Unexpected

Chapter 8: Unexpected

Gu Qingshan walked along the empty, deserted street, silently recalling everything that had happened today.

Nie Yun's reaction showed that Zhang Ye's matter had not been arranged by him.

Perhaps, just as Nie Yun had said, he had gotten too close to Su Xue'er. Those who coveted Su Xue'er surely hated him to the bone.

Now that graduation was approaching, some vicious-minded Noble Family Descendants were already thinking of how to deal with him.

Those people were truly disgusting. If they had the ability, they should pursue Su Xue'er openly and honorably. What kind of business was it, picking on a poor student like him?

Gu Qingshan secretly looked down on them. Before long, his thoughts gradually drifted away.

The game's arrival was probably still another year away. This period would be the final peaceful days for the entire human world.

One year was enough for him to gain a foothold in the Otherworld.

As for the days when he returned to the real world, Gu Qingshan thought it over and over and still felt that he wanted to remain at the university.

Not only was the university environment good, many important Mecha Research Institutions were also located there, including military-established universities with numerous weapons still under development.

Among the first batch of players to enter the game, university teachers and students made up the largest portion, so there would be more opportunities here as well.

He could prepare here for the coming apocalypse. Between battles, he could also rest and recover here for a while, perhaps even meet some people and seek out certain special things.

As Gu Qingshan pondered this, he suddenly noticed five or six drunken youths approaching from the street opposite him.

Their bodies were covered in tattoos, their hair dyed a glaring yellow, and they staggered toward him beneath the dim streetlights.

The sidewalk on this road was already narrow. Walking shoulder to shoulder like that, they immediately took up all the space.

Gu Qingshan frowned and simply stepped aside to give way.

As the two sides passed each other, whether intentionally or not, a Yellow-Haired Youth slanted his body and bumped toward Gu Qingshan.

Gu Qingshan was a cultivator and had decades of combat experience amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could an ordinary person possibly bump into him?

With a casual shift of his body, he slipped past the other man.

The Yellow-Haired Youth staggered several steps forward before finally steadying himself.

Damn it, he actually dodged! The Yellow-Haired Youth turned and cursed, "You brat, you dare bump into me? Brothers, beat him up!"

The moment his words fell, the hazy drunkenness vanished completely from the youths' faces.

"Make a move!"

With low shouts, they drew daggers from their bodies and charged forward.

"So that was it." Seeing this, Gu Qingshan immediately understood.

These people had clearly come for him.

If they had truly been drunk and fighting, they would never have pulled knives so easily.

Even if one person had drunk too much and become muddleheaded, it was impossible for every one of them to be the same.

The youths moved swiftly. In the span of a breath, the first man had already rushed up, viciously stabbing his dagger at Gu Qingshan's heart.

That strike was fast and ruthless. If it hit, it would be a one-blade kill.

Professionals!

Gu Qingshan's heart jolted. He darted forward several steps, evaded the dagger, and plunged into the man's embrace.

"Hah!"

He spread his five fingers and sent the man flying back with a single palm strike.

The man spun through the air and crashed into the several people following behind him.

The little thugs were like men struck in the waist by a charging bull. They all let out unbearable screams of agony and tumbled to the ground, groaning without end.

Looking again at the thug who had been slapped away, a large section of his chest had caved in, and he had long since stopped breathing.

Gu Qingshan was stunned as well.

"I actually forgot that this isn't the apocalypse yet..." he muttered.

The only youth still standing forcibly suppressed the chill in his heart and roared sharply, "Pull out the hardware!"

One palm strike had killed the Martial Artist on their side and knocked all the men charging behind him to the ground. What kind of strength did that require?

This was a joke. His companions were all One-Star Two-Star Martial Artists, yet they had been instantly knocked to the ground, without even the strength to move.

This was simply a monster!

Even more terrifyingly, he had not even seen how the other party had moved.

With such frightening strength, the other party was likely at least a Seven-Star Martial Artist.

