Chapter 10
The driver who had suddenly reversed panicked, rushed out of the car to check, and found Xue Sibo lying in a pool of blood. Taking two quick steps forward, he checked for signs of life; only after confirming death did he tremblingly pull out his phone to call the police.
While pressing his phone to his ear, the driver scanned his surroundings. Upon spotting a student whose head had been completely covered by something, suspicion immediately arose in him; he stared fixedly like a hawk locking onto its prey.
Suddenly, his gaze met one radiating an icy, intimidating aura. In that instant, he felt as though he were a condemned prisoner on the execution ground; a chill ran down his neck, and he dropped to his knees beside Xue Sibo, trembling with fear and helplessness as he called the police.
“I need to report an incident. I hit someone while reversing. It truly wasn’t intentional. He suddenly walked over, and I didn’t see him…”
“Stop looking.” Shang Yange’s voice was restrained yet deep, unlike his usual tone; every word seemed to burst forth from a chest filled with rage. Seeing Xie Yubo attempting to shrug off his suit jacket, he tightened his large hand over the back of the other man’s head, gripping the fabric, and dragged him toward his own car.
“Look?” Xie Yubo was startled.
“Why aren’t you staying at school? Should I notify your brother?” Shang Yange said sternly. “Do you have any idea it was an accident before you rushed forward? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
What? Notify his brother? Is this man his brother’s friend? Xie Yubo试探 ed cautiously, “I… I can’t see.”
The furious Shang Yange froze. He had thought to prevent Xie Yubo from witnessing the gruesome scene of flying blood and flesh, and believed there was something suspicious about the driver that required hiding Xie Yubo’s face from him. Yet he had forgotten one thing—why did he subconsciously always assume Xie Yubo could see?
Mr. Shang was rarely so forgetful and dismissive of facts. He paused mid-step and repeated, “You can’t see?”
Xie Yubo detected the uncertainty in his tone and shifted the blame: “Xue Sibo said he’d take me climbing over the wall to skip class. As soon as we got out, he said he needed to make a phone call and told me to wait right here. Who was it that just got hit?”
I heard the crash, that’s why I ran over, get it?
This was the first time Xie Yubo had been suspected of not truly being blind. This man’s gaze was piercingly sharp. To avoid exposure, Xie Yubo deactivated his Heavenly Eye, committing himself to being a genuine blind man.
“No one,” Shang Yange dismissed curtly. So it was Xue Sibao who had skipped class with him, harboring ulterior motives. Fortunately, he had arrived; otherwise, who knew where Xie Yubo might have been taken.
Ten minutes ago, he received news that Xu Dian, who had stepped out of the sports car, was a trainee under Changfeng Film & Television. On the day of the Xie family’s anniversary celebration, many executives and artists from Changfeng Film & Television were also in attendance. Xue Sibo belongs to the same company and has just transferred to Xie Yubo’s school today.
As soon as Shang Yange received the message, he drove to No. 3 High School. Just as he pulled over and came to a stop, he spotted Xie Yubo lurking furtively behind a car not far from him.
Shang Yange ushered Xie Yubo into the car. As he lifted his suit jacket, he saw Xie Yubo blinking obediently; each time his lashes swept down over his lower lids, they appeared exceptionally dark and dense.
Shang Yange casually handed him a bottle of water.
Xie Yubo rested his hands on his knees, unable to see.
“Drink some water,” Shang Yange said, pressing the bottle into his hand.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll take you back.”
Shang Yange leaned down to fasten his seatbelt.
They were very close, and Xie Yubo caught that familiar cold, crisp scent again, as if he had smelled it somewhere before.
The seatbelt was pulled out with a click, locking into the buckle on the seat. Unable to see, Xie Yubo’s other senses became exceptionally sharp; when Shang Yange’s fingers accidentally brushed against the fabric at his waist, that familiar spot instantly transported him back to a certain restroom.
He’s my benefactor!
So he’s actually my brother’s friend; no wonder he keeps stepping in to help whenever he sees injustice.
His brother having such a good friend truly makes the Imperial Astrologer envious.
However, this embarrassing experience is hardly something to bring up when expressing gratitude. Since Xie Yubo cannot divine his fate either, after much thought, he could not come up with any suitable way to repay him.
Xue Sibo died before he could uncover the mastermind behind the plot, leaving him still trapped in a crisis where his enemies lurked in darkness while he stood exposed in the light. If he truly wished to repay kindness, he ought to stay far away from his benefactor.
“By the way,” Xie Yubo pulled the remaining talismans from his schoolbag and handed them all over to Shang Yange in one go. “The gift may be modest, but my sentiment is sincere; please don’t think poorly of it.”
Shang Yange glanced out of the corner of his eye, wincing as a cluster of “Foolish Tyrants” stabbed at his vision.
“What’s written on the talisman?”
“Zhong Kui subdues evil,” Xie Yubo replied without a shred of guilt.
