A Long Holiday

It was clear she understood her father's line of work, as Fu Yi looked at Huai Shi strangely. "Did you get into trouble during the summer break?"

"...Yeah."

Huai Shi nodded, unsure how to explain.

Fu Yi didn't pry further, only saying, "You don't need to be afraid of him. He's just used to being blunt and doesn't understand a little... subtlety. People who've been on the battlefield are probably all like that. No matter how good their intentions are, they just don't make themselves likable."

After a moment of lounging around, she received a meeting notification from the student council and left, her demeanor returning to that of a quiet, refined lady.

Huai Shi remained alone in the piano room until evening study hall. Following Crow's instructions, he took his medicine, practiced the piano for several hours, and completed his daily meditation. He felt the fluctuations of origin essence growing more abundant as his body developed, anticipating he would reach his peak soon. Once his growth spurt ended, he could start preparing for the Holy Mark. Crow had promised to select a perfect lineage and type for him. It would surely cost a fortune... Thinking about it gave Huai Shi a headache, but he seemed to be gradually getting used to this demanding routine.

Practicing piano, chatting with classmates, slacking off, avoiding teacher patrols, making mistakes and getting reprimanded, meditating, sending silly memes, gacha pulls without spending money, doing homework, taking exams, and squeezing in work for the Astronomical Society, reading records from the Book of Destiny, preparing for the college entrance exams... If he counted them all, there were an overwhelming number of things to do. Despite many imperfections and things that seemed unnecessary, this was the precious life he had built through his own efforts. He accepted the hardship willingly.

Then, he left school early before evening study hall. What a joke! He finally had privileges, why would he endure staying until past nine every day and then biking home on a shared bike to catch the last bus, like before? He was a man who could now afford a monthly bus pass!

Huai Shi carried his piano case, humming a tune. He deliberately took a detour around the front of the teaching building, swaggering out of the school gates under the envious, jealous, and hateful gazes of his classmates.

Then he was stopped by the gatekeeper.

"Huai Shi, right?" The gatekeeper, who was playing on his phone, recognized him. He pointed to the gatehouse. "There's a package for you... Don't let it happen again. This isn't a collection point. Next time, I'll just notify your homeroom teacher to pick it up."

"Huh?" Huai Shi blinked, following his finger to a pile of delivery boxes in the corner of the gatehouse.

For some reason, his hair stood on end. A palpable chill crawled from his heels to the back of his head, tap-danced on his shoulders, and finally stepped onto his forehead, pulling at his hair with a grinning, swirling motion, laughing coldly by his ears. He almost lost his balance and stumbled backward.

"What's wrong?" The gatekeeper glanced at him and shook his head. "Never mind, I'll get it for you."

"Wait!" Huai Shi reached out and grabbed the gatekeeper's wrist. The old man froze, stopping in his tracks, and looked back at him in astonishment. A mere kid had managed to hurt his arm.

"Sorry, I can get it myself." Huai Shi, somewhat rudely, pulled the gatekeeper to a halt, took off his piano case, walked into the gatehouse, and crouched down to examine the package with his name on it. Amidst the chaotic noise from the television on the wall, he faintly heard a ticking sound coming from inside the box. It was so clear.

Huai Shi remained crouched on the ground, motionless, in silence for a long time. Only after the gatekeeper impatiently urged him several times did he slowly stand up. He roughly pulled himself out of the gatehouse and, without paying attention to what the gatekeeper was saying, took out his phone and dialed Director Fu.

"Hello? This is Huai Shi." Huai Shi looked up at the surveillance camera outside the gate. "Director Fu, you can see me, right?"

"What are you thinking, kid?" the middle-aged man suppressed his anger. "As the director of the Special Affairs Department, do you think I have nothing better to do than watch surveillance footage and spy on you all day?"

"Never mind." Huai Shi sighed. "Could you come to the school, sir? Bring people with you, preferably bomb disposal experts... The school is going to blow up, literally."

"What's going on? What is it? What are you doing!" Director Fu exclaimed, launching the three fundamental questions of life. After a moment of reaction, he heard a chaotic noise from the other end: "Ten minutes! You wait! Stay put, don't move anything!" The call ended.

Huai Shi then called Ai Qing, informed her of his situation, and then calmly waited with the gatekeeper about ten meters away from the gatehouse. Of course, whether the gatekeeper was willing was another matter. It seemed to attract quite a bit of attention, with patrolling security guards and teachers preparing to go to study hall.

Soon, the commotion abruptly stopped as one black vehicle after another arrived. A group of burly men with long guns and short cameras emerged from the vehicles. Following them was Director Fu, who jumped out wearing a bulletproof vest and walked directly towards Huai Shi.

"Where is it?"

Huai Shi pointed in the direction of the gatehouse. Director Fu didn't waste any more words. With a wave of his hand, two bulky figures, completely encased in bomb disposal suits, pushed a bomb disposal sphere on a cart into the gatehouse.

Soon, the tragic news came through the walkie-talkie.

Director Fu's expression grew increasingly grim. He shot a glare at Huai Shi and waved for everyone to retreat a considerable distance again.

Not long after, two experts emerged, their helmets removed. Their messy hair was plastered to their foreheads, and sweat dripped from their chins.

"It's done."

