Chapter 114: Yangbu'an

Chen Mu didn't want to get into any conflict, especially since from the earlier conversation he had already confirmed these people belonged to Qingbei.

Among Qingbei, the only person he knew was Song Yu, and from what Yangbu'an said, it seemed Song Yu also held a relatively high position within Qingbei.

He had no ill feelings toward Qingbei, and he especially didn't want a misunderstanding to occur.

Therefore he made two helmets so he wouldn't be recognized; as long as he escaped smoothly, the incident could be treated as if it never happened.

Yangbu'an saw the two strangers, looking eager to try something.

However, the student beside him who looked like a senior in high school suddenly grabbed him.

"Gentlemen, I only need to ask one thing: are you from Yi Zhong or Purple Wisteria?"

This person appeared very confident; although his demeanor was somewhat inferior to Song Yu's, he clearly surpassed the range of an ordinary high school student, whether innate or forged by the apocalypse.

Chen Mu understood his meaning, had no hostility for the moment, and wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, so he replied: "We're from the same school, senior year."

"How many vice principals does our school have in total?" the person suddenly asked.

"Three."

"What is the name of the female vice principal among them?"

"All three are male."

"What is the name of the director of education?"

"Gong Guoan."

"Who is the head of the senior year grade?"

"Yu Xiulan, Teacher Yu."

"What month is Dong Junwei's birthday?"

Chen Mu was momentarily speechless.

As a prominent figure at the school, it's not surprising that Dong Junwei would be used as a test question, but the problem is, who knows what month her birthday is? Besides, he's never treated her to cake…

If only I had thought to ask the class monitor…

Chen Mu glanced back at He Ying, but didn't hold much hope.

Unexpectedly, He Ying naturally replied, "July fourth."

Chen Mu blinked, not knowing whether He Ying had known that all along or had asked during a casual chat a few days earlier.

Seeing their smooth exchange, the person already believed them mostly.

"So you're classmates, but why are you hiding in here?"

"It's a misunderstanding; we just happened to find this place, wanted to take a look, and ended up blocked inside by you." Chen Mu tried to keep his tone friendly.

"That sounds plausible… unfortunately, this storage room has always had someone on guard; only just now, for about ten or so minutes, did an accident create a gap—you wouldn't claim you just wandered in during that brief window, would you?"

Chen Mu sighed; he really couldn't tell whether this luck was good or bad.

He spread his hands helplessly: "It really is just a coincidence."

That person obviously hadn't expected Chen Mu to be so thick‑skinned; he had thought the two might be feigning ignorance, but seeing this guy's unchanging expression still made him feel inadequate.

"I'm Zhaotong; since we're fellow students, let's be open with each other, how about that?"

"You mean this?" Chen Mu pointed at his helmet, voice resigned: "I'd like to take it off, but it's stuck now—I really can't. How about you let us go back, and we can meet again if fate allows?"

At this, even He Ying blushed a little.

This guy spouts nonsense with a straight face—truly no psychological barrier at all.

Nobody would believe such nonsense; Zhaotong chuckled: "Want us to help?"

Chen Mu also smiled sincerely: "Thanks, but no need—it's getting late, you're busy, see you later."

Having said that, he walked toward the doorway.

At the same time, his right hand had already moved to the weapon at his waist.

Zhaotong gave Yangbu'an a glance.

The next moment.

A pebble shot forward at high speed.

Chen Mu initially couldn't track the trajectory of this "hidden weapon," but as it neared his body, everything around seemed to slow down for an instant, like slow motion in a film.

That pebble, only a few body lengths away, was seen perfectly clearly.

He was very familiar with this sensation.

It sometimes happened when he fought He Ying.

He and Tang Jing, among others, had discussed this before, ultimately concluding that mental power enhances human temporal perception, effectively boosting reaction speed indirectly.

But this ability varies from person to person.

Obviously, the stronger the mental power, the stronger the capacity to capture external information.

Chen Mu slightly tilted his head and easily dodged the pebble.

He Ying's anger surged; she was about to draw her sword to counterattack, but Chen Mu stopped her.

Without waiting for him to speak, Yangbu'an leapt up on the spot: "Wow, you're also an expert."

Then he extended one hand; in the gaps between his fingers were several pebbles just like the one before.

"Sorry, although it looks like a sneak attack, I only used thirty percent of my strength just now, and my sole aim was to keep you from leaving so quickly."

Yangbu'an made an exaggerated stretching motion and laughed loudly: "Haha, let me introduce myself—I'm Yangbu'an, and my ability is the extremely rare vector emission; simply put, it's giving an object an initial velocity and direction."

Amid his chattering introduction, Chen Mu looked bewildered, turned his head, and whispered to He Ying: "Why is he telling us his ability?"

He Ying shook her head: "I don't know; maybe he's watched too many anime."

Zhaotong covered his face, also utterly helpless.

After Yangbu'an went on and on boasting, he said to Chen Mu: "You're probably also an upperclassman in senior year, right? Looking at your reaction speed just now, your mental power must be strong too—how about joining our Qingbei? Our motto is 'Equality, Progress, Future,' and our organization's leader is…"

Saying that, Zhaotong hurriedly stopped him.

Chen Mu didn't pay much attention to what came after, he was just a little surprised.

Spiritual power.

Qingbei's name for this thing was exactly the same as theirs.

That wasn't too strange.

But.

As for the relationship between spiritual power and reaction speed, they obviously knew it long ago, and it might already be widespread within the organization.

That's the advantage of a big force with many people: more samples, easier to conduct research, unlike him and Tang Jing, who often have to rely on guesswork and slow exploration.

Yangbu'an was just a passive eighth-grader poisoned by manga, but his ability was quite good.

Put simply, it's a human-shaped launcher.

I just don't know if the term "vector emission" was something he came up with himself.

Naming abilities like that isn't a bad idea.

As expected, big organizations like to play around.

Chen Mu's thoughts drifted far away until Zhaotong's words interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Yang really had no ill intent, and his invitation for you to join Qingbei was sincere—would you two consider it?"

Chen Mu suddenly thought of Song Yu.

Qingbei really seems to care about development, with a huge demand for personnel.

"What does Qingbei refer to...?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce it." Zhaotong patted his head, laughing: "This is our organization's name..."