Chapter 9: Prince Xing in Confusion 2
This is a world of ice and snow.
Even though I had imagined it countless times in my mind before coming here, when I actually stood on the land of Antarctica, I was still shocked by the beauty before my eyes.
The sky was clean as if it had been washed by water, with white clouds floating leisurely on the blue sky. In the blue sea that almost blended with the sky, there was an iceberg every one or two kilometers. They were of different sizes and reflected colorful light under the sunlight.
In the distance, a group of plump white penguins waddled over the ice, their black wings flapping loudly. Behind them, a group of little penguins played by themselves without noticing us.
"Jenny, isn't she beautiful? Hahaha!"
The senior student Qianqian was wrapped in a thick down jacket, wearing a furry hat and scarf, with only a pair of shiny black eyes showing. She walked crookedly to my side, took my hand and shook it excitedly.
"Let me tell you something. Last time we were chased by penguins and ran around everywhere, we accidentally found a very beautiful place over there. Can I take you to see it?"
After saying that, she took me away.
"I'm going too! I'm going too!"
Su Enxue, who was fighting with the gloves, hurried over when she heard it. Lucifer and Tian Yifeng, who had been following them, of course would not let them move freely, so soon, our group of six held hands and ran in the direction pointed forward.
"Hahaha! This is so much fun! Norn, you have to bring us here to play more often in the future!"
After arriving at the destination, Senior Qianqian shook off Tian Yifeng's hand and started skating on the ice with Enxue. Soon Lucifer and Tian Yifeng also joined in, and cheerful laughter floated over the silent Antarctic.
However, despite such beautiful scenery and such a rare opportunity, I was in no mood to have fun with them.
The scene of meeting Yao Shanshan in the morning kept flashing back and forth in my mind, causing me to be absent-minded in everything I did. I even stuffed a chili into my mouth during lunch, which caused my senior classmate Qianqian to laugh at me for a long time.
"Jenny, what's wrong with you? Isn't it fun here?"
A worried voice pulled me out of my panic. I turned around and saw Norn looking at me with a worried look on his face.
He was wearing a black down jacket today. The bulky style could not hide his good figure, but instead made the fair skin on his face look even more crystal clear. Especially when looking at him from such a close distance, one could not help but sigh at the Creator's love for him.
"No...it was quite fun." I shook my head, not knowing how to express the uneasiness in my heart.
"No!" Norn didn't seem to believe my perfunctory words at all. He stretched out his hands to hold my shoulders and looked at me worriedly. "You haven't smiled since this morning."
I……
I forced a smile, but it soon couldn't be maintained because it suddenly occurred to me that if what I was worried about really happened, the first person to be affected would not be me, but this alien in front of me who knew nothing.
"Norne."
I took a deep breath and was about to tell her about the shutter sound I heard when I opened the remote door in the morning, but senior sister Qianqian on the other side couldn't wait any longer. A pair of cold hands suddenly covered my ears from behind, making me shiver.
"Haha! Isn't it fun? Jenny, why are you standing here talking to Norn? Come and play with us. It's fun!"
I was caught off guard and was pulled far away by Senior Qianqian. When I finally had the chance to look back, I found that Norn had also been pulled by Lucifer to join in.
Forget it, let’s leave it like this for now. If I tell you this now, no one will be in the mood to play anymore.
I sighed in my heart, cheered myself up and started playing with everyone.
It was not until the evening when the sky was filled with sunset glow that our group of people returned to the Flowing Castle through Norn's portal. Everyone was too tired to speak. Lucifer even fell on the sofa as soon as he came in and refused to get up.
Senior sister Qianqian had been playing for a long time and kept complaining about being thirsty. Tian Yifeng ran to pour her some water as soon as he stood up.
Norn came over and touched my hair: "Come on, I'll take you home first, have a good sleep, and we'll talk tomorrow if there's anything."
