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Chapter 122 Don“t Come To The Capital!

Standing not far outside the school’s entrance, Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin after hanging up. She was baffled by Li Yanmei’s odd reaction over the phone.

Shortly after, the person she was supposed to meet popped into her view. Raising an eyebrow, Gu Xiqiao asked, "What are you up to? Why are you looking around like that?"

"No, nothing. I was just saying my prayers to the God of studying just now, that’s all." Li Yanmei pulled Gu Xiqiao to an inconspicuous corner.

"I don’t know if you know this but uh, the sudden influx of transfer students to this school this year was because of them wanting to pay homage to you."

If she were to walk around the school grounds beside Gu Xiqiao, God knows if she’ll be able to make it out alive by the end of the day.

Gu Xiqiao rubbed her nose in amazement.

"It’s really gotten that crazy?"

"I swear I’m not exaggerating." Li Yanmei appeared to be dead serious. "Why didn’t you tell us about that when you returned to the village. I bet my mom and the village elder would be ecstatic to hear what you’ve achieved."

"... I guess I forgot." Gu Xiqiao slapped the pesky Xixi off her shoulder. "Let’s leave this for another day. How about you? Have you gotten used to this place?"

"Does that even matter? I’ll have to thank the heavens that I managed to land a place in this school." A smile broke across Li Yanmei’s face. "Thankfully, I have you around. Without your help, First City High’s never gonna take me in, cause, you know, my age and all. I’m at least 2-3 years older than all of my peers and it’s not like my grades are the best either."

It was a single sentence from Mu Zong that sealed the deal. Slowly, he said to the school’s headmaster, "This girl here is Gu Xiqiao’s cousin. Would it be possible if..."

"Oh, a relative of our much beloved student? Why of course we’ll take her in! Hm, how does the first class sound?" Both the tone and facial expression of the headmaster changed the moment the words "Gu Xiqiao" entered his ears. Even as they were about to leave, the headmaster personally accompanied them to the school’s entrance, all while wearing a great big smile. "Should you face any problems living here, please, do not hesitate to schedule an appointment with me."

Li Yanmei initially had no idea why the headmaster had suddenly changed his attitude. Now, she understood that she had come to this school, riding on the coattails of Gu Xiqiao’s reputation.

"Alright, I shall get someone to bring you a set of notes and revision books. They’re all compiled by me during my final year at this school." Gu Xiqiao then remembered how long it has been since Li Yanmei touched a book. Without help, she would inevitably struggle to keep up with the syllabus. As those from the parallel class back then had struggled too, she set aside some time to revamp the notes that she had made for the parallel class.

Unbeknownst to Gu Xiqiao, her set of notes had been shamelessly printed into countless copies by the headmaster, which as a result, created the academic miracle that would go down in N City’s education history. Be that as it may, there was no one who could top what Gu Xiqiao achieved.

Li Yanmei of course, knew just how precious Gu Xiqiao’s notes were. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come. With someone of that caliber supporting her, she felt... great.

"Oh right, I gotta bring you clothes shopping." Gu Xiqiao said as she eyed the conservative outfit Li Yanmei was wearing. She feared that dressed in that outfit, the girl would find a hard time fitting in with her peers. "Treat it as a celebratory gift to you for managing to get into your dream school. After all, I’ve never really given you something as a gift, have I?"

Li Yanmei felt that coming to N City was already bothersome enough and for her to receive clothes from Gu Xiqiao for free, anymore and she’d start choking up from the guilt. However, seeing Gu Xiqiao’s eyes that were brimming with anticipation forced her to lay down her defenses. She had fallen for her trap.

It was already noon when their shopping trip came to an end. Gu Xiqiao brought Li Yanmei to a restaurant for a grand meal. After they were done with lunch, she cruised with her cousin slowly toward the center of a crowd.

After hearing what Li Yanmei had to say, Gu Xiqiao refrained from going back to First City High, mainly due to her fear of stirring up unnecessary trouble. She drove straight to Li Yanmei’s new apartment and dropped her off there. She had things to do for the rest of the day, like assigning important tasks right before she left for the Imperial Capital.

Gu Xiqiao stopped her car in an alleyway behind First City High. She did not get out of the car immediately. With just a thought, a transparent screen materialized in front of her eyes. It showed a map of the alleyways with a green dot that slowly inched across said screen.

"At that speed of his, how long until he walks out?"

[At least 30 minutes], reported the system.

It took her only ten minutes to navigate out of that alleyway. Activating her strong psychokinesis, she was able to locate and "see" Yao Jiamu in the blink of an eye. There was also a girl that was flirting around with him. Rubbing her chin, Gu Xiqiao said to herself, "This Yao Jiamu is pretty gentle with her isn’t he?"

