79: Random encounter with former school beauty
An Xueshi's Face remained unchanged, but in her heart, she was about to hate Yang Junlong to death.
Can't you keep your mouth shut?
"What's wrong with catching rats? Aren't you guys doing the same? We're both in the same boat."
"Hey, you've got that all wrong."
Yang Junlong brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes. "We're here to experience life. If nothing else, you can tell just by looking at what we're wearing."
An Xueshi glanced over. Su Chen and the others were dressed cleanly, and even their hands were fair and spotless.
Unlike her side, where everyone was disheveled and their clothes were torn.
Unable to find any faults for the moment, she could only swallow her pride.
Hearing this, the Long-Haired Youth turned to look at An Xueshi's expression and suddenly understood something.
"Your friends?"
"Yeah, we've done missions together before."
"Since you're dressed so cleanly, I assume it's your first day here. In a couple of days, you'll understand the hardships of these mountains."
Since you're An Xueshi's friends, then you're Ding Haoze's friends.
For An Xueshi's sake, I'll give this Ear Rat to you.
After all, you're so weak; catching it would surely be a lot of trouble."
The Long-Haired Youth melted the ice and tossed the Ear Rat by Yang Junlong's feet.
"It's yours."
"Who wants your charity? Take it away. I'm only not arguing with you for the sake of the former Campus Belle."
"After all, she loves taking petty advantages. How could she possibly hand over benefits to others? Right?"
An Xueshi's feelings were complicated seeing Su Chen approach; she wanted to say something but kept her mouth shut.
"Brother Haoze, let's keep looking for new prey. There's really no need to fight over an Ear Rat with people this weak."
"Fine, since Xueshi spoke up, I'll let you have this one."
Consider yourselves lucky. Otherwise, if we actually fought, even if all four of you came at me together, you wouldn't be my match."
"What are you acting so arrogant for? You think being Second-rank is a big deal? My boss can insta-kill Third-ranks; do you think he cares about you?"
Stop flapping your gums. Let's have a fight so you can understand completely!"
"That's enough, Brother Haoze. Let's go. There's no need to waste words on them."
Pulled away by An Xueshi, Ding Haoze didn't bother lowering himself to Yang Junlong's level.
"My name is Ding Haoze, and I have some connections in Kyoto. Since you're Xueshi's friends, you're my friends too. If you ever come to Kyoto, I'll host a welcome dinner for you."
..."A bunch of weaklings. I'll let you off the hook today."
Watching the group leave, Yang Junlong waved them off.
Once they were far away, Wang Xiaoting came over to mock him. "You're such a coward. He challenged you to a duel, so why did you try to make Su Chen step up?"
Yang Junlong unbuttoned his clothes and pointed at the bandages on his body.
"My injuries haven't healed yet. Otherwise, I could take on ten guys like him."
Wang Xiaoting couldn't be bothered to keep bickering with Yang Junlong.
"Was that the former Campus Belle? I didn't even recognize her. She's so slovenly; she's not even as good-looking as me."
But she understood; the other girl probably wanted to dress up too but likely didn't have the means. After all, not everyone came here with an RV.
They had encountered several teams over the past two days, and it was basically the same situation for all of them.
"Of course. She was only given the title of Campus Belle because of her good talent back then. Otherwise, do you think anyone would have cared about her?"
"Also, don't be fooled by how she seemed to be on our side. Who knows what she's planning? She's very calculating; we have to be on guard."
"There's something you don't know. Back when the boss and I teamed up with her for missions,"
she always said she'd do the grunt work, but she actually secretly changed the primary credit for the missions to herself.
That's how she managed to transfer to Jingda."
"She's that bad?"
"Of course. Why would I lie to you about this?"
"That's not all. She slipped away without telling anyone before she left, borrowed money and Spirit Stones from a bunch of people, and then vanished."
She even swiped her roommate's sanitary pads. Tell me, is that something a human would do?
