Chapter 60: The Secret Plan (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Hey! Hey! Brother, where are you running off to? Teacher Xuan's class is next. Given his personality, if he catches you ditching class, not even Grandpa will be able to save you."

Hearing his younger sister's voice from behind, Laughing Dust, who had been sneaking away, stiffened. He hurriedly turned back to cover Meng Hongchen's mouth, pressing a single index finger against his lips.

"Shh!"

Laughing Dust pleaded, "Xiao Meng, keep it down. What if someone hears you shouting like that?"

"Hmph! I don't care. I'm dragging you right back today."

Meng Hongchen let out a cold snort, crossing her arms and turning her head away to ignore her brother's pleading face. Then, her eyes rolled around and she smiled mischievously, "Unless you take me with you."

"You..."

Laughing Dust finally realized the hidden agenda of his eccentric younger sister and said helplessly, "Fine, fine, fine. I'll take you."

Upon hearing this, Meng Hongchen was instantly overjoyed. She grabbed Laughing Dust's arm and pointed ahead, "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Hey, hey! Don't drag me like this!"

A passing teacher saw the seemingly sneaky yet openly brazen actions of the sibling pair, shook his head helplessly, and walked away as if he hadn't seen anything at all.

The two of them walked and stumbled past one classroom after another, finally arriving at a dim, secluded corner.

Meng Hongchen cowered behind him, looking left and right, and asked suspiciously in a hushed voice, "Hey, why are we hiding here? There's nothing fun around here."

"You only ever think about playing. Your big brother here is doing serious work today," Laughing Dust whispered.

"You? A truant doing serious work?"

Meng Hongchen curled her lip in disdain, making Laughing Dust's eyelid twitch as he unceremoniously flicked her on the forehead, "You make it sound like you're not also ditching class."

Just then, a sound came from the corner not far away. Laughing Dust was so startled that he quickly pulled his body back into hiding and tucked Meng Hongchen further inside.

"Shh! Quiet, someone's coming."

Under their cautious gazes, a group of figures draped in black robes walked leisurely toward this side. As they drew closer, Meng Hongchen became extremely nervous, but fortunately, they didn't continue forward, stopping instead in front of a door not far away.

A look of doubt surfaced in the depths of Meng Hongchen's eyes. Was there a door there just a moment ago?

They watched as the leading figure in black robes pulled out a key and inserted it into the keyhole. The door opened in response, and after he walked inside, the rest filed in one after another.

Then, something happened that made Meng Hongchen's eyes widen: that door actually vanished into thin air right against the wall! There were no soul-tool mechanisms activated—it simply disappeared right before her eyes!

Laughing Dust lowered his voice and said, "Did you see that? This group of black-robed people isn't coming here for the first time. It's just that the previous few times it was only one or two people; this is my first time seeing so many."

He had only stumbled upon them by accident initially, and back then, wondering why anyone would dress so mysteriously inside the Imperial Sun and Moon Soul Engineer Academy, he had followed them, only to witness the exact same scene as now.

Perhaps driven by the curiosity of youth, or perhaps by some inexplicable sense of responsibility, he had hidden and secretly observed them several times in a row, until today when he wanted to push things further.

Just as Laughing Dust took a step forward, he felt the hem of his clothes being tugged. He turned his head in confusion to see Meng Hongchen's face looking dead serious.

Pulling her foolish brother back with brute force, Meng Hongchen said in a low voice, "Since they're here, the academy higher-ups must know about it. Don't go meddling in other people's business; it's probably just some secret experiment."

"What kind of secret experiment requires black robes—"

Before Laughing Dust could finish speaking, he heard the sudden sound of a door opening and footsteps approaching from behind, accompanied by laughter.

"Precisely because it's secret, it's a secret experiment, haha. Well, well, what do I have here? Two top students playing hooky."

Laughing Dust whirled around and instantly unleashed his martial soul. All the surrounding metal was drawn toward him, and various soul tools materialized across his body!

Fully armed, Laughing Dust froze when he saw the newcomer. There was no helping it; after all, this was the first time he had ever seen someone even more beautiful than his own sister.

Without the black robe wrapping around him, Chun bared his face openly as he looked with a smile at the brother guarding his sister. The next instant, his figure blurred.

