Fang Zhou turned Ding Yumian's little face toward his own.
Their eyes met, feeling like a lifetime in a single glance.
It was not because they were a match made in heaven, but because Ding Yumian's innate Calamity Bearer talent had awakened. Her mind-eyes flickered and vanished, directly seizing control of Fang Zhou's spirit.
Under normal circumstances, Fang Zhou would have already fallen deep into sorrow and autistic despair.
Yet right at that moment, from the depths of Fang Zhou's Spiritual Universe, a strange power suddenly surged forth, making him immune to mental control. Immediately afterward, an invisible ripple swept across the entire school, purifying everyone's negative states.
[In a natural dream, dispel and immune all crowd control effects.]
[Transform the Dream Domain to protect teammates and oneself, removing crowd control effects from teammates within range and granting them immunity to control effects.]
Fang Zhou never expected that just moments after complaining about the Fish's inheritance, its ability would save his life. What was Zhuang Zhou's ability? It came with built-in purification!
Your mental control is totally buggy, but my passive purification breaks it!
Zhuang Zhou's soul is lost in dreams of butterflies. If this were a dream, Fang Zhou wished he would never wake up.
Being able to cross over into a magical world was simply his dream come true!
Let alone becoming childhood sweethearts with a beloved female character he always felt regret for—where could one find such a wonderful thing?
Yet before Fang Zhou could even manage a smile, his body suddenly went limp, and he collapsed into Ding Yumian's arms, fainting. This was caused by his physical strength and spiritual power being nearly exhausted, triggering an automatic coma to protect his body.
Ding Yumian was also affected by the Power of Purification, pulling her mind back somewhat from an inescapable grief. Her tear-stained little face was filled with fear, guilt, bewilderment, and joy.
The joy naturally came from seeing that Fang Zhou was all right. The young girl's gaze involuntarily drifted to the boy in her arms, a trace of unusual emotion flashing through her eyes.
She had only been trapped deep in sorrow and unable to pull herself out; she was not completely oblivious to what was happening in the outside world. The reason she had almost suffocated all the teachers and students in the school to death was because she herself barely wanted to live anymore—how could she possibly care about others?
Fortunately, someone had pulled her back in time, or else a catastrophe would have been unleashed.
"What terrifying mental fluctuations!"
At the same time, a vigorous-looking old man appeared at the school gates. He looked like a deeply knowledgeable professor, possessing an elegant and extraordinary demeanor.
"Huh? What's going on? That fluctuation suddenly vanished?"
Dean Fu flickered across the school gates. As a veteran Super-tier Mage, an ordinary door was hardly any obstacle at all.
He was simply curious about what on earth had happened. The teachers and students of the entire middle school had almost simultaneously fallen under mental control, only to recover as before in an instant, as if everything had been nothing more than a brief nightmare.
In the end, Dean Fu found the "culprit," Ding Yumian, along with Fang Zhou, who lay collapsed and unconscious in her arms. His astonishment was beyond words.
If nothing unexpected happened, that young girl should be a natural Calamity Bearer, possessing powers related to the mind and spirit. This could also be seen from the mental fluctuations that had not yet completely faded from her body, as well as her self-awakened Mind Element magic.
As for that young boy, what was going on with him? No matter how one looked at it, he didn't seem like a Calamity Bearer, yet he wielded some kind of innate power. After eliminating all impossibilities, the remaining conclusion—no matter how hard to believe—could only be the final answer.
It was Fang Zhou who had resolved the disaster Ding Yumian had nearly caused, and that power happened to be able to neutralize Ding Yumian's power. Even if he wasn't a Calamity Bearer, he was practically one.
"There are always people in this world who are not bound by the rules of magic. Calamity Bearers are like this, and so is this child. Let us hope they can live well."
Dean Fu finally made his decision and took the two of them away together.
He also mobilized his own resources to investigate, discovering that Fang Zhou and Ding Yumian were neighbors. The two of them had grown up together since childhood, making them true childhood sweethearts.
It was just that both children had suffered quite harsh fates; their parents had both passed away, and the grandparents who raised them had also died one after the other. Now, they were even forced to leave their hometown.
...
"An unfamiliar ceiling."
Fang Zhou opened his eyes. His nasal passages were filled with the smell of disinfectant, causing him to frown involuntarily.
Such a hateful feeling.
"You're finally awake." A soft voice reached him, carrying a trace of unmistakable joy.
Fang Zhou was startled. This was a girl's voice!
And it sounded so familiar?
A pretty face immediately appeared before his eyes. Beneath the bright, clean windowsill, the young girl leaned her slender body forward. Fang Zhou could even feel her warm, sweet breath gently blowing against his face.
It tickled, it was warm, and he loved it so much!
Oh no, this feels like falling in love!!
"Yumian! Are you alright?" Fang Zhou's soul finally returned to his body as he called out the girl's name in pleasant surprise.
"Mm, thank you for saving me, Fang Zhou."
Ding Yumian's eyes flickered slightly as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Clearly, this blockhead used to call her that way before, but now it somehow felt inexplicably different.
Was it because all her family members were gone, and she had subconsciously treasured the only familiar boy left?
No matter what, Fang Zhou really had saved her that day. Otherwise, if she had truly caused people to die, Ding Yumian would never have forgiven herself.
Those people were all her classmates and teachers, after all.
So Fang Zhou truly was her savior.
"It's nothing, we're good friends!" Fang Zhou flashed a wide, brilliant grin.
Well, later on, he definitely had to drop the "good" part.
"You're a bit different from before." Ding Yumian helped the boy sit up, then sat down on a nearby chair and said after a moment of silence.
"I am different, and I have you to thank for that. You're my savior, after all! That day, my mind suddenly went *bang*, and my entire self snapped awake. If it weren't for you, I don't know when I would have ever become a normal person," Fang Zhou said, looking at the girl.
He was speaking the truth, too. It was the mental control unleashed when Ding Yumian awakened her Calamity Bearer talent that had triggered the slumbering hero's power within him, allowing his soul and will to fully return.
Ding Yumian tilted her head slightly, trying to make sense of his words.
At that moment, the door was pushed open, and a vigorous-looking old man walked in with a smile, briefly explaining the current situation to them.
"You are both good children. I have already arranged everything for you. Once things settle down completely, you will be able to join Pearl Institute directly," Dean Fu said.
"Pearl Institute?" Ding Yumian was somewhat surprised. As a southerner, the grand reputation of Pearl Institute was something everyone knew.
"Can I go too?!" Fang Zhou asked.
"Of course you can. I said you're going together. Besides," Dean Fu swept his gaze across the boy and girl, his expression shifting slightly as he said, "Ding Yumian's situation is very special, and you, Fang Zhou, are also quite extraordinary. I'll explain everything clearly to you later. For now, will you leave everything to my arrangements?"