A Single-Minded Wang Yizhi

"Wang Yizhi's house keys should be in her backpack at the classroom. Forget it, I'll go tomorrow. Who knows how angry Lu Ba is right now... I just hope she doesn't call my mom." After leaving the old town with Wang Yizhi, Zhang Chen rode straight along the river toward the residential complex.

It was already 5:45 p.m. Zhang Chen arrived outside the complex, locked his bicycle, and carried Wang Yizhi to the spot where he had climbed over the wall the previous night. After making sure people had looked away and noticing that the surveillance camera had yet to be repaired, Zhang Chen used Telekinesis to send Wang Yizhi inside first, then leaped over the wall himself.

Carrying Wang Yizhi to the door, Zhang Chen glanced at the lock. With a click, the door opened.

After putting her in the bedroom and making sure she was unharmed, Zhang Chen went alone to the living room and dropped onto the sofa.

"Whew, it's finally over. I thought of everything, except that Blood Beetle and Yang Zi weren't actually one entity. If Master Pu Hu hadn't helped us, Wang Yizhi and I probably would've died down there." Zhang Chen shook his head with a sigh.

"And now that I think about it, before we entered the basement, the heartbeat coming from the walls must have belonged to the entire basement. Yang Zi's body had fused with the whole place. Usually, he used Xie Wen to lure some lecherous men into the house, then slowly tortured them to death." Zhang Chen could not help recalling the man in his forties hanging above his head when he had first entered.

Besides that, ninety percent of the corpses hanging in that basement like slaughtered pigs had been male.

"Yang Zi must have buried the shadows of his childhood deep in his heart. Without his parents to raise him or relatives to care for him, those shadows never faded. Instead, they sank deeper and deeper. Once he gained the means, those shadows gradually spread through his entire body. That was what turned him into a murderous monster."

"And Xie Wen was probably one of the women he had wanted to rape and murder while he was alive. But after the police caught him, he was immediately executed. After his death, he became an evil spirit, killed Xie Wen's entire family, and then controlled Xie Wen to work for him."

Zhang Chen touched his nails and used his mind to control the glass before him, making it sway left and right in the air. Finally, he sighed and set it down.

"I wonder whether I'm human or a ghost." Zhang Chen suddenly remembered what had happened half a year ago. "If I hadn't become like this, I probably would have died long ago, let alone ended up with Wang Yizhi."

"If I ever get the chance, I really want to thank that man. But I'm still far too weak. If Faceless Man hadn't helped me in the basement, I would have been dead for sure. If you can't even protect Wang Yizhi, what good are you?" Zhang Chen clenched his fists. "I have to keep getting stronger."

"There should be quite a few people like me. Faceless Man is one of them, and if Master Pu Hu's case wasn't an accident, then he should be one too. Master Pu Hu told me to find him at Sanxue Temple in three days. He probably wants to tell me about this sort of thing. And when he said 'entrusted by someone'... could there be someone secretly protecting me?"

"Forget it. There's no point thinking about it. I'll know in three days. Right now, the important thing is figuring out how to make up a convincing story connecting my skipping class, showing up at the crime scene, and Wang Yizhi. Otherwise, I'll be in trouble."

Grrr! Zhang Chen's stomach suddenly growled.

It was nearly six already. After that hard battle in the afternoon, it would have been strange if he were not hungry. He felt around in his pocket and found that his only ten-yuan bill had been torn into four pieces by Nail Man.

"I wonder if Wang Yizhi has any ingredients at home?" Once Zhang Chen got hungry, he could think of nothing else. He went into the kitchen and began searching for food.

Before long, two tomatoes, two eggs, a bundle of dried noodles, and two stalks of scallions were laid out before him.

"Hehe, looks like Heaven hasn't abandoned me yet. I can make tomato and egg noodles. If Wang Yizhi wakes up, she can have some too. It's light, healthy, and delicious." When his parents were not home, Zhang Chen often cooked for himself. Tomato and egg noodles were also the dish he made best.

