Chapter 100

When Ji Qing finally made it back to Gu Lingxue, he could clearly see her let out a sigh of relief.

The hands clasped tightly before her chest suddenly relaxed. She quickly stepped forward, her expression full of concern as she looked the two of them over from one side to the other. At last, she smiled. “Thank goodness, you’re both all right. I couldn’t reach either of you for such a long time just now. I was really worried.”

She had every reason to worry, Ji Qing thought guiltily.

It was currently 10:46 p.m. After Xie Chang’an had reunited with him sometime after eight, the two of them had been delayed for a while before finally starting back. By the time they set out, it was already deep into the night, and countless nocturnal Aberrants had already left their nests.

The two of them had run into quite a lot of trouble along the way.

“I’m really sorry, Lingxue.” Xie Chang’an scratched his head awkwardly as he spoke. “I forgot to contact you halfway through.”

That had been his oversight.

Because of the completely unexpected turn things had taken when he met up with Ji Qing, Xie Chang’an had panicked so badly at the time that the matter of “contacting Gu Lingxue” had vanished completely from his mind. By the time the two of them finally set out again, he had also been afraid that the light from the Terminal might attract unnecessary trouble.

“It’s fine. That’s only a small matter.” Gu Lingxue waved a hand dismissively.

She quickly led the two of them over to the place where they were resting, then skillfully picked up two cups of plain boiled water from beside her and handed them to the pair who had just arrived at the Safehouse. Smiling, she said, “Here. I just found several big jugs of water.”

Xie Chang’an said worriedly, “Is it really all right to use other people’s things?”

Gu Lingxue answered decisively, “It’s fine, because once tonight is over, I’m planning to donate a sum of money to the men who maintain this place.”

Although she had already been at Ability High School for half a year, Gu Lingxue still possessed the sort of mindset only the wealthy class would have: nothing was beyond the reach of money, and if something could not be solved, that only meant there was not enough money.

But then again...

Gu Lingxue quietly glanced at the two classmates before her.

How could she repay them without making it seem so calculating?

Now that her parents’ safety was secured, Gu Lingxue had started agonizing over what she could do for her classmates in return. Talking about money seemed far too hurtful to their feelings, and besides, she did not even have that much of it... Paying for the temporary use of the Safehouse was certainly no problem for her...

But what about Ji Qing and Xie Chang’an?

Her thoughts instantly knotted themselves into a mess.

Inside the dimly lit Safehouse, Gu Lingxue stared blankly at the cup of plain boiled water before her. A Hunter’s Safehouse lay underground, with only a single door connecting it to the surface, like the grain cellars she had once seen in the north.

In the past, Gu Lingxue would have found such a place unbearably distasteful. Now, however, she had grown used to it.

She was no longer the wealthy young lady sheltered by her parents. She already had the ability to protect them herself, and she could now coordinate smoothly with her companions in what came next. People grew through experience, and Gu Lingxue was no exception.

“Lingxue.”

A man’s voice suddenly rang out.

Gu Lingxue instinctively looked over and saw her father gazing at her with a complicated expression. “Aren’t you going to introduce your friends to us?”

Gu Lingxue blinked at once.

Confusion rose onto her face first, then puzzlement, and then utter astonishment. She had spoken to her parents about Ability High School before, but more often than not she had been interrupted, and as for Xie Chang’an...

No, no. She really should properly introduce them.

Gu Lingxue hurriedly raised a hand and said, “This is Xie Chang’an, and this is Ji Qing. We’re in the same class now.”

After saying that, she turned to Ji Qing and Xie Chang’an and introduced her parents. “This is my dad, Gu Yueqing. And this is my mom, Meng Jiangrou.”

Ji Qing gave them a cool nod.

He had no intention of acting too warmly, since his dealings with Gu Lingxue’s parents would probably last no longer than a single night.

Xie Chang’an, meanwhile, scratched his head awkwardly.

To be honest, he was still a little timid inside. He had heard Gu Lingxue and her parents arguing too many times before, so now, faced with the perfectly normal and well-mannered Gu parents, he suddenly felt a bit flattered.

In Xie Chang’an’s eyes, it felt as though, in Gu Lingxue’s parents’ minds, he had leaped straight from “that lowly wretch corrupting their daughter” to “their daughter’s human friend.”

“Thank you for coming to our aid.” Gu Yueqing cleared his throat, his expression solemn. “I cannot possibly repay the life-saving grace you have shown us. If you run into any trouble in the future, anything I, Gu Yueqing, am capable of helping with, please let me know. I will do everything in my power to help.”

“And thank you as well for looking after my daughter.”

After saying that, Gu Yueqing bowed deeply. His wife followed immediately after him.

The reaction of the two adults left Xie Chang’an completely dumbfounded.

He had never imagined receiving thanks from Gu Lingxue’s parents. After all, what he had mostly gotten from them before were cold looks and disdain. Gu Lingxue, on the other hand, lit up at once. She thought, This really is a good solution!

They could not offer a proper reward right now, and Ji Qing and the others did not need one at the moment anyway. But they could delay it until the day Ji Qing and the others actually needed help. That really was just like her father.

Gu Lingxue also bowed appropriately to show her gratitude toward the two of them.

That only left Xie Chang’an even more bewildered.

He had originally wanted Gu Lingxue to help smooth things over for him, but why was she bowing now too?

