Chapter 135: The Wicked Have Their Own Tormentors
As the old saying goes, the wicked are tormented by those wickeder still…
"Dan Heng, I found something. Come here, come here!" Rekka called out, his voice practically vibrating with mischievous glee. He enthusiastically presented Dan Heng with the fresh… discovery he'd unearthed.
A true master of digging up the most cursed content imaginable.
"According to this apocryphal record," Rekka began, clearing his throat with theatrical gravity, "the reason the Reignbow Arbiter didn't kill Phantylia with a single arrow was that the Arbiter could never forget her seductive, charming, and somewhat melancholy eyes…"
Dan Heng's head snapped away from the screen as if it had physically burned him.
Reignbow Arbiter above, if he stared at that thing for too long, he was genuinely worried he'd be shot dead by one of the Arbiter's own arrows.
Wait, no.
A chilling realization dawned on him. Rekka had a chance of turning into the Reignbow Arbiter on any given day.
In that case, viewing was absolutely forbidden.
Dan Heng took a deliberate step back, his expression one of a man who had just witnessed something deeply unclean. "Are you on the Path of Elation today?"
"Nope," Rekka replied, his smile never wavering. "Path of The Hunt."
"Ah…" Dan Heng nodded slowly, a wave of weary understanding washing over him. "Oh. Okay." That explained the predatory glint in his eyes. "Who wrote this?"
"It's some fanfiction written by someone from Diphase Paradise," Rekka explained, his grin turning a bit creepy. "No idea who posted it online, but I just happened to stumble across it."
His finger swiped twice on the terminal's screen, bringing the offending passage back into full view. He leaned in, reading it aloud once more with perfect diction, his voice full of dramatic emotion and cadence.
"The Reignbow Arbiter didn't kill Phantylia with a single arrow; the real reason was that the Arbiter could never forget Phantylia's seductive, charming, and somewhat melancholy eyes…"
"Stop reading, stop reading!" Dan Heng threw up a hand, looking mortified. "You're actually reading it out loud… I'm truly impressed by you. You're practically a force of nature." He shook his head in disbelief. "So… are you actually the Reignbow Arbiter today or not?"
"Take a guess," Rekka said, his lip twitching. "But I will say, I'm currently feeling a very strong urge to introduce the person who wrote this… to an arrow. In the butt."
Just then, March 7th popped her head out from around a corner. "What good stuff are you two looking at behind my back? What apocrypha? What seductive eyes? Let me see, let me see!"
"Kids shouldn't look at this trash," Rekka said dismissively.
"How old do you think I am? I'm your senior!" March 7th shot back, indignant. "We've even fought a Lord Ravager together; what could there possibly be that I can't see! Hurry up and show me! Shared joy is double joy! I heard it just now—something about seductive eyes and melancholy! Are you reading some inappropriate novel? Quick, let me see! I promise I won't tell Himeko!"
Rekka deadpanned. "Is your ear a radar? How could you even hear that from over there?"
Dan Heng stood to the side, watching with a resigned sigh as Rekka started dodging and weaving, keeping the terminal just out of March's reach.
"Dan Heng, you be the judge!" she cried, lunging for Rekka. "He's secretly looking at good stuff and won't let me see, and he's calling me a kid!"
"He's not lying to you. It's definitely not anything good," Dan Heng said, his eyes filled with a deep, deep helplessness. "Looking at it will actively lower your IQ."
"See? Even Teacher Dan Heng said so," Rekka chimed in, sidestepping another grab. "What are you still struggling for? Take my advice: curiosity killed the cat. Some things are better left unknown."
Seeing that brute force wasn't working, March 7th's eyes darted around as she immediately changed tactics. She put on her most pitiful expression. "Rekka, just let me have one look, just one! I swear I won't say a word after I see it! Actually, I…"
"Fine, fine, I'll let you see," Rekka sighed, finally relenting. "Don't come crying to me if it burns your eyes."
