Flender pushed up his glasses as realization dawned on him.
"No wonder Xiaogang lost his composure like that. So the storyteller was telling stories from that book, too."
Liu Erlong sighed. "Xiaogang's temper is getting stranger by the day. Being stuck at level thirty for so long has been eating away at him. Let's be a little more understanding."
Even so, Liu Erlong's heart itched terribly, as though a cat were scratching at it.
"But then again, that story really is pretty captivating..."
Flender sighed. "I think it's interesting, too. It's just that Xiaogang... Ah!"
Liu Erlong thought for a moment, then lowered her voice. "What if Xiaogang never found out?"
Flender's glasses flashed. "Then we burn them after reading. Neither gods nor ghosts will know."
The two hit it off at once.
After eating and drinking their fill, Flender painfully forked over several Gold Soul Coins and bought two sets of books from a scalper at an inflated price.
Back at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's guest residence, the two sneaked around like thieves, avoiding Yu Xiaogang's quarters before settling down to read by lamplight.
They would have been fine had they never opened the books. Once they did, they became utterly engrossed.
Especially in Sun Wukong from the latest volume, "Journey to the West Subduing Evil."
For some inexplicable reason, he reminded Liu Erlong of Supreme Treasure, who had once saved her life.
It was not just because they both used staffs, but because their personalities were so similar.
"I wonder how Brother Treasure is doing these days..."
Liu Erlong's cheeks warmed slightly, and ripples stirred in her heart.
Unfortunately, they had parted in such a hurry that day that they had not even left an address where they could exchange letters.
Now, amid this boundless sea