[Should we catch up and take a look?], the nosy system spirit hopped forward. [I’m gonna go first!]

Gu Xiqiao followed its lead, with Xixi trailing behind her. It was a rare sight to see it acting so quiet. Still, it was flapping its wings, circling above her head, which was slightly annoying but even that was much better than its usual self.

Xixi could only make noise in its tiny bird brain.

’Arghhhhh I have so many things to say but I’ve promised Master Jiang to stop bugging the young lady!’

***

Yao Jiamu had committed something big recently. By himself, he wiped out an entire team of rivals and because of that, he got promoted. Now, he stood shoulder to shoulder with the leader of his gangs and he even was assigned a handful of underlings.

"Yao Jiamu. Are you really this heartless? Have you forgotten about me? Do you remember what you said to me back then? That you’d never leave me! That till death do us part!"

That girl’s acting was as real as it gets. Even the way she cried made her seem more attractive, which was absolute proof that she had been well-trained in this art.

"Hmph." Yao Jiamu had spent too much of his time in the criminal underworld that he started exuding a foreboding air around him. He seemed mature but at the same time, threatening. That, paired with his low, husky voice boosted his sex appeal to women around him.

The girl stared at him dumbfoundedly. She couldn’t believe how much he had changed since the first time they met. He no longer contained the youthful spirit that she was desperately searching for. She used to fear provoking Master Wang but she would always act more boldly around Yao Jiamu. Because, no matter how angered he was, he would not resort to killing her, would he?

"Boss, is there anything that we can help you with?" A group of men jumped down from the back of a truck that was parked on the opposite side of the road. Stripped to the waist, these men were covered in tattoos of the same, green dragon. Every one of them seemed like they were ready to kill, or at least from her point of view.

Boss? She knew that it was a term typically used by the triads but who were they calling boss? Apart from her and Yao Jiamu, the alleyway was pretty much deserted. Suddenly, the truth dawned on her. Wearing an expression of disbelief, she turned toward Yao Jiamu.

Yao Jiamu got up and looked over to his men, ignoring the girl that stood just a few feet away from him.

"It’s nothing. Let’s go."

And so, menacingly, Yao Jiamu walked down the alleyway with his men following behind him. The girl was frozen in place for roughly two seconds before grabbing her bag and trailing behind the moving mass.

Gu Xiqiao located Yao Jiamu only after a few steps into the alleyway. Following tightly behind him was a large team of big, burly men.

"Yao Jiamu, are you filming a drama or something?"

"You are brave to dare disrespect our second in command!"

No matter how she looked at it, Gu Xuqiao found it hard to believe that Yao Jiamu managed to climb up the ranks of a gang.

Subconsciously, Gu Xiqiao waved her hands and without physically making contact with that underling of his, the men was sent flying back by five meters.

"Oh no, careful!" Gu Xiqiao estimated that the force she exerted most likely would have inflicted serious injuries on that man. She was standing beside a trash disposal spot and noticing a foam lying next to her feet, she sent the box flying toward the man at mach speed. Just as she had calculated, it landed right underneath her first victim, breaking his fall.

Finally, Gu Xiqiao could sigh in relief. Forcing an innocent face, she said, "I really didn’t mean to do that."

She paused for a while before deliberately adding, "He’s just too weak for me."

Put yourself in the shoes of these men. To see one of your friends getting his ass handed to him by a sweet young girl. How humiliating it must be!

In the previous second, these men could hear the sound of flowers blossoming when the mysterious girl stepped out in front of them. In the next second though, they almost heard the sound of said flower shattering into a million pieces. Despite her beauty, they were hesitant to even think about making a move against her after seeing what she had done to their comrade.

"Miss Gu?" Yao Jiamu had become excited after recognizing a familiar face. "Why are you here?"

Gu Xiqiao eyed the group in front of her.

"To take a look."

Yao Jiamu’s underlings were shocked. So she was an acquaintance of their boss. As expected, only he could ever be friends with such a powerful person.

"You guys head back first. I’ll be staying here," Yao Jiamu barked out toward his men. His expression was threatening. Evidently, he had grown quite a bit since the last time they met. As they say, bloodshed was the fastest way to turn a boy into a man.

"So, what’s up? Why are you looking for me today?" In an instant, Yao Jiamu returned to the way he was back then.

Gu Xiqiao raised her hand and instinctively, Xixi landed on her finger. It gobbled up a black pill that she held out on her other hand. Although it wasn’t as effective as the last one she fed it, it was still better than nothing.

"My new semester’s starting soon, so I have to ask you about your future plans." Gu Xiqiao turned away from him. "Let’s go. We’ll see just how much you’ve grown in combat."

