In the night, the cafeteria area in Zone D was brilliantly lit. There were sixteen cafeterias of varying sizes.
Jiang Wu observed the traffic flow in and out of the cafeterias for a moment, then turned his head and asked Lei Tiantian, “I’m going to Cafeteria No. 2. What about you?”
Lei Tiantian immediately replied, “I’m going to Cafeteria No. 2 too!”
Like in a real-world university, the Divine Clan’s cafeterias were also outsourced. You needed to top up your meal card yourself. At the entrance of the cafeteria, there was a service window for topping up meal cards, with a very conspicuous poster stuck to it—
[New Student Promotion: 10% off when you top up 10,000! No limit! Ends at midnight tonight! Miss it, wait a year!]
10,000?
Jiang Wu’s eyelid twitched. Just then, he heard Lei Tiantian say, “Top up 50,000.”
Jiang Wu’s eyelid twitched several more times. A vague sense of foreboding crept over him. He handed over his student card. After a moment of thought, he topped up 1,000.
The staff member gave him a strange glance, paused his actions, and reminded him, “The promotion ends today. You’ll have to wait until next year’s new student enrollment if you miss it.”
Jiang Wu directly scanned the QR code and paid 1,000. “Just 1,000, thank you.”
The staff member said no more. After a few quick operations, he tossed back Jiang Wu’s student card. Jiang Wu calmly picked it up and entered Cafeteria No. 2 with Lei Tiantian.
Cafeteria No. 2 had three floors. The first floor was filled with various small restaurants. The decor was in a Chinese style, offering both Chinese and Western cuisine. The food was just like in the real world—no strange ingredients. Every shop had distinctive lanterns hanging, creating a pleasant atmosphere. The dining area was also designed like a Jiangnan garden landscape, with artfully arranged tables offering a view of a scenic window.
It was peak dinner time. The aromas of all kinds of food assailed the nostrils. Lei Tiantian’s nose twitched madly as his eyes searched everywhere for food, quickly locking onto a target. He whispered, “I want to eat a fiery meat, cheese, and egg burger.”
The fiery meat burger shop was diagonally ahead. Jiang Wu had noticed it earlier. A single-layer, no-add-on burger was 99 bucks…
His foreboding came true. The prices here were also at divine-tier levels.
“You go ahead.” Jiang Wu said, “I’ll eat something else.”
Lei Tiantian hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded. “I’ll come find you after I buy it.”
The two split up. Jiang Wu continued forward, searching around. Finally, he spotted relatively cheap food: meat buns, 10 bucks each.
Jiang Wu bought two meat buns and a free cup of hot water. A total of 20 bucks.
He carried his tray and found a two-person table. Shortly after sitting down, Lei Tiantian arrived carrying two stacked trays.
Lei Tiantian’s trays held double portions of everything: two fiery meat burgers, two cups of Coke with ice, two servings of vegetable salad, two servings of fresh-cut fruit, and two cups of caramel pudding.
“It’s a buy-one-get-one-free deal! I can’t finish it all. Help me out!” Lei Tiantian grinned, showing his two dimples again, as he swiftly placed one heavily laden tray in front of Jiang Wu.
Afraid Jiang Wu would refuse, Lei Tiantian immediately buried his head and started wolfing down his burger, chewing in big, rapid bites.
Jiang Wu was momentarily stunned by Lei Tiantian’s series of actions. After a moment, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards slightly. He didn’t reject his roommate’s kindness. He placed one of his meat buns onto Lei Tiantian’s tray. “Mine’s also a deal.”
Lei Tiantian looked up, his mouth full of food, both cheeks puffed out like a hamster. His pitch-black eyes stared blankly at Jiang Wu. Jiang Wu grabbed his burger and took a bite, saying, “The buns had a deal too. Buy one, get one free.”
A light gradually brightened in Lei Tiantian’s eyes. He quickly swallowed his mouthful of burger and immediately reached for the meat bun Jiang Wu had given him. The grin on his face nearly stretched from ear to ear. He opened his mouth and took a huge bite of the bun, mumbling indistinctly, “So, so good!”
Once they finished eating, Lei Tiantian had basically revealed his entire family background.