I really didn't have the strength left, so I nodded and let Norn half-drag me back home.
However, a long time later, I felt regretful whenever I thought about that night. If I had discovered Yao Shanshan's conspiracy earlier, what happened later would not have happened.
After the weekend, adequate sleep brought me back to full energy. Without waiting for Norn to pick me up, I made myself breakfast early and took the bus to school.
However, before I even reached the classroom, I was shocked by a piece of news that everyone around me was talking about.
"Huh? The same notice appeared in your classroom as well! How could someone be so bored as to make up such a lie to slander the study group?"
"That's right. It must have been done by someone who was jealous of the study group. How dare he call our senior Norn a monster? If I find out who it is, I will definitely spit in his face, humph!"
"The notice not only mentioned Senior Norn, but also implicated the entire study group, saying that they were actually liars who deceived our feelings."
"There should be a limit to joking. Those who spread rumors are really going too far!"
…
Everyone was still speaking up for the study group, but I was already cold all over. I didn't even bother to listen to what everyone was saying and I just ran straight to the classroom.
When I rushed to the classroom door, the first thing that caught my eye was a conspicuous piece of paper pasted on the wall at the door. Many classmates were pointing and talking about the paper.
I squeezed through the crowd with difficulty. On the white paper were two lines of eye-catching words written in large fonts:
Norn from the study group is a total monster!
There is no normal person in Liuguang Castle!
The signature is——
A man who holds the truth.
"What? How dare he write such baseless words in a notice? Is this person crazy?"
"He's got the truth. Does he think he's Sherlock Holmes? How boring!"
"Let's go! Don't waste time here, quickly take this broken thing off, the teacher will be here soon!"
"Eh? Jenny, you're here? If you have time, ask your senior Norn who he offended. How could someone write something like this? It's ridiculous!"
…
Finally, someone in the crowd noticed me. Ever since Yao Shanshan was expelled from the Student Union and Noen and I made our relationship public at school, my classmates have become more and more friendly towards me. They even came over to joke with me when encountering such things.
I curled the corners of my mouth and walked into the classroom with my head down.
My intuition tells me that all this was premeditated and it was definitely not just an ordinary joke. I can even be sure who is behind it.
What worries me even more is that this unconvincing notice may just be the beginning, and I don’t know what other measures are waiting for us next.
I finally made it to noon when school was over. I didn't even eat, and hurriedly avoided the crowd and ran to Liuguang Castle, while notifying everyone by text message.
"What? You said Yao Shanshan saw Norn use the Anywhere Door twice?"
I had just sat in the living room of Flowing Light Castle for less than two minutes when Norn, panting, appeared in front of me with a large group of people.
I didn't even have the energy to ask him how he managed to gather so many people in such a short time. I quickly expressed my suspicions about Yao Shanshan, including the first two times we used the magic door not far from her, and especially the last time, there seemed to be the sound of a shutter.
As soon as I finished speaking, Tian Yifeng, who was usually calm, suddenly stood up from the sofa. His face was as gloomy as the sky before rain, and he stared at me without blinking.
Under his powerful aura, I shuddered involuntarily, and nodded tremblingly after a long while: "Yes...ah...no, I don't know if she saw it, but she was nearby both times, I..."
"No need to say more!" Tian Yifeng waved his hand to interrupt me, then turned around and glared at Nuo En, "Why are you so careless?"
"I..." Norn didn't seem to have expected things to turn out like this. He wanted to say something, but suddenly stopped, with an irritated look on his face. "I've been very careful, who knew she would peek? It took less than two seconds to open the door, she shouldn't..."
"Of course not?" Lucifer jumped up in anger, his eyes wide open, his chest heaving, "I was wondering why there were notices like that everywhere today, it turns out that Yao Shanshan is behind this, I'm going to beat her to a pulp!"
After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to rush out of Liuguang Castle, but fortunately he was stopped in time by Senior Sister Enxue.