Shang Yange: “…” So this was why Wang Fuyang had hung the talisman right in the center of the main hall? The kid sure knew how to bluff adults.
Like the Xie family, President Shang not only disbelieved in superstition but actively rejected it.
Another person who failed to recognize true value! The great Master Xie puffed out his cheeks in anger.
This stack contains fifty or sixty talismans—more precious than gold—painstakingly drawn with my injured hand.
While drawing them, I took the opportunity to vent my inner frustrations. Though the talisman paper itself was merely a formality, the more dissatisfied the Great Master felt while writing, the stronger the supernatural fluctuation and the better the effect.
In other words, the two characters “Tyrant” exert a demon-suppressing effect that utterly dwarfs any other pale inscription.
This indirectly highlights how detestable the tyrant is.
Shang Yange, noticing Xie Yubo’s dejected expression in the rearview mirror, changed his tone and said, “Then give it to me; I happen to have a business partner who enjoys collecting such things.”
Xie Yubo pressed the talisman paper into the car’s storage compartment and instructed, “I’m giving this only to you; you must not give it to anyone else.”
One talisman from this Imperial Astrologer sells for a very high price.
Shang Yange felt a subtle stir at the tip of his heart. Gazing straight ahead, he replied calmly, “Mm. No need to see you off.”
Xie Yubo could sense the other man’s direct gaze through the rearview mirror; Shang Yange was likely still testing whether he was truly blind. He sat obediently, which suited him fine, as his eyes were strained from excessive reading these past few days and needed rest.
Seizing the opportunity, he probed Shang Yange again, only to find emptiness once more. Unlike the case with Xue Sibuo, Xie Yubo sensed nothing of his own essence within Shang Yange. Thus, he could not calculate Shang Yange’s fate; perhaps he was simply an exception.
After dropping Xie Yubo off and watching him enter the building, Shang Yange dialed Xie Chenbo’s number.
..
Xie Yubo has given away all his talisman papers today and urgently needs to draw a new batch.
Although cursing the tyrant while writing is highly enjoyable and effective, it consumes too much time; it would be better to save that time for reading. Thus, Xie Yubo decides to buy ready-made talisman papers.
“Uncle Wang, are there any temples nearby?”
“Yes, but they’re somewhat far. What does the young master intend to do?”
“I don’t want to draw them myself; I’ll just buy some talismans from a monk.”
Wang Ping thought for a moment. “So any talisman will do?”
“Yes.”
Wang Ping opened his shopping app and headed straight for the Yiwu Small Commodities section. “In that case, it’s better to wholesale them online with expedited next-day delivery.”
9.9 yuan for one hundred sheets, with free shipping.
Xie Yubo secretly glanced at Uncle Wang’s shopping page; the large quantity and low price made him click his tongue in surprise: “Could this be a scam?”
Uncle Wang reassured him: “Then let’s buy from this seller; they claim to share the same supplier as Lingming Temple.”
“Buy it.”
..
The news of Xue Sibo’s death in a car accident spread like wildfire. A star taken at the peak of his youth left the public with nothing but endless shock and regret.
Before yesterday, Xue Sibo suddenly experienced a massive wave of fans leaving. “Can’t explain why, I just don’t love him anymore,” and “Once the filter came off, I suddenly realized Xue Sibo is actually quite ordinary.”
An unexpected incident led to climbing fans being attacked by true fans, with some returning their support; as a result, Xue Sibo appears even more popular than before.
Liu Meiping accepted a television interview, weeping so dramatically that she garnered widespread sympathy. Liu Meiping is somewhat shrewd; she has always firmly believed her son would become famous. For every project Xue Sibo participated in, she tried her best to secure shares, ensuring she could receive more money when those projects eventually exploded in popularity.
The mysterious wave of fan defections surrounding Xue Sibo in recent days caused the value of her holdings to plummet repeatedly. Although she was genuinely heartbroken by her son’s death, Liu Meiping cannot claim she was entirely unprepared; the living must always plan for their own future.
Moreover, someone told her that the company intended to leverage this moment for publicity, aiming to sell off Xue Sibo’s stalled projects at a favorable price. The other party offered additional shares, provided Liu Meiping refrained from speaking about certain matters.
Liu Meiping stated in an interview that she would establish a foundation in Xue Sibo’s name to fulfill his last wish, focusing on diseases affecting impoverished children.
Shortly afterward, the foundation’s name was revealed, and within one hour, it had raised one hundred million yuan.
The classroom of Class Two was shrouded in gloom; the seventeen- and eighteen-year-old students could not believe that someone who had attended lectures with them just yesterday was gone today.
“Did you watch the interview with Xue Sibo’s mother? It turns out Xue Sibo did so much charity work in private; he has been a role model and an outstanding student since childhood.”
“A bunch of low-educated people are muddling through in the entertainment industry; it’s rare to find a young idol who is both handsome and academically excellent. The state was even promoting him recently, and his future seemed boundless—yet he ended up like this…”
The two girls sitting in front of Xie Yubo have always been at the forefront of gossip.
