The First Order

Zhou Yingxue looked at Li Shentan’s retreating figure and asked, “Master, who is he?”

“Li Shentan,” Ren Xiaosu said calmly.

“Sounds familiar, but I can’t remember who that is,” Zhou Yingxue said as she thought hard.

“The Demon Whisperer.” Ren Xiaosu looked at the gold left behind on the lawn. In the end, he still took the gold and put it into his storage space.

When Zhou Yingxue heard the mention of the “Demon Whisperer,” she froze. “Master, so he’s the Demon Whisperer? He’s actually quite good-looking. He doesn’t at all look like the demons that are told in the legends. But wow, for a person like Li Shentan to gift you gold, Master, you must be so amazing.”

Ren Xiaosu shot a look at Zhou Yingxue. He was already feeling a little numb towards her frequent flattering.

In the dark of the night, Li Shentan carried the roasted sweet potatoes he had just bought and jogged all the way back to the little courtyard house he was staying at with Si Liren. At this moment, the young Si Liren was still reading her novel with relish.

Li Shentan grumbled, “I bought these sweet potatoes for you from such a faraway place. Shouldn’t you at least thank me for them? To prevent the sweet potatoes from getting cold, I even ran all the way back here!”

Si Liren put down her book and said with a smile, “Thank you, Big Brother Shentan!” She took the sweet potatoes from Li Shentan’s hands. Then she looked at him and wondered, “Big Bro, why do you look so happy?”

“I saw Ren Xiaosu.” Li Shentan said with a smile.

Si Liren pouted. “What’s there to be happy about seeing him?”

“I told him to go to Qinghe University.” Li Shentan looked very excited. “But I didn’t tell him for what!”

“And then?” Si Liren was puzzled.

“Think about it. If he brings his maid to Qinghe University without knowing who’s there, how interesting would it be if he happens to bump into Yang Xiaojin! That’ll be so fun!” Li Shentan’s eyes glimmered as he spoke.

Si Liren had been catching up on a lot of romance novels recently. When she heard what Li Shentan said, she got interested as well. “After that, Yang Xiaojin and Ren Xiaosu will turn on each other and a deadly pursuit begins in Luoyang City. When the sound of the sniper rifle rings out, Zhou Yingxue will be the first to slump to the ground?”

Li Shentan did not know whether to laugh or cry. “There’s no need for a deadly pursuit, right?”

“Aren’t all the female leads’ scenes written like this?” Si Liren muttered. “When will he be going to Qinghe University?”

“It’s late today, so I suppose he’ll go tomorrow,” Li Shentan guessed.

“Then let’s go and have a look too.” Si Liren blinked innocently.

Li Shentan thought for a moment and said, “They might not get to see each other. After all, Qinghe University is quite big, so the chances of them bumping into each other will be quite low.”

“Then let’s treat it like we’re going out for a walk.” Si Liren said, “I haven’t been to Qinghe University before.”

“What if I get recognized by the university students? I’m also very famous now, so a lot of girls will come asking for my autograph,” Li Shentan said hesitantly.

Si Liren’s eyes widened. “You’re even starting to get burdened like a celebrity now?”

…

After Ren Xiaosu returned to the hotel, he did not sleep at all. The words Li Shentan had said to him kept ringing in his head. “Make a trip to Qinghe University. There could be a reward waiting for you there.”

What was this reward about?

Due to a lack of information, Ren Xiaosu could not make any guesses.

These words seemed to have a hold on him, so when Ren Xiaosu woke up the next morning, he knocked on Zhou Yingxue’s door and said he would be making a trip to Qinghe University. He told Zhou Yingxue she did not have to follow him and could continue sleeping.

But in the end, Zhou Yingxue got ready within two minutes and said she wanted to go and have a look as well since she had not been to Qinghe University before.

After breakfast, the two of them headed straight for Qinghe University. Old Li and Qin Sheng appeared at the hotel again and headed straight for Ren Xiaosu’s room.

But they still found nothing this time. They did not even manage to find a trace of dead skin, much less hair!

Old Li wondered, “Could that kid be bald? Maybe he’s been wearing a wig all this while?”

He and Qin Sheng were left looking at each other, lost. Qin Sheng said, “It could also be that he’s quite cautious. He might have purposely swept up his hair like many hitmen do. They never leave behind any traces.”

“Perhaps.” Old Li said helplessly, “Let’s go look for them and see if we can find anything out from them again. That Zhang Qingxi has pushed this matter entirely onto us, and the others are also quite concerned about it, so we have to get to the bottom of things.”

Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue had already walked through the school gate of Qinghe University. No one stopped them from entering. This was unlike the universities of the other consortiums where they were completely off limits to outsiders. If anyone wanted to enter the campus, they would have to show their ID first. After they got in, they would be subjected to strict, routine checks as well.

Those universities might as well be called institutes of secrets instead!

The young men and women in the university were walking around on campus with relaxed and unrestrained smiles on their faces. There were even couples holding hands and walking past too.

Ren Xiaosu stood on campus and looked at these carefree university students. He suddenly felt that such a life seemed really far away from him.

The students here were dating, playing basketball, and dancing at socials together while he had to flee for his life from the pursuit of the Experimentals. He had even risked his life in the wilderness with the Razor Sharp Company and faced enemies and gunfire at Stronghold 146.

The contrast was like creatures living in two different worlds. But when Ren Xiaosu looked back on his path, he realized there was no turning back for him. It was that chaos that pushed him forward bit by bit.

His life had never given him any choices.

A moment later, Zhou Yingxue said, “Master, look, so many students are running in the same direction. I wonder why they’re hurrying there.”

Ren Xiaosu wondered if this was the “reward” Li Shentan was telling him about.

He said, “Come, let’s go and have a look too.”

However, Ren Xiaosu was a little disappointed when he arrived at the crowded place. He saw a lot of people crowding around a stage, and it looked like a debate was going on. The topic of the debate was whether humans should possess nuclear capabilities or not.

Due to the incident at Stronghold 74, a place like Qinghe University, where many ideological students were gathered, would definitely pay attention to such matters.

The university students on stage all stuck to their arguments, but Ren Xiaosu was not interested in such armchair strategists debating.

Should humans possess nuclear capabilities or not? This was something that not even Ren Xiaosu was sure about. But he knew it was already a thing, and he had also witnessed the power of it from a distance away.

No matter how intense the students debated the subject, nuclear weapons were inevitable.

Zhou Yingxue smiled with great interest and said, “Master, these students look like they’re the same age as you or maybe even be a little older, but they all still feel like children who haven’t yet grown up.”

When Zhou Yingxue said that, she did not lower her voice. Several students nearby turned over and looked at them. Ren Xiaosu flipped up his hood in a bad mood and snapped at Zhou Yingxue, “Will it kill you to speak less? Is this the right time to be flattering me? At least keep your voice down!”

“OK…”