Picked up by the Protagonist of a Tormented! MC Novel

Translator: Kleep

TLC: Sen

As the magic lamp quietly lit up, Xi Wei went to take a shower, and the sound of the water began to emanate from the bathroom. Zeno walked back and forth outside, mulling over how to bring the matter up with Xi Wei—he also wanted to go, furthermore, he had to go.

Therefore, when Xi Wei finally opened the bathroom door while in the process of drying his wet hair, he saw that Zeno was staring right at him. Before Zeno had the chance to open his mouth to speak, Xi Wei interjected, “I won’t take you along.”

Zeno immediately jumped up from his crouching posture, “I'm going!”

Xi Wei did not even spare him a glance, taking it purely as a child throwing a tantrum.

Xi Wei once again flipped open that same basic martial arts skill book that Nami had given him and studied by the light of the magic stone. The book was very old, with obvious wear and tear on all the pages. It was clear how thoroughly its owner had perused it.

The corner of Zeno's mouth twitched and he decided to take the roundabout route, “Haven’t you already entered Providence College. There are so many advanced martial art skills to learn here. Why do you bother staring at those basic martial arts skills all the time?”

Xi Wei did not lift his head, yet he still patiently replied to his question—apart from anything that went against his principles, he was always very indulgent towards Zeno.

"Although Providence College has a lot of powerful martial arts available, this basic martial art seems to be better than any of them. Every time you look at it, you can learn something new. It is far more valuable than its name makes it seem."

Zeno seemed to half-understand and nodded, then asserted quite seriously, “I am also more valuable than I seem.”

Xi Wei glanced at him silently, refusing to welcome what he had said.

Zeno made a solemn vow, “I will definitely convince you to take me, so good night.”

After he finished those words, but before Xi Wei reacted, Zeno ran like the wind. He did not give him a chance to refute him.

Xi Wei frowned and he revealed a slightly worried expression.

The basic martial arts book in the hands also seem to have lost its appeal, becoming difficult to read.

Zeno ran for a while, then stopped and leaned against a tree trunk with one hand, panting heavily. The cicadas were clamouring noisily. He looked back at Xi Wei’s dormitory window under the light of the night moon, but he could only see the glow of the magic lamp within. He could not see the person he was looking for.

Zeno was a little disappointed, but then he immediately mocked himself. Don't tell me that you still hope Xi Wei will chase after you?You're not a two-year-old kid anymore, needing someone to chaperone you back to the dormitory.He consoled himself for a moment. He'd just about finished resting as well, and was about to go back to his own dormitory.

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded. Zeno turned around, pleasantly surprised, and sure enough he saw Xi Wei.

Xi Wei explained, “I have something to tell you.”

Naturally, Zeno had no objections. The two people walked in tandem. Since it was very hot outside, there were only two or three kittens hanging around the campus, and occasionally they brushed past. The blood-red moon hung in the sky and cast faint red rays of light down on the earth below it.

After a while, Zeno wondered, “Didn't you have something to tell me?”

Xi Wei seemed to have organized his words to say, “You know that I'm soon going to seal the plague demon.”

Zeno nodded, unsure of why he had to repeat what everyone knew once again.

“I don’t know, but are you willing to go along with me?”

Zeno was taken aback. Had Xi Wei changed his mind?

He hesitated, “You agree to take me along?”

“What, you're afraid of dying and aren't willing to risk your own neck?” Xi Wei turned around as if to leave

“Wait a minute,” Zeno rushed to answer, “It's not that I'm afraid of dying.”

With his back still to Zeno, Xi Wei showed a satisfied smile, “If that’s the case, then I will wait for you.”

“Is the one waiting for me really you?'

The smile on Xi Wei’s face froze, and the leg he had lifted to walk away was put down again. He faced Zeno again, “What do you mean?”

Zeno grinned and chuckled, “You aren't Xi Wei at all. You thought I'd be easy to deceive.”

'Xi Wei' finally looked Zeno in the eye and smiled again, but this time he let out a silver bell-like 'giggle' sound. Hearing that kind of laugh coming from Xi Wei's face gave him goose bumps from head to toe, and could not help but ask resentfully, “Can you not use his face to laugh like that?”

'Xi Wei' nodded, his face and figure began to fluctuate, and he quickly changed into a slender and elegant young lady.

The beautiful young girl's beautiful voice also sweet, “I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Tang Yu.”

“Tang…Yu…” Zeno stammered, alarmed, “You are Tang Yu.”

Tang Yu was all smiles, “Do you know me?”

“No, don’t know,” Zeno denied quickly as he realized that he had said too much.

Tang Yu clearly did not believe him, "Evelyn told you about me?”

Zeno shook his head, “Do you know my…my mother?”

Tang Yu spoke again, “I didn’t expect that following Evelyn’s betrayal she really disowned her own family.”

'I want' was written on the left side of Zeno's face, 'to know' on the right.' He could only hope that Tang Yu would elaborate more.

Who was Tang Yu? She was the harem member from “Curse” that many people were hoping would become the protagonist's main partner. The outcome of all that was that she turned out to be a fake “younger sister” from a different race.