Yao Jiamu’s eyes lit up upon hearing her invitation. Ever since downing the pill that Gu Xiqiao had offered to him, he could feel his powers grow exponentially each day. At this point, even Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun were no match against him, what more to say of regular humans, who he could kill with just the slightest movement of his fingers.

Okay, this might be too much of an exaggeration but it was true that Yao Jiamu’s ancient martial arts had become much more powerful than before.

Xixi circled above, observing the enthusiastic Ya Jiamu with sympathetic eyes. "Foolish child. M’lady will crush you without even giving you the chance to scream. I wish you luck. My advice is... don’t get killed."

As the two walked further away, a girl slowly peeked out from the corner. Looking at them from behind, she wore an envious look on her face. With such a person standing in her way, no wonder Yao Jiamu was so reluctant in returning his love for her.

On one side of the training ground, Yao Jiamu took up his battle stance. On the other side stood the graceful Gu Xiqiao. Reaching out a single delicate finger and with a voice as clear as crystal, she said, "I won’t be a bully this time. I’ll be using one-tenth of my strength against you."

Yao Jiamu finally understood what it was like to be in Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun’s shoes...

Gu Xiqiao was not joking when she said that she would use only a tenth of her total strength. Even so, Yao Jiamu was already pushed near his limits. A blinding white light flashed past his face as he barely dodged her killer fist. Dodge her fist he did but he still failed to avoid the shockwave that resulted from her fist going over the sound limit.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

In three seconds, Yao Jiamu had been rendered almost unrecognizable from Gu Xiqiao’s series of attacks. Slowly, he lifted himself off the dusty ground. His face was still calm, meaning he could and wanted to still fight on. His combat capability had certainly improved significantly; although he was still below Gu Xiqiao for now, it won’t long before he becomes on par with her.

Even he acknowledged that what he saw today was just the tip of the iceberg. Having been defeated, Yao Jiamu solidified his will to keep on strengthening himself so that perhaps one day, he would stand toe-to-toe with Gu Xiqiao.

After their battle ended, dust filled the air of the two-meter wide ring. Yao Jiamu’s body was caked in a thick layer of gray-colored dust and unsurprisingly, Gu Xiqiao remained squeaky clean, just as she had gone into battle. To his amazement though, the air in a one meter-wide circle around her was clean, as if an invisible barrier had been erected.

What was even more surprising was that Xixi, who had remained in the ring throughout their entire battle, was as clean as its master; its feathers were still glistening red, which attracted Yao Jiamu’s attention.

Upon catching wind that the two were about to slug it out in the ring, Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun had brought over their stools to observe the fight. They, who had been constantly shoved around by Yao Jiamu, needed to regain their confidence. Gu Xiqiao’s role here was to break the idea of Yao Jiamu’s invincibility as well as to exact revenge in their stead. This was especially so for Wu Hongwen, who had videotaped the entire battle as something to laugh at afterward.

***

As the start of their new semester neared, they needed to settle a bunch of stuff. Yao Jiamu had to deal with his gang, all while overseeing how things were unfolding in the capital. As such, he needed some help himself. Impressed by his bravery on the battlefield, the leader of his gang was even prepared to offer his own place for Yao Jiamu.

Yao Jiamu thought about Gu Xiqiao’s words, reminding him to stay humble. She specifically advised him to remain as the second-in-command. Upon announcing his decision, the leader of his gang was so moved by Yao Jiamu’s sense of honor that he swore to protect him with his life.

After asking for Gu Xiqiao’s permission, he taught a handful of useful combat skills to his own men. They weren’t styles used by ancient warriors but instead, practical fighting techniques that, if mastered, could take down ten inexperienced fighters at once.

Wu Hongwen on the other hand, was so overwhelmed by his own family business that he even brought over a huge file during his afternoon practice. He needed to burn the contents within this file into his brain. This was especially so as his father had recently let go of the business, meaning most of the responsibility had to be borne by his shoulders alone. This apparently stressed him out a great deal.

Only Xiao Yun out of the trio was the most relaxed. Every day, she’d waste her time watching famous celebrities working out. Though, you could say that in a way, she was rather busy?

"I’ve reserved a table for us at the Flying Fairy Restaurant." Wu Hongwen said out of the blue. "Of course, I’m not talking about Huxin Pavilion. That place can only be reserved by people like Young Master Yin after all. Still, I hope you guys can come."

"For what?" Xiao Yun shot him a glance.

An embarrassed look suddenly surfaced on Wu Hongwen’s face. Scratching his head awkwardly, he replied, "Heh heh, it’s my birthday today."

