Su Yan's answer was somewhat unexpected.
Sister Yu was caught off guard, momentarily speechless.
After composing herself slightly, Sister Yu forced a smile and explained, "You look so young. Even if you jumped around for half a day, you wouldn't necessarily get tired."
"On the other hand, this gentleman behind me has white temples and is at least in his sixties. He must have some trouble with his legs."
Unmoved, Su Yan looked up at Sister Yu and said evenly, "Hmm, fair enough. Indeed. And then?"
"And... then?" Sister Yu couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth upon hearing this.
However, she quickly composed herself and said patiently, "Look at the gentleman. He's elderly, and his legs give him trouble. How difficult and tiring must it be for him to stand on the bus?"
"But you're young and agile. Shouldn't you offer your seat to someone who has difficulty standing?"
After listening, Su Yan nodded, agreeing profusely, "Fair enough. Indeed. I fully support your point."
Hearing this, Sister Yu wore a satisfied smile. "Since that's the case, I'll thank you on behalf of the gentleman..."
Before Sister Yu could finish, Su Yan interjected, "Auntie, who told you that older people must have leg problems and that younger people are always agile?"
Then, Su Yan raised his voice slightly, "Do you think it's appropriate to make such sweeping generalizations?"
"Aunt... Auntie?"
Sister Yu was taken aback.
She was only twenty-five years old, having just graduated with her master's degree and started working.
What she hadn't expected was that the young man in front of her would actually call her "auntie."
Sister Yu was furious and about to erupt, but Su Yan quickly seized the chance to say, "For instance, I may only be seventeen, but in reality, I'm a sickly person who has to visit the hospital every few days."
"Usually, just walking a little extra leaves me wheezing and gasping for air, let alone standing on a bus."
"The slightest brake from the driver or a sharp turn could make me fall at any moment."
"May I ask, Auntie, have you ever considered this scenario for me?"
Su Yan finished and stared directly at Sister Yu, silently awaiting her response. The pressure was palpable.
"Well... I... I..."
Rendered somewhat guilty by his gaze, Sister Yu spoke apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so frail..."
Seeing Sister Yu's remorseful expression, Su Yan chuckled. "There's no need to apologize, Auntie, because what I just said was purely hypothetical. I'm not really sickly..."
Sister Yu was dumbfounded.
Before Sister Yu could react, Su Yan continued his verbal onslaught, "Auntie, open your wide eyes and take a good look. Although this old man appears to be in his sixties..."
"But have you noticed his imposing build? Does he look like someone with leg problems?"
"Compared to him, doesn't my frail and thin body need this seat even more?"
"Auntie, what do you think?"
After speaking, Su Yan gazed at Sister Yu, patiently waiting for her answer.
"I... you... well, this is..."
Sister Yu was at a loss for words.
But unwilling to concede, she retorted stubbornly, "But still... the gentleman is elderly, after all. His age is obvious."
"I don't think it's wrong to ask you to give your seat to an elderly gentleman, is it?"
How ridiculous, Su Yan thought, then replied dismissively, "I don't know if you've noticed, but this old man is wearing sportswear."
"Moreover, there's a sports towel draped around his neck embroidered with 'the Ultimate Training Hall.'"
"Additionally, from his slightly unzipped backpack, you can vaguely see a clean change of clothes."
"So, to summarize, the old man is a physically fit evolved human on his way to the Ultimate Training Hall."
"And that Ultimate Training Hall is located just across from the next bus stop."
"Right now, we are less than half a minute from the next stop."
"And in this half-minute before the bus arrives at the stop, I personally think even the act of standing up to offer the seat is unnecessary."
"It is for this very reason that I didn't offer my seat to the old man just now."
As he finished speaking, the bus arrived at the stop right on cue.
And just as Su Yan had analyzed, the old man got off the bus and walked away as soon as it stopped.
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
The sight of the old man alighting from the bus felt like repeated slaps to Sister Yu's face, making it burn.
Yet, Su Yan twisted the knife, "Auntie, do you find my actions inappropriate in any way?"
"I..."
Facing Su Yan's barrage of arguments, which felt like a relentless bombardment, Sister Yu was speechless.
Unbelievable! This is truly unbelievable!
A grown man, in broad daylight on a public bus, doing such an outrageous thing to a woman like me!
Is there any decency left in this world?
How can anyone be so shameless?
So angry! So cold! Shivering!
This world is full of men oppressing women! It's utterly preposterous!
Sister Yu was so furious she felt like mentally flipping a table.
This time, Sister Yu was truly rendered speechless by Su Yan.
She had wanted to argue back.
But somehow, the more she listened, the more she felt that Su Yan had a point.
She seemed completely unable to refute him!
At this moment, under the collective gaze of the other passengers, Sister Yu felt her face burn with embarrassment, utterly ashamed.
The more she stewed on it, the angrier Sister Yu became. The angrier she became, the more she thought about it, until she finally couldn't stop herself from cursing at Su Yan in a fit of pique:
"You clueless oaf! Stay single forever!"
After cursing, she turned her back to Su Yan, choosing to ignore him.
Su Yan was speechless.
What was that all about?
Getting mad and resorting to insults just like that?
If you've got guts, come at me!
Soon, the bus started moving again.
Along the way, the bus drove quickly, but time seemed to pass slowly.
Both Su Yan and Sister Yu just wanted to reach their destinations and leave as soon as possible.
SCREECH—!
The bus, not yet at its stop, suddenly slammed to a halt for some unknown reason.
Many unprepared passengers were thrown off balance by inertia.
"Hey driver, do you even know how to drive?"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Are you trying to murder us with that sudden stop?!"
The bus had braked very suddenly, and many passengers who had stumbled or fallen were furious.
The driver, ignoring the passengers' indignant shouts, exclaimed in bewildered shock, "What's going on? Why is something like that in the middle of the road?"
Hearing this, the passengers followed the driver's gaze and saw a tree root, nearly two meters thick, lying across the road.
Upon closer inspection, it was a banyan tree root, as massive as a small hill, lying across the center of the road and blocking traffic.
With no other choice as the bus was completely blocked, the passengers had to disembark one by one.
Su Yan also got off with the others, but as soon as he stepped out of the bus, he was stunned.
Everywhere he looked, there were banyan tree roots several meters thick.
Some lay horizontally on the ground, forming natural roadblocks that paralyzed nearby traffic.
Others clung to buildings, their countless tiny rootlets penetrating the walls, forcing open several shocking fissures.
Suddenly, the road erupted with noise as people began to chatter anxiously.
The situation was too bizarre and serious; it easily sparked panic.
Su Yan remained relatively calm, carefully observing his surroundings.
He quickly realized that all these giant banyan roots originated from the same direction.
Without overthinking it, Su Yan followed one of the large roots and arrived at a place both familiar and unfamiliar.
Unfamiliar because he had never been to this place before.
And familiar because this was where his Second Sister, Su Erke, attended Luo City Central Primary School.
Su Yan's face showed shock as he stared blankly at Luo City Central Primary School before him.
In the center of the school grounds stood an incredibly enormous banyan tree. From afar, it looked like a mountain, its crown almost soaring into the clouds.
Is this... a Demons and Monsters event?
Su Yan's expression changed at this thought.
If he remembered correctly, at this very moment, his Second Sister, Su Erke, was supposed to be in class inside Luo City Central Primary School...
...