The Obligations of the Elderly - chapter 47

Chapter 46

Xi Liu and Gong Si spent a long time cutting paper.

At first, no matter what, they couldn’t cut through it; all they could leave was a crease on the paper. Later on, they could finally slice the paper in two. Gong Si was still the same Gong Si-his sharpness hadn’t increased at all. Yet Xi Liu could now easily cut through the paper with him.

“This is because your understanding of Gong Si’s Vessel body has deepened. He may be dull, but he’s not completely without sharp angles. Once you know where those angles are and use them to touch the paper, you can cut it.” Regarding this change, Teacher Delin explained, “Scissors we use daily also get dull over time, but if you’re used to them, you can still find the right angle to keep cutting. It’s nothing special-just familiarity.”

Then, the teaching tools waiting for him to cut in class became fallen leaves, plastic, tin…

In class, they cut according to the teaching aids handed out by the teacher, step by step. Outside of class, they would cut whatever they saw. Over time, Xi Liu and Gong Si, this pair of Users, became somewhat well-known in their grade.

But the thing Xi Liu cut most was still paper. He didn’t treat this as a dull task; he developed a genuine interest in it, found professional books, sought out expert teachers, and even learned the art of paper-cutting. After a period of practice, his paper-cutting skills became quite impressive. Xie Kai even specially renovated a display room just to showcase Xi Liu’s finished works. Within the academy and the class, some bold individuals would occasionally ask if they could collect his pieces.

No wonder-even Gong Si, who accompanied him in paper-cutting every day, now truly felt that Xi Liu’s works were genuine pieces of art!

Speaking of this, Gong Si was actually quite impressed by Xi Liu. It’s one thing to have talent, but he also habitually finds joy in everything he does and strives to do it as well as possible.

The two hot-tempered classmates from the neighboring continent were progressing much more slowly. They were still practicing shouting, but not without results: now, the words they shouted could turn into energy bubbles in the air, and when the bubbles burst, their voices would pour out.

The bubbles were very small and extremely fragile-almost bursting as soon as they formed. If Teacher Delin hadn’t one day brought a magnifying glass, no one would have noticed!

“Are you sure it’s not spit? No matter how I look at it, it just looks like big drops of spit!” Even after the teacher’s judgment, Malong himself was a bit skeptical. He pried open his partner’s mouth to check, worrying, “Hey! Ai Min, have you been drinking too much water? Your spit’s so big it can spray people? Hey, hey, hey! Are you sure what you sprayed wasn’t just your spit?!”

Ai Min, whose mouth was stretched into a straight line and couldn’t answer at all: …

Gong Si: …

The two pairs were still the only two groups of students in F-Class.

The second year of high school is a crucial semester for Ability Users. Many of them find their future direction during this time. Quite a few choose to Form Contract at this stage. Even high-level Users, if they find a suitable Vessel, will consider Forming Contract now-after all, when both sides are at a similar level, the earlier the contract, the easier it is for both to understand each other, combine their traits, and decide on their future learning path.

It was said that Xing Yun was about to Form Contract at this time.

As the most promising User in the second year at Ji Ling Academy, Xing Yun was practically synonymous with excellence and a bright future. He came from a prestigious family (though Gong Si didn’t know exactly which one), and was the most promising Dominator-level User in recent years. Not only did the academy’s Vessels admire him-he was constantly running into people who tripped and tried to hand him love letters or contract proposals-but even outside the academy, Xing Yun had a huge following. Gong Si had seen several times when Xing Yun left the academy and was mobbed by fans at the gate, just like a superstar!

Such a Xing Yun finally decided to Form Contract halfway through his second year.

The other party was said to be quite remarkable too-a Super Grade Vessel, S-Class, almost SS-Class, with a family background no less than Xing Yun’s, and a potential value just as high. Their Compatibility Rate was reportedly as high as 70%, which was exceptionally high!

Taking this matter very seriously, Xing Yun even took leave to go home and Form Contract.

Now, it had been about a month since he took leave. By this time, Xing Yun should be back, bringing his matched partner with him. The S-Class User and Vessel class would probably have to add another group…

Everyone thought so, and sure enough, Xing Yun returned. However-

Xing Yun came back, but he hadn’t Formed Contract. Not only that, he had lost both his hands.

The reason Gong Si knew this so clearly was simple: he saw Xing Yun.

Not somewhere else, but in the public class for Vessels and Users-the very E-Class they attended with Ni Lu.

That day, when he went to class, he suddenly saw a new face upon entering the classroom.

Long black hair, a slender figure, an aura so cold it bordered on aloofness-was it Xing Yun?!

Xing Yun was a dazzling person. Even someone like Gong Si, who rarely remembered people’s faces, had a deep impression of him. Seeing Xing Yun, Gong Si’s first thought was: Is he here on some business with our class?
However, he quickly realized that the other person was sitting down, right in the most secluded corner seat, all alone.

