Zuo Lin'an had unknowingly fallen asleep, only to be shaken awake by Xu Youyou in the end.
“Brother An, still sleeping?”
He yawned and slowly sat up. “What time is it?”
Xu Youyou checked the time. “It's already past six.”
Zuo Lin'an blanked for a moment. Isn't it still quite early?
“Are you sure we should get up now?”
If this were regular school back in the day, they would definitely be up by now, but now...
Xu Youyou blinked and said nothing.
Only then did Zuo Lin'an notice that there seemed to be people outside their dorm.
“What's going on?”
Xu Youyou blinked. “Three people left our dorm, and three just got moved in to replace them. And there are some familiar faces, too.”
Zuo Lin'an turned his head and saw the people walking in. Sure enough, just as Xu Youyou had said, two of them were old acquaintances.
Specifically, they were the ones sitting to his left and right in class.
One was His Majesty the Emperor, Xuan Jingyuan, and the other was that old Xiantian Rank codger, Gu Hedao. As for the third person, he looked somewhat familiar, but Zuo Lin'an couldn't quite place him.
Xu Youyou grinned. “How about that?”
Zuo Lin'an looked at Xuan Yi and Xuan Er, who had followed the three in to help pack their things. As expected, wherever His Majesty the Emperor went, they would follow.
As for the other players in their dorm who hadn't died last night?
They had long been frightened out of their wits by the three Xiantian Rank experts. Without even putting on their clothes properly, they had bolted from the dorm. They probably wouldn't return as long as Xuan Jingyuan and the others were still there.
Gu Hedao greeted them with a smile.
“Have you two classmates finally woken up?”
To everyone's surprise, upon hearing this, Zuo Lin'an immediately flopped backward and pulled the blanket over his head.
“No, I'm still asleep.”
With that, he rolled over to face the wall. “Don't disturb me.”
Seeing him stay in bed, Xu Youyou was also tempted. He looked at his own bed, where the blankets lay in a messy, unmade pile. “Should I sleep a bit longer too?”
Gu Hedao looked surprised at this display. “Aren't you two getting up early? We have to eat breakfast soon and then head to the classroom for lessons. It is the first day of class, after all.”
Xu Youyou knit his brows in distress, looking extremely conflicted.
“I... I'll stay with Brother An.”
Gu Hedao sighed and tidied up his bed. Checking the time, it was already 6:10.
“Since you aren't leaving yet, we shall take our leave first.”
Xu Youyou waved his hand dismissively. “Go ahead, go ahead.”
The group quickly finished packing and left the dorm one by one. Xuan Jingyuan hadn't spoken, merely casting a brief, sweeping glance over the two.
Only after they left did the other three players dare to creep back in, looking like thieves.
And had these three forgotten that they would still run into each other when they returned tonight, and that they would have to sleep in the same dorm?
Xu Youyou watched them. Although they had returned, they clearly had no intention of lingering. After a quick wash and a change of clothes, they left the dorm in just five or six minutes.
It was as if this place were some sort of dragon's den or tiger's lair.
And it was only 6:15.
Xu Youyou peeked outside, then closed the door tightly and drew the curtains.
“Brother An, they're all gone.”
With that, he fished out two cards from his bed.
“Here, you take them.”
Zuo Lin'an sat up. There wasn't a trace of sleepiness left in his eyes as he stared at the cards in Xu Youyou's hand.
He had been completely awake ever since Xu Youyou woke him up.
“You're giving them to me to keep safe?”
He also reached under his mattress and pulled one out.
Xu Youyou shoved the cards into his hand.
“You know me. I'm the worst at keeping track of things. It's better if you hold onto them. But have you thought about where to hide them?”
Zuo Lin'an thought for a moment.
“According to the information, unless I give these three cards to someone else, or they get stolen or snatched away, they will enter the Scarlet Dream with me once it begins.”
Xu Youyou said, “Exactly. That's why we absolutely cannot let them know you have these.”
“Where do you plan to hide them?”
Zuo Lin'an knit his brows in thought, then shook his head.
“I can't think of a good spot for now. It might be better to just keep them on me.”
Xu Youyou looked around, assessing the state of the dorm, wondering if hiding them here was viable.
But when he remembered that Xuan Jingyuan, the Emperor, was staying here, he realized the Emperor's subordinates would surely search this place inside out to ensure there were no dangers.
So the dorm was definitely out of the question.
What about the classroom?
The cafeteria?
Or maybe they could just dig a hole outside and bury them?
Anyway, once the other players headed to the classroom, they would be the only ones left in the dormitory area.
No one would see them if they dug a hole and buried them outside.
Zuo Lin'an casually stuffed the three cards along with his specter item, the gold hairpin, into the inner compartment of his schoolbag. “We'll head to the campus shop later to buy some snacks and fruit to fill the bag up.”
Xu Youyou snapped out of his thoughts.
“That works. Schoolbags are the most common things here—every player has one to carry books. If you just leave it out in the open in the classroom, no player would think to search it.”
“It's almost six-thirty. Should we get going?”
Zuo Lin'an asked, “Where to?”
“To eat breakfast! We have morning exercises at six-fifty, and class starts at seven.”
Zuo Lin'an countered, “Morning exercises? You actually want to do morning exercises?”
Xu Youyou blanked. “Uh... I guess we don't have to?”
Zuo Lin'an seemed to think of something. He quickly got up, changed, washed his face, threw his schoolbag over his shoulder, and left the dorm.
“Let's go!”
Xu Youyou was completely bewildered.
“Ah? You changed your mind that fast?”
“Is it because you won't be able to reminisce about school life once our guest star gig is over, so you want to experience it as much as possible while you still have the chance?”
Ignoring Xu Youyou's teasing, Zuo Lin'an whispered, “Let's keep an eye out and see where that guy hides his cards later. If there's a chance, we can try to steal them.”
Xu Youyou's eyes lit up. “Right, right!”
But he quickly deflated.
“Isn't he a martial artist himself? A First-Rate expert?”
“And he has three Xiantian Rank experts around him. Can we really pull off a theft? We can't turn into specters during the day, nor can we separate our specter bodies to act independently.”
Zuo Lin'an said, “How will we know if we don't try?”
“Besides, even if we can't steal them, it doesn't matter. We can first confirm whether the cards are on His Majesty the Emperor himself. After all, he might hand them over to Xuan Yi or Xuan Er for safekeeping.”
“Once we confirm the exact identity of the cardholder, we can directly hunt down that player during the dream tonight and snatch all the cards.”
“This is much simpler and more practical than hunting those troublesome players directly.”
“Especially for me.”
His specter item, the gold hairpin, would really come in handy.
Xu Youyou nodded, only half-understanding. “Then I'll help too.”
Before leaving the dormitory area, the two bought a ton of things at the campus shop—fruit, bread, snacks, and so on—and stuffed them all into Zuo Lin'an's schoolbag.
Then, they made their way toward the cafeteria.
On the way, they heard many players excitedly discussing something.
They decided to eavesdrop.
Rate on N.U.
