Futile Devices Scans

The two bros stood outside the classroom in disgrace, one on the left and one on the right, acting as door gods.

Tang Rui Cheng secretly glanced in Teacher Li’s direction and, after confirming that she was not paying attention to this side, became a little more serious. “So, Qin Shu, what exactly is going on with you? You’ve been off these past two days. Did something happen at home?”

Qin Shu did not speak. He concentrated all his attention on his notebook, his gaze not straying in the slightest, lest he accidentally see some fresh new ghost again.

His almost possessed-looking state appeared especially strange in other people’s eyes. At the very least, Tang Rui Cheng felt a little creeped out. He could not help poking Qin Shu’s arm. “Hey, hey, hey. Old Qin, what’s going on with you? Did you run into something evil?”

“…Mm.”

“What’s that ‘mm’ supposed to mean? You really ran into something evil?”

“Really. Don’t get involved. Keep your distance from me for now.” Qin Shu let out a soft breath and replied as calmly as he could, “If something happens, I won’t know how to save you.”

Tang Rui Cheng was stunned. His first reaction, however, was not suspicion, because Qin Shu had never been the type who liked to joke around. He rarely ran his mouth. Aside from occasionally making a bit of noise and joking a few times, this person was actually quite upright in everyday life.

“Then what will you do when you’re alone? Who can save you?” Tang Rui Cheng frowned, his tone growing even more serious.

Good question, but Qin Shu had no way to answer it either. He could only shrug and smile bitterly. “Make do, I guess. Anyway, no evil ghost has tried to kill me yet, so I’ll just endure it and pretend I didn’t see anything. It’s not like I can really go head-to-head with ghosts, right?”

“Holy shit, is it that scary… Old Qin, my mom knows a Daoist priest. I heard his fortune-telling is really accurate. How about we ask him to come take a look at you?”

For a moment, Qin Shu was genuinely tempted. But after hesitating briefly, he still lowered his voice and asked in return, “Are you sure he has real ability? What if I end up getting him killed?”

“You can barely protect yourself and you’re still worrying about other people?” Tang Rui Cheng clicked his tongue. “Not to nag, Old Qin, but you really need to change that old-good-guy personality of yours. Let me guess. You ran into something evil this time because you stuck your nose into someone else’s business again, didn’t you?”

“…Mm.” Thinking back on that strange attitude of the homeless old man, Qin Shu did feel a little regretful. Not regret that he had helped him, but regret that he had not believed him.

If he had known this would happen, Qin Shu should have bought all those “immortal-cultivation manuals” from him and taken them away. Maybe he really could have learned something from them, at least enough to find a way to protect himself.

“I knew it. I seriously can’t stand you!”

Tang Rui Cheng could not hold back and punched him, almost drawing Teacher Li’s attention. He hurriedly covered his mouth and continued in a low voice, “Then it’s settled, okay? After class later, I’ll call my mom and immediately invite that Daoist priest out from the mountains. He usually lives in the Longmu Temple in West Town, and it’s not easy for him to make a trip here. You have to meet him!”

“Okay, okay, okay. Thanks, bro.” Qin Shu steadily caught that punch and lowered his eyes with a soft laugh.

With someone beside him getting anxious and worked up, he himself actually felt less afraid.

He still had to focus his thoughts on his studies. The advanced class had long since finished the senior-year curriculum ahead of schedule, and recently, they had been drilling the hardest sets of real exam papers at high intensity. Every review lesson was quite important.

Qin Shu did not want to be too distracted.

His grades were pretty good, considered stable in the upper ranks of the whole school, but he had never participated in many competitions, so he could not fight for a guaranteed admission spot. If he wanted to stay in this lovely city and continue living here, he had to personally test into Jiangcheng University.

So after physics class ended, Qin Shu immediately dug out the math paper he had not finished last time, rushed back into the classroom at lightning speed, and grabbed Pei Zhao, who was just about to get water.

“Zhaozhao, explain this last question to me. I know how to do the first part, but how do you find the range of values for a? My brain hasn’t been working well these past two days. I’ll get water for you later.”

Pei Zhao’s movements paused slightly. He looked at Qin Shu thoughtfully, his gaze lingering for a long time on the dark circles under Qin Shu’s eyes.

