Chapter 48: Killing Intent Fills the Air

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Killing Intent Fills the Air

After the test ended, Gu Qing didn’t linger in the park and quickly returned to school.

With nothing better to do, he went back to his dorm for a nap.

At four in the afternoon, as was his habit, Gu Qing arrived at the athletic field on time to practice martial arts with Xia Shuran.

They trained for over an hour.

No text-based information ever popped up before his eyes.

’Just as I thought. After successfully unlocking Muscle Knots, I can’t get any more Attributes from Xia Shuran’s [Martial Arts Grandmaster] tag.’

With no more gains to be had, martial arts practice became dull and pointless.

"Let’s call it a day."

Gu Qing stopped what he was doing and looked at Xia Shuran beside him. "Come on, let’s go eat."

"We’re done already?"

Xia Shuran was a little surprised.

They usually practiced for at least three hours, but today he was stopping after just a little over an hour.

’How strange.’

Gu Qing: "Yeah, we’re done. Let’s go to the student life area and get something good to eat. My treat."

Hearing this, Xia Shuran’s eyes lit up, her delight written all over her face. "In that case, Senior, I want pineapple baked rice and honey lemonade!"

On the way to the student life area, Gu Qing spoke up. "By the way, I’m going to be busy for a while, so I won’t be able to practice with you in the afternoons for now."

Xia Shuran couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

But she was well-behaved and understanding.

She replied with a bright smile, "You just focus on what you need to do, Senior. Don’t worry about me. We can practice together again when you’re done and have time."

Gu Qing smiled. "Okay, I’ll look for you when I have time."

’Have time?’

’I’m afraid I won’t have time for this anymore.’

’Since I can’t farm Attributes from martial arts practice anymore, there’s no way I’m going to waste time on it in the future.’

’But grabbing a meal together when I’m free...’

’That’s still on the table.’

’After all, my junior has such a great personality. This friendship is worth spending time to maintain.’

Gu Qing thought to himself.

...

At seven in the evening, Gu Qing returned to his dorm after dinner. He sat and chatted with his roommates for a while.

Afterward, he took out his phone, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Zhou Yuan.

[Gu Qing: Brother Yuan, you free?]

Zhou Yuan replied almost instantly: [Are you looking to party up? I have to go to my rental to run some experiments later tonight, so I don’t have time for games. How about this weekend? I’ll hit you guys up to play then.]

[Gu Qing: What a coincidence. I wasn’t looking to play League of Legends. I wanted to ask when you were going to your rental to work on your experiments. Count me in.]

[Zhou Yuan: Seriously? What a coincidence! How about we head out now?]

[Gu Qing: No problem.]

[Zhou Yuan: Alright, let’s go now. We’ll meet at the entrance of Dining Hall No. 2.]

[Gu Qing: OK.]

Having come to a quick agreement with Zhou Yuan, Gu Qing put down his phone, got up, and stuffed a clean set of clothes into his backpack.

He knew that whenever Zhou Yuan went to his rental to do research, he would stay the night.

In order to farm more Attributes from Zhou Yuan’s [Biochemical Madman] tag, he planned to stay overnight at Zhou Yuan’s rental and pull an all-nighter doing research with him.

And not just for tonight.

He planned to do this every night from now on.

Because he had already obtained Muscle Knots, he suddenly had a lot more free time.

To avoid wasting this free time, his only option was to find Zhou Yuan and farm Immune to Hundred Poisons.

’I’ll set a small goal: get my hands on the Immune to Hundred Poisons Attribute within ten days!’

Gu Qing thought.

As his Physical Strength continued to increase, his need for sleep had been compressed to the absolute minimum.

He only needed two or three hours of sleep a day to stay full of energy.

Pulling an all-nighter for research experiments and the like was no problem for him at all.

"I’m staying out tonight, so don’t wait up for me."

After tossing this line to his three roommates, Gu Qing slung his backpack on, left the dorm, and headed to the dining hall to meet Zhou Yuan.

The three roommates stared at each other in bewilderment.

For a moment, they couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

"Staying out all night? What’s up with Old Gu? Did he really find himself a wild punk girlfriend behind our backs?"

"I think it’s that junior with the pigtails from our last mixer."

"Damn, isn’t that a little too fast? They only met a few days ago, and now they’re getting a room for the night?"

The three of them chattered back and forth.

Gao Fei was surprised, Qian Duole was envious, and Chen Zijie was just plain jealous.

...

Gu Qing was the first to arrive at the entrance of Dining Hall No. 2.

After waiting for several minutes, he finally saw Zhou Yuan jogging hastily toward him along the campus path ahead.

"Junior, my bad. I suddenly got a stomachache right before I left, so I was a bit delayed."

Zhou Yuan jogged up to Gu Qing, panting and looking apologetic.

Gu Qing: "It’s fine, I just got here myself."

The two didn’t waste any time and started walking toward the school gate.

The moment they left, a rat darted out from the nearby bushes, following them from a distance with agile, stealthy movements.

This was a very peculiar rat.

It was as small as a cockroach.

Its fur was unusually dark and dull.

Creeping along the dark road at night, it seemed to merge with the darkness, making it nearly invisible to the naked eye.

「Half an hour later.」

Carrying the late-night snacks they bought on the way, Gu Qing and Zhou Yuan walked into the urban village next to the university.

They then wound their way through the narrow paths and finally arrived at the rental house.

Also arriving was the strange rat that had been tailing them the entire time.

Seeing the two figures disappear into the stairwell of an old residential building, its tiny eyes glinted with a cold light not belonging to a rat.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Inside a secluded villa on the outskirts of the city.

Under the dim lights,

Several well-built figures were sitting together in a circle.

"Found him."

Suddenly, a man with long hair and glasses sitting in front of a computer said with a smile:

"That PhD student, Zhou Yuan, moved his rental to the urban village next to Hai City University. The address is 11 South Alley."

Hearing the man with glasses say this, everyone’s eyes lit up.

A man in a tank top with extremely developed muscles said:

"This PhD student is a real talent. His research is crucial to us."

"With a few improvements, it might be able to significantly reduce the toxic backlash from our transformations and increase the success rate."

"I’ll go grab him now."

As he spoke, the man in the tank top stood up from his seat.

Just then, a middle-aged man with graying temples sitting beside him spoke up as a reminder:

"Not so fast. The PhD student has an undergrad with him. That kid’s skills are uncanny. The last time Ahhai went to grab the PhD student, he was taken down by that kid."

This so-called Ahhai was the mysterious Assassin who had tailed and attacked Zhou Yuan before.

The man with the glasses from before sneered disdainfully,

"He’s just an ordinary university student. How tough can he be?"

"He’s probably just got a bit of brute strength, that’s all."

"In the face of a bullet, so-called ’toughness’ is a joke."

The man with the glasses had just finished speaking when the short-haired woman sitting at the head of the table looked up, glanced at everyone, and said expressionlessly:

"All three of you will go. Bring guns. This time, you must bring that PhD student back."

After a pause, she added,

"As for that meddling university student, just shoot him and be done with it. Avenge Ahhai."

An icy killing intent, as cold as death, descended with the woman’s words, silently spreading throughout the villa.

...

PS: Putting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!