Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 25

Unfortunately, plans can’t keep up with changes.

The next morning, an unexpected issue arose among the students, and as the student representative, Shen Zekai had to handle it personally. He had no choice but to reschedule with Meng Xuexiao, they agreed to meet directly at the treatment room.

Meng Xuexiao checked the time. If he left now and walked for about ten minutes, he’d arrive at the treatment room just in time… right?

It would’ve been more polite to arrive early, but this time, he didn’t dare take any chances. Even though they had pushed the meeting from morning to noon, and even if Wu Zian had planned to lie in wait, he would’ve given up by now, still, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t quite feel at ease.

After all, the way Wu Zian had looked at them last night was like a starving lion sinking its teeth into a slab of meat, there was no way he’d let go easily.

What if… Wu Zian had been waiting there the whole time?

But any further delay would mean being late. Meng Xuexiao gathered his things, mentally reviewed the stealth techniques he’d learned from combat class, and, with full alertness, began inching toward the treatment room. He crouched low, keeping his body hidden in the shadows, walking on the balls of his feet, each step so light it didn’t even rustle the fallen leaves beneath him.

He could already make out the outline of the treatment room’s front door. The treatment room was quiet today, the front doors left wide open, with a slant of sunlight spilling in. Warm and serene, exuding an unusually peaceful atmosphere.

There was no sign of Wu Zian. Meng Xuexiao let out a breath of relief, unconsciously soothed by the tranquility around him, as if every nerve in his body finally relaxed. He instinctively straightened up, his steps growing lighter. The door grew closer and closer. As he neared it, he instinctively took a larger stride, only to suddenly twist his foot and slam to a halt, like a poor bicycle forced to a screeching stop by an oncoming truck.

A bench had been placed crosswise just inside the doorway of the treatment room, creating a barricade so imposing it felt like a lone soldier guarding a narrow pass, impossible to pass through.

Sitting atop the bench was a young man with one leg crossed over the other. The youth was clearly losing patience. The cigarette clenched between his teeth bore deep, angry bite marks. The entire thing looked like the drained husk of a strangled corpse. His gaze was locked onto the clock on the wall.

Unfortunately, the murderous glare he cast couldn’t stop time, the minute and hour hands continued ticking forward with faint “click-click” sounds, each tick seemingly pounding on the last of his restraint.

A persistent gloom clouded the young man’s face. Students who came in to collect medicine didn’t dare go near him, they all kept their distance, making the area around him a hollow dead zone. The atmosphere in the treatment room felt suffocating.

Wu Zian was actually waiting for him in there!

So close—he’d almost walked right in! If he’d been a second slower, the guy probably would’ve thrown a punch already.

Meng Xuexiao immediately retracted his foot and took a few steps back, but… it was already a bit too late.

As an S-rank, Wu Zian’s senses were far sharper than his. The moment Meng Xuexiao moved, Wu Zian’s keen gaze locked in on his position and then came the rapid sound of approaching footsteps.

Crap. What now?

There weren’t many places to hide around the treatment room. Even if he used the concealment techniques he’d learned in the practical combat course, he doubted they’d help much. After all… this was Wu Zian.

Just then, a low male voice whispered by his ear, “Relax.”

The sudden warmth brushing against his ear made Meng Xuexiao shiver. He instinctively turned his head to look, but the stranger’s arm had already wrapped around his neck without him realizing. The grip wasn’t tight, but precise—strong enough to keep him still.

A moment later, the man’s arm shifted, and a warm palm covered Meng Xuexiao’s lips. “Come with me,” he murmured.

“Mmph…!”

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t move, couldn’t speak—all he could do was roll his eyes around, trying to get a look at the man next to him.

Due to the angle, he couldn’t see the man’s face, but he seemed like a very refined person.

The man wore gloves, leather, by the feel of it, smooth and close-fitting against Meng Xuexiao’s cheek. And faintly, there was a lingering scent of roses. This fragrance, it was far too heady, too enchanting, exactly the kind that was banned at the Federal Military Academy. The school claimed it could make people lose themselves in reverie.

Could this person be, a suspicious infiltrator who had snuck into the academy?!

The Federal Military Academy’s security was among the strictest. If someone could sneak in under those conditions…

How terrifyingly powerful must they be?! He needed to get help, fast!

In that moment, even the thought of Wu Zian inside the treatment room no longer seemed so scary. Meng Xuexiao struggled again, racking his brain for any way to make a sound.

Just a little sound. If he could make any noise, Wu Zian, with his S-rank sensitivity, would definitely hear it…!

But he still couldn’t move.

Just as he barely parted his lips, the man’s hand shifted. His gloved thumb and forefinger pinched Meng Xuexiao’s lips shut, pressing them together so tightly it felt like his mouth was sealed into a duckbill, all with an almost playfully cruel precision. His last hope of calling for help was shattered. In near despair, Meng Xuexiao could only feel himself being effortlessly led away, his body steered around a corner, and through a hidden side door of the treatment room.

