: The Promise with Tu Shanlin

Yan Baobao refused, saying, "It's too dangerous. I can't tell you. Let me look for something else."

Qiao Yuan coughed twice: "Don't worry, I promise I won't investigate. I'm just curious and want to know what kind of cult this cultist is. Tell me, baby, baby is the best."

"Alright, they're from the Hell Cult, a bunch of lunatics who worship Caesar. Don't ask any more questions." Baby's tone became unusually serious.

Yan Baobao's answer surprised him...

"Fine, it's really unnecessary," Qiao Yuan said, pursing his lips. "Hell? Forget it then."

"Okay, see you tonight, Yuan."

"See the baby tonight."

Several female classmates nearby had particularly sharp ears at that moment, and they could vaguely hear Qiao Yuan calling her "baby" repeatedly during the call.

"He has a girlfriend?"

"Sure enough, no wonder he doesn't seem interested in other girls at all."

It seems there are problems even in the city. There is no energy barrier outside the city, and it is constantly threatened by monsters and pollution. The beasts in the main city are enjoying Eden-like peace and tranquility, and a bunch of cults have sprung up and are prevalent. We still haven't killed enough of them.

He actually had an idea before.

Since it is possible to enter the ruins area by using Caesar's mask, is it also possible to enter the ruins area by obtaining the masks of other cult members of the Church of the Night?

Let's assume the target is near the third main city, and the Ember Squad is currently capturing them.

He could easily find out the other party's location, and even where they kept the mask. At worst, he could carry out the mission with Captain He and Yan Baobao, and then secretly take the mask!

Captain He was more than happy to receive clues, making the process incredibly easy.

In this way, he could repeatedly enter the ruins area by using the masks of other Night Cultists, thereby gaining entry opportunities and making trades.

He can't fight among himself in the wreckage area, but he can kill outside; the plan is almost perfect.

The only problem now is that there are no leads on other members of the Church of the Night cult.

Although it's a pity, there's no need to rush, because his most important thing right now is to make money.

First, earn a few million to buy high-level potions, then go to the wreckage area to exchange for a large amount of Night Stones.

This truly shows that the poor are scholars and the rich are warriors.

For the first time, Qiao Yuan felt incredibly short of money. Two bottles of high-grade potions, worth over 300,000, could only be exchanged for a Black Night Stone the size of a quail egg. Even if he spent three million to buy more potions, he would only get ten pieces at most.

The more he thought about it, the more expensive it seemed.

Therefore, potions are ultimately inferior; only substances with higher spirituality, such as monster essence, can be effective.

However, spiritual substances have always been scarce and not easy to buy directly; they are all very expensive.

Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

Hu Tu spoke as he ate: "Why are you interested in cultists? There are quite a few here in the main city, though. I heard that the Hell Cult and the Kingdom of Desire clashed in Chang'an District a while ago."

"The Land of Desire?"

"Yes, the claim that it can satisfy any desire of believers is just neurotic fanaticism. I don't believe it at all, and there must be a price to pay."

Qiao Yuan readily agreed: "Definitely. I've heard there's also the Church of the Night? Do you know anything about it?"

Hu Tu pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm not quite sure, but it's certainly not as well-known as the Hell Cult or the Kingdom of Desire. Anyway, they're all extremists."

Qiao Yuan agreed. It seemed the Church of the Night was very mysterious. He continued eating, planning to go back to his dorm to sleep later, as he still had to go shopping with his baby that night.

After a while, he and Hu Tu finished eating and got up. Suddenly, they noticed a small, snow-white, fluffy fox with a big tail standing in the pavilion not far from the canteen.

It was Tu Shanlin.

The other person stared longingly at the cafeteria, and only when there were fewer students did they sneak in, but there was hardly any food left at the serving area.

Hu Tu coughed and said, "Isn't she too socially awkward? She'll be starving every day!"

