Time flew. On the day before the university entrance exam, evening.
The sun had already sunk halfway below the horizon. Orange sunlight shone on the ground. The shadows of trees and buildings fell on the training ground of Anhe Estate.
Ning Ran lay on the ground and kept panting. The sweat from his body dripped onto the ground. His young face was frowning, and he looked as though he was about to cry.
"Brother Xiaobai, let's end here today. I can't take it anymore."
Mo Xiaobai stood at the side with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He nodded slightly, and said, "Let's end here today."
Mo Xiaobai had enjoyed a steady lifestyle for the past two weeks.
Every morning, he would wake up for his daily cultivation. When his cultivation ended, he would go to school. After school, he would go back home directly.
The murderer had already been killed, but Ning Ran still came to look for Ning Feng during this period of time. Mo Xiaobai would help him with his training too.
Ning Ran didn't help him the last time, so Mo Xiaobai didn't let him off easily. When he was training, Mo Xiaobai doubled the intensity of the training. Ning Ran was crying for his mother and father after that.
Mo Xiaobai felt extremely happy.
Of course, because of the pressure Mo Xiaobai gave him, Ning Ran's improvement was great. Even Ning Feng kept thanking him for helping.
Ning Ran heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Mo Xiaobai agreeing to his request.
He pushed his body up tiredly with his hands, and finally managed to sit up. He looked at Mo Xiaobai. "Brother Xiaobai, tomorrow is the university entrance exam, right?"
Mo Xiaobai was stunned. He nodded. "Yes."
"With your ability, you will definitely be able to qualify for the top three institutions!"
Ning Ran looked at Mo Xiaobai with awe.
Mo Xiaobai smiled. "You little brat, do you think that it's so simple?"
Two days ago, he had already reached one force point fifth-rank. His results for his examination wouldn't be low.
However, even after reaching the fifth-rank, he might not be able to enter any of the top three institutions.
If you wanted to qualify for the top three institutions, you needed to participate in the initial cry trial. Only the top 3000 participants could enter one of the top three institutions.
That was because every school only had 1000 spots for freshmen.
All the graduates who managed to reach one force point fifth-rank were all geniuses.
The battle for these 3000 slots would be intense.
Even Mo Xiaobai felt stressed.
"I feel that you can definitely do it!" Ning Ran's expression was firm. He then remembered something, and continued, "Oh, right. This is for you."
He took out a jade pendant from his space ring and passed it to Mo Xiaobai.
Mo Xiaobai took the pendant. He was a little puzzled. The jade pendant was green and there was a beautiful bird spreading its wings carved on the pendant.
"What is this?"
Ning Ran scratched his head and smiled. "This is a blue bird jade pendant. I went to get this blue bird jade pendant two days ago at the temple. They say that if you wear it, your dreams will come true. I don't have much allowance. If not for that, I could buy you a better one."
Mo Xiaobai felt touched when he heard this. He lifted his hand and rubbed Ning Ran's head. He smiled, and said, "This is already good enough. I like it very much. Thank you, Little Ran."
Ning Ran's eyes lit up when he heard that Mo Xiaobai liked his gift. He smiled happily, and said, "Then you have to work hard, Brother Xiaobai. We made a promise. After I get into one of the top three institutions, I will need you to take care of me."
Mo Xiaobai smiled. "No problem!"
At this moment, Ning Feng's voice came from a distance away. "Little Ran, time to go back."
"Coming!" Ning Ran replied. He waved at Mo Xiaobai happily. "Brother Xiaobai, I will be going home now."
Mo Xiaobai nodded. "Be careful on your way home."
"I understand."
Ning Ran stood up and ran towards Ning Feng. The sky gradually turned dark. Ning Feng rubbed Ning Ran's head.
"You little brat. You have been really hardworking lately. Are you tired?"
"I'm fine. I made a promise with Brother Xiaobai. We are going to get into the top three institutions."
"Haha, then you have to work hard. I will make your favorite braised beef when we get home!"
