This time, Xu Qianqian broke from her usual behavior and did not reveal the information to Su Ming as naively as before.
"This matter has nothing to do with this mission. It's a personal matter of mine, and I'll handle it myself."
After Xu Qianqian said this with an extremely cold expression, she stopped mentioning the ambush altogether.
Su Ming wasn't unconcerned, but seeing Xu Qianqian's icy expression, he knew this was not something she could casually talk about.
So Su Ming stopped bothering with it, too.
"Anyway, you're the one who was ambushed, not me. I don't care."
Su Ming's response was even more blunt than that of a straight man.
Xu Qianqian did not take offense. She genuinely seemed to have no intention of letting Su Ming get involved in the matter.
She merely wanted Su Ming to get involved in her mission.
"Because of that ambush, I probably can't act freely anymore. Otherwise, the ambusher hiding in the shadows will keep their eyes on me, and I could lose my life at any moment." Xu Qianqian said to Su Ming, "So I can only entrust this mission to someone I trust."
That was why Xu Qianqian needed help.
"Wait." Su Ming interrupted Xu Qianqian and looked at her in astonishment and bewilderment. "You mean I'm the trustworthy person you chose?"
"What?" Xu Qianqian tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Is there a problem?"
"It's a huge problem!" Su Ming spoke bluntly. "Senior, I don't think we're close enough for that, are we?"
If the rough men of the Demon Hunter Academy had heard Xu Qianqian's words, they would probably have been so overjoyed that they lost their minds, and they would have been willing to risk their lives for her.
But Su Ming was not Xu Qianqian's sycophant, much less her friend. Forget having any relationship—before this, the two of them had not even spoken a single word.
Under such circumstances, Xu Qianqian had actually said he was trustworthy and even entrusted him with an important mission personally assigned by the higher-ups of Base City?
It made no sense!
Not to mention—
"Did you never wonder why I appeared here that night, or why I was dressed just like those suspicious people?"
Su Ming pointed this out.
In his view, forget being worthy of Xu Qianqian's trust—there would have been nothing strange about suspecting him of being an accomplice of that suspicious group.
Just based on the fact that he had inexplicably appeared there that night, anyone would have had ample reason to doubt his identity.
On top of that, Su Ming had hidden his strength, which Xu Qianqian already knew. This eldest daughter of the Xu Family had not only failed to suspect him, she had even said he was trustworthy?
Wasn't that ridiculous?
Yet just as Su Ming was thinking this, Xu Qianqian's reply the next second left him utterly dumbfounded.
"I told you, you can fool other people, but you can't fool me." Xu Qianqian stared straight at Su Ming. "If you were truly an evil person, your blood couldn't possibly be so rich and pure."
It took Su Ming a long time to understand that the "richness and purity" Xu Qianqian mentioned referred to his blood.
"My blood is rich and pure, so I'm not an evil person?"
Su Ming simply could not understand the logic behind that statement.
Xu Qianqian did not seem inclined to explain. She merely said in a low voice, "I don't know who I can trust anymore. I always feel that the people around me will scheme against me like the person who attacked me that night. Only you—I can be certain that you aren't that kind of person."
This time, Su Ming understood.
So this female vampire had no one else she could trust or entrust the mission to, and that was why she had come to him?
Su Ming was speechless.
Of course, the biggest reason Xu Qianqian had approached Su Ming was that his strength was wildly inconsistent with the rumors about him.
This mission was not easy. Even if it was only an investigation, facing a suspicious group with considerable influence and the backers behind it required a certain level of strength.
Although Xu Qianqian did not know Su Ming's true strength, she had already acknowledged him, believing that his strength was no lower than her own.
Thus, combined with Xu Qianqian's state of having no one she could trust and her absurdly metaphysical method of distinguishing friend from foe, the Campus Belle had ultimately chosen Su Ming.
"That's basically the situation." After explaining everything, Xu Qianqian asked, "Can you help me?"
As she spoke, Xu Qianqian could not help looking at Su Ming expectantly.
Honestly, there probably wasn't a man in existence who could remain unmoved by that look.
Su Ming was no exception. He felt somewhat light-headed under her gaze, as if he alone could shoulder this responsibility and had no choice but to accept it.
Not for any other reason, but because the person looking at him like that was the High Mountain Flower, famed throughout the Demon Hunter Academy—the goddess in every student's heart.
Fortunately, Su Ming did not lose his reason over it.
"Are you sure it's only an investigation?"
Su Ming rubbed his chin and suddenly asked Xu Qianqian this question.
"I'm sure." Xu Qianqian seemed to have noticed something, and her heart unconsciously lifted with joy. She nodded repeatedly. "If it were anything more than an investigation, this mission wouldn't be something people of our level could handle."