In unison, the three thought, ’How did I become friends with this idiot again?’

’Aren’t you supposed to announce in advance that your birthday is coming up? Is that not what people usually do? To notify your friends in advance?’

Such an abrupt announcement placed the trio in an incredibly awkward situation.

"Guys, stop acting like that. You know I never celebrated my birthdays in the past." The only reason that was the case was because his asshat of a dad never seemed to be able to remember his actual birthdate. In fact, he had just learned that today was his real birthday yesterday.

Gu Xiqiao looked at him as she received the document file, which she immediately flipped open to scan through.

Wu Hongwen scratched his head at her actions. "Er Qiao, what are you doing?"

She was flipping through the pages so fast that no person could possibly read it. Was she just counting the pages or something?

"Sounds like it’s a rare occasion, celebrating your birthday. Here’s your present." Gu Xiqiao glanced up at him before snatching away a pen from his hand. Then, she scribbled, crossed out, and even sketched on the pages in Wu Hongwen’s dummy thick file.

If an employee of Nine Heavens Corporation was present, he or she’d definitely be awestruck. Oh, their boss is up to something new and ground-breaking again.

Within just a few minutes, she had absorbed the sea of information like a colossal sponge. After she was finished with her editing, she placed the file back into Wu Hongwen’s hands. "Let’s just say, you should get a couple of new, more competent workers in your company. Out of this entire stack, only a handful of proposals are passable. Seems like a lot of them are just wasting your time and money."

With disbelief painted across his face, Wu Hongwen flipped through the pages.

’Oh my god I think I’m gonna prostrate under your feet right now! What are you? A god or something!?’

Xiao Yun and Yao Jiamu were puzzled at what was actually going on. However, seeing Wu Hongwen’s defeated facial expression, they couldn’t help but feel pity for him. Even on his birthday, he was unable to avoid his ego from being smashed against the floor. This truly was duh-press-ing!

The Flying Fairy Restaurant was as tall as ever. The moment their cars rolled to a stop, the manager started shuffling over to greet their respected guests for the night. While Wu Hongwen had only reserved a regular private room for them to celebrate in, the manager, who was well-acquainted with Gu Xiqiao, specially offered them a spot in the infamously un-reservable Huxin Pavilion.

"Somehow, I feel like I’m not actually deserving of this." Wu Hongwen muttered to himself. "Er Qiao, I’ll be in your care from now on."

"You’ve the guts to do that?" asked Xiao Yun nonchalantly.

"...not really." Wu Hongwen’s knees buckled the moment memories of a certain someone popped up in his mind.

Walking to the front desk, the manager bowed lightly. "Please wait here for a moment. I’ll be with you after I get your plaque."

These people didn’t mind the wait. Happily, they sat down and started conversing with each other.

"Didn’t you guys say no pets?" Shortly after sitting down, the sharp voice of a woman came from the main entrance. Looking over, she appeared to be a middle-aged woman but perhaps because of that, she had caked on a thick layer of powder over her face. It was so thick that deep, abyss-like cracks formed near the end of her eyes where most of her wrinkles were concentrated.

"Ma’am, I’m afraid that birds do not fall under our list of restricted pets." Although the front desk worker had no idea who Gu Xiqiao was, he had already taken note of how respectful the manager treated her, and so he did the same.

The woman was not going to let them off that easily. Deliberately increasing the pitch of her voice, she yelled: "What do you mean it’s not a pet? That bird of hers isn’t a pet and yet my golden retriever is considered one? And here I thought that you people were professionals. It is quite obvious that I have made a mistake."

Although most of the clients at this establishment were members of the upper class, this was their first time dealing with such a difficult person. Even if a rule had been breached, the people here would simply turn a blind eye and more so for Gu Xiqiao in fact. This woman however, was rather ignorant in this regard.

"Please forgive us. Our staff members will not stop you the next time you visit our establishment." The way the front-desk operator handled this matter was perfect to the T.

"That’s enough. Just go in," said the man beside that woman impatiently. He had every right to be angry after being publicly humiliated by his wife’s trashy attitude.

Something inside that woman snapped. "Fine, I know what you’re thinking, Li Gui! You’re getting tired of me aren’t you!? Never forget that I stuck close by your side even when you were so poor that you couldn’t afford to pay for a pair of trousers! Now that you’re rich, you’ve gone off with a younger slut haven’t you!? Yes, you just want to forget about your "wretched wife" don’t you!?"

"Now you’re just being unreasonable!" The middle-aged man was so frustrated that he started shaking. Without saying a word more, he stormed through the door.

The woman had by now, forgotten all about the pet incident. No matter how infuriated she was, she still had to enter the building. If not, how else could she brag to her friends about visiting Flying Fairy?

