The Jade Pendant Stuck in the Chest

“Your ability is truly beyond my expectations. It seems I’ll need to reassess your role.”

As Yang Yuan prepared to leave, Luo Jinghong suddenly spoke again.

“By the way, try to help that girl Bai Zhu.”

“You know her too?” Yang Yuan asked, surprised.

“Of course. She’s one of the most promising candidates in this year’s Hero Reserve. Her personality is… quite unique.”

“I heard she used to require a full five minutes to charge her ability. Now it’s down to three.”

Luo Jinghong paused, her gaze locking directly onto Yang Yuan.

“Just a theory—but your [Insight] might help her find the right path.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

Yang Yuan didn’t make any promises, but ideas were already forming in his mind.

After he left the archives, Luo Jinghong didn’t return to her desk. Instead, she stood still, her eyes drifting toward the dusty ventilation grate in the corner of the wall.

When Yang Yuan returned to his counseling room, something felt off.

Li Yu’an wasn’t sitting on the sofa as usual, reading or tidying up.

She stood rigidly by the window, back turned to the door, completely motionless—as if turned to stone.

In her mind, a dramatic inner monologue played out: trembling with fear, voice trembling with tears, she begged.

“Please… don’t tell anyone…”

“Beg me? Then how exactly will you beg?”

Yang Yuan would ask that, and she would obediently strip, fulfilling every humiliating demand he made.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhu sat on the sofa, utterly confused, whispering to Yang Yuan, “Has Lady Saintess been invaded by a mental demon? I called her name and she didn’t respond at all.”

Yang Yuan had no idea what was happening. He took a step forward and cautiously called her name. “Li Yu’an?”

Just as Li Yu’an’s fantasy reached its most critical moment, Yang Yuan’s voice shattered it.

“Don’t tell anyone! I’ll do… I’ll do anything!”

The sudden, emotionally charged cry left Yang Yuan stunned, his face a mask of pure bewilderment.

“Huh?”

He had no clue what “don’t tell anyone” or “I’ll do anything” meant.

Bai Zhu, watching from the side, also froze. She tilted her head, struggling to process the heavy subtext in that line.

After shouting it, Li Yu’an went completely still.

She realized she’d just screamed her most shameful fantasy—word for word—in front of everyone.

“I… I… that is…”

She stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“I just remembered! My experiment data! Yes! I have to get back to work. See you tomorrow!”

She turned to flee—desperate to escape this soul-crushing moment.

In her panic, she kicked the coffee table hard, nearly crying from the pain. But she didn’t stop, limping out of the counseling room as fast as she could.

“Has Lady Saintess been struck by a terrifying word-based ability?”

“I think she might’ve caught the chuunibyou disease.”

Yang Yuan was completely lost. He’d only gone to see Luo Jinghong—how did Li Yu’an become so strange in just that short time?

“Whatever. If I can’t figure it out, I won’t.”

He pushed her odd behavior aside and turned to the chuunibyou girl beside him.

“Bai Zhu.”

“Present! What does my lord command?” Bai Zhu sat up straight, instantly in full alert.

“You said I passed your first trial.”

“So… shall we begin your second trial now?”

“Second trial!”

Bai Zhu’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“But… I haven’t decided what the second trial should be yet.”

Seeing her lost in thought, Yang Yuan stood and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“If you haven’t decided… how about you hear my idea?”

“Please, enlighten me!”

“Let’s go to the training grounds. I need to understand your ability in detail—so I can guide you on your path.”

Yang Yuan expected her to jump up in excitement.

Instead, she hesitated and shook her head.

“I could, but I didn’t reserve the training grounds today. I’m afraid we can’t enter.”

“No reservation?”

Yang Yuan blinked. The Hero Center’s training facilities were strictly managed—no last-minute access.

“Then what? We can’t have you swinging a sword here, can we?”

“No need.”

Bai Zhu took Yang Yuan’s hand, a mysterious smile spreading across her face.

“I have a training ground beyond rules and restrictions. There, I can show you everything.”

“Oh? Where is this place?”

“That place…” Bai Zhu declared solemnly, “is… my home!”

……

They took public transit across half the city, finally arriving at a quiet, ordinary residential neighborhood.

“You’re sure… we’re training here?”

“One swing of your sword might collapse half the building.”

“Lord Yang Yuan, you misunderstand,” Bai Zhu said, shaking her head seriously.

“Training has two forms: outer cultivation and inner refinement. The training grounds are for physical training.”

“What we shall do now is inner refinement—a journey into the soul, cultivating mind and spirit!”

With that, they entered Bai Zhu’s home. She pulled out a game console and a cardboard box filled with over a dozen martial arts movie DVDs.

“This is your secret inner cultivation method?” Yang Yuan couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Exactly!”

Bai Zhu popped in a disc titled The One-Armed Swordsman and sat cross-legged on the sofa.

“Lord, please join me in immersing ourselves in these ancient records of legendary warriors—so we may grasp the ultimate truth of the sword!”

Yang Yuan was forced to sit through an entire afternoon of old-school martial arts films. He felt his mind slowly rotting from the five-yuan special effects and awkward acting.

Yet, in this absurd yet oddly warm interaction, Yang Yuan began to see that Bai Zhu was indeed a little chuunibyou.

But her heart was pure. Everything she felt was written on her face. Being with her was surprisingly relaxing.

As he watched a character charge up for a slash, Yang Yuan suddenly turned to Bai Zhu.

“You said your ability’s charge time dropped from five minutes to three. When exactly did that happen?”

Bai Zhu snapped out of the movie, thinking carefully.

“It was during the Evolution Trial. The enemy was incredibly strong. I thought I was going to lose.”

“Then… so many things flashed through my mind. My family. The fact that there are still so many evil people in this world that need to be defeated.”

“After that, my power felt different. I don’t know the exact reason.”

Another deus ex machina powered by belief? Yang Yuan silently criticized the world’s lack of logic.

As he pondered, Bai Zhu, as if to prove her story, reached into her clothes and pulled out a jade pendant tied with a red string.

“Why did I suddenly grow stronger? I realized it wasn’t just me.”

She cradled the pendant like a treasure. “It must have been this—helping me in secret.”

“This was my grandmother’s gift to me on my coming-of-age day.”

“Grandmother said this pendant would always protect me. And she said… if I ever met my destined husband, the pendant would shatter.”

“Your grandmother does fortune-telling too…” Yang Yuan silently facepalmed.

Curious, he took the pendant and examined it.

It looked like an ordinary piece of jade jewelry—nothing special.

But it felt warm, almost as if it still carried… body heat?

Yang Yuan suddenly realized something. Bai Zhu had just pulled it from inside her clothes.

“Uh… where exactly do you usually keep this pendant?”

Without hesitation, Bai Zhu tapped her chest and answered matter-of-factly.

“Right between my breasts, of course.”