Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 17

by Little Panda

Breaking the Cage

Escape 17

Legal Hunting

It was a scene thick with the scent of gunpowder. Though everyone was drawn by the commotion, their expressions remained somewhat numb.

The classroom, which had been packed to capacity just yesterday, was now missing nearly half its students.

Some of those still in their seats stared with eyes full of resentment and anger.

“Don’t think I don’t dare to do anything to you!”

Having suffered such humiliation, Zou Yunfei looked at the other students in their seats, gritted his teeth, and stood up.

It was too humiliating. Zou Yunfei hadn’t expected to be humiliated like this by a girl.

Xin Lan’s high-and-mighty, contemptuous look made him seem like some piece of filth.

She’d probably forgotten who used to insist she couldn’t live without him, behaving like an absolute bootlicker.

“Yunfei, don’t be reckless.”

Zhou Zhou patted his shoulder, but Zou Yunfei slapped his hand away.

“Are the three of us men supposed to be afraid of a single woman?”

“But yesterday… Have you forgotten she’s not normal right now? And it’s not hunting time yet.”

Zou Yunfei naturally knew it wasn’t hunting time. It was precisely because of this that he dared to stand up and shout.

“Can you?”

Xin Lan walked over. Unconsciously, Zou Yunfei’s body went rigid.

Xin Lan’s attitude was straightforward: if she looked down on you, she looked down on you.

“Give me my book.”

Xin Lan extended her hand. Zhou Zhou hurriedly picked up her book and handed it to her.

The others found the scene strange, but no one had the energy to discuss it. They were all on the verge of death anyway—who cared about other people’s conflicts? Everyone here was an enemy.

It was only because it wasn’t hunting time yet that everyone managed to suppress their panic and unease.

Xin Lan took her book. Remembering that this guy had just insulted Shen Shuiyan, she raised her hand, slapped Zou Yunfei in the face with the book, and turned to head back.

Earlier on, Xin Lan had discovered that physical violence was permitted during non-hunting hours, though there was likely a limit.

That night, Tao Ling had tried to stab her with a knife, but she’d disarmed her, twisted her hand bones, and even sliced off a chunk of her flesh.

By then, hunting time had already ended, yet she hadn’t received any punishment.

Recalling the rules announced earlier, they stated that those who ‘take measures during non-hunting hours will be obliterated’.

This phrase ‘taking measures’ was quite intriguing.

When Xin Lan returned to her seat, Shen Shuiyan looked somewhat worried, while Xu Deng was utterly dumbfounded.

“Getting physical like that, will you…?”

“It’s fine. Do you still remember what the rules said?”

Xin Lan leaned down and whispered with a low laugh in Shen Shuiyan’s ear.

Shen Shuiyan’s mind went blank for an instant. Xin Lan’s breath brushed against her ear, and that low laugh made her heart skip a beat.

The warm, moist breath sent a wave of numbness through half her body. She had to dig her fingernails into her palm to steady herself.

She figured she probably wasn’t used to someone being so close. Her mind began to recall the rules.

She raised her eyebrows in sudden realization and met Xin Lan’s gaze, their eyes conveying an understanding only they shared.

“Boss, that public face-slapping was so cool! Aren’t you afraid he’ll retaliate?”

Xu Deng had been startled by Xin Lan’s actions. He was a guy, after all; if she provoked him too much, wouldn’t things get difficult during hunting time?

“Whose handiwork do you think the wounds on his body are?”

Xu Deng glanced at the pathetic Zou Yunfei and gave Xin Lan a big thumbs-up.

Cool. Unbelievably cool.

Xu Deng pushed up the frame of her glasses. There was hope of getting out.

“Xin Lan!”

Zou Yunfei gritted his teeth. He was definitely going to make this person pay!

“It’s class time. Why are you shouting?”

The NPC teacher stepped in right on the dot, frowning at the standing Zou Yunfei.

Zou Yunfei didn’t dare provoke the NPC. With a twisted face, he suppressed his anger and sat down.

