Chapter Fifteen

-Xiao Lan-

The so-called P plan is, as the name suggests, "running the plan," since "p—ao (third tone)" means to run.

This was actually a rather underhanded tactic by Shaohan and me. When people heard about this plan, they initially thought we had some grand conspiracy, a plan to crush the world's number one fighter and dominate the world, but it turned out we were just slinking away unprepared...

The methods may not be exactly honorable, but at least they allow one to escape.

Shaohan and I were already fully aware of Project P, but Zhenxi and the others were not. Shaohan took small steps over to the three who looked completely clueless and whispered in their ears, "Project P, Project P—if you don't know Project P, you must know Project T, right?"

Plan T – “t-ao (pronounced with two tones)”, means escape plan, similar in meaning to Plan P.

But Maki and the others still didn't understand.

Well, whatever, after all these plans are related to our language—the pinyin system in Chinese characters.

Even with squinty-eyed here, it's impossible to explain everything properly to them, word by word. At this point, all we can do is...

"Let's just go with the flow." Shaohan's tone was inexplicably heavy.

Don't they realize how long we've been best friends? Shaohan and I exchanged a glance and immediately understood each other's meaning—to leave using Plan P (or Plan T), then immediately return to the vocational high school to tell Gojo Satoru everything that happened today, and then go find Yuta's whereabouts.

"Then I'll set up the formation?" Shaohan winked at me.

“…I’ll hold him off.” I nodded with a heavy expression—there was no other way. Of the five people here, I estimated I was the strongest, although I was still frighteningly weak compared to Squinty Eyes (not really).

"Don't die." Shaohan took a step back. "I believe in you, Xiao Lan."

"..."

“…”

No kidding, I'm really feeling immense pressure right now. I took a deep breath: "Instantaneous!"

Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me!

I don't want to fight anymore!

I really, really hate competing against people who are better than me!

Of course, that was my inner reaction. On the surface, I remained as calm and collected as ever, like a wise hermit.

"Xiao Lan actually prefers to bully weaker opponents." Behind me, Shao Han was setting up an array while explaining to Zhenxi and the others. She grabbed Ji, who was anxiously about to help me, and in a very neurotic way, exposed my weakness, "Xiao Lan hates fighting against strong opponents. In this respect, she is different from ordinary sword cultivators. Don't be fooled by her current 'I'm the best in the world' attitude. In fact, when she fights against a strong opponent, she enters a negative mode. All she thinks about is 'Save me, save me, I don't want to fight anymore' and things like that."

"..." I have to admit that Shaohan really understands me, after all, that's exactly what I'm thinking right now.

"Isn't this terrible!" Panda exclaimed. "Shouldn't we hurry up and go help?"

"Alright, then I'll be blunt." Xiao Lan lowered her head and continued drawing arrays on the ground with her brush, without looking up. "Although that's what she thinks every time she fights a strong opponent, she can still hold her own against them... Well, you should know, she's incredibly powerful."

...I am truly grateful for your trust, Yu Shaohan.

"But I really can't do it! Yu Shaohan! You trusted me too much!"

Maki blinked, Thorn coughed awkwardly twice, Panda opened his mouth wide in an exaggerated manner, and Yu Shaohan stood up from the ground, put her hands on her hips, and shouted: "Hey! You brat Xiao Lan! Instead of fighting the Monkey King properly, you're eavesdropping on my conversation?"

Monkey King: "..."

"Was it me who wanted to eavesdrop?" I realized then that I seemed to have accidentally blurted out my true thoughts. But without blushing or skipping a beat, I immediately and seriously shifted the blame to Shaohan, "It was your voice that went into my ears!"

"Huh? This is still my problem?"

My argument with Shaohan instantly shifted the atmosphere from serious and terrifying to silly and lighthearted. In this neurotic atmosphere, the only one who seemed to suffer was the squinty-eyed guy. He felt completely ignored, veins bulging on his forehead, and he merely raised his hand slightly…

"Holy crap! A ghost cultivator—you're a ghost cultivator?" Shao Han screamed. "What did you do to that old man Deng?!"

“…Wow.” I exclaimed dryly, “A slit-mouthed woman?”

"Is this the legendary monster that grabs people and keeps asking them 'Am I pretty?'—the Slit-Mouthed Woman?"

“You could say that,” Panda said solemnly. “She is also a top-tier curse spirit… Wait, you’re Xia Youjie? Wu’s friend? The former college student, the top-tier curse master Xia Youjie?”

Angela: "No way, Panda? You know the Monkey King?"

Judging from her expression, I knew she was thinking, "Wow, lucky! So lucky! I never expected Panda to know about the 'love-hate relationship' between the Monkey King and Gojo Satoru. What do you call 'searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly'?"

I've gone a bit off-topic... Anyway, to describe the current situation, I'm at a stalemate with the Slit-Mouthed Woman. The Slit-Mouthed Woman truly lives up to her reputation as a top-tier cursed spirit, far surpassing the lesser Calami I've exterminated before.

Perhaps seeing that the Slit-Mouthed Woman couldn't handle me (although it's not a good way to describe myself, I'm practically an unkillable cockroach), the squinty-eyed guy impatiently summoned another cursed spirit.

I was already barely managing to fight the Slit-Mouthed Woman by myself; if another one came, I simply wouldn't be able to handle it. At this critical moment, Shaohan finally activated the formation, shrinking the distance by a thousand miles, and we barely managed to leave that place called "Panxing Sect".

"...Now I'm doomed." On the bustling street, everything went black before my eyes, and I felt like I could see my bleak future at a glance. "Not only did I skip class, but I also got into a fight with Teacher Wu's best friend, and I even accidentally lost You Tai... I'm doomed, what should I do, Shao Han! Do you have any good ideas on how to find him?"

"There's nothing I can do." Shaohan leaned against a tree, arms crossed. "That large-scale Shrinking Earth technique just now took a lot of my strength... I only have the method now, but no power. I'm truly willing but powerless."

"...You're already exhausted, and you're still striking poses? You're so concerned about your image," I complained. "So what do we do now?"

"Let's just deal with it." Maki sat down on the ground nonchalantly. "What else can we do? Keep it a secret, are we?"

Ji went to the convenience store and managed to buy some instant food, which she then shared with us. I held a warm rice ball and ate it in a few bites, barely managing to fill my stomach.

Panda's expression was somewhat grave: "Now we can only inform Wu."