Chapter 9: Bear

“Tomorrow’s the 3E exam. You ready?” Bai Ci asked.

“3E exam?” Lu Mingfei looked clueless. “What’s that?”

“You…”

Bai Ci turned to him. “You don’t know?”

Lu Mingfei nodded awkwardly. “Yeah.”

“But you’re S-grade, so it should be easy.”

“Huh?”

“It’s about dragon text, the language of dragons,” Bai Ci said, kicking a pebble on the ground. “They say the purer your bloodline, the better you understand it. Professor Guderian sent me the details.”

Honestly, though he was her mentor, she’d never met him. It was like his eyes were only on Lu Mingfei. Fair enough—Guderian was banking on Lu Mingfei to secure his tenure at Cassel. Compared to an S-grade, her A-grade bloodline was small potatoes.

“He told me you don’t need to study. Dragon text is in your blood. With your S-grade purity, you’ll just get it when you see it.”

“Like that?” Lu Mingfei scratched his head. No studying? That’s a deal.

“I’m not sure myself. I just got here yesterday,” Bai Ci said, switching to another pebble to kick.

“Where are we going?”

“To the mountaintop. The guide says we’re at the halfway point. Senior Sister Chen Motong said the stars up there are amazing.”

Bai Ci kicked the pebble away. “It’s about a half-hour walk. If you’re tired, head back.”

Lu Mingfei looked up. It seemed high, but he didn’t want to bail. A post-dinner stroll could aid digestion.

Bai Ci trudged upward, and Lu Mingfei followed. His legs felt weak, but he wasn’t tired. The air seemed fresher, his mood lighter, his spirits oddly high.

Suddenly, he caught a black shadow dart through the trees. He froze. What was that?

A weight hit his shoulder, and a clear male voice spoke. “It’s a bear. This mountain’s full of them.”

Lu Mingfei jumped. Lu Mingze was on his back, arms around his shoulders, like a kid being carried.

“What the—! When did you get there? Can you stop popping up like a ghost? It’s freaky!”

“The issue is there’s a bear nearby. Move faster.”

“It’s just a dream when I see you, right? So the bear’s fake too! What kind of spirit keeps haunting me?” Lu Mingfei grumbled. Any other time, fine, but he was walking with a girl he liked. Couldn’t this guy read the room?

“Not entirely a dream. The bear’s real. Run up the hill.”

Lu Mingfei glanced back. Glowing green eyes in the bushes and a massive black shape made him shiver.

“Run!” Lu Mingze urged.

Lu Mingfei grabbed Bai Ci’s hand and bolted upward.

At the top, he gasped for air, looking back. The shadow was gone.

“Without me, you’d probably be dead in a bear’s jaws with your crush,” Lu Mingze said, poker-faced.

“What crush? Just a classmate,” Lu Mingfei said, guilty. “And what’s with calling her a ‘woman’? You sound like an old man!”

“You can hide it from others, but not me,” Lu Mingze shrugged. “Need help?”

“Not showing up like a ghost would help.”

“Brother, chasing girls takes strategy.” Lu Mingze grinned. “Remember StarCraft cheats?”

“Of course. Power overwhelming for invincibility, show me the money for resources, black sheep wall for full map vision,” Lu Mingfei rattled off.

“Here’s your first cheat: power overwhelming. It’s unlocked now. Use it, and you’ll be invincible for two seconds, but only once tonight. You know, if you overuse cheats, the game gets boring.” Lu Mingze smiled. “See you, brother.”

He vanished.

“Damn it!” Lu Mingfei cursed. The guy spouted nonsense and bailed.

Bai Ci glanced at him.

“Tired of walking?”

“Nah, just feels like a long hike.”

“We’re almost at the top. Faster than I thought.”

Lu Mingfei wanted to say he’d dragged her hand half the way, or they’d still be ten minutes out. But he couldn’t say it, so he shut up.

The mountaintop was flat, treeless, covered in grass. A spring bubbled from rocks, forming a small lake. Overflow spilled down, creating a white waterfall. Faint water sounds echoed, and the starry sky blazed, stars weaving together. In Lu Mingfei’s words, it was just “pretty”—his vocabulary couldn’t do better.

Bai Ci lay on the grass, staring at the stars, feeling the night breeze cool her face. Crickets chirped, pulling her into the moment’s calm.

Lu Mingfei sat beside her, watching the sky, listening to the crickets, feeling an unexpected peace.

“Four years of college—what do you wanna do?” Bai Ci asked, tilting her head.

“Do what I like,” Lu Mingfei said absently—like date you.

“Do what you like?” Bai Ci repeated, mulling it over.

After a pause, her lips curved slightly. “Play StarCraft for four years?”

“No way!”

Lu Mingfei rolled his eyes. “There’s tons to do in college. Maybe… maybe I’ll find something I like…”

His voice trailed off, unsure. He didn’t even know what he liked besides StarCraft.

As he thought about asking her back, a foul smell hit—rank and heavy. He turned, frowning, and saw a bear.

He froze, eyes wide. “Bai Ci…”

“Hm?”

“There’s… a bear…” he stammered.

“A bear?” Bai Ci glanced back, then yanked him up. “Run!”

But he wouldn’t budge.

She turned. Was he trying to get slapped by a bear? Legs too weak?

No time to think—she grabbed his shirt, pulling hard. “Run, damn it!”

Then, in her eyes, Lu Mingfei punched the bear dead.

Her hand dropped his, and she stood frozen.

Huh? He couldn’t even beat her at arm-wrestling before…

“Brother, are you stupid?” Lu Mingze sighed. “You think this is romantic?”

“Not romantic.”

Lu Mingze blinked, then gave a helpless smile. “Alright, brother.”

Lu Mingfei knew it wasn’t romantic. It felt scripted, like he was the hero and Bai Ci, clueless and frantic, was the heroine. He’d seen The Truman Show—Truman’s life was a lie. Even with perfect illusions, he doubted, hated it, and escaped. If Lu Mingfei followed Lu Mingze’s plan, awakening powers to save the girl and win her heart like an anime hero, how was he different from Truman’s deceivers? What if she found out?

Once trust breaks, walls go up.

Bai Ci, clumsily pulling him, was so naive—pure, beautiful, refusing to abandon what she cherished, like a kid clinging to a treasure. Beautiful enough that Lu Mingfei didn’t want to lie to her.

He dug in his pocket, pulled out a mint from the dining hall, popped it in his mouth, and offered one to Bai Ci.

Snapping out of her daze, she took it and put it in her mouth.

“How’d you kill that bear?” she asked, feeling the mint’s coolness. “Looked easy.”

“Maybe… it was hurt, and I just tapped it, and it fell…” He paused. “Let’s head back. Exam’s tomorrow.”

Bai Ci blinked, silent, slipping her hand into her coat pocket, gripping her phone screen hard, like she was venting.

This guy… he’s lying!

She pursed her lips, annoyed.