Chu Xusheng’s face turned beet red.

“Ahem.” Jing Pei put a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her grin. “Even atavists need three to four days to fully recover after breaking a bone. It’s normal to be fragile now. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the school infirmary.”

Chu Xusheng just hung his head and tagged along.

“Senior!” As they walked, Jing Pei was called out by an unfamiliar junior student.

The junior student looked at her, her face flushed, her eyes shy and timid. “Senior, I, I want to be your retainer, can I?”

Chu Xusheng shot her a death glare, starting to panic. Would a stranger snatch the opportunity first?

“The way you do things, Senior, it’s just amazing. I really look up to you and want to join your family, to be like you. Is that okay?” she asked, looking hopeful.

The Long family currently had no retainers. They must be eager for talent. Anyone who was an atavist and wanted to join would be welcomed, right?

However, Jing Pei smiled and said, “When you graduate from the Twelve Zodiac Academy, if you still feel this way, I will welcome you.”

Students who could earn enough advancement points to graduate from the Twelve Zodiac Academy were already elites among elites.

Not getting scooped, Chu Xusheng breathed a sigh of relief. However, unexpectedly, along the way, people who wanted to join the Long family appeared one after another.

Even though the Long family’s overall strength couldn’t compare to other atavist families, Jing Pei was truly a potential candidate full of promise. Not to mention, she possessed a leadership charisma that inspired admiration and longing.

Chu Xusheng’s heart leaped, then settled, then leaped again, and finally, he couldn’t settle it anymore. A guy who looked super tough—tall and sturdy, with muscles that looked hard as stone. He also had a booming voice, completely overpowering any attempt to speak.

She would definitely have many retainers in the future, but he wanted to be the first! Being the first had to mean something huge, right?

It’s all my fault, what am I dawdling for! In panic, he rushed to the flag-raising platform and snatched the microphone that the principal was about to use after the morning exercises. “Long Jin!!”

This time, his voice was so loud that it not only drowned out the booming voice of the male student but was heard by all the students in the school.

Instantly, students on various teaching buildings poked their heads out from the corridors to look, and gazes from all directions gathered.

“It’s Chu Xusheng!”

“What is that King Insect doing?”

“Wow wow wow, is he going to confess?!”

“This is so exciting so early in the morning!”

Jing Pei turned her head in surprise to look at Chu Xusheng on the flag-raising platform.

Chu Xusheng clenched his fists, his face flushed, but he still mustered his courage and said, “I know I still have many shortcomings. I’m not strong enough yet, and my mind isn’t very sharp, but I will truly work hard. I don’t want to cause you trouble. I want to protect you and stay by your side always. I want to be your retainer, please accept me, okay?”

As he spoke, perhaps due to the overwhelming emotion, two tears welled up in his beautiful eyes again. He sniffled, his body tensing with butterflies, as if awaiting the final verdict.

The scene fell silent for a few seconds, then erupted into a wave of playful jeers.

“Wow!”

“Take him, take him!”

“This request to be a retainer sounds more like a marriage proposal, my toes are curling!”

“Long Jin, take him! Not taking him would be inhuman!”

Although they had already seen it online, and in fact, had already sensed it before—after all, on Wu Ying’s birthday, some atavist families had acted without shame to get him, dragging other atavist families who didn’t share that attitude down with them. In comparison, Jing Pei was simply too classy. If it were them, they would choose her too!

But even knowing this beforehand, they were still really excited now. Who could blame him for making this whole thing sound like a confession?

Jing Pei looked a bit helpless and walked over.

Wuwu. So nervous, will she reject me like she did the others? Chu Xusheng’s shoulders tensed even more, holding his breath.

Then, he heard Jing Pei say, with a hint of helplessness and tenderness, “If you are truly sure, then stay by my side.”

Chu Xusheng’s dreamlike eyes lit up with joy, becoming even more ethereal and captivating.

“Mhm!” He nodded hard, his voice still carrying a slight nasal tone.

A chorus of whistles and applause erupted around them.

