Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 153 Crimson and Shadow Blade

Inside a senior classroom at Ginyo Private High School.

"Next, I'll talk about the application of derivatives..."

Zhou Chen seemed completely oblivious to what the teacher was saying, sitting in his seat with his fingertips gently tracing the edge of the love letter.

His gaze passed over the shoulders of the students in the front row and landed on Li Mingyan, who was sitting by the window in the third row.

At this moment, Li Mingyan was completely unaware of the gaze behind her, focusing intently on taking notes. Her long black hair was tied up with a simple rubber band, revealing her fair nape.

"Zhou Chen!" The math teacher's suddenly raised voice startled him. "Come up and solve this problem."

A few snickers rang out in the classroom; everyone was getting ready for a good show.

Zhou Chen slowly stood up, then walked to the podium, took the chalk, and scribbled a few lines of formulas on the blackboard.

"Wrong, completely wrong." The math teacher pushed up his glasses. "You didn't listen to a single word I said. Zhou Chen, if you keep going like this, what will you do for the college entrance exam?"

Zhou Chen said, "Teacher, the college entrance examination is not the only way out in life."

"Oh, so what are you planning to do?" the teacher asked sarcastically. "Let me guess, are you going to sing at a bar or dance at a nightclub?"

The whole class burst into laughter.

Li Mingyan didn't even raise her head, a slight contemptuous smile appearing on her lips.

Zhou Chen's heart sank when he saw Li Mingyan's expression.

When the bell rang, Zhou Chen strode towards Li Mingyan's seat.

"Mingyan, I didn't understand that question just now." His voice unconsciously lowered a little. "Could you explain it to me?"

Li Mingyan looked up, her eyes full of annoyance: "Zhou Chen, this is something we learned a long time ago. If you don't even know this, I suggest you start learning it again from the first year of high school."

She closed her notebook and deftly stuffed it into her bag: "Also, stop making excuses to get close to me. I'm not interested in a slacker like you."

Zhou Chen watched her leave the classroom, his expression growing increasingly grim.

During lunch break, Li Mingyan gently pushed open the door to the school clinic.

Qin Mei was tidying up the medicine cabinet when she heard the voice and said without turning her head, "If it's a cold or a scrape, the medicine is in the cabinet on the left, take it yourself."

"Mom, it's me." Li Mingyan walked in carrying a lunchbox. "I've come to have lunch with you."

Qin Mei turned to look at her daughter and said with a smile, "Okay. How's the food in the cafeteria today?"

"Okay."

At the same time, inside the cafeteria.

Wu Ge saw Zhou Chen sitting opposite him pick up a chicken leg and quickly said, "Brother Chen, no need."

“Yes, you’re only 16 years old now, you can still grow taller.” Zhou Chen said with a smile, “You still need to grow a little taller.”

Wu Ge could only thank him and then asked, "Brother Chen, is studying in your senior year of high school stressful?"

"Senior year of high school... that's it, there's a high chance I won't be able to get into university."

"Actually, you could consider going to university as a student with athletic talent."

“I’ll think about it. Actually… it doesn’t make a big difference whether I go to university or not. As long as a man can make money, that’s fine.” He picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his mouth, saying, “You’re different. Your grades are pretty good. If you lay a good foundation in the first year of high school, you will definitely be able to get into a good university in the future.”

“University…” Wu Ge smiled bitterly, “I hope so.”

At this moment, Li Mingyan confidently said to her mother, Qin Mei, "Mom, don't worry, I will definitely get into Peking University!"

"Yes, I believe you can do it." Qin Mei affectionately stroked her daughter's head and said, "Once you get into Peking University, you can leave Muxu City. And never come back here again."

“Mom, I will definitely find a good job in Yanjing and then bring you here! You won’t have to put up with Grandpa and Grandma’s attitude anymore! It’s just that Dad’s grave will remain here…”

"Even so, never come back to Muxu City again," Qin Mei repeatedly warned. "This hellish place, Muxu City, as long as you have a way to leave, never come back!"

