Lingyun Residence

Luo Yang pulled open the door and was slightly stunned by the person standing outside.

Qiu Shubai was wearing a light-colored short-sleeved shirt, her hair untied and cascading over her shoulders. Carrying a small shoulder bag, she looked much more relaxed than she usually did at the academy.

"What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering directly, Qiu Shubai waved her phone in her right hand at him. On the screen was the drawing system interface for the academy league, with a line of bold red text stretching across the center:

【First Team: Received a bye for this round; advancing directly to the next.】

Luo Yang stared at the text for a couple of seconds before quickly realizing what it meant.

The top one hundred on the academy's Ladder Rankings were split into groups of four, making twenty-five teams in total. Since twenty-five was an odd number, every round of matchmaking would result in one team without an opponent. That team would naturally receive a bye and advance directly to the next round of the tournament.

"Oh—" he drawled. "Congratulations. You won't have to waste time and energy for nothing."

Qiu Shubai pulled her phone back, the corners of her mouth suddenly curving upward.

The arc was very slight—so slight that if the noon sun hadn't been shining directly from behind her, making her profile translucent, Luo Yang probably wouldn't have noticed.

"You really have that much faith that I'll win?"

Looking at that rare hint of a smile on her face, something in Luo Yang's brain short-circuited for a split second.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen her smile before, but those smiles were mostly cold, indifferent, or even self-deprecating. He had truly never seen her like this—a bit playful and testing.

His gaze lingered on her face for perhaps only a second, but in that second, his mind was a total blank, as if someone had wiped it clean with an eraser.

"Ahem."

He let out a light cough and shifted his gaze to the doorframe.

"With your strength, those opponents are nothing but a bunch of nobodies. That's just the truth."

Qiu Shubai nodded slightly, though it was unclear what exactly she was agreeing with.

"How is your body feeling?" she asked.

"Pretty good." Luo Yang rotated his shoulders. "I don't feel any discomfort at all."

"That's good."

She responded, then her lips moved as if words were stuck in her throat, surfacing and then receding two or three times.

"Um..."

Her gaze slid from his face to the paint on the edge of the doorframe and then back again.

"Since I have nothing to do today, could we this afternoon—"

A gust of cool air swept past Luo Yang from behind, carrying the chill of the living room's air conditioning.

"Are you two... really going to chat with the door open in the middle of summer? All the cold air is escaping."

The voice was soft and the tone flat. Luo Yang turned around to see that Yan Zhi had moved from the sofa at some point. She was currently "hanging" off the back of the dining chair behind him, her chin resting on the top of the backrest and her arms dangling at her sides, looking like a sloth perched on a branch.

Her pitch-black eyes peered out through the gap under Luo Yang's arm, meeting Qiu Shubai's gaze.

Only then did Luo Yang realize he had left her standing at the door.

"Ah, come in and sit." He stepped aside, pulling the door wide open.

The television in the living room was still on, and the tablet was resting on the coffee table. That angst-filled anime was currently playing a scene where the male lead was standing on a rooftop in the pouring rain, with the BGM heightening the emotional climax. It was a cliché scene, but even Luo Yang, who usually prided himself on being a veteran otaku, had to admit that rain appearing exactly at the right time was the best way to emphasize a protagonist's negative emotions.

Yan Zhi had already slipped back to the sofa, picking up her can of cola again, her eyes glued to the screen once more.

Qiu Shubai sat down at the other end of the sofa, her back ramrod straight and her hands folded over her knees, looking somewhat stiff.

Luo Yang rummaged through the kitchen for a while. The fridge had nothing but cola and mineral water, and the cupboards only held a few packets of instant coffee and a box of expired tea bags.

He took a clean glass, pulled a bottle of cola from the fridge, poured a full glass, and brought it over.

"My place doesn't usually have guests, so I don't have much to entertain you with." He set the glass on the coffee table in front of Qiu Shubai, and a layer of condensation immediately formed on the cold surface. "This cola... you'll just have to make do with it."

"It's fine." Qiu Shubai picked up the glass, her fingertips touching the water droplets. "I don't really care about these things."

Luo Yang poured a glass for himself and sat down on the sofa. Yan Zhi's spot separated the two of them; she was curled up in the far corner, completely immersed in her 2D world.

"You mentioned earlier that you're going to the city center this afternoon?" Luo Yang took a sip of cola, the carbonation exploding on his tongue. "What is it for, specifically?"

Holding the glass, Qiu Shubai let out a sigh. The sound from her nose was very light, but Luo Yang heard it.

"An uncle from the Qiu family asked me to go. He said a VIP is arriving in the city center today and wanted me to make an appearance."

Luo Yang raised an eyebrow.

"You're still in contact with the Qiu family?"

"That is where I was born and raised, after all. It's not that easy to truly cut ties."

She paused, her finger tracing a half-circle around the rim of the glass.

"Besides, the Qiu family isn't a monolith. Aside from my mother's faction, there are actually two or three other branches that don't quite follow her orders. The uncle who called me today has doted on me since I was a child. After my father passed away and before I had established myself in Yuanxing City, he helped me a lot."

