Chapter 1073: Chapter 1073: Star Era Guide (23)
Upon entering, Chuzheng realized that the corridor branched out in all directions, connecting different buildings, and she had no idea which way Jing Lan had gone.
Chuzheng glanced at the people standing in the corridor.
“Excuse me, did any of you see…”
The person raised a hand, rubbing their thumb and index finger together.
They wanted money to talk.
After Chuzheng handed over the cash, the person didn’t wait for her to ask, they simply pointed, “He went up that way.”
This familiar routine clearly indicated they often gave directions like this.
Chuzheng followed the indicated staircase upwards.
The building was circular, with the stairs spiraling up through the center, connecting to different directions.
Occasionally, there were people going up and down the stairs, but she neither saw Jing Lan nor noticed anything suspicious.
While Chuzheng was halfway up, suddenly a dark figure dropped into the center of the stairwell.
Thud—
A heavy thud echoed as it hit the ground.
“Ah!”
A scream arose from below.
Chuzheng looked down to see a corpse lying face down, blood slowly seeping out.
Chuzheng looked up and immediately saw Jing Lan standing at a higher level.
Their eyes met across the heavy stairwells, just for a second, and then Jing Lan turned and walked away, disappearing from Chuzheng’s sight in an instant.
The buildings in this area seemed interconnected, and Chuzheng pursued. She didn’t see Jing Lan, so she quickly scanned her surroundings and chose the path she thought Jing Lan would most likely take.
Perhaps she was lucky because she saw Jing Lan not far ahead.
He wasn’t running, just walking slowly.
As Chuzheng caught up, he turned his head to glance at her, his azure eyes shadowed by the surrounding light, making it hard to distinguish their true color.
In the silent space, there were only the sounds of their mismatched footsteps.
Jing Lan withdrew his gaze and continued downward, “Didn’t I tell you to go back? Why follow me?”
There was no tension or anything else in his tone for being caught… just a hint of impatience.
Being discovered seemed to be nothing more than a nuisance to him.
Chuzheng said, “You killed someone.”
Jing Lan paused, then lightly kicked the wall beside him with the tip of his shoe, as if venting, or perhaps just an idle kick.
He spoke slowly, “I took money to take care of someone’s troubles.”
Chuzheng found it hard to associate the phrase ‘taking money to take care of troubles’ with Jing Lan.
A person aspiring to become a great Marshal had fallen to such a state.
“Are you short on money?”
Jing Lan continued downwards, “No.”
“Then why do it?”
“I like it.”
“Stop killing people.”
Jing Lan’s words were sharp, “Who are you to tell me what to do?”
“…” Maybe she needed to find a way to restrain him.
Chuzheng followed him silently out of the building and that run-down street.
The hustle and bustle receded into the distance, leaving quiet all around.
A police hovercar sped past them, disappearing into that neighborhood.
Jing Lan walked in front, and Chuzheng followed behind, just able to step on his shadow.
The academy gates gradually came into view.
Jing Lan suddenly stopped and turned around.
A cold light fell around him, enveloping Jing Lan in a boundless chill.
He said, “Chuzheng, don’t provoke me; it won’t end well.”
After saying this, Jing Lan quickly entered the academy.
Chuzheng kicked a roadside bush, muttering through clenched teeth, “Who provoked who first?”
–
The next day, Chuzheng saw on the news that the deceased was a notorious criminal.
And this was the seventh one this year.
All the victims were such criminals.
Chuzheng closed the news page.
Even though Jing Lan killed those who deserved it, he himself had been reviewed by the military court.
If discovered again, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Chuzheng went to the office to find Jing Lan; the office that Xiao Jiu had cleaned up yesterday was now a mess again, thanks to Jing Lan.
Jing Lan sat on the floor, fiddling with a half-human-sized robot.
He had almost dismantled the robot and was loading something into it.
He didn’t look up when Chuzheng came in, silently tinkering with the robot in his hands.
Chuzheng sat down cross-legged, saying nothing, just quietly watching him.
Jing Lan paused his movements slightly, “What’s up?”
“Class.”
“Heh…” Jing Lan’s chuckle carried an imposing air, “What class?”
“Accompany you.”
Chuzheng rephrased.
Jing Lan fell silent, lowering his head slightly; his scattered hair shadowed his eyes as he continued fiddling with the robot.
Jing Lan seemed to encounter some trouble, frowning, and impatiently tapped the top of the robot a couple of times.
Suddenly, he kicked the robot over.
Jing Lan got up and went to his designated sleeping platform at the back, lying down.
Chuzheng stared at the robot, wondering what it had done wrong to deserve such treatment.
She had just set the robot upright when the light in front of her suddenly dimmed.
Jing Lan stood next to her, lowering his gaze to look at her, his azure eyes clouded like a misty rainy day in the mountains, hard to see clearly.
“What are you doing?”
“Aren’t we having a class?” Jing Lan’s voice still carried impatience as he tossed down two books and sat back down.
A holographic screen unfolded in front of Chuzheng, displaying an insect.
Jing Lan leaned against a machine behind him and casually began, “This is an Ancient Creature, the Rhinoceros Beetle, also known as the Fork-horned Scarab. Ancient Creatures classify it under the Scarab family…”
Jing Lan had clearly just picked a creature to lecture on.
However, Chuzheng noticed that the holographic screen only showed one slowly rotating creature and none of what Jing Lan was lecturing on.
He wasn’t looking at the book, clearly knowledgeable about the subject.
“They prefer to inhabit evergreen or deciduous foliage. The larvae rely on the humus formed from decomposed leaves or wood below the forest, so they require a higher level of forest primality…”
Chuzheng hadn’t expected to actually sit through a class.
She hadn’t even considered attending one.
Initially, Jing Lan was somewhat impatient, but as he continued speaking, his tone gradually smoothed out, like telling a story.
Chuzheng listened attentively.
As for how much she absorbed, only she knew deep down.
After finishing the lecture on the Rhinoceros Beetle, Jing Lan had no intention of continuing and pointed to a shelf, “There are specimens over there, you can look at them yourself, don’t ask me which one, find it yourself. Don’t bother me unless necessary.”
The last few words were spoken with some weight.
Chuzheng: “…”
How unreasonable!
You clearly came over to teach me?
Jing Lan got up and returned to his designated ‘sleep area,’ immediately lying down.
His head covered by a piece of clothing, so Chuzheng couldn’t tell if he was really asleep.
Chuzheng sat for a while, then got up to leave.
“When you need to go out, let me know, and I’ll go with you.”
The metal door slowly closed, Jing Lan pulled down the clothes, exhaling heavily.
Go with him…
Go with him to do what?
To kill?
Jing Lan irritably covered his head with the clothes again.
*
The introduction to the Rhinoceros Beetle comes from Baidu.