Chapter 1 : Mt. Yellow's True Monarch and Nine Provinces (1) Group
20th May 2019, Monday.
At the end of spring and summer's arrival.
This season, the temperature difference between the Jiang Nan region's day and night was huge. During the day, even if one was wearing shorts he could heat up like a hot dog; yet during the night he had to curl up on his bed, freezing like a cold bird.
Jiang Nan University City.
2.30PM in the afternoon was exactly the time students started classes. Yet Song Shuhang stayed in his dormitory alone, his computer desk pulled to his bedside, making it convenient for him to watch movies in any posture.
Song Shuhang did not have a habit of skipping classes. For the earlier half of last night, the weather was hot and stuffy, so in his dreams he executed a move called 'Twin Dragon Emerging From The Seas' and knocked over his blanket.
During the later half of the night, the air temperature dramatically decreased. With only a pair of shorts on his body, Song Shuhang was forced into bitter hardship. While slumbering away, both his hands strenuously groped the bed, seeking all over, yet he couldn't find the blanket. In the end he could only curl up like a mantis shrimp, shivering in the tyrannical cold of midnight.
When the sun rose, Song Shuhang had already become a member of the great seasonal catching cold army.
His roommate had already helped him apply for time off for today's classes.
Afterwards, he took cold medicine and slept till now.
The high fever was suppressed, but his body was still weak. In this condition there was no way he could attend classes. Therefore, he could only stay in the dormitory bored and lonely, and watch movies.
On the monitor, the movie's playback bar slowly trickled towards the end, but Song Shuhang was not absorbed into its contents at all.
"Has the medicine's effects still not worn off? I'm so sleepy." Song Shuhang yawned, he felt his eyelids getting heavy.
'Di di di~' Suddenly, at the bottom right of the computer screen, the chat application's icon jumped.
This meant that someone added him as a friend, or invited him to join a chat group.
"Who added me?" Song Shuhang mumbled, he extended his hand and gently tapped on the bottom right of the computer's touchscreen, prompting the notification to appear.
[Mt. Yellow's True Monarch(******) has requested to add you as a friend.] Additional Information: None.
Yellow Mountain's True Monarch? Just who would use such an odd nickname?
"Is he a student from my class?" Song Shuhang wondered silently. He couldn't help but think of the others in his class who clearly were already in university yet were still full of youthful delusions. If it were them, they would definitely pick an odd nickname like this.
Once he thought this way, he tapped on 'Accept'.
Immediately, what followed was another system notification popping up.
[Mt. Yellow's True Monarch has invited you to join the chat group 'Nine Provinces (1) Group', Do You Accept?]
Song Shuhang proceeded to tap on 'Accept'.
'Mt. Books' Huge Pressure' has accepted to join 'Nine Provinces (1) Group'.
[You have agreed to join the group. Please make an introduction of yourself to the other members!] There was even a smiley sent by the system.
In recent years, these chatting softwares had been becoming more and more human-like.
After the chain of notifications popped up, Song Shuhang resolutely closed the notification and the group chat's window. He was now filled with sleepiness, where would he get the energy to care about the group he joined?
Anyways, his group chat settings had always been 'Do not notify new posts, only show numbers unread', messages by the group wouldn't pop-up and disturb him, it would only show the total number of new messages in the background.
After he wakes up, he could flip open the chat record, then he would know what kind of group he joined, and the chat record would also not be lost.
His eyelids got heavier and heavier...
The movie's playback bar continued to move forward tenaciously, but Song Shuhang's consciousness got more and more fuzzy.
**********
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In Nine Provinces (1) Group, lurkers emerged as soon as they noticed the new member's entry.
North River's Loose Practitioner: "Has the new member that Mt. Yellow's True Monarch invited come in yet? It has already been a year since a new member joined right?"
Another ID, 'Su Clan's Ah Qi' speedily replied, "There's a new fellow daoist? Which region of Huaxia is this fellow daoist from? Which cave does fellow daoist cultivate in? What's fellow daoist's Dao name? What level of cultivation is fellow daoist at?"
(TL: Huaxia is the archaic name for China)
This chain of questions, why did they seem somewhat strange?
At approximately the same time, a new message came from the ID Mad Saber Three Waves, "What is the new fellow daoist's gender? Are you a fairy or no? If you are, give the size of your bust, waist, and buttocks, and post a photo!"
Seeing the new messages by Su Clan's Ah Qi and Mad Saber Three Waves, quite a number of other members' mouths twitched.
"Brother Three Waves, is your zodiac indeed a goldfish?" North River's Loose Practitioner sighed, "You better not invite death by recklessness again. What if Mt. Yellow's True Monarch once again invited some big time senior in?"
Everything was good about Three Waves, he's friendly, loyal, and loves helping others, so his relationship with others was pretty good. The only problem is he liked to speak pervertedly, in a way that invites death.
It turns out that this fella's luck was so low that it gives people goosebumps, he always couldn't help but invite death from recklessness, and the ones he offended were always big time seniors. Since those big time seniors were usually bored without any source of entertainment, they were naturally very happy to torture Mad Saber Three Waves who personified entertainment delivered to their front doors..
"I kneel and beg you not to mention the words "big time seniors", they are a dark shadow in this majesty's heart." Mad Saber Three Waves sent a line of "crying face" emojis.
(TL: Mad Saber Three Waves called himself "本座" but there's no English term for this so I translated it as "this majesty" if you have a better term to suggest do let me know!)
Four years ago this crappy mouth of his offended a beautiful 'big time senior', and was miserably tortured... That big time senior continuously tortured him for an entire year and four months. You didn't hear wrongly, a whole year and four months! When he thought of that tumultuous and inhuman times, his eyes turned moist.
Immediately after Three Waves spoke, emojis of naughty smiles popped up one after another in the group, they were not even trying to conceal how much they were enjoying his misery.
The group channel showed that among the last eight people who sent messages, 6 of them neatly sent a string of smiling emojis.
"You bunch of people who take joy in others' calamity, this majesty will remember each and every one of you. Do not let this majesty meet you, otherwise this majesty will definitely let you people taste the strength of my 72 Paths of Rapid Saber!" Mad Saber Three Waves angrily said. He was very confident in his Rapid Saber. Among the 6 people who were leaving naughty smiles, none of them were a match for him in a one on one.
The moment after Mad Saber Three Waves spoke.
Another naughty smile emoji popped up, belonging to Su Clan's Ah Qi.
Su Clan's Ah Qi happily followed with: "When do you want fight one on one?"
Obviously, Su Clan's Ah Qi didn't have any intention of taking joy in others' calamity, he just wanted to fight with someone.
"..." Mad Saber Three Waves immediately withered.
It was because he couldn't beat Ah Qi!
His cultivation was profound. He had already reached the 5th level late stage Spirit Lord, and was just a hair's breath from 6th level Spirit Lord, but he couldn't beat Ah Qi in a fight.
His 72 Paths Saber technique was both fast and fierce, and he also possessed lightning fast body techniques, yet he still couldn't defeat Ah Qi.
He was known as Mad Saber, his wrath terrifies even he himself, but he just couldn't beat Ah Qi!
When the others in the group saw Three Waves wilting, they unbridledly sent lines of smiling emojis once again.
"..." This time, Mad Saber Three Waves could only sullenly post a line of dots.
The people in the group had been noisy for so long, yet they still hadn't heard a word from the new member, which made them feel a little baffled.
"Our new fellow daoist is not making a sound?" North River's Loose Practitioner asked.
That's right, because of the cold medicine's effects, Song Shuhang had once again entered a half asleep state.
At this time, Su Clan's Ah Qi happily sent a piece of news: "I took a look, the new fellow daoist is called 'Mt. Books' Huge Pressure'. Has anyone heard of an expert with this dao name? This dao name sounds a little like a scholarly sect's practitioner? This is so exciting! These years, scholarly sects' practitioners have been living very deeply in seclusion so it's not even possible to find them. It has already been nearly a hundred years since I've fought with them!
Now that I think about it, scholarly sects' practitioners are even more unwilling to fight than buddhist sects'. Not only are they adept at glib speech, but their fists are also hard. Moreover, when the fight gets interesting they will heroically hum poetry to make things multiple times more fun! I love fighting them the most."
"Ah Qi, when it comes to new fellow daoists, are you forever only interested in whether they could be a good fight, and whether it is fun to fight them?" Mad Saber Three Waves sent a crying face emoji. This is practically an evil tyrant's way you know?!
"Erm." Su Clan's Ah Qi felt a little embarrassed.
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North River's Loose Practitioner smirked nastily and said, "Could it be he's another big time senior who doesn't know how to use the chatting tool?"
Once he said that, everyone started to feel like, isn't this the scene of being ignored?
That's right, right about four years ago there seemed to have been a senior who came out of closed-door cultivation after over a hundred years. She too had difficulties getting on the chatting software, and was added to the group by Mt. Yellow's True Monarch. Yet because she didn't know how to type, she couldn't send messages.
Afterwards, someone named Mad Saber Three Waves happily spoke like a pervert in front of this senior, asked for the senior to post her three sizes, asked her to send her photo, and also asked for voice chat etc.
Then... A few days after, Mad Saber Three Waves saw this senior with his own eyes. She was a very pretty senior, dazzling and beautiful like the bright moon in the night sky.
What followed after that was, this pretty senior tortured Mad Saber Three Waves for an entire one year and four months, before she left perfectly satisfied.
At this time, Mad Saber Three waves suddenly kneeled.
"Mt. Yellow?" This time, someone with the ID 'Medicine Master' sent a message.
An unfathomable and brief message, with no head nor tails.
Luckily the group members had long been accustomed to Medicine Master's short messaging habits, is he asking where the group master Mt. Yellow True Monarch is?
The reason Medicine Master's messages are short wasn't because he had a cold and proud nature. Instead, it was because he was doing two-finger push-ups while in handwriting mode, which made his speed outrageously slow. When he increased the number of words written there would also be more chances of a mistake, and to keep deleting and rewriting was peerlessly painful. This was why Medicine Master's messages were as short as possible. As time passed, it became like this, a socializing style with words as rare as gold.
"He went offline immediately after sending the invitation, I heard his family's treasured Great Devil Dog got angry and left home again, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch chased after it again."
"..." Medicine Master.
"In that case, we can only wait for our new fellow daoist to learn how to use the chatting tool before we chat." Su Clan's Ah Qi sighed. They all knew first impression was the strongest, and believed that the new member was also one of them.
Seeing that the new fellow daoist had no reaction, the others online weren't entertained, then gradually lurked.
**********
Approximately one hour later, Song Shuhang gradually became more clear-headed as he woke up.
"I remember that just a moment ago, someone added me to a group, the Nine Provinces (1) group." he muttered softly. Conveniently expanding the chat tool on the lower right part of the screen, he brought up the Nine Provinces (1)'s chat window.
What kind of group is this?
In an instant, one hour's worth of chat logs appeared on the screen.
Song Shuhang roughly skimmed through it.
Fellow Daoist? Cultivation cave? Cultivation level?
There's even seniors? True Monarch? This majesty? Hunting down the Great Devil Dog?
All kinds of vocabulary straight from Xianxia Novels.
The way people talked in this group was also very peculiar, ancient, but not entirely ancient, plain, but not entirely plain. This type of speech gave people the feel of a modern person trying to sound ancient. Unfortunately, lacking knowledge in the fundamentals of "classical chinese", it led to a very awkward exchange.
"Chi~~" Song Shuhang started audibly laughing.
It seems that this was a XianXia aficionado group?
Oh no, this definitely wasn't the normal Xianxia fan group!
Every single member in this group had given themselves a dao name, the place they live in was called a cultivation cave, even the pet the group master lost was described as family's Great Devil Dog abandoning his home. There's even someone who proclaimed that he had not fought with any scholarly sects for over a hundred years or something. Doesn't that mean that person claimed to have already lived several hundred years?
Looking at this log, Song Shuhang developed a feeling of shame.
