Chapter 361: There are simply too many coincidences; it is truly hard not to be suspicious.
Chapter 361: There are simply too many coincidences; it is truly hard not to be suspicious.
On the official road returning to Heaven Dou City.
The carriage wheels creaked incessantly as they rolled over the ground.
Liu Erlong rode a bad-tempered jujube-red horse at the very front of the procession.
Her dark red tight-fitting outfit outlined her figure, making her look sharp and capable; her long hair was tied high into a ponytail, swinging back and forth with the jolting of the horse’s back.
"Mother Tyrannosaurus."
Lin Qingmo leaned back in the carriage, staring at that fiery red figure through the window grille, and these three words silently popped into his mind.
In the original work, Liu Erlong indeed had the nickname ’Mother Tyrannosaurus,’ and it wasn’t just an empty title.
Therefore, Liu Erlong was most likely Sister Long, the Mother Tyrannosaurus from the Chat Group.
He shifted his gaze to the other side of the carriage.
Xiao Wu was leaning against him, dozing off.
That long scorpion-tail braid hung down from her shoulder, swaying gently with the rhythm of the carriage’s jolting.
She was sleeping groggily, with a trace of glistening drool hanging from the corner of her mouth.
Her whole face was buried in the crook of his arm, revealing only half of her flushed cheek.
"Hooligan Rabbit."
Lin Qingmo almost couldn’t keep a straight face.
In the original work of Douluo Continent, Xiao Wu indeed did not have such a title.
But in his past life, those silly netizens gave Xiao Wu this nickname, commonly known as the 100,000-year Hooligan Rabbit.
Given that Hu Liena had the nickname ’Little White-Eyed Wolf.’
’A Rogue Rabbit’ in the Chat Group could also be Xiao Wu.
It was just that he had some doubts.
He had been with Xiao Wu the closest and for the longest time, yet he hadn’t noticed anything from her.
Was she hiding it too well? Or was she not a member of the Chat Group?
Lin Qingmo looked at Ning Rongrong, lost in thought.
She was boredly fiddling with her pile of gemstones.
"Little Witch."
Ning Rongrong was the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, and she was a notorious troublemaker within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
From the beards of the SectElders to the vegetable baskets of the kitchen aunties, there was nothing she wouldn’t wreak havoc on.
Yet, Sect MasterNing Fengzhi doted on her to death, and her two Titled Douluo grandfathers also cherished her like the apple of their eye; no one in the entire Sect dared to discipline her.
Before joining Shrek, she already had the label of Little Witch.
So this nickname suited her very well.
He shifted his gaze again, landing in the farthest corner of the carriage.
Zhuqing was sitting there quietly, her spine as straight as a javelin.
Her hands were placed neatly on her knees, her posture even more standard than the demonstrations in aristocratic etiquette classes.
There was no expression on her cold and gorgeous face, and her brows and eyes were as cold as icicles in the depths of winter.
But Lin Qingmo’s gaze uncontrollably slid down an inch.
That breathtaking curve on her chest couldn’t be hidden at all, even while wearing the loosest academy uniform.
"Big-Breasted Kitty... it really is big."
Lin Qingmo sincerely gave an objective evaluation in his heart, then quickly withdrew his gaze.
He immediately felt that this thought of his was really inappropriate, and forcibly cut off any subsequent thoughts.
Finally, his gaze rested on Dugu Yan.
"Yanzi."
This form of address naturally popped up from his heart.
He called her that every day, and it had already become muscle memory.
Dugu Yan was lowering her head, fiddling with the embroidery on her cuffs; her emerald green long hair hung down from the sides of her ears, covering more than half of her face.
But Lin Qingmo noticed that the roots of her ears were flushed with a faint pink, as if she had sensed his gaze.
Lin Qingmo withdrew his gaze.
He went through the faces of these people in his mind again.
He matched them again with the nicknames he had given them, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
The correspondence between these nicknames and the original work was just too coincidental.
Of course, the most special one was Liu Erlong.
