Hu Chan thought for a long time.
He hesitated for a long time, realizing that if he left South Glory University, he might not be able to fight against the combined strength of Chris and Jin Shengyu.
At last, he decided to speak.
"Her name is Yu Ziying."
["Truth."]
'Yu Ziying?'
Qin Siyang quickly ran through his memory but found the name completely unfamiliar.
At least, among the four ranks of Lion, Tiger, Wolf, and Snake, there wasn't a single woman named Yu Ziying.
But since Hu Chan was going so far to hide her identity, she clearly held some important position.
"She's the Black-Robed Protector of the Zephyr Church."
["Truth."]
"Black-Robed Protector… Why haven't I heard of that before? Doesn't your Zephyr have only three Protectors, Red, Yellow, and Blue?"
"Because the Black-Robed Protector never appears in public. But anyone who knows the Zephyr well would know about her. At the very least, Principal Zhao and Professor Li must have heard of her."
It sounded like he was implying that Qin Siyang's knowledge was too shallow.
Qin Siyang curled his lips. His understanding of Zephyr came entirely from forum posts, so yes, not exactly deep.
But he only believed in the calendar, not in any church. Why would he bother learning more about it?
Hu Chan glanced at Yu Ziying lying beside him, looking both helpless and discouraged.
"The Black-Robed Protector stands above the three other Protectors, Red, Yellow, and Blue. To emphasize her status, she took the name of black, the color formed by the overlap of red, yellow, and blue."
["Truth."]
Qin Siyang knew now that Hu Chan had revealed Yu Ziying's true identity and wasn't lying anymore, so he switched off the lie detector to let their conversation be a bit quieter.
"So, between this Black-Robed Protector and your title of 'Holy Son,' who ranks higher?"
"You can think of the Black-Robed Protector as the Pope of the European churches. The only difference is that she never shows herself in public. As for the Holy Son, just consider that a puppet."
"A puppet?", Qin Siyang didn't believe it, "You sure don't look like a puppet to me. What kind of puppet can stand on equal footing with the actual power-holding Protectors?"
"That's because I took over part of the Black-Robed Protector's power."
"You took over part of her power? So, you mean the Black-Robed Protector lying there isn't the real leader of Zephyr anymore?"
"Correct. Ever since she fell ill with a strange disease, she's been unable to fulfill her duties. The power of Zephyr scattered into pieces."
At that, Hu Chan's gaze dimmed slightly, as if saddened by Yu Ziying's illness.
"So in the end, Chris, Zhang Yingrui, Jin Shengyu, and you, the four of you divided Zephyr's power among yourselves? Makes sense. You four were already the ones directly below the Black-Robed Protector in rank."
"No. You're mistaken."
"Mistaken?"
"It wasn't that the Holy Son and the three Protectors succeeded in gaining power. It's that those who gained power became the new Holy Son and Protectors."
Qin Siyang paused for a moment, "You were an orphan, yet you managed to become one of the real power-holders? No offense, but that's a little too extraordinary to believe."
"You're right. That's why I didn't do it alone."
Hu Chan looked out the window, his expression calm, "Chris, Zhang Yingrui, Jin Shengyu, and I once had a period of good cooperation."
"The four of us together killed two Holy Sons, seven Protectors, three self-proclaimed Holy Sons, and countless acting Protectors."
Qin Siyang asked again, "And why did those three work with you?"
"Because Yu Ziying supported me."
"She was gravely ill, but still had some influence left within Zephyr. Since she supported me, many who trusted her chose to support me as well."
Qin Siyang gently rubbed his chin, "So she's the one who recognized your talent, huh?"
"More than that."
"If she hadn't adopted me, this orphan wouldn't even know where he'd be wandering now."
Qin Siyang suddenly understood, "No wonder you care about her so much. That Titan Foxtail fragment you wanted, it was to treat her illness, wasn't it?"
"Exactly."
"And the reason Chris and Jin Shengyu were hunting you down, that's because they don't want her to recover?"
"Correct."
"They're afraid she'll take back control of Zephyr?"
Hu Chan didn't answer that question.
So there were other reasons.
Qin Siyang didn't press further.
He put on his jacket and stood up, preparing to leave.
"I'll go talk to Principal Zhao about Yu Ziying and see if he's willing to take her in. If he refuses, there's nothing more I can do."
Hu Chan once again bowed deeply to Qin Siyang, "No matter what happens, I'm grateful that you saved both our lives. Thank you!"
"Now that's a human sentence."
With that, Qin Siyang pushed open the door and left for the principal's office.
———
Qin Siyang relayed everything Hu Chan had told him to Zhao Longfei.
Zhao Longfei was smoking a cigar, his brows furrowed tightly, as if the cigar's taste had suddenly turned unbearably bitter.
"You're saying the other person is Yu Ziying?"
"Mm."
"You're sure? I heard Yu Ziying died of illness two years ago."
"I verified it with the lie detector."
Zhao Longfei set the cigar on the ashtray and rubbed his eyes.
"Yu Ziying… Yu Ziying… this really is beyond my expectations."
"Principal Zhao, you know her well?"
"Not especially."
Zhao Longfei's brow remained furrowed, "I wasn't familiar with her, but I did share a few meals with her father."
"Her father?"
"Yu Tianze. Smooth talker, sharp mind. Before the apocalypse, he was an arms dealer. After the apocalypse, he became the founder of Zephyr."
"And where is Yu Tianze now?"
"Dead."
"Dead? The founder of the largest recognized church in the safe zone, how did he die?"
"Five years ago, humans began awakening Sequence abilities. Yu Tianze didn't awaken, so he was considered unworthy of his position. As for how he died, some say he was killed by his own men, some say he was assassinated by another church. I don't know. For an ordinary man, it wouldn't have been hard to kill him."
"But Yu Tianze was clever. When the apocalypse began, he had already arranged his daughter's future, made her do charity work, open orphanages and nursing homes, become a public figure admired by the United Government. With that kind of image, the government had every reason to protect her as a symbol. At the very least, she wanted for nothing."
"But then, unexpectedly, Yu Ziying awakened a very powerful Sequence ability, killed the Black-Robed Protector, took her place, and reclaimed her father's church. Unfortunately, not long after, she reportedly died of illness."
"Faking her death and returning to life?", Zhao Longfei gave a small laugh and shook his head, "Didn't think that cliche plot twist would actually happen in real life."
Qin Siyang learned a great deal from Zhao Longfei, but that wasn't his main reason for coming.
"Principal Zhao, do you plan to shelter Hu Chan and Yu Ziying?"
Zhao Longfei picked up the half-burned cigar again, took a puff, and closed his eyes in thought.
Then he said slowly, "For your sake, I can protect Hu Chan, he's a student of South Glory University. I can also protect his friend who came with him."
"As for Yu Ziying—"
"Didn't she already die? What's that got to do with me?"
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