The Villain I Loved Has Broken Free and Transmigrated Out of the Story - Chapter 40

Yin Ya was beginning to realize that when talking to someone like Cang Lanyan, a creature with her romantic brain buff maxed out; you needed a lot of mental flexibility. Otherwise, the conversation would easily veer off in strange directions.

Though she didn’t currently think Cang Lanyan’s romantic brain buff was particularly strong. After all, the Old Spirit had mostly been rational in the past. Yin Ya found her increasingly hard to read ever since she regained her emotions and desires.

“I don’t have some weird obsession with staring at you every second,” Yin Ya retorted irritably after a few seconds of silence. Then she abruptly changed the subject: “Do you need vinegar or chili sauce?”

Clearly, Cang Lanyan hadn’t followed her train of thought. She took a bite of wonton, silently watching Yin Ya without responding.

Yin Ya gestured toward the nearby customers eating their wontons. “You can do like them; use a small plate for your dipping sauce.”

Cang Lanyan swallowed, glanced indifferently in that direction, and scooped another spoonful of wontons. “Do as you please,” she said mildly.

Yin Ya brought over a small plate, added vinegar and spicy sauce, mixed them together, and pushed the plate toward Cang Lanyan.

“Actually, I’m not really sure about your taste preferences,” she said. “When you first arrived, I made a fool of myself more than once trying to guess what you liked.” She paused before continuing. “So, if you have the chance, I hope you’ll try different things and figure out what you really like, instead of letting me decide for you.”

“Why is that?” Cang Lanyan asked.

Yin Ya thought for a moment, then lowered her voice solemnly. “Because you should have your own desires.”

Cang Lanyan fell silent again. After a few seconds, she placed the freshly scooped wontons onto the small plate and rolled them around in the sauce.

“If you don’t like something, just avoid it in the future. But if you do like it, have a few extra bites and spend a little more money on it,” Yin Ya said leisurely. “For ordinary people like us, our basic desires are that simple. If you don’t understand, you can start by finding satisfaction in these simple pleasures.”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw Cang Lanyan pick up a wonton covered in vinegar and spicy sauce and put it in her mouth. Then her entire body froze.

“Uh, the peppers at this place are really spicy. Are you sure you can handle it?” Yin Ya added belatedly, like an afterthought. “Maybe just dip a little bit, don’t coat the whole wonton.”

In the end, Cang Lanyan still ate the overly spicy wontons. But after that, she never dipped into the sauce Yin Ya had prepared again, nor did she make her own.

This time, Yin Ya brazenly took the used sauce and devoured the remaining wontons with relish.

After leaving the breakfast shop, Yin Ya stole glances at the tall spirit walking beside her. Suddenly, she didn’t really want to go to the mall right away.

Shopping was just an excuse anyway. Her main reason for going out today was to “lighten the mood” and prevent the distance between her and Cang Lanyan from closing too quickly.

But Cang Lanyan had followed her out, not only refusing to hide her presence, but also changing her appearance and walking openly beside her. This rendered her “lighten the mood” plan utterly useless.

…Spending time together at the mall only made the atmosphere feel even stranger.

“What? Leaving already?” Cang Lanyan asked.

“Let me take you to my school,” Yin Ya said decisively. “There are many old trees there, and the morning air is fresh. You’ll definitely like it.”

Linjiang University, where Yin Ya studied, was a prestigious institution over a century old, its campus dotted with lush, towering trees.

During her first and second years, Yin Ya had always enjoyed waking up early to jog on campus. After punching in, she’d feel refreshed and ready for breakfast and class.

As the school term approached, Linjiang University’s gates opened as usual. Yin Ya swiped her student card and led Cang Lanyan toward Jing Si Avenue, where a row of public bicycles was parked.

“The campus is huge, and it’s a long walk from the gate to the lecture halls,” she explained. “That’s why I usually ride a bike. You need to leave early in the morning or you’ll be late. See? That’s the bike rack.”

Cang Lanyan followed her gaze. “I’ve seen descriptions of these in reference materials. They seem designed for single riders.”

“Want to try riding one?” Yin Ya asked.

Seeing Cang Lanyan nod, Yin Ya hurried to the bike rack, swiped her student card to borrow a bicycle, and slowly wheeled it out. She waited for Cang Lanyan to catch up before straddling the seat.

“Bicycles can go fast, but we’re not in a hurry today,” Yin Ya said. “I’ll just take it slow and show you how it’s done.” She began pedaling leisurely, guiding the bike steadily down the avenue at a gentle pace.

Cang Lanyan strolled alongside her, keeping pace.

Though it was their first time walking like this, they moved in perfect harmony, neither pulling ahead of the other.

As time passed, other students rode past on their bikes, but none paid them any attention.

A cool, early morning breeze swept through their hair, swirling fallen leaves across the ground.

Every figure in the distance hurried away.

“It’s still vacation time,” Yin Ya explained. “At this hour, students on campus are mostly heading to study rooms or the library. Human Race college students have a lot of freedom. As long as they meet their credit requirements and don’t break any rules, they can pretty much do whatever they want during their four years at Linjiang University.”

