Chapter 128: A Dinner With Roommates, Yao Jiamu’s Subverted World Views

The room was suddenly plunged into silence. Xu Jing had been focusing on penning her article, but the sound of Bai Xinran hitting the floor made her pause and look over to see the girl that had always been so focused on maintaining on her image sitting on the floor, her hair a mess.

Taken off guard by the sight, Xu Jing looked over to Gu Xiqiao to see the other girl standing in front of Bai Xinran with a pissed off expression, her brows furrowed as she looked down at the girl on the floor with a piercing glare, and it was the first time Xu Jing had seen her like this.

Sun Jiajia who was booting up her laptop to play a game paused too and looked over to see Bai Xinran holding herself up with the bed, her veins popping from anger.

Gu Xiqiao was looking down at Bai Xinran with a strong aura, and even though she wasn’t the one who Gu Xiqiao’s anger was directed at, she could still feel the pressure that emanated off of the unassuming girl. As she listened to what Gu Xiqiao said, Sun Jiajia couldn’t help but shrink back, surprised that the girl that always seemed so unbothered by everything would be so scary when she was angry.

After a moment, of silence, Xu Jing stood up and handed Gu Xiqiao a towel. “Dry your hair, hm? It’s dripping with water.”

Gu Xiqiao glanced over at the towel before her aura changed again as she accepted it, placing Xixi onto her desk and drying her hair.

Humiliated, Bai Xinran glared at Gu Xiqiao again before tidying herself up and storming out of the room with her bag.

Bang!

The door was slammed shut with such force that the windows rattled.

Sun Jiajia immediately turned her head around and marched off to the bathroom to take a shower before hiding onto her bunk and drawing the curtains around it before finally breathing a sigh of relief. The sight of Gu Xiqiao fury from earlier was too terrifying for her, and she couldn’t shake those eyes that were filled with an oppressing aura.

How could such a thin person chuck someone that was more than ten pounds heavier than her away like that? Was she a monster?

Gu Xiqiao didn’t think that much of it after that and sat back at the table where Xiao Yun and Wu Hongwen had been messaging her to come back to play. She clicked a few buttons and their party went to another dungeon before she saw Xixi that was acting dead on the table.

Xixi shrugged and looked around at the room sheepishly, not daring to stare Gu Xiqiao in the eye.

Gu Xiqiao looked at it for a few moments before muttering, “Stupid.”

Xixi pitifully chirped back in response. It wasn’t stupid! It just wanted attention from Gu Xiqiao!

“Do this again, and you get out of my sight immediately.” Gu Xiqiao told it with a warning tone.

Bai Xinran was just a normal human, and even ten of her couldn’t hurt a feather on Xixi, but not only did she grab it, but she almost pinched it to death. Gu Xiqiao knew that Xixi was acting weak, but she still couldn’t control herself when she grabbed Bai Xinran and shoved her away, and judging from how much force she had put in there, she wouldn’t be able to heal under two weeks, and the doctors wouldn’t even know what was wrong with her!

She wouldn’t have treated Bai Xinran like that had the latter not gotten in trouble with her in the first place—They were roommates after all, so things really didn’t need to get that way, but now that she had taught Bai Xinran a lesson, she felt much better.

When bedtime came around, her phone vibrated slightly, and Gu Xiqiao switched it on to see a message from Xu Jing.

Xu Jing: Beauty Gu, you shouldn’t have blown up at her, you know? Bai Xinran is from the Bai family, so you might get in trouble…

Gu Xiqiao knew that the girl was worrying on her behalf, so she replied: It’s fine, I know my limits.

Xu Jing stared at the message for a moment before nodding to herself. Gu Xiqiao had always been mature and smart, so she wouldn’t say that without being sure about it, but she was still quite worried. The Bai family wasn’t a family that could be trifled with so easily, even in the Imperial Capital.

They didn’t see Bai Xinran at all in the following days, and while Gu Xiqiao didn’t care at all and acted as she normally would, Xu Jing was quite worried and even asked the student council about it. After she got the news that the girl had been on leave, she was even more confused and worried about Gu Xiqiao.

