Jing Taixu waited at the Enlightened Sage College tower for an hour, then he called Lu Jinci and headed out. Surely the rumor had caught someone’s ear by now.
Perhaps already in Jiang Qing’e’s own dainty ones.
The two set out for the Astral Sage College’s tower. The location had been easy enough to find.
“Senior Lu, do you think the Vice Principal’s plan is really going to work?” Jing Taixu asked as they moved through the mass of other students.
Lu Jinci chewed his lip. “I don’t know. I’ve never fought someone with a ninth-grade resonance before, so I can only imagine what it’s like. Hey, you have a quasi ninth-grade resonance, don’t you? What do you think?”
Jing Taixu grinned. “At the risk of sort of tooting my own horn? I think Senior Lu is in for a whole lot of trouble.”
He might have a “quasi,” but it was still a ninth-grade.
“A whole lot of trouble. We’ll see who can survive till the end,” Lu Jinci said grimly. He acknowledged that it wasn’t going to be easy. Much depended on how many other elite schools and students he could rally to the cause, but in any case, there was no smooth sailing to be had on the horizon.
“Just my luck,” Lu Jinci groaned. “The East Divine Continent’s got such a beast in Three Star Hall, and our school still wants to find a breakthrough here?”
Jing Taixu chuckled. He was just about to reply, but he noticed something unusual about the mood. He looked around at the other students and saw that they were looking at him strangely.
He was used to being watched. As the hotshot star of the Enlightened Sage College and even the Holy Sun Dynasty, he had received his fair share of attention.
But…
These people were all looking at him with amused pity!
“Senior Lu, do you feel like… these people are looking at me oddly?”
Lu Jinci started. He took a careful look around. “Yeah, something’s happened,” he agreed.
Jing Taixu frowned, then he took a few brisk steps forward and caught a female student gently by the arm. “Hello,” he said with his best smile. “I was just wondering if there’s anything strange about me?”
She looked at his face, then blushed. Again, the same look of pity… and regret?
Jing Taixu was as handsome as they came, but this sort of infirmity… What a shame.
She took out a flier and passed it to him, then left quickly.
Jing Taixu looked down quizzically. It was the news that he had been spreading, so what was the problem…
His eyes landed on the extra line of words at the bottom.
His eyes were as wide as saucers. Even his usually calm personality was rocked.
“I’ll be fucked!”
It was a rare outburst from the urbane, young heir to the Jing family of the Holy Sun Dynasty, and an unfortunate one to make in light of the fake news.
A vein pulsed on his temple.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Jinci asked, surprised by his vehemence.
Jing Taixu crushed the paper in his fist. He wordlessly handed it over.
Lu Jinci pried it open and read it.
“What the f*ck?!
“Wasn’t this the news you were spreading?”
Jing Taixu took a deep breath. “Indeed. But someone’s added an extra line!” he said through gritted teeth.
“Seems like all of them have been altered, judging by the mood. Didn’t you send people out in secret? What happened?” Lu Jinci asked.
“That useless dunderhead must have passed all the slips to a single person… who wishes me ill.” Jing Taixu was feeling quite upset that his plan was backfiring.
No wonder the girl had looked at him with pity!
“Erm…” Lu Jinci wasn’t sure what to say at this point. He pitied Jing Taixu too… for the slander, of course, not the erectile dysfunction. And it wasn’t like you could prove the rumors wrong anyway. Take off your pants in public? Absolutely crazy. “This person is a real cunning one,” Lu Jinci said with grudging admiration. Their unknown saboteur knew just what would catch public interest. The original news had been sensational enough already, but this guy was a real master of human psychology. It was a masterstroke of an addition that had flipped the tables completely back on them.
Plus, Jing Taixu was a top seed contender for the One Star Hall, so everyone would lap up any news that made him look bad.
“Should we issue a clarification? Something else?” Lu Jinci waved the paper thoughtfully.
“It’s no use,” Jing Taixu growled. “You think people actually care if I can get it up?”
Lu Jinci was silent. Of course, everyone understood that fake news was abundant in this place—perhaps all information gathered here was basically fake news. But it was entertaining, nonetheless. Hey, listen, the great genius of the Enlightened Sage College, the one who might take the strongest One Star Hall student title—there’s one area where he can’t go hard in!
A real attention-grabber.
“Motherfucker, whoever did this is a real master.” Jing Taixu shook his head. He had really shot himself in the foot.
“It must be the Astral Sage College who did this. I think all the information landed directly in their hands,” Lu Jinci suggested.
Jing Taixu scowled. He would really like to find the guy he had paid and drop him on his head a few times. What sort of luck did he have to immediately be connected with an Astral Sage College guy? Or was he just stupid? “Forget it, let it go.” He sighed. “If this was really done by the Astral Sage College, then Jiang Qing’e will know about it. I guess the mission was accomplished, in a way.”
“Let’s continue on to the Astral Sage College. In any case, we should still meet Jiang Qing’e.”
Lu Jinci nodded, and the pair continued on their uncomfortable way.
