The Teacher and the Student (8)

Time began to pass, and Yin Mei continued teaching her students leisurely. She said leisurely, but the only one who was relaxed was herself.

A large amount of homework and training would be dumped on the students, who clearly looked overwhelmed. But, it was not beyond what they could achieve. The work load was calculated just so that it would push them, but not by so much that they would burn out.

She kept on thinking of ways to try and get closer to Song Hua, but she couldn't come up with anything. The problem with after school tutoring was that - Song Hua didn't actually need it! He was ranked second in the entire grade, if he needed tutoring, then what would that say about other people?

Yin Mei could only furrow her brow and bide her time.

She was frustrated. And that bastard didn't even come to approach her first either!

She really wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but of course, she couldn't do something like that.

Song Hua seemed like he was completely clueless to all this. And weirdly enough, Qin Shuang couldn't recognize him at all, as if he didn't look at all like the zombie emperor. Even though the two clearly should at least appear related.

Yin Mei felt like she was going crazy and that maybe Song Hua was not the villain after all. But of course, that was impossible. After all, it was written clearly in the plot information! And Yin Mei couldn't deny his appearance that was obviously similar to that of the former villains.

"What are you thinking about?" Alexei asked when he entered the faculty room, putting down his things and sitting at his desk. Yin Mei was currently leaning back on her chair, her feet unceremoniously propped on the table as she stared at the ceiling with a furrowed brow.

"Just-" She started, before receiving a notification sound on her tablet.

She struggled reaching for it, but finally grabbed it and tapped it on.

"... Huh! Since when did they decide on the plan's for this year's field experience?" Yin Mei said, seeing that she had been messaged the travel plans and tickets for next month's field experience.

Every year, the students would spend a week in some wild destination and be thrown there to survive. It was like a camping trip, but on hell mode.

"At the meeting last week. The one that you didn't attend." Alexei said, raising an eyebrow.

That's right, Yin Mei mused. At that time she had gone shopping for a few things and had completely forgot about the faculty meeting. "So we're going to Planet Leiden?"

She struggled again, setting down the tablet onto her desk, pushing it a few times so it no longer dangled over the edge. "Ughhhhh, Planet Leidennnnnn??"

Alexei touched a cabinet at his desk, the weird squishy silicone material sinking in and glowing blue where his finger was, before making a pleasant alert sound and sliding open. He put his things inside, closing it with his feet. "What's wrong with Planet Leiden? I think it's quite a good choice. Nice and scenic. It'll be fun."

This was certainly true. At least, for the teachers. Planet Leiden was like an immortal heaven, with beautiful misty mountains, dazzling forests, and a shimmering white beach and glittering blue oceans. It was like out of some magical cultivation world.

As long as one didn't go to the danger zones.

So, while the teachers would have a fun vacation touring Planet Leiden, the students would be stuck in a danger area filled with all sorts of monsters and other obstacles.

"Yeah, but that's not what I was really worried about." Yin Mei said, but before Alexei could ask her to elaborate, Hai Lan bounced in, her hair tied in several braids that were all bunched together into a ponytail. A spray of rainbow freckles splattered her face, and her eyes were a misty gray rather than their usual ocean blue color.

Hai Lan really liked messing with her appearance, constantly going to the salon to do things like that. In this world, one could do things like changing their eye color or skin color with minimal effort - it was about the same as getting their hair dyed.

That being said, it was usually only those youngsters who would do that sort of thing, and the school forbade students from making themselves look too crazy, else it would interfere in any stealth missions they would need to complete during training.

But Hai Lan really enjoyed doing this kind of thing, and she wasn't the only one among the teachers. Yin Mei recalled that the third year chemistry teacher liked to get snake scales embedded into her skin and had gotten a special type of eye color that would change depending on her body temperature.

As for Alexei, he didn't like body modification, and Mei Wen's family had looked down on that sort of thing, so neither of them had ever gotten something like that done.

"What were you guys talking about?" Hai Lan asked curiously.

"Nothing much," Yin Mei said as she stood up, and the three of them began to head off to lunch.

The thing she was worried about could be addressed later - after all, there was still three weeks before the trip.

After lunch, Yin Mei only taught one other class before she was finished with the day. She had given the students an assignment before sending them out to explore the campus, and was left alone in the classroom. Sitting down, she watched a video on her tablet. There was no sound that others could hear, and it was instead playing through her glasses using a special vibration technology.

What she was watching was a video of Song Hua using his ability and sparing with his classmates.

His usage of the lightning was rather simple. Just what she would normally think of when she thought of someone with a lightning ability. That being said, his control was really good, and he had good combat sense, only as expected.

She switched the video to Qin Shuang, and there was nothing out of expectations for him either. He was clearly holding back, but even then, a bunch of chicks couldn't compare to someone who was raised during the Great Evolutionary War. His experience was nothing to laugh at. Not only that, but he was always a talented kid.

Talent, age, hard work, and experience. It really wasn't something that a 15-year old Song Hua would be able to overcome so easily.

Yin Mei bit down on her thumb, her foot tapping impatiently as she tried to think of a way that Song Hua could beat Qin Shuang. The only thing to do was probably throw him out in the wild? Only in that way could he exponentially grow in skill...

