Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 26

The atmosphere inside the treatment room seemed to have subtly changed. Although the sound of the office door opening and closing was distant, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

But thinking back to his earlier suspicion of Dr. Lu, he wondered if he was just being overly sensitive. After all, even in this high-risk, book-world setting, not everyone could possibly be a villain, right?

Shen Zekai noticed Meng Xuexiao glancing toward the office door, “…Did something happen before I arrived?” he asked.

His heart sank. Why did Meng Xuexiao always seem to run into trouble? And why… did it always happen when he wasn’t around?

Maybe… he should just stay close to the person in front of him at all times.

“No, no, no, it’s just my imagination,” Meng Xuexiao quickly shook his head. He even felt that he was overthinking. How could he say something like that and waste Shen Zekai’s time?

As the student representative, Shen Zekai was already extremely busy. If he managed to make time to meet him here at the treatment center, it must be for something urgent.

However, Shen Zekai didn’t let the topic go as easily as Meng Xuexiao thought he would. He remembered how Meng Xuexiao had kept quiet when Wu Zian harassed him before. Even though he had told the younger boy to tell him if something happened, he knew that Meng Xuexiao was naturally someone who didn’t like troubling others. Expecting him to suddenly change wasn’t realistic.

So, instead, Shen Zekai simply took the lead and pulled Meng Xuexiao in the direction he had just glanced, “But I feel like something might’ve happened over there. Come with me to check it out.”

Meng Xuexiao, as expected, froze for a moment, “You felt it too…?”

Almost the moment the young man spoke, a flash of clarity crossed Shen Zekai’s eyes.

Only then did Meng Xuexiao realize—Shen Zekai had just been testing him!

The troublesome part was that he had actually answered on instinct! Meng Xuexiao wished he could physically cover his own mouth.

“Was it this direction?” Shen Zekai led Meng Xuexiao back a little, but when they reached a fork in the hallway, he had to confirm the path with him.

“Uh, don’t take it so seriously!” Meng Xuexiao grew a bit flustered. He really thought Shen Zekai needed to fix this overly earnest and eager-to-help trait of his. How could he just accept whatever someone said at face value and act on it so impulsively?

Besides, there might not even be anything unusual over there! Most likely, it’d just be a wasted trip.

But Shen Zekai clearly had no intention of giving up, “Since you have a feeling about it, let’s check it out.”

He looked at Meng Xuexiao intently, his gaze gentle and calm.

Meng Xuexiao could tell that Shen Zekai wasn’t acting on a whim, he had considered it.

“Besides,” Shen Zekai added, “if something really did happen over there, as the student representative, I have a duty to look into it. I can’t allow any students to be put in danger.”

Quite naturally, Shen Zekai attributed the whole matter to his duties as student representative. Going to check out the situation now seemed like a necessary and important responsibility.

This way, Meng Xuexiao wouldn’t feel like he was troubling him, right?

“So, take me there, the place that made you feel uneasy.”

Shen Zekai was truly sincere. Very, very sincere. And now, it even involved the safety of the school and its students, leaving Meng Xuexiao with no grounds to refuse.

“Follow me,” he said.

Meng Xuexiao’s memory was unexpectedly sharp. Even though some time had passed and the sound source had been fairly far from them, he still led Shen Zekai right to the spot with remarkable precision.

And almost without taking a single wrong turn.

While the treatment wing wasn’t large in terms of area within the Federal Military Academy, its internal layout had been designed by a professional architect. It was as intricate as a beehive, specifically built to accommodate more people.

Even some upperclassmen under Shen Zekai’s charge would have to circle around a few times when coming to the treatment wing.

Shen Zekai couldn’t help but glance sideways at the shorter figure beside him.

Should he say, it’s just what you’d expect from someone who scored first place on the theory exam?

Meng Xuexiao didn’t notice Shen Zekai’s gaze. Or rather, the moment he saw the office just a few steps ahead, his whole body froze.

The reason was simple, anyone with eyes could clearly see the nameplate next to the office door. Three characters—Chu Sinian.

Why did all the strange things always seem to revolve around the same few people?!

If he had known earlier… no matter what strange feeling he had, he definitely wouldn’t have come!

Shen Zekai also saw Chu Sinian’s name, frowned, and stepped ahead to block Meng Xuexiao behind him. In a low voice, he said, “Step back, I’ll go first.”

Meng Xuexiao quickly grabbed his sleeve, trying to stop him. Shen Zekai didn’t know that this world was actually just a book, let alone that Chu Sinian was one of the most ruthless villains in it.

Maybe Chu Sinian, as a pure-blooded human, wasn’t the most powerful fighter among the villains, but don’t forget, he was a capitalist, one who monopolized the entire pharmaceutical industry and could go head-to-head with the Federation’s military. Chu Sinian had trained a private force loyal only to him. Every one of them was no weaker than S-rank, and all were dangerously formidable.

But Meng Xuexiao was still a step too late. With a “click” the door opened inward.