Qiao Yuan frowned slightly as he watched Tu Shanlin finally order a meager lunch consisting of only a few slices of beef and two small yellow croaker tails...

She also felt awkward and lost as some boys talked and stared at her, so she quickly left the cafeteria.

He happened to go out at that moment and saw Tu Shanlin walking towards the pavilion under the hill and trees.

He quickly stepped forward and asked, "Is this enough for you? I'll get you food from now on."

Tu Shanlin was startled for a moment. Holding the lunchbox, her face turned red instantly, and she was somewhat at a loss.

Qiao Yuan smiled gently, "We're all classmates, and besides, you helped me yesterday."

Although Tu Shanlin was even more reserved at this moment, his fluffy tail swayed slightly behind him, and he hummed softly, "Th...thank you~"

"It's nothing," Qiao Yuan said and left.

As she watched Qiao Yuan's retreating figure, a hint of joy gradually welled up in her clear, golden eyes.

A short while later, Tu Shanlin was sitting in the pavilion, eating his lunch with composure, when suddenly his phone screen lit up and a newly received unread email popped up.

Curious, she picked it up and opened it to take a look.

[From: Qiao Yuan.]

[Text: Please send me your lunch preferences in advance. The cafeteria menu should be available on the campus website.]

Tu Shanlin blushed and twitched her ears, feeling an unusually happy expression. She thought for a moment and replied, "Okay, thank you, I understand."

She never imagined that their first meeting, when she gave Qiao Yuan her business card, would turn into a chat session.

The thought of calling himself the Frog Hero still makes me feel awkward, but thankfully Qiao Yuan didn't mention it.

……

At this moment, on the edge of the playground, Hu Tu, walking on the self-repair professional track, winked at Qiao Yuan and clicked his tongue repeatedly: "She brought you water yesterday, and you're bringing her food tomorrow? You're here?"

"Then you can deliver it. It's yours."

Hu Tu suddenly froze, then quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, I already have Qin Xue."

"That settles it then," Qiao Yuan said, taking out his phone to look at Tu Shanlin's reply.

"You're really playing tricks, chatting via email. Are you afraid your sister will find out?" Hu Tu chuckled incessantly from the side.

"Go away, go away, don't say goodbye."

"Scumbag!" Hu Tu shook his head: "It has to be me, the only warrior of pure love."

Qiao Yuan walked towards the dormitory building: "Thank you so much. I've never even had a first love, and you're already living with your girlfriend."

"Are you kidding me? Aren't you with your sister?"

"They're siblings, how can they be the same?"

Hu Tu was speechless for a moment: "Damn, stop it. You're making me look so sleazy. It's all your fault. I wasn't like this before."

"What do you mean? This is called opening your heart. It's okay, brother. I understand, I understand everything."

"Go to hell!" Hu Tu curled his lip.

Qiao Yuan couldn't stop laughing as he walked into the dark blue twin spiral dormitory building.

He remembered it was room A010 on the 360th floor.

Besides him, Hutu, and the mechanically ascended Luca Silvio, there was another class.

"Laugh, laugh, laugh again and I'll tell your sister." The smile remained the same, but it shifted to Hu Tu's face.

Qiao Yuan twitched his nostrils and his lips twitched twice: "Trying to sow discord, is that it?"

"I wouldn't do it, but your sister will find out sooner or later, and then hehehehe."

Qiao Yuan chuckled and said, "Go ahead and dream about it. Anyway, I'm the purest one."

"Pah! I am!" Hu Tu grumbled as he stepped out of the elevator and into their dormitory.

Qiao Yuan then realized that it was actually a stacked villa structure with another floor above, sharing a huge floor-to-ceiling window that was bathed in dazzling sunlight, looking like an apartment building.

The living room area between the two floors is completely open, making the overall space feel very bright and spacious.

Luca was disassembling his left arm prosthesis, squeezing on a few drops of mechanical lubricant, and showed little reaction to their arrival.