He first diced the tomatoes, stir-fried them in oil, then scooped them out and set them aside. Next, he cracked in the eggs and stir-fried them until they were seventy percent done before adding the tomatoes back in, pouring in water, and adding the noodles. Soon, a small pot of tomato and egg noodles was nearly ready. The aroma filled the entire kitchen, making Zhang Chen drool.

Just as he was about to sprinkle on the chopped scallions, a voice sounded.

"Zhang Chen, what are you cooking? It smells amazing. I'm starving."

Zhang Chen dropped the kitchen knife from his hand and turned around. Wang Yizhi stood in the kitchen doorway, rubbing her eyes as she spoke.

Tears welled in Zhang Chen's eyes. He rushed forward and hugged Wang Yizhi. Neither of them spoke.

"How much longer are you going to hug me? Your food is about to burn, isn't it?" Wang Yizhi said.

Zhang Chen snapped back to his senses and hurriedly turned off the stove, then served the noodles. Thankfully, they had not burned. After sprinkling on the scallions, Zhang Chen carried two bowls of tomato and egg noodles to the dining table with Wang Yizhi, and they began eating.

"Yi Zhi, why aren't you asking how you got back home?" Zhang Chen asked as he ate.

"I was hungry, and I smelled the food from the kitchen, so I came over. Can't I ask after I'm full? But Zhang Chen, your noodles are really delicious. They smell even better than the ones my mom makes."

Zhang Chen was stunned by Wang Yizhi's words. The top student goddess who had once seemed sacred and untouchable now appeared not only single-minded, but also a total foodie.

"Fine, you win!" Zhang Chen said, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Ah!~~" Just as they were about to finish eating, Wang Yizhi suddenly screamed.

Startled, Zhang Chen immediately scanned Wang Yizhi's body. After finding nothing unusual, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"My... my clothes were changed!"

"You only noticed now?" Zhang Chen was completely speechless.

Wang Yizhi nodded, then stared at Zhang Chen with a red, angry face. Slowly, she asked, "Did you change them for me?"

Zhang Chen did not know what to say. Seeing that he remained silent, Wang Yizhi suddenly twisted his arm.

"You damn pervert! You changed my clothes!"

Zhang Chen cried out in pain. "Top Student Wang, listen to my explanation first! Too much happened this afternoon. I haven't had time to tell you yet."

"Don't call me that. It sounds awful. I don't care. You can tell me what happened later. But you took off my clothes, so... so you have to take responsibility for me!" Wang Yizhi said that in one breath, her face bright red, leaving Zhang Chen unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"You're still laughing? You don't want me, do you? Boohoohoo~~~~!" Wang Yizhi actually began crying, leaving Zhang Chen at a complete loss.

"Sigh, Yi Zhi, I'll explain everything after we finish eating. And I never said I didn't want you. Now finish your noodles first. Weren't you hungry?"

Wang Yizhi had still been crying at first, but the moment she heard about the noodles, she rubbed her eyes and started eating the last few strands. After finishing, she added, "Is there any more? I'm still not full."

After hearing that, Zhang Chen was completely won over by this foodie top student.

Zhang Chen and Wang Yizhi sat on the sofa in the living room. Zhang Chen did not want to hide anything from her. After all, Xie Wen was dead, and this matter could not possibly stay hidden.

After telling Wang Yizhi everything that had happened, Zhang Chen had expected her to struggle to accept it. Yet Wang Yizhi did not care about Yang Zi, the murderer who had killed dozens of people, nor did she care that she herself had nearly died. She was only saddened by Xie Wen's death.

"Don't you believe what I said?" Zhang Chen asked, thinking she did not believe him when he saw her expression.

"No. I just think Sister Xie Wen was so pitiful."

"Why can't you worry about yourself at all? You almost ended up just like your cousin." Whenever Zhang Chen recalled the long Blood Beetles being pulled out of Wang Yizhi's forehead, his heart still trembled.

"What's there to worry about? Aren't I fine now?"

