NOVEL WEB Chapter 128 - Testing the Waters
In previous years, the school’s team competition was structured similarly to the individual competition, with each grade selecting two teams to participate in the university-wide tournament.
In the grade competition, each department typically had two teams, allowing students to freely form their own groups. If there were too many teams, they would compete internally first, with the two highest-scoring teams advancing.
This year, the two team slots for the first-year directing department included one for the Phantom Team, while the other was contested by other teams in the directing department. Ultimately, the elite class formed the Fengyun Team, which emerged victorious.
Zhuang Huiya had already informed Mai Dongzi that Jin Zhongxing was kicked out of the Phantom Team and joined the Fengyun Team instead.
After all, Jin Zhongxing was one of the top five students in the directing department, making him quite strong compared to others. It was only natural for the Fengyun Team to accept him.
The Fengyun Team had always maintained that they couldn’t compete for first place with the Phantom Team, but they were confident they could defeat the other first-year teams from the directing department.
As expected, the Fengyun Team scored ten points higher than the third-place team in the grade competition two days ago.
The Phantom Team entered the grade competition as a seeded team and hadn’t faced the Fengyun Team directly yet.
However, the Fengyun Team arrived at the venue first but didn’t dare to take the top spot, leaving the position for the Phantom Team.
As Mai Dongzi passed by Jin Zhongxing, he lowered his head and didn’t dare to look at her.
After being kicked out of the Phantom Team, Mai Dongzi had been concerned about any negative emotions he might harbor and worried he would seek revenge under Bai Zhizhi’s influence. She kept a close eye on him for a while.
She wasn’t afraid of Jin Zhongxing; her concern was that these people might target Zhuang Huiya.
Within the directing department, her psychic powers allowed her to “monitor” everything, so she kept a watchful eye on Jin Zhongxing and Bai Zhizhi.
It wasn’t until she noticed Bai Zhizhi contacting him again that she learned Jin Zhongxing had made it clear that Instructor Fang was aware of the situation and had warned him about it.
Upon hearing that the instructor was involved, Bai Zhizhi didn’t dare to take any further action and settled down.
Since Jin Zhongxing had been behaving himself after leaving the Phantom Team, and she observed only regret in his eyes during his conversations with Bai Zhizhi—without any signs of resentment—she only checked on him occasionally, focusing her surveillance on Bai Zhizhi.
For the past ten days, Bai Zhizhi had been relatively quiet, but after winning against Ye Zhengyan two days ago, she became restless.
This time, the rumors circulating on campus were partly due to her instigation, but she didn’t act directly; instead, she manipulated others to do her bidding.
It was clear that this rich young lady was used to solving problems with money. However, at the University, all student communications and online messages required real-name registration, making it impossible to conceal one’s identity.
Bai Zhizhi bribing people to act on her behalf could only go unchecked if no one investigated; otherwise, it would be easily exposed. Still, she proceeded this way, likely confident that her family could handle any fallout.
Bai Zhizhi’s petty schemes were merely annoying and wouldn’t cause any real harm, so Mai Dongzi didn’t intend to waste her time dealing with her.
However, in the team competition, the Phantom Team would likely face off against the team Bai Zhizhi was on. Mai Dongzi decided that when the time came, she would use that opportunity to make an example of them.
She wanted everyone to see whether her psychic abilities had offensive power and to properly intimidate Bai Zhizhi, making her think twice before stirring up trouble again.
As soon as Mai Dongzi and her team arrived at their designated spot, Bai Zhizhi’s team also showed up.
The second-year and first-year teams were usually positioned next to each other, and Bai Zhizhi’s team ranked first in the directing department. As the captain, she stood side by side with Mai Dongzi.
Mai Dongzi glanced at Bai Zhizhi and then quickly looked away.
But suddenly, Bai Zhizhi’s expression changed, as if she were under some immense pressure. Her body trembled, and beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.
Her teammates quickly noticed something was off and hurriedly asked if she was feeling unwell.
However, just as they surrounded her, Bai Zhizhi’s odd behavior completely disappeared. Faced with their questioning, she struggled to respond and eventually came up with an excuse about recalling something unpleasant.
In truth, after Mai Dongzi retracted her psychic influence, when Bai Zhizhi looked at her again, there was malice in her eyes. But she suppressed that negative feeling, not saying anything to her teammates.
Mai Dongzi remained calm throughout; since she was taking action, she was confident there would be no evidence left for complaints.
The Blue-Black Empire had explicit regulations stating that during peacetime, and unless faced with a malicious attack, psychic users could not attack the human brain in any form.
Mai Dongzi had not only read the relevant rules in detail but had also consulted Instructor Lan about whether suppressing a human’s body with psychic power, as long as it didn’t harm them, would violate any laws or school regulations.
Instructor Lan was a meticulous person. She didn’t answer Mai Dongzi’s question immediately but instead consulted with relevant authorities. After receiving a clear response, she informed Mai Dongzi that as long as there was no harm caused to the human body and the duration was brief, it wouldn’t be considered a violation.
With this understanding, Mai Dongzi felt confident using this tactic against the members of the Phantom Team.
Earlier, she had simply increased the gravitational pressure on Bai Zhizhi’s entire body. Though it almost caused her to lose her balance, it lasted for less than five seconds and didn’t inflict any harm.
Even if Bai Zhizhi wanted to complain to the school, she wouldn’t be able to find evidence; after all, she wasn’t injured, and psychic power was intangible. Mai Dongzi had only targeted her.
As long as there were no psychic users above level six nearby, no one would notice what Mai Dongzi did.
It seemed Bai Zhizhi also considered this, which likely led her to suppress her urge to complain.
However, Mai Dongzi didn’t feel happy about pranking Bai Zhizhi; instead, she found it troublesome.
Her actions were not merely for revenge but to probe Bai Zhizhi’s true nature.
After observing her for several days, Mai Dongzi noticed that Bai Zhizhi seemed to intentionally project a contradictory image, making herself appear to be a cunning yet somewhat foolish schemer.
Such people, once discovered, would inevitably be despised.
If it weren’t for Mai Dongzi’s patience in observing for so long, she wouldn’t have seen the sinister and vicious expressions Bai Zhizhi displayed when alone in her dorm, which contrasted sharply with her public persona.
Through her close examination today, Mai Dongzi realized that Bai Zhizhi harbored deep malice towards her.
This level of hostility was not something that could arise from mere ordinary disputes.
However, Lucy didn’t know Bai Zhizhi at all, and Mai Dongzi herself had only seen Bai Zhizhi two or three times. Aside from the first day of school, they had only brushed past each other.