Another blond, black-eyed mixed-race boy looked up enthusiastically: "You must be Qiao Yuan. I've heard so much about you. Haha, my name is Jack."

Qiao Yuan nodded slightly: "Don't talk nonsense, what's with all this talk about big names or not, I just came here to take a nap."

"You're referring to a specific name, huh?" Jack, who was particularly outgoing, laughed. "I'm from the Blazing Sun Class. You fought that guy from the Earthly Treasury Class yesterday, you were really brave!"

"Oh, Lu Qiuhai, he's gotten desperate."

Qiao Yuan smiled and went to his bed. Hu Tu and Jack were sleeping upstairs, and Luca was still tightening screws opposite him.

This apartment is really nice; in addition to the two standard bathrooms, there's also a shower area.

The tuition fee of 300,000 yuan a year was not wasted.

Even if you live in the Jiangnan Mansion for a year, including commissions, you still won't earn more than 300,000 yuan.

Jack poked his head in from upstairs: "Hahaha, looks like it. What sequence are you?"

"Pioneer." Qiao Yuan was already in bed. Although it wasn't as big as his house, it was still quite pleasant to bask in the sun in the air-conditioned room.

"What an obscure sequence. I heard there's a pioneer sequence in the Ksitigarbha class called Xue Xingzi." Jack kept muttering, "I have the Genetic Sublimation Psychologist sequence, which isn't very common either, haha."

"Oh, by the way, the big guy you fought also lives on this floor, at the far left of the corridor."

Qiao Yuan's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded to Jack: "Thanks, but I need to get some sleep."

"Okay, okay," Jack finally put on his headphones, looking a little bored, and started scrolling through videos on his phone.

The dormitory was quiet for a moment.

It was afternoon in the blink of an eye.

In contrast to Luca's coldness, he and Hutu quickly became friends with Jack, chatting and laughing together.

"Did you know that we heard that one of our teachers at Galaxy University has recently been influenced by the Kingdom of Desire?" As they came downstairs, Jack whispered mysteriously in their ears.

Hu Tu exclaimed excitedly, "What? Really? Isn't that like a time bomb? It's incredibly dangerous!"

“It’s true, absolutely true,” Jack described in a serious tone, “It seems that because of family problems, the teacher’s wife had an affair with a cult member. He was furious and, while collecting evidence, was influenced by the mysterious power of the Kingdom of Desire, which caused his personality to change drastically.”

Hu Tu clicked his tongue and said, "Oh, how pathetic."

Qiao Yuan listened quietly, not paying much attention. Come to think of it, he was now considered a cult member.

Both the Eternal Night Technique and the Night Breathing Technique are powers of cultists and should never be used under normal circumstances.

Especially at school.

Moreover, the Night Breathing Technique has its limitations; it can only be performed at night or in complete darkness, not during the day or in bright light.

Like in the morning in the floating city of New London, in the secret cubicle of the cultist Paul, even in the early morning, such an environment could be used to carry out activities.

But most importantly, both of these powers were purified by the Eternal Great Luo rank; otherwise, they would have been detected when they entered the school.

He suddenly felt secretly fortunate, having not even thought about it when he entered the school that morning.

However, after hearing what Jack said, this cult called the Land of Desire seems to be highly corrupting, probably the kind that causes spiritual pollution.

Qiao Yuan thought casually as he gradually arrived at the playground. He continued doing push-ups in the afternoon, which were a bit easier than yesterday, and there were no further conflicts.

He's finding it a little hard to adjust.

The other day it was either Charlie or Lu Qiuhai who jumped out, but today it's so quiet.

He turned his head and saw that Charlie was eating next to him, his left hand was red, probably because he had just finished eating and had received praise from Instructor Zhou.

That's quite a feat, isn't it?

