Douluo Dragon King: My Strategy System Is a Bit Off

Chapter 54 Xu Xiaoyan's Fear

"You don't need to worry about it."

Gu Yue didn't answer directly, but just turned her face away, giving off an "take it or leave it" look.

Arrogant girls are always like this; they want to be nice to you but are unwilling to admit it, always pretending to be like this.

She waited for a long time without getting a reply from Lin Ci, so she turned back and saw that the boy had already buried his head in the lunchbox.

The girl couldn't help but bite her rosy lips, a barely perceptible smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.

They returned to school today, but regular classes wouldn't resume until the next day. Since they only needed to report to Wu Changkong today, the two of them, with nothing else to do, leisurely strolled towards the school grounds.

Spring has arrived in the east, and in just one month, the weather in Donghai City has begun to warm up. Tender buds have sprouted on the branches of the trees lining the campus paths.

A gentle spring breeze carried the sounds of their conversation.

"Have you not been to the Spirit Pagoda lately?" Lin Ci asked.

Lin Ci was particularly puzzled. He was nominally Leng Yaozhu's student, but apart from meeting her once and receiving a card, there had been no further contact. There hadn't even been any communication from her.

But it's not that she doesn't pay attention to you, for example, during the Tiandou City auction.

This is contradictory.

"I went there once yesterday when I returned to Donghai City. But my teacher was at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in Shrek City, so I didn't do anything," Gu Yue replied.

Lin Ci swallowed the last bite of meat from his lunchbox, the metal container reflecting dappled sunlight. He could feel Gu Yue's gaze lingering on the back of his neck, like spider silk glistening with morning dew in spring, so light it was almost imperceptible.

"So you're just going to let me run wild like this?" He wiped his mouth with a tissue, shrugged, and looked at Gu Yue.

Gu Yue kicked away a pebble at her feet, and it fell into the artificial lake of Donghai Academy with a plop. Ripples spread across the water, startling the carp that were foraging for food.

The girl rolled her eyes at him and snorted, "That's perfect. With your lazy personality, you wouldn't want to go to the Spirit Pagoda every day anyway."

"That makes sense." Lin Ci nodded firmly. He didn't know what was wrong with him. It should have been a good thing; just being nominally in her name was actually quite nice, especially since not seeing her would avoid awkwardness. But for some reason, he felt a little uncomfortable.

"By the way," Lin Ci picked up the food box and asked, "Can this be eaten a second time? It tastes really good, somewhat similar to the roasted bear paw I ate at the Spirit Ascension Platform."

Gu Yue was silent for a moment, then said, "We can have it one more time, but we won't be able to get any more. This was made by my family's chef; I'm too lazy to cook it myself."

Lin Ci nodded and reminded him, "No wonder, the meat tastes good, but your chef really needs to be replaced. If it weren't for the fresh ingredients, I guess..."

What he didn't notice was that, as he spoke, the girl's outstretched hand had somehow clenched into a fist. The air pressure around her gradually decreased until it reached freezing point.

Just a second before the girl could lose her temper, Lin Ci suddenly changed the subject.

"Of course, if this chef's name is Gu Yue, then you actually misunderstood what I just said." Lin Ci smiled. "What I meant was, this chef is simply a god descended from heaven, a reincarnation of the God of Cookery..."

Gu Yue slowly loosened her clenched fist, and the air pressure around her, which had plummeted to freezing point, gradually rose again. However, the girl didn't listen any longer and turned to walk towards the teaching building.

Lin Ci asked in confusion, "Where are you going?"

"If you don't go find Teacher Wu soon, it'll be time to go home." Gu Yue had already walked ten steps away. With her back to him, she raised her right hand, her fingertips swirling with five-colored elemental flow, using light elements to spell out the word "walk" in the air.

Lin Ci breathed a sigh of relief, watching the girl leave. The early morning light stretched the girl's shadow long and slanted, facing the boy from afar.

……

The opening ceremony was held early the next morning. Class Zero stood at the very front of all the first-grade classes, without a doubt. The five students lined up in a row.

There were indeed five people.

Xie Xie stood in the very center, with Gu Yue and Tang Wulin on his left and right respectively, Lin Ci on the far left, and a sweet and petite girl on the far right.

Wu Changkong stood expressionless in the teacher's seat, his attitude remaining unchanged whether he was in Class Zero or Class Five.

This kind of opening ceremony is still the familiar formality, mostly filled with encouraging words, but actually not very useful.

The students in Class Zero were already used to it, so it wasn't a big deal. However, the new girl would occasionally tilt her head slightly and peek out to look at her new classmates.

She glanced at the first three with curiosity. But when her gaze fell on Lin Ci, she shrank back like a mouse encountering a cat.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Finally, the ceremony ended, and the students began to walk back to their respective classrooms. The students in Class Zero also prepared to return to their classrooms, with the new girl dawdling behind them, seemingly afraid to approach Lin Ci.

Gu Yue noticed this and quietly tugged at Lin Ci's sleeve, asking in a low voice, "What's going on between you and her? She seems really afraid of you."

Lin Ci didn't answer, but Xie Xie laughed and said, "You guys forgot, isn't this the sister of that ice staff guy in the Spirit Ascension Platform during the final exams? She was probably scared by Brother Ci."

"Introduce yourself," Wu Changkong said directly upon returning to the classroom.

The girl stood up and faced Wu Changkong. She always seemed very shy. "Hello everyone, my name is Xu Xiaoyan, and I'm ten years old. My martial soul is the Star Wheel Ice Staff. My soul power is level seventeen."

Wu Changkong nodded. "For the next month, you need to prove your abilities and that you're a good fit for Class Zero. After one month, you'll decide whether to stay or leave."

Wu Changkong clearly didn't have a good attitude towards the transfer students. After all, in his eyes, everyone in Class Zero had entered because of their strength and talent. As for Xu Xiaoyan, he saw her as someone who got in through connections. Before discovering her strengths, he was already quite good at having this attitude.

"Yes," Xu Xiaoyan replied obediently.

Wu Changkong turned to the other four. "A month's rest is needed to reassess your physical condition. At the same time, it's time to test your combat abilities. I'll give you half an hour to meditate and adjust your state. You too." The last four words were addressed to Xu Xiaoyan.

It's essentially a back-to-school inspection. Through data analysis, we can indirectly determine whether students have put in the necessary effort during the holidays.

However, this first test made Xu Xiaoyan, who was already very scared, even more apprehensive. The difference between Lin Ci's data in the last test and her own test results was like that between an elephant and an ant.

(End of this chapter)