CHAPTER 269: CHAPTER 269: AZURE DRAGON CRESCENT BLADE, KNIFE

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

"...Ahhh!"

Hearing the huge commotion outside, Ren Suo finally could not bear it any longer and forced himself to wake up. The benefit of "Evolution of the Cat" was that he could sleep when he wanted to and wake up when he wanted to. The downside was—he was always in a light sleep state and could only compensate for the quality with time.

Yesterday, he tried "Day Ten · Lianjiang" four or five times. Almost every time, the game would suddenly go to a black screen and exit at the same spot.

He kept trying until this morning, when finally there was a bit of change—the customer sitting there at that moment was no longer a middle-aged programmer, but a social idler instead.

But it still crashed to a black screen due to the bug.

Ren Suo sighed, walked to the balcony, and found that the noise was coming from the open space not far from their dormitory. Moreover, it wasn’t just their dormitory building; the academic buildings were also filled with loud BANGING AND CLATTERING. Weren’t spell tests supposed to be conducted in uninhabited areas like the back mountain?

After lying on the sofa and thinking for a while, the alarm clock rang, reminding him it was noon. Ren Suo then got up to wash, brush his teeth, and tidy his appearance before going to Dong Chengling’s house for a meal.

The door was opened by Dong Chengling herself.

Ren Suo felt amazed. "Gu Yueyan isn’t here today?"

"She is," Dong Chengling said with a smile, walking into the kitchen.

Ever since Gu Yueyan moved into Dong Chengling’s house, she was always the one to open the door whenever Ren Suo visited. Every time, she would glance down at Ren Suo’s empty hands and question him with her eyes, You’re coming over empty-handed?

Ren Suo had thought about whether he should bring some fruits, chips, cola, or fried chicken each time. However, after he brought fruits once, Dong Chengling told him, "If you keep doing this, I’ll stop cooking."

He could live without mooching meals, but how could he let Dong Chengling lose such a hobby? Therefore, Ren Suo continued to come over empty-handed.

Once the meal was served, Ren Suo complained about the noise outside, "What’s going on these past two days? It’s so noisy outside, I can’t sleep."

"Construction hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.," Gu Yueyan rolled her eyes. "If you didn’t go out for late-night snacks and just went to bed earlier, you’d be fine. Eat more vegetables."

Ren Suo blinked. Even Gu Yueyan, the student, knew about his nightly wanderings. It seemed his stealth operations had been very successful.

"But what is the academy building?"

"A new academic building and new dormitories," Gu Yueyan replied. "The new semester starts in September, so naturally, they need to construct the necessary facilities."

"There’s less than twenty days left before school starts. Can they make it?" Ren Suo asked curiously.

"They’ll make it. The construction team this time is from the military’s Cultivator Troops," Dong Chengling explained. "They have cultivated construction spells appropriate for their tasks, and the leading captain is even an Awakener who can create cement."

"They’ve been to ten academies, and on average, it takes them three days to complete an academic building and dormitories."

Without a doubt, among Awakeners, those who could generate economic value were far busier than combat Awakeners. Moreover, the former not only held higher status and enjoyed better benefits but were also highly valued by the country. The thought alone was enough to make one envious.

At this moment, Ren Suo suddenly thought of a question. "Chengling, you’re still the security consultant for the Lianjiang Countermeasure System, aren’t you?"

Dong Chengling nodded. "I provide emergency teleportation services, like how I can pull you guys back to my side from other places in an emergency."

"How much did the Countermeasure System pay for this?" Ren Suo asked.

Dong Chengling mentioned a figure higher than Ren Suo’s salary and added with a sting, "They also paid extra Spirit Stones, and if my Cultivation level rises, these perks will continue to increase."

"Must be nice, really nice," Ren Suo said, genuinely filled with envy.

Thanks to her awakened spells, Dong Chengling had unwittingly become a Rich Lady without having to provide much labor; simply cultivating at home each month brought money in!

Is this what monopoly and the capitalist power of controlling production means!?

"By the way, what did you think of the taste today?" Dong Chengling suddenly asked.

"Huh? It was delicious," Ren Suo replied instinctively. Then, seeing Gu Yueyan also looking at him, he quickly realized, "Was it Classmate Gu who cooked today?"

"What, is that a problem?" Gu Yueyan huffed, though she seemed rather pleased.

