Pei Jinye and Li Jun chatted for a while before heading to the cafeteria together.
Both men were of similar build, though Pei Jinye now seemed the more robust of the two.
If it had been a few weeks earlier, it would have been Pei Jinye who appeared thinner and smaller.
From a distance, they saw a group of people crowding around someone walking towards them.
Pei Jinye looked up and was indifferent to what he saw.
Li Jun quickly pulled Pei Jinye aside and guided him out of the way, whispering, "The guy at the front is Senior Brother Fang Tianjian, the young master of the Fang household, an Awakener. The one on the left is Senior Brother Lan Feng, who I heard had just awakened two months ago. His sister is very powerful, and the Lan Family's influence is now surging in Da Peng...."
It was only then Pei Jinye realized that he had been a Beginner for some time, yet he scarcely knew anything about the members of the Bronze Association.
The group passed by without giving Pei Jinye and Li Jun as much as a glance, chatting and laughing amongst themselves.
...
"Didn't you have an outing planned with Miss Jiang? Why didn't you go?"
...
Miss Jiang?
Pei Jinye looked over hesitantly.
...
Lan Feng replied with resignation, "Why are you even gossiper than I am?"
The group walked on and gradually disappeared into the distance.
Pei Jinye looked towards Lan Feng, feeling like he had heard this voice somewhere before.
"What's the matter?" Li Jun asked, noticing him.
Pei Jinye turned away and changed the subject, "What abilities did they awaken?"
Li Jun thought for a moment before replying, "Senior Brother Fang seems to have enhanced attack speed, and Senior Brother Lan's is something related to spiritual power. I'm not clear on the specifics, but I've heard it's quite a rare type."
Pei Jinye's interest was suddenly piqued.
Lan Feng... Psychic Class?
At nine o'clock in the evening.
Li Jun and Pei Jinye parted ways at the Bronze Association; after an afternoon together, their relationship had grown much closer than before.
Pei Jinye walked on, feeling as if someone was watching him from behind. He looked back several times but saw nothing, and his brow furrowed slightly.
Was it his imagination?
He suddenly darted into an alley. After several quick footsteps, all was quiet.
Pei Jinye pressed himself against the wall, holding his breath, waiting silently with a spring-loaded knife in hand—one of his new equipments since encountering a drunkard on the road.
Seconds ticked by.
No sound of movement came.
"Could it have been my imagination?"
Pei Jinye frowned, but he did not doubt his senses.
Better to believe it was real than not!
Taking a deep breath, instead of peeking around the corner, he took a few slow steps towards the other end of the alley and then suddenly bolted at full speed.
Slowly... a tall figure emerged from the shadows, eyeing the nearby surveillance camera with trepidation.
"This little brat!"
"Buzz, buzz!"
The phone vibrated.
The tall figure turned and left the alley, answering the call on the move.
"It's me."
"Why haven't you notified me to execute the plan? Did you forget?"
"It's not time yet. The Jiang family is very alert, and that girl hasn't been going out recently... Also, I may have found that kid from last time."
"Did you catch him?"
"One target got away, but there's another one. Rest assured and wait for my news."
After hanging up the phone.
Lan Feng emerged from the alley, lowering the brim of his hat, and blended into the crowd.
...
The next evening.
When Pei Jinye arrived at the Bronze Association, he was shocked to learn of Li Jun's death.
"Dead?"
"They say it was an accidental fall, but foul play has not been ruled out... There are many gangs in South City District, so a person dying isn't considered strange." Li Xiaoyin simply shook her head as if she had become accustomed to such occurrences.
Pei Jinye's heart skipped a beat, "Does someone just die like that?"
Li Xiaoyin glanced over, "Otherwise? Use authority from a smart brain to specifically solve this case? For a nobody without background or potential, no one would use their authority to investigate, because it's not worth it."
Pei Jinye remained silent.
He let out a sigh.
How cold and merciless this world could be.
Li Xiaoyin fixed her gaze on him and asked, "Have you heard about Fang Hai's incident?"