"To be obsessed to this degree, it seems like they have already been afflicted by Chuunibyou syndrome. Furthermore, it is a very specific Huaxia-flavored Xianxia disease." Song Shuhang concluded.
Seems like, this was the Xianxia chuunibyou victims' assembling point!
This was his first impression of the members in 'Nine Provinces (1) Group.'
But why did they decide to add him?
Looking at the account information of Mt. Yellow's True Monarch, Song Shuhang determined that this person was not his classmate, he definitely not did recognise this guy at all.
Was this an accidental invite?
Chapter 2: Please Wait For Esteemed Me To Divinate
People always say that the second year of middle school is a rebellious age.
Everyone more-or-less goes through that phase, but only some people show it to the world to see, while others tuck it deep inside their hearts. This was also the difference between obvious trouble and secret trouble.
Song Shuhang could be considered to have matured early. That phase of his life came quick and left even quicker.
Therefore, when he reached his second year of middle school, while his classmates were still stuck in their wuxia, superhero, immortal dreams and constantly brandishing their "18 Falling Dragon Palms" while transforming into superheroes. Song Shuhang had long lost those desires.
Our world's laws of physics were already so precise. To be able to jump three-storeys? To be able to summon a golden dragon with your palm strikes? To be able to fly by wearing your underwear on the outside? Those things were simply impossible!
However, he still liked xianxia novels, superhero movies and the like. Perhaps deep inside his heart, he still hoped that one day, superheroes, aliens, and immortals could appear in front of him.
He obviously knew that all these were impossible, but weirdly, he still looked forward to that day with anticipation. Could this be mankind's talent?
Song Shuhang laughed as he closed the group's chat window, however, he didn't leave the group.
He felt that the people in the Nine Provinces (1) Group were interesting, and those chat records of the group could make anybody who sees it feel embarrassed. From a spectator's point of view, it was unexpectedly interesting. So before the group master decided to kick him out, he plans to first lurk around, then take a look at the various kinds of interesting chat records to kill boredom.
On the computer's screen, the movie was still playing. It seemed like it was a horror flick. Every single plot device you could find in horror was shown, evidently proving that this movie was directed by a genius horror director at the peak of his performance. It was said that this movie had made even middle-aged men cry in fright, and frightened a ton of people to the point of being afraid of going to the bathroom alone.
However, Song Shuhang did not receive any feelings of fright. Instead, he pulled the progress bar backwards. After watching for a while more, he yawned again and slowly transitioned from his sitting posture to a lying posture, finding his eyelids to also become increasingly heavy.
If that genius director knew that his movie only had this little effect, wouldn't he cry?
Dazed, Song Shuhang had a fanciful dream.
It was an extremely fun and beautiful dream, a really beautiful dream. There were immortals, superheroes, and all kinds of mythical lands.
To live a long and free life. To be able to move the mountains and the oceans. Tread through the world wielding a sword. Since ancient times, how many people have had this dream? Only, as one grew older, reality broke this dream. People could only tuck it deep in their hearts, and not think about it.
In the end, dreams are only dreams.
**********
The next day. Tuesday. 21st May. 1AM.
Inside the group chat, the group master Mt. Yellow's True Monarch finally came online.
The moment he got online, North River's Loose Practitioner popped up with a question: "True Monarch, who is 'Mt. Books' Huge Pressure' you added yesterday? Where does he cultivate from?"
"The person added yesterday? You guys haven't exchanged words yet? That is the daughter of esteemed me's old friend who is born in this era, it seems like her aptitude isn't bad. So young and she is already at the peak of 3rd stage – Houtian, just about to reach 4th stage – Xiantian. She is truly extraordinary." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch replied laughing.
"If she's born in this era, then her age probably does not exceed 40? To be able to achieve the peak of 3rd stage – Houtian, at such an age, this person truly is a genius." North River's Loose Practitioner inwardly nodded. Yet the dao name that person had taken was very odd, 'Mt. Books' Huge Pressure' didn't seem like a dao name.
North River's Loose Practitioner was still thinking when suddenly, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch said, "Huh? Esteemed me's old friend's daughter's dao name isn't 'Mt. Books' Huge Pressure'! Then, who the hell is this Mt. Books' Huge Pressure?
"..." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch's face turned into the shape '囧'.
This wasn't some random person. True Monarch, this was the unknown person you added yesterday.
Probing the situation, North River's Loose Practitioner asked, "True Monarch, could it be that you have added the wrong person?"
"Let esteemed me check it out."
After a short moment.
With a line of cold sweat emojis, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch sent out a couple of words to the chat: "I truly added the wrong person. The ID number's only difference was the middle character. Esteemed me entered a 9 instead of an 8. Never would've expected that esteemed me could make such a mistake."
North River's Loose Practitioner sarcastically laughed: "Just as I said, even if one has assimilated into modern society, there still wouldn't be a person who would set their dao name as 'Mt. Books' Huge Pressure' right!"
Mt. Yellow's True Monarch followed up by sending another line of cold sweat emojis.
Afterwards, he hastily brought his good friend's daughter into the chat once more.
The group notification prompted: 'Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather' has entered Nine Provinces (1) Group.
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This name kept up with the Nine Provinces (1) Group's style, with the rich Xianxia air assaulting your senses. As for Mt. Books' Huge Pressure, this name surely must've been something strange that snuck in.
The moment someone new joined, Mad Saber Three Waves immediately emerged: "Oh? The new fellow daoist is a fairy? Post your photo and report the size of your bust, waist, and buttocks! If you're beautiful why not we date?"
Mad Saber Three Waves has lurked for a long time. His zodiac may be a goldfish, but in the end his memorization capabilities could still last more than 3 seconds. Yesterday he was already reminded that he should avoid offending big time seniors, so today he carefully lurked and evaluated the situation.
Hearing Mt. Yellow's True Monarch state that this person was his good friend's daughter, and that her cultivation level was at the peak of the 3rd stage – Houtian, Mad Saber Three Waves became at ease. If it wasn't someone from the older generation, then he could tease as much as he wanted, satiating his cravings.
In this group, newcomers were extremely rare, so he had to fiercely hold it in all this time.
The moment Mad Saber Three Waves opened his mouth, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch's face immediately darkened.
"..." Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather sent a line of dots in the chat, then sent another line: "As it is late, this old man's daughter has already proceeded to meditate and practice. Her number will temporarily be used by this old man until fellow daoist Mt. Yellow adds me to this group. Ahem... I've long heard that Nine Province (1) Group's fellow daoist, Three Waves is exceptionally outstanding, easygoing and has the gift of the gab. It seems a hundred gossips cannot compare to a single meeting. Fellow daoist Three Waves, this old man appreciates you. Another day, I'll invite you to drink with me."
Mad Saber Three Waves immediately felt awkward. To think that while he was flirting around with a girl, the father would turn up! In this world, there is nothing as shameful as that. He urgently wanted to find a hole in the ground and get into it.
Fortunately, it seemed that this senior had an amiable temperament as he lightly brushed it off with a few words.
Continuing on, this senior introduced himself to the rest of the group that was online and requested that everybody take care of his daughter in the future. Then, he finally lurked before he disconnected.
Seeing that this senior left, Mad Saber Three Waves let out a breath of air, cheerfully he went, "Luckily, it seems like this senior can take a joke. Perhaps in the future, I'll have an opportunity to talk to Lady Soft Feather herself."
"..." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch.
"..." North River's Loose Practitioner.
The hard to come by Medicine Master then emerged. He's a man who held his words like gold. He rarely spoke out, yet this time he actually entered four words: "Hoping for too much."
"?" Three Waves was confused.
But Medicine Master who treated words like gold naturally wouldn't explain any further.
"Look at the new member's dao name's prefix." North River's Loose Practitioner explained, if one doesn't court death he wouldn't die, will brother Three Waves forever be unable to understand this principle?
"Prefix? Spiritual Butterfly Island?" It was as if Mad Saber Three Waves still had no reaction.
"That's right, Spiritual Butterfly Island! To add on to that a senior! Does that not remind you of someone?" North River's Loose Practitioner pointed out.
After quite a while, Mad Saber Three Waves suddenly understood, and sent a line of 'kneeling' emojis, "It's that Spiritual Butterfly Respected Sage that fusses over every single detail?"
Honourable Spiritual Butterfly was a strong senior. Everything about him was good; he's upright and chivalrous... It's just that he liked to argue with others about all kinds of insignificant things, and had reached the peak of the dao of fussing over minor details. While others may fuss over minor details, he fusses over every single detail!
North River's Loose Practitioner was angry to the point that his mouth was twitching: "This wasn't how I warned you!"
Mt. Yellow's True Monarch sighed, he truly couldn't bear to keep watching. "Three Waves, that old friend of mine only minimized the chat group, he hasn't gone offline."
Which means... The chat record might be seen.
No, it would definitely be seen!
Mt. Yellow's True Monarch truly couldn't bear to keep watching Three Waves court death, no matter what, he was still his chat group's junior.
"Fuck me, I'm dead." It was as if Mad Saber Three Waves has peeked into the near future where Spiritual Butterfly Respected Sage would come to pay him a visit, and execute all sorts of torture onto him. His eyes were once again moist. It seems like this time, he may have offended an even more troublesome big time senior?
At this time, Three Waves screamed, "True Monarch, please help me intercede!"
Mt. Yellow's True Monarch gave an emoji that showed a cold back figure.
The people of the chat group no longer paid attention to Three Waves' wails that sounded like those of a defeated dog, and changed topics.
North River's Loose Practitioner asked the group master, "How are you going to deal with 'Mt. Books' High Pressure'?"
Su Clan's Ah Qi said, "Do you want to kick him? After all he's just an ordinary person, and so he's not really suitable to chat with us."
"Ahem, since it was an accidental invite by esteemed me, it can also be considered fate. Let esteemed me calculate a divination, then decide how to handle this." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch replied. The main point was that he suddenly invited the other party into the group, if he just kicked him now, won't it mean that he loses a lot of face?
Which was why at the very least he should use divination to pretend for a bit as an excuse, then kick the person afterwards.
First, this way, it would demonstrate his grand and magnificent style.
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Second, not long ago he suddenly felt a great interest towards divination. He had studied it for a few months, so his hands were now itching for action. No matter what he does, he liked to calculate its divine value beforehand.
With that said, using the book 《Tang Verses Song Phrases》 as a base for his divination, he waved his hands, and executed a secret technique of divination. This shamanic power extracted the meaning from the lyrics of a poem, and formed the shape of a trigram.
His execution of divination this time went extremely smoothly. Since Mt. Yellow's True Monarch first began learning how to divinate, this was the first time he experienced this feeling while executing the divination technique!
With a happy face he looked at the divinatory trigram's results.
Then...
Mt. Yellow's True Monarch's face turned downcast.
Mt. Yellow's True Monarch's complexion turned ugly.
He looked at the divinatory trigram: Willing to be two birds flying wing to wing in the sky, on earth willing to be two trees with branches intertwined.
(TL: This means wishing for conjugal bliss)
In his memory this verse was written by a poet Bai Juyi during the Tang Dynasty, a true classic. From then on it was used by people to describe love?
Immediately, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch felt depressed.
Wing to wing my ass, intertwining branches my ass! Willing to be a intertwining branch, esteemed me might as well hang myself on the southeast branch!
(TL: Suicide)
It can't be that he, the great Mt. Yellow's True Monarch has to go to that likely male 'Mt. Books' High Pressure' and conduct an inseparable world-shaking romance? This led him to think of Long Yangjun from Huaxia's Warring States period. This made him feel as if he just swallowed a cockroach, ridiculously disgusted.
"This definitely is because esteemed me's cultivation level in divination techniques is insufficient. After all I have only studied it for a month... So esteemed me should try calculating the divinatory trigram once more! That's right, this must be it!" Mt. Yellow's True Monarch once again executed the divination secret technique, the deep energies once again flipped 《Tang Verses Song Phrases》.
Again, the meaning of another verse was extracted.
This time the divination secret technique revolved incredibly smoothly, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch felt great, it will surely hit the target!
He looked towards the divinatory trigram.
Then...
