Mutual Nemeses

Chen Shu took a preliminary look at the members—

The group owner was Righteous Vital Energy. His avatar was a calligraphy piece of the four characters in his name, graceful and natural yet bold and commanding. It looked like the work of a master.

Besides him, the most active members were Grandma Always Says and Unknown Person.

Grandma Always Says had a landscape photo of a steep peak for an avatar and claimed to be a senior at Jade University. His personality seemed outgoing, just like the upperclassmen who flirted with junior girls in freshman group chats.

Of course, he might only be like that online and be quite introverted in real life.

There was another detail—

He called himself an upperclassman rather than a senior disciple.

Strictly speaking, both men and women could be called upperclassmen, but people usually used the term for male students in higher years, while women were called upperclasswomen.

The terms meant much the same thing, and either would do. Most people weren't particular about it in casual conversation.

But people had a habit—

They were easily led by others.

Usually, if you kept saying "upperclassman" while the person you were chatting with kept saying "senior disciple," you would likely start using "senior disciple" without realizing it. In most cases, one person would adapt to the other.

But Chen Shu and Unknown Person had both kept saying "senior disciple," reinforcing each other's usage, so neither had changed. Grandma Always Says hadn't changed his wording either.

That immediately made Chen Shu think of sect disciples.

Sect disciples often placed great importance on their line of tutelage and wouldn't casually call outsiders their senior brothers or sisters.

It was only a possibility, though.

He would keep the suspicion in mind for now.

Unknown Person also gave the impression of being male. His avatar was a cartoon picture of a handsome man that, frankly, looked a little sleazy. And he had indeed been extremely enthusiastic toward Chen Shu "as a girl," even more so than Grandma Always Says. He seemed a bit like an old lecher, though he wasn't particularly good at chatting.

He used people's names in every message and added punctuation with great formality. He reminded Chen Shu of an uncle in the Lineage group chat.

These were only first impressions.

First impressions shouldn't be given too much weight. They could easily become tinted glasses, or even prejudice.

Besides, all of it might be the result of deliberate disguises by the group members.

There was also someone called "Might as Well Call Me Luo Huai'an."

His avatar was blank.

His name was casual, too.

Like the group owner, Righteous Vital Energy, he had said only one thing and then fallen silent.

Everyone else seemed busy as well. Plenty were lurking.

Chen Shu hadn't forgotten his real purpose—

Greens and Cocoa: Senior brothers, what is this group for? Oh, right, Unknown, you're a senior brother, aren't you?

Unknown Person: I am! Hello, junior sister!

Grandma Always Says: Making friends and finding romance.

Unknown Person: Junior Sister Greens, don't listen to him.

Righteous Vital Energy: This is a platform for discussing Ancient Cultivator knowledge that has been restricted and suppressed. Its members are students in University City with exceptional talent and an interest in the subject. I hope this platform will help everyone grow and avoid taking wrong turns.

Greens and Cocoa: Thank you, mighty group owner, sob sob sob.

Chen Shu typed while laughing like a goose.

Righteous Vital Energy: You're welcome.

Greens and Cocoa: Why isn't anyone else in the group talking?

Grandma Always Says: Don't feel like it, I guess.

Unknown Person: Some members have graduated, while others are busy with their own affairs, so normally hardly anyone speaks in the group.

What a formal answer.

Too formal for an online chat.

Greens and Cocoa: Thank you, Senior Brother Unknown~

Greens and Cocoa: By the way, mighty group owner, did you create this group?

Righteous Vital Energy: I didn't create it, but I manage it. I can mute or remove members, and I can provide credit guarantees for you. In short, you can ask me for help with anything. There's no need to hide anything from me. I know everyone's identity.

"..."

Damn it, I was having so much fun pretending.

Now this is awkward.

Good thing I've got thick skin.

Greens and Cocoa: So you're an admin.

Righteous Vital Energy: More or less.

Unknown Person: Junior Sister Greens, you still haven't posted a photo!

What are you, the discipline monitor?

Chen Shu's mouth twitched.

Greens and Cocoa: I can't reveal my identity! Once we know each other better, we can meet offline and I'll show you then.

Unknown Person: I hope that day comes!

Greens and Cocoa: Definitely, definitely~

Unknown Person: Thank you!

Unknown Person: /hands pressed together

What a strange way of chatting. Could he be crafting a persona, just like me?

Chen Shu left the chat window and went into the settings. He changed the app's name to "Skip Splash Ads" and found a suitable icon online. When he exited the app, its icon and name had indeed changed on the home screen.

He tried opening it and deliberately entered the wrong password.

[Version too old. App disabled.]

The app automatically exited to the home screen.

"Not bad!"

Chen Shu leaned back, satisfied.

He opened the Ancient Cultivator group again.

Greens and Cocoa: Seniors, does anyone have a powerful offensive spell? /pitiful

Grandma Always Says: I do. What kind do you want?

Greens and Cocoa: What do you have, senior brother?

Grandma Always Says: Everything. If you can think of it, I can find it. The Sword Sect's Sword-Riding Technique, the Royal Court's Ultimate Sword Dao, the Bright Sect's Undying Sacred Body, the Daoist Order's Spirit-Invoking Art, the Buddhist Order's Three-Headed, Six-Armed Demon-Subduing Golden Body, and the Ancient Spirit Sect's Blazing Sun World-Destroying Divine Art—I have them all.

Greens and Cocoa: You're amazing, senior brother! You can even get all those forbidden arts!

In front of the screen, Chen Shu was expressionless—

Do you think I'm stupid?

What a masterful show-off!

Greens and Cocoa: I don't need anything that powerful.

Grandma Always Says: Right, I forgot you're new. Tell me what you want. I've got it all. Consider it a little help with your growth.