Meanwhile, Sun Jiajia didn’t dare to act strangely with Gu Xiqiao anymore, not even daring to speak with her. Every time she saw her, she would remember what she had said about Gu Xiqiao behind her back, and she lived in terror that she might be thrown downstairs by the other.

On the fourth day, Bai Xinran returned to the dorm, and Xu Jing, for one, was taken completely off guard.

The reason for that was because Bai Xinran had a gentle and perfect smile on her face as if nothing had ever happened, greeting everyone amiably and even smiling at Gu Xiqiao, and it was completely out of character for her.

According to her personality, she was probably the type to seek revenge from Gu Xiqiao as soon as she had the chance to, but just from the looks of it, she didn’t care about it at all.

“I think something’s wrong with Bai Xinran…” A certain Detective Xu muttered as they were eating in the university canteen. “Is she plotting something? You have got to be more careful!”

Gu Xiqiao’s pale and lithe fingers knocked on the table before she looked up at the other girl. “Don’t talk about that person when we’re eating, it makes me lose my appetite.”

Xu Jing sighed. “I wouldn’t if I had the choice, but I’m just too worried, you know? It’s the Bai family we’re talking about here you know? They would probably only need to blow a single breath to wipe us off the face of the earth!”

“What are you saying? We are living in a lawful society.” Gu Xiqiao rebutted, raising her eyebrows slightly.

“That’s true…” Xu Jing looked around, and since it wasn’t lunch hours, there weren’t a lot of people around. Lowering her voice, she spoke, “Enough about that, you know about the Nine Heavens Group right? You’re a gamer after all. They’re so, so cool!”

Xu Jing was excited about the topic, and as soon as she started talking, she couldn’t even keep her mouth shut anymore as she told Gu Xiqiao all about the exploits of the company.

She majored in journalism, so she was great at communication, and she spoke about the trade war as if she had gone through it herself.

“Eat.” Gu Xiqiao was silent for a moment before she gave Xu Jing a piece of beef from her bowl in an effort to shut the other up.

Before Xu Jing stopped, she finished off her ramble with, “I have no chance to become someone like that, but I now have the life goal of interviewing the person behind the Nine Heavens Group!”

Seeing that the girl didn’t eat, Gu Xiqiao picked the piece of beef back into her bowl with her chopsticks. “That’s a lame life goal.”

“You just don’t know how influential this company is!” Xu Jing sighed, feeling lonely talking about this with someone that had no idea about it. “Right, you’ll let me interview you later right?”

Gu Xiqiao knew that Xu Jing had joined the student council and the school newspaper department, and had been given a column of her own because of her remarkable performance.

Xu Jing had investigated on Gu Xiqiao’s popularity before, and it had already been twenty days since classes started, but not only had her popularity not diminished, it had even become greater and greater. At present, pages about her were still the most popular in the university forums.

Gu Xiqiao would have outright refused the proposal to interview her if it were anyone else, but since it was Xu Jing, she didn’t even think before agreeing to it.

With her weekly quota filled, Xu Jing smiled in satisfaction. “Wu Hongwen agreed to an interview yesterday, and now you agreed too, and I’m contacting that hottie from the Law faculty… All that’s left is the mysterious genius Luo Wenlang from the Faculty of Management and Economics.”

Speaking of this guy made Xu Jing want to cough up blood in frustration. As the second place holder of the national finals that year, he had a lot of attention on him too, but he was always a low-key person. On the first day of school, he applied for a semester’s worth of leave, and along with the application was a bunch of thesis papers, and this application was approved by the dean of the faculty.

“I lurked around the faculty for five days to be told this bad news! Just smite me now!!!” Xu Jing grumbled.

Gu Xiqiao didn’t reply, because she would have said that only basics would be taught in the first year of university and that Luo Wenlang already knew all of that so it would only be a waste of time, but would she say that to frustrate Xu Jing even further?

***

Meanwhile, Sun Jiajia stood in front of Bai Xinran in the dorm, her head lowered as she bit on her lower lip in thought. In front of her, Bai Xinran searched up some pages before showing them to Sun Jiajia.

