Chapter 169

The Shōbō family is a colossal power; even the Senjō family of Chiba City, a wealthy clan, is like an ant before them.

Even though the Shōbō family was removed from the diplomatic corps, their commercial empire remains a supercolossus.

Why would such a powerful young lady return to Chiba City, this backwater backwater?

I can't understand it, I simply can't understand it!

"Alright, the new student has introduced herself—everyone, get along well." The homeroom teacher quieted the class, gave a few instructions, then let Shōbō Yuki and Jundao Ayano find their own seats.

Shōbō Yuki scanned the classroom, a faint smile on her lips, and walked straight to Li An's side, sitting in the seat behind him on the right.

Jundao Ayano sat beside Shōbō Yuki.

Kurahashi Kyōko, seeing this, whispered to Li An: "Looks like they're after you."

"I know—they came to beg for mercy. I told the Cursed Technique families and the Onmyōji families to deal with that minor clan that came to Chiba City, but you ended up targeting even the Shōbō family backing them, and even expelled them from the diplomatic corps. How could they not panic?" Li An said helplessly.

"I couldn't help it—those old guys love reading between the lines. Targeting the Shōbō family too was probably meant to win your favor, but they ended up kicking a horse instead of patting it," Kurahashi Kyōko found it amusing.

Li An sighed and shook his head, saying nothing more.

One class ended quickly, but Li An slept through the entire lesson.

Even the bell didn't wake him.

Yet Shōbō Yuki came to Li An's side and gently pushed his shoulder.

Li An woke from deep sleep and looked at Shōbō Yuki: "What do you want?"

He had a bad temper when waking up, but seeing she was a beautiful girl, his temper faded.

What can you do? He just couldn't help being tender with the fair sex!

"Li An, could we step outside and talk?" Shōbō Yuki offered a pleasant smile.

"Sure!" Li An agreed immediately.

He wanted to see whether the Shōbō family had sent Shōbō Yuki to Sōbu High specifically to beg for mercy.

Li An stood up, stretched, and felt wonderfully refreshed.

Shōbō Yuki nodded with a smile: "Thank you!"

Saying that, she turned and walked toward the classroom door; Li An followed behind her.

The boys in class, seeing this, turned green with envy.

They couldn't understand why the transfer students all favored Li An.

Kurahashi Kyōko was like that, and now Shōbō Yuki was too.

Is being handsome really that great?

Not just the boys—the girls were angry too.

Li An had turned down so many girls from the school, yet he was so eager with the transfer students—was he looking down on the girls of Sōbu High?

Did he think they weren't pretty enough?

In an instant, negative emotions in the school surged rapidly, threatening to form a cursed spirit.

But this time, Li An clearly sensed it.

"So that's how it is. The cursed spirit born last time was because Kurahashi Kyōko's closeness to me made the girls jealous," Li An chuckled, then silently used the King of Gluttony to swallow and absorb all the school's negative emotions, converting them into his divine power.

Li An followed Shōbō Yuki to the school's equipment room, where no one else was present.

Shōbō Yuki closed the door, then extended her hand to Li An: "Let's properly meet again—I'm Shōbō Yuki of the Shōbō family."

Li An smiled and shook her hand: "I'm Andagaki Li An of the Andagaki family."

After releasing hands, Shōbō Yuki's expression turned serious: "Young Master Li An, could you please show mercy and spare the Shōbō family?"

Li An had intended to say he had no intention of targeting the Shōbō family—that those Cursed Technique and Onmyōji families had misread his intentions.

But he changed his mind and said: "Fine. But what can your Shōbō family offer in return?"

"The Shōbō family will form an alliance with the Andagaki family and help consolidate the Osaka commercial sphere!" Shōbō Yuki offered a benefit no mortal could refuse.

But Li An was no mortal—he had no interest in Mortal Realm matters.

His expression unchanged: "Too little."

Shōbō Yuki froze, momentarily at a loss.

She never imagined Li An would refuse.

Li An looked at her with a half-smile, certain her intelligence would grasp his meaning.