This concerned the power struggle among Base City's higher-ups. If the mission's scope had not been limited to investigation, there was no way it could have been entrusted to students.
Even if it had truly been necessary to hand such a mission to a student, Xu Qianqian would never have entrusted such an important task to someone else.
The reason this arrangement was possible was simply that the power struggle among Base City's higher-ups had only just begun. This investigation mission was merely an appetizer before the conflict arrived.
"If that's the case, then it's not impossible to do something about it."
Su Ming's eyes flickered slightly.
Yes.
He had some ideas.
"You agree?" Xu Qianqian hurriedly confirmed.
"Don't get excited yet." Su Ming poured cold water on Xu Qianqian. "Helping you isn't impossible, but I have conditions."
"Tell me." Xu Qianqian spoke concisely, carrying herself with the confidence of someone wealthy enough to accept any terms.
Su Ming immediately presented his conditions to Xu Qianqian.
"First, I can help you investigate that suspicious group, but you can't tell anyone about it, including the people among Base City's higher-ups who entrusted the mission to you."
That was Su Ming's first condition.
"Why?"
Xu Qianqian was somewhat confused.
She had no ulterior motive. She simply felt that if Su Ming really helped her with such an important matter, she should try to win him some credit before Base City's higher-ups and have them give Su Ming generous rewards and attention.
That way, Su Ming's future path might become completely smooth because of it.
It was something others could beg for and never obtain.
Yet Su Ming was instead asking her to keep it secret. How could Xu Qianqian not find that strange?
But Su Ming did not explain.
"I have my reasons. Just tell me whether you can do it."
Su Ming's attitude was extremely firm.
Xu Qianqian frowned deeply. Although she found it somewhat difficult to accept, she did not voice an objection.
Since Su Ming himself did not want the credit or the fame, anything more she said or did would only be superfluous.
Seeing Xu Qianqian fall silent, Su Ming ignored it and spoke again.
"Second, regarding matters concerning me, I likewise hope you won't tell anyone. Whether it's the fact that I've hidden my strength or my involvement with you in this incident."
Su Ming's second condition was also related to keeping himself hidden.
Xu Qianqian wanted to ask why he insisted on doing this.
In the end, however, she did not ask.
Just as Su Ming had said, he had his reasons.
And if he did not want to talk about it, then even if she asked, he would not answer.
Hadn't she also kept the matter of the ambush from him?
Perhaps he had his own difficulties as well?
But—
He really is different from everyone else.
Xu Qianqian silently formed this thought.
In the past, which of the people who had appeared around Xu Qianqian and tried their hardest to get close to her had not wanted to borrow her influence to become famous? Which of them had not wanted to use her status to gain greater attention and benefits?
Especially the men. They were probably attracted not only to Xu Qianqian's looks. There were likely just as many who had been drawn to her family background.
Every one of these people had wished they could show off more, displaying their strength and value before Xu Qianqian. Who would act like Su Ming, desperately avoiding her on one hand while doing everything possible to reduce his exposure on the other?
The question was, what benefit did he gain from helping her investigate that suspicious group?
Just as Xu Qianqian began thinking about this, Su Ming personally told her what benefit he wanted from the matter.
"Third, I need you to help me deal with some goods."
Su Ming presented his final condition.
"Goods?"
Xu Qianqian froze.
"Some supernatural items." Su Ming explained to Xu Qianqian, "I have some things I need to deal with—that is, take out and sell—but I don't want too many interested parties to notice. So I want to have you handle the goods I have on hand over the long term and exchange them for items of equal value. Materials from Phantom Demons or other supernatural items are both fine."
This was the condition that would truly benefit Su Ming.
Su Ming had always been troubled by how to deal with the various items he had obtained from his packages.
Some of those things were useful to Su Ming, while others were of little use to him and could only remain stockpiled in his inventory.
Su Ming had wanted to take them out and sell them, exchanging them for items of equal value so he could convert them into Crystals and use them to open packages.
It was not as if he could not throw the items into the Marketplace and exchange them for Crystals, but the Marketplace only offered Crystals equivalent to the items' own value when it recycled them.
If he took them to the market and sold them instead, then based on factors such as their rarity, circulation, demand, condition, and quality, their value would receive a markup beyond their intrinsic worth.
That way, Su Ming's goods would be worth considerably more.
And if he used the money earned from selling them to purchase other supernatural items, Su Ming could convert a large amount of it into Crystals.
This was undoubtedly a highly advantageous deal for Su Ming.
Given Su Ming's persona, if he sold large quantities of valuable supernatural items, it would be impossible to avoid attracting the attention of interested parties.
That was why Su Ming had never been able to realize this idea.
Until today, when the opportunity had finally arrived.
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