Sun Jiajia’s eyes widened slightly, and she stared at it for quite a while. She had always known that Bai Xinran was rich, but not that rich, and when she looked at Bai Xinran again, her gaze was tinged with envy and jealousy.

This world wasn’t fair at all, the way the money that her parents worked all their lived for couldn’t even compare to one of Bai Xinran’s dresses.

Upon seeing her reaction, Bai Xinran smiled knowingly, a glint of disgust and disdain flashing through her eyes before she spoke again, “Put what’s in that box under Gu Xiqiao’s bed.”

Sun Jiajia took over the wooden box that Bai Xinran had placed onto the table. On the box were intricate, ominous-looking inscriptions, and upon opening it, she saw a paper talisman that was slightly yellowed and painted with black and red pigment.

When her eyes saw the symbols drawn on the talisman, she felt a cold and terrible wave of energy, and Sun Jiajia stepped back as her heart palpitated in instinctual fear.

“You have nothing to be scared of, just put it in there quickly, this can’t be outside for too long!” Bai Xinran goaded and smiled coldly.

“Okay!” Sun Jiajia replied, before stuffing the talisman under Gu Xiqiao’s mattress.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Jing asked when Gu Xiqiao suddenly stopped walking, her eyes squinting slightly.

Unbeknownst to her, Gu Xiqiao could clearly see the energy field around her distorting and becoming messy in a single moment. “It’s nothing.”

Back in the room, Sun Jiajia was playing games with her head lowered, while Bai Xinran wasn’t there. Sun Jiajia lowered her head and shrank into herself slightly when Gu Xiqiao returned, not daring to look at her at all. When the other only took some stuff and left, she breathed a sigh of relief and flopped onto the table, panting softly.

There was only one session of classes in the afternoon, and an unimportant one at that, so Gu Xiqiao left the school grounds after classes ended.

“Something’s off today, isn’t it?” Xu Jing’s brows furrowed slightly when Gu Xiqiao tugged her out of the way of a car once again. At first, it was the basketball flying at them, now it was a car coming at them out of nowhere, was she really so unlucky?

Gu Xiqiao looked at the road, before glancing at Xu Jing. “You go first, I think I forgot something back in our room.”

“Alright, stay safe okay?” Xu Jing waved at Gu Xiqiao before skipping into the building.

Gu Xiqiao walked back to the dorms, and at that moment, there was no one there. Gu Xiqiao pushed open the door and walked over to her bed, before flipping her mattress and seeing the ominous talisman under it.

***

Bai Xinran immediately rushed back to the dorms upon sensing that the talisman had been touched, but when she arrived, there was only Gu Xiqiao sitting there at her desk, while her bed was clean and tidy. She tried to sense the talisman again, and it was still pressed underneath the mattress as if no one had touched it.

Did she make a mistake? Bai Xinran breathed a sigh of relief, before looking at Gu Xiqiao. “I’ve mentioned inviting you guys to have dinner together right? How about tonight, we don’t have classes tomorrow anyways.”

“Sure.” Gu Xiqiao replied with a nod.

Bai Xinran was surprised by how easily she agreed to the invitation. Was this girl really Gu Xiqiao? She thought she would have had to convince her more than this.

She stared at Gu Xiqiao’s back, and Xixi that was resting on her shoulder turned around and stared right into Bai Xinran’s eyes, its black orbs gleaming as if there were flames in them. Bai Xinran was scared by the sight and stepped back in fright, but when she looked back at Xixi, it was still the harmless, pretty bird it had always been.

Xu Jing didn’t refuse the offer because even Gu Xiqiao agreed to it, and Sun Jiajia was the last person who would refuse, and in the rare event that all of the roommates were of a single opinion, Bai Xinran immediately reserved them seats at a restaurant.

“We won’t be going to the Royal Hotel today, but the Garden of Eden that opened up in the town center!” Bai Xinran said with a smile.

Sun Jiajia heard this, and her gaze became even more expectant upon getting the chance to eat at a restaurant that was much better than Royal Hotel.

