Chapter 175: Zhuang Zhenhua’s Suspicion
Shen Yutong and a colleague walked out together, her expression a bit tense.
“Miss Shen, what’s wrong?”
Shen Yuxing shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just strange… Chu Feng turned out not to be an ability-user.”
She had always thought he was one. But the machine hadn’t reacted at all just now.
“Could it be the device failed to detect him?” Shen Yutong muttered.
“How could that be? It’s a new-generation detector—the results shouldn’t be wrong.”
Although some ability-users can suppress their powers, which can cause slight inaccuracies, they had never encountered a case where the machine couldn’t detect an ability-user at all.
“Miss Shen, you shouldn’t say that carelessly.”
The researchers in the lab were all very proud. If they heard Shen Yuxing was doubting their instrument’s effectiveness, those haughty scientists would blow up.
Shen Yuxing smiled awkwardly. If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t even make such a guess. But this was Chu Feng! Shen Yutong had long suspected he was the “wind-type ability-user” from that incident, and even linked him to several other unexplained events. It was hard to accept that he was just a normal person.
“Maybe I was wrong. But… why does Illya like Chu Feng so much?”
“Who knows? Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Seems like a lot of people online are confused too.” Chu Feng’s reputation online… was apparently quite terrible.
Chu Feng stood atop a tall building, watching as Shen Yutong’s car drove away. A faint smile curled on his lips, and there was a hint of mischievous amusement in his eyes.
Zhuang Cheng looked at Chu Feng with some confusion and asked, “Second Brother, why can’t that device detect your ability?”
Chu Feng smiled and replied, “Because I’m not an ability-user, of course it can’t detect anything.”
Zhuang Cheng: …Hehe! If you’re going to brush me off, could you at least come up with a more believable excuse?
Chu Feng narrowed his eyes, also a little surprised himself.
He was wearing clothing made of jade silkworm silk—a miraculous material that not only blocked the aura of Witch Stones but could also hide the identity of an ability-user.
Zhuang Cheng looked at Chu Feng, feeling that his older brother was incredibly unfathomable. He was already far ahead of the country’s official ability-users.
“Second Brother, you’re amazing!”
Chu Feng smiled. “It’s nothing special.” He was simply lucky to have knowledge from ability-users in another world to draw on. If he had to rely on himself alone, there were many things he couldn’t have accomplished.
“Second Brother, aren’t you interested in that Witch Stone? It looks like a valuable item.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Of course Witch Stones are good things.”
But one stone a month wasn’t even enough to fill the gap between his teeth. Relying on that little bit of supply, it would be impossible to become a true top-tier expert.
However, for ordinary ability-users, getting one Witch Stone a month was a huge win—probably a benefit reserved for Class A ability-users.
If it weren’t for the detection compass and spatial transfer, Chu Feng wouldn’t have found so many Witch Stones. Without those, he might’ve seriously considered joining the National Ability Bureau.
Zhuang Cheng looked at Chu Feng curiously. “Second Brother, how many Witch Stones do you have? Seven or eight? A dozen? A hundred?”
Spirit stone prices kept climbing. Many rich people were collecting them. Even if they couldn’t use them personally, they were great for recruiting ability-users. The stones were extremely rare. If a wealthy household had three or four, that was already impressive. But Zhuang Cheng figured that with his second brother’s skills, he was probably ahead of all those tycoons.
Chu Feng glanced at Zhuang Cheng. “Only ability-users can absorb Witch Stones. Why are you asking so much? Don’t touch them. Be careful not to get kidnapped again.”
Zhuang Cheng: … “If you don’t want to say, fine, but did you have to curse me like that?”
When Zhuang Feixue got into trouble, Mother Zhuang had been visiting relatives in a nearby city. She rushed back immediately after hearing the news.
Seeing Zhuang Feixue, she asked with deep concern, “Feixue, are you okay?”
Zhuang Feixue shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Mother Zhuang’s face darkened. “That bastard Qin He, just because he has an ability, he thinks he can do whatever he wants. Don’t worry, Feixue. Even ability-users still have to obey the law.”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “I’m not worried.”
Qin He had already been taken away by people from the Ability Bureau. Attempted murder—he wasn’t getting off easy.
He was foolish. With ability-users just recently emerging, many researchers were extremely curious about them. But conducting illegal experiments was a serious moral offense, so people were still hesitant to act.