“Congratulations to the lovers who finally became… wait, no, congratulations to Chu Xusheng for his dream come true, and to the Long family for gaining a fierce general!”

“Congratulations, congratulations, hahahaha.”

“Good heavens, this request to be a retainer sounded more like a confession than my boyfriend’s proposal.”

Chu Xusheng’s face was flushed, his heart pounding. Even though he really tried to suppress it, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but turn upwards. Jing Pei paused for a moment. Having Chu Xusheng stay wasn’t part of her plan; it was an unexpected development. But now, it seemed quite good.

This person, who in the original work became a wanted criminal at fifteen, a killer whose body and soul were destined to live forever in the shadows, was now displaying a side she hadn’t written—out of the blue was beautiful and endearing.

She liked it.

The rest of the way, no one else appeared to block their path, saying they wanted to be retainers.

The school infirmary in the Atavist Division was a three-story white building.

From afar, as Jing Pei reached the entrance, she saw a man standing in the corridor.

The man was tall and well-built, with a well maintained, attractive mustache. If not for the white coat, it would have been hard to tell he was a doctor at all. He flashed a set of gleaming white teeth, his mature voice carrying a hint of teasing.

“Fancy seeing you again, Miss.”

“So it’s you. Are you our school doctor now?”

“Your Dr. Cao fell and got injured. Different from this student, who’ll recover in a few days, he’ll need months to heal and can’t work for now, so he recommended me to take his place.”

As for why Dr. Cao had recommended him—well, after his fall on the stairs, it was Tang Woxue who had “happened” to discover him, “helped” him, and “considerately” escorted him to the hospital.

Dr. Cao was the kind of person who got emotional easily, and once moved, he tended to act on impulse. So when he heard Tang Woxue was job hunting, he immediately recommended him to fill in at the Twelve Zodiac Academy.

Jing Pei lifted a brow, knows exactly what’s going on. There was no such thing as coincidence that convenient—he had to have pulled some strings. Still, she wasn’t surprised. Tang Woxue straddled the line between good and evil. Otherwise, in the original story, he wouldn’t have joined the Atavist Serum Organization to achieve his goals, nor successfully developed the Atavist Serum. There was no way he didn’t understand the kind of disaster that success would bring to this world.

“This must be the red thread of fate that binds us. My pursuit of you has finally met its answer in the unseen currents of destiny, Miss.” Tang Woxue smiled, bright and open.

Yet his eyes, as deep and still as an ancient well—and that quiet, heavy presence—stripped away any sense of innocence, leaving something far more charged.

Re-red thread? Pursuit? What nonsense is he spouting to our family head?! She’s still a minor! Chu Xusheng bared his teeth, looking ready to bite.

“Alright, come in. Let me give this kid a checkup.” Tang Woxue turned serious.

“Who are you calling a kid?!” Chu Xusheng snapped—only for a sharp crack to follow as another rib in his chest broke.

Tang Woxue said, “Just because you’re an Atavist and heal fast doesn’t mean you can abuse your body. One day it’ll make you regret it.”

Chu Xusheng lost the will to argue. If another rib snapped, he might as well jump off the building—how humiliating could this get?

Under Jing Pei’s gaze, Chu Xusheng lay down obediently and allowed himself to be treated.

Watching Tang Woxue work, one would never guess—unless he said it—that he had only been studying Atavist medicine for a week. True, it ran in the family and some knowledge carried over, but even so, one week was monstrous. Too bad he’d been in such a rush before, heading to the Long family without obtaining an atavist medical license. Otherwise, Long Yiming might really have let him in.

Jing Pei had already left for class. Seeing Chu Xusheng smiling to himself, Tang Woxue said, “Does serving as her retainer make you that happy? From now on, you’re just an extension of a family. When she says east, you won’t go west. And if it comes to it, you’ll die for her.”

“What’s there to mind? She helped me avenge my family. My life belongs to her—she’s where I belong.” Chu Xusheng shot him a wary look. “Say anything weird to her again and I’ll beat you up once I recover!”

