How Did I Become the One Being Pursued?

Nan Liujing: Has your vacation already ended? I remember you said last time that you still had half a month left.

Do Not Disturb Unless Necessary, Contact Work Number for Business: More or less. I suddenly received news about a change in my position, so I have to hurry back. But the good news is, I got promoted.

Nan Liujing: It's certainly pitiful that your vacation got cut short, but congratulations on your promotion.

Do Not Disturb Unless Necessary, Contact Work Number for Business: Thanks for the good wishes. By the way, Bai Jun, do you have time these next few days?

The moment Bai Jun saw that message, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat. There had been far too much going on lately, so he really had to think about whether he had any free time at all.

Do Not Disturb Unless Necessary, Contact Work Number for Business: It's nothing important. I just wanted to say goodbye... If you're busy, then forget it. Doesn't the Xianzhou have a saying that as long as the sentiment is there, that's enough?

Nan Liujing: When are you leaving? I'll see you off then.

After agreeing to Elena's request, Bai Jun suddenly thought of a serious problem—his wallet was empty. Should he still get her a farewell gift?

After giving it some thought, he decided it would be better to give her one. As for the money... he could just borrow some from Tingyun? No, it shouldn't be called borrowing. It should be compensation, considering she had broken his bed last night.

Having made up his mind, Bai Jun tapped Tingyun's profile picture in his contacts list.

Nan Liujing: Send me some Credits.

Not a Scummy Fox: ?

Not a Scummy Fox: My, my. What's gotten into you today, benefactor? You're actually asking me for money so confidently. (Happy little fox expression)

Not a Scummy Fox: Didn't you say before that you'd rather die than borrow money? Could it be that you're finally planning to give in to me?

Nan Liujing: ?

Nan Liujing: You broke my bedframe last night. This is compensation.

Not a Scummy Fox: Sigh, benefactor, you really have no sense of romance~ Is this enough?

"Not a Scummy Fox transferred 100000 Credits. Please accept."

Nan Liujing: Enough, enough. Don't send any more. This is enough to replace my bed and buy a gift.

Not a Scummy Fox: ???

Not a Scummy Fox: What gift? Explain yourself. Who are you giving a gift to?

Bai Jun did not notice Tingyun's follow-up messages. His eyes remained fixed on the 100,000 Credits she had sent. Along with the chime of the transfer, it felt as though more than Credits had entered his account—his lost confidence had returned as well.

"Phew, problem solved. Now I just need to return the desserts to Guinaifen."

In high spirits, Bai Jun put the Jade Omen back into his pocket, picked up the desserts from the table, and headed out the door while humming a tune.

Meanwhile, Sushang, who had been foolishly following behind Guinaifen, finally realized something was wrong.

"At home, rely on your parents; outside, rely on your friends! Setting foot in a noble place, gazing upon unfamiliar faces—the city walls may rise ten thousand feet, but friends make them stand! Everyone, please hold your steps!" Guinaifen's crisp gong strikes quickly caught the attention of many passersby.

Seeing that it was Guinaifen, who had just left and returned again, quite a few people stopped to gather around her. "Little girl, it's you again? What're you planning to perform this time, crushing a boulder with tofu?"

Under everyone's gaze, Guinaifen pointed her right index finger at the sky and gestured toward Sushang beside her with her left fist. "Stop calling me little girl! From now on, call me Guinaifen. Guinaifen is the Xianzhou name Shangshang gave me. Want to know who Shangshang is? Ta-da—here she is!"

"Y-yes, that's right, I'm Sushang!" Sushang, serving as the straight man for the first time, stiffened nervously as she replied.

The surrounding crowd exchanged confused looks, unable to understand what the two were doing. Some were already preparing to leave when Guinaifen hurriedly spoke up and caught everyone's attention. "Don't go, don't go! The main event is about to begin."

She suddenly wrapped an arm around Sushang and announced before the crowd, "With Shangshang as my partner, I'll show everyone what a real chest-breaking boulder act looks like!"