It was quite far away from the campus, but Gu Xiqiao only furrowed her brows slightly, not commenting about it.

The Garden of Eden was member-based, and in terms of interior design and facilities, it was a leg above the Royal Hotel, and upon getting off the car, Sun Jiajia was astonished by the grandeur of the building, having never eaten at such an establishment before.

As the four of them walked towards the entrance, another party of people came out. Bai Xinran glanced at them, before smiling and walking towards them. “Uncle Lin.”

Those people weren’t wearing gold and silver, but with a single glance, it was clear that they weren’t regular folk based on the way they carry themselves. This ‘Uncle Lin’ was one of the Bai family’s business partners, and Bai Xinran had met him before when she followed behind her elders.

Even though the Lin family’s properties were around the same level as the Bai family’s, one key difference between the two families was that the Lin family was based on politics. The businesses that they had under their name were taken care of by Uncle Lin’s wife, and their position was actually higher than the Bai family that focused solely on their business.

“I heard from your father that you got into A University, good job.” Lin Cheng spared a glance at the three that followed behind Bai Xinran, seeing that they were just ordinaryly plain, he looked back at her with a praising gaze. “Are these your friends?”

“Yes, they are.” Bai Xinran was quite flattered and surprised that the man had remembered who she was, and as her gaze scanned the crowd, she gasped and exclaimed, “Senior Lin?”

Lin Xia’s gaze moved away from Gu Xiqiao, and upon hearing Bai Xinran, he nodded. “Hello.”

“I take it you two are acquainted?” Lin Cheng seemed in quite a good mood.

“Senior Lin is the student council president and one of the most popular students in our university, how could I not know him?” Bai Xinran covered her mouth daintily as she giggled. She had never expected Lin Xia to be Lin Cheng’s son! She had thought that the most outstanding person in the student council was Xia Zijun, but it was actually the humble and low-key Lin Xia.

Of course, what she expected the least was that the son of Lin Cheng would be a student in the medical course.

“Oh?” This was the first time that he had heard of this, and he was quite taken by this girl that was polite, demure, and well educated. “The student council president, hm? This boy never tells us anything about his campus life…”

“Father, didn’t you always say that you wanted to see the genius from our faculty?” Lin Xia cut the topic short, tilting his head in Gu Xiqiao’s direction. “That’s her.”

Hearing Lin Xia’s words, Lin Cheng raised his eyebrows slightly and looked towards the three again, and his gaze was immediately attracted to Gu Xiqiao that was standing behind Sun Jiajia.

She was the most different in demeanor within the three girls, and her flawless face attracted attention while she stood with good posture, but her hands were stuck in her pockets. Even though that was the case, no one would think that she was impolite or rude in the slightest.

“So you’re the genius Gu Xiqiao that even Professor Jiang praises endlessly?” Professor Jiang was Lin Xia’s mentor and was renowned internationally as the authority in neurology, and Lin Cheng had used his connections to get Lin Xia under his tutelage in the past. When he heard that this professor praised someone on his own accord, his interest couldn’t help but be piqued by the subject of that praise.

Gu Xiqiao was visibly taken off guard upon having the topic shifted onto her all of a sudden, so she replied after a short lag, “Yes…”

“You’re definitely going to have a bright future!” Lin Cheng praised.

Gu Xiqiao was about to reply before her phone rang, and if it were anyone else she would naturally have ignored it, but it was Jiang Shuxuan’s designated ringtone, so she only ducked her head apologetically. “Sorry, I have to take a call.”

“Hello, Brother Jiang.” Gu Xiqiao walked over to a pillar and spoke lowly.

The voice on the other side of the line rumbled, “Where are you?”

A glance at the name of the restaurant. “Garden of Eden.”

“The one in the center of town yes? I’ll go get you.” Jiang Shuxuan’s brows furrowed slightly as he touched the jade pendant on his chest, thank goodness it wasn’t too far away.

“You can’t do that, I have dinner with my roommates.” Gu Xiqiao rolled her eyes.