They helped each other out of their heavy protective suits and then showed Director Fu the box lying inside the bomb disposal sphere. Inside the cut-open box, the countdown on the contraption, bound together by dense cables and circuit boards, had stopped at the one-and-a-half-hour mark.

"It looks like a pretty ordinary design."

Before Director Fu could examine it closely, a hand reached into the sphere from the side and took them out. He weighed them in his hand, nearly stopping his breath in shock.

It was Ai Qing.

She sat in her wheelchair, fiddling with the dangerous object that could blow her sky-high. "What was the trigger type?"

"A hybrid of detonation and timer. It explodes if the box is opened or if the time runs out. The explosives are standard mining explosives, relatively low power. They'd probably just level this gatehouse."

The expert, catching his breath, sat on the ground and lit a cigarette. "If it were opened in a place like a classroom, the consequences would be dire."

"..."

Director Fu stood with his hands behind his back, silent. Veins bulged on the back of his hand.

"This has escalated into a malicious public safety incident," Ai Qing said, rubbing her temples with a troubled expression. "Who delivered it?"

Soon, the road surveillance footage displayed the delivery person's whereabouts on the screen.

A man wearing a hat and hunched over, dressed in an old uniform from Northern Express, but he looked nothing like a delivery man. His steps were a bit unsteady, and he walked with a limp.

He kept his face hidden under the brim of his hat the entire time, his face unreadable. After handing over the item to the gatekeeper, he rode away on his bike.

However, before leaving, as if to provoke them, he looked up at the surveillance camera.

Revealing a twisted face marred by horrific burn scars.

Faintly, the vestiges of his once warm and approachable appearance remained.

He grinned with delight.

Towards everyone present.

There was no need to recall; anyone present who had experienced the upheaval half a month ago would recognize that face.

That was the nominal leader of the Savior Society...

"Wang Hai?!"

Director Fu's eyes widened in disbelief. "He's still alive?"

"It seems he is indeed alive," Ai Qing said, glancing indifferently at the smug smile on the screen. "And he even has the energy to throw down a challenge to us."

Soon, the brief discussion concluded.

Without a doubt, this was a provocation aimed at the Special Affairs Department and the Astronomical Society. A remnant of the Savior Society dared to brazenly carry out an attack in Xinhai, practically dancing the Xinbao Island dance at the entrance of the Trench Prison – a blatant act of courting death.

At this point, there was no option other than to crush these bastards with all their might.

From this moment on, the Special Affairs Department began operating at full speed. Soon, their informants scattered throughout every corner of Xinhai would start searching for any trace of Wang Hai. Once any clue was found, a group of eager and itching-to-go "good brothers" would descend from the heavens with their long and short firearms to teach him a lesson.

Throughout it all, Huai Shi sat on the steps, his expression calm.

He said nothing.

Just silence.

As if lost in thought, after a long while, he seemed to snap out of a daze and looked at Ai Qing beside him. "Are we done here?"

"This might just be the beginning,"

Ai Qing shrugged. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. The people from the Special Affairs Department will escort you back. Get some good rest tonight. I'll notify you immediately if there's any news."

"En."

Huai Shi nodded, saying nothing more. After taking a few steps, he seemed to remember something and turned back to ask, "By the way, can you help me with my leave request?"

"Hm?"

Ai Qing paused, then saw his eyes. After a long moment, she sighed and nodded.

"Thanks."

Huai Shi smiled and said nothing more. He hoisted his guitar case, casting one last look at the school, which had returned to its peaceful state, and the lights of the music practice rooms in the distance.

As if seeing Fu Yi's silhouette through that window, she was watching him from afar. Huai Shi waved at her.

A farewell wave.

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze, turned, and left.

"I'm back."

Amidst the sharp sound of the bolt scraping, Huai Shi pushed open the door to Stone Marrow Hall. Although no one was waiting for him in the courtyard, he still called out as if returning home.

The iron gate slowly closed behind him, as if in response.

As soon as he entered, he saw Crow standing by a boiling cauldron in the hall, flapping its wings at Huai Shi.

"Young master, time for your medicine."

"Didn't you already drink today's this morning?" Huai Shi walked over, picked up a test tube from the table, and downed it in one gulp.

"It's an extra dose, and I've adjusted the formula in the potion to suit your current condition."

After Crow finished explaining, she didn't ask anything further. Instead, she tilted her head curiously and observed Huai Shi, as if she had discovered something interesting.

"What's wrong?" Huai Shi asked, confused.

"No, I was just thinking—normally, you'd at least respond when someone says 'Big Brother, take your medicine,' wouldn't you?" Crow asked. "Did something happen, Huai Shi?"

Huai Shi fell silent.

After a long pause, he slowly shook his head and turned towards the bedroom upstairs.

"Nothing happened," he said softly, his back to Crow. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

He closed the door, took off his coat, and kicked off his shoes.

Huai Shi collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the crack in the wall as if in a daze. After a long while, he buried his face in the pillow with regret.

"Damn it, I'm so weak..."

On the tree branch outside the window, Crow, who had been watching everything, did not go in to offer comfort.

"Looks like he lost pretty badly."

She narrowed her eyes. "Gathering the materials for the Holy Mark needs to be put on the agenda..."

Musing over her next plan and the things she needed to prepare, she returned to the table in the living room and began writing and drawing in her notebook.

What followed was a long night.

Huai Shi's new semester, and the peaceful life he longed for, thus came to a hasty end.

He was on vacation.