Sure enough, the moment those words were spoken, everyone's attention was immediately seized. Someone even shouted, "For real? Guinaifen, don't tell me you're trying to fool us with a block of tofu again. If not, why don't you gamble the reward money like before?"

"I'm not gambling anymore! And with Shangshang here, we definitely won't be using something as childish as tofu!" Guinaifen declared with her head held high.

"Oohhh!" Cheers rose from the crowd.

Sushang was starting to lose her nerve. She leaned closer to Guinaifen and whispered, "Little Gui, I-I don't know how to do chest-breaking boulders. Can I really handle this?"

"Relax, relax. Just like we discussed at the dessert shop, you only need to lie still. Leave everything else to me. We'll definitely make a huge pile of money afterward!" Guinaifen gave Sushang a thumbs-up and an encouraging, reassuring look.

"O-okay then..."

Half-believing and half-doubting, Sushang hugged the blue-and-white granite slab and lay down on the wooden table. But what happened next threw her barely settled heart into panic again. "Little Gui, why are you tying me and the stone slab to the table?!"

As Guinaifen tied Sushang and the blue-and-white granite slab together, she explained, "Because a chest-breaking boulder act requires stability. Shangshang, you don't have much experience, so I'm afraid you won't be able to keep the slab balanced. This will keep you from getting hurt."

"Really... Then can I be the one swinging the hammer?"

Sushang wailed miserably with the slab strapped to her chest.

"Hehe, of course not. Shangshang, you don't understand. The person swinging the hammer needs even more skill. Any mistake in force or direction can cause an injury. You only need to lie still, and leave everything else to me! I swear on my six years of training that I definitely won't hurt you!"

Guinaifen glanced at the surrounding crowd, then eagerly hoisted a stone hammer nearly as large as half a person.

"What?! You've only trained for six years? And that hammer is practically bigger than me! Nothing's really going to happen, right? I'm definitely going to get flattened, aren't I?!"

Seeing the massive stone hammer on Guinaifen's shoulder, Sushang's little face turned pale with fright as she lay on the table. She was now beginning to suspect that Guinaifen was taking revenge for what had happened earlier.

"Don't worry. Close your eyes. It'll be over in an instant."

Guinaifen softly comforted her while swiftly swinging the enormous stone hammer down with all her might, carrying the air of someone smashing the cauldrons and sinking the boats.

Bang—!

Amid the crowd's nearly frenzied cheers, the stone hammer, carrying a terrifying gust of wind pressure, smashed through the wooden table and the ground. The aftershock even sent spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the nearby floorboards.

"Ahhh! I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Someone's absolutely going to die!!!!"

Having broken free from the table at the critical moment, Sushang stared at the ground that had been crushed into powder and screamed with a deathly pale face.

Seeing that Sushang was unharmed, the spectators all voiced their dissatisfaction. Some even began booing. "That was supposed to be chest-breaking boulders? Anyone who didn't know better would think it was an aboveground underwater escape act!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"I was going to give you some reward money, but this is it?"

"I'll never believe you again, Gui-whatever-your-name-is!"

Hearing the jeers around her, Guinaifen, who had thought this would be a perfect performance, anxiously looked toward Sushang, who was trying to run away despite having a slab tied to her body. "Shangshang, why are you running? Let me hit it just once!"

"No way! Little Gui, you're definitely getting revenge!"

"Revenge for what? I just want to hit you—your stone slab!"

Guinaifen had merely omitted a few words, but she had no idea that because of that, her comforting words sounded completely different to Sushang.

"Waaah! Bai Jun, come save me!"

Seeing that Guinaifen could not even be bothered to make up an excuse anymore and was plainly determined to smash her, Sushang could only flee in tears with the blue-and-white granite slab tied to her. In the face of life and death, she felt as though countless reserves of strength had erupted from her body. Even carrying the slab, she ran as swiftly as the wind.