“Okay, sure.” Li Mingyan put some food on her mother’s plate and said, “I just miss Dad so much right now. You and Dad used to work at Blue Rainbow Academy. Dad was a Chinese teacher, and you were the school doctor… Who would have thought that overnight, a memetic outbreak would occur, and Blue Rainbow Academy would become a quarantine zone… Luckily, Mom, you recovered from the memetic infection, but Dad…”

"It's all fate," Qin Mei sighed, then said, "Let's not talk about that. How have you been getting along with your classmates lately?"

"Everyone's doing fine, except for Zhou Chen in our class, he's so annoying. That guy never pays attention in class, I don't think he's planning to go to university, he'll probably just be a hoodlum when he gets into society!"

"Well, we're classmates after all, so let's not say that."

"Hmph, the key point is that I think he's like a toad trying to eat swan meat!" she said, revealing a disdainful expression.

the other side.

Wu Ge suddenly asked, "Brother Chen, do you have someone you like now?"

"Is it that obvious?" Zhou Chen was taken aback.

"It couldn't be more obvious."

"Oh, this..." He touched the love letter on his chest and said, "I'm really sorry about this."

"Don't have children," Wu Ge suddenly said. "Marriage is fine, but I advise you, Brother Chen, never to have children. Don't let your child be born into an era of meme pollution like I was."

"Having a child..." Zhou Chen smiled bitterly, "That's too far off."

Half an hour later.

Qin Mei gave her daughter a few more instructions and then saw her out. Afterward, she sat down, picked up the newspaper delivered by the guardhouse, and started reading the latest news about Manhattan memes and the Korean coast.

The amount of memetic contamination in Busan and Incheon has begun to increase, and abnormal phenomena have also been discovered in Moo-hsu City and around Blue Rainbow Academy.

Suddenly, she heard the door open.

"What's wrong, Mingyan? Have you forgotten something?"

However, upon closer inspection, she saw Zhou Chen leaning against the door frame, his school uniform jacket casually draped over his shoulders.

His nonchalant demeanor was exactly the same as his appearance in class, but his eyes were completely different—sharp as a drawn sword.

"Zhou Chen?" She stood up and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhou Chen locked the door behind him and walked closer step by step: "I've checked, everyone around here has gone to eat."

Then, he walked over and...

He hugged Qin Mei!
"Mingyan still seems to dislike me. As for our relationship... I probably can't tell her about it for the time being."

Qin Mei's ears turned slightly red.

At 37 years old, she looks like she's around 25, with tight skin and a slender figure; you can't find a single fine line on her face even with a magnifying glass.

She was wearing a white lab coat, but it couldn't hide the unique charm of a mature woman.

"I already told you to behave better in class." She lowered her voice, but couldn't stop Zhou Chen's fingers from stroking her cheek.

"There's nothing I can do, I'm just not cut out for studying."

"You!" Qin Mei raised her hand and tapped Zhou Chen's shoulder. "Why are you always like this! You're so improper!"

Zhou Chen took the love letter out of his pocket and said, "You're making me so sad, Dr. Qin. I spent three hours writing this love letter yesterday."

Qin Mei didn't answer, but instead took a step back to create some distance: "I'm being serious, Zhou Chen. After my husband died, Mingyan became my life. No matter what, I have to find a way to send her to Yanjing before Muxu City is completely corrupted by memes."

“She’s your daughter, so she’s my daughter too.” Zhou Chen’s expression turned solemn. “Don’t worry, the regimental commander said that as long as I make a great contribution, he can also help me get things done. As long as the department’s application is approved, we can send Mingyan away from Muxu City ahead of schedule.”

Hearing this, Qin Mei felt a sense of relief, raised her hand to hug Zhou Chen, and said, "Remember what you said. Of course, it would be even better if Mingyan could get into Peking University."