What met their eyes was a scene of complete peace and order. The desk and cabinets were all perfectly in place, with no sign of disturbance. It was clearly the kind of scene where the office owner had simply left on a trip and not yet returned.

Meng Xuexiao slowly let go of Shen Zekai’s sleeve.

So… nothing had happened after all?

Was his intuition really just off this time?

The young man tried to take a step forward but was pulled back by Shen Zekai.

Meng Xuexiao glanced at him in surprise, only to see that Shen Zekai, who had just been about to open the door directly, now stood rigidly tense, clearly in a combat-ready stance.

“Don’t go in. Something’s wrong…”

There was definitely, definitely, something wrong!

What exactly it was, Shen Zekai couldn’t pinpoint. But as Meng Xuexiao moved toward that direction, the S-rank genes within Shen Zekai’s body screamed wildly in warning, telling him: Danger. Do not get any closer!

Damn it! He was still too weak, even now, he couldn’t even sense where the danger was coming from!

Suddenly, Shen Zekai remembered a conversation he’d had with his father more than a decade ago. At the time, he had just entered the Federal Military Academy as the top scorer in the entrance exam, proudly bringing his report card to show off.

His father had merely glanced at the report card and then shook his head, saying, “You’re still too young.”

Back then, Shen Zekai had always felt somewhat unconvinced by those words, thinking that Colonel Shen was simply holding him to impossibly high standards. But at this moment, a flood of helplessness surged through his heart like a dam breaking.

It was time to double his training regimen.

And now…

“We need to get out of here, now.” Shen Zekai didn’t leave room for discussion as he urged Meng Xuexiao forward, like a loyal sheepdog herding a lamb. After a moment, he lowered his voice and reminded the boy, “Don’t tell anyone we were ever here.”

Meng Xuexiao immediately understood, “…You mean to say, something really did happen here? But… isn’t the Alliance Military Academy supposed to have the most secure defense system? How could this be…?”

That was one of the reasons he’d convinced himself earlier that everything was normal. Shen Zekai only gave a bitter smile, and even Meng Xuexiao’s confused glance seemed to taste faintly of that bitterness.

Meng Xuexiao must truly believe in the Alliance Military Academy, so much so that he viewed it as a kind of sanctuary. This young man must have suffered a lot in the past. Otherwise, he wouldn’t place all his hopes here.

Shen Zekai almost couldn’t bring himself to shatter that pure hope.

After all, was there truly any shelter in this world that was entirely airtight? Especially when the entire Federation was merely one power among many in this galaxy, danger lurked everywhere.

Still, when danger did come, he would give everything to protect Meng Xuexiao, just as he had promised.

But for now, he needed to shift Meng Xuexiao’s focus, “Let’s handle the reason we came here first. After all, I was the one who asked you to meet me in the infirmary.”

It was a rather clumsy way to change the topic…

But since Shen Zekai put it that way, Meng Xuexiao figured there must be a reason behind it. He thought back to the question he’d asked earlier, and to the meaning hidden behind Shen Zekai’s bitter smile. But he chose not to dig further. After all… curiosity kills the cat.

So he forced a smile, “I’m curious too. What’s this all about?”

Whether by coincidence or intention, Shen Zekai chose a room far away from Chu Sinian’s office. It was a multi-bed hospital room, and the moment Meng Xuexiao stepped in, he was hit by an unusually strong smell of disinfectant.

Inside, several people lay sprawled on the beds, many wrapped like mummies, a few even hooked up to advanced respirators. These people had been lying flat, looking half-dead, but the instant they saw Shen Zekai enter, it was as if some switch had been flipped. Regardless of how injured they were, they immediately sat upright in bed.

With their knees bent and waists bowed deeply, they knocked their heads against the bed repeatedly, begging, “Please spare us, we’re truly sorry! We absolutely won’t make the same mistake again!”

Meng Xuexiao froze on the spot.

He hadn’t expected that this was the reason Shen Zekai had brought him here, to witness this scene. But very quickly, he realized the injuries looked very familiar.

Weren’t these the same guys who’d posted the recording in the group chat and ended up getting beaten up badly by Wu Zian?

What on earth was going on…?

Meng Xuexiao looked at Shen Zekai with questioning eyes.

Shen Zekai scratched his head a little awkwardly, “Because of the recording they shared in the group, which had a really negative impact, I gave them each a major demerit. If they do it again, they’ll be expelled.”

“But I felt that wasn’t enough. After all, the person they hurt was you. Even though they’ve been penalized, they should still apologize to you in person.”

This was originally a “gift” Shen Zekai had prepared for Meng Xuexiao, a way to help him vent his anger. He hadn’t expected to run into the incident at Chu Sinian’s office, which left both him and Meng Xuexiao feeling uneasy and distracted.

Now, the effectiveness of this “gift” had clearly been diminished.

Immediately, Shen Zekai’s gaze toward those few people darkened. The usually tolerant and generous student representative, in this moment, actually harbored a faint intention of misdirecting his frustration.

Meng Xuexiao opened his mouth, just about to say something, when a furious shout cut him off.

