Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 24

That night, Meng Xuexiao was woken up by a flurry of chaotic footsteps. Still shaken from Wu Zian’s door-kicking incident earlier, he hadn’t been able to sleep soundly, so the moment there was movement outside, he sat upright. To his surprise, even after sleeping a bit, the dorm lights were still on. Shen Zekai, unusually, wasn’t burning the midnight oil at his desk but was instead standing by the window with his eyes downcast.

He moved over to stand beside Shen Zekai and looked out the window with him. The noise that had jolted him awake had indeed come from outside.

Seeing that Meng Xuexiao had sat up, Shen Zekai turned his gaze toward him, “Did the noise wake you?”

Meng Xuexiao shook his head, “Not really. I’m a light sleeper.”

Their dorm building was now tightly surrounded, and outside the door stood numerous large machines, all kinds and shapes, glowing with ominous red warning lights that blinked on and off, casting the entire scene in a crimson hue. It strangely reminded Meng Xuexiao of fire trucks from his previous life. Red wherever they passed, accompanied by their urgent “wee-oo wee-oo” sirens, each note like a call of death.

He looked around. There wasn’t a fire, nor any fully suited emergency responders. Unable to make sense of it, he leaned all the way onto the window ledge, craning his neck to get a better view, “What’s going on out there?”

“The treatment unit was dispatched. Those flashing machines down there are emergency rescue devices,” Shen Zekai said.

Rescue…?! They actually mobilized such a large operation?

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help leaning further out the window.

Soon, the dormitory’s front door was flung open. A medical worker dressed in pure white walked out briskly, jotting notes down as she moved. Behind her floated a line of hovering machines, each shaped like a board and topped with blankets, they looked like beds.

It didn’t take long for one of the blanket-covered forms to twitch, and a face slowly emerged from underneath.

The face was twisted in pain, pupils unfocused, blood smeared across it like a horror movie zombie that had just mutated. Despite the distance, the person still managed to see Meng Xuexiao. The bloodied figure coughed out a few flecks of blood-tinged spit and weakly extended a swollen, trembling hand from under the blanket.

That hand was puffed up like a club, with a very obvious shoe print on the back. His cracked lips moved faintly, “You bastard… i-it’s all your fault! We were just following group rules…”

Group rules.

That word snapped Meng Xuexiao to attention.

He looked again, more carefully, at the person’s face. The injuries had swollen it almost beyond recognition, but he still recognized a mole on the person’s nose. It was one of the students who had uploaded the recording to the group.

Wasn’t that exactly one of the guys who uploaded the recording to Wu Zian’s group chat?!

Meng Xuexiao froze, then as if suddenly recalling something, quickly turned to look at the other floating medical beds, and sure enough, there were more of them lying there half-dead. Every single person who had targeted him during the team combat class… not one was missing. They were all lined up neatly in a row.

This is too much….

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but let out a low “tss”, as a chill crept up his back.

The injuries were far too horrific. Some of the victims even had exposed pale bone. And worst of all, this was happening inside the Federal Military Academy!

Was the Alliance’s top school really this unsafe? It was those people today, what if it was him tomorrow?

“Who did this?!”

In that instant, a thousand possibilities raced through his mind. Had a terrorist snuck in? Space pirates? Or perhaps an enemy force had come to provoke them?

Shen Zekai, for his part, showed no fear at the sight of so much blood, but when he heard Meng Xuexiao’s question, he did pause briefly, a slight hesitation in his voice—almost like he was conflicted.

“…It was Wu Zian.”

Wu Zian, “…..”

If Meng Xuexiao remembered correctly, these people were all Wu Zian’s followers, weren’t they?! And yet he could be this brutal to his own people? Suddenly, that forceful door-kicking entrance Wu Zian made during the team combat class didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.

“Then Wu Zian, he…” Meng Xuexiao’s words abruptly trailed off—Not because he didn’t want to speak, but because the person they were talking about had already appeared.

Wu Zian was being escorted by an academic affairs director. At the moment, Wu Zian looked like he’d just returned from a bar outside campus, his uniform jacket was draped lazily over his shoulders, not properly worn.

The director seemed to be lecturing him, tone stern, “Even though our Federal Military Academy follows a survival-of-the-fittest philosophy, deliberately injuring classmates is still not allowed!”