That’s why ability-users who committed crimes were, in a way, the perfect test subjects.
Mother Zhuang saw the necklace on Zhuang Feixue’s chest and asked, “What’s that…?”
Zhuang Feixue smiled. “It’s a gift from my brother.”
Mother Zhuang looked surprised. “That necklace looks very well-made.”
Zhuang Feixue smiled again. “Yeah.” A lot of people had already complimented her on it. “Chu Feng gave it to me.”
Mother Zhuang looked puzzled. “From Xiao Feng? Where’s he getting all these nice things from?”
Earlier, the pearls Chu Feng gave to Zhuang Feixue had already been tested—they were rare seawater pearls with considerable medicinal value. Mother Zhuang had been quite envious when she saw them.
Zhuang Feixue took a deep breath. “Apparently, they’re from Illya.” Seems like her little brother found himself a rich wife.
“Illya is that wealthy?” Mother Zhuang asked, a bit doubtful.
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “Seems like it.”
…
Zhuang Feixue went outside and ran into Zhou Ting.
“Long time no see!”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “It has been a while.” Tilting her head, she quietly guessed that Zhou Ting was probably here to propose to Feixu.
“That’s a beautiful necklace.”
Zhuang Feixue touched the necklace around her neck and smiled. “Thanks.”
Zhou Ting had brought a family heirloom necklace, but after seeing Zhuang Feixue’s, he suddenly felt like his own necklace was kind of embarrassing. “When Qin He attacked you before, were you hurt?”
Zhuang Feixue shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks to Illya.”
Zhou Ting asked curiously, “What’s Illya’s ability?”
Zhou Ting had always seen Chu Feng as a rival and never thought highly of him. But things seemed to be spiraling out of control. Chu Feng was far more mysterious than he had imagined.
Zhou Ting had been worried that Chu Feng’s appearance would rob Zhuang Feixu of his rightful place in the family, making his position awkward. But now, things were getting weird—Chu Feng didn’t seem interested in being the second young master of the Zhuang family. In fact, he didn’t care much for the Zhuang family at all. His attitude was one of disdain—yes, disdain.
Since his identity had been revealed, Chu Feng rarely stayed at the Zhuang estate. Every time he came, it was just in and out quickly, as if he was deliberately avoiding suspicion.
Zhuang Feixue frowned. “You came to see Feixu, didn’t you?”
Zhou Ting didn’t answer, which was essentially confirmation.
Zhuang Feixue turned around. “I’ve got something to do. I’ll head off first.”
Looking at Zhou Ting, Zhuang Feixue felt calm. She had originally thought she’d be upset when Zhou Ting proposed to Feixu—but it was surprisingly easy to accept.
At the Zhuang household—
Zhuang Ming muttered darkly, “Illya is actually an ability-user…”
Zhuang Ming had been gloating before, thinking that the scandal with Xue Ying would hit Zhuang Feixue hard. Just a few days ago, people were still talking about Xue Ying.
Now, with Illya suddenly appearing out of nowhere, the heat around Xue Ying completely vanished. People were far more interested in Illya’s powers and her relationship with Zhuang Feixue. Xue Ying’s incident seemed to have been forgotten overnight.
Zhuang Zhenhua walked down the stairs and said, “This Illya definitely isn’t just anyone.”
Zhuang Ming nodded and replied, “I think so too. That Chu Feng is probably just clinging to a powerful backer. All that stuff about elixirs, wine, and jade—it’s likely all thanks to Illya.”
Running into someone like that, Chu Feng really hit the jackpot.
“What’s Illya thinking, though? Why is he so set on sticking with Chu Feng of all people?”
Zhuang Zhenhua furrowed his brows and said, “I had someone look into it and found that Chu Feng is… a bit strange.”
Zhuang Ming asked curiously, “Father, what did you find out?”
“Before Zhuang Cheng brought Yuan Yuan back, he went to see Su Lin. Chu Feng and Illya were there too.”
Zhuang Ming frowned. “So, does that mean Chu Feng was the one who found Yuan Yuan?”
“Very likely. I sent someone to that village and found out Zhuang Cheng arrived there at 2 p.m. on the 24th. But just two hours earlier, he was still having lunch with Su Lin in the capital.”
Zhuang Ming took a deep breath. “That’s impossible. Are you saying… teleportation?”
