Chapter 19

Due to their positioning, Jing Huan turned his head and could only see the other person’s ear.

They were very close to each other, and he could still catch a faint whiff of soap fragrance from the other person.

“You’re welcome,” the person behind him said. “Can you get up now?”

Jing Huan was stunned for a moment, only daring to straighten up after confirming that the cockroach had long since disappeared without a trace.

“Sorry about that.” He turned around and finally got a good look at the unlucky classmate he had bumped into.

Single eyelids, a high nose bridge, wearing a black T-shirt, standing on a lower step yet still eye-to-eye with him.

Jing Huan stared at the boy’s face for a few seconds before remembering to ask, “Uh, I didn’t bump into you too hard, did I?”

“No.” Xiang Huaizhi also gave him a few more glances.

This guy’s eyelashes are freakishly long.

“That’s good, I just lost my balance for a moment.” Jing Huan was too embarrassed to admit he’d been scared by a bug.

Xiang Huaizhi had actually seen the whole thing, including how he’d tried to shift the blame. He nodded: “Mm, mind moving aside?”

Now, Jing Huan occupied one side and his pot took the other, almost blocking the hallway entirely.

“Oh, okay.” Jing Huan immediately stepped aside to make room. There was no way he was going to touch that pot again.

Just as Xiang Huai Zhi was about to go upstairs, someone grabbed his clothes.

“Hey, wait,” Jing Huan said. “I hit you pretty hard just now. If you start feeling unwell later, come find me in Room 312.”

Xiang Huaizhi nodded: “Got it.”

Watching his savior leave, Jing Huan stared at the pot on the ground, wondering what to do with it. When he looked up, he met the gazes of two familiar faces.

Gao Zixiang and Lu Wenhao were standing on the third-floor balcony, peering at him through the stairwell window. It was unclear how long they had been watching, but when Jing Huan noticed them, the two instinctively tried to hide.

Jing Huan smirked coldly, raised his hand, and pointed first at Gao Zixiang, then at Lu Wenhao.

—You, and you.

Then he brought his hands together and made a throat-slitting gesture.

—You’re all dead.

Lu Wenhao: “…”

Gao Zixiang: “…”

They pressed their foreheads against the railing, knocking their heads against it with loud thuds.

In the end, the dorm supervisor heard the commotion and came over to confiscate the pot, warning Jing Huan a few times, saying the school strictly forbade students from cooking in the dorms.

The ingredients were already bought, and if they didn’t cook them tonight, they’d go bad. Jing Huan stood on the stairs, consoling himself for a long while before finally shuffling his way toward the convenience store outside the school gates.

After buying the pot and returning, as soon as he opened the dorm door, he saw the makeshift dining table covered with raw meat and vegetables—washed, cut, and plated—along with beers poured to the brim. The glass meant for Jing Huan even had a cherry perched on its rim.

“Big bro, you’re back.” Gao Zixiang quickly walked to the door and struck a welcoming pose, “We’ve been waiting for you for ages!”

Lu Wenhao stood by the dining table: “Welcome, big bro! Take the seat of honor!”

Jing Huan’s anger had long faded on the way over: “…Morons.”

The three had agreed on WeChat: Jing Huan would buy groceries and alcohol, while the other two were responsible for washing ingredients and dishes. Knowing they were in the wrong, Gao Zixiang replied shamelessly, “Yes, yes, we’re total morons. Sit down, don’t wreck your health over this—Wenhao and I could never make it up to you.”

Jing Huan laughed in exasperation: “Alright, get lost. Go sit in your own seat.”

The three of them took their seats.

Recalling the earlier scene, Lu Wenhao was still shaken: “Damn, these damn dorm stairs are so high. If you’d actually fallen and gotten seriously hurt, I’d have had no choice but to pledge myself to you for life.”

Jing Huan: “No thanks, just compensate me with money. I’m not interested in 36D.”

“Perfect, I didn’t want to massage you anyway.” Lu Wenhao poured the hotpot base into the pot. “But Xiang Huaizhi is pretty impressive. Even with you crashing into him like that, he stood his ground. Didn’t they say his leg was injured?”

Gao Zixiang: “That was ages ago. He’s probably fully recovered by now.”

Jing Huan: “Xiang Huaizhi? Who?”

“Your savior, the guy who was standing behind you just now.” Gao Zixiang handed him the chili peppers. “You don’t know him?”

Jing Huan thought for a moment: “Is he from our department?”