Almost the next second, Wu Zian appeared at the exact spot where Meng Xuexiao had been standing moments ago. The young man’s face was frosty cold as he swept his gaze sharply over every possible hiding spot in seconds, then his expression darkened even more.

He returned to where he had been sitting earlier, only to find the bench overturned. One leg of it had smacked the hard ceramic tile so hard it left a chip in the floor. He had stood up too fast just now, and the whole bench had gone flying.

He lowered his eyes and stared at the gap in the door for a moment, “He actually didn’t show up? How did I never notice before? Shen Zekai is actually such a coward?”

“Really… so boring.”

“Wu-ge!” Li Hao appeared right on time at the door of the infirmary, obsequiously carrying a bag, not his own, but Wu Zian’s. “Are we still going to class this afternoon?”

He always aimed to stay in sync with Wu Zian. If Wu Zian skipped class, so would he.

“Tsk.” Wu Zian kicked the bench aside with one foot, “Those two losers are no fun. Wasted a whole morning, no time to play house with them.”

“Wu-ge, you’re brilliant!” Li Hao immediately echoed in agreement.

But there was something he didn’t say out loud.

Someone like Shen Zekai, the model student with stellar performance in ethics, academics, sports, arts, and labor, had always looked down on them. This time, he must’ve deliberately stood them up!

That guy was probably cuddling that pretty boy from last time, laughing at how foolishly they waited!

How shameless could he be! Even if Wu-ge couldn’t be bothered to stoop to his level, Li Hao couldn’t just swallow this!

However….

Li Hao wasn’t stupid. His boss Wu-ge and Shen Zekai were evenly matched at best, but he himself was clearly no match for Shen Zekai. Picking a direct fight would be like throwing an egg at a rock, it would only make Shen Zekai look even better!

So what if… he started with that little boyfriend of his?

Li Hao recalled Meng Xuexiao’s face in his mind.

Because there was a teaching building between them, he couldn’t quite see what the other person looked like, but even at night, that fair skin practically glowed, his features surely wouldn’t be bad either.

Tsk, what a shame…

Too bad he was that bastard Shen Zekai’s boyfriend.

Li Hao followed behind Wu Zian, getting farther and farther away, “They’re gone now.”

In the room closest to the side door of the infirmary, the slightly teasing tone drifted into Meng Xuexiao’s ears. The gloved hand gave his lower lip one final teasing tug before finally letting go, now only loosely resting around the boy’s waist.

But Meng Xuexiao didn’t feel any more at ease because of the relaxed gesture. He had been so tense just moments ago that he hadn’t even paid attention to what Wu Zian and Li Hao were saying. He stood stiff like a statue.

The other man, however, spoke again with the ease of someone who acted overly familiar. He cupped Meng Xuexiao’s face and examined it closely, “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you just now? That shouldn’t have happened, right?”

His gaze lingered briefly on Meng Xuexiao’s lips. The boy’s lips were still marked from being pinched earlier, now bearing a faint red imprint.

A long, thin red mark stretched from the upper to the lower lip, like a smudge drawn on with dark lipstick.

The leather-gloved fingers brushed against the red mark, “Want me to take a closer look?”

“N-no need.”

Meng Xuexiao met the man’s eyes directly. They seemed black at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they leaned more toward a dark red. A color like blood that was nearly dried, about to settle.

He held his breath and shuffled slightly to the side. When he realized the other man didn’t stop him, he quickly took a large step away, not stopping until there was a good seven or eight meters between them.

The man remained standing where he was, watching him. Surprisingly… he seemed harmless?

Meng Xuexiao had initially assumed the man was an intruder, but now that he’d stepped back and gotten a clearer look, he realized the man was dressed in a plain white lab coat, the standard uniform of the infirmary. His build was slim, not the muscular, intimidating type.

To anyone else, this man wouldn’t seem like a predator from the jungle, but rather some elegant bird species. If there was anything strange about him, it was probably just his face, mainly because it was so ordinary, so generic. That paired with his blood-moon-colored eyes… created a slightly dissonant impression.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

Meng Xuexiao had never been one to judge others based on their looks.

Maybe this guy was just a medical staff member who happened to come back…?

Federal military cadets weren’t allowed to wear perfume, that was true, but as far as he knew, there weren’t any explicit rules forbidding the infirmary staff from doing so. Besides, this guy seemed pretty familiar with the infirmary. At the very least, Meng Xuexiao hadn’t even known about the side door he just came through.

“You…”

Although all signs pointed to this person being harmless, Meng Xuexiao still kept a degree of vigilance.

His hand quietly reached behind his back, if this man made any suspicious moves, he could use his communicator to call for help.

But before Meng Xuexiao could say anything, the other man spoke first.

“What a rare guest. I haven’t seen you in the infirmary for a long time, especially… when Dr. Chu isn’t around.”

This man knew about Chu Sinian and even knew that he and Chu Sinian had met before!

After that incident, Meng Xuexiao wasn’t sure what Chu Sinian had said to others, but the medical staff who had been present at the time all ended up thinking that he had a close relationship with Chu Sinian. From a certain perspective, this misunderstanding hadn’t done Meng Xuexiao any harm, so he never clarified it.