"Behave yourself!" Senior Sister Enxue glared at him fiercely, then turned to ask me, "Jenny, are you sure about Yao Shanshan's matter?"
"In fact, it happened more than just these two times." I recalled carefully before adding, "There was also that time when Nuoen and I went to the snack street to eat. We were talking about Nuoen's identity when Yao Shanshan suddenly jumped out from the side. I suspect she might have heard something at that time, so she kept targeting us afterwards."
"I heard Jenny mention this before." Senior sister Qianqian, who had been sitting next to Tian Yifeng, looked at me apologetically, "At that time, I said it was not a big deal and did not pay enough attention to it."
"What now? What should we do now?"
I nervously stood up from the sofa, my whole body tense, and glanced at everyone helplessly, and finally my eyes fixed on Norn beside me.
It was clear that Yao Shanshan had doubted Norn's identity. Today's announcement might just be the beginning. She might take more drastic actions. I have seen Yao Shanshan's madness many times.
I looked at Norn worriedly, his face looked very ugly, but when I looked over, he still managed a reassuring smile and held my hand tightly.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, he was interrupted by Tian Yifeng who had calmed down.
"If Yao Shanshan really knows something, she will definitely not stop there." Tian Yifeng sat there, analyzing calmly, "I didn't pay attention to her before, but according to Jenny, she has always been dissatisfied with the study group, so this time, she may not only target Nuo En, but may involve all members of our study group. No one can escape!"
Huh? Is it that serious?
Tian Yifeng’s words made me fall into extreme panic, and everyone’s face showed a look of worry.
"It would be nice if Hana Chiba, who can understand the language of flowers and plants, was at home."
Senior Mae-mae couldn't help but let out a sigh, her pretty face full of worry.
"Yeah!" Senior Sister Enxue also sighed.
Lucifer, who was unwilling to accept the result, tried to express his opinion, but was quickly suppressed by Senior Sister Enxue.
The scene suddenly fell silent, as if everyone was thinking of a solution.
In this almost suffocating silence, the hand holding me suddenly loosened, and a tall figure stood up.
"This incident was caused by me. I will find a way to resolve it. I will never allow anyone to be hurt because of my mistake!"
The words of taking the initiative to take responsibility came out of Norn's mouth and echoed in the empty living room.
I was startled and stood up quickly, but I couldn't suppress my inner panic and just held Norn's hand tightly.
Does Noen really have a way to deal with Yao Shanshan, who is as sticky as taffy?
"How can we let you solve it by yourself?" Xiang Qianqian was the first to jump up. She pouted in dissatisfaction, "Norn, you have to trust us!"
"That's right! Norn, don't try to be brave by yourself!"
Su Enxue stood up immediately and shook her head disapprovingly.
"Don't you think of us as brothers?"
This time Lucifer finally had the chance to speak. He patted his chest, as if he was very angry at being underestimated.
"But..." Norn seemed to want to argue.
"There's nothing to say!" The last person to stand up was Tian Yifeng. He reached out and patted Norn's shoulder, his eyes full of determination. "The study group is a whole. No one can break it up. No matter who gets into trouble, everyone will face it together. Don't you think so, Norn?"
"I..." Norn only uttered one word and couldn't say any more. From my angle, it seemed that there was sparkling liquid gathering in his eyes, just like stars falling into his eyes.
"That's right! We can face it together. There is no difficulty that cannot be overcome. It's just Yao Shanshan!" She jumped forward and put her hand on mine, "Count me in!"
"And I!"
"And I!"
Su Enxue and Lucifer also rushed over.
“And us!”
The six pairs of hands were tightly clasped together, like an inseparable whole.
My heart was filled with excitement as never before. For the first time, I felt that the study group was a big family, and I was a member of it!
Norn and I looked at each other, and we both saw emotion and faith in each other's eyes.
The study group's action against Yao Shanshan has officially begun!
