Looking at him, Zuo Lin'an really couldn't tell for a moment whether he was telling the truth or not.
“So that means not many people still remember what happened back then?”
Ming Ruofeng replied, “Indeed. Aside from a few half-dead old relics scattered here and there, the only ones left are people like me who stumbled upon those old secrets and had no choice but to oppose Xuan Jingyuan's family.”
“Only someone like me, with decent martial arts and passable talent, could escape their pursuit time and time again. Most of the others have already died at their hands.”
Zuo Lin'an asked, “So, your martial arts skills... were they forced to grow under the constant threat of pursuit, in countless near-death situations?”
Ming Ruofeng smiled, his expression carrying a hint of irony. “Probably.”
Zuo Lin'an watched him in silence. If that were truly the case, then the relationship between Ming Ruofeng and Xuan Jingyuan—or rather, the imperial court—had indeed reached an irreconcilable state.
He had thought too simply of it before!
After all, the conflict shown between him and Xuan Jingyuan at school was nowhere near as sharp as what he was describing now.
Still... Zuo Lin'an frowned slightly. What about Gu Hedao?
If Xuan Jingyuan used to be a monster, did Gu Hedao, this old man of the Xiantian Rank, know about it?
He was clearly on Xuan Jingyuan's side and equally hostile toward Ming Ruofeng. Did that mean Gu Hedao was also aware of the atrocious things Xuan Jingyuan had done in his youth?
Oh boy. It turned out they were all just beasts in human clothing.
And here he had thought Gu Hedao was a decent fellow, looking all transcendent and elegant like an otherworldly master.
Oh well, even if they were rotten to the core, it had nothing to do with him. They were all just players anyway.
Even so, Zuo Lin'an still felt a faint, subtle sense of dissonance from the Ming Ruofeng standing before him.
The slight air of weariness that drifted from him as he spoke made him seem like an old man who had weathered many storms. It was somewhat similar to the tone Gu Hedao used when referring to himself as "this old man."
Yet it wasn't entirely the same.
Then again, it made sense. He had likely seen through the ways of the world because of the constant pursuit by the imperial court's assassins.
After all, he had reached the Houtian Rank at the young age of twenty-two. To achieve that, he must have paid a price beyond ordinary imagination.
Zuo Lin'an did not delve deeper into his past grievances with Xuan Jingyuan, bringing the conversation to a casual close after a few more brief remarks.
At noon, Zuo Lin'an and the other two went to the cafeteria. This meal would be their last in this dungeon.
Ming Ruofeng teased with a smile, “Brother An, aren't you going to treat us to a meal?”
Zuo Lin'an thought about the balance on his campus card; he remembered there were still over two hundred yuan left. Everything in the dungeon was fake anyway. Since it was their final meal, he might as well spend it all.
“Come on, let's head up to the second floor and get something good.”
For lunch, Zuo Lin'an emptied his campus card balance, purchasing a vast spread of dishes from the small stalls on the second floor.
Come to think of it, this was probably the first time he had eaten such a sumptuous meal since transmigrating into this world. Even after passing his trial and becoming a Human-Specter Symbiont, he hadn't thought to celebrate with a nice meal.
No, wait. This should be the second time. The first was the meal prepared by Aunt Mei and Granny Wu.
Xu Youyou nudged him with his elbow. “Brother An, what's wrong?”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head. “Nothing. I just feel like our past life was a bit too frugal.”
Xu Youyou blinked, looking a bit confused at first. But as he looked at the steaming dishes before them and recalled their ascetic lifestyle, he finally understood what Zuo Lin'an meant.
“Oh, right!”
Their status was different now. Even if they couldn't enjoy other luxuries, upgrading their meals was certainly within reach.
Though... after becoming Human-Specter Symbionts, their appetite had also decreased significantly.
Ming Ruofeng did not ask a single question about their conversation or silent exchange of looks, acting as though he hadn't heard a thing, completely uninterested.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Zuo Lin'an sat in his chair, carefully examining the exam paper in his hands.
The front side was Mathematics, and the back side was Science. Although there were fewer questions, each carried more weight.
He slowly wrote down his name and then resorted to his old tricks, meticulously filling both sides of the paper.
He filled the answer spaces with various numbers, symbols, and even advanced knowledge that the teacher had never covered in class, as well as formulas that weren't in the textbooks.
He used these seemingly profound, convincing equations to mislead the surrounding players into believing they were the correct answers.
Writing down the final stroke, Zuo Lin'an casually flipped through his paper, quite satisfied with his work. The paper was clean, the handwriting was neat, and his thought process appeared clear and smooth.
At a glance, it really looked like the real deal.
However...
Zuo Lin'an quietly calculated his own score. In the end, he estimated he would get less than forty points in Mathematics and less than fifty in Science.
Actually, scores like that were already quite decent. After all, he couldn't afford to get the simple parts wrong. Even though it was the players' first time encountering this knowledge, they would definitely get some of the basic questions right.
If his answers were too absurdly incorrect, it would arouse the suspicion of Gu Hedao and Xuan Jingyuan.
The classroom was dead silent, and as time ticked away, the moment to hand in the papers quickly arrived.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the proctor called out, “Alright, time is up. Stop writing, and everyone sit quietly.”
The proctor collected all the exam papers, but instead of leaving immediately, he addressed the class. “It is currently three in the afternoon. The next hour will be spent grading your papers. At four o'clock, we will announce the scores and rankings, and distribute the rewards. Once the rewards are handed out, everyone can go home.”
With that, he turned and left, quickly heading back to the office.
Ming Ruofeng turned around to ask, “Brother An, aren't we going back to pack our things?”
Zuo Lin'an replied, “What's there to pack now? It's only three. The grades will be out at four. We'll go back and pack once the teachers are done with their business.”
Ming Ruofeng gave a soft reply. “Alright.”
His gaze drifted over to Xuan Jingyuan and Gu Hedao. The moment the teacher took the papers, they had stood up and left the classroom with their subordinates, looking rather hurried.
Zuo Lin'an knew these people were planning to search for the path of survival. After all, the players who had survived up to this point had basically completed the first three main quests, leaving only the final path of survival.
And they only had two hours left.
At exactly five in the afternoon, the main quest of 【Survive for Six Days】 would be completed.
As far as he knew, after completing the survival quest, the dungeon would impose a time limit on the players to find the path of survival. And the time given by the 【Lingyang First High School】 dungeon was... ten minutes.
To be precise, the players now had exactly two hours and ten minutes to find the path of survival.
Rate on N.U.