Someone knocked on the door, disturbing her. She felt that her thoughts were often interrupted these days, leaving her frustrated. She looked up, her frustration showing on her face for a moment before she saw it was Qin Shuang.

She couldn't hide her surprise, the expression quickly replacing her former one.

She shut off her tablet, standing up and putting it on the nearby podium. "What are you doing here? Don't you have class?" She asked, taking her glasses off and folding them, tucking them into her blazer pocket.

He looked around, before turning his gaze back on her with a pointed look, clearly implying the same question that she had just asked.

"The kids are on an assignment." Yin Mei said flippantly.

"I am too." He said curtly, and they fell silent.

If you're on an assignment, then why are you here? Yin Mei wanted to ask. She didn't.

The two eyed each other, one warily, the other with an odd expression. The silence stretched on for several more moments.

The one who gave in first was Qin Shuang. "Ri Yi approached me the other day." He said, furrowing his brow. Ri Yi? So that's what this was about.

Yin Mei frowned. She had accidentally said a little too much to that guy during the entrance ceremony. Ri En was a smart kid, and she had been slightly worried that he would have figured out her identity. But, as the days passed and nothing happened, she had quickly forgotten about it, putting it at the back of her mind.

"Your thread manipulation is really good." He said, repeating the same words that he had said on the first day.

"Yes, I'm your teacher after all." Yin Mei repeated the same response she had given him before, and he shook his head, glaring at her.

"It's not just that. That ability rivals Qin Shuang's." He said, brazenly referring to himself in the third person.

"The founder died almost nine hundred years ago. How would you know whether or not my ability rivals his?" Yin Mei replied without missing a beat, her eyes and expression calm, though her tone was slightly mocking.

They both knew why.

But the two fell silent again. "If that's all, then you should quickly continue with your assignment." Yin Mei said, reaching into her pocket for her glasses.

But Qin Shuang had come this far. He wasn't going to let the conversation end just like that.

"Are you-"

Yin Mei raised her hand to stop him, saying, "Let's not-"

But like she had interrupted him, she was also interrupted. A loud boom echoed, the building shaking as Yin Mei was almost knocked off balance. She grabbed the podium to steady herself, the tablet falling off and onto the ground - it didn't crack at all though, as expected of a sturdy futuristic technology!

She frowned, clearly irritated. What the hell, people needed to stop interrupting her! No, no, no, that wasn't the issue here. She shook her head, her mind whirring as she combed through the information. This event... wasn't it supposed to happen later? So why...?

Qin Shuang's eyes were sharp as he looked out, his eyes searching for the source of the explosion.

The scent of smoke was in the air, clear now that Yin Mei had gained her bearings, the rumbling coming to a stop.

"What idiot would dare attack the academy?" She said, though she knew the answer to her own question. She was about to call Qin Shuang by his name, but stopped herself before she did. "Qin Lan. Go gather up all the students into the gymnasium."

She saw that he wasn't paying attention though, and raised her voice to snap at him. "Now." He blinked, looking at her. She raised an eyebrow. "Well? What are you waiting for. Do as I tell you."

He nodded, turning around and running, heading toward the building exit. Yin Mei bowed down, grabbing her tablet as she received a notification through her personal terminal. She flipped her wrist, a holographic image of the head of security showing, his hologram cutting in and out, shouting barely distinguishable in the background.

"All students are to report to the gymnasium! Year one teachers are to guide the students, year two teachers protect the gymnasium, and year three teachers report at the West Gate!"

The message ended, but Yin Mei had no intentions on following the directions. She could leave these things to the others. Her skill had better uses.

Yin Mei snapped her fingers, the lights turning off in the room and plunging her in the darkness. When they came back on again, she was nowhere to be found.

There was gray all around her. That was the world that Yin Mei was in. Doors and windows were all around her, but the light that came through was just a lighter gray than the murky darkness around her. Even so, she could see extremely clearly. She held the tablet loosely in her hand as she walked, slowly, as if she was traversing through water. The air around her seemed to ripple and part in front of her, as if it was made of water, or silk.

She stopped in front of one window above her, craning her neck to look out at the scene displayed. Everything appeared as if in extreme slow motion. People dressed all in black, wearing white faceless masks, were previously moving through the forest toward the school, but were now paused in time. They were moving, but so slowly that Yin Mei couldn't tell.

She reached out, grabbing at the edges of the "window", and pulled herself out.

The world snapped back to life, continuing to move again at its normal speed.

A dagger materialized in Yin Mei's hand, and she stabbed the back of the man whose shadow she had crawled out of. His clothes were probably made of the special armor that this world used, but a pity. Her shadows weren't so easily blocked.

It slid right through, piercing his heart. He didn't even realize what happened before he fell over, dead.

Yin Mei calmly took out her glasses, putting them on as the other people realized they had an intruder who had quietly slipped into their midst.

"Wha-"

"Who are you!?"

They turned toward her, shocked even as they pointed their guns and drew their swords.

Yin Mei looked at the body by her feet, feeling as if the shadows that writhed around her were slowly blanketing her heart, stealing all manner of feelings. Her pulse slowed, her vision sharpened.

"You don't need to know that."