“No, he’s from the neighboring department, a junior year senior who moved into our building this semester, living right above us in room 522,” Gao Zixiang said. “Oh right, you don’t often go to the West Gate basketball court, so you probably haven’t run into him. He’s fucking amazing at basketball.”

“Rumor has it he’s also a top student, and most importantly…” Lu Wenhao drew out his words, “he’s ridiculously handsome, one of the most popular guys on campus. I thought you’d know him.”

“Sorry, but the only popular guy on campus I know is me.” The spicy broth in the pot was boiling. Jing Huan had deliberately bought a different pot this time, finally regaining some appetite. As he spoke, he picked up a piece of tripe and started dipping it in the pot.

“Such a show-off,” Gao Zixiang laughed at him but didn’t argue. “So about that popular guy—when exactly are you coming back to play Nine Heroes with us?”

Jing Huan paused in his actions: “Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

“How is it sudden? We agreed before—the three of us were supposed to compete in the server-wide PK together, and it’s been over a year without it happening!” Gao Zixiang suddenly remembered something, “Plus, I heard this year they’re adding some seriously amazing rewards for the server-wide PK.”

Jing Huan: “Where’d you hear that?”

“My guild leader knows someone on the inside of the game.”

About eighty percent of such messages are fake, Jing Huan didn’t pay much attention and casually replied, “Hmm, maybe later. I don’t have time recently.”

Gao Zixiang nodded: “If I hadn’t seen your class schedule, I might’ve actually believed you.”

“I really don’t have time.”

“Then tell me, what are you busy with?”

Busy flirting with that scumbag.

Jing Huan took a sip of his drink. “I’m just busy. I’ll talk about it after I’m done.”

After eating and drinking his fill, Jing Huan repeatedly warned the two not to lend out the hot pot before leaving the dorm.

He had only taken a few steps when, as if guided by some strange impulse, he glanced up at room 522.

Outside Room 522, on the clothes drying rack, hung a pair of multicolored underwear. Squinting his eyes, Jing Huan finally made out that the underwear was printed with Pikachu in various poses.

…Who would’ve thought? His savior might have small eyes, but he sure had a flamboyant side.

    ——

As soon as Jing Huan got home and opened the game, his friend notification started blinking incessantly.

[Friend] EnergyMosquitoCoil: Good news, sis!

[Friend] Sweetie Jing: Huh?

[Friend] Energizer Mosquito Coil: The Idle Man Pavilion isn’t hunting you down anymore!

Jing Huan froze for a moment and glanced around, only then noticing that the familiar faces who usually came to camp him the moment he logged in were nowhere to be seen today.

[Friend] Sweetie Jing: Why though.

[Friend] Energetic Mosquito Incense: Uh… I’m not too sure about that either. The guild leader directly posted a guild announcement saying we should work together to collect materials and not waste our time on you anymore.

Jing Huan’s mouth twitched. Just who was wasting whose time here?!

But this was fine too. He still had important things to do right now, and being constantly hunted would indeed be troublesome.

He went outside the city to do two daily quests. Everything went smoothly the whole way, so smoothly that he almost felt uncomfortable with it.

[Friend] Lu Tiaotiao: Are you there?

[Friend] Little Sweet Scene: I’m here, what’s up?

[Friend] Lu Tiaotiao: Wanna do a dungeon? 20-man raid. Your crush is in it too.

[Friend] Little Sweet Scene: I’m coming!!!

[Friend] Xiao Tianjing: [Cheers] Where are we meeting?

“Everyone’s here,” Lu Hang said. “Come on, meet at the Matchmaker.”

Just as Xiang Huaizhi flew to the Matchmaker, he spotted Xiao Tianjing standing beside the old deity.

Without a word, he clicked to join the dungeon.

[Heart’s Desire has joined the Second Young Master’s Wedding instance.]

[Little Sweetscenery has joined the Second Young Master’s Wedding instance.]

[Team]Long Journey: Everyone ready? I’ll start the instance if we’re good to go.

[Team]Love Is Sharing With You: 1

[Team]Favorite Peach Peach: …1

[Team] Chun Xiao: .

[Team] Longing Without Regard: ..

[Team] Little Sweet Scene: …0x0

The rest of the team couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly, what the hell kind of death train is this!!

……Are these guys going to end up fighting each other mid-raid?!

[Team]Lu Tiaotiao: Ground rules first—high-tier materials go to team dividends, premium loot is rolled for. Anyone who disagrees can leave now.

This is standard protocol for high-level raids. After half a minute with no objections, Lu Hang activated the instance.

