Jiang Haotian’s face turned as dark as a liver, and he stood up feeling stifled.
He had hoped Su Qingqing would ask him to stay, but the girl didn’t utter a single word because she had promised Chen Nan not to initiate conversation with Jiang Haotian.
As soon as Jiang Haotian left, Su Qingqing hurriedly explained, "Idiot, don’t misunderstand, I didn’t ask him to come over, he came on his own."
Chen Nan pinched her face gently and laughed, "Of course, I know it was him making the approach on purpose. I believe that if you promised me something, you would definitely do it."
"Hee-hee, you’re so nice, idiot."
Su Qingqing giggled and leaned in, "You said earlier you’d carry me home after school, does that still stand?"
Chen Nan said, "But didn’t you say earlier you didn’t want me to carry you?"
"This young lady has changed her mind," Su Qingqing hugged his arm and pouted, demanding in a haughty manner, "Whether you admit it or not, you must carry me because you are my cousin."
Chen Nan touched her head with a wry smile, "Alright, alright, I’ll carry you. Is that good enough?"
"Hee-hee, cousin, you’re the best!"
Su Qingqing gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, beaming with joy.
Soon after, the school bell rang. Su Qingqing stood up and stretched out her arms, "Come on, you silly cousin."
Chen Nan smiled helplessly, about to carry her, when Jiang Haotian’s voice came from the side—
"Qingqing, do you have time tonight? I’d like to take you to dinner. I know you have a lot of questions about my appearance, and we can talk it all out then."
Su Qingqing’s heart skipped a beat. Although she had intended to decline, she now felt hesitant.
With some anticipation, Su Qingqing turned her gaze to Chen Nan, obviously seeking his opinion.
"Brother Jiang," said Chen Nan, "I don’t think it’s necessary. She’s got things to do tonight. We’re in a hurry to get home for dinner, so we won’t stay to chat. Goodbye." With that said, Chen Nan lifted Su Qingqing onto his back and walked away.
Although Su Qingqing felt somewhat tempted, Chen Nan had already refused, and she didn’t want to embarrass him, especially since she had promised to keep her distance from Jiang Haotian.
Watching them leave the classroom, Jiang Haotian gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
He had thought that with his looks, he would instantly become the most important person in Su Qingqing’s heart, but to his surprise, she was actually so compliant with Chen Nan’s words.
"Chen Nan, you can protect her for a moment, but I don’t believe you can protect her for a lifetime!"
Jiang Haotian muttered through gritted teeth, slapping the desk hard and storming out of the classroom in a fury.
On the staircase, Su Qingqing’s chin rested on Chen Nan’s shoulder, discontentedly she said, "You know he looks a lot like my dad, and he asked me out just to talk about this. Why won’t you let me go?"
"Don’t you find this situation very strange?"
Su Qingqing asked puzzledly, "What’s so strange about it?"
"First, apart from fathers and sons or twin brothers, it’s impossible to have people who look almost exactly the same. Second, Jiang Haotian said he took a bus all night, which means he has just arrived in Ningjiang City. And since your father passed away many years ago, he couldn’t possibly know your dad. So how would he know that he resembles your dad?"
Chen Nan turned to look at her, "Have you ever considered that his appearance might be fake?"
Su Qingqing asked, not understanding, "How can someone’s appearance be faked?"
"You don’t know, but there is a Disguise Technique in this world, which involves placing a Human Skin Mask on one’s face, allowing them to take on any appearance they desire," Chen Nan paused before saying, "This method is not some fictional trick from television; it genuinely exists in reality."
Su Qingqing scratched her head, "But even if his appearance is fake, why would he disguise himself as my dad?"
"Didn’t I mention before? He did it on purpose to get close to you, intending to harm you."
"Maybe," Su Qingqing muttered under her breath and fell silent.
Clearly skeptical of Chen Nan’s words, she had never heard of such sophisticated techniques in reality and even wondered if Chen Nan made it all up to keep her away from Jiang Haotian.
After leaving the teaching building, they saw Liu Tiantian waiting on the Avenue, with her ample bosom proudly on display.
"Stinky Qingqing, you lazybones, making your cousin carry you again."
Liu Tiantian ran over and, as usual, latched onto one of Chen Nan’s arms, giggling as they walked toward the school gates.
When the three of them got back home, Eastern Yun Fei was cooking dinner.
Upon seeing Chen Nan, she exclaimed in surprise, "Your... your hair turned black? Could my black sesame paste from this morning have worked so quickly? Come, have another bowl right away."
While speaking, she hurried over with a bowl of black sesame paste.
"Forced to dye it black by a teacher," Chen Nan replied with a wry smile, taking the bowl and quickly gulping down the black sesame paste.
He wanted to tell Eastern Yun Fei that for him, eating black sesame paste was useless, and the only way to return his hair to its normal black was to restore his Life Energy.
Life Energy, also known as Life Essence, is the foundation of a person’s life.
If a person’s Life Essence were to deplete, their body would age more quickly and their lifespan would diminish. And if too much was lost, they might meet their demise and their soul would depart for the Western Heaven.
After dinner, Chen Nan returned to his room and sat down for his Cultivation practice.
His Life Essence was lacking, and his lifespan had been reduced by at least thirty years. Only through meditation and Cultivation could he gradually restore it, and though the recovery was slow, it was the only method available for the time being.
Chen Nan had just completed one Circulation of his Inner Strength when his cell phone rang.
Seeing that it was a call from his master, Chen Nan hurriedly answered, "Hello, old man, what do you want with your dear disciple?"
"Dear disciple my foot."
The old man cursed and threatened, "Keep disrespecting me, and I’ll slap you dead."
"Go on, slap me dead. Let’s see who will be there to care for you when you’re on your deathbed," Chen Nan replied dismissively.
"Damn you, you ingrate!" the old man cursed and then his tone became serious, "I heard that you hare-brained kid gave away your Life Essence to a woman for her sake?"
"Was it that blabbermouth Poison Wolf who told you?"
"Quit blaming others; even if he hadn’t said anything, I could have figured it out just by doing some calculations," the old man sighed and said, "You were born under an unlucky star, plagued by romantic troubles. If you keep this up, you’ll inevitably die because of a woman."
Chen Nan didn’t want to discuss it further, and said with a laugh, "You know how I am. Let’s drop it. There must be another reason you contacted me, right?"
The old man’s tone became grave, "I’ve done some divination just now. There’s a Tree of Life in the Qianzhong Mountain Range in the eastern part of our country. This tree bears fruit only once every thousand years, and right now, three Life Essence Fruits are about to ripen. If you could pick one and eat it, the Life Essence you’ve lost would surely be completely restored. The abundant Life Force from the fruit might even take your power to a higher level!"