She looked away from the glass and toward Luo Yang.

"As a junior, I naturally cannot disrespect him."

"But you don't really want to go," Luo Yang finished her sentence.

The corner of Qiu Shubai's mouth twitched—not a smile, but more like he had hit the nail on the head.

"That kind of occasion..." She didn't finish the sentence, but her meaning was clear.

Luo Yang leaned back against the sofa, his elbow on the armrest as he propped up his clean-shaven chin.

"So you thought of using me as a shield?"

Qiu Shubai's lip twitched.

"While that thought isn't non-existent..." Her speaking speed was a beat faster than usual. "The main reason is that I want to help you seize this opportunity. You've helped me time and again; I can't just keep accepting it with a clear conscience. Naturally, I want to give you something in return."

Luo Yang set down his glass of cola and leaned forward slightly.

"So, who exactly is this so-called VIP?"

Qiu Shubai picked up her glass and tilted her head back to take a large gulp of ice-cold cola. The movement was crisp and clean; her throat bobbed twice, and when she put the glass back, it was nearly half empty.

She wiped the corner of her mouth, her expression returning to normal.

"The Vice President of the Shenzhou Artisan Association, the most famous legendary figure to come out of Yuanxing City, and a Star Initiation rank Punisher: Qin Zheng."

The living room went quiet for two seconds.

The BGM from the angst-filled anime was still playing on the TV; the male lead stood in the rain, water dripping from his bangs. Yan Zhi sipped from her can, making a gurgling sound.

Luo Yang's mind raced through the information.

Qin Zheng.

That name was practically thunderous to the ears—the number two man in the Shenzhou Artisan Association, a supreme existence who had reached the Star Initiation rank as an Artisan. As a native of Yuanxing City, he reportedly left home in his youth to develop his career in the capital, eventually reaching the very peak of the artisan world in all of Shenzhou.

Star Initiation rank Punishers were rare enough as it was, but a Star Initiation rank Artisan was someone whose numbers could be counted on one hand in the entire country.

Every weapon he forged was legendary; any one of them appearing at an auction would trigger a bloodbath.

In that case, the "top-tier Artisan from the capital" Yu Mingyang mentioned on the phone... was likely this very person.

The corners of Luo Yang's mouth slowly curled up.

"Then I'm guessing the time is two in the afternoon, and the location should be Lingyun Residence?"

Qiu Shubai blinked in surprise and nodded in confirmation.

Luo Yang leaned back into the sofa, picking up his glass of cola and setting it down, then picking it up again.

The place Yu Mingyang was going and the place Qiu Shubai was going were the same.

Yu Mingyang's father had a history with the Artisan, and Qiu Shubai's uncle had invited her to meet this VIP.

Yuanxing City was only so big; the circles were small.

"What is it?" Qiu Shubai noticed his expression.

"Nothing." Luo Yang downed his cola in one go, the carbonation forcing a burp out of him. "As it happens, I was planning on going there this afternoon anyway."

Qiu Shubai was taken aback.

"You're going to Lingyun Residence too?"

"Yeah." Luo Yang set the empty glass on the coffee table with a crisp clack. "A buddy of mine also invited me to meet this Master Qin."

He stood up and stretched, his shoulder joints popping twice.

"Alright then, we'll go together this afternoon. Wait for me while I change."

He took a couple of steps toward the bedroom and then glanced back at her.

"By the way, does your uncle know you're bringing someone?"

"I mentioned it to him," Qiu Shubai's voice drifted over from the sofa. "He said it didn't matter."

"Cool."

Luo Yang ducked into the bedroom and pulled a clean, dark striped shirt and a pair of black straight-leg trousers from the wardrobe. While changing, he glanced at the phone on his nightstand; the address Yu Mingyang had sent was still glowing on the screen.

He buttoned his shirt from bottom to top and selected a pair of glasses suitable for going out from his case. The frames were thin and silver, slightly more formal than his usual black-and-gold patterned ones.

Before leaving, he also placed a wide-brimmed hat on his head.

Though this outfit made him look slightly more mature, it didn't make him seem overly stiff or formal, nor did it give off an air of disrespect or indifference. He was casual by nature, but he would never lack etiquette for an important occasion.

When he stepped out of the bedroom, Qiu Shubai was still sitting on the sofa, her glass of cola now empty. Yan Zhi had turned off the tablet at some point and was tilting her head, observing Qiu Shubai with pitch-black eyes full of curiosity.

Qiu Shubai felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze, her fingers curling slightly on her knees. When her gaze shifted back to Luo Yang, she also froze for a moment.

Just as Luo Yang had never seen that slightly vibrant smile on Qiu Shubai, she had never seen Luo Yang dressed like this.

For both of them, it was a very novel experience.

"A-Zhi." Luo Yang clapped his hands. "I'm heading out for the afternoon. Stay home. There are dumplings in the fridge; cook some for yourself if you get hungry."

"Okay." Yan Zhi pulled her gaze away from Qiu Shubai and curled back into the corner of the sofa, reaching for the half-finished can of cola on the coffee table.