Only after Qin Shu had been stared at until his scalp went numb did Pei Zhao stuff his thermos into Qin Shu’s hand and sit back down at an unhurried pace.

“I’ll write it out for you. It’s very simple,” Pei Zhao said softly, tearing off a piece of draft paper.

He only glanced once at the question on the paper before smoothly writing out the solution with his fountain pen, flowing like clouds and running water. There was no need for thought, nor the slightest correction. The draft paper was densely filled, but the handwriting was extremely clear and beautiful, each stroke especially sharp and elegant, carrying a unique quality all its own.

Qin Shu especially loved watching him write. He carefully pasted that sheet of draft paper into his notebook, then picked up his textbook and fanned it with several swishes so the ink would dry as soon as possible.

For some reason, he always felt that the words Pei Zhao wrote had a certain flavor to them, different from everyone else’s. Occasionally, they even seemed to reveal a bit of cold killing intent.

But Pei Zhao was not a fierce person at all. He quietly waited for Qin Shu to finish fussing with the thing in his hands, then tilted his head slightly and stared at Qin Shu with exceptional seriousness before asking, “Do you understand?”

“I do, I do! Zhaozhao, you’re so good to me. You’re basically the parent who gave me a second life.”

“I’m not.” Pei Zhao suddenly refuted him, frowning without quite letting it show.

Because his facial expressions were too stiff, it was almost equivalent to showing no expression at all.

Qin Shu found this dazed look of his especially interesting and could not help laughing. “Fine, then you’re not.”

“My water.”

“Give me a second. I’ll get it for you now.”

There were still three minutes until the next class. The water dispenser was at the end of the corridor, so there was more than enough time.

Qin Shu picked up his thermos and strode out of the classroom in a good mood, his long legs carrying him out in one swift rush.

Speaking of drinking more hot water, that was something Qin Shu had strongly demanded Pei Zhao do.

After all, Pei Zhao almost never exercised on normal days, his P.E. grades were very average, and his tall, thin figure looked somewhat frail. Even in the height of summer, he felt cool to the touch, and his lips were often bloodless… One look and anyone could tell he was in a weak state from insufficient qi and blood.

It was not easy to have such a compatible good deskmate. Qin Shu was deeply afraid that Pei Zhao might someday faint during P.E. class and injure his body. Thus, he had personally packed a large amount of dried goods such as red dates and dried tangerine peel, carried them to school, and given them to Pei Zhao, demanding that he drink a little every day, steeped in hot water.

At the time, Pei Zhao seemed rather speechless. He had looked Qin Shu up and down with a strange gaze several times, rarely revealing such a vivid and lively expression. But at least he did not refuse, and he obediently developed the habit of drinking water every day, which made Qin Shu feel extremely reassured.

He stood in front of the water dispenser, placed the thermos properly, smelled the comforting fragrance of dried tangerine peel inside the cup, and was just about to press the boiling-water button when a chill suddenly spread over his fingertip.

No, it was not merely as simple as a chill. Qin Shu had touched some kind of tangible object. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and explored it purely through touch.

It was like a piece of zombie meat that had been left in a freezer for ten years, incomparably hard and bone-chillingly cold. The instant he touched it, it stuck firmly to the skin of his index finger. Qin Shu tried to pull backward, but immediately gave up on that unrealistic idea.

If he tried to forcefully tug it away, the patch of skin on the pad of his finger might be torn off alive. That sharp, unreasonable, ice-pick-like pain of extreme cold had already climbed from his fingertip all the way upward, spreading madly toward his forearm.

Qin Shu did not make a sound. His finger remained where it was, and with his face tensed, he took a deep breath, catching a faint smell of corpse stench and fishiness. That bizarre smell, instead, made him steel his heart. He ruthlessly exerted force and continued pressing downward.

“Beep—”

It pressed!

The boiling-water button responded to his pressure. White mist from the high temperature suddenly spread from the faucet, and one-hundred-degree hot water immediately flowed down in a gurgling stream.

Qin Shu steeled his heart again and moved his nearly frozen finger beneath the faucet, letting the scalding hot water and this piece of “zombie meat” mutually slaughter each other.

Enduring that intense discomfort, he forced himself to keep his arm straight and rinsed it with boiling water for a long time, until the class bell rang by his ear and the light click of high heels came from the top of the stairs.

