Standard Parameters

Morning.

A message suddenly popped up in their three-person group chat.

Jiang Yunlu: "I want to treat you guys to lunch today."

Chu Miaomiao: "Huh? Why? Surprised Cat.jpg"

Xie Yuling: "No problem."

Chu Miaomiao: "Looking Around.jpg. Well, alright then, me neither."

The meetup was decided just like that. However, Jiang Yunlu felt a bit nervous about this outcome; she hadn't expected Xie Yuling to agree so easily.

During class, none of the three showed much change in expression.

Instead, it was Wang Qin who said to Jiang Yunlu, "I'm going to the back street to grab some food for lunch. What do you want to eat?"

Jiang Yunlu thought for a moment but decided not to tell Wang Qin about her lunch plans.

"No thanks, I'm going back to eat for lunch."

"Oh? Got plans? Alright then." Wang Qin didn't mind. After all, Jiang Yunlu had occasionally been having lunch with her family lately.

Wang Qin's mind had already flown elsewhere by now.

With the National Day holiday approaching, her parents planned to take her on a beach trip. It was a way to help her relieve stress.

Plus, her allowance had increased recently.

Everything was moving in a very good direction.

At least, that was what Wang Qin thought.

As soon as the dismissal bell echoed across the sports field, Wang Qin headed straight for the school gate.

Since it was right at the end of P.E. class, getting food at the back street today wouldn't require much queuing.

The back street had seen quite a few stall changes recently, and the air was filled with the aroma of deep-fried starch sausages and sizzling iron-plate squid.

She didn't plan on having a proper meal; with pocket change in hand, she intended to eat her way down the street.

Just as she reached the corner, a girl wearing a floral short-sleeved shirt blocked her path.

The girl had sallow skin, and the shoes on her feet were washed until they were faded white. In her hand, she carried a massive red, white, and blue woven nylon bag.

The edges of the bag were frayed, exuding a cheap plastic smell.

"Hello, student. I'd like to ask, how do I get to this address?"

The girl handed over a keypad phone with a cracked screen, displaying an address.

Wang Qin glanced at it; it was in the self-built housing area deep within the alleys.

"You just walk down this alley here, turn right, go straight, and then turn left."

The girl stood frozen, her eyes full of confusion, tightly clutching the phone. "I... I have a bad sense of direction. I can't... can't tell left from right."

Wang Qin looked at the phone, then at the heavy luggage bag.

She originally wanted to refuse, but seeing the girl's awkward and helpless demeanor, her heart softened.

"Never mind, I'll take you there. It's not far."

Wang Qin walked in front, her mind still on the newly opened milk tea shop at the corner, calculating that she could just make it in time to line up after leading the way.

The two entered the narrow alley, one after the other.

The sunlight here was completely blocked by the towering self-built houses, and the gaps in the bluestone path beneath their feet held dark, murky puddles.

The deeper they went, the further the outside noise faded, leaving only the sound of dragging footsteps on the ground.

As they turned into a small lane, a mottled wooden door beside them opened without warning.

Wang Qin was just about to turn her head and ask if they had arrived when a sudden brute force struck her back.

It was the feeling of being heavily slammed by the woven bag.

She lost her footing and tumbled into the pitch-black room.

Before a scream could escape her lips, a rough hand clamped tightly over her mouth and nose.

The hand carried a heavy scent of tobacco, and the grip was so forceful that it made her jaw ache.

A sickeningly sweet, enervating odor entered her nasal cavity.

Wang Qin quickly lost all her strength.

The door hinges turned, and the sound of the latch falling shut was especially muffled in the cramped space.

A few minutes later, the plain-looking girl reappeared in the alley.

A man in a black tank top followed behind her, scanning the surroundings warily before pulling down the brim of his baseball cap.

The woven nylon bag was back in his hands.

Only this time, the bag was bulging out of shape. Its bottom dragged heavily against the ground, making a scraping sound. The contents inside twitched occasionally before quickly returning to dead silence.

A dilapidated minivan was parked at the mouth of the alley. Its engine sputtered and roared intermittently, emitting choking exhaust fumes.

The door was pulled open, the load was thrown inside, and the man swiftly hopped into the passenger seat.

The tires rolled over the puddles on the ground and quickly disappeared around the corner.

The greasy smoke smell of the back street remained thick, and the hawking cries rose and fell in succession. No one noticed that a student had gone missing.

Only at the entrance of that milk tea shop, the queue was still inching forward bit by bit.

--System: Something big is coming.--

Inside a private room at a restaurant.

There was no one else, just Xie Yuling, Jiang Yunlu, and Chu Miaomiao.

Chu Miaomiao sat obediently between the two of them.

Like a buffering sponge.

Jiang Yunlu finished ordering the dishes and sat back down.

"So, when did you guys find out about Lin Mo's secret?"

Xie Yuling slowly picked up her teacup and took a sip.

She set the cup down and said calmly, "I might not be the first, but I'm definitely not the last."

Very direct.

Xie Yuling had actually guessed early on that Chu Miaomiao, and perhaps even Chu Lintian, knew about Lin Mo's uniqueness.

Anyway, as long as she wasn't the last to know, it was fine.

Hearing this, Jiang Yunlu's hand stiffened for a second, but she quickly returned to normal.

"Since we're all on the same side, I won't beat around the bush. Thank you, Xie Yuling."

These words were quite surprising.

The entire sentence was surprising.

Calling them "on the same side" and saying "thank you."

This left Xie Yuling a bit unable to process the situation.

Only Chu Miaomiao looked completely bewildered.

"Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything," Xie Yuling said, a blush rising on her cheeks, though her tone softened a bit.

"Yeah, what exactly happened?" Chu Miaomiao was still looking lost.

Jiang Yunlu couldn't help but reach out and rub Chu Miaomiao's head.

"It's about what happened with Wang Qin previously. If Xie Yuling hadn't noticed something, I would never have been able to help Wang Qin resolve those issues before she got into trouble. After all, I was the source of the problem."

Jiang Yunlu sighed.

"It was just an unprovoked disaster. Don't start blaming yourself just because trouble came from the outside. We've grown up in an environment that constantly tells us to self-reflect; at this point, we should actually be a bit more confident."

Xie Yuling rarely spoke this much to Jiang Yunlu.

This made even Jiang Yunlu a bit surprised.

Chu Miaomiao looked left and right, sensing that the relationship between the two seemed to have improved somewhat. If so, maybe she wouldn't have to be stuck in the middle anymore.

Soon after, the food arrived.

Jiang Yunlu didn't hide the fact that she was cultivating, generously announcing her progress.

Xie Yuling had seen other martial artists who cultivated True Qi, so she didn't find Jiang Yunlu's progress particularly extraordinary.

She also subconsciously began comparing what would happen if she and Jiang Yunlu got into a fight.

Her own Divine Sense could already launch attacks on physical objects, though it was still unknown just how powerful those attacks were.

She had heard Lin Mo say that Divine Sense could obliterate another person's consciousness.

However, Xie Yuling hadn't tested the full extent of her Divine Sense's power yet.

She had only experimented on the mosquitoes and bugs in her room.

Right at this moment, Jiang Yunlu's phone suddenly began to ring.