"Yao Jiamu? What are you doing here?" The woman was shocked upon recognizing the man sitting beside Wu Hongwen. How could such a person be a patron of this fine establishment? Didn’t they say that this hotel was exclusively visited by the upper class? Did he have a member card or something?

Yao Jiamu silently stared at the woman, refusing to acknowledge her as his aunt. He wasn’t the one to blame for this though. Ever since this lady became rich, she started to look down on the poor, even her own relatives. Back then, when Luo Wen was desperately in need of money to pay for his chemotherapy, his attempts to borrow some money from her only earned him a scornful look from her beady eyes. She was merciless, and despite having more than enough money for herself, she started to ignore him. Though, it was because of his resulting decision to start stealing that he was able to meet Gu Xiqiao.

Now, it was time for her to get a taste of her own medicine.

"I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Miss Gu." The manager hurried over and bowed apologetically. "I’ll bring you guys there."

Despite her ignorance, Yao Jiamu’s aunt could tell that the manager was an important man in this establishment. Of course, the manager himself had nothing to do with her. She knew him because of how Li Gui, her husband would treat this manager respectfully every time they came here. Her eyes twitched when she saw the manager lead her nephew and his friends to Huxin Pavilion. She stood there in silence, thinking about Li Gui’s attitude from before. If Yao Jiamu had indeed struck gold, with his help, would Li Gui treat her just a little better? The more she thought about it, the more she leaned toward the answer, "yes".

And so, when Gu Xiqiao and company finally left the building, the woman was still standing outside the entrance, quite obviously waiting for them. Li Gui’s face had become stiff all because of his wife’s foolish antics. "You better be careful from now on! What are you doing out here!? How can you leave my boss behind like that!? I’m telling you, you’re not gonna live to see another day if the boss gets offended!"

"Boss?" His wife was not fazed. After all, that manager treated Yao Jiamu and his friends way more courteously than he did toward the "boss" that her husband revered.

"Why you!" Li Gui was royally pissed. Deep down, resentment toward his wife had finally taken root. What he felt more than rage though, was regret. He regretted taking in this uncultured swine of a woman as his wife. It was truly the biggest mistake he had ever committed in his life.

Aunt Yao couldn’t care less about her husband’s feelings. Her eyes were locked onto the doorway; no matter what, she could not let Yao Jiamu slip away like that. Her nephew definitely did not disappoint her, yet. In the next moment, just like before, the manager accompanied them out of the building with the friendly smile that neither she nor her husband had ever seen before.

Before she was able to step forward though, the man whom her husband kept calling "boss" darted forwards.

"Mister Yao, and oh, aren’t you Young Master Wu? Wait and... this... you’re Miss Gu!"

While the "boss" definitely acted his part in front of Li Gui, the same could not be said when it came to this group of youngsters. The man he focused the most on however, was none other than Yao Jiamu, the rookie. The last procurement of his could not have materialized if not for this young man’s help. In Li Gui’s boss’ opinion, this young man was a hustler who had a lot of potential. In fact, he was not all too surprised when he learned that Yao Jiamu was now the second most important person managing N City’s criminal underworld.

Thus, it was important to forge a solid bond with this man. Who knows? Maybe there would come a time when his help was much needed.

He did not expect to see Yao Jiamu standing alongside a member of the Wu family, who had by now, legitimized most of their business. Lastly, there was N City’s most fearsome young lady, Gu Xiqiao.

Instantly, he thought back to the banquet where a young aristocrat decided to challenge Gu Xiqiao. Shortly after that, a fire broke out and literally burned down the entire event. From then on, said aristocrat was permanently barred from entering any upper-class banquets.

Seeing how the "boss" was currently acting, Aunt Yao was intrigued. With a beaming smile, she stepped forward.

"Why isn’t it my nephew? Say, do you still recognize me?"

This poor relative of hers begged to see her back then didn’t he? Now, she had graciously decided to give him a chance to meet her, so he should be fairly moved, no?

Yao Jiamu continued speaking to the boss. He did drink quite a bit tonight but he could hold his alcohol well. Still, he was slightly tipsy. Peering at his aunt, he asked coldly, "Who are you?"

People who are so heavily affiliated with the criminal underworld aren’t typically known for their good temper. His aunt however, was as ignorant as ever. In her eyes, he was still the same worm that squirmed helplessly in poverty. "Alright ya little sonuvab*tch! Screwin’ yer dad over just ain’t enough for ya is it? Now yer gunna ignore me too!?"