True Monarch's face paled.
Divinatory trigram: "After being together for a long time, even if a pair has been separated, how can their relationship easily change from sunrise to sunset!"
Sunset your grandfather!
"Esteemed me doesn't believe in this supernatural bullshit!" Mt. Yellow True Monarch once again reset the trigram.
This time he felt even more mighty. Mt. Yellow's True Monarch felt his divinatory trigram cultivation level increasing by leaps and bounds at this moment!
This time will hit the mark for sure!
He looked down to see the divinatory trigram: "Turn back suddenly, and discover that your destined person is there, by the waning lantern lights."
"..."
"Deep breaths, deep breaths." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch had firmly decided on what to do with the 《Tang Verses Song Phrases》. Tilting his head 45 degrees upwards, he looked depressedly up towards the sky, what a melancholic feeling!
Continuing on, True Monarch resolutely tore apart the hardcover version of 《Tang Verses Song Phrases》 in his hands. While ripping it apart he forcefully nodded: "Sure enough, esteemed me does not possess talent in the area of divination techniques and wasn't made to be a divination master. Therefore, the divinatory trigram's results that esteemed me acquired must all be failures!"
He then tossed the torn 《Tang Verses Song Phrases》 to one side, in his heart he silently vowed never again to cheaply divinate anything!
With the hardcover Verses Phrases torn and thrown to the side, True Monarch typed, "That Mt. Books' High Pressure... Let's keep him for now. Esteemed me just divinated, and discovered that he and esteemed me are connected by fate. Adding him to the group was no random accident, it was inevitable! As for what the future holds for him, that will depend on his luck."
True Monarch used vocabulary from various divination techniques. As for the divinatory trigram's results, he wouldn't reveal a word even if someone beat him to death!
Damn, even if there was fate, that fate definitely was a bastardly fate!
"Then let's leave it be for now. Anyways he would probably leave the group soon enough. Come to think of it, what was the result of True Monarch's divinatory calculation?" North River's Loose Practitioner had heard before that True Monarch was learning divination techniques, and so he was very curious as to what this senior had divined.
"..." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch: "Oh right, you guys continue chatting, I have an urgent matter so I'll leave first."
Finishing his words, he rapidly went offline leaving behind the bewildered North River's Loose Practitioner.
Chapter 3: One Pill Recipe
The sun hung high in the sky. It was precisely noon.
Since his roommates knew that Song Shuhang had not yet recovered from his cold, they had already asked for another day of sick leave for him so that he could rest well.
"Why do I feel like my illness is getting more serious? Is it because I haven't been exercising much lately, which led to my body's condition worsening?" Song Shuhang wondered.
Beside him, there was a bowl of century egg porridge. His roommates had brought this for him during lunchtime.
"What a nice bunch!" Song Shuhang unhesitantly placed them in his friend zone.
After he'd slept for god knows how long, he was so hungry that his chest stuck to his back. He then raked the century egg porridge into his mouth before he switched on his computer again.
When he habitually opened the group chat software, he saw the red dot that specified the number of latest messages in the 'Nine Provinces (1) Group'.
Song Shuhang curiously extended his hand to open the Nine Provinces (1) Group tab, wanting to see what the Xianxia aficionado chunnibyous had talked about throughout the night.
The chat logs of the early morning surfaced before his eyes.
North River's Loose Practitioner's questions related to the 'newcomer', Mad Saber Three Waves' death-seeking ways, the interesting senior from the Spiritual Butterfly Island. There's also Mt. Yellow's True Monarch who had claimed he had divined that they were brought together by fate just by using a divination technique once.
As he looked at the chatlogs, the images of these few people began to fill Shuhang's mind.
"So it's because they added the wrong person. Like I said, I don't even recognise this Mt. Yellow's True Monarch."
Judging from the chatlogs, it seems like not just anyone could freely join this group? A member's recommendation was needed to enter.
Moreover, the age of this bunch of xianxia aficionados all didn't seem to be young. There was even someone who had a daughter.
To add-on, from his tone, it seemed that his daughter was no longer young? Then with some calculations, perhaps he was already forty to fifty years old. Already so old but still stuck in chuuni. His daughter must have suffered a lot.
Skimming through the chat logs, Song Shuhang maintained his lurking mode, unconditionally remaining silent.
Seeing the group members act foolishly was a very interesting thing, but if he joined in, what would it then be considered as? He doesn't act foolishly anyways.
Therefore, his plan was to just lurk, read the chat logs and get a few laughs everyday.
If there's one day that he felt that this chat group has become boring, he would just quit Nine Provinces (1) Group.
This was how he had always thought.
**********
Unknowingly, ten days had already passed.
June 1st. Saturday, Children's Day.
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[TL: Holiday in China]
Shuhang's roommates were all half-boarders and half day-schoolers. What that meant was that they stayed in the dorms from to Monday to Friday and went home on weekends. So whenever the weekend came, only one lonely person, him, would be left in the dorms.
Song Shuhang had already recuperated from his cold, but he was still suffering from a stuffy nose and a cough. These coughs from the cold were more troublesome to recover from. If it was not well taken care of, these coughs could last a couple of months.
As he rested on Saturday, Shuhang slept till 8AM before waking up. Then, he went to the cafeteria and ate some lightly flavored food.
With nothing to do, he returned to the dormitory.
After opening his computer, he had already become accustomed to visiting the chat logs of the Nine Provinces (1) Group. This was now his main way of passing the time.
Unknowingly, he had joined this group for 10 days already.
While lurking these past 10 days, he saw that the majority of the people in the group were chatting about which secret realm to intrude, and how much rewards they'll reap. Other than that, there were also talks about where the evil ghosts and demons had appeared, and whether to tame or behead them.
They talked like all of this was real. Song Shuhang was thinking, if he were to take the contents of this chat log, polish it up a bit, then post it online as a Xianxia Novel, he could make quite a bit of money from royalties.
Within these past 10 days, Song Shuhang recognized quite a number of people from the group.
For example, the rarely seen group master, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch.
Furthermore, the two moderators who had never appeared since he joined this group, Daluo Sect's Rainmoon True Monarch and Seven Path's Respected Sage.
The frequently online included 'intelligence reporter' North River's Loose Practitioner, death-seeking Mad Saber Three Waves, Su Clan's Ah Qi who wanted to fight with or without speaking, and Medicine Master whose words were as hard to come by as gold.
In addition, there was also the constantly lurking Roaming Cloud Monk Tong Xuan who only posted emoticons even when he surfaced in the chat. It was rumoured that this High Monk has been training in silent meditation. He was not only unable to speak but also even unable to type. At most, he could send an emoticon.
Finally, amongst this somewhat chunni group, there was Spirit Butterfly Island's Soft Feather who spoke normally. Her number was only one digit away from Song Shuhang's. Only by riding on her good fortune did Shuhang receive the opportunity to enter this Nine Provinces (1) group.
These reports were obtained by him when North River's Loose Practitioner passionately introduced the group's members to Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather.
...
Today, upon opening the Nine Provinces (1) Chat, the first thing he saw was a message from the Medicine Master.
The Medicine Master, whose words were as hard to come by as gold, sent: "Improved a foundation pill formula."
Including the punctuation mark, this was a six word sentence! From the moment he joined the group, Song Shuhang had never seen the Medicine Master post such a long message. So he continued to read on.
The Medicine Master's news was posted in the early morning.
"Simplified Pill Recipe for Body Tempering Liquid: Ginseng 3 liang, Goji Berries 4 liang 3 qian;Morning Dew Mysterious Grass; Rising Sun Stone 3 liang, Maiden's Fragrance 1 liang 3 qian... Fresh Overlord Branch 1 liang, thinly sliced Nine-Yang Scarlet Flame Bamboo 4 liang..."
[TL: 1 liang = 50g; 1 qian = 5g]
Listing 45 types of medicinal ingredients in succession, amongst them, there were familiar looking ingredients like Ginseng and Goji Berries, but there were also the rarely heard Rising Sun Stone and the unheard-before ingredients, Morning Dew Mysterious Grass, Fresh Overlord Branches, the Nine-Yang Scarlet Flame Bamboo and such.
"Follow the proportion of the recipe and put them one by one into the pill furnace, simmer it for five minutes, insert the next herb, then simmer for five minutes, insert next herb and repeat. Pay attention to the fire's temperature! By using this process, the medicinal liquid would turn into a paste. A successfully completed Body Tempering Liquid should be black in colour, transparent, and with a strong smell.."
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Easy to understand!
Out of the 40-over ingredients, there were many that Song Shuhang did not recognize. Curiously, he went only to look them up.
In the pill formula, there were 30 ingredients from common chinese medicine, all for improving your qi, blood and such.
There were still 15 ingredients such as Morning Dew Mysterious Grass, Fresh Overlord Branch, and Scarlet Flame Bamboo which he had never heard of, it can't be that this 'Medicine Master' from the group is making up things right?
"These people have sunk too deep into this delusion, they even made up medicinal formulas! It can't be that someone would really follow this formula and consume that medicinal paste right?" Song Shuhang wondered.
He was a bit anxious, because as rice could be eaten in any way you like, but medicine could not be randomly taken!
Wouldn't indiscriminately eating medicine lead to death? How about advising this group of chuunibyou not to? No matter how you put it, Song Shuhang had already been in this chat for 10 days.
If someone in this group happened to die from recklessly eating medicine, he too would feel a bit guilty
Continuing on, upon checking the chat, he realized that some people had already followed the instructions!
It turns out that it was the one that seemed the most normal in the chat, Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather, that responded at around 2 in the morning.
Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather: "Compared to the old formula, this one is lacking in alot of rare medicinal ingredients. The process is also simplified by a lot. Medicine Master, what temperature should the fire be? I just tried, but the result was it had failed midway. Also, how much of the medicinal effectiveness is decreased in comparison to the original?"
"Effect 2:1." Said Medicine Master.
Medicine effectiveness was only half from before, after all many precious herbs were lessened. But with such normal mass-oriented medicinal ingredients, to still be able to form a Body Tempering Liquid, it would be considered a profit even so.
"The temperature and specific timings has to be grasped yourself, it cannot be explained." Medicine Master once again sent a rare long line of words, only when it came to questions about pill concoctions would he clench his teeth and enter a few more words, "Also, if your fire control arts aren't good enough, I recommend you utilize a treasure for fire control."
"Thank you senior, I will try again." Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather sent a smiley, then returned to lurking.
Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather's final message was at 2:30AM in the morning, if she went to concoct pills after that, judging from the time she should already have concocted a few furnaces of pills right?
It could kill right? From the start, this bunch of chuunibyous were already very silly, if they ate the wrong medicine too, wouldn't they become super silly? Originally, they could probably be saved, but right now if they ate that medicine then there would truly be no hope for rescue!
His conscience finally took over, and he couldn't help but enter into the chat window, "Medicine cannot be randomly taken!"
Right as he was about to knock on the Enter key, and send his first sentence in this group...The chat window vibrated.
A large smiley popped out from the group chat's avatar.
It was the moderator who hadn't appeared from when Song Shuhang entered the chat group Seven Path's Respected Sage, "This recipe is great, I just tried simultaneously concocting it in seven furnaces, and all of them easily succeeded. The success rate is very high. I've tried some and the effectiveness of the medicine is slightly more than half of the old version of Body Tempering Liquid. But the cost of manufacturing this recipe is only a tenth of the old recipe.
The Body Tempering Liquid may be the lowest level of pills, but as of today, the spiritual Qi in this realm is becoming thinner and thinner. To us for whom expensive medicines and herbs are rare, this truly is a good thing. Medicine Master, continue to work hard. If you can improve pill recipes of level three and above, then your contributions and efforts will truly be invaluable."
"To add-on: What's most important is, the concocting difficulty has been greatly reduced, this can even be passed on to medicinal students to concoct."
Seven Path's Respected Sage was a famous senior in the group, and in terms of strength he was even one level higher than Mt. Yellow's True Monarch. He also had high attainments in terms of pill concoction. In this group, he could be said to be the authority in terms of pill concocting, his praises naturally let a junior like Medicine Master feel extremely heartened.
