The Beginning of Preparing to Beat Ryuen

Not long after leaving Sakura's dorm, Long Aotian returned to his own.

He began to sort out his thoughts on the path ahead.

Because Ayanokoji's expulsion would lead to a completely different trajectory for the plot, there was no longer any point in targeting Class D.

Without the original protagonist, Class D would remain mired in the bottom tier, unable to ever turn things around.

As for Horikita Suzune wanting to reach Class A? What a joke. What could she possibly use to fight? Ryuen from Class C had already completely toyed with her.

Now, there was one issue: Long Aotian was starting to feel like he should save a few people, after all, Sakura was still in Class D.

Ding-dong~

Just as you were furrowing your brows, lost in deep thought, a crisp and loud doorbell suddenly rang from outside the door, interrupting your train of thought. You jerked your head up, your eyes filled with a trace of surprise and curiosity.

Long Aotian didn't think twice and opened the door, discovering a white-haired girl standing there, holding a cane.

[Sakayanagi Arisu]

"What's the matter, Long-kun? Won't you invite me in for a seat?"

Sakayanagi Arisu blinked, the corners of her mouth curling into a playful smile, her eyes filled with a hint of mockery as she spoke.

"Come in."

Long Aotian thought for a moment; it seemed that because he had expelled Ayanokoji, her coming to the school had lost its meaning, so it was only natural she would come looking for him.

Before long, the two were sitting on the floor.

"Speak, what is it?"

"What do you think I came here for?"

Sakayanagi Arisu looked around his room and asked.

"It's about Ayanokoji, isn't it?"

"Clever. You already knew in your heart." Sakayanagi Arisu nodded. "You knew I came to this school specifically for a showdown with Ayanokoji, didn't you? It's just that I didn't expect you to expel him first."

"So, I think you are stronger than him and much more suitable to be my opponent."

Long Aotian sighed softly, a look of impatience appearing on his face. He spread his hands and said, "Not interested. Expelling him was just fate's arrangement. That guy would have come looking for trouble sooner or later, so I simply struck first to eliminate the threat early."

When Sakayanagi Arisu heard this, she replied, "Fate? What a truly laughable claim."

"That kind of talk is nothing more than an excuse people use to shirk responsibility."

A look of disdain appeared on her face, and the corners of her mouth curled into a sarcastic smile as she spoke.

"By the way, where is Kamuro?"

Long Aotian didn't want to argue with her, and noticing no one was with her, he changed the subject and asked curiously.

"Her? She usually helps me with things, so I gave her the day off."

"That's quite a humane approach." Long Aotian raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not the type of person who only knows how to exploit others." She then shifted the tone of the conversation. "Are you interested in a collaboration?"

"?"

This was unexpected. He hadn't thought Sakayanagi Arisu would ever seek out a partner.

Crossing his arms gently over his chest, he asked with a mix of curiosity and confusion in his eyes, "What kind of collaboration? Targeting whom? If it's a civil war within Class A, then don't even think about it."

"Ryuen from Class C." Sakayanagi Arisu smiled slightly and continued, "Ever since you made me negotiate that contract for points, I've been looking back and feeling like I asked for too few points at the time."

In truth, she had run into Ryuen in the rain yesterday, and he had made threats about crushing Class D before moving on to Class B and Class A.

Sakayanagi Arisu found that quite interesting and wanted to toy with Ryuen.

"Do you think I'd believe your nonsense? Something else must have happened." Long Aotian looked at her, speechless.

"Oh my, you caught me."

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at his expression and suddenly found Long Aotian quite interesting as well.

Suddenly!

Long Aotian held up a finger and said, "!" "Since you want to mess with Ryuen, you'll definitely use all sorts of schemes to deal with him. That's so boring."

"In that case," Sakayanagi Arisu's brows lifted slightly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. She leaned forward, as if anticipating some secret being revealed. "Do you have a more interesting way to play?"

"Let's go beat up Ryuen!"

His thinking was quite simple. For someone like Ayanokoji in Class D, if they wanted to play mind games, you played mind games to ruin them.

But Ryuen's class was different. Although they had some brains, they relied on violence. Even if they hadn't gone public with it yet, it was only a matter of time. Hadn't he seen in the plot later how Karuizawa Kei was coerced to force Ayanokoji to appear?

"Huh?" Sakayanagi Arisu's brows furrowed slightly, her eyes filled with confusion and disbelief. She parted her lips slightly. "Are you saying the two of us should go and deal with Ryuen together?"

"Even if you can fight and beat him to the ground, there's no fun in that for me." As she spoke, she pointed to her inconvenient leg.

"Oh!" A look of sudden realization flashed across Long Aotian's face, his eyes brightening as if he understood her intent.

He noticed the inconvenience of her leg, which could at most kick out lightly with one foot, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl into an understanding smile.

