Early the next morning, Cen Yao and Xie Zhouxing finally met up with Pei Tinglan and Zhu Lingxi.
They met in front of the ruins of a collapsed shopping mall.
Dawn was just breaking. The grayish-white morning light filtered through twisted steel rebars and shattered glass, casting a pale glow over the dust-covered ground.
Cen Yao slowly descended from the sky. The wings behind her back gradually dissolved in the light, turning into fine particles of white light before merging into her body.
She landed with an effortless grace, her clothes spotless and her long hair fluttering gently in the morning breeze. She looked completely refreshed.
Not far behind her, Xie Zhouxing was sitting on the broomstick.
To be precise, he was hanging onto it.
His arms were wrapped tightly around the handle, his face was pale, and his golden curls were whipped into a chaotic mess. The collar of his hospital gown was askew, and his entire body radiated the sheer exhaustion of someone who had just barely escaped death.
The broomstick also seemed tired from flying. It hovered in midair, its handle trembling slightly.
Pei Tinglan looked up for a moment, his gaze lingering on Xie Zhouxing for a few seconds.
“Are you...”
He hesitated for a rare moment.
“...a scavenger she picked up?”
Xie Zhouxing: “?”
Xie Zhouxing slowly raised his head. He couldn't see Pei Tinglan's expression, but he could clearly hear the confusion in the other man's voice.
Who?
Who was a scavenger?
Xie Zhouxing reached down to feel his clothes.
Sure, they were a bit torn, but they weren't dirty enough to make him look like a scavenger, right?
He brushed a layer of dust off his shoulder, and his face instantly darkened.
“This young master just experienced a thrilling, perilous aerial pursuit worthy of being recorded in the history books.”
“I wasn't scavenging.”
Cen Yao cleared her throat. “You can't blame me for this.”
She spoke with complete confidence.
“He only has himself to blame. He was so gullible that he practically helped them count the money after being sold out. If he hadn't been lucky enough to run into me, he would've been turned into monster dung by now.”
“Cen Yao!!”
Xie Zhouxing's blood pressure spiked, and he practically had steam coming out of his ears.
“Can you please not ruin this young master's glorious image in front of outsiders?”
“Does your glorious image even need me to ruin it?”
“Besides, he's not an outsider. He's my official teammate! In terms of closeness, he's way ahead of a wild one like you.”
Cen Yao glanced at him, the teasing in her eyes impossible to hide.
“And looking at you right now, my words are already very convincing.”
Xie Zhouxing felt a lump in his chest, unable to find his breath, nearly passing out from sheer frustration.
Zhu Lingxi stood to the side, looking back and forth between Cen Yao and the dangling Xie Zhouxing, trying her best to suppress her laughter.
Pei Tinglan, meanwhile, studied Xie Zhouxing thoughtfully.
“Is he a player?”
“Yes,” Cen Yao nodded. “Xie Zhouxing.”
Xie Zhouxing immediately straightened his back. Just as he was about to speak, Cen Yao interrupted him.
“Get off the broomstick first.”
Xie Zhouxing: “...”
He groped around to get off the broomstick, but the moment his feet touched the ground, he stumbled.
Cen Yao reached out to steady him. Once he regained his balance, Xie Zhouxing immediately pulled his hand back as if nothing had happened.
“I've just been flying for too long. My legs are a bit numb.”
Cen Yao: “Oh.”
Xie Zhouxing: “What's that 'oh' supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
Pei Tinglan pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What on earth happened to you two on the way here?”
Before Cen Yao could answer, Xie Zhouxing beat her to it.
“It went like this.”
His tone turned incredibly solemn, as if he were about to recite a heroic epic.
“Yesterday, after Cen Yao and I left the laboratory, we were ambushed and cornered by countless monsters. Those creatures were grotesque, swarming from all directions. There were so many of them that any ordinary player would have fallen into despair on the spot.”
Cen Yao quietly added, “And then he sat on the broomstick.”
“That was a strategic retreat.”
“You hugged the broomstick handle and screamed the entire way.”
“That was a reasonable response to a highly dangerous situation.”
“You also kept telling me to slow down.”
“This young master was only worried that the broomstick wouldn't be able to handle my handsomeness.”
Cen Yao stared at him.
“Do you want to keep telling the story yourself?”
Xie Zhouxing paused. “...You should do it.”
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