Perhaps he might even be a Martial Arts Grandmaster who had broken through the Nine Stars Shackles.

What he did not know was that Gu Qingshan had merely forgotten to hold back for a moment, attaching Spiritual Power to his palm.

A cultivator at Qi Refining Stage - 2nd Layer, without using Spiritual Power, possessed physical qualities only comparable to a Four-Star Martial Artist.

But once Spiritual Power was used, it was different. Their destructive power increased severalfold.

The faces of the youths all changed color as they hurriedly pulled out guns.

They had originally planned to create an accident—a drunken brawl that resulted in death. That way, no one would be able to uncover anything.

Who could have known that this person, who looked like nothing more than an inconspicuous student, would be so ferocious when he made a move!

In such circumstances, they could no longer care about the original plan. They could only kill him first.

The instant Gu Qingshan saw their movements, he understood.

A bow appeared out of thin air in his hand.

His movements were far faster than theirs!

Papapapapa!

Gu Qingshan's hands became afterimages as he fired six arrows in an instant.

Rapid Shot!

The five men were almost indistinguishable in sequence as each had his head blown apart by an arrow.

Only the final youth had his palm pierced by an arrow. The gun in his hand fell to the ground, and his entire body trembled as he barely remained standing.

Feeling the other party's almost tangible killing intent, the youth hurriedly dropped to his knees and begged, "Spare me, spare me! I admit defeat today. Please name your terms—how should I ransom this worthless life of mine? I'll do anything."

Gu Qingshan asked, "Who sent you?"

Hearing this, the man swept his gaze over the five Headless Corpses on the ground, his heart filled with fear and fury.

He feared that the other party was so fierce, wiping out every one of their men the moment he made a move. He was furious because the person who had hired them had clearly failed to investigate the information properly—or had simply intended to trap low-level assassins like them.

No matter which it was, he would never let the person who hired them off easily.

With that thought, he said tremblingly, "The one who hired us to make a move was the Fierce Tiger of the Nie Family."

"Very good. I like honest people."

Gu Qingshan slowly walked over and retrieved the arrows one by one.

These specially made War Arrows could be infused with spiritual energy. Using them on a few ordinary people was somewhat wasteful.

If Gu Qingshan's cultivation had not been too low, and Qi Refining Stage - 2nd Layer still could not withstand bullets, he would never have used a bow.

The matter had been clarified. As expected, it was Nie Yun.

But the Nie Family was a great aristocratic family of Changning Prefecture. Experts filled its residence; not only did it have Martial Arts Grandmasters, it also had Heaven Chosen and Transcendents.

"Nie Yun... given the way he acted, he definitely won't let this go."

Gu Qingshan recalled the other man's character and muttered to himself.

With someone like that determined to deal with him, things would be difficult.

At a time like this, as long as he had a sword in hand, nothing would be a problem.

—A true sword weapon from the Cultivation World!

All at once, Gu Qingshan's mind went blank.

Gu Qingshan was dazed for a moment.

He seemed to have been about to recall some past battles, some memories from long ago, when an external force suddenly intervened.

Then Gu Qingshan had fallen into this blank state.

"System, are you sealing my memories of the past?"

Following his question, a line of text appeared on the War God Operating Interface.

"Still unable to escape the surveillance within the Void Turbulence. Once discovered, the consequences will be difficult to predict. Please watch your words and actions."

"When will I be able to recover my memories?"

"Must travel through the Cultivation World one to two more times."

Gu Qingshan patted his forehead.

It seemed that rebirth had brought some unforeseeable consequences.

For now, he could only take one step at a time.

As he swept the surroundings with his divine sense, he placed the corpses into his Storage Bag.

The Storage Bag could hold anything without life. It had originally been meant to make it convenient for cultivators to carry supplies and equipment, but now it was just right for storing corpses and erasing the evidence at the scene.

When Gu Qingshan next traveled to the Otherworld, he could toss these corpses into the Pit of the Dead. Then no one would ever find any trace that these people had existed.