And yet, there hadn’t even been that many medical staff present back then. So, does that mean this person was one of them?

Meng Xuexiao held onto his communicator without saying a word.

“I apologize. My earlier behavior might’ve been a bit excessive. It’s just that Wu Zian isn’t an easy person to deal with. Even the discipline director doesn’t dare rein him in, and you looked like you’d gotten into trouble with him,” the man explained as he led Meng Xuexiao through several rooms.

He took out a carton of freshly squeezed apple juice from the fridge, rinsed a glass, and poured some for Meng Xuexiao, “Were you being harassed by him? He actually came here to block you. What a pity Dr. Chu isn’t around lately.”

Everything the man did was so smooth and practiced, it felt like he’d worked there for years.

Meng Xuexiao was silent for a moment before accepting the juice. His eyes remained fixed on the line where the liquid met the glass, “Sorry, I was too anxious just now. Thank you for helping me. May I ask how I should address you?”

The man smiled, “You can call me Dr. Lu.”

He tilted his chin slightly, gesturing toward a workstation across the room. It was immaculately tidy, with a half-read book on the desk.

Meng Xuexiao’s gaze settled on the ID badge placed farther back on the desk. It had a photo and a name, both matching the man in front of him exactly. He let out a sigh of relief, took a sip of the apple juice, and slipped the communicator back into his pocket.

Dr. Lu sat with him for a while, chatting casually about everyday matters in the infirmary. Just as they were getting into the conversation, someone else walked in, rubbing his brow, clearly just done dealing with a headache of a situation.

“Shen Zekai, over here!” Meng Xuexiao immediately stood up and gave Dr. Lu a quick nod. “Sorry, my friend’s here. I was waiting for him earlier.”

“Got it, I understand.” Dr. Lu gave him a playful wink and said, “Be careful when you go out next time. Wu Zian definitely won’t let this go.”

“Thank you so much!” Meng Xuexiao gave a deep bow, secretly chuckling at how paranoid and overly cautious he’d been.

Someone like this, how could he possibly be suspicious?

Clearly, he’d just encountered too many villains lately, and it had made him a bit neurotic.

Dr. Lu remained quietly seated until Meng Xuexiao and Shen Zekai had completely disappeared from sight. Then, he stood up and walked directly toward Chu Sinian’s office.

The door had a lock, but that was no obstacle for Dr. Lu. He placed his hand near the lock and performed a quick operation. With a crisp “click”, the door swung open, revealing the office interior.

He stepped inside but halted right at the threshold. Looking at the seemingly empty space before him, the corners of his lips curled up.

“Truly worthy of someone who monopolized the entire Federation’s pharmaceutical industry, huh?”

He snapped his fingers lightly, and a pitch-black feather tapped the air in front of him. Instantly, a transparent barrier revealed itself.

“Hiss… that was close. There’s such high voltage on this thing? If I had walked right in, I’d be charcoal by now. Chu Sinian is so devious. It’s one thing to use the Federation Military Academy’s security measures to guard something, but all these traps?”

He pulled out his communicator and snapped a photo of the barrier, politely messaging: [Hello, boss. Things are a bit tricky right now. With my skills… it’s going to be tough.]

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

[Double the payment! I must have the sample data of that drug!]

Dr. Lu replied with exaggerated concern: [No can do, boss. I’m taking huge risks just being here. If Chu Sinian finds out, I’ll be the one getting hunted. You know, I’ve got elders to support, kids to raise, no gear, no backing…]

[What do you want then?]

Dr. Lu didn’t hesitate and named his price cleanly: [Ten times the original fee.]

[…..]

[Deal.]

Dr. Lu beamed with joy: [Got it, mission will be completed.]

With a nimble flick of his fingers, the pitch-black feather in Doctor Lu’s hand acted like a laser blade, carving a clear groove into the transparent barrier. He began to apply pressure, gradually cutting out a circular opening in the surface. He leapt through it gracefully, glancing at his stopwatch and letting out a whistle.

“Chu Sinian probably already got the alert. I’ve got thirty seconds, this has to work.”

Landing lightly next to Chu Sinian’s cabinet, he used the same technique to disable the protective barriers around the cabinet and the password-locked safe. From within, he retrieved a thick stack of handwritten documents.

“Tsk. For someone as cautious as Chu Sinian, of course he wouldn’t store anything on a complex network. Handwritten documents, how old-school.”

Dr. Lu carefully sealed the manuscript in a file-safe pouch, then pulled out his phone and sent a message: [Mission complete. Please settle the final payment within three days. Late payments accrue 5% interest. —Raven]

Even as he typed, his movements didn’t slow. He swiftly tore off the disguise on his face, revealing charming peach-blossom eyes and a single tear mole at the corner, then slipped out through the window with practiced ease.

At the exact moment he exited Chu Sinian’s office, a well-trained security team stormed in.

The lead person quickly locked onto the computer that Dr. Lu—or rather, Raven—hadn’t had time to shut down. Pulling out a walkie-talkie-like device, he commanded, “Target has escaped. Initiate interception protocol immediately!”