“Tap, tap, tap, tap—”

“…Qin Shu, what are you doing?! Don’t do anything rash. Whatever it is, we can talk it out!”

The English teacher, Sara, who was holding a stack of test papers, happened to come across this scene and was so frightened her voice nearly cracked. She threw aside the things in her hands and rushed over directly, grabbing Qin Shu by the collar of his school uniform and yanking him backward.

But the difference in their builds was too great, and with the added weight of momentum, Sara’s strength was truly insufficient. She could only watch as the nearly one-meter-ninety tall student in front of her toppled backward and landed directly on his butt with a bang.

Qin Shu reflexively braced his elbow against the floor, at least sparing the back of his head from disaster. However, he still sat on the ground for a long while without coming back to himself, rubbing his much-suffering arm and grimacing.

“…Hiss. That hurts.”

“What are you hissing for? Only now do you know how to cry pain?! Was pouring boiling water over your arm just now not painful?”

Sara patted her chest, still shaken. “Go rinse the burn with cold water now, then immediately go find the school doctor to treat it. Do you hear me? Don’t force me to report this. Hurry up!”

“I’m sorry, Sara. I just zoned out and didn’t notice…”

Qin Shu spoke in a low voice while slowly standing up, using all his strength to think about how to explain his bizarre behavior.

But before he could finish speaking, he froze slightly, suddenly realizing something. He immediately lifted his right hand and shook it. “But I’m not burned.”

“Huh? You’re really not burned?”

“Really not. Look, Teacher, my skin isn’t red at all.” Qin Shu tried his best to pretend as if nothing had happened and even grinned. “The water dispenser on this floor is broken. The boiling water is just warm. It tastes especially awful.”

Sara personally checked and only truly let out a breath of relief after confirming there was no problem. Even so, her brows remained tightly furrowed. “Even if there’s something wrong with the water dispenser, you still can’t do such a dangerous thing again. Do you understand?”

“I understand, I understand.”

“What if it suddenly turned back into hot water? Tell me, would you still be able to keep that right hand of yours? There’s only half a year left until the college entrance exam. You’re not allowed to touch anything recklessly. Do you think you’re only seven years old?!”

“Mm-hm, mm-hm. I won’t touch anything, I won’t.”

Qin Shu obediently endured a round of scolding and was finally let off by the teacher. He did not forget to finish getting hot water for Pei Zhao, then followed the still-angry Sara back into the classroom.

Everyone in the classroom once again looked toward Qin Shu with various expressions.

After all, their English teacher also had a powerful voice. Every word of her shocked cry and furious roar just now had been transmitted back to the classroom without missing a single syllable.

Only Tang Rui Cheng had lost the mood to joke. His brows were furrowed even tighter than Sara’s as he silently mouthed to Qin Shu, “Noon. Daoist priest.”

Qin Shu nodded slightly, ignored everyone else’s probing gazes, and returned to his seat.

He pushed the thermos over and sighed. “Zhaozhao, your hot water.”

“Thank you.”

Pei Zhao opened the lid of the cup. His hand suddenly paused, and he also furrowed his handsome brows, saying one word in a low voice. “Stinks.”

“Hm? What stinks? Did the red dates go bad?” Qin Shu moved his chair closer, lowered his head to smell it, then turned to look at him. “I don’t think I can smell anything. If there’s a smell, don’t drink it.”

The distance between the two of them was momentarily pulled very close. Pei Zhao met his eyes for a while, his slender fingertips resting on the edge of the cup and lightly rubbing it, before he calmly answered, “The stench of rotting lotus flowers and corpses.”

“…”

Qin Shu abruptly froze, and a wave of lingering fear surged up in his heart, because Jiangcheng No. 2 High School did indeed have a huge lotus pond that had been built more than thirty years ago. Whether several people had died in it or not was truly hard to say.

He was racking his brains to come up with a reasonable explanation when Pei Zhao leaned straight over.

His cool nose pressed against the side of Qin Shu’s face. He briefly smelled him, then moved downward to smell his collar, then his cuffs, continuing to evaluate with a straight face, “You stink too.”

Qin Shu was somewhat at a loss. He lowered his eyes and looked at the top of Pei Zhao’s head, feeling as if he had been nuzzled by a cold and indifferent little wild animal. Subconsciously, he said a dry and inexplicable joke. “Ah, that hurts my feelings…”

“No need to be hurt. I’ll give you this.”

