Let Me Game in Peace

It was late summer, and daylight didn’t last long. By eight in the evening, the sky had already darkened, and the street lamps outside the college’s walls that were modeled as wrought iron lamps had already lit up.

The west gate was a side gate of Sunset College. It wasn’t as grand as the main entrance, but it wasn’t small either. After Zhou Wen showed his pass to the soldiers guarding the gate, he walked past the west gate and saw a garden trail that was about three meters wide. Li Mobai was standing under a street lamp and holding his phone in his hand as he browsed through something.

“Li Mobai, why are you looking for me?” Zhou Wen walked in front of Li Mobai and asked directly.

Li Mobai lowered his phone and looked at Zhou Wen. “Wang Mingyuan betrayed humanity and entered a dimensional zone. Although it was his choice, it implicated the Wang family and his few students. It’s fine if the An family protects you in Luoyang, but it’s impossible for you to stay in Luoyang forever. It’s also impossible for you to be taken under the wing of others forever. Once you leave Luoyang, the road ahead of you will be thorny. No matter what you do, you will be labeled as a traitor’s student. Everyone will look at you as a horse of another color. No matter what you do, it’ll be harder than others.”

“Can’t I always stay in Luoyang?” Zhou Wen said indifferently.

Although he indeed planned on leaving Luoyang after graduation, he naturally wouldn’t say this to Li Mobai.

Li Mobai smiled and said, “If you were such a person, you wouldn’t be my brother’s friend. My brother’s ability to read people is terrible, and he’s always muddle-headed in whatever he does. He thinks he’s free and easy, but in reality, he’s just avoiding problems. There are only two kinds of people who are willing to be friends with him. One is someone who covets his identity as the third scion of the Li family and wants to take advantage of him. The other is the kind who really doesn’t care about anything and just wants to make friends with him.

“If you wanted to take advantage of him, you should have taken advantage of the An family. However, you didn’t do so. Although I’m not willing to believe that Brother could have such good luck, you are indeed the latter kind of person. How could a person who doesn’t want to take advantage of others stay in Luoyang?” Li Mobai asked.

“That’s equivalent to not saying anything. Typical friends only have those two outcomes. It’s binary,” Zhou Wen said.

1С

Li Mobai shook his head and said, “It looks like you are as simple and pure as Li Xuan. It’s no wonder you can be friends. In fact, other than childhood playmates, any friend you encounter after stepping into society is centered on interests. That also means that you have to be valued by others before others will choose to approach you and slowly establish a so-called friendship. Brother has always been muddle-headed and believes himself to be smart, but in fact, he is just burying his head in the sand. If he continues on like this, truly powerful experts will not be willing to interact with him. They naturally won’t be friends. Those who are willing to approach him are mostly only eyeing his wealth.” “Can’t he have a friend that shares common hobbies and interests with him?” Zhou Wen asked.

“Of course. If you’re a soccer mate, you have to be able to kick a ball first before others come looking for you. This is your value. If it’s the antique collectors’ circle, you have to understand what’s valuable or have a collection before entering that circle. This is also your value. If you don’t have any value, why would others get you to play soccer? Why would they discuss collectibles with you?” Li Mobai said.

“What are you trying to get at?” Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Li Mobai was right, but Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that something was amiss and couldn’t completely agree with him.

“I’m just having a casual chat. I invited you here today because I want to make a deal with you,” Li Mobai said. “What deal?” Zhou Wen asked.

“My Li family has some connections with the League’s brass, and happens to know some information about the Zhuolu battlefield. If you are interested in the news, I would like to ask you for a favor,” Li Mobai said with a smile.

“What do you want me to do?” Zhou Wen didn’t ask Li Mobai about the news.

However, Li Mobai said with a smile, “Let me give you the general outline. Back when the dimensional zone in the Zhuolu battlefield hadn’t opened, someone found a stone artifact on the Zhuolu battlefield. There was a pill inside the stone artifact. The League’s brass experimented on it. Only a small amount of powder could advance a Mortal Companion Beast to the Legendary stage.” After pausing for a moment, Li Mobai continued, “I believe you’ve heard some of the methods used by the League’s brass. Soon after, someone called for so-called volunteers and did human trials. The result was exaggerated. An old man who had never cultivated seemed to turn young again after using a small amount of the powder. His hair turned black, and his skin became taut. After testing, his bones were akin to a man in his thirties or forties. His various vitals had improved tremendously, reaching the level of a peak Mortal. The powder that he used was almost negligible. Don’t you think people would feel tempted knowing that something like that exists? But at that time, the Zhuolu battlefield had yet to become a dimensional zone. The brass sent people over to find the location of the stone artifact. They wanted to see if there were any more. However, Zhuolu was huge, and they couldn’t dig up the entire place. That’s why a team of experts comprising Old Mister Ouyang was formed.”

Zhou Wen only listened silently. The fact that Li Mobai could tell him meant that it likely wasn’t a secret.

Indeed, Li Mobai paused for a moment before continuing, “The expedition team has actually been in Zhuolu for a long period of time. They did get something. Old Mister Ouyang once returned to Luoyang midway. According to my investigations, after he returned to Luoyang, he didn’t even go to the An family. He only went to one place.”

“Xiyuan Crystal Shop?” Zhou Wen stared at Li Mobai and asked.

Li Mobai nodded. “Yes, that’s why I’ve investigated the Xiyuan Crystal Shop and discovered some interesting things. It’s regarding Old Mister Ouyang and the Companion Beast locked at basement four. If you are interested, you only need to do me a little favor. I’ll tell you everything I know, and I guarantee you’ll be interested. You can also ask the An family to help you investigate, but a lot of clues were deliberately erased when I was doing the investigation. And I did the same thing. Even the An family won’t be able to easily figure out anything via an investigation.”

“What do you want me to do?” Zhou Wen asked with a frown.

“Very simple. Sever ties with Li Xuan. The relationship between the two of you shall be limited to being schoolmates,” Li Mobai said.

“From the looks of it, there’s no need for us to continue the conversation. Goodbye.” Zhou Wen turned around and walked towards the college’s west gate. Although he was very interested in the secret of the Companion Beast in basement four, he didn’t wish to be manipulated by Li Mobai.

Even if it wasn’t for Li Xuan, Li Mobai’s schemes had nearly killed him as well. If it wasn’t for him being careful and having certain strength, he might have long died with Li Xuan.

“Old Mister Ouyang had been to Zhuolu a long time ago. The Companion Beast in basement four of the Xiyuan shop might have been brought back from Zhuolu,” Li Mobai suddenly said.