Chapter 8: A Furtive Touch?

Wednesday morning, six o’clock.

Nangong Yuchen quietly opened his bedroom door and slipped into the living room. He glanced left and right; when he saw that there was no movement from his sister’s room, he let out a small sigh of relief. These days, coming home felt like sneaking about; he was terrified Nangong Kexin would catch him.

Thinking back to a few hours earlier made his skin crawl. He’d only meant to pull the covers up for his sister before returning to his own room to sleep, but, to his horror, Kexin had woken up!

The moment her eyes opened, she realized that not only had her pajamas been lifted to her waist, but even her undergarments had been half-removed. What infuriated her most was that her brother was hunched over, about to climb on top of her!

She stared in disbelief for five seconds, then, mortified and enraged, sat up and began to pummel Nangong Yuchen. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined her brother would actually violate her—and this time, even worse than before, trying to take off her underwear.

With tears sparkling in her beautiful eyes, she screamed, “Nangong Yuchen! Do you not know that I’m your sister? You actually—”

“Get out! Get out now!”

“Wait, Sis, let me explain! It’s really not what you think!” In his panic, Nangong Yuchen called her “sister” for the second time.

“Explain?” Kexin slapped him hard across the face, pointing at her disheveled pajamas. “Then tell me—how do you explain this?”

“It—it wasn’t me!”

A second slap landed on the other side of his face, giving him no chance to speak further. She dragged him to the front door and threw him out.

Still seething, she warned, “Nangong Yuchen, if you dare set foot in my house again, I’ll kill you!”

—

Nangong Yuchen, his cheeks still swollen on both sides, felt like crying.

He had been completely in the dark the first time, and the second time was just out of concern—yet things had spiraled out of control, leaving his sister convinced he was some kind of pervert!

Head drooping, he rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out three bottles of nutrient serum he’d bought in the City of Technology.

Ordinary nutrient serum. Speed-enhancing nutrient serum.

He’d already decided how to give them to Kexin: each morning, while making her breakfast, he would secretly mix the serum into her milk. Only then could she take it unknowingly, sparing him the need for tiresome explanations.

With that in mind, he set to work, slipping into the kitchen, firing up the stove, and frying eggs. Ten minutes later, he pulled milk from the fridge, poured it into a prepared cup, and, after a furtive glance at Kexin’s room, added a tenth of a bottle of speed serum to the drink.

This way, two bottles would last Kexin twenty days. He believed her speed would skyrocket in that time.

After all, each dose cost five thousand credits!

Checking the time on his phone, he saw it was nearly seven. He quickly finished his own breakfast, stashed away his suitcase, grabbed the half-used bottle of serum from Cheng Tianyou, slipped it into his pocket, and dashed out the door.

He’d brought the serum specifically to take during physical training. The events of the last two days had left him more desperate than ever to grow stronger.

Whether it was Lu Shijie of the Lu family or Zhou Lingtian, the warden of District A, both were far beyond his reach for now. He needed to become stronger—as quickly as possible.

Strong enough to protect his sister Kexin from the slightest harm. Strong enough to rescue his parents from prison. And—most importantly—to win back Ningxue!

The thought of Mu Ningxue stabbed at his heart every moment. Her gentleness, her dependence on him, haunted his memories, but now his beloved was being forced to marry an enemy. He couldn’t bear it another day.

At six-fifty, Nangong Yuchen, clutching his aching heart, left the house.

At seven o’clock, Nangong Kexin emerged from her room. After washing up, she was about to leave when she noticed the living room window was missing. Instinctively, she blamed her brother and grew even angrier.

Just as she was fuming, she saw breakfast laid out on the table. She stormed over, intent on sweeping it all to the floor, but as her hand hovered over the plates and cups, her anger wavered.

Though he had done something unforgivable, ten years of love brought tears to her eyes—and she held back.

He was still the brother who could make her angry, make her hate him, and make her love him. She simply couldn’t...

“Hmph! Nangong Yuchen, don’t think I’ll forgive you just because you made me breakfast!” Pouting, Kexin nevertheless finished every bite before heading out to Star Academy.

She left behind empty plates and an empty cup...

The blazing sun slowly rose into the sky, its radiant light spilling over the verdant sports ground below.

This was the physical training class of Grade 10, Section 3.

Dozens of students stood in neat ranks, facing a stern, one-armed man—the physical training instructor for all six Grade 10 classes: Mo Liwei.

Section 3 was one of the six classes under his charge.

“Class, I’m sure you all saw last Saturday’s news report. Once again, the monsters of the beast realm have sounded the horn of war against humanity. At this very moment, your upperclassmen are locked in bloody combat, defending our city, defending our homeland!

“And just this Monday, our own Ruxia suffered an incursion from a horde of monsters outside the city. You should cherish this fleeting peace!”

Mo Liwei’s voice was as grave as ever. His stern gaze swept the students as he announced the main point of the day.

“From this week onward, all physical training will be doubled! Twice the exercises, twice the class time! First, strap on your weighted boards—forty laps around the field. Two hours later, we begin sparring practice!”

The students were dumbfounded. Forty laps? That was inhuman! The boards alone weighed forty kilograms—how could anyone possibly finish, let alone have energy left for sparring?

“Worried about dropping dead?” Mo Liwei roared, anger flashing across his face. “Do you realize that every second, there are children just like you being torn apart by monsters? Anyone with further objections will receive a zero for this month’s training grade. Now, run!”

Thud, thud, thud.

Though the students were disgruntled, the threat of a failing grade shut them up. Failing academically was one thing, but failing physical training was another matter entirely.

After all, Star Academy was the most prestigious school for physical cultivation in Ruxia City.

Twenty laps in, the students were drenched in sweat; half looked about ready to collapse. Yet among them was a girl who felt perplexed. For some reason, she was brimming with energy today. Usually, she would be exhausted after twenty laps, but now she felt like she could easily do ten more.

Ding ding ding!

The first period of language class ended. Once the teacher left, Angel, looking pale and weak, walked over to Nangong Yuchen’s desk.

Her first words were, “Nangong Yuchen, the homeroom teacher wants you in her office within ten seconds.”

“Okay, got it!” Yuchen knew he couldn’t dodge this crisis and headed to the office, heart pounding.

But he was a little puzzled. The usually lively class monitor looked utterly drained today—her face was as pale as if she’d been gravely ill, her forehead pressed to the desk, motionless, looking half-dead.

Could it be that time of the month?

Yuchen had no time to worry about her. His own neck was on the line. He hurried his pace toward Shangguan Luohua’s office.