March 7th snatched the terminal and leaned in close, her eyes wide with anticipation. Three seconds later, her expression shifted from eager curiosity to wide-eyed shock, and then to something indescribably complex.
"What on earth is this?" She frantically scrolled through the bizarre text, as if to make sure she wasn't holding it upside down. "The Reignbow Arbiter and Phantylia? Who wrote this? This is too… too…" She couldn't even find the words. Could sentences even be arranged in such a blasphemous way?
"I told you," Rekka said smugly. "Looking at it too much will lower your IQ."
Stelle wandered over at some point, drawn by the commotion. Without a word, she deftly snatched the terminal from March 7th's limp grasp and began to examine it closely.
"Don't look, Stelle! That thing is toxic!" March 7th tried to warn her, but it was too late.
Stelle stared at the screen. Her brow furrowed at first, then smoothed out completely. Finally, a slow, meaningful smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
"Hiss—" Stelle took a sharp breath through her teeth and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I have to say, this setting is actually quite a vibe. A classic love-hate relationship—'I must shoot you for the sake of the world, but my heart wavers.' This kind of plot, full of dramatic tension, is absolutely peak fiction!"
Rekka and March 7th turned their heads in perfect unison, staring at Stelle as if she had just sprouted a second head.
"Are you out of your mind?" March 7th waved a hand in front of Stelle's face. "That's Phantylia! The Old Auntie who wanted to throw us all into a furnace and turn us into the Antimatter Legion! You actually think it's a vibe?"
"It's literary creation; don't be so rigid," Stelle waved her hand dismissively, already starting to improvise. "Think about it: what if Phantylia returns to the Antimatter Legion and gazes at the starry sky every night, missing the Reignbow Arbiter who once spared her…"
Dan Heng, who had been quietly sipping his tea, nearly sprayed it across the parlor car.
Rekka was speechless.
March 7th was horrified.
Dan Heng set his cup down carefully. "I'm starting to worry if the Astral Express is going to be pierced by a Lux Arrow one of these days."
"That's it. I'm going to shoot that person now." Rekka's smile was gone, replaced by a grim resolve. He snatched March 7th's bow from its stand and marched toward the exit.
He drew the string, a shimmering arrow of light coalescing from thin air. This one shot would be more than enough to find the backside of the person who wrote that fic, leaving them bedridden for at least a few days.
The internet is not a lawless land.
A few moments later, Rekka returned to the Express, still fuming.
"Did you really go and shoot them?" March 7th asked, taking back her bow. "It's just a piece of fanfiction."
"There's also someone writing fanfiction about Dan Heng and me," Rekka grumbled.
Instantly, March 7th's ears perked up. Stelle's eyes lit up like supernovas. Dan Heng's face darkened to a thunderous shade.
Rekka and Dan Heng huddled together, scrolling through the seemingly endless garbage stories about the Astral Express crew, their brows furrowed in shared disgust.
"How hard did you hit those people?" Dan Heng asked through gritted teeth.
"Not too hard. They'll just be eating their meals face-down for a couple of days." Rekka scowled. These fics didn't even have the decency to include a 'purely fictional' disclaimer.
"Help me shoot a few more people."
"Let me see, let me see! What kind of explosive content could make Dan Heng this angry!" Stelle practically vibrated with excitement, leaning over their shoulders. She let out a little tsk-tsk as she read. "Wow… 'His broad shoulders pinned him against the cold bookshelf, hot breath fanning against his ear'… With this wording, Rekka, you're actually the dominant one?"
Rekka's face went black as he snatched the terminal back.
Stelle immediately covered her mouth and shook her head obediently, but the glittering mischief in her golden eyes clearly screamed, 'I want to see more.'
"You guys might not know," Rekka said, stuffing the terminal into his pocket, "but our experiences have already been turned into a manga." He started to make another run for it, but March 7th was quicker this time, grabbing his sleeve.
"Wait a second, let me see that manga first!"
"It's called Beyond the Sky: Pom-Pom," Rekka called over his shoulder as he finally broke free. "Just search for it yourself!"
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