Fu Hua's Counterattack

[Master Su, when I was reciting the Sword Heart Technique today, some of the notes seemed a bit off. Did I pronounce them wrong?]

Two hours later, the girl sent a second message.

[Hmm... Su Qing'an, are you asleep?]

Another hour passed, Fu Hua sent a third message.

Then I won't bother you any longer.

[Good night.]

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

The girl's words echoed in his mind, causing a wave of guilt to wash over him. He silently told himself...

Calm down, Su Qing'an.

Not replying to messages was beyond his control, but falling into a coma was completely unexpected. Before the Honkai fully erupted, he had never considered the possibility that he might suddenly lose his mind.

But since it has already happened, the first thing to do is to think about solutions.

Su Qing'an stared at the phone screen, as if facing a formidable enemy.

First, sincerely apologize, and then explain the situation properly.

In fact, neither the young Fu Hua nor the Immortal Fu Hua would mind such a small matter, and after an explanation, it would be even less of a problem.

Of course, the former might feel a little awkward, but it will quickly disappear.

However, even Su Qing'an, who understands Fu Hua very well, finds it difficult to maintain absolute clarity when caught up in the situation.

The boy scrolled through the chat history and suddenly remembered that there was something he hadn't had time to do yesterday.

Yesterday, Su Qing'an had prepared some Fu Ling cakes in advance, thinking that Fu Hua might not get enough to eat because she was shy. One of the cakes was given to Seele, and the rest were kept in an insulated box. Su Qing'an had planned to comfort the girl in front of her and then deliver it to Fu Hua.

But now that time has jumped to the present, the boy who couldn't deliver the late-night snack feels even more frustrated.

It's morning now, I'll prepare a lunchbox for her and take it over later.

Let me reply to Hua's messages one by one now.

The reason why the musical scale of the Sword Heart Technique seems strange might be because you've reached the final hurdle in accumulating the State of Still Water. At this stage, the Sword Heart Technique will automatically adjust its details as you recite it repeatedly, to better hone your sword heart.

[That should be the general reason; I'll check the details later.]

[I fell asleep last night. The specific reason is a bit complicated; I'll explain it to you when we meet.]

Fu Hua's official classes will likely begin tomorrow. Today, books will be distributed, and each class's teacher will be responsible for conveying school rules, regulations, and the timetable. The rest of the time is free for students to explore on campus.

According to her usual schedule, this should be the time for her to get up and go for a morning run. However, on her first day at this academy, Su Qing'an deduced that, given her personality, she would most likely choose to continue sleeping so as not to disturb her roommates' rest, and Awakened at the time when she wanted to be with them.

It's 5:30 in the morning now, and it's perfectly normal for a female student to sleep until 8 o'clock when she doesn't have classes.

So it's perfectly normal that she might wake up and then go back to sleep, and not see the message she sent immediately.

After adding the other person to his "Special Contacts" list and turning the notification sound up to maximum, the boy put his phone aside, picked up the various teaching materials given to him by the principal, and began preparing for his lesson.

According to the schedule the principal gave him, his first class would be tomorrow afternoon.

Su Qing'an felt a little uneasy about her first normal job as a teacher.

Prior to this, the significance of this position lay only in allowing him to approach Fu Hua more reasonably and conveniently; he himself did not immediately realize that this was an experience he had never had before.

Now that he is about to take office, Su Qing'an suddenly realizes that he will soon be facing his students as a teacher.

In fact, in every sense, he did not feel qualified to be a teacher. In terms of ability and teaching experience, as well as the motivation to educate and the mindset of a teacher, he was far from qualified.

But on the eve of the impending Honkai, the boy had no intention of taking on too much responsibility for a future where strangers would hardly exist.

Su Qing'an may not become an excellent teacher, but he has clear confidence that he can reach the passing grade.

Simply reciting from the book is something that can be done by rote memorization. This level can be addressed in just ten minutes. Anything beyond that requires more knowledge reserves and the composure, confidence, and on-the-spot ability to bring it to fruition. These are not difficult tasks for Su Qing'an.

Using pure, high-speed learning ability and a fearless will to be an ordinary teacher, it doesn't seem like a difficult job at all.

This is especially true for art-related subjects like fine arts.

If Su Qing'an only wanted to earn a salary, he could simply teach a few lessons from the textbook and then take people to sketch in various parts of the academy to get away with many classes.

As a long-established private academy, the school generally respects students' individual interests and hobbies. Therefore, apart from the necessary subjects, students can choose from other courses that are more leisure-oriented or cultivate their interests.

The reason why the school principal was willing to let Su Qing'an serve as an art teacher was probably because of this: since he wasn't a teacher of the main subjects, there was no need to carefully examine his specific teaching abilities.

There are many other people like Su Qing'an who serve as instructors for elective courses, which leads to a rather complex range of courses.

With an excessive number of courses and students having complete freedom to choose, certain elective courses may become particularly popular and always be fully booked.

Some courses, however, are deserted and quiet.

The former's salary will increase to some extent due to the corresponding popularity, but the latter will not have their salary reduced or even be dismissed because there are too few students.

This shows how wealthy this elite academy is; compared to a normal high school, it's more like a university with a slightly restrictive atmosphere.

Su Qing'an possesses many skills.

However, limited by his expressive abilities and the means to carry his Martial Intent, he was forced to apply for a position as an art teacher.

Actually, if it's out of personal interest, teaching Kendo, etiquette, or even flower arranging are all good options.

After flipping through a few pages of the book, the boy couldn't help but glance at his silent phone.

He, who usually had a calm and composed expression, rarely showed any signs of trouble.

5:30 a. m.

Because it was winter, the outside world was still shrouded in a hazy night. Birds perched on the treetops outside the window chirped softly, and the cold wind rustled through the branches.