There was silence on the other side of the line before Jiang Shuxuan spoke again, “Continue with your plans, I’ll go there anyway.”

According to his schedule, he would have returned on the next day, but when he was out on a mission, he felt the energy on the jade pendant weakening, its glow dimming as it did. He knew that this jade pendant was intrinsically connected to Gu Xiqiao, so he hastened his movements and finished his mission beforehand so that he could rush to her side.

In any case, he had to check on her to get peace of mind.

Gu Xiqiao hung up on the phone, and Lin Cheng was still chatting with Bai Xinran, and her charisma had the elder man quite entertained.

“I won’t interrupt your plans anymore, but come and visit sometime yes?” Lin Cheng checked on his watch, before bidding Bai Xinran farewell. “We’ll be taking our leave.”

This was the first time that she had been invited to the Lin family, so Bai Xinran was actually quite excited about it. “I will! Goodbye Uncle Lin!”

Lin Cheng nodded and was about to bid Gu Xiqiao farewell too, but upon remembering what Bai Xinran had said, he frowned slightly and turned away.

He didn’t need to have manners for a promiscuous university student that slept around with many men.

Lin Cheng and company had just made their way down the stairs before a black car stopped in front of them, its tires screeching as it decelerated, and Lin Cheng stopped as he saw that it.

The car itself wasn’t all that special, but its number plate. ‘京1000’ certainly was. Lin Cheng had the luck to see this number plate once at an extremely important meeting, and he knew how important the person in the car was, and he retracted his steps as he looked at the car respectfully.

A lithe hand pushed open the door, and the man inside stepped out.

A pair of icy cold eyes gleamed in the night, its owner having thin lips and a high nose, but what stood out the most about the man wasn’t his looks, but his imposing aura.

Even though he had already guessed who it was, but Lin Cheng was still quite surprised when he saw him. “Young Master Jiang?”

Jiang Shuxuan glanced over, but he didn’t know who it was, so he only nodded cursorily.

Bai Xinran and Sun Jiajia were astonished by Lin Cheng’s reaction, and Sun Jiajia’s face became flushed as she whispered at Bai Xinran, “Why is your Uncle Lin so respectful towards Gu Xiqiao’s boyfriend?”

“I don’t know!” Bai Xinran was quite upset by the sight, and while she already knew that Jiang Shuxuan wasn’t a regular person, she couldn’t find any information about him after checking on the information of all of the young masters in Imperial Capital. That could only mean one of two things—Either he was in a high enough position to evade her investigation, or he was just a regular rich kid.

She hadn’t seen him at all in the past few days, so she subconsciously assumed that he was just a regular person.

Looking at it again today, she knew that her assumptions were definitely wrong.

Lin Cheng probably knew who he was, or else he wouldn’t have been so respectful, but if such an influential person as Lin Cheng could only bow his head, who exactly was Gu Xiqiao’s boyfriend?

Bai Xinran’s smile became forced, and her gaze became even more threatening as she glanced over at Gu Xiqiao.

Jiang Shuxuan’s gaze immediately found the girl standing beside the pillar who was staring at him in astonishment—Did he come too quickly? It had already been ten days, and Jiang Shuxuan finally breathed a sigh of belief upon seeing that the other was fine.

He walked over, but before neither of them could say anything, Bai Xinran spoke, “Ah, so you two are still together?”

As soon as she said this, Jiang Shuxuan looked over at her with a pressing stare, and Bai Xinran was immediately intimidated, gulping before she continued: “I thought you two must have broken up after I saw her walk with another man…”

Gu Xiqiao hadn’t spoken, but Xu Jing rebutted with a frown, “Bai Xinran, what nonsense are you spewing?!”

“She’s not spewing nonsense, a lot of people saw them, myself included!” Sun Jiajia spoke up on Bai Xinran’s behalf, then her gaze met with Jiang Shuxuan’s handsome face, and it was the first time that she was close with such a flawless person that she could feel her heart threaten to jump out of her chest.

Jiang Shuxuan immediately knew what was going on, and he looked at Gu Xiqiao, seeing the girl blink at him innocently and not saying anything in response to the accusations.

