Chapter 1891: Chapter 1891: Magic Apostle (12)
The next day, Chuzheng already heard rumors about her buying clothes from Magical Praise.
There were several versions of the rumor, and the most exaggerated one—
Xue Laiya had hooked up with someone outside, and was given expensive clothes by some wild man. That man was rich, but extremely ugly, old enough to be her father, and in the end she even got pregnant.
Chuzheng: "..."
You people spin stories this well, why don’t you go write novels.
"I just knew something was off with her lately. Suddenly looking brand new—turns out she found some sucker."
"Is he really that ugly?"
"Of course he’s ugly, no question. I don’t know how she stomached it."
"Hey, didn’t her mother climb up by those kinds of means? Like mother, like daughter."
"She’s here..."
The moment Chuzheng stepped into the classroom, the gossiping classmates scattered. Those reading picked up their books, those discussing Magic went back to discussing Magic, as if they hadn’t been talking trash about her just now.
Chuzheng swept a look around the classroom. Elsa was sitting in her seat, a hint of smugness in her eyes.
Chuzheng: "..."
Rumors really can destroy a person.
Even if that person hasn’t done anything at all, people still won’t believe it.
Chuzheng originally hadn’t planned to bother with it. Being talked about a bit wasn’t going to actually do anything to her anyway.
But after seeing Elsa like that, Chuzheng changed her mind and walked toward Elsa.
Elsa’s gaze tightened, her back straightening quite a bit.
Chuzheng planted herself beside her, saying nothing. The surrounding classmates all quickly left their seats.
Elsa was left alone to bear the pressure coming from Chuzheng, cold sweat beading in her palms.
She clearly wanted to toughen up and stare her down, but every time their eyes met, that bit of toughness popped like a punctured ball.
In the end Elsa stiffened her neck. "You... what do you want?"
Chuzheng’s pale fingers pressed on the desktop as she bent down slightly at the waist.
Although she was wearing a dress, she’d had someone add a pocket to the short jacket on her upper body, and her other hand was shoved into that pocket.
For some reason, that posture of hers was a little elegantly cool.
"I don’t want to hear those kinds of rumors again. Classmate Elsa, you’ll help me clear them up, right?"
Chuzheng’s voice wasn’t loud, just enough for her and Elsa to hear.
Elsa’s heart jolted; she answered with a stiff face, "It... it wasn’t me spreading them. Why should I help you clear them up?"
And if you weren’t fooling around outside, where’d you get the money!
Of course, Elsa didn’t say that out loud.
Chuzheng’s fingers slid lightly and happened to land on the open page of the book. Her icy voice slowly sounded next to Elsa’s ear: "Miss Elsa, what do you think?"
Elsa stared at the page under Chuzheng’s fingers, her expression turning green then white.
Right there on it was the Magic Scroll...
"You’re threatening me?!"
Chuzheng lifted her finger and placed it against her lips, her gaze cold and sharp. "As long as you understand. No need to be so loud. Wasn’t this your doing? Since you started it, cleaning it up is only right."
Elsa snapped, "What gives you the right to say it was me!"
"Oh, I say it was, so it was." Chuzheng forcefully and righteously shoved the blame onto Elsa’s head.
Elsa: "..."
Okay, yeah, she did do it, but you’re being way too unreasonable!!
Where’s your evidence!!
[...] Hypocrite!!!
Chuzheng loosened her hand and slowly straightened up, both hands shoved into her little jacket pockets. "Waiting for your good news."
Having said that, Chuzheng strolled back to her seat, leisurely.
Elsa was so mad she practically flipped her desk. A group of classmates were so scared they didn’t even dare to breathe loudly, let alone go talk to Elsa.
-
Elsa really didn’t want to help Chuzheng, but the moment she thought about the leverage in Chuzheng’s hands, all that anger could only be swallowed down.
Not only that, she also had to help her deal with all these rumors.
Which proved one thing: she couldn’t handle this kind of thing herself in the future.
And she couldn’t be this reckless. She had to come up with a foolproof plan... The key was to get that Magic Scroll back first.
Elsa had the servants at the manor search her room, but it wasn’t there at all.
She was definitely carrying it on her person.
Elsa wanted to find someone to snatch it, but as soon as school ended, Chuzheng would get on the carriage and leave, and the next time she appeared it was already at the manor. Elsa never got the chance.
And now she still had to be blackmailed by her.
So infuriating!
Elsa worked fast. By the next day, Chuzheng didn’t hear those rumors anymore... at least not on the surface.
Looking at Elsa’s little face, livid with anger, Chuzheng’s mood was very pleasant.
When that bastard’s in a bad mood, the Bastard gets happy. Once the Bastard’s happy, he won’t give her quests.
-
Three days later.
The time on the invitation had come. Chuzheng brought along Alice—who’d been worrying about her little sister and hadn’t slept for three days—and headed to the black market.
The black market wasn’t underground, nor was it hidden away in the dark.
It was a perfectly open and aboveboard street.
The street was wide and clean—cleaner even than some streets outside—and it looked nothing like the black market one would imagine.
The people going in and out weren’t big burly thugs, but properly dressed, elegant gentlemen or finely made-up ladies.
This didn’t look like going to a black market at all; it looked more like attending a banquet.
But on closer look, some people did seem off.
Some wore ill-fitting clothes, and just standing there gave off a jarring feeling.
Others swept their sharp gazes over the crowd like they were looking for prey.
Alice stood by Chuzheng’s side, looking dazed, like a Little White Rabbit who’d strayed into a grand garden.
Chuzheng was much calmer. She glanced around casually a few times, then lowered her head and walked forward.
After walking about five meters, she realized her little tail wasn’t behind her. Turning back, she saw Alice still standing where she’d been, standing there like her soul had left her body.
Chuzheng: "..."
You really think this is a pedestrian street?
Chuzheng turned back. Before a man could get close to the little girl, she grabbed Alice by the collar.
The man glanced at Chuzheng. Chuzheng glared back fiercely. The man let out a sinister little laugh, made a "please" gesture, and turned away into a side area.
"Xue... Laiya?" Alice snapped back to herself, still not knowing what had just happened.
"Stay close to me." Chuzheng warned her impatiently. "If you get lost, I won’t come looking for you."
Alice: "..."
It might all look peaceful on the surface, but this was the black market. How could it possibly be peaceful?
If Alice had come in alone, it wouldn’t take long before someone lured her off somewhere, and in the end there wouldn’t even be bones left.
Chuzheng opened the invitation and took a look.
This invitation was a bit different from the ones she’d just scanned past. Looking more closely, she found a number on the back.
Chuzheng looked up and examined both sides of the street.
Every door had a number on it; they should correspond to this.
Chuzheng quickly found the door with the matching number. This door looked more imposing than the others.
On it were carvings of a ferocious beast and a human, the human raising a weapon high and stabbing at the beast baring its fangs. The image had a strong impact.
Two people were standing at the entrance. When Chuzheng walked up, they both reached out to block her.
Chuzheng handed over the invitation.
The other party sized Chuzheng up before finally taking the invitation. Turning his back, he used some unknown method to check it, then quickly turned back. "Welcome to the Colosseum."