This made things miserable for Guinaifen chasing after her. Carrying the stone hammer, she shouted as she ran, "Don't run, Shangshang! Really, just once! I'll only hit it once!"

"No, no, no! Absolutely not! Bai Jun, come save me!!!"

Bai Jun, who had just arrived and witnessed this scene: "?"

Big Blockhead and Little Blockhead

Bai Jun felt utterly exhausted.

He had clearly only come to hand the desserts over to Guinaifen, yet somehow got dragged into the pair's street performance art.

As their assistant, he witnessed them catching bullets barehanded, swallowing swords down their backs, locking spears against their throats, and crushing Sushang with boulders. By the time the sparse crowd of spectators gradually dispersed, this farce finally came to an end.

"Phew, it's over, it's over. You two really worked hard."

Bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, Guinaifen stretched contentedly.

For some reason, there had been especially many people watching her performance that afternoon, and most of them had been women. Guinaifen, who usually never had more than ten people gathered around her, felt flattered beyond belief. Weighing the reward money in her little bowl, she found that what she had earned that afternoon was nearly equal to a month of her usual efforts.

Guinaifen was not blindly arrogant. She knew better than anyone that this was surely thanks to the two new friends she had made—after all, there was no way her performance alone could attract so many women. Without even thinking about it, it had to be Bai Jun's doing.

Thus, Guinaifen decisively divided the reward money into three equal portions. She kept only a small portion for herself and handed the rest to Bai Jun and Sushang.

"I don't need it. Little Gui, take it back and buy something for your younger brothers and sisters to eat."

Sushang shook her head. After spending the afternoon together, she had gained a general understanding of Guinaifen's family's hardships. Besides, she had enjoyed herself quite a bit that afternoon, so she pushed the money Guinaifen offered back to her.

Guinaifen's smile froze for a moment. A conflicted expression flashed across her face before she put on a stubborn look and stuffed the money into Sushang's pocket without ceremony. "No! Without your help, I couldn't have made this much money. If you don't take it, I definitely won't even be able to eat when I get home!"

"You really don't have to. Friends don't need to care about this sort of thing."

"Precisely because we're friends, you should accept it!" Guinaifen interrupted her, placing both hands on Sushang's shoulders. Her gaze held an unprecedented firmness.

Sushang wanted to say something more, but Bai Jun was not so fussy. He stepped forward and accepted his share, then moistened his fingertip with his tongue and counted the total number of Credits one bill at a time.

"Mm, the desserts cost 82,000 Credits in total. This is 35,000 Credits, so you still owe me 47,000 Credits. I'll round it down to 45,000 Credits." As he spoke, Bai Jun handed the desserts he had been carrying around all afternoon to Guinaifen.

"Eh?! They're that expensive? Eighty thousand Credits is enough to feed my whole family for half a month..."

Guinaifen accepted the desserts with an incredulous expression and swallowed hard. It felt as though she was not lifting a bag of desserts, but a weight equal to nearly half a month's worth of food for her whole family.

"What can you do? This is the Starcruiser Sea Hub. Prices here are generally much higher than in other realms. Still, it's fine. At least it tastes good."

Bai Jun shrugged, seeming not to care much. In the end, whether in his previous life or this one, his attitude toward money had always been that enough was enough. He was alone, with no family to support. If he ran out, he could always earn more.

Seeing this, Sushang could only accept the money as well. When she casually looked up and saw the clouds on the horizon blazing like fire, she suddenly realized the time. "It's almost evening already... Oh, right. Should we have a meal together?"

Guinaifen scratched her cheek and declined with some embarrassment. "Thanks for the offer, Shangshang, but I need to head home early and cook for my family. Maybe another day!"

Sushang could understand that, but when she looked toward Bai Jun, she received the same answer.

"I have something else to do later. Next time, definitely." Bai Jun lowered his head to check the time on his Jade Omen. There was only half an hour left until the agreed time.

"Okay..."