"Thank you senior, I will work hard!" Medicine Master excitedly entered these many words in a single sentence, moreover with high speeds.
Song Shuhang's mouth started twitching, there was actually someone who had already concocted and taken that 'body tempering liquid'?
Chapter 4: H City's 3rd stage – Houtian lightning tribulation
Thinking it through, Song Shuhang pressed and held the ? key and deleted what he typed into the chat window.
He understood, with this group's members' temperament, even if he sent advice, he reckoned that none of them would probably listen. Moreover, since there was someone who had already taken it, and was still able to leap and frisk about, that medicine shouldn't poison someone to death in a short period of time, right?
Although this was how it is, Song Shuhang felt that he couldn't just leave them to their own devices. Every medicine had its side effects, perhaps this body tempering liquid or something was a slow acting poison, and wouldn't kill a person in a short period of time, but if it took a life in a long period of time what was there to do?
Therefore this medicinal recipe had to be verified!
He was even still worried for this group of xianxia chuunibyous.
As a person, Song Shuhang was generally a great candidate to choose as a good friend.
He picked up the notebook beside him, then copied down the 30 and more medicinal ingredients that Medicine Master's 'body tempering fluid' contained that could be found online.
Song Shuhang had an older female cousin named Zhao Yaya, who studied medical science.
Her university had a Chinese medicine faculty, so Song Shuhang wanted to have her ask them, if these 30 and more improving qi and blood circulation ingredients were thrown into a pot and cooked for a while, will the end result be able to kill the one who eats it?
All these improving blood circulation, qi and health ingredients, theoretically shouldn't kill the one who eats it. But so many things stuffed into a pot to cook and stew, who knows what kind of thing it would end up transforming into at the end?
As for those names at the back, the Fresh Tyrant Branches, Nine-Yang Scarlet Bamboo slices etc. Those carried a clear sense of chunni, therefore Song Shuhang naturally chose to ignore them. Who knew what kind of things these were? He wasn't someone stuck in second grade, alright?
If he took these items to ask his cousin, his cousin would definitely think that water had entered his brain. And then the next day, Mama Song would certainly board an aeroplane to hurry towards Jiang Nan City and take him to see some neurosurgeon or psychiatrist.
"When I go back home in another two weeks, I'll secretly ask my cousin..." Song Shuhang quietly reasoned in his heart. He hoped that in this span of time, the xianxia aficionados wouldn't cut him off.
While Song Shuhang was copying the pill recipe, Nine Provinces (1) Group also remained peaceful temporarily. On normal days the number of members online always remained low, by the looks of it even chuunibyous have normal lives to lead?
That's right, people living on this earth still had to eat, work, and take care of children. Perhaps within this group there were also students like him.
After copying the 30 and more ingredients from the pill recipe, Song Shuhang stretched his back. He then looked towards the bottom right hand of his monitor, at the weather forecast software.
1st June, clear.
2nd June, clear.
"The weather's good, I should go exercise for a bit later." Song Shuhang felt that his physique had deteriorated, and so decided to do more exercise.
But it didn't matter what his heart thought, for his fingers couldn't help but open the computer's game icon, first enjoy a game then think about it!
...
Although he said he'd enjoy a game, once the game started, one match after another, he simply couldn't stop!
Unwittingly, it was afternoon.
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"Time during weekends always seem to pass particularly fast." Song Shuhang made a dry laugh, closed the game, then conveniently opened up the Nine Provinces (1) Group by habit.
Taking a look after booting, taking a look before shutting down, and a happy mood for the whole day!
Once the chat window opened, he realized that the frequently online North River's Loose Practitioner was already online.
Inside there were many new chat records.
North River's Loose Practitioner: "Medicine Master bro, your pill concocting standards leave me speechless. I tried 10 furnaces of that altered body tempering liquid, and even managed success with 8 of them, the medicine's effectiveness was better than expected. It's a pity that this body tempering liquid is only effective for entry-level cultivators. For a loose practitioner like me this isn't very useful, but for those like Daluo Sect's Rainmoon True Monarch and the others' disciples and disciples' children, those seniors would have great use for it. Once senior Rain Butterfly and the others receive this pill recipe, they would owe you, Medicine Master bro, a huge favor."
Roaming Cloud Monk Tong Xuan mysteriously appeared, and sent a thumbs up.
North River's Loose Practitioner immediately laughed, "I forgot, Master Tong Xuan you have a group of little monks under your care. Medicine Master bro, seems like the people who owe you a favor has once again increased."
Roaming Cloud Monk Tong Xuan once again sent a smiley, then lurked.
North River's Loose Practitioner returned with another smiley, he felt that practising that 'silent meditation' was a real pain in the ass, and if it wasn't for the chat software allowing Master Tong Xuan to send punctuations and emoticons, he probably wouldn't even have a way to socialize, right? Buddhist sects were just such a pain in the ass, which was why that time, when a great monk tried to sway him into becoming a novice monk, him not agreeing was a decision that couldn't be greater!
Approximately 10 minutes later, Mad Saber Three Waves came online, "Soft Feather Fairy ~~ Soft Feather Fairy, if you are here please be sure to reply to this majesty for a moment!"
At the same time he sent a line of crying and kneeling emoticons.
"Oh, fellow daoist Three Waves hasn't been online for the past few days, where did you go for closed-door cultivation?" North River's Loose Practitioner made a naughty smile, he was asking despite knowing the circumstances.
"Closed a damned door!" Three Waves sent a voice message, even his voice sounded like choking: "Three days ago, 'senior' Spiritual Butterfly Respected Sage came to visit this majesty, then stayed in this majesty's house for three days. After that, you all know what happened ah ah ah ah..."
"Hehe." North River's Loose Practitioner expressed how he definitely wouldn't pity Three Waves, someone who seeks death is not worth pitying!
"Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather, beautiful Soft Feather Fairy, please come out to meet Waves! I have something to request!" Three Waves miserably called, Waves was Three Waves' surname. His original name was Waves Three.
"?" Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather came online, and sent a question mark.
"Fairy, you are finally here. This majesty has a request. I'm requesting you to please bring that overly-attached-to-his-daughter's-relationships father back home. Waves is kneeling!" Three Waves sent a otz kneeling emoticon.
"Hehe." Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather sent a smiley, and then sent another sentence after a moment, "Old me is overly attached to his daughter's relationships?"
Huh? Wait a moment, doesn't something seem to be wrong?
Old me? Oh my mama, it was Spiritual Butterfly Respected Sage using his daughter's account again?
Clunk, did something break? It was Three Waves' frail heart.
Sure enough, this old fella was overly attached to his daughter's relationships, often using his daughter's account, was there still justice in this world!?
"..." North River's Loose Practitioner felt that his mouth could no longer stop twitching. In the end, he kindly prompted, "Right, Three Waves bro. Lady Soft Feather seems to be refining the new version of body tempering liquid right?"
Which is why Lady Soft Feather will not come online for a short period of time.
Afterwards, there no longer was an afterwards.
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Mad Saber Three Waves disconnected... It was a disconnection, not that he went offline.
"Chi!" Song Shuhang happily laughed out.
Cheerful mood.
Over the 10 days of reading the chat records, he felt that the people in the group weren't like normal chuunibyou patients. Their conversations revealed contents were too real, like it wasn't products of their imaginations.
This thought only stayed in Song Shuhang's mind for a moment before it passed.
"Could it be that I've seen too much of their chat records, and have been assimilated by them?" Thinking of this, Song Shuhang was frightened to the point he had cold sweat.
He had long passed the age for chuuni, but who doesn't have a 'remember that time' moments?
Those years of heroic, wuxia and superhero dreams were his dark history, and experiences he wouldn't want to face in this lifetime. Once he thought of it he would feel ashamed, and feel like dying; wanting to forget and wanting to forget!
So he absolutely must not be assimilated by the other fellas in the group.
"Time to go eat." He extended his hand, and was about to close the Nine Provinces (1) Group.
Just as he was about to close the chat, the group's North River's Loose Practitioner once again appeared with a line, "Ah Qi, has the junior in your family finished with his tribulation? Why is there no noise from him?
Su Clan's Ah Qi replied, "Preparing for it right now, it's about to begin in a few hours."
North River's Loose Practitioner replied with another question, "Going through the tribulation from where? Do you need help?"
"The tribulation will be at a suburb of H city, don't worry, my family's Ah Shiliu has outstanding talent, a mere 3rd stage – Houtian advancement's lightning calamity is a small matter, sprinkle a little water and it's enough to pass. You guys can wait for my family's Ah Shiliu to advance towards 4th stage – Xiantian, then he will come challenge you guys, wahaha!" Su Clan's Ah Qi laughed, he was very relaxed.
[TL: Ah Qi's Qi is the character seven, while Ah Shiliu's Shiliu refers to sixteen. I might change to the actual numbers if more and more Ahs appear]
"If you put it that way then I'm relieved, Ah Shiliu this little fella's talent is indeed pretty good. 3rd stage – Houtian should pose no problems for this little fella." North River's Loose Practitioner replied.
After this, the group's peace was restored.
...
...
Song Shuhang rubbed his chin, H City?
Wasn't that the place right beside the Jiang Nan region! Bringing that up, the university city he was at was right beside Jiang Nan City and H City, the J City's district.
H City was a small city in Huaxia, and while the area was small, their economy was doing extremely well. It was Huaxia's famed shopping heaven, with the reputation of having everything within heaven and earth up for sale. Of course, illegal things were excluded.
If the tribulation is received in H City, then can it be seen from the Jiang Nan region?
"Am I an idiot?" Song Shuhang laughed, how could he take things said by the group seriously?
A lightning calamity nonetheless? With this weather there are no clouds within 10000 miles, with bright and beautiful sunshine. It couldn't be possible to have a thunderstorm right?
What's more, the present is unlike a few years prior, the weather forecast is now accurate, at least within the approaching three days. If it was reported to be a sunny day, there wouldn't be waves of thunder or torrential rains.
"Taking advantage of the good weather, I'll go to the bookshop after eating!" Song Shuhang murmured.
Chapter 5: I Believe In Science!
After finishing his lunch, Song Shuhang walked towards the nearby book renting store to window read.
[TL: Basically he goes to the book shop to read but not to buy, similar to window shopping, and so, window read]
He liked to window read, not because he wanted to save the money of borrowing a few books, but this was his hobby. Song Shuhang found crouching at a corner of the book shop reading to be incredibly pleasurable!
Of course, in order to avoid the boss from hating him, after reading a while, he would rent a book or two. A person must have integrity, and anything done must not be too extreme, things must be worked on little by little! This way he can avoid the boss hating him, and chasing him out.
After all, for a book shop as large as the one in front of him, with a large variety of books not just limited to novels, rather all kinds of genres novels were available. This type of book shop was a rare nowadays.
To be put on a blacklist, in the vicinity around JiangNan University, one could not find a more impressive bookstore.
They say that a person's name is important and the person becomes like their name. Song Shuhang really liked reading books, and had no bias against them.
[TL: The word 'Shu' in Song Shuhang means books, while 'hang' refers to boat/vessel/ship.]
No matter if they were fiction novels, classic literature, classical works, or even works on theories that can make a person's head spin, he enjoyed all of them.
These days, he had been reading books on car driving techniques and important knowledge. He plans to obtain a driver's license while classes are still easy during his first year. Taking the test at school rather than outside was a lot cheaper, a difference of 7 to 8 thousand yuan.
...
...
While window reading, time would always fly by quickly.
In a blink of an eye, the time reached 3PM.
"So fast...I need to prepare to go back already. I also need to go to the nearby supermarket to get some snacks for a midnight supper, so I can pull an all nighter on Saturday night." Song Shuhang laughed.
Done muttering, he randomly chose a book, walked towards the checkout counter, and checked that book out.
The checkout counter was located at the exit of the bookstore. Today, the awning outside which provided shade for the store was broken, so the lady boss took refuge in a shaded spot, avoiding the scorching sun.