"Bang! Bang!"

In just two moves, Laughing Dust was subdued by a single hand and pinned to the ground, while a blade formed by the other hand pressed against the neck of Meng Hongchen, who was attempting to release her martial soul.

Chun smiled faintly, "Checkmate."

"You... what do you want! This is the Imperial Sun and Moon Soul Engineer Academy; if you actually do anything, you won't be able to hide it from the academy's higher-ups!" Laughing Dust threatened through clenched teeth, his head pressed firmly against the ground.

This was the only method he could think of, and for now, he could only pin his hopes on this person having some misgivings about the academy.

Yet Chun didn't buy it at all, merely smiling, "Can it really not be hidden? You might want to ask your grandfather about that."

"Gran... Grandfather!"

The siblings' eyes widened. The other party's implication couldn't be clearer: their grandfather was fully aware of these people's existence, and had even deliberately paved the way for them.

If that was the case, why wrap themselves up so tightly? Were they deliberately acting mysterious?

Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

"Your Excellency, it is the fault of my two foolish grandchildren for causing an offense. Please hand them over to me, and I will ensure they never dare to be this discourteous again."

"Grandfather!"

Seeing their grandfather, Mirror Red Dust, suddenly appear, the brother and sister cried out in unison.

Mirror Red Dust looked at his two biological grandchildren with a gaze tinged with helplessness.

He said, "The first round of experiments is about to begin, and your presence is still required to oversee it, Your Excellency."

"Ha~ what is there for me to oversee? Everything's fine as long as that guy Du'ao is around. By comparison, I find these two grandchildren of yours much more entertaining."

Chun let out a yawn, pinched Laughing Dust's head, and stroked Meng Hongchen's cheek, looking at Mirror Red Dust with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "Chief Red Dust, if Crown Prince Kong finds out that outsiders are prying on the experiment, what do you think he'll do?"

These words caused Mirror Red Dust's body to stiffen instantly. Remembering that Crown Prince's ruthless methods of late, even as one of his greatest backers, he didn't dare to be overly presumptuous toward him right now.

Chun smiled playfully, seeming to thoroughly enjoy Mirror Red Dust's reaction. After a brief standoff, he finally grew tired of the game, casually tossed the sibling pair aside, and waved a hand with a smile, "Make sure there isn't a next time, or the consequences will be severe."

"Oh right, let me ask you something, Chief Red Dust."

Just as he was about to step through the door, he poked his head back out and asked with a smile, "What do you think constitutes a genius? And what constitutes foolishness?"

Mirror Red Dust, who was checking on the injuries of his two grandchildren, frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Heh, nothing special. Just asking."

"Hurry up and take them away. I can't guarantee someone else won't show up here in a moment."

"Click."

Watching that doorway slowly close and vanish right before his eyes, Mirror Red Dust let out a breath of relief, before the anger surged back up as he looked at his two grandchildren.

"What is the meaning of this? Isn't it class time right now? Did you skip class? Xiao Xiao, shut your mouth and let Xiao Meng explain."

Laughing Dust opened his mouth to argue, but could only watch as his own sister shifted all the blame onto him, leaving him to face their grandfather's increasingly dark expression all by himself.

"You really are... *sigh*, forget it." Mirror Red Dust, who had wanted to say more, sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Hurry off with you. Make sure nobody sees that you've been around here."

"Grandfather, those people are—" Laughing Dust wanted to ask more, but was immediately silenced by a glare from Mirror Red Dust.

"Don't meddle in things you shouldn't touch. You'll find out when you reach my level; otherwise, nothing good will come of it. Now both of you get back and attend your classes properly. Don't forget, you'll be participating in the Mainland Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament not long from now."

"So do you understand now?!"

"Yes!"

Watching their dejected backs as they scurried away, Mirror Red Dust wore a look of utter helplessness. He had done his utmost not to drag them into this, and he only hoped nothing would go wrong in the future.

Thinking of that almost sacrilegious plan that defied human ethics, ripples of emotion stirred in his heart once more. Hesitation and doubt filled his features, finally distilling into a single, heavy sigh.

"Mechanical ascension... can it really succeed?"