Greens and Cocoa: Do you have the Spirit Sect's Cage Technique? A fairly recent version. It doesn't have to be the latest, but nothing too old. I can make do.

Grandma Always Says: I have the version from five years ago. That counts as fairly recent.

Greens and Cocoa: That would be perfect!

Greens and Cocoa: Thank you, senior brother~

Grandma Always Says: 20,000. /cool

"??"

He's charging? I thought I could get it for free.

I even acted cute!

How disappointing.

Greens and Cocoa: That's so expensive.

Grandma Always Says: You couldn't buy it for 200,000 outside this group. That's our members-only price.

Greens and Cocoa: But my monthly allowance is only 2,000.

Then Unknown Person popped up again—

Unknown Person: Wasn't it 1,500?

Greens and Cocoa: The school gives me 1,500, and my family gives me another 2,000.

Unknown Person: Isn't 1,500 enough?

Greens and Cocoa: Girls spend more than boys, you know.

Unknown Person: You're right!

Greens and Cocoa: ...

Grandma Always Says: Come find me when you've saved enough.

Greens and Cocoa: Do you have it, Senior Brother Unknown?

Unknown Person: Unfortunately, I can't help you! Sorry!

Greens and Cocoa: Could you make it cheaper, Senior Brother Grandma? No, Senior Brother Always Says... Ugh, that sounds so awkward.

Greens and Cocoa: /pitiful

Grandma Always Says: Fifteen thousand. That's my lowest.

Greens and Cocoa: What about an ordinary spiritual-power barrier?

Grandma Always Says: Anywhere from five to ten thousand.

Greens and Cocoa: Thank you, senior brother. I'll come to you once I've saved enough.

Grandma Always Says: /cool

Chen Shu put down his phone. As he thought, he hummed tunelessly, "I'm a girl, a pretty girl..."

It seemed this group was quite useful after all.

The Cage Technique was a relatively advanced confinement barrier, ranking in the upper-middle range among confinement arts.

The fairly recent version differed little from the latest one and would be well suited to modification. If he wasn't too demanding about perfection, he could even use it as it was. At that price, it was also far better value than buying an old version from Wide and Narrow Alley to modify.

If he was truly short of money, he could ask Teacher Shi Qian for one.

But Teacher Shi Qian would only give him a version from twenty or thirty years ago. Modifying it would be much more troublesome: not only would the structure need changing, but some parts were based on outdated design principles.

Still, ten or twenty thousand yuan wasn't beyond his means...

Chen Shu turned on his computer and inserted the Crystal Disk.

He logged into Wide and Narrow Alley.

Mr. Cat hadn't messaged him for once. Strangely, it felt a little unfamiliar.

He browsed the site to see whether any reputable sellers he recognized were offering useful minor spells or other knowledge that interested him. He had already spent several hundred of the little over a thousand Black Gold Coins he'd had saved, all in the past few days, buying a jumble of minor spells.

He hadn't known about this group then.

Now it felt like a bit of a waste.

On second thought, he couldn't get everything through the group. Using both channels to supplement each other and gather knowledge was the better choice.

Zhang Suannai lay flat on her bed, her legs raised high. Whenever excitement seized her, she kicked vigorously at the air—

This person goes to Ling'an Academy too!

And she's a junior girl!

She's probably in Ning Qing's year. I wonder if she's pretty.

Zhang Suannai could barely hold back her laughter.

In that junior girl's eyes, though, she was a student at neighboring Yujing University. The girl would never guess that Zhang Suannai wasn't even a man, much less that they went to the same school!

Thinking of how she had fooled everyone in the group and led them all around by the nose—and how a junior girl kept calling her senior brother and helping her show off—Zhang Suannai couldn't help letting out a "geigeigei" laugh as she lay on the bed.

For a while, she couldn't stop herself.

Then she imagined the day they might finally meet in person. If the group suddenly discovered that this lecherous upperclassman was actually a girl, and an incredibly beautiful one at that, their expressions would be priceless.

"Honk, honk, honk..."

Zhang Suannai laughed like a goose.

Mid-laugh, she abruptly covered her mouth and glanced toward the door—

Her roommate had been acting strangely lately. She kept watching Zhang Suannai from a distance, and the more Zhang Suannai behaved unlike her usual self, the more her roommate stared. It made her skin crawl.

She couldn't let her roommate hear her laughing, or she would make that face again.

That expression...

It was hard to describe.

It was like someone visiting a zoo and noticing a monkey sitting there pondering life. Then they'd start wondering what the monkey was thinking about.

Zhang Suannai didn't like that feeling.

Wait!

Zhang Suannai had a hunch.

She immediately rolled out of bed, put on her shoes, and pulled open the balcony door.

Her roommate stood quietly on the balcony, one hand on the railing, gazing into the distance as though lost in thought. But Zhang Suannai strongly suspected she had been listening to what was happening in the room. From there, she could have heard Zhang Suannai's laughter perfectly clearly.

"Ning Qing!"

Ning Qing quietly turned her head and looked at her.

Zhang Suannai felt a little uneasy but still sidled up to her with a delighted grin. "I just found a tongue twister. Say it with me: red carp and green rub-donkey... Pah!

"Red carp and green carp leave... No, that's not it either!

"Red carp and stand-carp and donkey... Hey, I got it that time! You try it. Let's see if you can say it smoothly!"

"..."

"Oh, I forgot you can't speak."

Zhang Suannai drew her head back, as though that might shield her from her roommate's gaze, and said, "Then remember it, okay? When you can speak again, say it for me. I want to see if you can get through it!"

Ning Qing showed no expression.

Zhang Suannai fled back into the room. Pretending to be a man in the group was much more fun.

At least Ning Qing wasn't secretly watching her there.