"According to the timeline of the original work, Liu Erlong should be at Blue Tyrant Academy acting as their Dean right now."
"I had absolutely no connection with her before, no interaction, no relationship; why would she give up being a perfectly good Dean and voluntarily run to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to be an ordinary lecturer?"
A single coincidence could be explained by probability.
But when a bunch of coincidences appeared together, it was no longer a coincidence.
These unreasonable fragments were rapidly piecing together in his mind, like threads weaving into a net, gradually revealing a clear outline.
He could almost conclude that among these people, there was definitely someone who was one of those group members currently lurking and playing dead in the group.
Liu Erlong was the most suspicious, but the others couldn’t escape either.
Thinking of this, Lin Qingmo’s face returned to his usual lazy, unconcerned expression.
He leaned back against the carriage wall again and closed his eyes, his breathing slow and steady, as if he were truly fast asleep.
Now was not a good time to have a showdown.
These people were each better at acting and pretending than the last.
If he were to rashly expose them, it would be boring instead.
After returning to the academy, he would find a suitable opportunity to deal with them one by one.
The monk might run away, but the temple wouldn’t.
And the few people who had just been scanned one by one by his meaningful gaze were now sitting on pins and needles, sweating profusely.
The knuckles of Liu Erlong’s fingers gripping the reins had turned white, and her palms were wet with sweat.
She sat upright on the horse, looking straight ahead, her back taut like a fully drawn bow.
She forced herself to maintain an indifferent expression on her face.
But her heart was already in turmoil.
"What did A-Qing’s look just now mean? Did he discover something? Did he recognize me?"
"No, no, I clearly changed my verbal tics in the group, and my way of speaking is completely different; it’s impossible for him to guess it’s me, right?"
"Calm down, Liu Erlong, you must calm down; the more it is like this, the less you can show any flaws, absolutely no abnormal behavior."
"A-Qing must still be observing all of us right now; whoever loses their composure first loses."
"Steady, I must stay steady."
She took a deep breath, squeezed the horse’s belly to urge it forward a few steps, pretending to inspect the road conditions ahead.
In reality, she used this action to hide her expression.
Inside the carriage.
Xiao Wu changed her sleeping position.
She buried her whole face deeply into Lin Qingmo’s arm, pretending to still be fast asleep.
But the tips of her ears, hidden within her hair, were already red enough to drip blood, hot enough to fry an egg.
"It’s over, it’s over, it’s over! The look A-Qing gave me just now was absolutely, definitely not right!"
She screamed frantically in her mind; the mental fortitude of a 100,000-Year Soul Beast completely collapsed at this moment.
"He wouldn’t really have associated me with the nickname ’Hooligan Rabbit,’ would he?"
"But I really am not a Hooligan Rabbit!"
Xiao Wu comforted herself that it was impossible for Lin Qingmo to suspect her through the nickname Hooligan Rabbit.
She felt it was possible that she had accidentally said something in the Chat Group that led to her being suspected.
She was so annoyed that she wanted to bang her head against the carriage wall, but she was afraid that if the movement was too big, she would reveal her flaws.
Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, and Zhuqing all had their expressions shifting as well.
Everyone was worried about being seen through by Lin Qingmo.
The entire procession fell into an eerie silence.
Everyone was silent, each calculating their own little schemes.
The air was filled with a thick sense of awkwardness.
Only Ye Lingling and Yu Feng were completely oblivious, looking around, confused.
Ye Lingling tugged on Yu Feng’s sleeve, lowered her voice, and leaned over to ask, "Don’t you feel like the atmosphere right now is very strange?"
Yu Feng scratched the back of his head, his expression blank, "It seems a bit wrong; why is everyone suddenly not talking? Wasn’t it quite lively just a moment ago?"
"Are they all tired?"
"..."
Ye Lingling tilted her head and thought about it, then secretly glanced at everyone’s expressions.
No matter how she looked at it, they didn’t look tired.
Each and every one of them was clearly preoccupied with heavy thoughts.
(End of Chapter)
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