But Wu Zian didn’t seem to care at all. One hand was stuffed in his pocket, the other lazily spinning some unidentified card between his fingers. He said offhandedly, “But sir, we were just having a friendly spar.”

The director was visibly choked by the response, puffing his cheeks and glaring, “Friendly sparring lands people in the ER? How many times has this happened already this month?!”

“Well, did they die?”

The director, “……”

Well… no, they didn’t. But whether they’d suffer long-term damage, that couldn’t be ruled out.

Still, they couldn’t punish Wu Zian. After all, he was a rare S-rank physique prodigy, a future powerhouse expected to take on ten enemies at once on the battlefield. His practical value far outweighed that of the students he injured.

Wu Zian clearly picked up on the subtext. He shrugged, “Well then, that’s settled.”

Wu Zian turned around, and the card he had been idly toying with was flicked into the air, right as his gaze met Meng Xuexiao’s midair.

Clearly reading the director’s unspoken message, Wu Zian gave a shrug, “Well then, guess that settles it.”

He waved casually, “If there’s nothing else, I’m heading back to bed. Bye-bye, sir.”

Then he looked up and locked eyes with Meng Xuexiao. Wu Zian smiled, exposing a row of teeth like a shark about to strike, and gave a soft whistle, “So? What do you think?”

“Compared to those ‘Enforcer’ and Chu Sinian you mentioned before?”

Meng Xuexiao instinctively pressed his lips into a tight line. He hadn’t expected Wu Zian to still remember that remark.

This guy really is frighteningly vindictive.

“Not much,” came a voice that wasn’t Meng Xuexiao’s. It was Shen Zekai who replied.

The tall youth stood beside Meng Xuexiao, looking down on Wu Zian, fully exercising his authority as student representative.

“Unauthorized fighting. Three hundred credits deducted.”

A crisp “ding” sounded from Wu Zian’s communicator, confirming the deduction had already gone through.

Wu Zian clicked his tongue and gave a sarcastic thumbs-up, then slowly turned it downward, his gaze still locked on Meng Xuexiao, “Disappointed? That’s all he’s good for.”

With that, he couldn’t even be bothered to glance at Shen Zekai’s expression and turned to leave. Shen Zekai was always the dull, upright type—calm, courteous, and ever-gracious. He rarely responded to Wu Zian’s provocations, as if even speaking to him would dirty his mouth.

Normally, Wu Zian didn’t mind Shen Zekai’s silence. In fact, he welcomed it. Silence could easily be mistaken for tacit approval.

But this time, Wu Zian’s sharp ears caught Shen Zekai’s response almost immediately, “He’s not.”

Tch. That was quick.

Even Wu Zian was a little surprised, and so was Meng Xuexiao, who looked at Shen Zekai in open astonishment.

After all, Shen Zekai had warned him plenty of times. Don’t talk to Wu Zian more than necessary. Stay far away if you can. Bad habits are contagious.

Meng Xuexiao had genuinely believed that Shen Zekai couldn’t even be bothered to engage with someone like Wu Zian.

Meeting Meng Xuexiao’s gaze, Shen Zekai paused for a moment, apparently choosing his words carefully.

Then, with steady conviction, he repeated, “He’s not just good for that.”

And added, “Tomorrow morning, come with me to the medical wing.”

So… wait. That sentence was addressed to him?

Meng Xuexiao blinked. Up until now, he had instinctively kept himself out of their confrontations. Shen Zekai and Wu Zian both had overwhelming presences, watching them clash was like watching two lions circle each other, and he, a mere lamb, had no place in the ring.

He never imagined his name would be dragged into their standoff.

This was… awkward. Like being a helpless sheep caught between two fighting beasts, one careless move and he’d be torn to shreds.

Between Wu Zian and Shen Zekai, it was obvious that Meng Xuexiao was closer to Shen Zekai. At a moment like this, refusing him would feel like a slap to the face.

So Meng Xuexiao still nodded, “Okay.”

“Ah—!” Wu Zian practically gagged on the spot. Even from several floors away, Meng Xuexiao could hear it loud and clear.

Wu Zian clutched his eyes like he’d just witnessed something unbearable, “Representative Shen, this is a bit of a double standard, don’t you think? When I do something I like on campus, you self-righteously declare it inappropriate, but now the two of you playing lovey-dovey isn’t a breach of decorum?”

“Disgusting. Especially you—just looking at you makes me sick.”