It was true they couldn’t speak during class, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t pass notes.

Shen Shuiyan wrote down what she wanted to say in her notebook. Keeping her eyes on the blackboard, she slid it over.

Shen Shuiyan: They definitely have other clues on them. When do you plan to make your move?

Xin Lan: Tonight. And hitting them isn’t for the clues.

Shen Shuiyan: Then why?

Xin Lan could hardly say it was because Zou Yunfei had insulted Shen Shuiyan. She picked up her pen and wrote back two words.

Xin Lan: Old grudges.

Shen Shuiyan fell into thought. It was certain that Xin Lan no longer had feelings for Zou Yunfei.

But given Zou Yunfei’s indignant look, he certainly wouldn’t take this lying down.

If Xin Lan wanted revenge, she should break his heart—only then could she settle the scores of the past.

But… things had already reached this point. Zou Yunfei was likely traumatized by now, and with Xin Lan’s personality, she didn’t seem like the type to play nice and exchange fake pleasantries with anyone.

Shen Shuiyan’s lips curved upward as an idea came to her.

She wrote another message in the notebook and slid it in front of Xin Lan.

Shen Shuiyan: Do you know what ‘undercover’ is?

Xin Lan: Uh-huh?

Shen Shuiyan: I can act as a spy for you.

Xin Lan glanced at Shen Shuiyan in surprise. Shen Shuiyan raised her eyebrows at her, her smile unlike her usual polite one, carrying a trace of mischievous intent.

Xin Lan: There’s no need to trouble yourself like that.

Shen Shuiyan: It’s no trouble at all. You want to get revenge on him, right?

Xin Lan: Yeah.

In the system space, Zero Nine was incredibly gratified. Fortunately, her Host hadn’t forgotten what their actual mission was.

Whether they escaped or not didn’t matter; what mattered was making the scumbag regret his actions to his very core.

Normally, a host would follow a script where they made the scumbag fall in love with them all over again, making him think her scent was ‘so damn sweet,’ delivering a frenzy of face-slapping while he became desperately infatuated. Perhaps some other men would appear to make him jealous, and in the end, the host would choose someone else or choose no one at all, dumping the scumbag. When casting him aside, she’d deliver a heavy, tearful speech, crying out, ‘We can never be together again,’ leaving the scumbag in unbearable agony.

But Xin Lan didn’t follow the script at all; she just went straight to beating him up from the get-go. Right now, far from liking her, the scumbag was lucky if he didn’t tremble whenever she approached. In fact, he probably wanted to tear Xin Lan into ten thousand pieces. How was this supposed to make the scumbag’s heart ache? At most, it’d make his body ache.

But Zero Nine couldn’t persuade her, and she didn’t dare to try anyway.

Xin Lan was completely different from the other hosts in the Face-Slapping Department. She didn’t seem very suited to being a protagonist because she didn’t care in the slightest about making the scumbag fall for her.

In fact, it wasn’t just a lack of interest; Xin Lan seemed to feel that speaking even a single extra word to the scumbag was a waste of her life, except during the process of face-slapping.

To have Xin Lan seduce men, win their hearts, and play them like toys… Zero Nine felt that even if she herself retired as a system, such a scene would never happen.

Xin Lan was much more likely to steal the scumbag’s business, walk the scumbag’s path, and leave the scumbag with no path left to walk.

This was career-style face-slapping, but the ‘Ex-Girlfriend Series’ she chose was supposed to focus on emotional face-slapping, hey!

Seeing her single word of affirmation, Shen Shuiyan spun the pen between her fingers.

When she was in Zou Yunfei’s group, she’d heard them talk about Xin Lan, and their attitude had been completely dismissive. The little tiger was indeed strong, but she didn’t know that when dealing with people like that, crushing them with physical force would only make them feel humiliated; it would never make them admit they were wrong in their hearts.

What the little tiger didn’t want to do, she’d do instead.

If Xin Lan really lowered herself to do it, she wouldn’t be herself anymore.