“My dad and mom are both big bosses. My eldest brother is a celebrity, my second sister is a scientist, and my grandparents, my maternal grandparents…”
Jiang Wu listened patiently. As he and Lei Tiantian walked out side by side, there was suddenly a clatter, followed by a small, green apple rolling to the tip of Jiang Wu’s shoe.
Jiang Wu crouched down and picked up the apple. Standing up, he looked for the owner and quickly found him.
Right in front of him, an old man, around seventy years old with completely white hair, stood rigidly, his hands still frozen in the position of holding a food tray. Two narrow, gray eyes stared at Jiang Wu in alarm.
His lavish dinner lay scattered and smashed across the floor.
Someone ran over, saying, “Principal Bai, are you alright?”
Jiang Wu took out a tissue and wiped the apple clean. He lifted his foot to step forward, but the Principal turned and left, walking so fast his feet seemed to fly. He vanished from the cafeteria entrance in the blink of an eye.
~
Leaving the cafeteria, Jiang Wu was still holding that small apple. The cafeteria staff told him to throw it in the trash, but he couldn’t bear to.
“I’m heading to the library. Are you coming?” he asked Lei Tiantian.
Lei Tiantian immediately shook his head. “I hate reading the most. I think I’ll just go back to the dorm first…”
Jiang Wu smiled. “See you later.”
“See you later!”
Jiang Wu took a different path. The school’s topographic map was entirely in his head. He quickly found the library.
The towering, majestic building stood brilliantly lit in the dark night. Just the entrance was dozens of meters high. Trying to find an unknown Heavenly Book in such a massive library was like searching for a needle in the ocean.
Jiang Wu took a deep breath, pulled out his student card, and walked over.
But when he reached the entrance, he was stopped and told, “It’s closed.”
The lights inside were clearly still brilliant. Jiang Wu asked in surprise, “Doesn’t it close at ten o’clock?”
The person replied impatiently, “You students ask so many questions. It’s closed, means it’s closed. You can’t go in. Come early tomorrow if you want to read.”
Jiang Wu glanced into the library and was about to turn back, when a familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind him. “Let him in.”
Immediately, a faint scent of wind and snow passed by his side. Lu Sheng walked to the access gate, took out a card, removed the black leather glove from his left hand, swiped it, and entered.
In just two seconds, the person who had just stopped Jiang Wu switched to a smiling face. “Please, go right in!”
Jiang Wu paused, then stepped inside.
The library had been cleared. Marble tiles covered the first floor floor. Silence reigned, broken only by footsteps—only Jiang Wu’s footsteps. Lu Sheng was nowhere to be seen.
The public computers in the hall were still on. Jiang Wu went over and searched the library map. There were 208 separate collections, large and small.
Jiang Wu left the computer. Today was just his first scouting trip; he wasn’t in a hurry to find the Heavenly Book. But after seeing the map and realizing the sheer volume of the collection, his inner bookworm was stirred. He wanted to read.
Without any specific target, Jiang Wu casually entered one of the collection halls.
This collection wasn’t huge, but it had a one-and-a-half story open layout. The main floor was orderly lined with bookshelves that nearly touched the ceiling. The neatly arranged books exuded the distinctive fragrance of books. Jiang Wu walked to a shelf, stood on tiptoe, and pulled out a book.
Looking at the publication date inside, his pupils slightly dilated.
The publication date was… 1435!
Jiang Wu quickly placed the book on the shelf. He took out a tissue and wiped his already very clean hands several more times before he carefully, cautiously picked the book back up and opened it. Bowing his head, he began to read earnestly.
Bright light, filtering through the gaps in the bookshelf, fell on a small patch of the young man’s exposed skin.
It was dazzlingly pale.
On the second-floor railing, Lu Sheng looked down at Jiang Wu, who was utterly absorbed in his book. The next second, he teleported directly to the other side of the bookshelf Jiang Wu was facing. He took out a book, and directly across from him was Jiang Wu’s profile, lost in concentration.
Jiang Wu’s eyelashes were very long, very black, and very soft. Not groomed at all, they curled naturally. Perhaps he had reached an exciting part of the book, for Jiang Wu’s nostrils flared slightly. He raised a hand and scratched the skin on his cheek, then his hand just stopped there, forgotten. The two band-aids stuck on the back of his hand had their edges slightly curled up.