"I’ll be helping Teacher Dong with cooking from now on," Gu Yueyan said, looking at Ren Suo with a hint of expectation. "What about you? Teacher Dong might not mind, but shouldn’t you do something too?"

"Xiao Yan," Dong Chengling said.

At that moment, Ren Suo nodded. "Indeed, I should do something."

Ren Suo thought for a moment and then said, "How about buying a dishwasher! That way, later I... we won’t have to wash dishes anymore!"

"Not ’we,’" Gu Yueyan clarified. "It will be Teacher Dong and I cooking from now on; you’ll be the only one washing dishes. Plus, the kitchen space is tightly arranged; there’s no room for a dishwasher."

Scratching his head, Ren Suo said, "Then... how about I contribute to the grocery fund?"

"Who here cares about that little bit of money?" Gu Yueyan glanced at him.

Ren Suo suddenly realized he was the poorest one there. Dong Chengling was a young Rich Lady, and Gu Yueyan, a wealthy young lady who was also first in their school year!

"So, why don’t you join us in..."

"Then how about I treat you two to a late-night snack?" Ren Suo blurted out.

"Hmm?" Dong Chengling and Gu Yueyan were momentarily taken aback. Then Gu Yueyan immediately said, "Late-night snacks contribute to weight gain."

"An occasional indulgence is okay, isn’t it? It’s summer vacation, let’s relax a little."

The idea had come to Ren Suo on a whim, but the more he thought about it, the more appealing it seemed: he remembered Yellow Hair and his girlfriend from the first night; Yellow Hair, as an Awakener, had received an ’Awakening +1’ benefit. He didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it was definitely something good.

If he went to the Ghost Stall alone, he would most likely only improve his Talent, but if he took along Awakeners like Dong Chengling, they would certainly get an increase in their Awakening Level.

The Bond System stipulated that the stronger the abilities of the individual with whom a Bond was established, the greater the Bond Ability Ren Suo would receive. Moreover, experiencing a major event like the ’Fairy Palace Food God’ incident with them could very well increase their Bond Level.

Having a shared secret is a shortcut to building a close relationship: just like after Ren Suo discovered Yu Kuangtu’s secret, they established a first-level Bond.

Of course, another very important reason was that Ren Suo saw them as his friends—after so many days of eating together, one could even grow fond of a dog—so naturally, he wanted to share his happiness with them.

"When do you plan on eating?" Gu Yueyan asked. "It isn’t going to be at midnight, is it?"

After receiving an affirmative answer from Ren Suo, Gu Yueyan immediately shook her head. "I’ll pass. I need to get to bed on time at night."

Dong Chengling also said, "Going out in the wee hours messes up my biological clock, but there’s no problem if it’s before 11 p.m. Ren Suo, you should adjust your biological clock as well."

"I need inspiration," Ren Suo immediately found an excuse for himself. "Walking around in the early morning helps me write my papers better."

Since they had reached this point, Ren Suo had no choice but to drop the topic, promising he would wash the dishes sparkling clean, and so on...

Although the food from the Ghost Stall could bring considerable benefits to normal people like them, it was not enough for Ren Suo to reveal to others his secret of being able to ’observe the future’.

If it were an opportunity like ’one slash to Max Level, easily become a god, ninety-nine lives,’ Ren Suo would naturally not hide his secret anymore; he’d pull all his friends and family up to heaven along with him.

But for just the food from the Ghost Stall, it was not worth Ren Suo risking being exposed as a ’Prophet’.

However, Ren Suo then recalled that when he was Ghost Walking in Shenhai City, he learned that the Countermeasure System, in order to find the Fairy Palace Food God, would station members in park areas of major cities nationwide.

With his relationship with the Tactical Bureau, it shouldn’t be hard to come by this information.

Then he could deduce which day would be the tenth day of the game and simply ask them out in the early morning of that day, right? After all, Ren Suo going out in the early morning was already a familiar habit to everyone, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to invite people out for a late-night snack.

As for whether they’d actually agree to go, Ren Suo didn’t even consider it.

For some reason, he had this confidence—perhaps it was because the Bond System recognized their relationship, much like a stamp on a marriage certificate.

However, when Ren Suo went to wash the dishes, Dong Chengling and Gu Yueyan both looked thoughtfully at his retreating figure.

Should I bring my little sister? I’m afraid Mom and Dad won’t be able to make it; they certainly won’t be willing to leave their work to come to Lianjiang City. Besides, all sorts of Demons and Ghosts might show up at the Ghost Stall, and it would be troublesome if they got scared and fell ill. It’s best if those who go can protect themselves...

