Brothers!

Qian Yuhan, who had inexplicably become the center of the storm while only wanting to find a chance to slip away and hunt Evil Soul Masters:

"(╬≖_≖)??", honestly, there are times when I really can't understand you young people (눈_눈).

Rakshasa Phantom: "(.-ω-) Today is truly entertaining."

"Brother Qian Yuhan!"

Directly in front of where Xu Tianzhen was holding her arm out, Xiao Hongchen slowly came to a halt. He took a deep breath and looked at Qian Yuhan with a solemn expression 〴⋋_⋌〵.

"?"

Just as everyone present expected Xiao Hongchen to say something of great importance, or perhaps some bizarre, aggressive declaration, Xiao Hongchen spoke in a way that was as shocking as it was unexpected:

"Do you know where the public restroom is?!"

Meng Hongchen: "(ლ`Д́)ლ", Brother, is this the important matter you were talking about!?

Xu Tianzhen: "(╯°□°)╯", Xiao Hongchen, what on earth are you trying to do?!

Qian Yuhan: "☉-☉?", You're a local of the Bright Capital asking an outsider for directions? Xiao Hongchen, have you lost your mind!

However, thinking about it, if playing along with Xiao Hongchen could grant a moment of free time to go and kill a few Evil Soul Masters on the side...

Then, this request from Xiao Hongchen wasn't entirely impossible to entertain.

Thus, Qian Yuhan feigned a look of serious contemplation, nodded under Xiao Hongchen's expectant gaze, and said:

"I know. Do you want me to take you there?"

Seeing that Qian Yuhan had clearly grasped his intent, Xiao Hongchen silently gave the young man a thumbs-up in his heart, d(-_^), and added:

"You got it, brother! Lead the way!"

"I know a shortcut, follow me!"

With that, Qian Yuhan and Xiao Hongchen disappeared at the end of the corridor one after the other, then vanished into the vast crowd, leaving Meng Hongchen and Xu Tianzhen staring at each other in speechless frustration.

Xu Tianzhen: ＼(〇_ｏ)／, Didn't they just meet? Why do they give the impression that they've known each other for ages?

Meng Hongchen: Don't ask me! That little handsome guy was brought here by you!

Walking along the bustling long street, Xiao Hongchen silently quickened his pace to walk beside Qian Yuhan.

Under Qian Yuhan's wary gaze, Xiao Hongchen showed no self-awareness of being a stranger. Relying on the fact that he was slightly older than Qian Yuhan, he familiarly draped an arm over Qian Yuhan's shoulder and chuckled:

"How about that, little brother? Your Brother Xiao is quite resourceful, isn't he? Just a small trick and I successfully helped you escape, letting you breathe a bit of free air! You really ought to thank me properly!!"

"ಠ_ಠ?", Qian Yuhan remained silent, only looking at Xiao Hongchen with a meaningful gaze, and said:

"Helping me is helping yourself, isn't it? It's clear that you've been planning to slip away for a long time. Helping me was just a side benefit!"

"Hahahaha!", Xiao Hongchen laughed, patting Qian Yuhan's shoulder with moderate force, and said in a low voice: "Little brother, you really are interesting. I appreciate you. Come, let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Xiao Hongchen, and I am..."

"I know. You are the recognized strongest genius of the Sun-Moon Empire and the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy in a thousand years, a fourteen-year-old quasi-Soul King, and a prodigy of soul engineering."

Qian Yuhan recited the information he had gathered that morning from a day student at the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, word for word.

Although his tone lacked any emotional fluctuation, purely reciting the lines like a script.

But... the beauty of the phrasing perfectly compensated for the trivial flaw of lacking emotion.

Listening to Qian Yuhan's 'commercial-style flattery,' which lacked feeling yet sounded like something he could never hear enough of, Xiao Hongchen put on a facade:

Sigh! It's nothing, really! (´∀`), Stay low-key, stay low-key. These are just meaningless titles bestowed upon me by my adoring classmates. I still have much room for improvement; please, don't put me on such a pedestal (＞ｙ＜)! He maintained a look of humility.

As if all these praises were merely minor honors not worth mentioning on his path of growth.

In reality, within Xiao Hongchen's inner world, colorful flowers were already blooming everywhere. His conscious avatar was currently in a sea of flowers, shouting with immense excitement:

'That's right! That's right! Exactly, that genius you're talking about is me! It is truly I, Xiao Hongchen, who stands before you! If you know how to praise, then praise more!'

Just like that, under Qian Yuhan's deliberate guidance, Xiao Hongchen—who was one step away from being flattered into a state of total delusion—carelessly bumped into a 'passerby' wearing a gray hood and dark clothing, with a face so plain that no one would notice him even if he were thrown into a crowd.

The person knocked down was none other than 'Lackey No. 1,' who had been marked by the Rakshasa Phantom at the Evil Soul Master stronghold not long ago.

"Hey!"

Suddenly bumped into, Xiao Hongchen instinctively took two steps back.

Although it was the other person who fell, this sudden annoyance caused the smile on Xiao Hongchen's face, which wasn't very obvious to begin with, to vanish completely.

Xiao Hongchen turned to the side, looked at the gray-clad figure sitting on the ground with displeasure, and reached out to pull him up, saying: "Are you alright? Watch where you're going next time! Not everyone is as kind-hearted as this young master!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm fine. You go ahead, you go ahead."

As if afraid of any contact with Xiao Hongchen, 'Lackey No. 1' didn't take the hand Xiao Hongchen offered to help him up. Instead, acting as if he had a guilty conscience, he bowed and scraped, retreating repeatedly.

Faced with this strange behavior, Xiao Hongchen was initially just surprised. But when he saw the man scramble to his feet without even brushing the dust off his clothes, covering his face and turning to run as if terrified of being recognized, Xiao Hongchen finally realized something was wrong.

He struggled to recall the face the man had inadvertently revealed when he stood up, muttering:

'Wait, this person... why do they look... a bit familiar? Have I seen this person somewhere before...'

"Well... do you want to chase after him and see!?" Qian Yuhan asked with a playful look, arms crossed, gesturing toward the direction the gray-clad man had fled. Xiao Hongchen, confused, frowned and asked Qian Yuhan:

"Chase him? Why? I'm not even hurt!"