "As a…grace period."
The two girls nodded and then scurried away.
Cheng Xiu turned to Chu Ying. "Your clothes are wet. I'll ask a friend of mine to bring you fresh ones."
"Thank you," Chu Ying said with a bow.
Cheng Xiu called Gu Shu and gave her the details. The Gu heiress was indignant and wanted to report Ren Yin and others. It took Cheng Xiu some time to actually get the girl to stop her ranting and get Come clothes.
Cheng Xiu observed the girl for some time. She had sat down during their conversation and was fiddling with a necklace that hung near her stomach.
"That's a long chain," Cheng Xiu commented.
Chu Ying nodded. "It was given to me by my Nanny before she died."
Cheng Xiu hemmed. "My friend is bringing your clothes."
"I heard."
Cheng Xiu stood there, unsure of what to talk about.
Chu Ying looked at the pretty girl in front of her. She still couldn't believe that she was a Qiless. It was a novelty she never thought she would witness.
"Are all Qiless like you?" Chu Ying asked.
Cheng Xiu stilled and then looked at the girl with a complicated look. "What do you mean?"
Chu Ying gave her puppy eyes. "The Capital is safe from Qiless people so I have never seen one before!"
Cheng Xiu glared. "What do you mean safe? Is being Qiless equal to being monsters?"
Chu Ying flinched. "That…um...my mother said…that…"
Cheng Xiu's aura changed to one of coldness. "Speak properly. What did she say?"
Chu Ying bowed her head. "That they are…murderers and…rapists…who covet…those with Qi."
Cheng Xiu glared at the bowed head. "Is that right?"
Chu Ying shook her head. "I-I just…the capital doesn't have Qiless, maybe that's why mom thought like that!"
"Who told you the Capital doesn't have Qiless?"
Chu Ying looked at her in horror. "They do?"
"What? Should people like me not be admitted to such places?"
Chu Ying shook her head. "I'm sorry. I…I guess I haven't met any Qiless so I thought so. Please forgive me!"
Cheng Xiu snorted. "Whatever."
Chu Ying felt her eyes sting at the dismissive expression on the girl's face. "I am sorry. And thank you for what you did! If it weren't for you, I might have even been dead! So thank you!"
Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "Ren Yin is the type to bully you if you bow your head even for a bit and show weakness. She only picks on the weak. That girl is too cowardly to be a murderer."
"Oh."
Cheng Xiu wondered what was taking Gu Shu so long.
"And thank you for letting those two girls go!" Chu Ying said.
"You were the one who was assailed. If you don't want to complain, what can I do? If I try to force the issue then I will be seen as someone who wants attention or something and if you denied it even happening where would I be? Wouldn't I just be someone who gave a false cry?"
"Oh."
Silence filled the space between them. Cheng Xiu kept staring at the deep bleeding water.
"I'm Chu Ying!" Chu Ying said to her after some time.
"I know. You said it before."
"I'm sorry for offending you!"
Cheng Xiu shrugged. "I get it. You were born sheltered. Heard all kinds of stories about the vicious, demented Qiless who are out to get those with Qi."
Chu Ying blushed. "Sorry."
"Just don't repeat it and we are fine."
Chu Ying nodded vigorously.
Silence fell again. Cheng Xiu wondered where Gu Shu was.
"So…what's your name?"
"Cheng Xiu."
Chu Ying nodded and then looked at her in shock. "Cheng…Cheng Xiu? The one who passed the entrance exam with a score of 9.9?"
"Mm."
Chu Ying stared in disbelief. It was one thing to find that Qiless were like normal people. Even finding out that a Qiless had a scholarship was stretching it, but understandable. But this…
To Chu Ying, this was the most unbelievable. A Qiless with a score of 9.9. There were many in the Capital who wanted to meet the "Hyper-Genius" as they called her. The officials only said that Cheng Xiu was from H-City and that she was a she. Nothing much was known.
It was Brother Fei who dug up some information on Cheng Xiu. The two of them had wanted to meet the Great One as they had started to call her.
They found out that Cheng Xiu was accepted as a student in St Andre's College. It confused them why the supposed Hyper-Genius would choose a college in H-City but brother Fei made a decision. That he would study at the same place as Cheng Xiu did to ensure that his future was set. After all, a person like Cheng Xiu deemed St Andre's as the path to take.
Chu Ying had followed brother Fei loyally.
And now she was sitting in front of hers and Brother Fei's idol wet and actually insulted her unknowingly.
Chu Ying's min a piece of news that she heard.
"But…"
Cheng Xiu raised an eyebrow, making her immortal face look even more devine.
Chu Ying blushed, and felt her heart beat faster.
"But what?"
Ch Ying pursed her lips.
Cheng Xiu sighed. "Just say what you want to say."
"But you have a DNA Profile!"
Cheng Xiu nodded, not understanding the problem. "Everyone does. It's my identity proof."
Chu Ying puffed her cheeks. "But…your Mental Power was ranked at S with the potential to grow to SS or even SSS!"
Cheng Xiu gave her an amused look. "I know. It's my Profile results. I know it better than you."
Chu Ying fell into a daze again. She looked at Cheng Xiu in horror. A Qiless with the mental capability of an S-Ranked. If she was so capable as a Qiless, then, if she had her Qi Center activated her potential would be…
Chu Ying couldn't even imagine what the threshold of her power would have been.
Chu Ying calmed down. Perhaps that's why she was Qiless. She was already so excellent. The Heavens felt that if she had Qi then she would be too powerful. Everyone needed a balance. And Cheng Xiu's Qiless status was how Heaven decided to control her fate.
Gu Shu came bursting through the door.
Cheng Xiu got up. "You took your sweet time, A'Shu."
Gu Shu handed a bag to Chu Ying.
Chu Ying peeked inside and looked up at Gu Shu in surprise. "These are my clothes."
Gu Shu smiled. "Or else? I asked one of your classmates and found out you were shorter than most girls. Whose clothing can I give you? I'm 5'4'' and Cheng Xiu is a bamboo stick that keeps growing in height. There was only so many options."
Cheng Xiu hit the back of her head. "Insulting your own best friend in front of others. Do you have no shame?"
Gu Shu rolled her eyes. She looked at Chu Ying. "Well, go on then. Change already."
Chu Ying blushed. "That…that is…"
Cheng Xiu looked towards Heaven, asking for inner strength. She grabbed Gu Shu by the elbow and dragged her towards the door. Gu Shu protested against this malicious treatment.
"Be quiet! Are you going to watch the girl change now?"
Gu Shu hugged Cheng Xiu. "What extra fitting does she have that we don't? Why be shy in front of us?"
Cheng Xiu snorted. "Not everyone is shameless like you. Classmate Chu, we will wait outside and make sure that no one comes in. Change quickly."
Gu Shu sighed. "Fine. But hurry up. We have Coding next! And I don't want to miss that class."
"Such a good student," Cheng Xiu mocked her as they leaned against the door. "It has nothing to do with the fact that the teacher is a handsome, single man."
"Nope. It doesn't."
Cheng Xiu saw San Zhu leaning against a door and reading a book.
She was surprised to see him there.
She had been in this college for a month or two now yet she never saw him but once she got to know him, she seemed to see him everywhere.
He looked distressed as she wrote on a piece of paper.
Curious, Cheng Xiu walked towards him.
Gu Shu followed after seeing her go towards a guy voluntarily. She was curious as to why her iceberg of a friend was doing something so extraordinary.
A/N: A really long chapter. But I didn't know where to end the chapter at. Anyway, one more chapter and we will have Cheng Xiu facing the Experts! So excited!
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