Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Going Home!

Miss Huoshi was woken by the commotion.

That device seemed to share a curious resemblance with swarm-kind — somewhat like the Phantasmal lineage, as if weaving a mental illusion, carrying a strange tactile sensation, and yet also bearing a more familiar aura, like the lineage of the Shattered Star.

She lingered in that peculiar atmosphere for a moment before slowly raising her gaze. Her eyes were clear and bright, not a trace of drowsiness — and they landed on... little Jingliu.

"Lit — tle — Wang — shu!"

Jingliu, who had apparently already been released from school, stood by the stall cart with both fists on her hips, radiating fury. She didn't spare Huoshi a single glance, as if the girl were nothing but air.

"Look, she fell asleep. I couldn't exactly chase her off."

Wangshu sighed. He hadn't expected Huoshi to actually dare fall asleep — and not in her own territory, but in Cangcheng, on the Hunt's turf.

Jingliu's gaze swept over the nearly empty batter barrel, then the stall cart that had clearly been running all morning.

She didn't take the bait about the sleeping issue. Instead, she stepped into Wangshu's usual spot, rose slightly on her toes for a height advantage, and looked down at Wangshu resting on the folding stool.

She enunciated every syllable: "I. Hate. People. Who. Are. Warm. To. Everyone."

She used to like the warm-to-everyone types. The class's warm-to-everyone kid didn't care whether you were an orphan — never deliberately distant, never excessively sympathetic.

But now she suddenly despised that trait. This was all little Wangshu's fault. She was becoming less and less like a good kid... though in her teachers' eyes, she'd never exactly been one.

Wangshu sat on the stool, tilting his head up slightly, meeting Jingliu's gaze in silence. Her crimson eyes were sharp, carrying that stubborn, never-back-down edge.

"Oh my~ are you two fighting because of me?"

Huoshi's perfectly timed, gentle exclamation broke the taut silence. Her clear eyes drifted between the pair, carrying the lucidity of someone just woken — yet without a shred of grogginess.

This state was intimately familiar to her. This was the scenario the Alluring Swarm Lord lineage had practiced for millennia: infiltrate, gain the trust of key individuals, then slowly climb to the top and take what you wanted.

The clumsy, straightforward interactions between this boy and girl were like an open book with every page clearly marked.

"Would you mind leaving?" Wangshu didn't turn his head, his tone polite but distant. "The deal shouldn't need to be completed on a tight schedule."

He maintained his courtesy. After all... this was a Swarm Lord.

Even if the Alluring lineage's combat power was probably only slightly above the Pacifist, who'd converted to being a producer — and might not even match the Pacifist at all.

"What deal?"

Jingliu's crimson eyes swept between the two.

How had her future self tricked little Wangshu into being this loyal? Did bad women just have a natural advantage in this department?

"Children."

Huoshi spoke softly, a smile playing at her lips. She'd been about to provoke a little further, but... she glanced at Wangshu, and the survival habits preserved over an eternity held her back.

No need, she thought.

She would never, for the sake of her own amusement, do anything that might introduce unnecessary risk.

"Children!"

But those two weightless syllables packed plenty of punch! Little Jingliu's voice shot up, brimming with disbelief. What did children mean? Whose children?

Wangshu glanced wearily at the group chat — nobody was talking. He decided on the most direct course of action.

The motion wasn't rough, but it was exceptionally decisive. He reached out and lifted Miss Huoshi by the scruff. Despite being a Swarm Lord, she offered zero resistance.

She was docilely hoisted into the air, dangled for a moment, then gently deposited on the nearby sidewalk.

"Little Wangshu!"

Jingliu slapped the seat hard. She felt like the two had been flirting! She was the third wheel — they were acting just like... like those long-life kids at the academy who dated too young.

Wangshu's tone was sincere: "I really want to do what little Jingliu wants and toss Miss Huoshi out, but... I genuinely can't beat her right now."

