Ice Melting

The dean's office of the school.

Chen Miemie, Yi Shuangzi, Fengling, and Dean Deng sat facing each other.

The wound on Yi Shuangzi's waist looked terrifying, but it hadn't actually hit any vital organs. After being treated by Fengling, the part-time school doctor, it was now wrapped in bandages and was no longer worsening.

Chen Miemie and Yi Shuangzi looked like two elementary school students who had made a mistake and been caught in the office by their teacher and principal.

Fengling crossed her arms over her chest. Tell me, what is going on with you two?

Chen Miemie glanced at Yi Shuangzi. Although her bleeding had stopped, her face was pale and she was extremely weak.

So he spoke up, laying out some of Yi Shuangzi's previous suspicions.

After listening carefully to Chen Miemie's words, Dean Deng sighed softly.

Speaking of which, I am indeed partly responsible for this matter. Bishop Jing's avatar lurked in the school for a few years. There were suspicious points, but I never took them seriously enough to investigate deeply, failing to uncover him.

Yi Shuangzi, who had been silent all along, spoke up.

Over these years, the mysterious person who often covered for me in the school and cleaned up my tracks... was you? Why do you treat me differently from other students?

Dean Deng nodded.

In the past two years, your disguise skills have improved greatly. Especially after graduation, you've reached a point where it's hard to tell real from fake.

But in your first few years of enrollment, you still had many flaws.

Because of your father's incident, there were actually quite a few factions secretly hoping to eliminate you to prevent the Yi family from making a comeback.

So you had no choice but to wear a mask all day. I could understand that, and I supported it.

As a fearless newborn calf, you actually dared to take the initiative to track and investigate. You did encounter a lot of danger, and during that time, you kept me incredibly busy.

Your thoughts are not wrong.

I inherited the position of the three giants from Bishop Yi, making me the ultimate beneficiary.

But exactly because of this, I hold a special affection for you, the orphan of this Bishop.

From a selfish perspective, since I took over Bishop Yi's power, I also bear a portion of his debts. This might be the reason for my extra protection over you.

Facing Dean Deng like this, Yi Shuangzi simply asked all the questions in her heart.

You said there are no sinister plots in the school. If you care so much about the students and the school, why did you have to climb to the position of the top three giants? Wouldn't it be fine to just purely focus on education in the school? Why must you get involved in the complex upper-level power struggles?

Dean Deng habitually stroked his beard.

At my age, I actually can't enjoy power for more than a couple of years.

Whether you believe it or not, during the years I've been the Dean, all the scheming and backstabbing have been far more annoying to me than my previous life as a regular dean.

But, the reason so many people chase after power is that it is truly useful.

An old man like me can do without power, but the school needs it.

You guys might not have the relevant data and aren't very clear on this.

Ever since the total annihilation of the high-level Mystics ten years ago, Sixiang City hasn't produced a new Mystic 6 in a decade.

Not just Mystic 6, but the number of Mystic 5s is also far from enough.

Ordinary citizens don't know that our Sixiang City's high-level combat power has suffered a cliff-like drop.

The Four Symbols Seal that Chen Miemie just repaired by passing the trial, do you think that counts as a major crisis?

For Sixiang City, this is a crisis rarely seen in decades. Just to deal with the troublemakers sent by the alien races, we lost half of our people in battle.

But this is only because Sixiang City is located in a relatively remote area. For those human cities that constantly border the territories of alien races, such crises happen every few years.

In fact, we have already fallen behind.

The Mystic realm requires every city to keep its own military strength a mystery. This is our empty fort strategy to barely protect ourselves, or rather, a fig leaf.

Under these circumstances, the school is the core source of the city's future combat power, and the school needs more power.

Thus, I was elected and became the Dean.

Fengling also knew a thing or two about the intricate details here.

In recent years, with the Dean coming into power, the resources the school has obtained have indeed increased a lot. Various lectures, night markets, and society recruitment fairs are also much more frequent than before.

Yi Shuangzi had one more question. Then why was the year Teacher Jing entered the school exactly the same time you became the Dean?

Dean Deng looked slightly helpless at this question.

It seems like a coincidence, but I think it was also inevitable.