Pei Zhao seemed to have taken it seriously. He got up and rummaged through his schoolbag, took out a simply designed box of moisturizing cream, and stuffed it into Qin Shu’s hand.

It was round and flat, looking a little like the sort of cooling balm used to repel mosquitoes. The silver box felt cold and metallic to the touch.

Qin Shu hesitated for a moment, then opened the lid. Instantly, a… hard-to-describe fresh scent drifted out from inside, completely without the rich, cloying fragrance of ordinary skincare products on the market.

The almost semi-transparent cream was exceptionally pure, like cool, indifferent stream water. It smelled very nice, and it was also extremely similar to the scent on Pei Zhao.

“Thanks. Then I’ll really accept it.” Qin Shu carefully tested him. “If I apply this, I won’t stink anymore? Where did you buy it?”

“Mm. Took it from home.”

“So magical… Zhaozhao, there couldn’t also be Daoist priests among the elders in your family, could there? You can even distinguish corpse stench from a pond.” Qin Shu continued carefully testing him.

He had not expected that this test would actually uncover a trace of something unusual.

Pei Zhao suddenly narrowed his eyes. Within those beautiful golden-amber pupils, there seemed to be a flicker of ghostly light. He stared at Qin Shu and said coldly, word by word, “I hate Daoist priests.”

Wow. An extremely rare negative emotion from Pei Zhao!

Qin Shu stared blankly for a moment, truly unable to suppress the subtle sense of novelty in his heart. He instead fixed his eyes hard on Pei Zhao and observed him. “…Okay. Then I hate them too.”

Being looked at like this, Pei Zhao also realized that he had overreacted. A faint hesitation seemed to appear as he pursed his lips slightly and softened his voice. “You don’t need to hate Daoist priests.”

That might be true, but Qin Shu was still looking at him, working hard to capture those tiny expressions on his face. The more he looked, the more interested he became. “Then why do you hate them? Were you cheated out of money by a Daoist priest? My mom is a lawyer, you know. You can ask her to help you defend your rights.”

“No need… Stop looking at me. Listen to class.” Pei Zhao turned his head and looked straight ahead, presenting Qin Shu with his side profile, as if deliberately avoiding Qin Shu’s undisguised gaze.

“Good Zhaozhao, satisfy my curiosity a little. Just reveal a tiny bit.” Qin Shu propped up his head, reached under the desk to pinch Pei Zhao’s arm, and continued wearing him down in a pleasant tone. “You’ve already whetted my appetite. I won’t be able to sleep again tonight. I’ll toss and turn, wake and dream of you, and be in so much pain I’ll wish I were dead…”

“…”

“Just tell me a tiny bit of the reason, okay?”

Pei Zhao was worn down until he had no other choice. Or rather, he had never had any way to deal with Qin Shu’s shameless behavior that was so very much like acting spoiled. After a long silence, he said, “I was nearly killed by Daoist priests. Twice.”

“…Huh?”

Qin Shu was dumbfounded. He never would have imagined that this would be the reason. He immediately sat up straight, lowered his voice, and said solemnly, “What year was it? Where is he now? Tell me. I’ll go beat him to death for you.”

Pei Zhao paused slightly. A faintly complicated shade flashed through his eyes in an instant before being swiftly hidden beneath his calm expression.

“It was when I was little. He’s already dead. Enough. No more questions.”

“No wonder you’re so thin now… Zhaozhao, let’s go eat out tonight, okay? Have something good. Don’t always eat in the cafeteria. I really can’t bear to see my good deskmate suffer.”

“No.”

“Why are you like this? I’m treating you.”

“No. Everything you like to eat, I don’t like.”

Pei Zhao’s tone was serious, and his attitude was quite objective, carrying no personal emotion or private grudge at all.

So he simply did not like anything. Including the snacks and fruit Qin Shu had fed him before, the cake he had given him on his birthday, and even the full barbecue food street setup during the school anniversary… Pei Zhao had not been very interested in any of it.

Qin Shu was shocked again and could not help sighing faintly. “Between the two of us, one of us definitely has weird tastes.”

And Pei Zhao picked up the thermos and slowly took a sip of the hot water he himself had evaluated as having “corpse stench.”

“…You’re right. I’m the one with weird tastes.”

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