Shen Shuiyan: It’s no trouble, a piece of cake. Just cooperate with me.

Xin Lan saw it, but she didn’t reply.

By right, this was her sole mission and had nothing to do with Shen Shuiyan. She could simply treat Shen Shuiyan as a teammate to achieve her goals. Yet, Shen Shuiyan helping her like this… It wasn’t that she was unwilling, but rather… how should she put it? It felt very strange.

If she were still a villain… Stop, she couldn’t think like that anymore.

She was no longer a villain; she just always forgot.

She actually understood more or less what was on Shen Shuiyan’s mind.

She also understood everything Zero Nine said.

She knew the logic, but facing a scumbag character like this, Xin Lan really didn’t want to force herself to put on an act and eat shit.

Perhaps that was a bit crude, but she felt that in a mission world like this, since she could simply beat the guy up to vent her anger, why should she wrong herself by cozying up to him, especially when he didn’t even like her?

Never mind whether she’d speak to him nicely; given the circumstances of this mission world and Zou Yunfei’s attitude, even if she spoke nicely, he’d definitely refuse the courtesy and act shameless.

So the difficulty of breaking his heart was magnified. In Xin Lan’s original plan, she’d intended to torture Zou Yunfei at the very end—first breaching his physical defenses, then crushing him psychologically.

She’d lock him up first, then find a real guy to top him—every single straight guy out of a hundred would go mad from that. After that, she’d continuously apply psychological pressure. He was just a student, not someone who was highly trained. He’d likely suffer a mental breakdown in no time, and he might even lose his mind. When the time came, he’d absolutely beg for mercy in tears.

Xin Lan reviewed her plan and sighed. What a great plan, even if it was a bit too twisted.

This was clearly not very protagonist-like.

From time to time, Shen Shuiyan glanced at Xin Lan, waiting to see when she’d reply to the note.

Xin Lan pretended to look at the blackboard. In her heart, she didn’t want to wrong Shen Shuiyan by making her face those guys.

Zero Nine was anxious to death. With such a great assist right here, why wasn’t her Host agreeing?

Zero Nine: “Host, agree! This is such a great opportunity, the top student can definitely handle it.”

Xin Lan: “But I don’t want to trouble her.”

Zero Nine: “She’s just a character in a mission world. Once you leave, you’ll never see her again.”

Xin Lan fell silent. She wasn’t being difficult; she believed she could handle it on her own. But she wasn’t stupid either; if there was a good opportunity, she would naturally seize it. It was just that she didn’t want to wrong Shen Shuiyan.

This feeling was just like how she hadn’t told Shen Shuiyan about the corpse in the wardrobe last night, fearing she’d feel uncomfortable.

For things that could be resolved directly, there was no need to make Shen Shuiyan suffer any grievance.

It was simply that, but how could she say something like that out loud?

It’d be too embarrassing.

By the time this class ended, Shen Shuiyan still hadn’t received a reply from Xin Lan.

“Are you unwilling?”

Shen Shuiyan asked. Was it because Xin Lan wanted to handle it herself, or did she not want any other girl getting close to Zou Yunfei?

She could accept the former, but just thinking about the latter made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“It’s not that I’m unwilling. Zou Yunfei is disgusting—he’s just a scumbag, and the guys around him aren’t any good either. I don’t want you playing double agent and putting yourself through that.”

Shen Shuiyan understood and took hold of Xin Lan’s hand.

That hand was warm even in the winter. The skin on it was smooth and soft, making it incredibly comfortable to hold.

The little tiger was just afraid of causing her trouble. Come to think of it, the little tiger’s sense of individualism was really strong; during fights, she’d always push her to the back, and even when facing danger, she did the same.

“How could I ever feel put-upon when it’s to help you vent your anger?”

The author has something to say:

Lan-jie: This sister is too wonderful.

Top Student: Got it. Sisters out of bed, sweethearts under the sheets.

Lan-jie: ????

The top student is suffocatingly flirtatious again today, hahahaha.

Thank you to the sweethearts who gave tips~ Sending love to you all!