Chapter 157: Chengtian BaiRen, the Bloodless and Tearless Runner

Living under the big society, whether human or horse girl, everyone must face the challenges brought by the same environment.

The label of a lone wolf does not mean stupidity.

Quite the opposite, going it alone actually requires more attention than the surrounding crowd; otherwise one will be left behind.

Chengtian BaiRen naturally wasn't in the loser group, so Aomo, while on the way to the drink shop with him, thought for a moment and then gave up on this endeavor where risk and reward were not proportional.

To be honest, he actually doesn't need anyone to show him the way.

The reason is simple: in terms of public exposure, the junior high division is the lowest, while the college division is the highest.

For the college division horse girls, whether they have achieved success, harbor regrets, or are rather downcast, it does not hinder their professional lives from gradually approaching the end.

The information spread online is even more diverse and rich, each of which has a fairly high completion level of mental modeling in Aomo's mind.

In other words, it is Aomo's one-sided knowledge of them all.

Then no explanation or introduction is needed; Aomo's main purpose in coming here is not to make friends, but to find that negative energy clue.

Having had two rounds of close confrontation with it, even using claws and a long tail to experience negative-distance contact, Aomo can fully recall that monster's uniquely strange demeanor.

For this negative-energy monster, if its source is biological, then the monster's demeanor must necessarily be a reflection of the biological entity itself.

This would be an overly obvious trait,

Generally, one glance is enough to confirm it, without needing much interaction.

That's why it's said Aomo actually doesn't need a guide; he just needs to go over there and walk around to lock onto the target.

However, because the college division's schedule is relatively free, a single visit certainly won't see all the students.

There is a possibility of coming away empty-handed.

It's not a big problem; gathering the course schedules of all college classes and comparing them can maximize effectiveness.

Visiting three different times should trigger the minimum guarantee.

As for how to gather the college course schedules……

Yuehuanshe: 【wei？zaima？】

Zhouri Ningjing: 【Has your account been stolen?】

Yuehuanshe: 【My friend said saying hello this way can reduce abruptness, stiffness, and embarrassment; I think it's actually fine】

Zhouri Ningjing: 【Is the friend you're talking about yourself?】

Yuehuanshe: 【Do I really have to blast out his name, gender, age, and ID to prove I actually have such a friend?】

After typing this line, Aomo sighed and sucked on the straw.

He also smacked his lips.

As if trying to cover his temporary worries with sweetness.

「…No need to force oneself. 」 Chengtian BaiRen, sitting beside the bench, wanted to speak but held back, recalling his older sister's teachings, and finally softened his words into this version.

Given her usual straightforward manner of speaking, it somewhat offends people.

Older sister Pipa Chen Guang has also scolded her many times over this matter.

Although relatives and friends are used to it, she still makes a bit of effort toward this person who isn't very familiar yet but has done her favors.

Mainly, although she agreed to come here, she didn't expect Aomo himself to also order a honey special drink.

Chengtian BaiRen was quite surprised at the time, after all, most humans she has seen don't like that flavor.

Her trainer could accept it, but the honey special drink's calorie count can equal several times that of milk tea; after drinking it once, she would frown and feel miserable for several days.

It's really not worth it.

「It's fine, it's already much better than last time; I feel like I'm getting used to this flavor. 」

Or perhaps his taste buds have been tamed by this… Aomo thought wordlessly.

Again the honey special drink and the bench—it's practically a rerun, but as long as that figure doesn't appear, it won't let him confirm the date.

Zhouri Ningjing: 【Sure, anyway if I'm interested I can look it up】

Yuehuanshe: 【You'd better actually be interested in him】

Then I will surely bless you heartily… Aomo thought darkly to himself, then noticing the astonished glance beside him, hurriedly made sure his expression hadn't lost control.

He also asked her: 「What's wrong? 」

「No, nothing…」 His attention still on the 「last time」 from the previous sentence, Chengtian BaiRen was surprised that this wasn't the first challenge from Lindun the trainer, and he gained a new understanding of the 「interesting person」 that Qianming spoke of.

But she, not intending to delve into this topic, also turned her gaze back to her phone.

That was the training plan Aomo had previously sent her—the part she was responsible for.

Seeing her refocus on that, Aomo also asked: 「Is there anything inappropriate? 」

「Wait till I finish looking. 」

「Okay. 」

Aomo turned his head, paused again, and gave a slight nod to some students looking this way.

Just a casual greeting.

After class, the honey special drink shop not far away naturally attracts little girls, and many students who bought their favorite drinks walk around with friends nearby.

Then they saw the combination of Aomo Lindun and Chengtian BaiRen.

It's the demon trainer and the shadow‑shattering monster, huh…

Kind of hilarious… take a look.

Still pretty hilarious… take another look.

Yikes! We've been spotted!!!!

Just a slight nod, and he heard a faint wail from afar, then turned and fled as if escaping.

It feels rather déjà vu.

What's going on today?

Aomo lowered his head to look at his own attire, then traced his index finger across his cheek, feeling neither the hardness nor warmth of an exoskeleton scale.