Is he waiting for someone? Gong Si wondered.

But then the teacher entered and introduced, “Starting today, our class has a new student. Xing Yun, please give a round of applause to welcome our new classmate.”

No one applauded; the classroom was eerily quiet.

Xing Yun? Isn’t it Xing Yun? Gong Si instinctively clapped twice, but when he noticed no one else was applauding, he withdrew his hands.

He didn’t dwell on it for long. Soon after, he learned from Ni Lu what had actually happened.

“On the eve of Form Contract, someone severed Xing Yun’s hands. Because the injury was inflicted by an Ability User, even after seeking medical restoration from another Ability User, it failed. In the Xing Family’s Vessel Control Ability, hands are extremely important. Once the hands are gone, the ability is greatly diminished. As a result, Xing Yun’s originally intended Form Contract partner broke the agreement and left.”

No one knew the cause, but the result was clear and undeniable-Xing Yun, a Dominator-level User with limitless potential, was ruined.

“The Xing Family is a very famous family in Ji Zhou. They are extremely traditional; their ancestors became renowned and wealthy by mastering a certain Special Vessel, and their descendants have focused exclusively on this Special Vessel ever since. If a descendant is a User, they must operate this Vessel; if a descendant is a Vessel, they must become this Vessel. Otherwise, both are expelled from the main family. They absolutely do not allow any other types to appear.”

“Old fossils!” Xi Liu said, shrugging disdainfully.

Gong Si: …Watching an old fossil call others old fossils, the feeling is truly subtle.

“There are pros and cons to this. The advantage is that their Special Vessel is truly unique. With every generation using the same Vessel, the accumulated instructions and techniques for operating it are astonishing. You could say they’ve perfected its use and continue to refine it. Moreover, they aren’t entirely stagnant; each generation improves upon the Vessel, and if the improvement proves correct, then all members of the next generation use the improved Vessel.”

“The downside is that they completely ignore other possibilities-they’re too stubborn,” Xi Liu commented.

Nodding, Gong Si finally learned a bit about the Xing Family.

“Operating their Vessel requires agile ten fingers. Now that Xing Yun has lost his hands, given the family’s way of doing things, he’s probably not just expelled from the main family, but… completely removed from the Xing Family. That’s why his name was changed to Xing Yun,” Xi Liu revealed even more.

Upon hearing this, Ni Lu suddenly turned to look in Xing Yun’s direction, his mouth opening, but in the end, he said nothing.

Xing Yun… no, Xing Yun, had indeed been expelled from the Xing Family.

Because just a few days later, the Xing Family’s Form Contract incident made headlines in all the major newspapers of Ji Zhou! The Vessel in the Form Contract was named Qiu Li, and the User was Xing Yun.

But although the name was Xing Yun and the appearance was somewhat similar, it was clearly a different person.

“This person is from a branch family, very promising, and originally wasn’t called Xing Yun. But since the contract between the Xing Family and the Qiu Family specified the Form Contract parties as Xing Yun and Qiu Li, to avoid affecting the contract, they simply gave him the name Xing Yun and changed the original Xing Yun’s name,” Xi Liu revealed again.

“All this was dug up by Ah Ying. When it comes to gossip, she’s an expert,” Xi Liu whispered in Gong Si’s ear.

Thinking of Ah Ying’s face, as stern as Xie Kai the butler, Gong Si thought: Unexpected, truly unexpected…

“Are all great families this cruel?” Listening to Xi Liu’s gossip, Ni Lu murmured after a long pause.

“Nowadays, although each continent has an intercontinental government, these are mostly public departments for convenience. Real power is entirely in the hands of the great families, and they’re Ability User families. There’s no way around it-no matter the era, political power follows strength, and when the highest level of strength belongs to the Ability Users, of course they call the shots.” This was said by Lin, who was holding a poetry collection, his eyes lowered in serious reading.

“If you think of the great families as ruling institutions, then the family isn’t just a home-it’s a workplace. Think of it that way and you’ll understand,” Lin finished, then returned to his immersion in the poetic world of wind, flowers, snow, and moon.

Coming from an ordinary family and being just a high school student, Ni Lu knew nothing about these things. After hearing Lin’s words, he sighed and quietly sipped his milk tea.

It’s said that when someone starts having bad luck, you think their situation can’t get any worse, but soon you’ll find out-it can always get worse.

Xing Yun-no, Xing Yun-was in that stage.

No one knew what really happened during that failed Form Contract, and its impact on Xing Yun was far more than just losing his hands and his name; the consequences continued.