The two are 19 years apart in age, but the reincarnator has many ways to preserve his youth. At 37, he can maintain his appearance as if he were in his 20s. As long as there is resentment crystallization, he will never have a wrinkle on his face again.

Just as Zhou Chen lowered his head to kiss her, both of their phones vibrated at the same time.

Qin Mei quickly broke free from his embrace and took her phone out of her white coat pocket. The screen displayed the words "Blood Spider." At the same time, Zhou Chen's phone also showed a caller ID for "Deputy Regiment Commander Long."

The two looked at each other and pressed the answer button at the same time.

"Qin Mei, Blood Lord has given an order," Valeria's cold voice rang out, "Come to the Bloodthirsty Team headquarters at Dingyou Camp at 7 PM tonight. Do not tell the young master about this."

Long Cang's voice came from Zhou Chen's phone almost simultaneously: "Zhou Chen, Blood Lord has personally ordered you to come to the Bloody Team headquarters at the Dingyou Reincarnation Camp at 7 pm tonight. Do not tell the young master about this."

After the call ended, the school clinic fell into a brief silence.

"The Blood Lord himself summoned us?" Qin Mei was quite surprised. "And it was two of our branch leaders who were acting together?"

“This means it’s no small matter. You know, the leader arranged for the young master to attend this school so that we could protect him nearby.” Zhou Chen, or rather… the leader of the first sub-group “Crimson” under the Bloody Team.

Despite his young age, Zhou Chen is a level 3 Shaman, the same level as Yu Tianlun.

Crimson is currently the strongest subgroup under the Bloody Team, and Zhou Chen himself was one of the first veterans to follow Blood Lord.

Qin Mei is the leader of "Shadow Blade," another sub-team of the Bloodthirsty Clan, and a medium-type reincarnator. Although she is also LV3, her strength is far inferior to Zhou Chen's.

“The commander is probably about to make a big move,” Zhou Chen said. “After all, if the main force takes action, it will be too easy for the insect nest team to notice, so they sent our two branch teams to take action.”

"Then we need to start preparing as soon as possible..."

Then, Zhou Chen suddenly grabbed Qin Mei's hand and said, "We have to keep our relationship a secret from Blood Lord. Our Grand Commander is very suspicious. He probably won't be happy if he finds out that the leaders of the two major divisions are a couple."

"I know."

"Don't worry, this is a good opportunity. As long as I make a great contribution, I can make demands of Blood Lord. In any case, he has one advantage: he is fair in rewarding and punishing."

It's 7 p.m. at night.

Dingyou Reincarnation Camp.

Zhou Chen and Qin Mei took the photos of Jiang Jin and Liu Yan.

"This couple must be captured alive and brought before me." The Blood Lord did not reveal the secret of the more than thirty fragments of resentment crystals. "Remember, no matter what, capture them alive. Han Wei will cooperate with your operation."

"Should we start with the horror instance?" Zhou Chen said worriedly. "But then, the missions we receive might be different from theirs, and they might not even be in the same area."

"They are currently members of the Dawn team. If the Dawn team acts collectively, the Reincarnation System may arrange a team battle between you."

"Team battles... if the strength difference is too great, the reincarnation system might schedule us to enter the dungeon later." Qin Mei looked at Liu Yan's photo and said, "And she's actually a witch doctor?"

"If there are difficulties, then we'll solve them. In any case, I only care about the results," the Blood Lord said resolutely. "I'll help you set up the battlefield; you're responsible for bringing those two back to me!"

“If we’re going to take action against Yu Tianlun…” Zhou Chen hesitated, “Isn’t he supposed to have people from the imperial court protecting him?”

"Would someone really be expelled from Dawn if they vouched for him? Don't worry, he has powerful backers. Don't we, the Bloodthirsty Clan, have powerful backers? Go ahead and do it. I'll protect you if anything goes wrong." Blood Lord rested his chin on his hands and asked, "So, any other questions?"

(End of this chapter)