He was clearly trying to block the sight, but Meng Xuexiao could feel that behind that raised hand, a pair of eyes were boring into him—dark, unsettling, and cold enough to send chills down his spine. Especially that last sentence, it was spat out through clenched teeth.

Shen Zekai stepped forward just enough to shield Meng Xuexiao behind him, “If you don’t like what you see, then don’t look.”

“Don’t think being student rep gives you the right to throw your weight around,” Wu Zian sneered. “How much of that halo of yours was handed down by Colonel Shen?”

Then he snapped his fingers at Meng Xuexiao, “Medical wing, right? See you tomorrow.”

The sound of the snap echoed right next to Meng Xuexiao’s ear, like a taut nerve string being plucked. But the one who set it off simply waved a hand, turning to call behind him casually, “Hey, you, bring the wine. Take it to my dorm.”

Li Hao immediately jogged over when he heard the call.

He had just happened to be nearby when Wu Zian started fighting, so he’d been roped in as a helper on the spot. Now he had a plastic bag slung over one arm, packed full of cans of beer.

Even in this interstellar age, alcohol packaging had seen huge advancements, but Wu Zian insisted on buying this particular kind. Silver-and-red cans, not overly expensive, but very strong. A dozen or so cans was actually pretty heavy, but Li Hao carried them without a word of complaint. He even puffed out his chest with pride, honored that among so many people, Wu-ge had chosen him.

He even lifted the bag and gave it a little shake, “Wu-ge, we should probably head back soon, if we wait too long the beer won’t stay cold, and it won’t taste as good!”

As he said this, he shot a subtle glare at Shen Zekai.

Li Hao knew Shen Zekai. If Wu Zian was the God he worshipped on a pedestal, then Shen Zekai was the traitor nailed to the pillar of shame, someone he’d love to stab with a needle if he could. It was this guy who had caused Wu-ge to lose the student representative seat back then, so despicable. And now he was always using that position to lord over others.

Tch. Of course he’d be the one causing trouble for Wu-ge again. Seriously, why did he get to decide all the punishments and rewards, acting like he was better than everyone else?

What, Wu-ge isn’t even allowed to discipline his own unruly followers now? That’s basic common sense! Why are you stretching your hand out so far?! Not afraid it’ll get chopped off?

At that glance, Li Hao saw Shen Zekai and the person standing behind him, Meng Xuexiao. Instantly, his irritation grew even stronger.

Heh, so my Wu-ge’s out here in the cold disciplining his subordinates, and you’re up there all cozy flirting with some pretty boy?

Have you even looked in the mirror? What a damn joke! If Wu-ge weren’t still nearby, waiting for him to bring over the beer, he would’ve gone up and taught him a lesson himself!

The anger in Li Hao’s eyes was practically scorching through the air toward them. Meng Xuexiao frowned slightly, about to say something, but the open window suddenly closed in the next moment.

Shen Zekai even drew the curtains shut.

“Sorry to trouble you with that,” Shen Zekai said calmly, “His anger’s aimed at me, not you. I’ll keep a tighter rein on them.”

“Uh… that’s not really necessary,” Meng Xuexiao replied after a pause. He was already used to being the target of hostility, so it didn’t bother him much. What did worry him was Wu Zian’s parting words, “We’ll see each other again.”

So that meant… Wu Zian was planning to come find them tomorrow?

Meng Xuexiao’s frown deepened. That definitely wasn’t a good sign.

While Shen Zekai didn’t seem afraid of Wu Zian, the way they’d confronted each other tonight made it clear that if they ran into each other tomorrow, things would not end peacefully. And if it escalated into a fight, it could damage Shen Zekai’s reputation.

“How about we change the time? I have class tomorrow morning,” Meng Xuexiao suggested.

Shen Zekai looked at him deeply.

As the student representative, Shen Zekai knew the class schedules for every grade, he was well aware that Meng Xuexiao didn’t have any classes tomorrow morning.

“Then let’s change it to tomorrow at noon,” he said.

“Mm, sure! I think that time works great!” Meng Xuexiao quickly agreed, letting out a breath of relief.

This way, even if Wu Zian deliberately tried to lie in wait, he wouldn’t be able to catch them.

Author’s Note:

Li Hao: Pick up pretty boys!

Shen Zekai: Right, right, that’ s how you promote me and Meng Xuexiao!