“Shen Zekai, you shameless bastard, you dare show your face here?!”

The voice belonged to Li Hao, who had already charged up to the ward’s entrance.

Li Hao had originally gone to class with Wu Zian, but halfway through, the thought of Wu Ge having waited the whole morning in vain left him fuming. So he slipped back to the infirmary, hoping to catch the culprit—who, to his surprise, was really there!

“You don’t show up in the morning, and now you’re here? Don’t tell me you’re really here to visit patients? When a tiger stays quiet, do you think the Wu Ge Support Squad are just sickly cats?!”

Li Hao swept a scornful glance over the group still kneeling beside their beds, clearly lumping them together with Shen Zekai and Meng Xuexiao.

He leaned down, to get a closer look at the group’s faces, and in that moment, his expression stiffened.

Weren’t these the very same guys who got beaten up by Wu Ge just days ago?!

Having witnessed the entire beating, Li Hao still remembered the reason behind it. These people had stirred up trouble in the group chat with an audio recording, disturbing Wu Ge’s rest.

The recording seemed to contain a rumor about Brother Wu, something about a student named Meng Xuexiao fiercely giving Brother Wu a taste of his own medicine.

Wait a minute, Meng Xuexiao…?!

He suddenly looked like he remembered something, eyes widening as he stared at the teenager standing next to Shen Zekai. That person, wasn’t that Meng Xuexiao?!

It had been too late the night before last, and the sky was dark. Meng Xuexiao had been upstairs. Li Hao hadn’t recognized him right away!

Good grief, good grief!

Li Hao almost laughed out of sheer anger.

Now he understood everything!

That shameless bastard Shen Zekai had even gone so far as to use his own boyfriend. That rumor about Brother Wu getting humiliated, had to be his doing too, right?! Utterly depraved!

And now he was playing them all like monkeys again and again! Absolutely… unforgivable!

For Brother Wu! For their Brother Wu Support Club! If he didn’t crush Shen Zekai’s arrogance, he didn’t deserve the surname Li!

Li Hao slapped the table and declared on the spot, “Meng Xuexiao, I officially challenge you to a duel!”

Knowing he couldn’t win against Shen Zekai, Xue Wu had long had the idea of going after Meng Xuexiao instead. That guy looked timid and weak, and his physical rank was only F-grade, should be an easy target to deal with.

Anyway, going after Shen Zekai’s boyfriend wasn’t all that different from going after Shen Zekai himself, right?

And besides, this Meng Xuexiao had also spread rumors about Brother Wu together with Shen Zekai. The outcome he was facing now. Well, he totally deserved it!

In that instant, Shen Zekai’s expression changed.

Li Hao’s challenge wasn’t directed at him, it was directed at Meng Xuexiao…!

“Duel” was a word with serious weight at the Federal Military Academy.

Whenever a dispute arose between students over something, one party could initiate a duel to defend their honor and dignity. The challenged party was required to accept. And as long as it wasn’t life-threatening, even the instructors couldn’t easily interfere. Precisely because of this, many students had maliciously injured or disabled their opponents during duels, which had once been a major headache for the academy.

But since this tradition originated from the Federal Military itself, as a way to uphold soldiers’ honor and dignity, and also to prove one’s strength, it was something that everyone had to recognize as legitimate and even worthy of support.

If Li Hao had challenged Shen Zekai directly, Shen Zekai would have accepted without hesitation. But the problem was, the target he named was Meng Xuexiao. Meng Xuexiao was just a freshman, and an F-rank one at that, the danger level was far too high. On the dueling grounds, broken arms and legs were nothing out of the ordinary.

Shen Zekai immediately looked toward the hospital room door. If not many people had heard about this yet, he would block the news right away.

Unfortunately, the racket Li Hao had just made while cursing and shouting had been far too loud. By now, a whole circle of students had gathered outside the treatment room.

Shen Zekai immediately looked toward the door of the hospital room, if not many people knew about this yet, he could still shut the news down.

If no one knew, then the duel wouldn’t be valid, right?

But those students hadn’t seen a duel challenge in a long time. At this moment, they were all visibly excited, eyes shining with anticipation. Some even took pictures and uploaded them to the school forum. Within seconds, the post had gone viral on the forum and had already spread to various student and teacher group chats.

…

Senior Classroom

The instructor was currently explaining combat techniques out on the training field and was using a projector to show a demonstration of the correct movements. However, before the demonstration video could finish playing, he accidentally clicked open a group message.

What appeared on screen was a promotional poster. Meng Xuexiao’s close-up photo was prominently featured, and beneath it was a caption: “Still remember this freshman? Word is he recently gave Wu Zian a real run for his money! We don’t know for sure whether Wu Zian got humiliated, but what we do know is, he’s about to take part in a duel!”

“Bang.”

A two-meter-tall training apparatus toppled straight to the ground, letting out a heavy, dull crash.

Even the instructor was startled and instinctively frowned as he looked toward the source of the sound, only to see Wu Zian, who had just been sitting off to the side distractedly fiddling with his communicator, suddenly spring to his feet.