Logically, losing his hands should only mean he couldn’t operate the Xing Family’s traditional Special Vessel, and shouldn’t affect Xing Yun’s ability level. However, whether it was a side effect of the tool used to sever his hands or something else, Xing Yun’s ability level became abnormally chaotic. During the final exams for cultural subjects, he fainted in the exam room, missing the entire test. When the results came out, Xing Yun, who had never been out of the top two, was ranked second to last in the grade! Although this was due to missing many subjects, for Xing Yun, it was still a result of utmost humiliation!
But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Before Xing Yun returned, a post suddenly appeared on the campus intranet, in the User-Vessel pairing forum, quietly seeking a Vessel.

Posts like this were everywhere on the forum, so normally it wouldn’t attract much attention. However, the person who posted it was Xing Yun!

All he asked for was to Form Contract, just to stabilize his Energy Flow that was on the verge of collapse.

Other than that, regarding the Vessel’s attributes or even level…

There were no requirements at all.

When Gong Si and the others saw the message, they were in class-a culture class. No one knew who first discovered the post, but soon the whole class knew. The teacher at the podium was completely ignored, and the entire class was boiling over the information revealed by that post!

Other classes were just as stirred up. Sitting in the classroom of Class 3, Grade 11, Gong Si could clearly hear the commotion from several other classes nearby.

“Ah! Xing Yun actually came to class, and now everyone is talking about this, but he’s just sitting there staring at the blackboard like nothing happened. Ahhh~ I used to find him pretty annoying, but what do I do, now I actually feel sorry for him!” Gong Si’s phone vibrated. He opened it to see a live message from Malong in Class 5 next door-he and Xing Yun were in the same culture class.

Gong Si… Gong Si didn’t know how to feel about it either.

When class ended, he saw crowds pouring out from the surrounding classrooms. In the midst of the crowd, the solitary figure of Xing Yun stood out-no one was around him, and he walked alone. The people who used to follow behind him were nowhere to be seen.

It was as if… the proudest Flower that once grew at the highest branch, basking in the most sunlight and rain, the best of all… had fallen from the branch.

The brightest star in the sky had fallen, down to earth, and finally into the deepest dust.

Gong Si originally thought that this was probably the end for Xing Yun. With his pride, posting that message must have taken all his remaining courage. Now, with everyone gossiping and mocking him, Gong Si felt he probably wouldn’t last much longer-he might break down even before his Energy Flow collapsed.

“Hey! Move along, move along! Are you all Gossips?” Seeing a group of boys ahead pointing and talking about Xing Yun, Gong Si felt a surge of irritation and walked over, pushing them aside.

“What’s with you, Dull Scissors! If your User wasn’t a Dominator, you’d be worse off than him, you know?” One of them snapped in anger.

Raising an eyebrow, Gong Si replied, “But my User is a Dominator. There’s no ‘if’.”

“The Dominator’s been ruined by you! You’re the same! The same!” Another boy cursed, but was dragged away by his companion in the end.

After driving them off, Gong Si glanced once more in Xing Yun’s direction.

“Let’s go.” He called out to Xi Liu and left, pulling Xi Liu along.

Xing Yun’s post had been up for almost five days. According to Xi Liu, Xing Yun couldn’t wait much longer. If he couldn’t find a Vessel willing to Form Contract with him here, and wanted to survive, he’d have to consider looking for a Vessel outside.

Isn’t that what they call entering society early? Gong Si thought.

What about his parents? Did they just leave him alone? Gong Si didn’t know.

He thought he probably wouldn’t see Xing Yun at the academy again, but-

The next day, Ji Ling Academy’s forum was flooded with news about Xing Yun again! The post Xing Yun had made seeking a Vessel was suddenly locked.

“Already found”-that was the reason for locking the post.

The whole academy was frantically guessing who the Vessel he contracted with was. Gong Si had no interest in this gossip, and even Ah Ying, who was always well-informed, hadn’t heard anything. Yet, he became one of the first to know the answer.

It was one afternoon, during a User-Vessel small class. Gong Si had turned into scissors, Malong into a Loudspeaker, Xi Liu was cutting iron sheets with scissors, and Ai Min was reciting math formulas using Malong.

Teacher Delin had left the classroom, and at first Gong Si didn’t pay much attention-people have to use the restroom, after all.

But soon, Teacher Delin returned in his wheelchair.

“Let me introduce two new classmates.” Teacher Delin’s voice came from the front.

Gong Si looked over and saw two people standing beside Teacher Delin. One was Xing Yun, the center of all the academy gossip, and the other was…

‘Ni Lu?’ Gong Si called out in disbelief.

‘Yes, Ah Si, it’s me… We can be in the same class again~’ In his mind, he heard Ni Lu’s small voice.

Realizing what might have happened, Gong Si was even more shocked and couldn’t help but revert to human form, staring straight at Ni Lu-

“Hi! Ah Si, now we can be classmates in every class!” Ni Lu waved at him.

Gong Si’s guess was right: Ni Lu had Formed Contract with Xing Yun.