Next afternoon.
"Delicious!"
Outside Yueyao Milk Tea Shop, Zhu Xiaoming gave a thumbs up.
This milk tea shop opened at the gate of Jiang University, co-owned by Zhong Yue and Lu Yao—these two girls, in just a few days, sohow beca as close as glue, and even started a business together.
The side wall of the milk tea shop was covered with lush ivy.
Zhu Xiaoming burped and pointed at the ivy on the wall:
"I think these ivies really don’t need to be cleaned up, they’re the finishing touch..... and also."
He pointed at the three empty cups on the table:
"The taste is incredible, no wonder it’s perfect being made by Yaoyao herself!"
Lu Yao felt goosebumps all over, looking terrified:
"Bro, I’m begging you, can you stop calling Yaoyao??"
Zhu Xiaoming chuckled, shalessly pestering:
"Yaoyao, you don’t like this na? Yaoyao ah....."
Lu Yao landed a punch, knocking him down.
"No sleeping here." Zhong Yue covered her mouth, laughing.
Zhu Xiaoming rolled and got up, dusting off his clothes with a chuckle:
"It’s a pity Old Zhang can’t co, he said he’s busy today and needs to go on a long trip tonight... hmm, it’s his loss, missing out on Yaoyao’s handmade milk tea!"
Lu Yao held her cheek.
Toothache.
Amidst the playful banter between the three.
A silhouette stood before them, carrying an aura that kept people at a distance of a thousand miles, solitary, indifferent, aloof, and out of place.
Like a clump of snow tucked in a dark corner during this sweltering sumr, refusing to lt.
"Nuanyu?" Lu Yao was stunned for a mont, among the three, she barely counted as acquaintances with Chen Nuanyu, having exchanged a few words.
"Hmm."
Chen Nuanyu nodded lightly, her burgundy hair casually draped:
"A cup of milk tea."
Zhu Xiaoming blinked, Chen the Great Genius drinks milk tea?
He had heard from rumors at Lishu Middle School that this lady didn’t touch a drop of sugar...
"Alright." Lu Yao replied, quickly making a cup of milk tea,
The milk tea shop hastily opened and they hadn’t hired staff yet, so for now, she and Zhong Yue were handling it themselves.
"Here, Nuanyu sister."
"Hmm."
Chen Nuanyu took the milk tea, but didn’t drink, asking:
"How much?"
Zhu Xiaoming carelessly said:
"We’re classmates, what money? On the first day of opening, the first custor gets a free drink!"
Chen Nuanyu calmly asked again:
"How much?"
Zhu Xiaoming was montarily stunned.
The atmosphere turned a bit cold.
More footsteps ca straight towards them, the three confronted each other, Zhu Xiaoming and Lu Yao remained unfazed, but Zhong Yue stood up with a start.
"Grand... Grandpa?" she struggled to speak.
’Zhong Mountain’ leaned on a cheap wooden cane, nodding kindly at Zhu Xiaoming and Lu Yao:
"Are you all Xiao Yue’s friends? I often hear Xiao Yue ntion you."
"Really?" Careless Zhu Xiaoming didn’t notice Zhong Yue’s strangeness, cheerfully said: "Hello, Grandpa, do you know my na?"
"You must be Zhu Xiaoming?"
The old man smiled, then looked to the side:
"Then, you must be Lu Yao?"
"Oh? You really know us?" The two were intrigued, while Zhong Yue felt a chill down her spine.
After a mont of silence.
"Why are you here?" she cautiously asked.
"Didn’t I say, once the busy days are over, Grandpa will try to guide you into the Contemplation Technique at Entry Level." The old man smiled benevolently, surprising Zhu Xiaoming and Lu Yao.
Guide into the Contemplation Technique?
Even Chen Nuanyu, who stood like an ice sculpture, glanced at the old man, only to find the old man was looking at her too.
A mont of eye contact.
Just that mont.
Chen Nuanyu saw her own reflection in the old man’s eyes, and then sothing strange happened.
The reflection was extrely clear,
She could even see the eyes of the reflection, but suddenly, through those eyes, she saw herself again, endlessly.
Like two mirrors facing each other, extending infinitely without end.
As if falling into so indescribable ntal abyss, falling, and falling,
Weightless.
Absurd.
Fear.
Everything around beca invisible, imperceptible, leaving only the old man’s eyes and the infinite reflections within them.
’Snap!’
The old man averted his gaze, shattering the two opposing mirrors, waking Chen Nuanyu from the infinite loss, staggering back three steps, ’clang’ knocking over the small wooden table in front of the milk tea shop,
continuing to stumble, leaning against the rough side wall of the milk tea shop.
Several pairs of eyes looked at her in confusion.
Chen Nuanyu panted, horrified, looking at the old man, only to suddenly, more horrified, look at the wall she was leaning on.
Just an ordinary brick wall, the paint slightly peeling.
But.....
Where did the lush ivy go??
When did it disappear?
In Chen Nuanyu’s amazent.
At so point, the old man had moved in front of Zhong Yue, reaching out, gently tapping her head three tis, and passing his hand over.
Zhang Fusheng invaded the girl’s Spiritual World.
His elderly voice echoed in the latter’s mind, like the morning bell and evening drum.
"Practice Contemplation Technique."
The voice echoed, resounding without end.
Zhong Yue involuntarily operated the ’Sunrise Basic Contemplation Technique’, visualizing the hazy dawn light and swirling colorful clouds,
Zhang Fusheng’s thoughts moved, the dawn light intensified and the clouds resembled a sea, then quietly, the muffled sound of tapping her head three tis exploded in Zhong Yue’s ears.
She was enlightened, seeing the Mysterious Factor erge in her perception, dotting the air surrounding.
Sunrise Basic Contemplation Technique, Contemplation Technique, Entry Level.
Transaction concluded.
She opened her eyes, puzzled, glancing around to see the concerned faces of Zhu Xiaoming and Lu Yao, but Chen Nuanyu was gone, and ’Grandpa’ was also gone.
She instinctively asked:
"Where are Chen the Great Genius and Grandpa?"
"Chen the Great Genius left a while ago..." they imdiately asked in surprise: "What Grandpa?"
Zhong Yue’s heart skipped a beat, staggering back a few steps, bumping into the side wall of the milk tea shop, against the lush ivy.
......
"Did you find out his identity??"
Inside the white van, several team mbers were sweating profusely.
"Facial comparison results are out, Zhong Mountain, 84 years old, First-Refined Martial Artist, a late-stage cancer patient, receiving treatnt at Ankang Tumor Hospital..."
A team mber wiped his sweat, staring at the looping playback.
The footage was remote surveillance targeting Subject One, Chen Nuanyu, everything seed normal until she arrived at a milk tea shop.
Then things seed off.
In the video, the elderly man identified as Zhong Mountain walked to the milk tea shop,
then suddenly, both Subject One and the other three ’bystanders’ froze in place, motionless, as if.....
they had fallen into the [Divine Realm].
Then, the elderly man turned his head, looking toward this white van from a kiloter or two away,
and at the instant he glanced over,
the video feed warped, and when it regained clarity, the old man was nowhere to be seen.
A team mber caught his breath:
"Late-stage cancer? An ordinary old man? First Refinent?? How does any of this add up?"
He swallowed hard:
"First, archive the video, have soone retrieve Zhong Mountain’s detailed dical records from Ankang Hospital, also, has the captain’s ntal therapy been completed?"
"No, the captain’s ntal contamination is too severe, it will take at least another three or four days to undo the restraints and recover."
The few people in the van fell into a silence.
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