Compared with Xie Chang’an’s helpless confusion, Ji Qing’s reaction was much calmer. With polite distance, he nodded and said, “All right. Then if I run into any trouble later, I’ll definitely come knocking.”

“Please do,” Gu Yueqing replied with a smile. “Would you like to add my Terminal now, or would you prefer to reach me through my daughter later?”

“I’ll contact you through Gu Lingxue when the time comes.”

Gu Yueqing immediately said warmly, “Of course, of course. That would be perfectly fine.”

Their exchange quickly ended, and silence once again settled over the Safehouse.

Xie Chang’an, now bewildered to a whole new level, kept darting his gaze back and forth between the two of them. He suddenly realized that he still had plenty to learn. Ji Qing’s reaction had clearly been far more composed than his, and he seemed much more at ease with the rules of adult society...

Ji Qing was amazing.

Xie Chang’an inwardly sighed in admiration yet again.

And after resolving one major hidden danger before them, Gu Yueqing turned his gaze onto his daughter. Gu Lingxue blinked when she noticed, then immediately crossed her arms sternly and declared, “No criticism, no arguing, especially not right now!”

Instinctively, Gu Lingxue had assumed her parents were about to criticize her again.

Gu Yueqing suddenly felt like laughing, but quickly suppressed the smile at the corners of his mouth. In a helpless tone, he said, “I’m not trying to criticize you. I just suddenly figured some things out.”

Gu Yueqing turned to look at his wife, only to see that she wore the same complicated expression as he did.

“Mother of the child, why don’t you say it?” Gu Yueqing suddenly said.

“No...” Meng Jiangrou muttered awkwardly under her breath. “You should be the one to say it, husband...”

Gu Lingxue blinked again.

“All right...” Seeing the situation reach a stalemate, Meng Jiangrou squeezed her eyes shut and forced the words out. “We won’t bring up transferring schools again. To be honest, we parents also have our own flaws... Seeing that you’ve found the road you want to walk, your mother is actually very happy...”

“Your father and I have already talked it over...”

Hearing that, Gu Lingxue clapped both hands over her mouth and cried out, “Eh? When did you two talk? I was with you the whole way. How did I not know?”

Meng Jiangrou flushed red. “You are absolutely not allowed to seize on that point!”

But the moment she said that, all three of them burst out laughing.

There was probably no moment more worthy of remembrance than this one.

Sitting off to one side, Ji Qing quietly watched the interaction between the three of them. With relief, he thought: it looked like Gu Lingxue’s withdrawal crisis, together with her family crisis, had finally come to an end. In the end, her parents had accepted her choice.

Though worried, they had still reached the time when they needed to let go.

A fine ending, one perfectly in line with the spirit of a shonen manga, Ji Qing thought to himself.

And yet...

Ji Qing decisively raised his left hand and completely blocked Xie Chang’an’s gaze from landing on him. Turning his head, he said coldly, “Why are you looking at me?”

Should he not be looking at Gu Lingxue instead?

Xie Chang’an had better not start seeing Li Yuan in him again. Ji Qing thought resentfully that if it happened one more time, he truly felt he might kill someone. Just how many times was that damned Xie Chang’an going to keep using him as a stand-in? Even if the stand-in happened to be another version of himself, that still was not acceptable.

The moment he thought of those manga forum readers who dug three feet into the ground for clues, Ji Qing nearly blacked out.

He had only just managed to bluff his way through it. Was it starting all over again now?

But after hearing him, Xie Chang’an showed none of the embarrassment he had back when he had first been caught. Instead, he looked at Ji Qing with direct honesty, then leaned closer and asked quietly, “Valedictorian, how are you feeling now?”

Ji Qing immediately threw him a baffled look.

“All right, I mean physically...” Xie Chang’an explained awkwardly. “You didn’t seem too well just now. We were too busy hurrying back, so I never got the chance to ask. Can I ask now? Are you feeling better?”

This kid... he had actually learned how to worry about someone.

Ji Qing gave Xie Chang’an several strange, measuring looks.

Only after Xie Chang’an had grown self-conscious under that gaze did Ji Qing finally reply in his usual cool tone, “I’m fine now.”

“What caused it?” Xie Chang’an immediately pressed.

He felt that he absolutely had to know why Ji Qing had fainted. If something like that ever happened again, he had to notice it as early as possible. It was precisely because Ji Qing was so strong that he was easier to overlook.

Just like he and Lingxue. Neither of them had expected such a thing to happen.

Was it exhaustion? Or something else?

But if it had only been mental exhaustion, it should not have progressed all the way to fainting, right? The more Xie Chang’an thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Just as Xie Chang’an looked at Ji Qing with pitiful puppy eyes, Ji Qing once again lifted a hand to block his gaze. In a cold voice, he pointed out, “We’re not close enough for that yet.”

“Huh? We’re not?!” Xie Chang’an was utterly stunned.

First, he recalled how he and Ji Qing had first met. Then he thought about all the help Ji Qing had given him, then their cooperation during the Winter Break Practicum, and finally what had just happened now... Wait. After going through all that, they still were not close enough to count as friends?

No. He refused to accept that!

At once, Xie Chang’an looked utterly pitiful and said, “Ji Qing, QAQ...”

“Shut up.”

Xie Chang’an: “...All right.”

So Xie Chang’an sullenly withdrew his head and went back to staring blankly at the bare mud wall. Though he looked calm on the outside, he felt as though the sky above him had collapsed over and over again.

Xie Chang’an inwardly: Wahhh, TAT.