Zhang Chen shook his head. He was completely convinced by this top student.

"Next, let me explain the clothes-changing thing." Zhang Chen suddenly brought up the topic.

"Okay."

"Watch." Zhang Chen pointed at the glass in front of him.

Under Zhang Chen's gaze, the glass slowly floated into the air and flew toward the automatic water dispenser in the living room. Before long, a full glass of water slowly flew into Wang Yizhi's hand.

"Wow, you're amazing." The last time at Xie Wen's house, Wang Yizhi had not paid much attention to how Zhang Chen had opened the security bars and entered the room. This was the first time she had truly seen it happen.

"So, when I changed your clothes, I was standing outside your bedroom door and used this ability to change them for you," Zhang Chen said calmly.

Sure enough, the single-minded Wang Yizhi was immediately fooled by Zhang Chen. Her face flushed, and she ran over to him, looked at where she had twisted his arm, and hurriedly rubbed it over and over.

"You should have said so earlier. Then I wouldn't have twisted you. Ah, I was wrong." Wang Yizhi looked into Zhang Chen's eyes apologetically.

Zhang Chen smiled and said nothing more.

"Zhang Chen, are you going home tonight?" Wang Yizhi suddenly asked.

"I should. Otherwise, my mom will worry. And I skipped class this afternoon and evening, so maybe the homeroom teacher already called home." Zhang Chen understood what Wang Yizhi meant, but he definitely had to go home tonight.

"Oh."

"Dummy, if you're scared, call me. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning, okay?"

Wang Yizhi nodded, then linked her arm through Zhang Chen's. The two leaned against each other until nine o'clock. Seeing how reluctant Wang Yizhi was to part with him, Zhang Chen truly wanted to stay.

When he got home, his parents were sitting together watching television. After seeing Zhang Chen return, they only asked what he wanted to eat and said nothing else. This left Zhang Chen deeply puzzled. After taking a shower and calling Wang Yizhi, he lay down on his bed.

That can't be right. Even if I skipped one class, Lu Ba would drag my parents to the office and scold them for ages. I skipped an entire afternoon and evening study session, yet no one called my home. What's going on? Forget it. I'm exhausted today. I'll find out when I get to school tomorrow. At worst, I'll lose a layer of skin. It won't kill me.

The next day, Zhang Chen got up early, went to the Forest Park behind the residential complex to exercise, then rode his bicycle to pick up Wang Yizhi. Feeling her arms around his waist, Zhang Chen seemed to have already forgotten that he had taken a stroll at death's door only yesterday.

After arriving at school, something strange happened. The school security guard, who usually never even gave students a second glance, actually walked up to Zhang Chen, patted him on the shoulder, and said,

"Not bad. You brought honor to our school."

"Hehe." Zhang Chen could only smile faintly, having no idea what he meant.

After parking his bicycle, Zhang Chen headed toward the classroom. Before he could enter, Er Wa rushed over and slapped Zhang Chen on the butt.

"Brother Chen, badass. We're all benefiting from you."

"Er Wa, what happened? How come I don't know anything?" Zhang Chen asked.

"You're still pretending? Let's see how you keep pretending when Lu Ba gets here." Er Wa gave Zhang Chen a contemptuous look before returning to his seat.

After Zhang Chen and Wang Yizhi entered the classroom, everyone stared at them with extremely envious looks.

"Zhang Chen, do you know what's going on?" Wang Yizhi tugged at Zhang Chen's sleeve and asked softly.

"I don't know either. We should find out soon." Zhang Chen considered everyone's words and expressions, then remembered that the homeroom teacher had not contacted his parents last night. He roughly guessed what might have happened.

Before long, click-clack-click-clack! The sound of high heels entered the classroom. Their homeroom teacher, Lu Ba, walked in, followed by a man in a police uniform.

The man immediately spotted Zhang Chen upon entering the classroom and smiled faintly at him. If Master Pu Hu had been there, he would have recognized this police officer at once as the man named Ding Jian.