Beneath her thick makeup, Aunt Yao was your stereotypical village woman who cursed as much as she breathed. Everything that flowed out of her mouth sounded uncouth and downright dirty. It was at this moment that Li Gui made the call to find someone else who was more suited for him. It didn’t help that his boss’ facial expression had changed into one of horror.

"Shut your mouth, woman!" he howled.

"But I..." Before Aunt Yao could make up an excuse for herself, something red swooped in from above and started pecking on her scalp. She started yelling in pain and ran around, trying to hide from her unknown assailant. In the blink of an eye, her hair had been turned into a new-age birdnest.

Xixi looked at its own impressive artwork. This was revenge for calling it a pet!

Aunt Yao was red-eyed. Try as she might but she simply could not get a hold of Xixi.

"I’m gonna rip yer bloody skin off!"

Gu Xiqiao reached out her arm, on which Xixi happily landed. Slowly lifting her head, she looked straight into the woman’s eyes. "I’m terribly sorry. My Xixi has been quite a naughty fellow."

"Ah! Don’t worry about that!" The boss tried to defuse the situation. "Miss Gu, you should leave now. I know you’re a very busy girl."

"Mhmm." Gu Xiqiao nodded slightly to bid her farewell before leaving with her friends.

After they had left, the boss gestured for Li Gui to let go of Aunt Yao.

"If the both of you are hoping to die early, don’t get me involved too. Do you have any idea who those people are? Yao Jiamu is a big man in the underworld. His hands are stained with blood I tell you! Offend him and you’ll be sleeping with the fishes by the end of the night! I don’t even need to talk about Miss Gu. How dare you threaten to kill that bird of hers!? You could add both of your assets up and you’d still be worth less than a feather from that bird. Li Gui, we’ve been working together for so many years now. I’ve told you time and time again, if we are to continue our cooperation, you better make up with that nephew of yours soon. He seems to be an acquaintance of Miss Gu’s. Don’t you dare ignore this matter! Just taking into account of Miss Gu alone, I can guarantee that there are countless men offering their service to finish you two should she feel pissed off by your foolish act!"

In the end, right before he left, Li Gui’s boss turned around.

"I really don’t understand what you two are thinking. That young man’s an extremely precious asset but for some reason, you two just can’t get a hold of him can you?"

Li Gui loosened his grip on Aunt Yao, who by now, had finally realized how seriously she had screwed up.

"Stop wasting your time! Go look for that brother of yours!" he yelled.

***

Peace returned to Flying Fairy as the middle-aged couple left. It was then that another group of people approached the entrance. As she walked, Li Li kept peering in Gu Xiqiao’s direction. That girl seemed familiar to her but she just couldn’t remember who she was.

"What are you looking at Li Li?" asked the dean of N City’s Academy of Fine Arts. "I wonder what’s going on with that head of yours. If you really like daydreaming that much, why not try to recall that person who gave you that painting?"

"I tried. But it’s kinda weird. Every time I try thinking about her face, my mind just goes blank." Li Li started to feel a little frustrated.

The dean sighed disappointedly. "Fine, it’s alright if you can’t recall her face. For now, promise me you’ll try your best to accommodate Mr. Mu." Ever since Mu Yunfan’s arrival at N City, his academy has seen a sudden surge in popularity. However, guilt started taking hold of the dean as Mu Yunfan still could not find the person who he came here to search for.

Looking in front of her, Li Li asked, "Dad, why do I have a feeling that Mr. Mu’s unhappy?"

Mu Yunfan, who walked in front of the father-daughter duo had his brows tightly knitted together.

’Why do I bump into this girl everywhere I go? And why is it that every time we meet, she’d always be in the middle of bullying some poor soul?’

In the spur of the moment, the man decided not to enter the building.

"Let’s go back!"

The group trailing behind him was all taken aback.

’What happened?’

Still, some of them had already grown used to his ever-changing mood.

If only Mu Yunfan knew about the truth of the matter, maybe he’d start believing in fate.

For them to bump into each other on four consecutive occasions, how could that not be called fate? It was apparent that God had decided to pull his leg.

He now understood what it meant to share so much fate and yet at the same time, share so little of it with someone else.

"You didn’t tell us about your birthday beforehand so I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a present. Remember that little thing from before? Here, you can keep it as a gift from me," said Gu Xiqiao as she pulled out a piece of jade from its case. She then transferred some of her own energy into the stone, making it an enchanted item that could generate energy by itself.

The moment Wu Hongwen made contact with the jade, warmth rose up within his body. Power flowed through his veins and at that moment, he felt confident that he could bring down ten raging bulls at once.

***

Meanwhile, at Nine Heavens’ Main Tower.

