"I’m afraid you’d wander off in a trance if you were alone!" Wei Liang curled his lip, "We’ve been waiting these few minutes, it won’t hurt to wait a bit longer, so let’s wait!"
Lin Yi shrank his neck, intimidated by Wei Liang’s assertiveness: "Then we’ll keep waiting."
"Yup." Wei Liang nodded solemnly.
Lin Yi composed himself and confirmed one thing—the invisible path that branched off from the cobblestone road leading to the gymnasium indeed headed towards the seaside with the Art Building.
There were many problems with this, but he couldn’t keep pondering them further; he’d have to discuss it with Tian Bufan tonight.
He glanced at the Green Forest Belt again, both to soothe his emotions and to muse, "Will that newcomer have to walk down that path as well?"
He focused slightly, suddenly noticing that the mist in the Green Forest Belt appeared to have some floating signs, showing a tendency to spread outwards.
Within that floating mist, there seemed to be something restless, eager to emerge.
"Is it a sculpture? Non-human classmates? Green hat? Or some strange Unit?"
Lin Yi suddenly remembered that non-human students seemed to possess that eerie ability to move, too, like the Pocket Chefs in the cafeteria that could move swiftly through shady areas.
"Tsck..." Lin Yi clicked his tongue and took a slight breath.
Just thinking of their weird ability to move gave him a headache. If that really was the underlying logic, then in the dark, could they use "Void Target Search" to appear right in front of him?
He straightened up, withdrew his gaze from the Green Forest Belt, then took a deep breath to calm the subtle sense of unease welling up inside him, subconsciously glancing down at his watch.
Only two minutes had passed since earlier.
Wei Liang hesitated a moment before asking, "Wanna go back to the classroom first?"
Lin Yi felt a touch of appreciation, realizing that Wei Liang had indeed noticed something amiss.
But before he could even express his gratitude, Wei Liang shattered Lin Yi’s high regard with his following remark: "You were just gasping for air and shuffling your feet like a malfunctioning fan over there, got something stuck in your throat?"
"..." Lin Yi was speechless.
Damn malfunctioning fan!
First a toilet break, now a malfunctioning fan, did you only see me catch a chill and shuffle my feet?
Just then, the door to the Teacher’s Office opened, and Li Huiyuan stepped out, head bowed and brows lowered, her face solemn yet Lin Yi could feel she wasn’t as tense as before.
It seemed the 10 minutes of conversation had a very clear calming effect.
But there was still a trace of awkwardness on Li Huiyuan’s face, which Lin Yi guessed might be related to his earlier suggestion. Regardless, he needed to know the outcome: "So...how did the report go?"
Li Huiyuan was clearly looking down, but she still furtively shifted her gaze: "Um...about that...I wanted to ask you..."
She mustered the courage to lift her head, her eyes earnest yet filled with intense embarrassment: "Could you...wait for me a little longer? I...I still need some time to decide?"
"..." Lin Yi watched her awkward expression, his brow furrowing slightly.
He didn’t exactly need a scapegoat urgently; it was more that having one could be useful at times.
"Roughly...I’ll have decided by the end of dinner..." Li Huiyuan bit her lower lip lightly, her speech slowing due to embarrassment. "I mean, I will definitely give you an answer by then, is that okay?"
"Yes... that’s right..." Li Huiyuan’s head was nearly buried in her chest, her voice barely audible.
Lin Yi wasn’t swayed by Li Huiyuan’s demeanour, and upon hearing her words, a thought struck him: "There’s a statement."
"Shall we go into the classroom and talk?" he suggested.
"Sure...okay," she nodded in agreement.
Lin Yi reached the door of Classroom B Group 2, checked the number, and then pushed the door open.
After entering the classroom with Lin Yi, Li Huiyuan suddenly thought of something, looked up at the wall clock.
She glanced at Lin Yi’s back, fighting the impulse to ask him the time, but in the end, she restrained herself.
Lin Yi scanned the classroom, silently counting the number of students.
Students who went to the cafeteria for lunch were returning, and there were already 20 people in the classroom.
Lin Yi led Li Huiyuan to their usual seats in the back, and took his place.
"You guys chat, I’m going to look for some books." Wei Liang didn’t sit down but headed to the bookshelf area, "Oh right, Li Huiyuan, would you like a book?"
Li Huiyuan, distracted, merely nodded in response.
Wei Liang left on the spot.
"So, what did the class teacher say?" Lin Yi asked, curious.
Back in the classroom, Li Huiyuan’s nervousness had lessened considerably. She hesitated for a moment before counter-questioning, "Um...the class teacher’s words seemed, kind of strange to me. Those things she said, can I really talk about it?"
"What I mean is... will it have some negative impact on you?"
Lin Yi narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, sensing there truly was something...