The “Second Young Master’s Wedding” raid requires a “Mysterious Invitation” to trigger. Obtaining one is purely luck-based—sometimes dropping at minimal odds after other raids. Lu Hang had just scored an invitation that afternoon and immediately rushed to organize the run.

Though the dungeon wasn’t particularly difficult, the process was quite tedious. Worried that random teammates might be unreliable, he only invited people from his friends list.

The team chat channel was eerily silent with no one speaking. The first part of the dungeon was a solo item-finding quest. The twenty members quickly completed it and moved straight to the next round of tasks.

As soon as he entered the portal, Jing Huan’s game interface suddenly changed—he was pulled into a special scenario outside the Second Young Master’s mansion.

[Gate Guard: “Lord Xiao Tianjing,” you look quite unfamiliar! Very well, since you claim to be the Second Young Master’s tutor, let me test your knowledge.]

I used to find it annoying and never ran this dungeon before. Without any hesitation, he clicked the “Yes!” option.

[Gate Guard: May I ask what category of waste do wet wipes belong to?]

Jing Huan: “…”

Jing Huan: “?”

This damn game really keeps up with the times.

The headset remained silent. Maybe everyone was feeling lazy, or perhaps they knew someone in the team had a falling out with Xiaotianjing and didn’t dare to break the strange atmosphere. No one spoke in the dungeon team’s voice channel, nor did anyone give him any hints.

Jing Huan glanced at the answer and sighed in relief—good, the answer was obvious.

He didn’t hesitate to choose “wet waste.”

[Gate Guard: Someone! Drive away this impostor!]

Jing Huan: “??”

[Team] Love Is Sharing with You: Wet wipes are dry waste…

[Team]SweetJing: …??

[Team]SweetJing: How did you know what I picked [shocked]

[Team]LongJourney: This is a random segment where one player is chosen for the challenge while the others wait where they are.

[Team]SweetJing: …

[Team] Little Sweet Scene: Meaning?

[Team] Long Journey: Yes, we’re all watching you. But it’s okay, there’s no limit to the number of attempts for this quiz, so do your best! [Cheering]

[Team] Little Sweet Scene: …………Got it! [Smile]

[Gate Guard: For the first part of the dungeon, how many items did you find in total?

a. 71 items

b. 99 items

c. 69 items

d. Video replay】

Who can remember all that? Jing Huan simply clicked on the video replay.

[Gate Guard: No replays! Guards! Drive away this impostor!]

Jing Huan took a deep breath.

[Gate Guard: What is the name of the maiden who waited bitterly for her lover’s return by “Liuxi River”?]

Liuxi River is known to Jing Huan as one of the wilderness maps in Nine Heroes, and there is indeed a female NPC there.

What was her name again??

Just to be safe, Jing Huan decided to search it on Baidu. At a glance, he spotted the name “Aunt Liu.” Not wanting to waste anyone’s time, he quickly switched back to the game and clicked on the “Aunt Liu” option.

[Gate Guard: Someone! Drive away this impostor!]

Jing Huan: “…?!!”

[Team] Xiangsi Buguzhe: How could you answer with “Aunt Liu”?! Didn’t you see the word “maiden”? Are you doing this on purpose? Trying to waste our game time? [Question mark emoji]

What’s going on? Is this damn Baidu scamming people?

Jing Huan switched back to the webpage to check.

[Netizen’s answer: First, let’s eliminate the option “Aunt Liu” since the age doesn’t match.] ?????

A problem you could’ve spotted just by glancing at the wild map, and you still had to go on a fucking analytical rant?!

[Team] Xiangsi Buguz: Let’s see how many questions you can actually get right.

If you’re so good, why don’t you do it yourself!?

Jing Huan angrily clicked on the guard at the entrance, fuming.

【Gate Guard: The next line after “The waterfall flies down three thousand feet” is?】

……Finally encountered one I know.

While reminiscing, Jing Huan couldn’t help but mutter under his breath: “The waterfall flies down three thousand feet…”

“Not as deep as Wang Lun’s farewell to me.” A familiar voice came through the headphones, tinged with a hint of playful mockery.

Yes, that’s the one.

Jing Huan instinctively followed through with the corresponding choice based on this statement.

[Gate Guard: Someone! Drive away this impostor!]

[Team] Love is Sharing with You: …

[Team] Chun Xiao: …

[Team] Longing Without Regard: ..

[Team] Destiny Peach Tea: ……

Xiang Huaizhi let out a very brief laugh: “……you actually believed that?”

Jing Huan: “…”

And what kind of trash are you?