The Awakening Ceremony was still ongoing.
And Fang Xiu had already left the school.
After all, he had successfully awakened his talent, and he had even successfully performed a Sacrifice.
For a student with an SSS-rank talent, the school was quite lenient.
Not to mention, he was walking back with the principal.
"Principal, are you walking home with me?"
They had already walked some distance from the school.
The principal had been sticking right by Fang Xiu's side the whole way.
This left Fang Xiu somewhat helpless, forcing him to speak up.
"It's on my way!"
Yue Tianrui said with a smile.
Then, realizing how it sounded, he added, "You don't think I'm trying to find an empty spot to murder you and steal your treasure, do you?"
After all, Fang Xiu had just Sacrificed a staff, and here he was, tagging along right after him.
It was bound to cause some misunderstandings.
Fang Xiu said nothing, but his meaning was clear.
*I've always walked this path, how come I've never run into you before?*
*Now that I've just awakened and Sacrificed a staff, suddenly it's on your way?*
"Ahem, it really is on my way!"
Yue Tianrui coughed awkwardly.
Then he said to Fang Xiu, "I'll head on ahead then."
"By the way, let me remind you once more—Lu Yu'er's family has some influence, so you'd better be careful."
Yue Tianrui walked a few steps, then turned back to give him one last warning.
Fang Xiu gave a slight nod. "I know!"
Yet he wasn't worried in the slightest; the city was still a very safe place.
The only thing that needed guarding against was inside the Gate World.
However...
"As to who will need guarding against when the time comes, it's really hard to say!"
Fang Xiu thought to himself.
He had already planned that three days from now, when the school organized their training expedition into the Gate World, he would take the opportunity to Sacrifice Lu Yu'er.
"Alright, I'm off!"
With that, Yue Tianrui walked straight ahead and then took a right turn.
*Is it really on his way? Is he going to ambush me up ahead?*
Fang Xiu was still feeling uneasy.
After all, the way home also required going straight ahead and then taking a right turn.
Hesitating for a moment, Fang Xiu ultimately decided against taking his usual route.
When he reached the intersection, he took a look—Yue Tianrui was already out of sight.
However, instead of turning in, Fang Xiu walked straight past it.
A little further ahead, he took a left and changed his route.
Though this path was twice as long, for the sake of his own safety, Fang Xiu chose the longer way.
"This way, it should be safe!"
After making a few more turns, Fang Xiu finally arrived in the vicinity of his home.
Then he made a left.
"Oh? Fang Xiu?"
Just as he made the turn, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
"Principal?"
Fang Xiu spun around, looking at Yue Tianrui with guarded eyes.
He hadn't expected that after twisting and turning through so many streets, Yue Tianrui had still managed to catch up to him.
"What a coincidence! Shouldn't you have gotten home long ago?"
Yue Tianrui asked with mild curiosity.
Fang Xiu hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I went to buy a few things first."
"Ah. Are you heading home now, then?"
Yue Tianrui asked.
"Yes."
Fang Xiu nodded.
His eyes were filled with wariness.
Keep in mind there were neither surveillance cameras nor many pedestrians around this street.
If Yue Tianrui wanted to make a move here, it would be the perfect spot.
"Then I'll walk you back. As it happens, I'd like to see what kind of household raised a genius like you."
Yue Tianrui smiled faintly.
Talent was usually inherited from one's parents, but an SSS-rank talent was clearly out of the ordinary.
Yue Tianrui was somewhat interested in Fang Xiu's parents as well.
"My... my place is a bit modest, Principal. You should come another time; I'll have my parents book a hotel, and we can talk there."
Fang Xiu never let down his guard.
This principal was acting very strange.
Could it really be such a coincidence?
"Is that so? Calling on you so abruptly is indeed a bit improper. Very well, let's set another date when your parents are free!"
Yue Tianrui hesitated, then actually agreed with a nod.
Only then did Fang Xiu let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
After exchanging a few more perfunctory remarks, he finally headed home.
Arriving at his front door, he looked left and right, and upon confirming the principal was nowhere to be seen, he let out another breath of relief.
He punched in a sequence of passwords on the door and stepped back into the villa.
Little did Fang Xiu know, standing at a street corner not far away was a middle-aged bald man, watching.
A corner of the man's mouth curled upward.
"And he said the place was modest? In this era, anyone who can afford a villa is bound to be extraordinary."
Yue Tianrui muttered to himself.
Without making any further moves, he turned and walked away.
...
"What the hell? What happened here?"
Fang Xiu, having just returned to the villa, hadn't even had time to relax when he was struck dumb by the scene before him.
From the outside, the villa looked no different than usual.
But inside, everything was utterly destroyed.
"Was this place robbed?"
Fang Xiu's first reaction was a break-in.
Yet upon closer inspection, it was nothing of the sort.
Nearly everything in the house—valuable or not—had been smashed to pieces.
"Then what is that?"
At that moment, Fang Xiu noticed a beam of light materializing within the living room.
Walking closer, he saw that the light resembled a swirling vortex.
If Fang Xiu guessed correctly, his home had likely been wrecked by this very thing.
"This shape... it looks like... a Gate?"
The longer Fang Xiu stared at it, the more familiar the thing appeared.
He seemed to have seen it in his textbooks before.
Thinking carefully, wasn't this the passageway to the Gate World—a Gate?
"Holy crap, why would a Gate World passageway appear in my house?"
Fang Xiu struggled to keep his composure.
After all, no one knew what lay connected to the other side of this Gate World.
The dangers lurking within were completely unknown.
Moreover, the Gate World was home to beasts; if one were careless and a beast managed to crawl out, the very first person it would run into was none other than Fang Xiu.
"Why is this Gate World so small, though?"
Fang Xiu stared at the Gate World before him.
It was much smaller than the ones recorded in books.
Rather than calling it a Gate, calling it a window was more accurate.
"Judging by the size of beasts, getting in and out would actually be quite difficult."
Fang Xiu analyzed the Gate World passageway in front of him.
Though one could never be certain.
After all, there were plenty of smaller-sized beasts inside the Gate World.
It was just that such creatures typically possessed weaker offensive capabilities.
Still, if it were a snake- or lizard-type beast, perhaps... it really could squeeze through this tiny Gate World passageway and enter his home.
"Could a beast have already come through this Gate World?"
Fang Xiu hurriedly searched the house.
In the end, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although the living room was a mess, the bedrooms and other areas remained untouched.
No traces of any beast's appearance were found.
"Should I go in and take a look?"
At that exact moment, a bold idea sprouted in Fang Xiu's mind.
Even though he didn't know when this Gate World passageway had appeared in his house, since it was already here and no beasts had come through yet, perhaps... this was just an ordinary Gate.
"Let's go take a look!"
Without much hesitation, since everyone would eventually have to face the dangers of the Gate World, facing them now made no difference.
After a brief moment of thought, Fang Xiu made up his mind to enter the Gate World!