“You’re Qiao Qiao’s roommate, yes?” The low rumble of a voice startled Sun Jiajia, and she was about to reply, but then she saw that he was looking at Xu Jing when he asked this.

Xu Jing was a little nervous upon being cued all of a sudden, and she nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“I’m sorry, but I think we will have to call off dinner for this evening, come and have dinner at our place tomorrow.” Jiang Shuxuan nodded at her politely, his expression softening upon knowing that she was Gu Xiqiao’s roommate.

His gaze became cold and emotionless again when he glanced over at Bai Xinran and Sun Jiajia. Why did she agree to have dinner with these two?

He walked over and held Gu Xiqiao’s wrist before leading her towards his car, his expression unreadable as his oppressive aura made everyone step out of his way.

Lin Cheng looked over at Lin Xia after the car left the vicinity, and he hummed to himself before he spoke, “That’s the little genius of your faculty, yes? Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Lin Xia replied nonchalantly.

Lin Cheng didn’t think much of it and nodded. “Don’t get into any trouble with her, and it would be best if you could become friends with her.” Lin Cheng regretted his cold attitude from earlier, would he leave a bad impression on Gu Xiqiao? He berated himself on letting his head only be filled with profit and gain.

***

In the car, Jiang Shuxuan could feel that the messy energy field on her was gone, but something wasn’t quite right, and after looking at her for a while, he realized that she was hiding her condition from her intentionally.

“Brother Jiang, let me off for a sec.” Gu Xiqiao’s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing the two familiar silhouettes by the plaza.

Jiang Shuxuan stopped obediently, and Gu Xiqiao immediately got off the car.

The two people that were standing by the plaza were Luo Wenlang and his father, Luo Jiajun.

Luo Jiajun had already gotten used to the luxurious lifestyle of upper society, so he wouldn’t let any chance to return to it go. Upon getting news that Luo Wenlang was now the representative of the recently up and rising black horse company, the Nine Heavens Group, he immediately scrambled to find him.

Luo Jiajun got someone to help him investigate, and they found that the Nine Heavens Group was a new company that had even more potential than the Chen family.

Luo Jiajun immediately had other ideas of exploiting his son upon knowing that he was in the prestigious Nine Heavens Group, but now their positions were completely switched.

In the past, Luo Wenlang was the one that could only look up at him, and he could treat Luo Wenlang whichever way he wanted, but now he had to put down his high and mighty demeanor to ask pity from him.

He had already used up all the money he had, and couldn’t even stay in hotels anymore, so if this went on, he could only stay in the slums.

It’s easier for someone to go from a frugal lifestyle to a luxurious one than the other way around, after all, and how could he let this chance go now that he knew his own son was so rich and influential?

Luo Wenlang looked at the man in front of him, blanking out as he thought to the past when Luo Jiajun had first left their family. He could still remember his face then, but the memories that came after were all of his mother working day and night to provide for their family, then the news that Luo Jiajun had abandoned the two of them that he heard from his neighbors.

His mother died in a car accident a few days later, and he knew who the mastermind behind this man-made accident was.

Who else could release a murderer that had the intent to kill other than the Chen family?

Luo Wenlang was weak and helpless in the past, and he could only hate Luo Jiajun and the Chen Family. He swore to himself that he would make the Chen family pay, but he was restricted greatly in N City, and after a long time, it finally got through to him that the Chen family really could do whatever they want in N City. For his brother Luo Wenlin, he stopped struggling, and while he worked part-time every day, he always thought to himself how lucky he was that he still had something to fight for.

That was until the day Mu Zong came to him with a million yuan and a contract.

Gu Xiqiao might not have thought of it as much, but to him, that was his salvation.

Until today, he still couldn’t believe that the Chen family that had always been like an unbearably heavy stone pressing on his chest was wiped out just like that.

He looked down at Luo Jiajun who was practically groveling at his feet with a mocking glare. “Who are you? Why should I take you in?”

Luo Jiajun didn’t know what to say. He had thought that Luo Wenlang would accept him graciously, and he had even confirmed it with a psychologist that the young man would definitely be lacking a father figure in his life.