Tang Woxue froze for a moment, then curled his lips in a faint, mysterious smile. Was it because he was young? To speak so easily of something that sounded like a lifelong commitment.

A pity. People change.

Something occurred to him. He turned to Chu Xusheng. “Since you’re her retainer, wherever she goes, you’ll follow?”

“Of course. What else would I do?”

Tang Woxue stroked his chin and turned away. His deep, well-like eyes grew even darker, the sunlight around him dimmed as though cast under shadow.

Which meant he didn’t have much time. She alone was already difficult to deal with—if there were a King Insect added to the equation, success would become nearly impossible. He’d have to get what he wanted from her before Chu Xusheng fully recovered.

…

Jing Pei glanced back at the school infirmary, a faint smile curving her lips.

When she returned to class, her classmates were still buzzing about Chu Xusheng’s confession.

“Congratulations, Young Master Long—no, congratulations on gaining a formidable general,” Chen Mo said as he leaned over.

“Thank you.”

“I heard the Atavist families are planning a documentary to fix their reputation. Is that true, Lianhua?”

“A documentary? What kind?” Tang Qiaoqiao immediately perked up.

Feng Yilian turned around, leaning sideways with his head propped on one hand. He yawned and spoke in a languid tone, “A production team approached them—that’s where the idea came from. Actually it was tailored made for Zhou Yongzi, but now that she’s gone and everything’s ready, they decided to give it a try with someone else.”

Atavists—an eternal topic, a race people never stopped being curious about. Before, Zhou Yongzi’s company had wanted to push her onto the international stage as a host, to give the public insight into the inner workings of the Atavist families. The Zhou family head had even agreed to act as her intermediary, to see if other families might be persuaded to cooperate.

In the past, the Atavist families would never have agreed, but now public outrage against them had grown overwhelming. While the government couldn’t easily amend the Atavist Management Regulations because of it, the pressure still left them uneasy.

A variety show was out of the question—how could the Atavist families lower themselves to that level? But a polished, high-end documentary that showed the responsibilities they bore and the contributions they made to society—that, at least, was acceptable.

Let the outraged public see why the Atavist families’ privileges made sense.

Feng Yilian added, “And you three—you, Lou Ting, and Chu Xusheng. The positive public opinion about you is another source of inspiration.”

Chen Mo nodded, analyzing it aloud. “You’re all Atavists. Other families get slammed, while you three get praised to the skies. Why? Because you’ve taken on the role of heroes who punish evildoers. Look at it from another angle—when the other families’ kids help the Tribunal Division catch criminals and solve cases, they’re playing heroes too. So why don’t they get praise? Oh—because nobody sees it. So just let people see it!”

“A very much coincidence move,” Jing Pei remarked with a hint of surprise before smiling.

The Atavist families still clung to their old arrogance, believing ordinary people had no right to know about them. In the original story, it was only when conflicts between Atavists and ordinary people reached a boiling point that Long Ling used this simple method to ease tensions—and succeeded with massive.

And now, because of her intervention, those families had figured it out on their own.

How interesting.

“If it really happens, let me join your group, Jin-jie!” Chen Mo said. “Let me ride your coattails a little.”

Right now, netizens all believed Jing Pei could withstand Lou Ting’s Scales of Judgment—which meant she must be an upright person. Anyone close to her would gain a measure of goodwill. Chen Mo wanted to use that to boost his chances of becoming family head.

“Th-then I want in too!” Tang Qiaoqiao raised her hand, cheeks puffed as she peeked at Jing Pei, worried about being turned down.

“We’ll talk about it when the time comes,” Jing Pei said with a smile.

The class bell rang just then, and at the same time, Jing Pei’s watch vibrated.

She opened her email at her leisure and saw a message from a client.

[Hello, Puzzle Intelligence Agency owner. Last time, you told me the item I need is on Long Jin. By now, you must be aware of both my situation and hers. I would like information that will help me achieve my goal.]

Tang Woxue, huh. Judging by the timing, it was about when he would soon need to put his plan into motion.

Jing Pei’s eyes curved slightly as she replied.

[Contact this pair of partners.]