When he got home and opened the door, the house was pitch-black. Lu Mingfei hadn't told his uncle and aunt he'd be coming back that evening.
He quietly went to his room. After looking at the sleeping Lu Mingze, he opened his old, beat-up laptop.
He logged into QQ, and a long string of messages popped up. Some were asking when Lu Mingfei's game would be available. Those were from Old Tang and the people in the gaming group.
After closing a bunch of meaningless messages, he saw one from Su Xiaoqiang.
"Are you home?" It had just come in.
Lu Mingfei typed a reply: "I'm home."
"Mm-hmm, got it. Good night, Mingfei!"
"Good night!" Lu Mingfei replied.
Su Xiaoqiang lay in bed with her phone in hand. She looked at the message Lu Mingfei had sent, smiled softly, then set the phone beside her pillow and drifted into a deep sleep.
Lu Mingfei remembered Su Xiaoqiang saying a few days ago that she'd messaged him on QQ, so he scrolled up through their chat history.
"Lu Mingfei, what are you doing?"
"Lu Mingfei, why aren't you saying anything?"
"We're going camping in a few days. Have you gotten your stuff ready? If you haven't, I can help you prepare."
Looks like he'd have to start logging into QQ more often. It had been a week, so Lu Mingze should have gotten over his last relationship by now. He couldn't let him monopolize the computer anymore.
Having made up his mind, Lu Mingfei accepted Chu Zihang's friend request.
"Lu Mingfei, are you home?" Chu Zihang's message came through right away.
"I am. Senior Brother Chu, when are you free? I'll come see you and learn a bit about that stuff."
The message he'd typed seemed a little strange, but Lu Mingfei couldn't say what was wrong with it. He decided to leave it as it was and sent it.
Chu Zihang replied quickly: "Tomorrow works."
After they agreed on a time to meet, Lu Mingfei went to bed.
On Sunday morning, Lu Mingfei brought a bag of apples to Peacock Mansion. That's right, they'd arranged to meet at Chu Zihang's house.
When Lu Mingfei arrived, he found Chu Zihang already waiting at the entrance to the villa compound.
As soon as Chu Zihang saw Lu Mingfei, he went over to meet him.
"Why did you bring apples?" Chu Zihang asked, glancing at the bag in Lu Mingfei's hand.
"I'm visiting your house. Of course I should bring something. Isn't that more polite?" Lu Mingfei replied.
Chu Zihang nodded slightly and held out his hand. "I'll take them, then."
Once they were inside, Chu Zihang put the apples down, and Lu Mingfei followed behind him.
Chu Zihang's mother came down the stairs, still bleary-eyed. When she saw Lu Mingfei, her eyes lit up.
She hurried over to him. "Hello! Are you Zihang's friend? This is the first time I've seen him bring someone home."
"Hello, Auntie. I'm Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang's junior and his friend," Lu Mingfei introduced himself.
"Zihang, why didn't you tell your mother your friend was coming? I could've prepared something tasty for him," Su Xiaoyan said, looking at Chu Zihang with displeasure.
"It's okay, Auntie. We only made plans last night, so Senior Brother Chu probably didn't have a chance to tell you," Lu Mingfei said with a smile, speaking up for Chu Zihang.
"All right, then." Su Xiaoyan seemed to accept that explanation.
"Mom, I'm taking my friend to my room for a bit. You and Aunt Tong, please don't come in today. There's something I need to talk to him about," Chu Zihang said.
"All right, then." Su Xiaoyan didn't look entirely happy about it.
Lu Mingfei followed Chu Zihang into his bedroom. It was spacious and very tidy; it was clear Chu Zihang liked to keep things clean. Sunlight fell just right across the room, giving it a warm glow.
Chu Zihang brought over two chairs and poured Lu Mingfei a cup of tea.
"If there's anything you want to ask, just ask," Chu Zihang said, inviting Lu Mingfei to sit.
"Tell me about the relationship between Half-Bloods, dragons, and Dead Servants."
Lu Mingfei had heard those terms repeatedly the day before. For now, he could only make a few guesses based on their conversation; he still needed someone like Chu Zihang, who was on the inside, to explain the details.
"Simply put, the Dragon Clan was once the race that ruled the world. Half-Bloods are descendants of humans and dragons. A stable bloodline means that the percentage of dragon blood in a person's body is below fifty percent. If it exceeds fifty percent, a Half-Blood loses control and eventually becomes a Dead Servant."
Chu Zihang gave Lu Mingfei a rough explanation of how the three were connected.
"So we're all descendants of humans and dragons?" Lu Mingfei asked Chu Zihang. "What about the dragons? Didn't you say they used to rule the world?"
"Dragons are born violent, so our mission as Half-Bloods is to kill them. Whenever a dragon awakens, the Half-Bloods spare no expense to destroy it," Chu Zihang replied.
Lu Mingfei thought of the vision he'd seen when he first gained this power: a war between dragons and humans.
As he spoke, Chu Zihang lit up his Golden Pupils. "This is the hallmark of a Half-Blood. Once a Half-Blood awakens, their body grows stronger, and they perform better than ordinary people."
Lu Mingfei closed his eyes, then opened them. His pupils glowed a blazing gold.
Chu Zihang looked into his eyes and felt wave after wave of pressure. "You're exceptional. Your bloodline rank is much higher than mine."
After that, Lu Mingfei's eyes returned to their normal color.
"You'll learn more once you get to Kassel College. It's the headquarters for killing dragons, and everyone there is one of us," Chu Zihang explained.
"Oh." Lu Mingfei gave a brief reply and said nothing more.
"The Four Great Monarchs of the Dragon Kings are awakening, so Kassel College needs talented people like you."
Chu Zihang added, "That's what the principal told me to say to you."
Lu Mingfei didn't react at all. What a load of nonsense. He'd just escaped from his last job, and now they wanted him to jump into another fire pit? Couldn't he come home and enjoy himself for once?
"There's also a thirty-six-thousand-dollar annual scholarship, plus a scholarship personally awarded by the principal," Chu Zihang added.
"I think your Eastern Depot—no, I mean Kassel College—needs a talent like me," Lu Mingfei said with a grin.
Chu Zihang didn't know what to say for a moment. Lu Mingfei's expression sure changed fast.
"By the way, Senior Brother, does this school guarantee job placement after graduation?" Lu Mingfei continued.
Chu Zihang was silent for a moment. "Yes, and the pay is excellent."
"Then I'm sold." Lu Mingfei sat obediently.
"The admissions team will probably come next year. Be ready."
Lu Mingfei nodded repeatedly.
For some reason, talking to Lu Mingfei always left Chu Zihang feeling a little worn out.
After they finished talking, the two went downstairs.
Before you continue