“Luo Wenlang, who are you to look down on me like this? You’re just a sparrow that managed to get in the good graces of the Nine Heavens Group!” Luo Jiajun shouted, almost hysterical from the thought of having to return to the slums and continue living that dirty and tiring life. “What difference do you have from me? We’re both just nobodies that get into high places by begging and stealing! How dare you mock me!”

“He’s much better than you are, that’s for sure.” Gu Xiqiao commented. “At least he achieved everything that he did through sheer hard work… Is that true for you?”

Luo Jiajun recognized Gu Xiqiao as the young lady that had confronted the master of the Chen family. “How do you know that I haven’t worked hard? Do you know how much I have sacrificed?!”

“Oh, don’t say that sir, of course we do!” Gu Xiqiao smiled confidently. “You came here to the Imperial Capital in 2001 and fell in love with Chen Feng at first sight, and immediately forgot the fact that you had a wife and a son waiting for you at home, and the next year you struck your wife with a stick to make her leave when she came to see you at the capital. Chen Feng found out about it later, and was so angry about it that she had someone crash into your poor wife with a car, and you heard about this too but you acted like you didn’t know about it, yes?”

“You… You…!” Some of the passersby looked over with dubious glances when they heard this because Gu Xiqiao didn’t suppress the volumn of her voice in the slightest, and an embarrassed flush burst out on Luo Jiajun’s face. He looked at Gu Xiqiao in fright and confusion upon her knowledge about all of this, as Chen Feng had definitely wiped it from all the records!

The gazes of the crowd were unbearable, and Luo Jiajun covered his face and fled pathetically with his tail between his legs.

If he knew this day would come, he wouldn’t have let Luo Wenlang stay alive and cause his downfall like this!

He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green and felt like it would burst, but now that his deepest secrets were revealed, he could only scramble back to the slums that he hadn’t been in decades.

“Thank you.” Luo Wenlang covered his eyes after he saw Luo Jiajun flee like a cockroach. The fact that his mother had come to the Imperial Capital in search of his father in the past was news to him too, and he felt terrible knowing that her mother had been humiliated like that.

Gu Xiqiao only shook her head slightly. “I was just worried that you would be softhearted, he doesn’t deserve you, you know. I’ll go now okay?”

Gu Xiqiao had found all this out ages ago, but she never told Luo Wenlang until now.

His phone rang, and upon seeing that it was Yao Jiamu, Luo Wenlang picked it up before hanging up after a few words, chuckling lowly. How lucky was he, to have all these people in his life as his salvation? Mu Zong, Yu Ning, the Nine Heavens Group… And Gu Xiqiao.

She was the brightest star in his dark and gray sky.

His greatest serendipity was meeting Gu Xiqiao, and his greatest courage was reaching out and borrowing two thousand yuan from her.

Luo Jiajun was actually right when he said that he only had what he had today because of the Nine Heavens Group, but more precisely, he wouldn’t have his achievements today.

(In another life, he would have ascended to great heights and would have consumed the entire Gu family after Gu Xiqiao’s death, but that’s a story for another day…)

Back in N City, when everyone was afraid of the Chen family, only Gu Xiqiao signed a contract with him. Back then, Nine Heavens Group had barely even started and was far weaker than what it was now, and according to Mu Zong, the Chen family had picked trouble with them in the past too.

The promise that Nine Heavens would have his back until the very end lingered in his mind.

He felt that he wouldn’t ever forget this debt, even in his next life.

***

Back in the car, Jiang Shuxuan asked, “Those roommates of yours said you were walking with another guy?”

Gu Xiqiao sheepishly rubbed her nose upon hearing this question, and replied, “It was Wu Hongwen, we were going to see Xiao Yun together, you know, since we’re not in the same university.”

“Alright, I was just asking.” Jiang Shuxuan nodded, and his expression was as calm as ever.

He was actually still quite busy, and so he went off to tie up some loose ends after making sure that Gu Xiqiao was alright.