"The sun is so bright, it already feels like midsummer." Song Shuhang said as he used one hand to cover his eyes and looked at the sky.
The lady boss was a classic Jiang Nan beauty, as if she was made of water.
Like Song Shuhang, her interest was also getting a book and reading it all day. From her attire, it could be seen that her quality of life wasn't low and opening this bookstore was merely a hobby for her.
Normally, she would be sitting down and reading in a gentle and refined manner. Simply picturesque, the sight of this was warming to the heart and pleasing to the eyes. To watch this scene of the painting-like beauty, many youngsters would forcefully change their hobbies from being rebellious youths to literature youths.
However, it was said that this picturesque beauty side was just her peaceful side.
With a peaceful mode, there would certainly be a PK mode or berserk mode in her. Only, in this half-year, Shuhang had not seen this side.
"Alright. Within 2 days, you must remember to return it. An additional day will add another yuan towards the fee." The lady boss completed the procedures for renting books, then waved her hand to signal Song Shuhang to get lost.
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Although they had only interacted for half a semester, this moocher that would stay for more than half a day left a profound impression on her. If it wasn't for his tact in checking out a few books to help her business, she would've used a broom and drove him out ages ago.
"Hehe" Song Shuhang laughed as he took the books and took a step exiting the store.
Boom!!!
At this moment, an ear-splitting sound exploded out.
This noise had scared everyone in this store, and regarding Song Shuhang who had almost taken a step out of the store, he fell flat on his face!
"Fuck!"
"Hey, what the hell!"
"Thunder from a clear sky?"
"Scared me to death." In this bookstore, all sorts of exclamations could be heard.
Raising his head towards the sky, Song Shuhang found that the endlessly clear sky had changed. In the horizon, there appeared a black cloud quietly condensing. In a blink of an eye, the cloud covered the horizon, giving the feeling of storm clouds approaching.
[TL: Bad omens]
"It seems like it's about to rain?" Tch tch. They said that a few years ago, weather forecasts were inaccurate and we must do the opposite. When the forecast states it will be a clear day, you need to bring an umbrella. I expected that after all these years, the weather forecast would've improved. To think that it would still be this unreliable." Song Shuhang sighed.
It would be better if it was back then. Back then, you just needed to follow the opposite of what the forecast predicted. Currently, you need to predict and gamble whether the forecast is accurate.
After letting his imaginations run wild, he grasped his rented books and prepared the race back to the dorms while the rain hadn't fallen yet.
Not waiting till Song Shuhang's second foot stepped out.
Boom...
Yet another thunder roared out, making the people's ears buzz.
Song Shuhang's raised leg once again returned back to the ground.
In the horizon, the area with the black cloud started to distort in a peculiar manner. Lightning in the shape of snakes began shooting out from the cloud, forming a "net" of lightning and exploding with rumbles.
Song Shuhang had seen lightning before, but in this lifetime, he had not seen thunder and lighting this concentrated—-almost as if it was the apocalypse. The thunder and lightning didn't strike one by one, but rather struck in a coordinated manner.
The boom from the thunder was also not ordinary.
In the past, the thunder would only have a loud boom with some reverberations afterwards. But right now, it sounded just like when a huge amount of gunpowder was added into firecrackers.
Boom boom, bang bang, boom boom.
With so much noise, even the echos were blocked out.
Supposing someone got struck by this, how much power would that guy unlock?
Moreover, what made Song Shuhang even more apprehensive was that the black cloud did not move. It stayed at the horizon, chaotically bombing that area, without the intention of spreading over.
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The cries of thunder surged on for about ten breaths, continuously.
This gave people a feeling that a fierce storm was approaching.
"How unfortunate!" Song Shuhang sighed. He spoke in his heart, "Why not I return to window read some more?"
Generally speaking, regarding thunderstorms, those that arrived quickly, departed quickly as well. However, if the storm lasts longer, couldn't he read another book?
Thinking of this, he once again returned to the bookstore preparing to once again stay for a while.
As if God was playing a joke on Shuhang, upon turning around return to the bookstore, the rumbling seemed to have suddenly stopped!
At the same time, the black cloud covering the horizon and the lightning shaped like snakes also vanished into thin air! It was as if a mighty hand was using the sky to paint, and upon becoming dissatisfied, he effortlessly erased the black clouds and lightning snakes.
Once again, the sky turned back to endlessly clear, the sun shined over everything! Similar to the recently occurring blasts from the thunder, the sky full of lightning snakes seemed like an illusion and simply fantasy.
In the store, there were people muttering, "What kind of situation is this?"
"There can't actually be someone who sinned so much that they got struck by lightning, right?"
"Superstition! This thunder and lightning is merely a natural phenomenon..."
At this time, next to Shuhang, a brat raised his head, his left hand clenching a kids manhua, his right pointing to the sky. Loudly, with an air of heroism, he yelled, "Ahh, I want this sky, to never again cover my eyes. I want this ground, unable to bury my heart! I want the sky covered in black clouds, to disappear without a trace!"
The corners of Song Shuhang's mouth twitched, certain that once this brat grows up, upon recalling back this memory, he would be rolling on the ground in shame. Moreover, this type of dark history will haunt this brat for his whole life. After that, with great difficulty towards forgetting this memory, he couldn't say for sure it would not appear from a nook in his brain, prompting him to yell: "Drop dead, so shameful!" and so on. Also making him wish that he could go back in time, and beat himself up.
Because he himself had tons of experience.
Only not knowing why, seeing this laughable brat, Song Shuhang suddenly thought of the Nine Provinces (1) Group and all the chuunibyou in it.
"H City, 3rd Stage-Houtian Tribulation."
The chat record of the group flashed through his mind.
He once again assessed the location of the event. Just a moment ago, the area where the thunderstorm took place, seemed...to be right at H City's location?
Even though Song Shuhang had a big heart, his heart skipped a beat
Could it be? It was true?
The weather forecast displayed clear skies, but before his eyes, countless explosions from thunder had suddenly appeared.
"Hahahaha, how could this be possible! How could there be stuff capable of moving the heavens. It should be coincidence?!" Song Shuhang calmed his heart down.
But, when the thought arose, it was impossible to get rid of it. Were there really such coincidences in this world? Those lightning snakes were extremely strange, as if they weren't natural.
H City, Tribulation. These few words unceasingly resounded in his mind.
Forcefully, Song Shuhang shook his head, throwing this possibility out of his mind.
This worldview, that he had used 18 years to construct, told him to believe in science and refuse superstition. Those thunderclouds were only a strange natural phenomenon and were not from the tribulation!
Chapter 6: Copper Trigram's Immortal Master
"I have been infected by the people in the chat group. Although reading the chat records is pretty fun, as expected, I should leave the group after a while. Or else, if time passes, I will become one of them——I'll let my cousin look at this recipe, determine whether or not these ingredients will cause death if eaten, then leave the group." Song Shuhang affirmed internally.
Actually, since this was just a mysterious group...and since he was mysteriously added, Song Shuhang could completely ignore whether the other party would live or die.
However, he always felt that if the "medicinal pill" had poison in it, then nevertheless, he should warn and advise them against consuming it. Even if the other party doesn't heed his words, he would at least have a clear conscience.
Yes, a clear conscience.
Whether they listen or not was the group members' responsibility, but whether to advise them or not...that was his responsibility.
*********
Upon arriving at the dorms, Song Shuhang opened the chat application and sent his cousin, Zhao Yaya, a copy of the medicinal ingredients.
"Sis Yaya, hypothetically, if you took all the ingredients, boiled them all down into paste, will the finished product kill someone upon consumption? If you have time, please help me find out."
Upon hitting the enter key and sending the message, Song Shuhang leaned back on his chair, relaxing his mind.
Cousin Zhou Yaya and Song Shuhang were not close. She had already started interning at college, and did not come online that often. A lot of times, she would only pop online once in a few days. Upon sending a message, it would be normal to receive a reply after a week.
If he could, Song Shuhang would rather not have asked this question over the internet.
After all, there were some things better said face to face to prevent any misunderstandings. If his cousin thought he was the one who wanted to eat this, then wouldn't this be unexplainable without meeting face to face? He was afraid that his dearest mother would fly all the way over to see him.
However today, he felt himself becoming increasingly like one of the group members—Indeed, reading this chat log was interesting, but it would be better for him to leave earlier.
Taking advantage of the fact that he had never popped up in the chat, and he had not interacted with any of the members, his exit from the group wouldn't have that much impact.
Nevertheless, his fingers involuntarily shifted to the bottom right corner, and opened up the Nine Provinces (1) Group.
It was really easy to form a habit. As a matter of fact, it only took him ten days to form the habit of checking this chat group daily.
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At this moment, there were some people online.
North River's Loose Practitioner: "Ah Qi, is the tribulation over? Has little Shiliu advanced in rank?"
This message was sent just over 10 minutes ago, but Su Clan's Ah Qi had not yet responded to him.
"Something couldn't have happened during the tribulation right?" Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather asked. This time, it was actually she herself and not her father. This girl may have had just joined this group, but with her glib tongue, she had already become familiar with some of the more active group members.
She knew that for cultivators, every single tribulation could not be underestimated. No matter how weak the tribulation was, just a single mistake could cause serious repercussions.
"That shouldn't be the case, there's Ah Qi there. It's merely 3rd Stage- Houtian tribulation, if there were to be a problem, he could forcefully dispel it." North River's Loose Practitioner responded.
Only, Su Clan's Ah Qi never responded, and he couldn't put himself at ease.
At this moment, an ID that Song Shuhang had never seen emerged. This person was called 'Copper Trigram's Immortal Master'. He sent: "You guys need not worry yet. Wait for this Immortal Master to divinate first, then you'll know the result."
After a moment of silence, North River's Loose Practitioner replied: "Ok."
It looked like this person called Copper Trigram's Immortal Master played the role of an Immortal Master in terms of divination?
After about two or three minutes, Copper Trigram's Immortal Master said: "Haha, no problem. The results from my divination shows a very auspicious outcome, Su Clan's Ah Qi and his younger relative should be fine. Let's just wait for little Shiliu to come challenge us."
Very auspicious, then they should be relieved now, right? Even though you can't take fortune telling as truth, but sometimes it certainly can make you feel better. Shuhang thought to himself.
However, after North River's Loose Practitioner heard the divination result, he wasn't delighted. Instead, he became quiet.
After a while, he sent an grimacing emoji and said, "It seems that Ah Shiliu is indeed in trouble, which is why Ah Qi is not online. Is there anybody who is in H City's vicinity that can go check if Ah Qi needs any help?"
Mad Saber Three Waves appeared, and sighed: "If the result of the Trigram Immortal is very auspicious, then something is wrong. But I am very far away from H city. Even if I rushed there, it will take me days to get there."
"?" Soft Feather was puzzled.
"Soft Feather, what you don't know is that Immortal Master's divination is never correct. If the result from his divination is very auspicious, then you'd better be prepared, because a calamity is imminent. On the other hand, if he divines that you will be in grave danger, you should feel relief, because your luck has just turned great. If one day he foresees that the most world-breaking tribulation is coming your way, then you should have a celebratory party, because this is a sign that you might pick up an immortal tool just from leaving home!" Mad Saber Three Waves explained.
North River's Loose Practitioner added: "From a different perspective, Trigram Immortal's divination ability is indeed strong, because if you take the opposite of his divinations, you have basically found correct the correct answer."
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Copper Trigram's Immortal Master, "..."
He felt a strong urge to scream and defend himself, but because of his long and dark track record, he felt stifled to death.
"Oh, right, lady Soft Feather, could you ask your father when he plans to return home? He has been staying at my place for a long time. Doesn't he miss his home, doesn't he miss his adorable and beautiful daughter?" Mad Saber Three Waver learned his lesson this time and didn't say anything that would warrant his death
"Sure thing senior, I will ask my dad when I have time." Soft Feather responded politely, but her response was vague as she didn't say when she would ask, and also didn't confirm that the question she will ask her father is for him to return home.
