"It's fine, that makes me feel better. I'll contact Fay Yu later so she doesn't worry and rush over to H City for no reason," replied the Hermit of North River.
Scholar Song couldn't shake off the feeling that the Hermit of North River was online twenty-four seven. How did he manage to have so much energy? Did they both just happen to be on the same schedule? It seemed that every time Scholar Song logged in, the Hermit was already there.
No, that wasn't right… Whenever Scholar Song was online, the Hermit was there. But when Scholar Song logged off, the Hermit still lingered on, leaving behind a trail of chat messages.
It was as if the Hermit never needed sleep, a true knight of the digital realm!
Scholar Song couldn't help but worry. With so many cases of sudden deaths from overnight gaming, what if the Hermit of North River continued this way and suddenly dropped dead one day?
He should note that down… Maybe he'd have a good talk with him right before he decided to leave the group.
He scrolled down the chat window further.
After saying a quick goodbye, Sable Seven logged off.
Then, around five in the morning, The Alchemical Sage came online, posting a picture followed by a question mark.
It was an image of a plant he had never seen before.
The plant twisted and curled like a coiling dragon. It had a row of barbed spines at the tip, and the stem was a deep purple-black, making it a rather intriguing specimen with high ornamental value.
"Is that the Poison Dragon Grass? Are you going to use it again, Alchemical Sage? Didn't you just cultivate some recently?" the Hermit of North River was the first to respond.
"Experiment failed; they all died," The Alchemical Sage replied with a frustrated emoji. Plus, the quality of that batch of Poison Dragon Grass wasn't very good.
"Alright, if I manage to get some, I'll let you know. I'm sure the others will notify you if they see any," replied the Hermit.
"Need it alive," The Alchemical Sage added.
Poison Dragon Grass… The name alone suggested it wasn't a friendly plant. He couldn't possibly be using it for alchemy, could he? Would it poison someone? Scholar Song felt a surge of concern, sensing that the people in the group had a knack for courting danger.
Wait a minute… Something felt off.
Scholar Song's fingers froze for a moment, then he scrolled back up to Sable Seven's reply and reread it.
"There were just a few… Um, a couple of dozen clueless ordinary people who got knocked out by Sable Sixteen, nobody died."
That statement sent a chill down Scholar Song's spine. It made him think of the unfortunate souls who'd been overwhelmed by the crowd…
Was this all just coincidence? If it were, then there were far too many coincidences happening lately!
"Maybe I should try to look at it from a different perspective; perhaps it's not a coincidence, and I'm just overthinking things."
"People are often like that; when they harbor doubts about something, they tend to connect unrelated events together. It's like when you start suspecting someone of stealing your money; you end up attributing a lot of unrelated things to them, making them look more and more like a suspect."
He realized that his current mindset was probably that of someone who suspected others of being thieves.
He couldn't dwell on it any longer; if he did, he might end up as paranoid as the others in the group. Scholar Song stretched and decided to go for a jog.
After all, the early bird catches the worm, and he felt his physical condition declining. The lingering cough from a cold he had over ten days ago still hadn't fully healed, and he occasionally coughed a couple of times, which was quite bothersome!
So, he felt motivated to run a quick fifteen hundred meters to get some exercise.
His goal was to stick to morning runs for an entire month!
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
At that moment, at the airport in the Jiangnan region.
A woman with long hair that cascaded down her back was dragging a large suitcase out of the airport. She had fair skin, was tall, and had long legs. Dressed in a white T-shirt and denim shorts, her legs were clad in sporty sneakers, exuding youthful vibrancy.
However, she looked troubled as she surveyed the vast airport, muttering to herself, "I really dislike these big places; it's so easy to get lost."
Then, she pulled out her phone and began fiddling with it.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
After a good morning run, Scholar Song felt a refreshing clarity he hadn't experienced in a while.
He passed by the cafeteria and grabbed some buns and soy milk for breakfast. Once his breathing calmed down, he returned to his dorm.
With Sunday stretching out before him, he wondered what he should do with his time.
"Should I go and borrow some books again?" he mused, munching on a bun.
He casually opened his computer, logging onto the campus network—he had been keeping an eye on the situation concerning the unfortunate souls who had been attacked, after all.
However, there were no updates on the campus network regarding the incident with those individuals, as they were still lying unconscious in the hospital, showing no signs of awakening.
Therefore, it was impossible to find out who or what had knocked them out in the first place.
According to classmates who had visited them, even in their comatose state, the unfortunate victims occasionally let out sounds of pain. With so many of them, the hospital had arranged for them all to be placed in a massive ward. The cacophony of seventy or eighty people crying out in distress was truly a grim sight to behold.
"Just getting knocked out shouldn't mean they can't wake up for a day and a night, right? They wouldn't be turned into vegetative states, would they?" Scholar Song pondered.
Lost in thought, he opened the chat group again.
During the time he spent running and eating, there were several new messages in the group.
Fay Yu (online): "Senior North River, I've arrived at the airport in the Jiangnan region. Does Sable Seven need any help?"
The Hermit of North River, true to form, replied promptly: "Fay Yu is online! Sable Seven got back Sable Sixteen in the early hours and has left H City. You don't need to worry about them. Feel free to head straight to J City and take care of your own business."
"Good to hear," Fay Yu replied, then added, "Has Sable Seven really left H City?"
"Yes, they left in the early hours," the Hermit asked. "Do you need to find Sable Seven for something?"
Fay Yu sighed, "Actually… I was hoping to meet up with Sable Seven. If someone could accompany me to J City, that would be even better. I'm not familiar with H City, Jiangnan, or J City, and I'm afraid I won't find my destination."
"What place do you want to go? Nowadays, smartphones have a navigation function that's really useful. I must say, modern inventions are incredibly convenient," the Hermit enthusiastically explained. Many people in the group weren't very tech-savvy, but the Hermit had a knack for modern technology.
Hey, hey, is this chat even appropriate? Isn't this a gathering of classic Xianxia enthusiasts? Shouldn't he be recommending ancient maps or something? Or maybe some magical artifacts for navigation? Even a teleportation portal would be more acceptable than a smartphone navigation app!
"I've tried using it, but the place I'm going to isn't showing up on the navigation," Fay Yu replied, sounding frustrated.
Of course, she knew how to use navigation. In fact, she was just over twenty-five this year and was not much different from modern young people in some respects. She simply knew a lot more about the 'real world' than her contemporaries.
"And I have a bit of a poor sense of direction. Even with navigation, I might still not find my destination," Fay Yu added.
The Hermit reassured her, "No worries! Once you reach the fifth tier and can control your Qi, you'll be able to see far and wide from high places, and you won't have to worry about getting lost. For now, you can just take a taxi; as long as you have a destination name, the driver will take you there. But be careful not to get into an unlicensed cab."
"Thank you, senior! I'll give that a try," Fay Yu replied gratefully. Without the reminder, she might have forgotten about the convenience of taxis.
The Hermit added, "Where exactly are you heading? If you really can't find it, I can help ask around to see if there are any fellow cultivators nearby who might lend a hand."
"I'm trying to find a place in J City called the Luo Xin District. There should be an ancient temple called Ghost Lantern Temple there. That's where I need to go!" Fay Yu quickly replied.
"Got it, I'll look into it for you. If I find anything, I'll contact you," the Hermit responded.
"Senior, I can't thank you enough!" Fay Yu sent a smiley face: "I'm off to find a taxi now."
**At the Jiangnan Airport**
The long-haired beauty, dragging her oversized suitcase, briskly made her way toward the taxi stand. Her stunning figure caught the eyes of passing men, who couldn't help but stare.