But her roommate had anticipated this. Seeing her packing and saying she was going home, the roommate brought out some pads that had been soaked in chili water beforehand. I really wonder how she felt after using them.
It was punishment for her stealing things."
"How do you know this?"
"I... I know her roommate. We're sort of friends."
He didn't want to dwell on the matter. Yang Junlong checked the time and saw it was almost noon. After that commotion, he wasn't in the mood to continue hunting Ear Rats.
"Boss, should we keep hunting or take a break and eat?"
What are you looking at?"
Yang Junlong followed Su Chen's gaze into the sky and saw a glittering golden speck.
It was too far away to tell how big it was, but it was incredibly bright—so bright he couldn't look directly at it.
Su Chen frowned. "Trouble."
Trouble? What kind of trouble?
Yang Junlong couldn't understand a single word of it... *Boom!*
At that moment, a massive explosion rang out, followed by the earth shaking and mountains swaying. Yang Junlong lost his footing and fell straight to the ground.
The shaking lasted for a long time before finally stopping.
Xia Weiyu was supported by Su Chen, saving her from falling. Once the vibrations stabilized, she looked around again; everything had changed.
The sky was blocked by a barrier of light, shining with a dazzling golden glow and covered in intricate patterns.
Looking around, the barrier of light enveloped everything as far as the eye could see.
"What is this? Did some Ninth-rank big shot unleash an ultimate move?"
Yang Junlong scrambled up from the ground, staring at the barrier in shock.
How could Su Chen not be familiar with this barrier? He had seen it too many times in his past life. Those trapped inside would Face a near-certain death.
Su Chen said calmly, "It looks like some kind of barrier."
"Xiao Qian, have Ghost go up and take a look."
Receiving the command, Xiao Qian quickly controlled Ghost to fly into the air.
After some scouting, it turned out they were currently inside what looked like an overturned pot. The barrier was vast, covering an area of over ten kilometers and enveloping the entire region around the spatial fissure.
Even the underground was the same, falling within the barrier's reach.
The angle of the barrier was precise, just missing the outer Garrison Area. Aside from a few watchtowers, the rest of the barracks were outside the barrier.
Xiao Qian quickly scanned the surroundings before speaking. "The whole area is covered by this barrier, and there's one underground too."
The area is too large; I don't know if there are any gaps.
As soon as I tried to send Ghost out, I lost control. It seems to have the same function as the barrier Master used to deal with Ghost, meow."
"What about the Garrison Area? Did you see it?"
"The outer garrison is outside the barrier. The garrison near the spatial fissure is fine."
"Pack up. We're heading to the garrison near the spatial fissure first."
Hearing this, Wang Xiaoting said anxiously:
"It's very dangerous. The Exotic Beasts there are very powerful. Are we any match for them?"
They were currently only in the outer perimeter, dealing with first-tier Ear Rat Exotic Beasts. If they went further in, the number and strength of the beasts would increase.
If they suddenly ran into a Mid-tier one, it would truly be an ill omen.
"It's fine, I'll handle it."
Su Chen's words acted as a reassuring pill for them. They had seen his strength; he could easily handle a Fourth-tier Exotic Beast. Staying with him guaranteed their safety.
Su Chen thought for a moment and took out four sets of armor from the System warehouse. Things were different now.
Since the situation was off, it was better for them to put them on—at least it would be safer.
"Take off..."
Remembering what happened before, Su Chen didn't give specific instructions. "One set for each person. Put them on."
Yang Junlong picked up a set and examined it.
"The material is great. Boss, this must have cost a lot of money."
"Yeah. Because of the unexpected turn of events during that a-rank mission, I kept a few sets on me afterward."
The four sets he took out were still Level 3 armor. Although he had Level 4 and Level 5 in the System warehouse, he decided against taking them out.
If armor of that level were seen, it would inevitably cause a lot of trouble. It was better to dress simply and not attract attention.
Su Chen glanced at the light barrier again. He hoped they could make it out alive.