Gu Xiqiao patted Xixi’s head as she sat on the bed, closing her eyes and entering the virtual arena. After doing her daily missions, she recreated the ominous paper talisman under her mattress with a single thought.

This was the strongest point of the virtual arena, the way that she could recreate and project it even though she didn’t have the slightest clue how the talisman worked.

This talisman was impervious to fire and water and everything in between, and Gu Xiqiao gave up on trying to destroy it and started to flip through books and scrolls. With two stacks of books on either side, she would set the book she was reading down occasionally and draw on paper.

The system spirit floated around in surprise. [Beauty Qiao, you’re quite talented at drawing talismans!]

She had already created a very basic talisman after just a short while, and more importantly, now she could get more missions!

As soon as the system spirit spoke, a cold and mechanical voice rang out from the void.

[Ding! You have activated the third chain mission: Find the user of the Soul Extinguishing Seal, and save its victim!]

Gu Xiqiao: ‘System, could you not blabber for two seconds?’

The system spirit: [Go out Beauty Qiao, Yao Jiamu has already called you a dozen times!]

Gu Xiqiao exited the virtual arena as she thought about the Soul Extinguishing Seal, and she accepted Yao Jiamu’s call when he called again.

“Miss. Gu, I’m at Kongshan Temple, and Big Boss Bai is talking with a Taoist monk, but something doesn’t feel right…” Yao Jiamu’s tone was quite serious, and because he was a beginner in ancient martial arts, he could feel things that regular people couldn’t. Since he stepped into the temple, he felt that something was off, but he couldn’t tell Big Boss Bai about it.

Upon getting into trouble, the first person that Yao Jiamu thought of was Gu Xiqiao.

As soon as he spoke, he felt a shift in the air, and as Gu Xiqiao questioned him on the other side of the phone, he felt as if he couldn’t speak as he looked up and saw the Taoist monk that was smiling ominously.

“Pass away peacefully, young man, I’ll exorcise you!” The old Taoist monk waved the fly-whisk in his hand, and an invisible force surged towards Yao Jiamu.

Yao Jiamu’s eyes widened in fright and all of a sudden…

Bang!

“Ah, my beautiful feathers! Beauty Qiaooooo!”

The air in front of Yao Jiamu rippled before a large bird appeared in front of him all of a sudden. Yao Jiamu felt the force on his body disappear, and even though he could talk again, Yao Jiamu was extremely astonished by the sight in front of him. Even though it was many times larger, but wasn’t this Xixi? How was it so big? How could it talk??

Yao Jiamu asked experimentally: “Xixi…?”

“Don’t call me Xixi, call me the great and mighty heavenly beast!” Xixi huffed and puffed its feathers, before turning around and facing Yao Jiamu with its backside.

“You really are Xixi?” Yao Jiamu felt his entire world view was subverted in a single moment.

“The Vermillion Bird!” The Taoist monk reacted and looked at the giant bird in front of him, and immediately remembered the accounts of this legendary beast. He had never expected such a beast to appear in front of him, and one that had already obtained intelligence!

As he recalled the information about the Vermilion Bird in front of him, he remembered legends that it was immortal and that it had unquenchable flames, and he immediately stepped back warily. It was true that he wanted this beast, but he knew that he didn’t have the ability to capture it. If he was too rash, even his spirit would be wiped out in an instant!

This was the Vermilion Bird from the legends, and if he had it, he would be able to hold his own against those masters from the ancient martial arts families, not having to hide again!

Thinking of this, the Taoist monk reached and touched the two talismans on his waist that he reserved for emergencies, especially the Heavenly Lightning Talisman.

He didn’t need to defeat the Vermilion Bird, he only needed a chance for it to accept him as its master.

He could tell that this bird wasn’t controlled in spirit, so it was definitely not owned!

The old Taoist monk stepped back further as he took out a talisman, but before he could move, a clear voice rang out behind him.

“Are you so sick of living? That’s my bird!” He turned around and saw a girl standing there in the night, her expression cold as her hair waved even though there wasn’t any wind. Coupled with the chi that was surging around her, she looked like an immortal.

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