As Yu Ning reluctantly left his beloved laboratory, he dialed the number that Gu Xiqiao had sent him. As soon as that person realized he was speaking to an actual hacker, he gave him the name of a weird sounding place. Yu Ning, feeling that something was off, decided to boot up his computer and look this place up.

After scouring through the internet, the facial expression that he wore changed. ’Interesting’, he thought. This place seemed like a national base but the firewall they’ve put up was way too complex for him to infiltrate and confirm.

Thus, Yu Ning drove over to said location. Upon arrival, he was led further into the camp by a soldier who had flaps pinned on each side of his shoulder. Along the way, he observed just how tightly guarded this area was. Even a fly would find it hard to penetrate into this base.

"So this is the hacker that Qiao Qiao recommended?" Yin Shaoyuan asked as he walked around Yu Ning. "He looks way too young doesn’t he? Do you think he’ll work?"

Yu Ning responded with a sharp glance. "Would you care to find out?"

"Holy hell!" Yin Shaoyuan exploded with rage. He didn’t care that Gu Xiqiao had the back of this young man. "You looking for a fight, punk!?"

"That’s enough." A low voice sounded from behind an office desk. Yu Ning looked over at the source of the voice. In an instant, a look of disgust surfaced on Yu Ning’s face.

Why, if it isn’t the man who had set up the code which Yu Ning wasted three days’ time breaking only to find that it contained nothing but worthless oracle scripts!

Jiang Shuxuan put down his book. "You should head over to observe the situation first."

Yu Ning eyed the book that he was holding. As he had expected, he was reading a book about oracle scripts!

He started feeling nauseous.

Following behind Jiang Shuxuan, what originally sounded like a two-minute stroll turned out to be a long walk through a hall, then an elevator ride to the lowest floor, where a massive underground opening, even larger than the base camp above ground was found.

After turning at least seven or eight corners, they finally arrived at a laboratory. Jiang Shuxuan tapped his own ID card on the reader before a great white door rolled open.

A discussion was being held by the few that remained in the laboratory as they walked in. Seeing Jiang Shuxuan here, they rose from their seats and began reporting on their progress.

Jiang Shuxuan gestured for them to pause in order to introduce to them Yu Ning.

"This person here will be working with you for the next few days."

"Hold up. What do you mean next few days? You should know that I’m a busy person. At the very least, you gotta tell me what I’m going to work with man." Yu Ning’s brows furrowed. This means that he wouldn’t be able to return to his lovely Nine Heavens laboratory for the next few days. He started thinking if he should bargain for more pathways to break the source code from Gu Xiqiao.

"Your job is to decipher the molecular formula for calculating this virus’ development phases." Jiang Shuxuan said as he pointed toward a computer. On its screen was an illustration of the protein structure.

Yu Ning narrowed his eyes. He counted with his own fingers for a moment before finally opening his mouth. "I’ll give it to you tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" The lab personnel were awe struck. They had been slaving away for the past three months and had only completed one-one hundredth of the total calculations that needed to be made. And yet, this man here promised to complete the entire calculation by tomorrow morning?

Maybe the entire world has gone mad now.

Yu Ning eyed their shocked expressions. He didn’t feel the need to explain himself. Maybe that was why the world of prodigies was such a lonely one~

Plopping down in front of the computer, he entered the hacker’s forum. There, he logged into his own account where all the tools of his trade were found. It wasn’t long before his fingers started tapping away on the keyboard.

The lab workers couldn’t stop themselves from looking over Yu Ning’s shoulders. In the next moment, they were stunned by what they saw. While they were miles below Yu Ning, they were still considered veterans in the world of hackers. Naturally, that meant that they were familiar with the name, "God Lo". The earliest news about this man went way back to when he livestreamed what was going in a secret American military base. After that, America declared him to be a global threat and announced that interpol would be after his ass. In the end, nothing was ever heard about this "God Lo" hacker again.

So this man was "God Lo"? How could it be?! To think that they even doubted his abilities when they first saw him come into their laboratory!

Every realm had its own god, including the realm of hackers; you could ask every competent hacker and they’d all say that they’ve used at least one of the hacker tools "God Lo" had uploaded onto the forum.

The lab personnel all had their eyes glued onto Yu Ning’s computer screen. Based on the digits, the rate of calculations being completed was rising at an exponential rate.

"So you really managed to walk the talk?"

Even Yin Shaoyuan was impressed.

Jiang Shuxuan looked up the hacker’s forum. The more he read, the wider the smile that appeared on his face. She truly had brought him a god. The man he had been searching high and low for was somehow under her control the entire time. He was right about one thing. Being by her side really meant a daily dose of surprises.

Yu Ning continued bumping up his calculations as if his life had depended on it. As Gu Xiqiao had said, if he wanted the two source codes, he would have to complete this job first.