Qiao Yuan shifted his gaze and gradually noticed Tu Shanlin under the trees in the distance. His large, snow-white tail was very conspicuous. He seemed to be secretly munching on fried chicken. After finishing, he wiped his mouth clean before coming over.

Hey, I guess I didn't eat enough at noon.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

As if sensing his gaze, Tu Shanlin's face, hidden beneath her long, snow-white hair, flushed instantly. She turned around shyly and began to thrust her body in a rhythmic motion.

As evening fell, fiery clouds peeked in from between the floating buildings, bathing the world in a rich, orange-red hue, like an oil painting.

Qiao Yuan dialed Yan Baobao's number.

"It'll be a little later, Yuan. He hasn't returned to the station yet. I'll call you then."

"Okay," he said, and after hanging up the phone, he went to the cafeteria to eat with Hu Tu.

Just like the previous two days, Tu Shanlin left school after class and did not stay at the school.

"Qiao Yuan, have you seen the news? Tonight at 7 PM, Caesar will be publicly tried and executed by firing squad outside the west gate of the Federal Court in our Sunset District."

"I heard that the police who arrested him were from the Tiandu branch of the Public Security Bureau, which your sister joined. That's awesome!"

Qiao Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, Bao Bao participated in the arrest just two days ago."

"Wow! That's awesome!" Hu Tu complained, "You didn't even tell me about something this big."

"This is confidential and can't be said casually," Qiao Yuan explained casually, though he had simply forgotten.

"Alright, this guy has finally been brought to justice, and it has to be Ember," Hu Tu said excitedly. "Hehe, thinking back to when I used my hacking skills to get the surveillance footage from that lab, I did contribute something, didn't I? I was a participant in this whole thing, haha."

"Absolutely," Qiao Yuan patted Hu Tu on the shoulder, "Let's go, it's all over."

Hu Tu laughed: "Yeah, hahaha."

At six o'clock, Qiao Yuan left the cafeteria and went straight home after parting ways with Hu Tu.

The baby probably won't get off work until 7 or 8 pm. He just had a bowl of seaweed and pork rib soup. He'll have a proper meal later tonight, mainly because he doesn't want to eat too much, otherwise he won't be able to eat properly with the baby.

Qiao Yuan took a shower first.

At 6:30, he pulled out the black suitcase that Caesar had previously belonged to in the bedroom and put all the items inside, including a silenced pistol, into a cabinet with a combination lock.

He was quite satisfied with the empty black suitcase, grabbed the handle, walked out of the house, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the Sunset District Federal Court.

One should finish what one starts.

Now it is time for him to see Caesar to his death.

At 6:45 p.m., after a traffic jam, Qiao Yuan finally arrived at the courthouse.

The magnificent marble plaza at the west gate of the courthouse was already packed with people, with layers upon layers of people crowding around it.

There are also temporary stands on both sides to accommodate as many "spectators" as possible.

Vehicles belonging to reporters, newspapers, and social media outlets had already filled the nearby airport area.

On a high platform deep in the square, Caesar, with disheveled hair, knelt silently on the metal platform, his hands behind his back bound by titanium alloy shackles, his ankles and neck also locked with thick iron chains, much like an ancient condemned prisoner, even his mouth was sealed with a tight gag, unable to make a sound.

The surrounding building surfaces are covered with holographic projections of Caesar's face or his kneeling posture.

It was clear that the other person appeared to have been beaten; there were bloody marks on their face, arms, shoulders, thighs, and other parts of their body.

Even so, the battered Caesar still glared fiercely at the people around him.

That gaze seemed to want to kill.

Qiao Yuan, pulling his black suitcase, slowly made his way through the noisy crowd to the stands closest to Caesar, where he looked down with a half-smile.

Caesar, whose gaze had been somber, gradually spotted his suitcase in the crowd—a black suitcase that stood out starkly against the backdrop of the other people around him…

In an instant, Caesar's face twisted as he stared intently at Qiao Yuan, who was dragging a suitcase.