Chapter 79: Panicked and Directionless (Revision)

Just after Ying Duo successfully slipped away from the infirmary, a brand‑new quest notification popped up in the task bar, accompanied by a bright‑red countdown:

【Emergency Side Quest Trigger: Professor Luo De'an's "Care"】

【Task Description: Because your unique "hairstyle" has attracted Professor Luo De'an's intense attention, he has decided to personally give you a "forced haircut" service, and whether you consent or not is not up for consideration.】

【Do everything you can to survive this chase and keep your hair!】

【Mission Objective: Keep your hair under Professor Luo De'an's pursuit (Time Remaining: 4 min 59 sec)】

【Reward: Experience +50%, special title "Slippery Hand"】

【Failure Penalty: Forced appearance change (Ying Guang Lu → bald, cannot be altered for a short time!), and receive Professor Luo De'an's "special counseling".】

Hold out for five minutes? Easy peasy~

When Yang Yixie saw the quest, he didn't panic at all; instead, he got pumped.

He knows this cat‑and‑mouse game all too well! Isn't this just a chase?

The moment the quest and countdown leapt into view, Ying Duo's entire demeanor shifted.

He ran like a wild dog off its leash (literally), tearing through the Academy's winding corridors and courtyards at breakneck speed, his Ying Guang Lu short hair streaking into a glaring green blaze that was impossible to miss.

"Ying Duo, it's just a haircut..."

Professor Luo De'an's voice drifted softly from behind him.

As a scholar, physical stamina isn't Professor Luo De'an's strong suit, but he's been on the road for years, so chasing a student should be fine, especially since he also wields a masterful Aberrant Arts technique.

Yet none of that compares to Ying Duo's resolve to protect his hair at all costs.

Shen Zexi was sitting in the Advanced Energy Utilization Technique classroom, listening to the instructor on the podium explain the convoluted energy circuits, feeling his mind turning into a mushy tangle.

He drifted off a bit, his gaze unintentionally wandering toward the window, hoping the greenery outside would relax his overly tense brain.

At that moment, a Ying Guang Lu shadow he knew all too well whooshed from the far end of the hallway outside the window, stirring up a gust of wind.

Shen Zexi: "???"

He instinctively straightened his back, thinking his eyes were playing tricks.

That color… Ying Duo? What is he doing?

The teacher at the podium turned around just in time to see Shen Zexi staring blankly out the window, and, irritated, rapped the desk.

"Focus! What are you looking at outside?! Are there Aberrant Species out there?!"

Shen Zexi silently lowered his head, shifting his gaze back to the textbook, but the image of that sprinting green light refused to fade, and he couldn't help muttering to himself:

There are no Aberrant Species, but there is a green‑furred thing even more dangerous than them…

In the Xunlianchang next door, where a Basic Body Technique class was in session, Qi Hengyu had just knocked a classmate down, proudly clapped his hands, and heard a ruckus erupt around him.

"Whoa!"

"Yo‑ha!"

The students pointed at the little path outside the Xunlianchang, gathering at the edge as if watching a monkey show.

"Look! Isn't that the green‑furred one? Running like it's being chased by an Aberrant Species from behind!"

Ying Duo performed a clean, swift hurdle jump, narrowly evading a suddenly raised earthen wall, landed smoothly, and kept sprinting with fluid motion.

The Xunlianchang erupted in uproarious laughter.

"That's… Ying Guang Lu?"

"What's he doing? Performing a stunt?"

"He's being chased by Professor Luo De'an? What kind of new practical class is this?"

Even though Qi Hengyu didn't see who the person was, watching the sprinting green‑furred figure seemed enough for him.

So…

What rule has this kid broken now?

Before Qi Hengyu could shuffle to the Xunlianchang edge to watch the spectacle, the teacher's roar rang out.

"What are you looking at! Do you realize we're in class? Keep staring and I'll throw you out to chase too!"

The students fell silent as if chilled, yet their peripheral glances kept darting that way until the glaring Ying Guang Lu vanished.

In a classroom holding an Aberrant History lesson, an elderly professor stood at the podium, warmly introducing a teenage student to the many students below.

"…This student is a new transfer; when they awakened their Aberrant Arts they had a slight issue, so please look after them in daily life…"

"This kid is my most prized pupil, I begged you to take them. Didn't I mention them to you before? Yes, the student who developed the ground‑linked Floating City and the Air Train…"

"Swoosh—!"

A green shadow slipped in through the classroom's back door like a phantom; under the stunned gazes of the front‑row students, he used a few desks as springboards and vaulted out the front door.

The whole thing lasted under three seconds, leaving only a few clear footprints on the desks and a gust that blew several handouts away.

The whole class: "......"

The elderly professor adjusted his crooked glasses, staring at the green‑furred figure that vanished through the front door, his beard trembling with anger.

"How absurd! Which class does this student belong to?!"

The classroom fell deathly silent, everyone staring wide‑eyed at the mess, unable to recover.

What just rushed through just now?

The transfer student, who had been the center of attention, seized the chance, slipped backward, and hid in the shadow behind the teacher.

A few seconds later, Professor Luo De'an chased the green shadow into the classroom.

He glanced at the disheveled podium and his pale‑faced colleague, could only hurriedly say, "Sorry, pursuing a disciplinary‑violating student," and sprinted out the back door again.

Though Yang Yixie saw it as merely a 2D side‑scroller, for Ying Duo it was on par with an open‑world parkour game.

He can scale walls, climb trees—nothing's impossible; whatever the challenge, he meets it.

The entire Academy was thrown into chaos, screams and curses echoing everywhere.

At first Professor Luo De'an kept his hands restrained, fearing injury to the kid or collateral damage to other students, employing mostly gentle blocking and slowing techniques.

But watching Ying Duo slip like an oiled loach, darting in and out of all kinds of unimaginable corners, the trouble he caused kept growing, and his patience was gradually exhausted.

The professor, who used to be highly respected and virtuous, has also gone all out; he originally always held back when he acted, but this kid is just too slippery!

Moreover, he deliberately runs into crowded places, causing the chaos to grow ever larger.

Watching the seconds tick by, with only one minute left on the mission countdown, Yang Yixie even felt a little smug inside.

However, just as he nimbly dodged another stone wall rising from the ground and prepared to dart into the teaching building, his leg suddenly felt heavy, and his steps staggered.

【System Prompt: You have been infected with an Unknown Neurotoxin, movement speed reduced by 30%, stamina recovery speed reduced by 50%, and there is a chance to trigger the 'Dizziness' effect when moving.】

What's going on? When did I get poisoned?!

Yang Yixie quickly glanced at Ying Duo's status bar, with no recollection of having touched anything suspicious.

Could it have been from when he just passed through the flowerbed? Or maybe there was a trap he didn't notice?

This sudden weakness became the decisive blow; the greatly slowed Ying Duo could no longer dodge Professor Luo De'an's barrage of Aberrant Arts attacks.

The professor also noticed Ying Duo's abnormality.

Although he didn't understand the exact reason, he knew this was an excellent opportunity.