Mad Saber Three Waves is quite astute, and he realized that Soft Feather was merely throwing him off. As a result, brother Three Waves' eyes once again moistened.
"Is there any lurker here from H City?" North River's Loose Practitioner asked the entire group.
The lurking group members popped out one by one, but all denied being in H city. Huaxia was a huge country, while there were only that many people in the group. It's impossible for everybody to be in the same area.
Song Shuhang was in JiangNan region right next to H city, but he was no acquaintance of Su Clan's Ah Qi. Moreover, he still kept a clear head, it would be impossible for him to assist these folks in the group to go searching for someone who allegedly went missing after a lightning tribulation based on someone's divination.
He had not been assimilated afterall.
At this moment, Spirit Butterfly Island's Soft Feather said again: "I plan to run some errands in J city, I will fly to Jiang Nan airport first, then transfer to J city. Jiang Nan region is close to H city, if there is anything I can help with, please contact me anytime. Even though I am not familiar with H city, I will do my best to help."
"That is great." North River's Loose Practitioner responded.
"Passing by Jiang Nan region? This lady from the chat group is coming here?" Song Shuhang blinked a few times.
North River's Loose Practitioner gladly said: "I will try to contact Ah Qi. If he needs help, I will then reach out to you, Soft Feather."
He and Su Clan's Ah Qi had been great friends even before joining this chat group. Now, with Copper Trigram's Immortal Master's divination, North River's Loose Practitioner became very concerned.
If something does not concern you, then it doesn't matter. If something does concern you, you can't stay calm .
At this moment, Mt. Yellow's True Monarch appeared. The moderator of the chat group tried to console him by saying: "North River, don't get overly worried. With Ah Qi present, don't even mention the 3rd Stage-Houtian tribulation, even if it was the 4th Stage-Xiantian tribulation, it couldn't possibly do a thing to him."
"That's true." North River's Loose Practitioner sighed. "Actually I wasn't worried at first. It was merely a 3rd Stage-Houtian tribulation afterall. However, the very auspicious divination made by Copper Trigram's Immortal Master truly made me endlessly worried."
"..." Mt. Yellow's True Monarch.
"..." Mad Saber Three Waves.
North River's Loose Practitioner words made a lot of sense, and the two of them were left speechless.
Chapter 7: The Group Of Delinquents That Got Wiped Out
Copper Trigram's Immortal Master, "Damn! North River's Loose Practitioner what do you mean by that, this is intolerable bullying! On next month's full moon night, at the Forbidden Purple Peak, do you dare to come?"
"Sure, do you think I'm scared of you, a fake divination master? However, I'm not free on next month's full moon, how about we set the date as three months later?" North River's Loose Practitioner refreshingly agreed, "Also, when the time comes how am I supposed to find you? After all you have too many identities. If you turn into a sockpuppet, I wouldn't recognize you even if you stood in front of my eyes."
Copper Trigram's Immortal Master was not just 'proficient' in divination, he was also a master in changing appearance. The people in the chat group guessed that he must have been chased around to be killed for calculating divinations wrongly so often, and had no choice but to change his identity to flee. Over time, he mastered the art of changing appearances.
"Three months it is then! When the time comes all you need to care about is going up the Forbidden Purple Peak, I will find you there! Your hateful face, I would recognize it even if it turned into ashes!" Copper Trigram's Immortal Master angrily said.
"This is settled then!" North River's Loose Practitioner was very resolute, as if he had Copper Trigram's Immortal Master in the bag.
When Mt. Yellow's True Monarch saw this, he sent a smiley and said, "North River, it seems like you're about to have a breakthrough. You want a fight to draw it out, and breakthrough in one breath right? You have been stuck in the 5th Stage – Spirit Emperor for a long time, it's indeed about time you made a breakthrough. Three months later during the night of the full moon, if I am able to spare some time to come out, I will go to the Forbidden Purple Peak to referee you two's duel. When the time comes, I will also prepare a small gift for the two of you.
"True Monarch truly understands me!" North River's Loose Practitioner immediately became excited, it must be known that Mt. Yellow's True Monarch was an old senior, something he prepared definitely would not be something as simple as a 'small gift.'
To procure such things from the fingertips of these old seniors, these things can be considered to be treasures for juniors like them, treasures that they could only get through fortuitous encounters!
"Since True Monarch has said that, when the time comes I won't leave North River out cold. I originally intended to let North River endure half a night of cold wind on the Forbidden Purple Peak first." said Copper Trigram's Immortal Master slowly.
"..." North River's Loose Practitioner.
What an asshole!
This fella deserves to be called someone whose divination toys with a person's heart, his heart is really tainted!
At this time North River secretly decided in his heart, three months later he absolutely has to beat up Copper Trigram's Immortal Master so badly that even True Monarch can't recognize him!
As this matter came to a conclusion, the chat group temporarily turned silent.
...
...
After Song Shuhang read the chat records, he was a little worried in his heart: It can't be that the Copper Trigram's Immortal Master and North River's Loose Practitioner from the group would really go to the Forbidden City's Forbidden Purple Peak for a duel, right? Based on their character it's possible that they might actually do such silly things, when that happens what if they get caught by the security there?
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I shall note this down first, when leaving the group I must warn them not to damage our country's cultural heritage, that is illegal.
Closing the chat group, Song Shuhang opened the Jiang Nan regional University's web page, to see what news there is today.
The lead story of the school's webpage was this afternoon's mysterious wild lightning, the location of the lightning was as Song Shuhang had guessed, at H City.
Because of that thunderstorm within the clear skies, H City and the nearby Jiang Nan region had areas which experienced a blackout. This caused a chain of problems, but luckily, there were no mortalities.
At the end there were bits and pieces of news regarding Jiang Nan University City. Some examples are, the renewal of their school beauties and handsome men rankings, which of the school's graduates had started up a company that was renown throughout the country, the result of the school's national ranking in competitions, the price of the blanket used by senior female graduates in auctions, etc.
Song Shuhang was not interested in these, he just needed to gain knowledge of some of them, so that when necessary, he possesses some shared conversation topics when idly chatting with others.
After that, he started searching for information regarding registration to learn driving on the school's website. The registration fee for ordinary cars was 2500, student price was just that advantageous. In Jiang Nan region, the moment a student steps out of the school, the costs of learning to drive would start from 10000 and above.
Song Shuhang took note of the contact number, he intended to learn the theory within the next few days, then register for driving classes. The driving school had classes for theory, but if he studied the theory himself and directly applied for practical driving classes it would be quicker.
Ding Dong~
On the school website there was a new update regarding the campus, arousing curiosity from him.
Just about 10 to 20 minutes ago, in the alleys close to the University City, many delinquents were knocked unconscious by a mysterious expert, the whole group was wiped out.
These so-called delinquents are actually mostly students, while a minority were students that dropped out. A large number of them had very gaudy hairdos, with piercings all over their bodies, and secretly dodged from the teachers in a small alley to smoke, they are rebellious youths.
Among them, there would also be repeater students, with the hobby of 'borrowing' money from cowardly students. To the delinquents, to gang beat down others is a type of interest, while it is also nothing out of the ordinary for someone to get beat down. This is because those who don't have a gang or faction, can't even be considered as hoodlums.
Delinquents getting beat up wasn't news, but within a mere few minutes, having about a 100 of these delinquents beat up was the issue.
On the photos taken by students at the scene, the miserable conditions of the delinquents could be seen. Every single one of them had ridiculously red faces, the appearance of their faces were as if they were going to act in a Beijing opera, with bruises of various colors. They perfectly suit that saying——already beat up to the point that even their mothers can't recognize them!
The school web had many comments regarding this.
There was someone rejoicing in those people's misfortune: "Who did it? They really did not show mercy. Was it the MMA club or the Taekwondo club? Or could it be that someone from the Boxing club trained new members, and formed a group to wipe out the delinquents?"
The one that reports new information: "All of them were knocked unconscious, they are now on the way to the hospital. No one has awoken yet, the suspect is unknown."
The one that speculates: "According to the people from the shophouse beside the alley, they did not see big group of delinquents fighting amongst themselves. Moreover even if they fought amongst themselves, it can't be that not a single one is conscious, right? There can't be such a coincidence even if it was mutual destruction. Therefore it is highly likely that it was an expert at work, a single person or several people had wiped up all of the delinquents."
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"Master? The type that can beat up more than 80 alone? Haha." Someone laughed, one must know that even if the number of delinquents didn't number up to a 100, there would still be at least 80. With so many delinquents beaten into the ground in a short few minutes, only those great heroes from the movies that crossed over can do that, right?
"Perhaps it is a person in the elite special forces of the army that did this? It is said that those elite special forces handle ordinary people like handling toys, they can handle a dozen or more in a minute."
"This guy upstairs is here to joke right? Even if elite special forces are so awesome, they also have their own missions. Having them ordered to deal with these delinquents, that is the same as using a cannon to shoot a mosquito!"
"Please stop speculating, wouldn't we know who did this once the delinquents wake up?" Someone replied.
Song Shuhang refreshed the webpage, casually looked at the various comments then closed the news window.
In any case, things that happened to the delinquents were of no concern to him.
Despite being only 1.75m tall, Song Shuhang was very buff. With one glance it was obvious that he wasn't the type that would become the target for 'borrowing' money, it was like he and the delinquents lived in separate worlds... If nothing unexpected happens, there will never be a relationship between him and those delinquents for his entire lifetime.
After doing a lazy stretch, he closed the campus webpage, leaned against his chair and emptied his mind.
The weird thunderstorm in the morning kept resounding in his mind, the mind that was obviously emptied from time to time had lightning and thunder flashing past, causing his spirit to be unable to gain tranquillity for a long time.
**********
The next day.
2 June, Sunday, Clear weather.
Song Shuhang got off bed early, he originally intended to stay awake overnight, but the string of events yesterday kept making him feel strange. He had no idea why he lost the mood to stay awake overnight, and instead washed up to sleep early.
Even if he wanted to do it tonight, the other roommates from the dorm would have returned.
After getting up and washing up, Shuhang once again opened up the group chat software on the bottom right corner of the monitor. As before, elder cousin Zhao Yaya did not reply. It seems like he still has to wait for more 2 days.
"If after 2 days elder cousin does not reply, then I'll give her a call." Song Shuhang thought inside.
After that he once again opened up the Nine Provinces' (1) Group. Every time he took a look, he would have a beautiful and great mood.
But if he sees too much, he would easily be assimilated.
The first piece of information in the group was from Su Clan's Ah Qi: "I've let everybody worry, Ah Shiliu's lightning tribulation had a little accident, however I have already settled it. After the accident in Ah Shiliu's lightning tribulation, he vented his temper. However he was also found and brought away by me, and didn't cause too great of a disturbance. It was right at a place close to H City, there were several... Yep, there were dozens of tactless ordinary people knocked unconscious by Ah Shiliu, no one died. I still have to bring Ah Shiliu back for a trip to the Su Clan's main branch next, I probably won't be online for the next few days. Anyways... Everybody, please don't be worried."
This was a message that was sent at 3AM that morning.
Chapter 8: Soft Feather and Luo Xin Street
"It's good that nothing happened, I feel relieved now. I will inform Soft Feather, so that she won't worry, and to avoid her wasting a trip towards H City." North River's Loose Practitioner entered a reply soon after.
Song Shuhang felt that North River's Loose Practitioner was basically online for all 24 hours everyday, he did not know how this person had so much energy. Could it be that his online habits are coincidentally the same as himself, the one with the name Song? Which was why every time he came online he happens to encounter North River's Loose Practitioner.
That's not right... When Song Shuhang was online, he was online. When Song Shuhang was offline, he was still online, because every time Song Shuhang came online the chat records he sees all had North River's Loose Practitioner included inside it.
It was like he didn't need sleep at all, as if he was a sacred warrior of the internet.
Song Shuhang couldn't help but worry, because as of right now, the number of sudden deaths due to overnight computer usage are so high, if North River's Loose Practitioner continues on like that will he someday die a sudden death too?
This shall be noted down as well... When the time comes to leave the group I better advise him.
Song Shuhang continued to pull the scrollbar downwards.