She paused, unable to resist sighing. “That’s why so many people get lost. Without the strict guidance of elders and teachers, their future and goals become very blurry.”

“Does that include you?” Cang Lanyan asked.

“It does,” Yin Ya nodded. Seeing no teaching buildings or other people around, she casually rang her bicycle bell. Accompanied by the crisp bell, she continued, “In a way, I’m not much different from you. For a long time, I didn’t have my own desires. I just mechanically followed the crowd, striving for the best, whether it was grades or certificates.”

“Is that so?” Cang Lanyan murmured. “Now, I can sense overflowing desire in you.”

“That’s because I’ve already found my desires,” Yin Ya said with a smile. “Although they’re not very strong, at least they help me realize that my life still has meaning.”

The bell stopped ringing. Above them, green leaves rustled softly, dancing in the breeze.

Cang Lanyan watched the God’s smile with keen interest. A warm emotion blossomed in her heart at that moment, lifting the corners of her lips as well.

It seemed to be named “Joy.”

After riding for about ten or fifteen minutes, Yin Ya finally stopped in front of an old-fashioned red-brick building.

“I checked the course schedule. This is where I’ll be taking my morning classes this semester.” Yin Ya didn’t dismount, keeping one foot on the ground as she gazed up at the five-story teaching building. “Luck’s on our side. Three of my courses are here, and they’re all in the morning.”

“Are there classes not held here?” Cang Lanyan asked.

“Yeah, university classrooms are spread out all over. Besides the required courses for each major, we also have elective courses to fulfill credit requirements. Some electives have to be taken outside your major, so you have to go to other departments’ teaching areas.” Yin Ya nodded. “I don’t have too many classes this semester, but the classrooms are still scattered. The other three courses are in different buildings, and they’re quite far apart.”

She turned and saw the confusion in Cang Lanyan’s eyes. “Don’t worry if you don’t understand,” she said quickly. “It’s not important. But if you’re interested, I can show you my student handbook, course schedule, and academic calendar later.”

Cang Lanyan nodded, glanced around, and crossed her arms. “You don’t mind showing me your classroom while we’re here, do you?”

“No rush. We’ll be coming here every day soon enough. There’ll be plenty of time to see the classroom.” Yin Ya turned the bike around. “Besides, the classrooms are all monitored…”

Before she could finish speaking, the Major Antagonist, who had been standing within sight just moments before, had vanished without a trace.

“You can’t just disable the school’s surveillance!” Yin Ya abandoned the bike and immediately began searching for the culprit, terrified.

Just as she suspected, Cang Lanyan was standing beneath a surveillance camera, her hand poised to cut the wires inside.

“Why not?” Cang Lanyan asked.

“It’s public property!” Yin Ya quickly grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the camera’s range.

“Then the cameras in the hallway aren’t public property?” Cang Lanyan retorted.

“They are…” Reminded of this, Yin Ya realized she hadn’t reported this to the community yet, nor did she know if any neighbors had complained. A headache was coming on. “I didn’t dare leave the house during your first few days here. I’ll settle this right after we get back!”

She straightened the bicycle she’d hastily leaned against the wall and added, “Anyway, sooner or later, they’ll take down the surveillance cameras everywhere. I’ll send you more information about why later.”

As she rode back to the school gate, Yin Ya still felt her heart pounding uneasily.

Passing by the security office, she couldn’t shake her worries. She asked Cang Lanyan to wait outside while she went in to check on the status of the surveillance cameras on the first floor of the building they’d just been in.

“Why are you so obsessed with taking down surveillance cameras?” Yin Ya blurted out as they left the campus. “You’re always spying on others yourself!”

“Exactly because I often spy on others, I refuse to be spied on myself,” Cang Lanyan replied with conviction.

Yin Ya was speechless. Just then, the light turned green. She stepped onto the crosswalk first, leading Cang Lanyan back to Ruiye Garden. They planned to stop by the community security office after shopping.

They bought mint from the usual vendor. This time, Yin Ya also picked up some tomatoes and red-skinned radishes, planning to test Cang Lanyan’s preferences for different flavors.

Yin Ya bought the printer paper at a bookstore she often visited. Her novel was so long that even using a smaller font size and printing double-sided would result in a thick stack of pages.

Just in case, Yin Ya bought enough paper to print two complete novels of several hundred thousand words each. When she checked out, the owner smiled and asked, “Is this young lady printing her graduate thesis?”

Cang Lanyan stood to the side, watching Yin Ya politely fend off the owner’s questions. As Yin Ya turned and walked away with a bag of paper, Cang Lanyan narrowed her eyes and followed.

“You actually wrote that much?” Cang Lanyan asked when they were out of earshot.

“If you include the other stories, it’s far more than that,” Yin Ya replied, huffing white breath as she carried her bags. “The story featuring you isn’t even finished yet. If you’re really interested, I’d have to print the rest for you.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll just learn to read it on my phone,” Cang Lanyan said.

Yin Ya, who was climbing the stairs, nearly stumbled at these words. She shot a resentful glance at Cang Lanyan, but before she could protest, all the plastic bags suddenly appeared in Cang Lanyan’s hands.

“Let me help.”

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