Indeed, Shōbō Yuki quickly understood the deeper implication of his words.

Her face darkened: "Why is Young Master Li An treating the Shōbō family so harshly?"

Li An answered honestly: "I never intended to target you. I only asked those families to assist the Yukinoshita family. I never expected it to drag your family into it."

"If it was just collateral damage, why won't you let us go now?" Shōbō Yuki asked again.

"You're overthinking it. I never planned to target you—if you hadn't come to me, I'd have forgotten this whole thing. Who could've guessed you'd transfer schools just to find me? And who could've guessed the Shōbō family's next heir would be this beautiful?" Li An said, stepping closer to Shōbō Yuki and tilting her chin up.

Shōbō Yuki's cheeks flushed, and she stepped back.

Hearing Li An's words, she realized—she had walked straight into the tiger's den!

Watching her despairing expression, Li An continued: "Actually, if you came with me, it would be a win-win for both the Shōbō family and the Andagaki family."

Shōbō Yuki bit her lip: "But I already love someone!"

Li An sneered: "You mean your biological brother, Hisayo Masachika?"

Shōbō Yuki looked up in shock, her eyes locked on Li An.

She didn't understand—how did Li An know her secret?

Even her own family didn't know she loved her brother.

Why did Li An know?

Seeing her terrified expression, Li An stepped forward, leaned close to her ear, and whispered softly: "You wouldn't want your family to find out, would you?"

Zhou Fang Youxi's whole body trembled, and she asked somewhat at a loss, "What do you want to do?"

Li An reached out, scooped up a lock of her hair, held it to his nose and sniffed it, then said, "You're a smart person, you know what I want!"

After saying that, he turned and left the equipment room.

Zhou Fang Youxi, however, knelt on the ground, at a loss.

The day's classes ended quickly.

After school, Li An and Kurahashi Kyoko did not go straight back, but headed to the Servicing Club instead.

No, it should be called the Divine Servicing Club now.

The classroom originally occupied by the Servicing Club had now also become the headquarters office location of the Divine Servicing Club.

In the past, because there were few people, the classroom looked empty, with desks and chairs all piled together.

Now that the Divine Servicing Club had four members, they definitely needed to arrange the headquarters office location a bit.

All the extra desks and chairs were cleared out and placed in the school's storage room.

The classroom's lectern was torn down, and curtains were installed on all the windows.

Of the two classroom doors, the back door was completely sealed off.

From now on, the headquarters office location only needed one door.

When the time came, they'd buy some sofas and a coffee table to put inside, for entertaining guests.

Office desks, office chairs, computers, projectors, mobile whiteboards — all of these were also needed.

The classroom also needed a simple renovation, so that people living inside would be more comfortable.

Although the club's setup required them to spend their own money, Li An, Kurahashi Kyoko, and Yukinoshita Yukino were all not short on money.

After the four of them simply arranged things for a while, the time had already reached five-thirty.

At this moment, Hiratsuka Shizuka came to the classroom.

She looked at the completely renewed club classroom, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Now this looks proper. It's almost late, let's go out to eat together, and then go together to deal with the paranormal incident."

"Eh? Teacher Hiratsuka, you're going too?" Yuigahama Yui asked in surprise.

"Of course, letting you few kids handle a paranormal incident alone — I, as a teacher, wouldn't feel at ease!" Hiratsuka Shizuka said with a serious expression.

Her wanting to go along, besides not feeling at ease about her students, was more because she wanted to witness the supernatural firsthand.

Li An said indifferently, "Then let's all go together."

"That's good too, the more people the more powerful!" Yuigahama Yui also said with a smile.

After everyone closed the club classroom's main door, they left the campus together, then found a nearby restaurant to have dinner.

This restaurant's owner was a Korean, and the signature dish in the shop was stone pot bibimbap.

Seeing the stone pot bibimbap, Li An couldn't help but say, "Isn't this a Huaxia dish? How did it become a little Korean thing?"

"Eh, stone pot bibimbap is from Huaxia?" Hiratsuka Shizuka also asked with a surprised expression.