"Wow! Really!? Dad, you're the best!"
"…"
"…"
The two of them held each other's hand, and disappeared in the dark green night sky.
Mo Xiaobai smiled and shook his head. He looked at the blue bird jade pendant, and kept it in his space ring.
Then, Mo Xiaobai went back.
Tomorrow was the university entrance exam, so Mo You and Mu Yuzhu didn't say anything to Mo Xiaobai. They were afraid of giving him pressure.
Actually, Mo Xiaobai didn't feel pressured at all.
He had already done his best. His cultivation was at one force point fifth-rank now.
He was very confident.
After dinner, he played with Little Red for a while before returning to his room to rest.
It was a quiet night.
The next morning, the moment sunlight shone into Mo Xiaobai's room, he opened his eyes.
He sat up and looked outside the window. The sky was cloudless. It looked like a blue crystal, clear and shiny.
The weather was good.
He smiled gently.
He stretched his back and started his daily cultivation.
One hour later, his cultivation ended. Mo Xiaobai walked out of the room.
When he arrived in the living room, he noticed that the living room was very quiet. Mo You and Mu Yuzhu were furrowing their brows furiously, and their expressions were gloomy. They were looking at the newspaper in Mo You's hands.
Mo Xiaobai glanced at them curiously.
"What happened?"
When they heard Mo Xiaobai's voice, Mo You and Mu Yuzhu shuddered. They finally regained their composure.
Their expressions were complex. They exchanged glances before Mo You passed the newspaper in his hands to Mo Xiaobai.
"Take a look at it."
Mo Xiaobai felt puzzled as he took the newspaper.
"What happened?" he muttered to himself, and looked down to read the newspaper.
However, when he saw Ning Ran's closed eyes and pale face on the first page of the newspaper, he was stunned.
'Murder case strikes again. Another victim has appeared!'
Boom!
Mo Xiaobai's mind went blank.
…How was that possible?
Mo Xiaobai clutched his last ounce of hope, and lowered his head to read the content of the article quickly.
Tengyun Estate…
Late at night yesterday…
Ning Ran…
As he looked at the frightening words, Mo Xiaobai's vision turned a little blurry. The veins on his hands bulged, and the newspaper in his hands was shaking slightly.
"There's no one at home…"
"Wow! Brother Xiaobai, you're so amazing!"
"I need to work harder too and enter one of the top three institutions. My dad will definitely be very happy when I do that. Brother Xiaobai, you must protect me as a senior in the future."
"With your ability, you will definitely be able to enter one of the top three institutions!"
"I feel that you can definitely do it!"
"I went to get this blue bird jade pendant two days ago at the temple. They say that if you wear it, your dreams will come true. I don't have much allowance. If not for that, I could buy you a better one."
"Let's make a promise. After I get into one of the top three institutions, I will need you to take care of me."
"…"
"…"
Images of Ning Ran appeared in his mind, again and again. Mo Xiaobai's vision became even more blurry. His throat turned itchy, and his chest felt extremely heavy.
Wasn't that shadow dog devil already dead?!
Why were there still murder cases?
W-w-why must it be Little Ran?
Mo Xiaobai felt his stomach churning. It felt as though someone dug up all his organs.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Mo You came forward and patted Mo Xiaobai's shoulder gently.
Mu Yuzhu hugged Mo Xiaobai.
The atmosphere was gloomy.
Mo Xiaobai slowly opened his eyes. He asked, "…Can we go over and take a look at Little Ran now?"
Mo You shook his head. "We can't do it now. The people from the Peak of Cerulean had already taken over."
He remained silent for a moment before saying, "Let's send him off in a few days."
Mu Yuzhu nodded. "Your father is right. Today is your university entrance exam. Don't get affected."
Mo Xiaobai was quiet for a long while. Then, he nodded. His gaze turned resolute as he replied, "Okay… let's go."
He had to get into one of the top three institutions!
Little Ran was not around, but he didn't want to go back on their last promise.