Chapter 115: Chapter 114: The Changed World
The advice from Fang Zheng turned out to be correct; all it took was one look at Rena’s exuberant smile when she arrived at school early in the morning to know the answer without saying a word.
“Teacher, I really want to thank you!”
After arriving at school, the first thing Rena did was to run up to Fang Zheng, bow deeply to express her gratitude, and then she took out a lunchbox.
“Thanks to your blessing, my troubles have been resolved! I am so grateful to you! These are some Peony cakes I made, please accept them if you will.”
“Seeing you , I already know the answer.”
Looking at Rena’s radiant smile, Fang Zheng’s mouth curved slightly into a smile, and he reached out to take the lunchbox she offered.
“Well, I’ll take this then, as a side dish for my lunch.”
As he spoke, Fang Zheng nodded to Rena and then turned to leave. Seeing Fang Zheng depart, the rest of the curious crowd gathered around.
“What happened, Rena?”
“Did something happen between you and Teacher Fang Zheng?”
Perhaps because her troubles were already resolved, Rena no longer felt embarrassed to speak, and she openly told her friends everything that had happened. This included her parents getting divorced, her father being unemployed at home, being infatuated by a strange woman, and squandering money…
After listening to Rena’s story, everyone was taken aback.
“Such a thing actually happened?”
Rena nodded, then she placed a hand on her chest and took a long sigh of relief.
“To tell the truth, I really didn’t know what to do at that time. It was later that I thought of going to Teacher Fang Zheng since he said to find him if I had troubles… It was also the teacher who made me realize that I couldn’t go on , that I had to buck up and have a clear talk with my father. If things continued to remain ambiguous, only bad things could happen, so I followed the teacher’s advice and had a good talk with my dad…”
As she spoke, a look of relief appeared on Rena’s face.
“…Fortunately, my father finally came to his senses. He has decided to look for a job again and to stop living such a dazed life. He also promised me that he would break up with that woman. It’s really great; you know, he was even considering buying her a house at one point; if it had come to that…”
Upon hearing this, Keiichi furrowed his brow.
“If it had really come to that, the situation might have become even more troublesome.”
As she said this, Rena’s expression became much more solemn—she fidgeted with her clothes, lowering her head and gazing at the ground.
“I… don’t know how to say it, but I feel… the teacher saved me once.”
Hearing Rena’s words, Mion looked at her curiously.
“What do you mean by that?”
Facing Mion’s question, Rena showed a complex expression.
“Actually, on the night after I spoke to my father, I had a very strange dream…”
“Yes, in the dream there was no teacher; I didn’t look for anyone to consult with and just watched my father get deeper and deeper into trouble. Later, my father gave everything he had to buy that woman a house, and then… a man showed up, beat my father up, saying my father messed with his woman. Then they took everything my father had… I was so angry, so very angry, so I went to confront that woman, but she just badmouthed my father right in front of me, and in a fit of rage, I…”
“This… this is just a dream.”
Watching the silence descend upon the air, Satoko wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, then spoke to offer comfort.
“Don’t worry about it too much, Rena, it was just a dream.”
“Yeah… just a dream…”
As she spoke, Rena stared at her own hands.
“But I don’t know why, I felt the dream was so real, as if I really did kill that woman, and then dismembered the man as well… and more… I dragged everyone into it, making all of you my accomplices…”
Having said that, Rena closed her mouth and shook her head. She still remembered that when she opened her eyes the next day, the shock and fear she experienced were so intense that, for a moment, she actually thought she had murdered that couple and hidden their dismembered bodies in the dump. It wasn’t until Rena hurried to the living room and saw her father greeting her with a smile that she was completely freed from that horrible nightmare.
“Yeah, if things go according to what you said, Rena, it might really end up that way in the end, and that would be too terrifying.”
“But according to what you said, Teacher Fang Zheng has already solved the problem for you, hasn’t he?”
The one to bring the energy back was, naturally, Maehara Keiichi.
“So you have nothing to worry about, Rena, it was only a bad dream, and bad dreams just pass once they’re over! But Teacher Fang Zheng is really amazing, it seems I also need to find time to talk to him about my troubles.”
“Troubles? What troubles could you have, Little Gui?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I lose every time we have club activities, and that’s a serious problem for me!”
“For such minor troubles, instead of bothering the teacher, you should just work hard on your own, ohohoho… Keiichi, you’ll need another eighty years before you can beat us!”
“Damn it, Satoko, you wait right there. Today we’ll have a showdown!!”
“I’m already a girl; we don’t need to decide that, unless you’re planning on wearing a dress after you lose, Keiichi?”
“Aaargh, just you wait!!!”
The once quiet classroom regained its usual liveliness, and no one noticed the astonished and inexplicable look in Rika’s eyes as she stood in the corner, watching everything unfold.
“… The future… has changed!”
For Fang Zheng, this was just a small beginning, but not the end. He had found the conditions for winning in this world, but…
“Is this really useful?”
Walking on the street, looking at the scenery around him, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but ponder.
Indeed, the World of Cicada’s Song is not one dependent on martial strength, but on the flip side, hadn’t all he had done only helped the protagonist grow in will and spirit? What did that have to do with him? Or was there something he had overlooked?
Fang Zheng absolutely didn’t believe that the Dimensional Codex had sent him to this world to be a spiritual mentor. He had made that mistake in the world of Dark Soul, initially suspecting that the zombies were nothing but weaklings that fell with a single cut and not worth honing his skills against, only to be taught a lesson by a zombie Sword Saint.
Although it’s said one doesn’t make the same mistake twice, Fang Zheng felt a bit worried at the moment. He had a bad premonition that if he didn’t find the “key” this world had left for him, he might well repeat his past failures. And to this pitfall-laden system… Fang Zheng was at a loss for words.
Just then, as if sensing something, Fang Zheng looked up across the street. Quickly, he saw a green-haired girl standing on the sidewalk, talking to a group of men dressed like thugs. From their look, they seemed to be outsiders just passing by.
But now, it seemed they intended to engage in some more “promising” activities.
“Hey, cutie, wanna take a ride with us?”
“I’m not interested, and I have classes in the afternoon. I’ll pass.”
After saying these words, the green-haired girl snorted coldly and turned to leave. Watching this unfold, the faces of the thugs turned ugly.
The lead thug bellowed as he reached out, trying to grab the girl. Watching the thug lunging at her, the girl furrowed her brow, stepped back, and then reached into her bosom…
But in the next moment, a figure appeared in front of her.
“What do you think you’re doing to my student?”