As Ren Suo was thinking, he arrived downstairs from his apartment and saw Black Bell lying in a shady spot again, fast asleep. He squatted down to pet it and asked curiously, "Why don’t you find a tomcat and have kittens?"

"MEOW!" Black Bell meowed angrily.

"Ah, sorry, I couldn’t tell you’re female... How about you roll over and let me see if you have any, uh, balls?"

Returning home with six claw marks on his face, Ren Suo yawned, mumbled a bit, and lay down directly on the sofa.

Then, the still-noisy sounds from the construction site outside drilled into his ears. Ren Suo had no choice but to first process the ’Goddess Jade Pendant’ triggered on the ninth day, and then continue to try tackling the tenth day of Ghost Walking in Lianjiang City.

At that moment, he sharply realized a problem—if he couldn’t resolve the bug, then forget inviting others to the Ghost Stall, he himself wouldn’t be able to eat!

To clear the game, he could only choose a city other than Lianjiang City for the tenth day. This naturally meant Ren Suo couldn’t eat at the Ghost Stall in Lianjiang.

Unless he specifically flew to Shenhai City to find the Ghost Stall.

Ben Gang City was impossible because he didn’t know the start time of the first day. Since Shenhai City came after Ben Gang City, as long as he figured out when the Countermeasure System was looking for the Fairy Palace Food God, he would naturally know when the Ghost Stall would appear in Shenhai City.

He might only need to find the Tactical Bureau member Dai Yuxing, and he could follow her to find the Ghost Stall.

But that was the last resort. If possible, Ren Suo didn’t want to take this route—there were too many variables. And having prepared so much in Lianjiang, for it all to fall apart like this made him feel like all those late-night snacks he had eaten recently were in vain.

「The tenth day, Lianjiang, begin!」

Game time quickly passed by more than an hour, and Ren Suo began to tense up. At any moment, he might encounter the black screen bug.

At 1 hour and 32 minutes in game time, while the female owner was preparing to force-feed shit to a Half-Demon black man who hadn’t provided a keyword, had committed several crimes, and was even leering at her, Ren Suo saw a figure swaying in the distance again.

Just then—

The figure in the distance disappeared.

The black man also disappeared.

There was no black screen.

Ren Suo blinked. However, the next customer sat down then, and Ren Suo didn’t dwell on it. After all, no black screen meant Victory. He immediately threw himself into the tense and thrilling game of listening to stories and discerning human nature.

After Ren Suo had attended to over twenty customers and thrashed several picky Demons and Ghosts, he glanced at the game time and discovered a small problem.

He had been playing for more than four hours. But in fact, taking into account seasoning time and battle time, when converted to game world time, it should be halved, or perhaps reduced even further. In other words, in the game world, the Ghost Stall would have been set up for just over two hours at most.

However, Ren Suo found that 3 hours and 20 minutes had already passed in the game world!

Why had the passage of game time accelerated this time?

Or was it that just now... the game itself had fast-forwarded for a period?

And subsequently, Ren Suo felt increasingly strange. Although the following customers were quite troublesome and often led to battles, under the combined attacks of the female owner and Red Armor, they usually couldn’t last more than two rounds before being defeated.

The strongest one only lasted eight rounds, after which the female owner merely needed to pop three pills to recover.

Although it was troublesome, the difficulty was about the same as the seventh or eighth day, not even reaching the intensity of the ninth day in London!

Was the female owner too strong, or were the Demons and Ghosts of Lianjiang City indeed too weak?

Well, although Ren Suo wasn’t unhappy that his city’s Demons and Ghosts were weaker, this was the tenth day!

The weaker the earlier monsters, the stronger the final boss would be!

Soon, as the Ghost Stall was about to end, a handsome young man came and sat down.

He wore a white shirt and black pants. His appearance was haggard but still somewhat refined, his silver hair slicked back, and his figure tall and thin.

"What would you like to eat?"

He sat down and said indifferently, "I want to eat dates."

The female owner nodded, once again opening that drawer that led to who knows where.

The young man propped his head on his hand, staring intently at the female owner. But Ren Suo felt his gaze wasn’t the hormone-fueled, X-Ray Vision-like stare of an adolescent, but rather one filled with a sense of... nostalgia and reminiscence?

"I am Azure Dragon Crescent Blade."

He paused. "The blade."