Bishop Jing is just one person, after all. He held a position in the church and needed to show his face frequently at the cathedral. Coming to the school to be a teacher and practice divination also took energy. Therefore, it was only then that he completely stepped down from the position of Acting Bishop, and only after he stepped down could I truly take the position of Dean.

So, you never made a deal with Bishop Yi?

Dean Deng smiled. With him, impossible. I never had any deals with him.

Fengling also smiled and added a sentence. In Sixiang City, most factions would not cooperate with Bishop Jing.

Chen Miemie finally managed to squeeze into the conversation. Why wouldn't they cooperate with him? At that time, he hadn't been exposed and was still a beloved, good bishop, right?

Fengling snorted.

Beloved? To the general public, that might be true, but in the entire Mystic circle, his reputation was already ruined.

Ten years ago, the pillars of various factions set out together, and in the end, he was the only one who survived. He was also the organizer of the ambush. Do you think no one investigated him, no one hated him?

With so many top-tier powerhouses, each with different Mystics, could no one send out a bit of information before they died?

If Bishop Jing wasn't the only Mystic 6 in the city and hadn't quickly taken control of the entire church, someone would have made a move against him long ago.

His leadership of the Sun and Moon Church marked the beginning of the church being ostracized and suppressed, and it was also the turning point of the church's gradual decline in Sixiang City.

No one would cooperate with him.

With everything clarified, Yi Shuangzi appeared very downcast.

She had always treated someone who secretly protected her as an imaginary enemy.

While the USS Yi Shuangzi was sunk, the USS Chen Miemie could still fight; he was an expert at asking questions.

Then what was going on with those three teachers today? What was the purpose of Dean Deng specially setting up a trap?

These should be the tails Bishop Jing left in the school. They hid very deeply, not because they were so brilliant, but because Bishop Jing didn't assign them any tasks. Doing nothing naturally means revealing no flaws.

Then how did they fall for it this time?

I secretly leaked news, falsely claiming to have found Bishop Jing's whereabouts in the city and preparing to carry out an arrest operation. Upon hearing the news, they wanted to find Bishop Jing first to tip him off.

Chen Miemie looked displeased.

Good on you, old man Deng. I thought I was the one who lured you out, but after all this time, you were just beating them at their own game, deliberately getting drawn away and waiting for people to jump into your trap!

Dean Deng looked smug. How about it? That teacher who yelled Hurry and call the Dean was my man.

Fengling coldly chimed in. Old man, what are you so proud of? You almost got Yi Shuangzi killed.

Dean Deng smiled awkwardly. I didn't know the one causing trouble was Chen Miemie either. I had been waiting for over a day, thinking it was the other side making a move.

Looking back on it, Yi Shuangzi also felt a wave of delayed fear.

Surviving the trap today was pure luck.

Over half an hour ago.

Just as she was about to sneak into the Dean's living quarters, she ran right into those three teachers.

As coincidence would have it, the face she was wearing belonged to their leader, Teacher Yuan.

At that moment, there was no way to play it off; her identity as Yi Shuangzi was instantly exposed.

What followed was her capture after a failed struggle.

Fortunately, the three teachers' main objective today wasn't her, but the intelligence inside the living quarters.

The two male teachers went inside, while Teacher Yuan stayed by the door to keep an eye on her.

Then the trap was triggered. The two male teachers escaped with severed limbs. The trap's lethality was astonishing; even Yi Shuangzi, who was by the door, was hit in the waist by a stray attack. Teacher Yuan appeared fine on the surface, but had actually suffered significant internal injuries.

If it hadn't been for those three teachers, Yi Shuangzi would have been the one going inside.

Given her lack of frontal combat strength, she probably would have died in there on the spot.

With everything out in the open, all past misunderstandings melted away.

Yi Shuangzi struggled to her feet and gave Dean Deng a deep, respectful bow.

"Dean, thank you for protecting me all these years."

Chen Miemie, Yi Shuangzi, and Fengling walked out of the Dean's office.

Chen Miemie felt utterly exasperated with her partner.

"Yi Shuangzi, are you kidding me? You're defecting to the enemy just like that? Sure, the past misunderstandings are cleared up, but your [Bishop]'s titan position is still in the [Dean]'s hands. Are you just not going to fight for it anymore?"