Don't Look Back, I'm Xiaogang! Xiaogang, Don't Look at Me...

After the livestream ended, it was still early morning. Yu Xiaogang and Tang San remained in the Soul Hunting Forest and could not return just yet.

The payment Bibi Dong had promised would not arrive so quickly either. Nuoding City was a remote border town; even an agility-type Titled Douluo would probably need a full day to fly there, and conventional means would take longer.

The day passed without incident.

Because he had drawn so much attention, the academy head made a special exception and excused him from classes that day.

Obtaining a Soul Ring was not easy either, because hunting one required following proper procedures.

A level-ten work-study student who wanted to enter the Soul Hunting Forest alone through the main gate first had to obtain a personal Soul Hunting permit from Spirit Hall. With the permit, he would be let through; without it, he would be stopped. Climbing the wall to sneak in counted as illegal poaching, and Spirit Hall enforcement teams patrolled the forest.

Normally, students reported to the academy, which then organized a trip with teachers leading the group to hunt Soul Rings.

Going on his own was possible, but applying for a permit required Spirit Hall to verify his Soul Power and usually required a guarantor as well. It was fairly difficult for a commoner work-study student to arrange alone, though he could ask Grandmaster for help with that.

But before the system had bound itself to him, he had enrolled through the proper channels, and Notting Academy had registered his Innate Soul Power as level five. Gaining five levels in a single day would inevitably arouse suspicion.

So he could not rush this.

If possible, he hoped to obtain a Soul Ring through the lottery. Then no one could question him; the livestream would back up the whole thing.

That evening.

Grandmaster returned to Notting Academy with Tang San. As they entered, every teacher and student they passed turned to stare.

After someone started it, the students openly joined in the teasing:

"Welcome back to school, you two gods!"

"Notting Academy really does have two supreme beings under one roof!"

"Hahaha, Tang San, where's your four-hundred-year-old Lone Bamboo? Come on, let us see it! Let us experience your Pole Vault up close!"

"Are you crazy? What if he uses the hundred-year Lone Bamboo Kill and lets you experience it at a negative distance?"

"Even the fart god couldn't take that, never mind us!"

"Hahaha, good point."

"But his roommates in Dorm Seven are in danger now!"

"What if Tang San starts sleepwalking in the middle of the night and suddenly practices the hundred-year Lone Bamboo Kill..."

The grating mockery went on without end. Yu Xiaogang remained relatively calm, but Tang San nearly lashed out several times, only to be talked down by Yu Xiaogang.

That only excited the hecklers more. They made a show of scattering, deliberately clutching their backsides and pretending to be afraid, laughing all the harder.

Xiao Wu, who had just come out of the cafeteria, saw this and quietly leaned toward Gu Xingzhou's ear. "Xingzhou, I'm a little scared. Could you sleep on the side facing Tang San tonight?"

"No, I'm scared too. Besides, aren't you the boss of Dorm Seven? Just put Wang Sheng in the middle."

Gu Xingzhou offered the suggestion.

"But wouldn't that be wrong? Wouldn't we be kicking him while he's down, just like them?"

Xiao Wu asked.

"Then I've got nothing. But I don't think there's anything to worry about. Didn't Tang San say he'd avoid absorbing that four-hundred-year-old Lone Bamboo if he could?"

"He and Grandmaster have probably found a suitable Soul Ring already."

Gu Xingzhou said.

"You're right. Let's ask."

Xiao Wu immediately pulled Gu Xingzhou after them. Tang San was not particularly guarded around the two of them. Perhaps to prove that he had not chosen Lone Bamboo, and to vindicate Grandmaster's judgment, he showed them his Soul Ring when no one else was around.

"We killed a four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake."

Tang San explained.

"So you really don't want the Lone Bamboo? You won't give it to your Second Martial Soul?"

Gu Xingzhou asked.

"No. That isn't the path I want to take."

Tang San shook his head, then changed the subject. "What about you, Xingzhou? Has anyone from Spirit Hall come to see you?"

"Not yet. I don't think they'll arrive that fast."

Gu Xingzhou said.

"Then are you really going to give up tomorrow's chance at a reward?"

Tang San asked.

"What choice do I have? We're poor students with no power, no connections, no strength..."

"Unless the reward turns me straight into a god, I wouldn't be able to hold on to it even if I got it."

Gu Xingzhou sounded helpless.

But inwardly, he could not resist grumbling, That's what happens when you don't have a teacher willing to destroy Spirit Hall at any cost for you.

The mention of Spirit Hall only made Xiao Wu angrier. She could not help cursing, "Hmph! Those Spirit Hall people are awful. All they know how to do is throw their weight around!"

"I hope every single one of her scripts tomorrow makes her stick out her tongue and flash a Peace Sign!"

Xiao Wu made her wish.

Every single one a Peace Sign... wouldn't that be a bit too much of a coincidence?

Gu Xingzhou wondered.

The next day.

He did not hurry to start the livestream. Instead, he waited for someone from Spirit Hall. Sure enough, Bibi Dong sent Ghost Douluo. Without saying a word, Ghost Douluo slipped him a ring when no one was around, then departed without a sound.

It was a Storage Soul Tool with roughly one cubic meter of space, containing a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Bibi Dong had been thoughtful: she knew a poor student like him had nowhere to hide so many coins and could not carry them all, so she had even included a valuable Soul Tool.

Without question, it was a vast fortune for him at this stage.

After all, a One-Ring Soul Master received a stipend of just one Gold Soul Coin a month.

One Gold Soul Coin could be exchanged for ten Silver Soul Coins or a hundred Copper Soul Coins. Its purchasing power could cover several months of expenses for an ordinary family of three, while a work-study student at Notting Academy earned ten Copper Soul Coins for a day's cleaning. Without this windfall, Gu Xingzhou would have had to work ten full days without eating or drinking to earn a single Gold Soul Coin...

Of course, to Bibi Dong, that amount was no more than a hair from nine oxen.

But that did not matter. It was enough to spend.

After receiving the money, Gu Xingzhou still did not rush to start the livestream. To avoid making Bibi Dong suspicious, he took a leisurely nap before finally opening it at his own pace.

[Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone!]

[Today's Fanfiction Livestream officially begins!]

[The contestants in this round are Gu Xingzhou and Bibi Dong!]

[Script selection begins now!]

[Each contestant will choose one of three scripts. Only the titles will be shown.]

[Gu Xingzhou, please choose: "Emergency Room," "The Locked Room," or "Don't Look Back, I'm Xiaogang..."]

[Bibi Dong, please choose: "The Locked Room," "Emergency Room," or "Xiaogang, Don't Look at Me..."]

[???]

[???]

[Huh? No Peace Sign? What a shame!]

[But that was impossible anyway. Why would Bibi Dong ever choose it?]

[She's the Supreme Pontiff. She has a reputation to protect!]

[Don't even think about "Emergency Room." That's worse than the Peace Sign!]

[I don't want to watch that one. I'd turn green with envy. Why does Gu Xingzhou get such a treat? I've never seen her, but I've heard the Supreme Pontiff is a great beauty.]

[What's "The Locked Room" about, anyway? Sounds a little suggestive.]

[Wait, I only just noticed that last script. Holy shit, this episode is divine!]

[What's so divine about it?]

[This Fanfiction Livestream really knows how to stir things up!!]

[Livestream, explain what you mean by "Don't Look Back, I'm Xiaogang"???]

[And what's "Xiaogang, Don't Look at Me" supposed to mean???]