Throughout Xie Yubo’s entire morning reading session, all he could hear was the name Xue Sibo.
Celebrities really know how to deceive; I’m afraid none of these students realize just how terrifying Xue Sibo’s true face was in the botanical garden yesterday.
Xie Yubo would not hold grudges against the dead. He took out a freshly arrived talisman, pasted it onto the table, and sealed away the name “Xue Sibo.”
After finishing the first chapter of the seventh-grade math textbook, Xie Yubo tore up the commodity talisman and stretched to loosen his muscles, when he suddenly noticed that the atmosphere in the classroom had changed.
“So that’s the kind of person he is!” Liu Fei slammed his desk, feeling foolish for having been upset about it earlier today.
A statement appeared on the No. 3 Middle School forum: yesterday, someone posted a fake thread luring students into exploring the botanical garden. The culprit has now been identified as Xue Sibo. Everyone is warned not to emulate Xue Sibo; violators will face expulsion.
The top post also included surveillance footage captured outside the botanical garden.
After the boys from Class Two entered, the person wearing a baseball cap locked the door. Ten minutes later, screams erupted from the botanical garden. Xue Sibo and Xie Yubo arrived one after another. Xue Sibo stood with his arms crossed, showing no reaction, until the blind Xie Yubo managed to unlock the door; only then did he seize the opportunity to squeeze inside, dragging Xie Yubo in with him. Pushing a blind person into a botanical garden full of hidden pitfalls reveals a truly malicious intent.
Surveillance footage from another angle revealed that the person wearing the baseball cap who changed clothes was none other than Xue Sibo.
From beginning to end, it was all just a prank orchestrated by Xue Sibo.
The classmates from Class Two, who had been terrified yesterday, were furious and took to the online forum to vent their anger over Xue Sibo’s behavior.
These sarcastic remarks were subsequently screenshotted and shared widely. As expected, students from Class Two faced a furious online backlash from Xue Sibo’s fans. On one side, they were condemned as heartless for profiting from tragedy, with defenders arguing that it was merely a minor prank, that curiosity had come first, and that Xue Sibo had committed no heinous act but simply maintained close friendships with his classmates; after all, high school boys are naturally mischievous. On the other side, critics lamented how high school students had become under the current education system, questioning whether the country still had any future.
Liu Fei was furious. He had only meant to vent a little, and even then, only within their own class forum on Tieba, without saying anything elsewhere. Yet now, both his class and No. 3 High School were being ruthlessly criticized.
“Big Brother!” Liu Fei shouted loudly, blocking Xie Yubo’s path. “Someone’s insulting us! What should we do?”
That desperate, ear-piercing cry of “Big Brother!” drew the entire class’s attention. The boys who had been forced yesterday to acknowledge him as their “Big Brother” suddenly embraced this role, turning simultaneously to gaze pitifully at Xie Yubo.
Xue Sibo was the one who imprisoned them; Xie Yubo set them free. Who should be their leader is obvious at a glance.
Facing the desperate gazes from all sides, Xie Yubo lived up to expectations: “Everyone, please calm down and wait just one more hour.”
The Tieba forum of No. 3 High School issued a statement at the height of the controversy, stopping just short of explicitly stating that Xue Sibos’s auditing privileges would be revoked. The tone was exceptionally firm and resolute, in many ways representing the school’s official stance.
Why has the school, which has always sought to avoid conflict, suddenly become so resolute? There must be a deeper meaning behind this.
Considering the Xie family’s influence at No. 3 High School, it was most likely orchestrated by his elder brother. If his brother had truly been behind it, there wouldn’t have been just this one lukewarm statement.
Xie Yubo tactfully omitted any mention of the Xie family, patiently analyzing the situation for everyone until the students of Class Two were left utterly bewildered.
“Awesome, why didn’t I think of that!” Liu Fei slapped his thigh.
“The school will definitely stand on the side of truth!”
“The principal is awesome; from now on, I’ll never secretly comment that he’s gained weight!”
For an entire class period, the students of Class Two were too distracted by online insults to focus on their lessons.
At 10:10, public opinion finally turned around.
A prominent influencer questioned Xue Sibo’s conduct at No. 3 Middle School, noting that while nothing went wrong this time, what if his prank had escalated into a serious incident? If teasing the boys of Class Two could be dismissed as a harmless joke, then pushing a blind person into that situation was undeniably malicious. Attached are photos of the botanical garden’s layout.
At 10:15, the Xue Sibo Foundation, hastily established by Liu Meiping, was exposed as a rebranded version of a notorious money-laundering organization, designed to solicit donations from netizens; it has now been reported by millions demanding refunds.
At 10:16, police filed charges against Xue Sibo for allegedly instigating a drunk driving incident involving a sports car that struck pedestrians.
The students of Class Two were stunned; what on earth was going on with these last two developments?