After Su Clan's Ah Qi was done talking, he greeted everybody once more, then went offline.
Subsequently, at around 5AM in the morning, Medicine Master came online and uploaded a photo, then added a question mark after the photo.
That is a picture of a plant, one that Song Shuhang has never seen before.
This plant grew curved, like a coiling dragon. At the tip of the plant there was a line of thorns, while the rhizome was purplish black, it was a very peculiar plant, with many great points which were worth admiring.
"Poison Dragon Grass huh, Medicine Master do you have a need for this again? Didn't you cultivated some not too long ago?" North River's Loose Practitioner was once again the first to reply.
"Experiment, all died." Medicine Master then sent a depressed emoji. Furthermore, that batch of Poison Dragon Grass' quality wasn't very good.
"Alright, I will contact you if I manage to get some. If the others see it they will definitely notify you as well." North River's Loose Practitioner replied.
"Want alive." Medicine Master added one more reply.
Poison Dragon Grass... From the sound of it, it doesn't seem like a kind plant, it can't be that it's also for concocting pills, right? Will it poison someone to death?
Song Shuhang was a little worried, he kept feeling that the people in the group were very good at seeking death.
Wait, there seems to be something fishy here.
Song Shuhang's hand trembled for a moment, his fingers moved back a little, up to where Su Clan's Ah Qi had replied, then looked at it one more time.
"There were several... Yep, there were dozens of tactless ordinary people knocked unconscious by Ah Shiliu, no one died."
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This sentence gave Song Shuhang a weird feeling, because he automatically thought of the group of delinquents that were wiped out...
It can't be such a coincidence right? If one were to say all of these were a coincidence, then the number of coincidences recently is a little too much isn't it!?
"Perhaps I should look at it from a different perspective, perhaps it's not a coincidence, it's just me overthinking things."
"People are always like that, when they have doubts towards a certain topic in their hearts, they bring many unrelated things together to forcibly form a conclusion. Just like when suspecting someone stole their money, they will link many events onto this person's head, and the more they look at that person the more they think they are looking at a criminal."
He felt that his current state of mind was perhaps the 'suspecting someone is a thief' mindset.
I can't over think this anymore, if I continue to think about it I will go astray just like the people in the group. Song Shuhang did a lazy stretch, and prepared to go for a jog.
The time of the day lies in the morning, moreover he felt his physique decline, he hasn't fully recovered from the flu and cough that has lasted for more than 10 days, and still coughs from time to time, it's torture!
So he came up with an idea, and decided to run 1.5km in the morning to toughen his body.
The goal is to persevere morning jogs for a whole month!
**********
At the same time, in Jiang Nan region's airport.
A lady with waist-length hair walked out of the airport with a large suitcase. She had white skin, was tall, had long legs. She wore a white T-shirt, denim shorts, and a pair of sneakers for her slender feet, looking youthful and pretty.
However, at this time the long-haired lady had a vexed expression as she looked around the gigantic airport, "I dislike large places like this the most, it's so easy to get lost."
Subsequently, she took out her cellphone, and fiddled with it.
**********
Sweating all over from his morning jog, Song Shuhang felt freshness and clarity, something he hasn't felt for a long time.
When he passed by the dining hall he bought a steamed stuffed bun and soy milk as breakfast, and returned to the dormitory after his rapid and shallow breaths stabilized.
It's Sunday and there's still a whole day of free time left, what should I do?
Should I go window read?
Nibbling on the steamed stuffed bun, Song Shuhang thought inside.
He then casually turned on the computer, and got onto the school's webpage. Because he cared about the matter regarding the delinquents being knocked unconscious, he continued to pay attention to it.
However, there wasn't a following report regarding the delinquents wiped out on the school's webpage, because the pitiful delinquents were still lying on the hospital beds, and not a single one had shown any signs of being about to gain consciousness yet.
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Which was why there was no way to find out who or what beat them into such a state.
The students that previously visited them had brought this up before, even though they were unconscious, the delinquents would from time to time make moans from pain. Due to their numbers being so great, they were placed into an enormous ward by the hospital. An approximate of 80 people's miserable shrieks, that scene was simply too beautiful, and extremely tragic.
"It it was only being knocked unconscious, they should wake up within a day or two, shouldn't they? It can't be that these delinquents have been beaten into vegetables, right?" Song Shuhang softly spoke to himself.
While letting his thoughts drift, he once again opened the chat group.
During the time he went for a jog and had breakfast, there was a lot more new information in the group.
Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather (Online via mobile): "Senior North River, I have already arrived at Jiang Nan region's airport. Does senior Ah Qi's side require any assistance?"
North River's Loose Practitioner was expected, online. He rapidly replied, "Soft Feather, you've finally came online, Ah Qi had already found Ah Shiliu during the wee hours, and left H City. You need not worry about them, and can directly proceed to J City to deal with your matters at ease.
"If nothing bad happened then all is well." Soft Feather replied, then added another line, "Has senior Ah Qi already left H City?"
"Yes, he left at dawn." North River's Loose Practitioner returned with another question, "Could it be that you need Ah Qi for something, Soft Feather?"
Soft Feather sighed, "Actually... I was hoping to meet up with senior Ah Qi, if would be best if somebody accompanied me to J City if possible. I am not too familiar with H City, Jiang Nan region and J City, I'm afraid that I might not be able to find my destination."
"Where are you going to? Right now cellphones have a function called navigation, it's very useful. It must be said that the inventions by modern people have many convenient uses." North River's Loose Practitioner passionately recommended, many people in the group were unfamiliar with modern technology, North River's Loose Practitioner could be considered as someone 'modern' here.
Hey, hello? Isn't there some problems with you two's conversation? Isn't this a classical Xianxia chuunibyou assembly point? Shouldn't you be recommending some ancient map instead? Or some compass-like treasure?
If raised one level higher, he can even accept to open a teleportation portal, but he just can't accept cellphone navigation.
"I've tried it before, but the navigation software can't find the place I want to go to." Soft Feather gloomily replied.
Of course she knows how to use navigation, fact was she's only 25 this year, there was no difference between her and people of modern times in some regards. However, she was just more knowledgeable when it comes to 'the real world' than other modern youngsters.
"Moreover, I'm bad with directions, I might not be able to find my destination even if I had navigation." Soft Feather added on.
North River's Loose Practitioner consoled: "No matter, after you advance to the 5th Stage and are able to lift yourself into the air, with a higher viewpoint you won't lose your way again. As for now, you can get a taxi, usually, as long as there is an address, taxi drivers are able to send you to the destination. However, be careful not to enter an unlicensed taxi."
"Thank you senior, I will try that." Soft Feather thanked, if nobody suggested, she herself would have forgotten that there was a convenient mode of transport like taxis.
North River's Loose Practitioner added on, "Where are you trying to go, Soft Feather? If you really can't find the place, I can help to ask if there are any fellow daoists in the vicinity, perhaps they could lend a hand."
"It's in a part of J City called Luo Xin Street, there should be an ancient temple there named Ghost Lamp Temple. The place I want to go to is this ancient temple!" Soft Feather quickly replied.
"Alright, I got it. I'll help you ask around, and will contact you if there's any information." North River's Loose Practitioner replied.
"Senior, I can't thank you enough!" Soft Feather sent a smiley and then posted, "I'll go find a taxi."
Jiang Nan region's airport.
That long-haired girl with a slim waist and long-legs pulled along a large suitcase, and walked out of the airport quickly. Her beautiful figure left many males she passed by unable to resist staring blankly at her.
Chapter 9: The Other Luo Xin Street
Song Shuhang was in Jiang Nan region, with his good man character, he definitely wouldn't reject an effortless matter like leading the way. However, at that moment, he had the spirit to help but not the strength. Because University city was a 2 hour car ride from Jiang Nan airport. Jiang Nan region was a county after all, its territory wasn't small.
Moreover, Song Shuhang was unfamiliar with J City, and had never ever heard of that Ghost Lamp Temple before.
All he knew was that J City was adjacent to the Jiang Nan region, and was also a very well known city within Huaxia.
Because that place is also the holy site of various religion, the many religious people can cause eyes to blur. Every year, during the religion's festivals, the number of believers who make a pilgrimage to J City is enough to cause it to be packed to the point where not even an ant can squeeze its way through.
There were as many temples there were hairs on an ox, trying to find a little temple in a city like that was truly difficult.
"Come to think of it, the name Luo Xin Street sounds really familiar, have I heard of it before?" Song Shuhang murmured.
Nibbling on his steamed stuffed bun, Song Shuhang leaned back on the rocking chair and swayed. Searching for the words 'Luo Xin Street' in his mind, he tried to draw out the source of this mysteriously familiar feeling.
Mankind's brains have always been strange, some memories will surface whether the host wishes to or not, yet when the host tries to recalls that memory, they will not surface no matter how the host racks their brains trying to force it out.
"I probably heard this name from some news channel before, right?" Shuhang gave up, and no longer wasted his brain cells on this matter.
**********
Soft Feather dragged the huge suitcase to the taxi stand.
In barely a moment, there were several taxis moving towards Soft Feather, this proved that a pretty face is advantageous in any situation. Otherwise, solely based on that huge suitcase, many taxi drivers would dispel their thoughts of picking up this passenger.
"Miss, where to?" A red taxi took up the first spot, the driver was a middle-aged man with a square face, speaking Mandarin with a heavy Jiang Nan region's accent.
"Sir... Do you know where Ghost Lamp Temple is?" Soft Feather asked, her voice was gentle, a stark difference from a youthful and lively appearance, but all these only made her all the more attractive.
The middle-aged man with a square face thought hard and bitterly, and shook his head, "Ghost Lamp Temple, I've never heard of it before."
Seeing the middle-aged man with a square face shake his head, Soft Feather's heart sunk, her little face was a little red, for she was extremely disappointed.
Fortunately, the middle-aged man with a square face immediately asked, "Do you know which street it is in?"
"I know, it's Luo Xin Street!" Soft Feather replied at once.
"Luo Xin Street, I know of this place, and I'm very familiar with it, for I stay in that street. However Miss, are you sure you got the name of the temple right? I've stayed there for many years, and have never heard of this Ghost Lamp Temple before." The middle-aged man with a square face seriously replied.
Because of his vocation, he had a thorough understanding of all of the nearby areas. He was especially familiar with Luo Xin Street where he stayed, to exaggerate a little, every inch of land had his footprint, yet he had never heard of the name Ghost Lamp Temple.
"Ah?" Soft Feather's little face turned even redder, however she immediately replied with resolution, "Then Sir, please bring me to Luo Xin Street!"
She was prepared to go there and ask around, if it truly cannot be done... Then she could only thicken her skin and call her dad. However, that is her final plan, and must not be used unless there truly is no alternative in sight.
"Miss, are you in a hurry? If you aren't, you may take a bus to Luo Xin Street. Taking a taxi there would be a little expensive, for it's a 2 hour drive." The middle-aged man with a square face explained.
It wasn't that he didn't want to earn money, but the fee to take a 2 hour taxi ride truly wasn't small. The other party obviously had no knowledge of the distance, if the distance and price wasn't clearly mentioned before the journey, a dispute could easily occur after arriving at the destination.
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"That's alright, you only need to worry about bringing me there." Soft Feather revealed a bashful smile, money wasn't a problem for her at all.
When the middle-aged man with a square face confirmed this, he was delighted inside. The amount that would be earned in this trip was pretty significant.
"Alright then, you may enter the vehicle, the suitcase can be placed into the boot." As he said that, the middle-aged man with a square face opened up the boot, then opened his door to prepare getting off and helping to lift the suitcase.
After all, that suitcase was very bulky, where would this young lady find the energy to lift it up?
However, when the middle-aged man with a square face opened his door and turned his head back, his mouth opened into the shape of an 'O' and couldn't close for a long time.
What he saw was that the young lady who seemed weak and gentle lift up the huge suitcase with a single hand... She did not drag it up, hug it up or whatever. It was like she was merely lifting a small plate as she dexterously lifted up the suitcase with a single hand, and placed it into the boot.