Pei Jinye nodded.
Li Xiaoyin spoke in a low voice, "The Old Gods Association has made a comeback in the city, it was them who did it to Fang Hai. They specifically target Awakeners with potential to hunt for their Extraordinary-Human Genes."
Upon hearing this, Pei Jinye was so shocked that he didn't even pay attention to what the Old Gods Association was. Instead, he said, dumbfounded, "Extraordinary-Human Genes can be taken away?"
Li Xiaoyin nodded, "But it's not as you think. You can think of it as cloning genes, but in this process, the original source gets damaged, and the abilities are definitely affected. It's just unknown how much of the original source that poor kid had tampered with. Maybe he can only be an ordinary person for the rest of his life."
"Senior Sister, what is the Old Gods Association..."
Li Xiaoyin was surprised, "You don't know?"
Pei Jinye shook his head.
Li Xiaoyin looked puzzled, "Sister Xiao recommended you to come here, and she didn't tell you anything?"
Pei Jinye replied in surprise, "Ice Sister is with the Bronze Association too?"
Li Xiaoyin: "..."
She said wearily, "What exactly is your relationship with Sister Xiao? If it wasn't for Teacher Chang giving me a heads up, I wouldn't have known you came here on her recommendation."
Pei Jinye then realized why Senior Sister Li was taking such good care of him.
It turned out he was basking in Ice Sister's glory.
"What if I say... Ice Sister thinks I'm a seedling with endless potential, so she gave me a little push, would you believe that?"
Li Xiaoyin let out a chuckle, "Forget it. Since you don't wish to say, let's just leave it at that."
How could the famous Sister Xiao simply recommend someone?
Pei Jinye was quite helpless.
He really had told all there was to say.
Li Xiaoyin gestured for him to follow and soon they left for a teahouse near the Bronze Association.
The manager of the teahouse greeted them personally, apparently Li Xiaoyin was a regular customer, so he directly led them to her exclusive VIP room.
The server skillfully served two cups of tea, his gaze not daring to wander, he respectfully exited the room.
Li Xiaoyin took a silver needle and tested both cups of tea, and after confirming they were poison-free, she casually mentioned, "I won't say much about the Old Gods Association. All you need to know is that they are a bunch of complete lunatics. I wanted to see you today, actually, because I have a favor to ask."
Pei Jinye was somewhat surprised, but considering the things he had learned past few days, he silently noted that he really had a lot more to learn.
Still, facing Li Xiaoyin's expectant gaze, he couldn't help but smile wryly, "Senior Sister, I might have to disappoint you."
He knew exactly what his status was, and if Li Xiaoyin had sought him out for help, it could only be for one reason.
He sighed in his heart.
He and Ice Sister were truly innocent...
Li Xiaoyin just gave a faint smile, picked up her teacup, and suggested, "Take a sip of tea first. There's no rush for this matter."
Pei Jinye paused, then suddenly felt the tea too hot to sip.
But he still brought it to his lips and took a drink.
Suddenly, his expression changed.
"This tea?!"
He quickly pulled up his attribute panel.
Vitality unchanged, Physical strength limit +1.
More importantly, he felt that his spiritual power had somehow become more condensed.
Li Xiaoyin just smiled, sipped her own tea, and said calmly, "This Spiritual Tea is personally cultivated by Transcendents, grown with Spirit Water to nourish, capable of enhancing physique, and strengthening the mind."
"It's expensive, right?"
Li Xiaoyin was amused by Pei Jinye's question, "Quite reasonable, twenty-eight thousand per cup."
Quite reasonable...
Pei Jinye shook his head without a word.
This kind of class disparity wasn't impossible to break through, but most people simply couldn't manage it.
This one sip was a thousand bucks... Pei Jinye drained his cup.
"Senior Sister, go ahead."
Li Xiaoyin laughed lightly, "Don't worry, it's just a message I need you to relay for me."
"Just one message?"
"Yes."
"..." Pei Jinye was curious about what kind of message could be worth twenty-eight thousand.