God Lo was really a god. Their progress had risen to 20% only after a mere two hours.

"How the hell are you pulling these calculations off? Yo, what the heck, this is straight out alien man!" Someone beside him exclaimed.

Yu Ning shot him a glance. "It’s all thanks to my boss’ special ingredient. I wouldn’t be able to do this without her help."

"What! So you’re telling me that your boss is better at this than you!?" These men were shaken to the core. Their worldview had changed so much over the course of a single night.

"Of course! If that’s not the case then tell me, how would she be able to come up with this plug-in?" This plug-in was the perfect lazy man’s tool. Its creation goes back to one random day when Gu Xiqiao was feeling too lazy to read through a mountain of documents on her desk, so she whipped up a new plug-in on the second day to help her continue her laziness streak. No one would’ve imagined that it would one day, end up benefiting the whole of humanity.

At five in the morning, the progress bar had finally reached a hundred percent. Yu Ning snapped a picture of it before immediately taking off to Gu Xiqiao’s place. Before exiting the base, he turned to ask his final question, "Can I ask something that is presumably confidential?"

"Go on." Jiang Shuxuan had already left and only Yin Shaoyuan remained there.

"Who’s the one responsible for setting up the firewall for this base?" He had been attempting to breach this firewall but to his surprise, it was near impenetrable.

Yin Shaoyuan, believing that Yu Ning had indeed completed his job, decided to let him in on the secret.

"Your boss."

’Jesus Christ, I never thought that she’d be such a freak!’

***

Gu Xiqiao, who was already up for her routine morning jog, sneezed. She turned toward Jiang Shuxuan who was standing nearby. "Brother Jiang, you gotta believe me! This isn’t some cold or anything. Someone’s bad-mouthing me behind my back!"

’Why are you already trying to explain yourself when I haven’t even spoken a word?’

After she was done with her run, she went off to meet Mu Jiatong. She wasn’t too worried about her operation; the bigger part of the reason for going there was to meet Luo Wenlang. She was leaving for the capital the day after so preparations must be done beforehand.

After all, Luo Wenlang’s enemies, the Chen family, was mainly based in the capital. She must notify him of her departure in case of any problems that might arise in the unpredictable future.

***

Imperial Capital.

Cheng Feng listened to their butler’s report. Finally, a smile broke across her gloomy face. "So Luo Wenlang’s coming to the capital? Is he coming here to study?"

The butler went silent for a moment. "According to our informant, that is correct."

"Very well." Chen Feng’s fingernails were stained with an exceptionally red nail polish that glimmered under the ceiling lights. Looking out the window, she started a monologue.

"Heaven’s got a path and yet you choose to avoid it. Now you’re just heading straight down the highway to hell."

Ever since she was warned off by the Jiang family when she decided to teach Luo Wenlang a lesson, most of her authority had been unanimously reduced by her own family members. From a president, she turned into a freeter[1] who lazed around at home all day long. The news that her friends got gradually grew more and more detached to her own matters.

Finally, those who she couldn’t care less about back then now had the chance to look down on her. She, of course, could not tolerate being the butt of their jokes so she simply stayed at home. Just like that, an entire month had come to pass without her stepping out of her house.

From a dignified heir of the Chen family, she was reduced to a good-for-nothing NEET. All this because of a certain someone!

"Why are you running, Luo Jiajun!?" She flung an empty glass at the man’s feet, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "Aren’t you supposed to be happy that your son’s finally coming to see you?"

Luo Jiajun’s brows furrowed. "Feng’er, you know that I don’t care about that boy. Right now, all I care about is you guys and my daughter."

"Don’t call me that!" Chen Feng shot up from her seat. She shot him a cold glare. "Listen up! Luo Wenlang’s gonna come to the capital the day after tomorrow. If I find out that you two met up in secret, you’re gonna be as good as dead!"

She was about to storm up the stairway when she turned back. "I hope you remember your words. When he comes, I will teach him a lesson he’d never forget. Don’t you dare intervene old man!"

Luo Jiajun stood there in silence. Luo Wenlang. It’s been 15 years since he last saw his own son. Not much emotion was felt whenever his name was said. However, the Chens were unable to produce a male heir ever since he entered their family. Knowing how precious a son was, Luo Jiajun did not hope to lose his only son because of Chen Feng’s envy!

Luo Jiajun headed upstairs to his room and took out all the cash that he had with him. He must look for Luo Wenlang. Then, he must warn him about coming to the Imperial Capital. This money should be able to pay for the rest of his life!

[1] Japanese expression for people who lack full-time employment or are unemployed, excluding housewives and students

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