I haven't demon-transformed either.

【"Tell me, what do you need me to do?"】

As it turns out you still know how to ask; I thought you were so bored you'd have to come tell me this nonsense. Aomo tapped the light screen, and then heard Narita Bairen ask from beside him:

What happened just now?

Aomo turned his head to look at her; her ears still pointed toward where the girl had run off, and farther away several more students were also staring this way, yet none of them spoke up honestly.

It's not that I'm afraid he'll hear; at the very least I'm being careful around Narita Bairen.

They say each Triple Crown horse girl has plenty of fans at school, so why are yours all looking like they've seen a ghost?

Nothing much; a student was staring over here, I nodded at her and she got scared and ran off.

【"Help me gather all the class schedules from the college division; I'm investigating the source of that negative-energy monster."】 While speaking, she swiftly and precisely tapped out this reply with a single hand's five fingers; Aomo turned his head to look at her: "What has my reputation at Telesen become? Do you have any leads?"

"I don't know, I don't pay attention to these," said the black-haired horse girl whose reputation was similarly subtle, burying her head and continuing to flip through the proposal, "You can go ask…"

She fell silent for a moment, recalling her own not-so-wide social circle.

First to come to mind wasn't the trainer; trainers don't care about this gossip either, the student council… the Donghai Emperor, though not yet a member of the student council, is almost there, and she indeed seems like the type who'd pay attention to this.

But she's not familiar with that noisy little imp either, even though she could tentatively acknowledge her potential to win the Derby… oh, there's another one! Even someone the Lindun trainer knows.

Qianming representative, yes, you can ask her; she's very familiar with this sort of thing. "Call me?"

Suddenly a brown-haired head poked out from behind the long bench between them and asked.

"……" x2

The two individuals who initially suppressed their urge to elbow each other both noticed the slight tremor in each other's elbows, yet the emotions they read from the eye contact were inconsistent.

Bairen looked somewhat astonished, while Aomo felt somewhat helpless.

Hey, you two are making me lose face.

The Qianming representative, seemingly unaware that her prank had almost provoked violent reactions from the two, continued to condemn them for maintaining eye contact after she appeared.

Now that she's here, you can ask her.

Narita Bairen gave no face to the graduating senior, and after speaking he buried his head and continued to swipe the screen.

This diligent appearance made Aomo unable to resist glancing at his own exclusive-view light screen, which already had two messages.

【"College division? Where did you get that information?"】

【"Where is the person?"】

Yuehuanshe: 【"I'm here, I'm here; I naturally have my own information channels—you haven't been to the college division lately, have you?"】

Aomo typed quickly without looking, turned his head to look at Qianming representative's face, also speechless: "Are you definitely going to be specially recruited as a horse girl by the "honey special drink" and "long bench" elements?"

Without choosing to sit, she simply leaned slightly, propping both elbows on the chair back, continuing to occupy the C-position between the two as Qianming representative, dissatisfiedly retorting: "I clearly said this is a place I quite like, didn't I?"

You still remember drinking the honey special drink here, so how could you forget what I said?

You can't even remember what happened on a rainy day, yet you're telling me this?

You remember it too, don't you!

"……" Narita Bairen listened to the two's nutriment-less conversation, lifted his head to glance, and caught sight of the young person's left-hand five fingers still flying rapidly in midair.

He raised an eyebrow, but it wasn't good to point out that the Lindun trainer was wasting time.

After all, he seemed to be busy with legitimate business, while the Qianming representative… who in the student council isn't already used to this guy's extremely spontaneous style?

Although both are hard to find three days out of two, compared to her own style of focusing on a single goal and discarding everything else, the Qianming representative gave her the feeling of not even being able to discern a purpose, seeming purely spontaneous.

The biggest difference between her and the Golden Ship is that her logic is still fairly coherent, merely slightly deviating from common sense, but at least there's a line.

For example, if she wants to run, she just goes, regardless of wind or rain—such straight-line logic.

But if it were the Golden Ship… it's hard to say whether her stroll is even a stroll, let alone what kind of stroll it is.

Even so, that doesn't mean Narita Bairen can understand her to any degree.

They're just troublesome figures of different natures; she'll only think of them that way and keep her distance.

Especially since the other party isn't willing to truly let loose and run alongside her.

For her, the impression of this matter outweighs all the previous ones.

Pursuing greater speed, pursuing further perseverance, a horse girl must have that fighting spirit to truly be a horse girl.

Even in parallel‑run training she should give it her all, so what is her casual attitude?

Does she lack a competitive spirit? Does she have no regrets from a career ending in successive failures?

Has she given up challenging Ludao Fu?!

Narita Bairen is no longer the naive newcomer she once was; if it were her original self, she would have bluntly broached the topic everyone unconsciously avoids.

And now she merely waits without much expectation.

Her relationship with the Qianming representative isn't good enough to speak frankly, and even Ludao Fu and Wanshan, whom she gets along with well, have never uttered these words.

She feels those two certainly have more considerations than she does, so she'll just wait.

She has set up so many potential challenge goals for herself that she's never short of opponents.

Nor is she short of time.