In these days, my increasingly keen senses slowly take in every detail of the outside world, making the warmth and tranquility inside the house all the more precious.

The girl rubbed her head against the blanket, then groggily opened her eyes. She instinctively reached out and brushed one of her earphones off, but still heard a sound.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

The faint, clear sound of water droplets falling seemed to linger in my mind.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

... Did you Awakened at this time?

Since the puddle in my heart gradually transformed into the vast lake it is today, the lingering sound of water droplets falling echoes in my ears every day between the hazy and clear periods of consciousness, as if symbolizing the cycle of the day.

The girl stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, listening to the fading ticking sound. For some reason, in the instant she raised her hand to shield her eyes, she realized something more clearly than ever before...

I am now very, very far away from that ancient eastern town.

Yesterday, I miraculously met a nice roommate, glanced at the assigned class, gained some understanding of the cafeteria food, and gradually became familiar with the school's rules.

The girl seemed ready to embrace her new life.

But Fu Hua still felt closer to the time she spent in that city.

The girl seemed to still be waiting at that martial arts school by the street. She would still love to look at the delicate petals on the osmanthus tree, and only occasionally would she glance at her senior brothers who were sweating profusely in the distance. Her mind was filled only with the clouds in the sky and the bluestone slabs of the streets.

A bowl of mung bean porridge, candied hawthorns skewered on bamboo sticks, numerous billboards clustered on a mottled wall, the crisp clinking of loose change falling into a bus fare box...

Previously, these were all trivial things that Fu Hua took for granted, but overnight, all those things that she had taken for granted became so distant that they completely separated their lives.

It was like luggage left behind on a journey, or like ice melting and floating in a soda.

Seemingly untraceable, yet so close at hand.

"Too early..." she murmured softly.

Everyone's still sound asleep at this time; getting up to wash up would probably disturb them.

I'm still not getting up for my morning run.

She removed her slender hand from her eyes and unconsciously turned to the side, the ticking sound in her ears now gone.

But on this quiet morning, with only the air conditioning blowing in, my thoughts were still churning.

Is it really okay for my father to be home alone?

Will he feel lonely if Su Qing'an and I aren't around?

There's also Baozi (steamed buns), and I always feel a little uneasy about having my father take care of them.

No matter what age, people always have many worries, just like the countless stars hidden in the sky even during the day.

Fu Hua listed all the trivial yet undeniably real troubles, and finally came to one thing.

Master Su, you didn't reply to my message yesterday.

He usually wouldn't be sleeping at that time. Has something happened?

As the girl vaguely recalled the incident, she picked up her phone from beside her pillow, glanced at the unchanged screen, and stared blankly into her eyes.

I put on my headphones before bed yesterday, added him to my favorites list, and deliberately turned up the notification sound before going to sleep, but there was still no response.

Rubbing her ears, which were a little sore from the earphones, the girl unhappily took off the other earphone.

Su Qing'an, the death penalty is appropriate.

Death penalty.

Just as Fu Hua was about to go back to sleep, the microphone on her earphone vibrated and made a series of soft noises, instantly dispelling the girl's lingering sleepiness.

Fu Hua carefully picked up her phone, looked at the reply, and couldn't help but smile, a beautiful curve appearing on her lips.

Although the reason is still unknown, she seems to have stopped being angry.

Just as the girl was about to type a reply, her fingertips hovered over the screen, then froze.

A strange meaning seemed to have appeared on her beautiful, smiling face.

But...

I'll just ignore it for now, but I'll still ask Master Su to wait a little while.

For some reason, the girl really wanted to see Su Qing'an show a helpless expression at this moment. Just imagining the boy's possible bewilderment gave her a strange sense of joy.

Fu Hua tossed her phone aside, curled up in bed again, closed her eyes, and a faint smile still played on her lips.

At this moment, the girl was unaware that her emotions and behavior had undergone a subtle change without her realizing it.

Compared to when she first found Su Qing'an, she was practically a different person.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

Su Qing'an already knew the teaching materials provided by the school principal by heart.

After roughly drafting a lesson plan using the computer in his study, he should have no problem with the course he needs to teach tomorrow.

The boy glanced at the email that hadn't appeared even after nearly three hours, a helpless smile appearing on his face.

Could it be that he saw you and is having a fight, refusing to come back?

Am I reaping what I sowed?

Su Qing'an stared at the blank chat bar on her phone, then couldn't resist pressing her fingertips lightly against her brow and rubbing for a while.

Although I no longer feel sleepy, a persistent, faint weariness still lingers in my mind.

It was clearly only a temporary depletion of eight points of Soul Essence, yet the side effects lingered and persisted.

Judging from the base number, the amount consumed is only one-tenth of the total, and even that is enough to cause one to fall into a prolonged coma. This shows that even at critical moments, the use of more than eight points of Soul Essence is prohibited.

Eight o'clock is a vague number, because Su Qing'an cannot guarantee that the number of times he consumed energy during his coma was exactly eight. It is more likely that he recovered to a certain extent during his sleep.

However, to be on the safe side, it's best to treat this number as a standard reference point.

Besides, the power emanating from Seele is also very strange.

It didn't seem like Honkai Energy, nor did it resemble his own Soul Essence; he could only vaguely sense the extraordinary nature of that power.

The most direct evidence for this is that it would take the entire Soul Essence to erase this power.

This is enough to reveal the mystery behind it.

What exactly was the research Seele underwent? If we knew this, the true nature of this power would be revealed.

In the instant the barrier was completely burned away, Su Qing'an felt as if he had glimpsed an immense existence.

It didn't seem like a concrete, sentient being, but rather like gazing at a vast ocean filled with unknown concepts.

The only way to find out the answers is when Seele wakes up.