Could it be that the suitcase looked big, but was actually very light?
Just as he was thinking of that, he felt the car's rear slightly sink. The middle-aged man had been a taxi driver for many years, and had long achieved the stage of one with the car. Once the car's rear sunk, he could roughly estimate the weight of the object.
This suitcase is probably over 60kg, right? Maybe even heavier, approximately the weight of an adult male.
Does this lady practice weight-lifting? This truly is some godly innate strength.
The middle-aged man with a square face swallowed his saliva. Fortunately, he was always a kind taxi driver, if it was someone with evil intent that schemed after seeing a beauty that met this lady, they would definitely brought down in a flash.
Soft Feather didn't know how shocking her actions were. After placing the suitcase in, she took two steps back to the car's rear door and got in.
"Miss, you're pretty strong, please sit tight." The middle-aged man with a square face laughed and stepped on the accelerator. The red taxi left the taxi stand, and headed towards Luo Xin Street.
...
...
Nine Provinces (1) Group.
Spiritual Butterfly Island's Soft Feather (Online via Mobile): "Senior North River, I am headed towards Luo Xin Street right now, but the taxi driver does not know of Ghost Lamp Temple. I intend to ask the residents there after arriving at Luo Xin Street, perhaps somebody would know."
"Alright, I asked several people, however, nobody knows anything about it for now. Anyways, I will contact you if there's any information." North River's Loose Practitioner replied.
"Thank you senior." Soft Feather sent a smiley, and quietly formed a fist. With North River's Loose Practitioner's reply, her restless mood slightly calmed. To be honest, this was her first time travelling so far away from home alone. In the past, she always either had her father to keep her company, or travelled only to regions close to Spiritual Butterfly Island.
She kept feeling a little excited.
...
...
Song Shuhang had not read the chat log above yet... Because he was too bored with having nothing to do, he once again went to window read.
He carried the thick book he rented previously. This was a book that he hasn't finished reading. To him, if something like a book isn't read in the shop, it would lose a lot of its taste.
Just like the 'Handsome Guy Kang' instant noodles, the taste of it dry and the taste of it cooked is totally different.
[TL: Raws wrote 康帅哥 instant noodles, but I believe he mean 康帅傅 instead, maybe the author was trying to be funny, no idea here.]
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Before he left, he brought coincidentally brought his cellphone with him. Song Shuhang doesn't have the habit of bringing his cellphone around with him.
In present day, cellphones have more and more functions, similarly, the sizes of them also increased. Nowadays, it's nearly impossible to find a cellphone that only has the function of making phone calls. Due to the size of the cellphones becoming too big, Song Shuhang even used that thing as a landline telephone.
"7% battery strength, it should be enough to use."
There's not much left, but if it's only to pick up calls and reply messages, it should be enough to last him an afternoon.
Thinking this way, he carried his phone, picked up his rented book and headed for the book shop's bliss of window reading.
...
Time flew past.
Approximately 1.5 hours later.
"Strange, could it be that I got up in the wrong posture this morning?" Song Shuhang placed the thick book in his hands back to the bookshelf. Unexpectedly, he couldn't continue reading!
Regardless of whether it was fiction, car theories, manhua or classical works, he totally couldn't extensively read any of them. This was the first time he met something like this in his lifetime.
"This is strange." Song Shuhang murmured, then sighed. He then casually picked out a book and headed for the renting counter.
If he can't immerse himself in it, then window reading has no meaning.
Thinking for a while, he decided to have a stroll around the vicinity of University City, and relieve his boredom.
When it comes to relieving boredom, the well-known spot near Jiang Nan University must be mentioned——Foodie Paradise.
I shall go eat something good!
*********
Foodie Paradise is a prosperous food street, 2 streets apart from Jiang Nan University, requiring a 20 minute walk. But this little distance is absolutely incapable of stopping the march of the foodies.
Over here, other than the airplanes that fly in the skies, and the four-legged stools that stay on the ground, everything can be found. All appetites can be satiated.
All this time, this place has been named 'Foodie Paradise' or 'Food Paradise', while its original name has instead been forgotten.
What's this place called?
Song Shuhang raised his head to look toward the street's sign.
'Luo Xin Street Welcomes You', the sign with 5 bright and gold words brilliantly shined under the sun.
Oh that's right, this place is called Luo Xin Street, great name.
Shuhang thought that way, and entered the street.
After walking two steps in, he fiercely turned around. He then quickly moved back to the large signboard, and stared at the 5 large bright and dazzling golden words.
Luo Xin Street Welcomes You!
He wasn't seeing things, it was Luo Xin Street.
Song Shuhang was speechless.
Chapter 10: A Brief Interlude While Strolling In The Streets
Shuhang previously thought for a long time, and felt that he had heard of the name Luo Xin Street before, yet couldn't remember no matter how he tried. So it turns out it was here, the incredibly famous foodie heaven!
That's not right, didn't that Soft Feather say Luo Xin Street is in J City? This place is part of the Jiang Nan region.
Could it be that Soft Feather remembered the wrong address?
Or could it be that J City and Jiang Nan region both have a Luo Xin Street?
This is normal, city and county names are rarely repeated, but village names, street names and so on are often repeated. The place Soft Feather wants to go must be the one in J City, and she should not be coming to Jiang Nan region.
Because he came out to relieve his boredom, Shuhang did not continue brooding over this.
He walked while eating, and ate while strolling.
He did not know how long he strolled for, but after he felt a little tired, he bought another 2 crispy chicken rolls, and sat on a bench provided for people to rest by the side of the road, and rested.
...
...
Opposite the resting area was Luo Xin Street's large public square, it had people walking in and out, and bustled with noise and excitement.
The weather just turned warm, but it can never stop women's inborn love for beauty.
Everywhere had dazzling spaghetti tops, midriff tops, miniskirts, low-waist hot pants, heels and pointy-tipped sandals. Enchanting jade necks and cleavage, slim waists and jade legs, increasing the charm and loveliness of Luo Xin Street by a thousand times.
As long as one sat at the resting area, one could see the countless long legs sparkling with innumerable rays of light.
Song Shuhang casually chose the resting area, and it was a great place to spot beauties. By his side were 3 dudes grading the beauties' legs.
"Did you guys see that? The red dress below the large electronic display on the left, that figure, those legs are at least 80 points." The fat dude with thick glasses pointed at the red dress' figure.
"Ah Xu, your insight still needs more practice. 73 marks is the highest, her legs are long, but as a whole entity she is a little too skinny. Moreover the proportion of the calf is somewhat short, affecting the entire package's beauty." Beside him a handsome man gave his professional opinion.
"Is that so?" Glasses fatty scratched his head, with a careful look it truly was as the handsome man said. However it would be impossible to tell if he did not look carefully.
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"I think she can be 77 marks and above, after all in reality beautiful legs like this are already hard to come by. We can't use the long leg celebrities or leg models as comparison." The last, short-haired man leaned against the bench, and spoke lazily.
Song Shuhang listened, and couldn't help look towards where the glasses fatty pointed. There was a lady slender legs wearing a red tight-fitting dress breeze and crystal sandals breeze walking.
A woman who dares to wear a tight-fitting dress like that is usually the type that has confidence in her own body.
Shuhang didn't have a leg fetish, but he still admits that this red dress lady was beautiful, her thighs were slender and fair. The owner of the pair of legs obviously takes great care of them.
They say that when men look at women, a young boy looks at the face, when they wisen up a little they look at the boobs, and only mature men look at the legs.
Shuhang felt that he definitely wasn't a mature man, because he had no inclination towards legs. Even if the street was filled with shining white legs, he wouldn't even bat an eye. He also wouldn't have the urge to grade like the three dudes over there.
Towards his roommates who claim that they want to kneel and lick the legs of celebrities from the neighbouring country, Song Shuhang's inability to understand increased manifold.
[TL: I'm pretty sure he's referring to Korea here.]
Something like legs, men have it too. Women's legs are just a little more fair, a little more tender, there's nothing special about them, right?
These were the thoughts in his head, if the three dudes learned of that, they would definitely have his face covered with spit.
"Hurry and look, it's a 100 marks, a 100 marks!" Suddenly, the glasses fatty spoke with excitement, he couldn't help raising his voice a little.
"Where?" The handsome man asked. Although glasses fatty's grading skills wasn't considered excellent, he was still someone with insight. Something like a 100 marks can't possibly be something he casually brought out.
The lazy-looking short-haired man also sat up straight with curiosity, and looked towards the direction fatty was looking.
As before it was below the huge LED display, a beautiful, tall and slender figure walked out from a corner. She dragged along a huge suitcase, yet it didn't seem to take any effort on her part.
Her long black hair reached her waist, and like a waterfall draping over her back, it fluttering in the wind.
Despite the fact that she was just wearing sneakers, it was obvious that she her legs were longer than the people in her surroundings. Every step she took was just about the same distance as an ordinary person's two or three steps.
She was simply the role model to be a natural female movie protagonist, even if she stood in the crowd doing nothing, she would give off the feeling of being a crane among a flock of chickens. A natural focal point for the masses.
The black-haired beauty walked very quickly, in a few steps she caught up with the lady in the red dress, which was also the one these 3 dudes graded. All perfect things might not seem so dazzling if they were alone, but once there was something to compare it with, they would appear to be a hundred times more dazzling.
At this moment, the lady in the red dress became the object for comparison. When the black-haired lady walked past her, the two pairs of legs were obviously compared, and were graded. This comparison increases one's aesthetic perception, and the black-haired lady's legs seemed more and more dazzling.
"Ah Xu, I'm speechless. This truly deserves a 100 marks." The handsome man immediately stood up, straightened his clothes, and arranged his hairdo.
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"What are you doing?" The short-haired man asked.
"Picking her up! Such a perfect woman, it would be difficult to meet someone like that ever again in my lifetime. It doesn't matter whether I succeed or not, I have to attempt no matter what, otherwise I will regret this my whole life." The handsome man grinned, and his two rows of white teeth shined. He indeed possessed the talent to attract girls, and the aura of a winner in life, a dashing aura of sunshine.
He wouldn't lose a thing if he failed, yet if he succeeded in picking her up, then it would be jackpot! Something like this had the possibility of a hundred gains and definitely no loss, why not do it?
At a time like this, a real man must have no fear for shame, and must march forth bravely!
Soon after, the handsome dude squeezed into the crowd, and squeezed towards the black-haired beauty.
...
...
Afterwards, in less than two minutes, the handsome dude returned crestfallen.
"You failed? So quickly?" Glasses fatty was puzzled. He knew his comrade had a 90% and above chance of failing, but his comrade was still quite handsome, and was a good talker, how can he fail so quickly? With his abilities, even if he failed at picking the beauty up, there shouldn't be any problem trying to chat with her for a moment, right?
"There wasn't a chance to pick her up, that beauty's legs are really long, and she walked very quickly. When she takes one step, I have to take several to keep up. I was even jogging behind her yet I still couldn't catch up." The handsome dude had tears streaming down his cheeks.
"..." The short haired man had a speechless expression.
"Chi(giggling sound)!" Song Shuhang who was at the side laughed to the point he nearly received internal injuries, these 3 dudes are real jokers.
But to be honest, that black-haired beauty's legs were really dazzling.
In this generation, the internet flourished. All types of beauties had emerged, and the masses were already exhausted from appreciating their beauty.
But true gold does not fear fire, a beauty that truly possessed unique points will definitely cause the gazes of the people surrounding her to be firmly attracted to her for eternity.
For example, the black-haired beauty from before, someone like that will definitely be remembered after a glance, the type that probably can't be forgotten within a short period of time.
...
...
A chance to encounter beauties was only a brief interlude for strolling in the streets.
After resting for a while, Song Shuhang got up and continued strolling around.
"I should buy some snacks back later." He thought inside his heart. Previously, when he caught a cold his roommates took care of him, since he was strolling in Foodie Paradise, he had to bring something back as a token of appreciation.
I have no idea what they like to eat, so I'll just bring a serving of many types of tasty food back.
:)
