NOVEL WEB Chapter 113: Ai Lin's Realization
They were ignorant about these matters, so they could only turn to Lydia for clarification.
Lydia’s eyes were dark. “This is very strange. If we don’t hurry to town, I’m afraid everyone there will die.”
“Is the situation that grave?!” Tian Ya raised his eyebrows in shock.
“Yeah it’s that grave. And yeah it’s that strange. If you want to deal with it then you should leave for town right now. If you don’t want to deal with it, then you should try to get as far away from here as you can.”
From Lydia’s serious face it was obvious she wasn’t joking. Their hearts sank at the enormity of the situation.
“There are so many lives at stake. As students of Xingguang Holy Academy, how can we ignore something like this? We have to take care of it.” Gerasi thumped the table so passionately it made the cups jump.
Ming Xi nodded, his mind made up. “Gerasi’s right. We can’t ignore this. It goes without saying that Xingguang Holy Academy would accept the request for help. We should do what we can to resolve the situation.”
Ordinary people went to the academy to request help if they were targeted or were suffering as a result of something demonic, magical or strange. They didn’t have the ability to resolve the problems themselves so they relied on sword users and magicians in the school. Gatekeepers at Xingguang Holy Academy, aside from securing the entrance, were responsible for receiving these requests. They were an opportunity for the students to hone their skills so there was no charge if the request was accepted. The only times they rejected a request were when it was clear it was a private family matter.
What was happening in town was clearly not a private family matter. It was a request the school wouldn’t refuse, therefore as students of the academy it was their duty to accept.
“This’ll be dangerous. You girls should wait here.” Elena was the kind of good older sister who cared a great deal about her junior sisters. Naturally she didn’t think it was a good idea for the girls, who had just entered the academy, to come along with them.
“Sister Elena, allow me to go. I can protect myself and I won’t add to the confusion.” Ai Lin spoke with determination in her voice, her expression firm.
Zi Cheng promptly chimed in with just as much determination. “Senior Sister Elena, I’d like to go as well. I’m confident in my abilities and I won’t get in your way either.”
“If Xiao Cheng is going, then I’m going too.” The idea of being pregnant just from dreams sounded horrible and Yifu really didn’t want to go, but the thought of being separated from Zi Cheng was worse. Had Zi Cheng not been there she would have chosen to stay behind.
Jasmine spoke up. “I will stay here. My strength is far inferior to seniors. I do not wish to distract you.”
Elena thought Jasmine would react the same way as the other girls and persist in wanting to follow them, so her comment was a pleasant surprise. Jasmine was behaving much more reasonably than Yifu.
Yifu overestimated her own abilities and didn’t understand how lacking she was. If she was lucky, really lucky, maybe she could rank in the top 50 percentile of her class. Her insistence was a nuisance and it troubled Elena and the rest of the group. She was too single-mindedly focused on Zi Cheng. At best she would be cannon fodder, at worse she would hinder the group.
Zi Cheng and Ai Lin, though not as powerful as Jier by any stretch of the imagination, were nonetheless outstanding in their own rights, easily ranking in the top ten of their class.
Zi Cheng and Ai Lin claimed they could protect themselves and wouldn’t be a hinderance, but did they really have the ability? Elena wasn’t sure her and the boys would be able to handle it and protect themselves, nevermind take care of the girls.
Ai Lin secretly frowned at Yifu’s behavior and a thought suddenly occurred to her. The relationship between Yifu and Zi Cheng was an abnormal one, in fact it wasn’t just Yifu, many who liked and favored Zi Cheng behaved strangely. Once their favorability rating reached 100% they overlooked every bad thing about Zi Cheng and essentially worshipped her.
The favorability rating system was interesting too. Once it reached 100% it locked in place and wouldn’t drop no matter what happened afterwards.
Ai Lin hadn’t thought seriously about it before, but witnessing it in action now gave her pause and she realized what a problem it was. The favorability rating never dropped, so anyone Zi Cheng reached 100% with would always find a way to excuse Zi Cheng’s behavior. They would always take the blame, be the one at fault. Who knows, if she gave them a knife and told them to kill themselves, they may even feel it was their fortune and happily die for her.
It was a lot take in, especially considering how many people were willing to die for Zi Cheng in the novel. It would have been more believable if they were men. In that case it was conceivable they were willing to die for her love. But there were also many women who willingly died for Zi Cheng as well. Let's not forget those who willingly acted for her benefit, even against their own best interests.
Ai Lin remembered one roommate who snuck onto her family’s estate and stole a precious celestial ore that was a prized family treasure. She did it because she knew Zi Cheng could use it.
The celestial ore had a mysterious power and for generations had been the symbol of the family’s prestige. The girl was well aware of this. But for her good friend, she betrayed her family and stole the ore for Zi Cheng.
It was inconceivable when considering the girl’s background. Her family cherished her and doted on her since she was born. No normal, sane, noble girl with any kind of education would have done what she did to her family.
Perhaps if Zi Cheng’s life was in danger, and the ore was needed to save her, it would have been more understandable, however Zi Cheng only needed the ore to repair an artifact!
The girl’s family disowned her over the matter but she didn’t regret it one bit, instead she had declared she would do it all over again if she had to. She would do anything for her good friend Zi Cheng.
What happened afterwards was even stranger. Zi Cheng declared everything was done for her sake so she vowed in front of the girl that she, Zi Cheng, would make the girl’s family regret driving her out.