"That's simple." Long Aotian said, slowly rising from his seat, his steps steady as he approached her, every movement appearing calm and unhurried.

Sakayanagi Arisu watched his movements, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes as she knitted her brows, as if trying to guess his next move.

"What are you trying to do?" She tilted her head slightly, her voice laced with both wariness and curiosity.

Long Aotian paced slowly toward her and said in a soft yet clear voice, "I'm going to treat your legs."

Upon hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu furrowed her brows slightly, a look of disbelief and confusion flashing in her eyes.

She shook her head gently, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as if mocking herself: "You? I've visited countless famous doctors for these legs, and none of them could do anything."

"Don't worry." Long Aotian patted his chest, looking at Sakayanagi Arisu with a firm gaze: "Trust me, alright? I'll definitely fix them."

Sakayanagi Arisu frowned, crossing her arms over her chest with a look full of skepticism. "How is that possible? What if you're careless and leave me crippled?" Her words were tinged with mockery and distrust.

"Then I'll just touch them—never mind, I'll go beat up Ryuen instead."

He had originally intended to use a different approach to persuade her, but after a moment's thought, he decided against it.

"You pervert! You're actually making excuses just to touch my legs."

Sakayanagi Arisu had initially held a sliver of expectation, despite her overwhelming distrust, but that sliver vanished the moment she heard those words.

"Huh?" Long Aotian looked down at Sakayanagi Arisu's legs.

Though they weren't as long as those of a tall model, they possessed a unique charm and appeal; while short, they looked exceptionally nimble and cute. Not bad, not bad at all—he really did want to touch them.

"Hehehe! Here I come!" With that, Long Aotian quickly reached out with both hands toward her incapacitated legs.

"Ah!" Sakayanagi Arisu let out a sharp cry. Before she could even lift herself from her seated position, her hands darted out toward the side, desperately trying to grab the cane within reach to defend herself.

However, everything happened too fast; her fingertips merely grazed the handle of the cane without managing to get a firm grip.

Long Aotian grabbed her legs, kneaded them gently, and then pressed a few specific points using [Medical King Healing Touch].

"Does it hurt?"

Sakayanagi Arisu felt a mix of shame and anger, yet she couldn't deny that it felt somewhat comfortable.

"Does it hurt?"

Long Aotian let go of her legs and waved his hand in front of the dazed Sakayanagi Arisu to get her attention.

Sakayanagi Arisu ignored him, stood up, and reached for her cane, preparing to leave.

"Sigh." Long Aotian let out a breath and shook his head, taking the cane away.

He knew that although Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't saying anything now, once she left, he would be facing her full-scale retaliation.

Though he wasn't afraid, he preferred to avoid trouble whenever possible.

"Try walking. It might not be a miraculous instant recovery, but at least it won't be so difficult for you to walk anymore." As he spoke, Long Aotian reached out to support her.

Sakayanagi Arisu glared at Long Aotian and tried to shake his hand off, but she couldn't.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm really not lying to you."

Sakayanagi Arisu had no choice but to take a few steps to test it out.

"Eh?" She took a few cautious steps; though her pace was slightly slow, she was surprised to find that her gait was much more stable than before.

A deep sense of longing welled up in her heart—it was the feeling she had dreamed of for so long.

Whenever she watched others running freely, their legs soaring like birds taking flight, her eyes would always shimmer with endless envy and desire.

The corners of her mouth would lift involuntarily, only to be pressed tightly shut a moment later, as if she were struggling to suppress the indescribable surge of emotion within her.

"Thank you."

"Stop trying to suppress that pout of yours. Even if you didn't say it out loud just now, you must have hated me to death in your heart."

"Tha... thank you..." Sakayanagi Arisu's voice trembled slightly, and crystalline tears welled up in her eyes. She quickly raised her hand and brushed her fingertips across the corners of her eyes, trying to wipe away the sudden moisture.

She knew that from this moment on, she would possess a pair of healthy legs.

Long Aotian handed her a pack of tissues, signaling for her to wipe her face.

Long Aotian couldn't quite understand it, as he was perfectly healthy; perhaps this was what it felt like to be reborn?

Before long, Sakayanagi Arisu finally calmed down, or rather, recovered her composure.

"Feeling better?"

"I'm fine."

Sakayanagi Arisu stood up elegantly, gently lifted the two corners of her JK skirt with her hands, leaned forward slightly, and moved her left foot half a step back.

"My Sakayanagi Family will, from this day forward, treat you as an honored guest forever. No matter when or where in the future, as long as you have any need, just say the word, and my Sakayanagi Family will exhaust every resource to fulfill your every request."

She spoke with the gravity of a sworn oath.

PS: First of all, thanks to: Heise, Bieyunwuyong, for the two little gifts.