Well — maybe he could. From what he knew, every Propagation Swarm Lord except Zinie was having a rough time.

Zinie, being the highest-ranked, only cared about her own chrysalis evolution and didn't really concern herself with universal affairs.

And in the future timeline where Jingliu ascended to the rank of Archon, none of these bugs had shown their faces either. But for now — better safe than sorry.

"Then if I tell you to come home right now, will you?"

Jingliu's crimson eyes still burned with that stubborn fire — defiant, and a touch wounded.

She had school. She had to figure out how to pass that stupid coming-of-age certification. During breaks, when she leaned against the classroom window and spaced out, she caught herself unconsciously scanning for little Wangshu's figure.

And this indecent little Wangshu? He'd be out here cozying up to these bad women all morning. Maybe longer.

Shouldn't investment be a two-way street?

Why was little Wangshu willing to come all the way here for the future-her, even knowing he could never go back — yet unwilling to be a little more decent for the present-her?

"Yes!"

Wangshu answered without the slightest hesitation.

Little Jingliu choked. The answer came too fast, too clean — it made her feel like he was just saying it to brush her off.

"Then — then what if I make you come to school with me?!"

She blurted it out on impulse.

"Sure!"

Wangshu didn't even blink. There was even a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

No class on Saturday and Sunday, 8 AM to 5 PM on weekdays — an academy like that? Wangshu honestly wouldn't mind.

He'd always wanted to experience the high-school life from light novels. Too bad he'd attended a Chinese high school before, and Chinese high school was something he'd rather not reminisce about.

Little Jingliu choked again. Her little brain worked overtime to process the situation. So: was it possible that little Wangshu was just genuinely bored being alone all day? After all, she couldn't always be there.

"Interesting — sending someone who carries Propagation's source power, a potential Emanator, to an academy deeply blessed by Abundance?"

Huoshi twitched her nose. That rich, sweet aroma washed over her.

Propagation spores at the Emanator level transcended physical means entirely — they were closer to conceptual, rule-level silent saturation. They made people want to draw near without realizing it. Leaning against Wangshu was genuinely addictive.

And the little girl was just going to let him attend classes? In a classroom all day with classmates? That was very generous of her.

"Hey — y-you, don't butt in!"

Jingliu whipped her head around, crimson eyes "fiercely" glaring at Huoshi.

Swarm Lord, schmarm Lord — she refused to believe that the hulking, grotesque insects from the textbooks could turn into this annoying little girl.

Huoshi went with the flow, raising a slender finger to her lips and miming a zipper-shut gesture. Brows curved, eyes smiling — a picture of obedient I'll-be-quiet-you-two-carry-on.

"Look at her!"

Jingliu pointed at Huoshi's act, appealing to Wangshu.

Looking at Jingliu — fuming, puffed up, yet utterly unable to do anything about her opponent's adorable facade — Wangshu's tightly pressed lips gave way. The corner twitched upward, and then he couldn't hold it anymore. A low laugh escaped.

"You — you're laughing!"

Jingliu grew even angrier. A sheen of moisture gathered in her crimson eyes.

"I don't know why I'm laughing either. But seeing little Jingliu this upset — I just don't hate it, and somehow it makes me want to laugh."

He raised his voice too, eyes still bright with laughter — as if he'd fully slipped into character. No — into the right age bracket. This was exactly what bickering with a girl felt like in high school. The Cangcheng diviner said he was seventeen, so a high schooler he was!

"Going home!"

Jingliu practically bit the words out. Home first — argue there. Not in front of outsiders.

He really has integrated into the Xianzhou... Huoshi watched Wangshu's utterly unfeigned, brilliant smile and the way he naturally bickered with the girl beside him. The thought dropped into her mind like a stone into a still lake, sending ripples through her ancient but uncomplicated consciousness.

How wonderful. The Alluring swarm-kind loved people who were true and loyal above all else.

After all, who didn't enjoy the company of good people?