Zhuang Zhenhua nodded. “It’s possible.”
In the past, teleportation would’ve been considered nonsense. But things were different now—flame people, metal men… if someone had mastered teleportation, it wouldn’t be that surprising.
“I checked. Chu Feng has come to the capital many times but has never taken a plane.”
The town where Chu Feng lives is a two-day drive from the capital, and he’s made multiple trips, yet never by plane?
Zhuang Ming gritted his teeth, deeply envious. Teleportation? Could Chu Feng actually be an ability-user?
More and more ability-users were emerging lately, and many wealthy people were incredibly envious.
There was even a shocking incident recently: a wealthy man hired an ability-user at a high price, then killed and ate him, hoping to gain powers himself. He failed—and landed in prison.
*
Zhuang Zhiyuan walked in and said, “Father, you’re home!”
“Yes. Where were you?” Zhuang Zhenhua asked.
“I have a friend who works at the National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities. I went to get some intel.”
Hearing that, Zhuang Ming perked up immediately. “Did you learn anything useful?”
Zhuang Zhiyuan frowned and said, “Illya is an A-class ability-user.”
Zhuang Zhenhua’s face turned grim. “A-class?”
The threshold for an A-class rating is extremely high—very few exist in the country. If Illya really is an A-class user, then it makes sense he could deal with Qin He so easily.
Qin He’s bee swarm is incredibly dangerous. An ability-user once offended him and got stung just once—he was poisoned and hospitalized for days.
“What about Chu Feng? Is he an ability-user?” Zhuang Ming asked.
Zhuang Zhiyuan shook his head. “No.”
Zhuang Ming’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
Zhuang Zhiyuan nodded. “Xue Ying used the latest testing device on him a few days ago. It didn’t detect any other ability-users.”
If Chu Feng had powers, it would’ve been picked up already.
Zhuang Ming: “…”
So Chu Feng isn’t an ability-user after all? Was Father wrong? That makes more sense.
The odds of awakening powers are tiny. What on earth does Chu Feng have going for him?
Maybe Illya is just blind—he somehow took a liking to Chu Feng. Probably because he came from some remote mountain village and hasn’t seen many people. Once he meets more outstanding men, he’ll ditch Chu Feng eventually.
*
Zhuang Cheng walked into the restaurant to attend a class reunion. Most of his classmates were already there.
“Zhuang Cheng, I heard your sister fell off the stage?”
The moment he sat down, a group swarmed him.
“Is your sister okay?”
“Did she get stung by the bees? They were huge! One sting could be fatal, right?”
“Hey, what’s the deal between Illya and your sister? Are they dating?”
*
Zhuang Cheng was bombarded with questions, and his head felt like it was going to explode.
“Illya is not my sister’s boyfriend.”
“No way, but online everyone says Illya is the man behind your sister.”
Zhuang Cheng: Those shameless reporters… anyone who believes that nonsense is a fool.
“If he’s not her boyfriend, then why’d he save her? That scene was seriously heroic and romantic.”
Zhuang Cheng waved his hand. “He’s not my sister’s boyfriend—he’s my brother’s boyfriend.”
The room fell into shocked gasps from several girls.
“I knew someone that good-looking had to be gay.”
“Zhuang Cheng, what does your second brother look like? Is he hot?”
“Boy love is the best! Handsome guys should date handsome guys!”
Zhuang Cheng: …These girls are nuts. They’re wishing all the guys in the world would turn gay. Do they even think about what happens to themselves then? Start dating each other?
“Zhuang Cheng, can you get me a signed photo?”
“Me too! Me too!”
Zhuang Cheng rolled his eyes. A signed photo? Like that’s easy to get.
“Illya’s just a D-list celebrity. What do you even want a signed photo for?”
The moment he said that, nearby fangirls exploded in outrage.
“What do you know? My idol is so good-looking—he’ll be famous sooner or later.”
“He’s way hotter than those pretty boys in the entertainment industry!”
“He’s got both looks and talent! Even if he never becomes famous, he’s still the best!”
“You dare call my idol a D-lister? You got a death wish?”
Zhuang Cheng was completely overwhelmed by the verbal assault and thought bitterly: After how you all yelled at me, you think I’ll still ask for a signed photo for you? Fat chance. Not like I could even get one anyway.