Guinaifen noticed Sushang's slight disappointment and casually stepped forward to sling an arm around her neck. "Shangshang, don't make that face. If you don't mind, how about coming to my house as a guest tonight? I'm sure my younger brothers and sisters would welcome you."

"Uh, th-that's probably not a good idea."

Though Sushang looked cheerful and optimistic on the surface and did not put on airs, she was not thick-skinned enough to visit the home of someone she had only just met. Not to mention that Guinaifen had more than a dozen siblings at home.

"Is that so? What a shame... But it's fine. We have plenty of time in the future!"

In the blink of an eye, Guinaifen had packed the huge pile of props on the ground into her bundle. Then, carrying the desserts in one hand and the bundle over her shoulder with the other, she bid the two farewell. "See you next time! I'll save you seats in the front row. Though a street stall like ours doesn't really have a front row..."

As the sun sank lower, the shadows of the buildings and people stretched long. Guinaifen left beneath the evening glow. Before Sushang departed, she took out her Jade Omen and asked, "Oh, right, Bai Jun. We haven't added each other as friends yet, have we?"

At her reminder, Bai Jun noticed that as well. After they exchanged contact information through their Jade Omens, the two went their separate ways.

On the way to the meeting place, the brilliant fiery hues of sunset gradually gave way to deep leaden gray, and the sky slowly darkened. A row of streetlamps beside the road flickered a few times before glowing with a soft, warm yellow light.

Bai Jun slowly made his way to the Three Seasons Bookstore in Exalting Sanctum. He stopped and looked around, his gaze eventually settling on a bench beneath a streetlamp.

A black-haired girl with an expressionless face sat there. The gentle evening light fell over her black-and-white dress and the sliver of fair skin exposed beneath it. Though her features were delicate and lovely, the cold aura around her seemed to lower the temperature by several degrees.

She seemed to notice the gaze coming from behind and to one side, so she straightened up and looked toward it.

"Ah, you finally came..."

Her icy expression melted in an instant, but before a gentle smile could rise on her lips, surprise replaced it. Her crimson eyes, usually devoid of emotional ripples, slowly widened.

This seemed to be the first time she had seen Bai Jun like this. He had only changed his clothes and hairstyle, yet his entire temperament had changed so drastically...

"Good evening?"

While she was still spacing out, Bai Jun had already sat beside her. Knowing that Xue Yi usually enjoyed reading magazines and comics, he had picked up a copy of the most popular comic on the market for her along the way.

"...Ah, good evening. You look very handsome today." Xue Yi steadied herself, accepted the comic Bai Jun handed her, and responded softly.

"Xue Yi too. You look very beautiful today."

"Thank you."

A long silence followed. Bai Jun lowered his head and read the newspaper he had bought, while Xue Yi gazed at his profile for a while before lowering her head to read the comic in her hands as well.

Xue Yi faintly furrowed her brows. She did not actually like reading comics, but he had given this to her, so she could only force herself to continue. But this drawing... were they kissing?

Although the atmosphere between the two was pleasant, Hanya, hidden in the shadows and secretly observing them, was still driven frantic. She punched the wall hard, as though she were not striking cold stone but some idiot's skull. "That damned Bai Jun, I taught him for nothing!"

She should have been handling all kinds of case files at the Ten Lords Bureau, but an inexplicable anxiety and worry kept rising in her heart. So she had temporarily handed the work over to Huo Huo and come personally to observe the situation.

And sure enough, it was exactly as she had feared! That idiot Bai Jun had not used anything she taught him at all. Yet for some reason... the anxiety in her heart had quietly eased?

No, it must have been because the worst scenario she had imagined had not happened. It was all Bai Jun's fault!

The Jade Omen in Bai Jun's pocket rang while he sat on the bench reading the newspaper. He took it out, and his expression became somewhat helpless.

Hanya: Have you met my sister?

Nan Liujing: I have.

Hanya: That's good. Did you follow the process I taught you and take her out for some fun?