Lu Sheng’s fingertip rubbed the back of his own hand. It was smooth and unblemished, but there was a faint itchy sensation—the feeling of new flesh growing.
The scratches on the back of Jiang Wu’s hand from the Giant Harrier’s attack were healing, new skin growing in.
“Are you also working at this school?”
In that narrow gap, Jiang Wu closed his book and suddenly turned his face. Those extremely light brown eyes looked brightly towards Lu Sheng.
But he was a head shorter than Lu Sheng, so his line of sight was blocked by the shelf. Through the scattered light and shadows, he could only see lips that were thin and coldly sharp.
Lu Sheng replied calmly, “I am one of the honorary directors.”
Jiang Wu sighed in wonder. “Just like in reality.” He tilted his head, squeezing his face into the bookshelf. This time he could barely make out Lu Sheng’s entire face. His eyes curved into crescent moons. “Mr. Lu, you can enter the library at any time, right?”
His intention was glaringly obvious. Lu Sheng casually flipped a page of his book, his gaze falling on the dense text. “The Heavenly Book is not in the library.”
Jiang Wu hadn’t expected Lu Sheng to give him guidance so quickly. The back of his hand was a bit itchy from healing. He scratched it a few times and said, “It’s not for the Heavenly Book. I want to read a few more books before I leave. Can I come in during the night?” He added, “I won’t misuse the school’s electricity. I’ll bring my own flashlight.”
Hearing the word “leave,” Lu Sheng flipped another page. “Why should I help you?”
“You still owe me one thing from last time, and this time I’ll also owe you one thing.” Jiang Wu immediately said. “If you help me come in at night to read, I can do anything within my power for you.”
Again realizing that his bargaining chips were likely trivial to Lord Ghost Emperor, Jiang Wu thought for another moment, then added: “The things I can do might be more than you think.”
He had slightly rephrased what Lu Sheng said on New Year’s Eve.
Right at that moment, the familiar flickering black-red light suddenly flashed before his eyes. Focusing his gaze, he saw the black-red light coming from Lu Sheng’s palm.
It looked very much like…
The next instant, a card “slapped” down right in front of Jiang Wu’s face. One more fraction and it would have hit his nose.
On the gold-embossed card were just two numbers: 01.
It was precisely the card Lu Sheng had just swiped.
Jiang Wu’s pupils blazed brilliantly. He opened his mouth to thank Lu Sheng, but Lu Sheng placed his book back, completely blocking Jiang Wu’s view.
By the time Jiang Wu grabbed the card and ran to the next aisle, that spot was already empty.
Outside the library, Lu Sheng got into the waiting car. Gongliang Ye was also about to fasten his seatbelt when Lu Sheng spoke up. “You still have something to do.”
Gongliang Ye racked his brains, trying to remember. “Did you ask me to do something?”
Lu Sheng glanced out the window. Only a single figure stood at the library entrance, bowing profusely. He withdrew his gaze and reminded him, “The two boxes of cocoa powder you brought.”
Gongliang Ye finally remembered. When he learned Lu Sheng was coming to Cloud-Step Lunar Realm, he quietly asked Chef Yang for two boxes of cocoa powder to bring for Jiang Wu!
He picked up the cocoa powder, about to get out of the car, but then turned back. “Will you personally go for tonight’s matter?”
Lu Sheng didn’t answer. Gongliang Ye immediately shut his mouth, got out and closed the door, respectfully seeing the car off.
Just as the extended black car drove out of Cloud-Step Lunar Realm, it appeared out of thin air amidst a flow of traffic. In the dark night, red lights flashed, and the shrill sound of sirens grew closer from afar. An ambulance quickly overtook Lu Sheng’s car, stopping in front of a residential building.
The extended black car also stopped. The driver got out and ran to open the door for Lu Sheng. As Lu Sheng stepped out, he saw a young man not far away, trying to breach the police cordon.
The young man was roaring at the top of his lungs, “I need to get in there! I’m Jiang Wu’s frien… classmate! He lives there! I need to make sure he’s safe! Let me through, my father is Ge Jingrong! Who dares to stop me!”