In simple terms, she was the same race as Zeno. By listening to her words, it seemed that Tang Yu was actually familiar with Evelyn.

Tang Yu pursed her lips into a smile, "If you want to know, accompany me on a walk."

Zeno hesitated for a little while and then caved to his curiosity and agreed.

In any case, they were at Providence College and it was not like Tang Yu could eat him.

As a result, what was originally two young men had turned into a young man and a young lady.

“I'll let you know, you have to call me cousin¹, your mother Evelyn is my aunt².”

Tang Yu explained it, but Zeno felt something was off, “Do you know me, or else why are you so sure Evelyn is my mother?”

Tang Yu kept talking, “These millennia, the only oddball from the shadow race to have intermarried with a human is my aunt.”

While she spoke, she was observing Zeno attentively. She stroked Zeno's face with a slender jade finger and commented, “It's not as beautiful as auntie.”

Zeno once again felt goosebumps cover him from head to toe and he retreated backwards in silence.

Tang Yu was left touching only empty air, but did not take offense. She took back her finger and went on to say, “More than eight years ago, my aunt gave birth to a mixed-blood child and was expelled from the clan. How is she nowadays?”

Zeno hesitated and decided to tell the truth, “She has already passed away.”

Tang Yu stared blankly, “Who did it?”

Zeno shook his head, indicating that he did not know, “I was still just a baby and someone had been chasing us to kill us. Later, in order to protect me, my mother led away the people who had been chasing us and she was murdered.”

The smile on Tang Yu’s face disappeared, "Daring to murder my shadow race's royal, that's some nerve.”

With this abrupt change of demeanor, Zeno's complexion also transformed. He was left unable to breathe by the power of her aura that pressed down on him.

Fortunately, it was just for a split second before Tang Yu realized she had lost her self-control. She restrained her emotions, then asked, “Did auntie leave behind any words?”

“She said she hoped that I could survive and live well enough.”

Keep on living, don’t take revenge, don’t hate, as long as…alive, that was his mother’s simple and most sincere wish.

Tang Yu was a little resentful that he did not meet her expectations, “Father expelled her precisely because she was like this. As a member of the royal family, she was actually contaminated with the weak character of human beings.”

She completely overlooked the fact that the one who stood in front of her was also half human.

Zeno could not bear to hear anyone speak poorly of Evelyn. Although he only had a brief relationship with that pitiful mother, he always remembered the pain of the despairing tears that dropped on his face, as well as when she begged Xi Wei to take him. Zeno greatly respected Evelyn. If there was no Evelyn, he would have died in that world of ice and snow as soon as he crossed over. There would not have been any afterwards.

Thus, he told Tang Yu very solemnly, “She was the greatest mother in the world.”

Tang Yu glanced at him cautiously, “Do you know who your father is?”

Zeno shook his head. He had also asked Uncle Hill regarding that topic, but every time he mentioned his mystery father, Uncle Hill would keep silent and merely looked at him profoundly.

This made it very easy for people to come up with all sorts of explanations to fill in the blank, and so Zeno had come up with all sorts of possibilities.

“Does that mean you know?”

Tang Yu clenched her teeth, “If I know which human had defiled the pure blood of the royal family, how could I tolerate him.”

The implication was that she did not know.

Zeno whispered, “Yeah, right, in the end I still don't know who my father is.”

He was already impatient, and did not want to have anything to do with the shadow race. The reason why he could speak with Tang Yu in front of him was only because he wanted to know more about Evelyn.

However, what Tang Yu had said was also very limited. Down to his very bones, Zeno, who had always recognized himself as a human being, certainly did not want to continue on there.

He surveyed all of his surroundings in order to find the best way to run away.

At that moment, Tang Yu reached out her hand, set it on Zeno’s shoulder, and said earnestly, “Do you want to follow me back among the shadow race?”

Zeno shook his head so forcefully he was like a rattle-drum. What kind of joke was that. It was not like he had nothing better to do than to go make contact with the shadow race.

Tang Yu replied with dissatisfaction, “What's so good about those despicable humans? Even the human who has a good relationship with you. People all over campus know that he is the type of scum who would sell his daughter for tuition!”

Zeno immediately exploded, “You don’t know anything, what gives you the right to say that about him?”

Tang Yu frowned and released Zeno, “Isn't it true? That is what he personally admitted.”

“Since you understand humankind so well, why don’t you know that they like to lie. Did he really say the actual truth in his own words?”

Tang Yu asked, “Could it be that you know the truth?”

Zeno extended his index finger at his own nose and replied, “The daughter who was sold is me!”

Tang Yu was a little surprised, “How did you become his daughter?”

“It's true, Evelyn's dying act was to entrust me to Xi Wei.”

“Now, do you still say that human beings are despicable?”

Hope you’ve enjoyed these chapters. I’m working to get the next RAAS chapter out soonish, and the other two ladies are working on further chapters for this novel. Thank goodness for the both of them.

1. She specifically asks him to call her biaojie, which is an older female cousin who does not share your surname (so usually the maternal side). ↩
2. From the paternal side, so Tang Yu’s father is either Evelyn’s brother or cousin. ↩

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