A hasty romance

It was a little past eight in the morning on the third day after leaving the Star Gate.

After a quick breakfast, Ren Ye went to Xu Peng's office. He had spent the night at 88 Lotus Lake Road instead of going home, but had barely slept. The images of the couple who had died so horribly filled his mind.

"Have a seat." Xu Peng popped two pills into his mouth and greeted him, looking rather unwell himself.

Ren Ye sat across from him. After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "How's the investigation into last night's case going?"

"Probably the work of a few roving players." Xu Peng took a sip of tea, his cheek turned toward the sunlight outside the window. His voice was gentle as he replied, "I'm still too slow... I'm improving so gradually. If I could reach the second stage, or the third, I might have a chance to let them see this world one last time, to let them say goodbye to their families..."

Both men fell silent.

Only after a long while did Xu Peng open the lesson materials he had prepared for the day. Turning to the first page, he said, "Today, we'll cover the Star Gate's advancement system. As far as we know, the advancement sequence for Star Gate players consists of seven stages, with ten levels in each..."

At ten thirty that morning, on Tongren Road.

Despite its floor-to-ceiling windows, an office was as dark as night. Heavy curtains blocked out all the sunlight, and a single lamp on an elegant wood-and-brass desk cast a very faint glow.

A man in his fifties sat on the sofa. He had a kindly face, held a distinctly British-style cane in his right hand, and wore an extremely expensive bespoke black suit. Everything about him radiated "finance tycoon."

Shanghai's players called him the cripple who couldn't stand the light. He ran a live-entertainment bar called Money Tide on Tongren Road and enjoyed considerable prestige among the players in the surrounding area.

Nearby, Old Yin-the "Big Firework" who had fought a passionate battle with Mr. He last night-stood half-bent at the waist, all smiles. "Boss, I've finished looking into the information Mr. He hired me to investigate. I haven't collected his final payment yet. Do you think... I should give him the information?"

"The Bell Society is competing for a very important Star Gate. If they succeed, everyone benefits." The impeccably dressed, fastidious cripple paused only briefly before replying, "You can give him the information, but don't leave anything that can be used against us."

"Yes."

Clenching his still somewhat stinging backside, Old Yin bent over, took out a black velvet pouch, and set it gently on the desk. "Boss, Mr. He paid seven thousand Star Source for yesterday's information. Fourteen pieces in total. I'm handing over six as your cut."

The Lame Boss didn't touch the pouch. He merely asked softly, "Only fourteen altogether?"

Old Yin froze, an unmistakable hint of fear in his eyes as he explained, "Actually... it was sixteen. But two pieces of Star Source... were... were something I earned myself."

"?"

The Lame Boss looked up at him.

"What happened was, he... he did things to me... the two of us..." Old Yin didn't dare conceal a thing. He gave a detailed account of how he had earned the money last night, then volunteered a question. "I don't have to pay a cut on that Star Source... do I?!"

The Lame Boss stayed silent for a full five seconds. "Not paying a cut on that... does seem reasonable."

"Right?!" Old Yin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Arrange a relatively safe Hideout for the Bell Society people," the Lame Boss instructed.

"Yes."

Fifteen minutes later.

Old Yin walked back to the Fight to the End Mahjong Parlor and met Mr. He in the second-floor tea room.

Since the two of them had already developed a little affection for each other, Old Yin dispensed with the pleasantries. "I found it, but I have to warn you: this won't be easy."

"...!" Mr. He said nothing, merely crooking a finger at him.

Whoosh!

Old Yin tossed a file onto the table. "All right, then... stay safe. I'll move you to another place this afternoon."

Rustle!

Mr. He tossed over a pouch, then picked up the file on the table. He asked softly, "Have you looked into the other two things I asked you about in the private room last night?"

"I have, but information from out of town takes longer, and your leads were too vague." Old Yin held his teacup. "Dozens of players participated in those two prerequisite-task Star Gates. Without anything specific from you, it's hard to pin down their real-world identities."

"Do your best. I can raise the price."

"Sure." Old Yin agreed at once.

Pat!

Mr. He patted Old Yin's wrinkled cheek. "...Thanks for the hard work."

"Will you add another two pieces of Star Source tonight? If you will..." Old Yin looked at him eagerly. "There are too many people we know at the Mahjong Parlor. We could go somewhere else."

"My husband! The hour has come. Watch your wife don her armor and slay that villain...!" Singing his own improvised opera lines with a slightly unhinged air, Mr. He floated away with the file.

Old Yin watched him leave. "What a man of mystery. You think he's the one who takes the pounding, but when he gets going, he's vicious...!"

After leaving the tea room, Mr. He opened the file and looked down. It contained personal information on three people: a young man, an elderly man, and a girl in her senior year of college.

A little later, Mr. He returned to his lodgings and tossed the file onto the table. "The young one should be at the New Year's Watchers' office. The old one has disappeared; we can't find him for now. Only this girl will be easy to handle. We'll go tonight..."

The day hurried by, and in the blink of an eye, it was past eight that evening.

Near the university district in Shanghai.

Four girls who had just enjoyed a meal at a conveyor-belt hot pot restaurant were heading back to their dorm, arms linked as they chattered away.

One of the four was a girl about 170 centimeters tall with delicate, beautiful features. Her name was Ren Qingning, and she was the younger sister of the Seven-Gun War God, the "Prince Huai of Great Qian."

Ren Qingning had a well-proportioned, athletic figure. Above her slender waist rose a full, voluptuous bust. Her rounded, oval face looked sweet, and two shallow dimples appeared in her cheeks when she smiled.

"Ningning, did you go to Suzhou-Hangzhou yesterday to sign a contract?" the plump girl beside her asked with concern.

"No, I just went to have a look." Ren Qingning answered cheerfully, "I want to make money so I can get Ren Daguo and the ex-con a bigger home. Signing a contract now wouldn't make that happen anyway, so why rush...? I'll save up slowly."

"Exactly. Don't let those streamer guilds and agencies fool you. Their contracts are all one-sided. And I've heard a lot of pretty streamers like you get pressured into sleeping with people. It's awful. If you ask me, you'd be better off sending résumés to production teams with us and getting an internship...!" another girl advised gently, caught between wanting the best for her friend and not wanting her friend to drive a Land Rover.

"Sure. I'll send out résumés with you tomorrow."

"Hahaha, has your brother asked you for money lately? Honestly, having such a useless brother must be pretty rough."

"You can't really say that. When he was working, I got to spend half his salary," Ren Qingning replied casually.

As the four girls chatted, they left the main street and headed down the route they had to take back to their dorm. Shanghai Media University's new campus was a little out of the way, and every day, they had to pass through two fairly dark alleys to get back.

Just as the girls turned onto the side road, an extremely fat young man in a knitted cap slowly followed them. He was the Copper Bell member who had taken part in the ambush on Little War Wolf last night and had been the first to hurt the ordinary couple.

His name was Fat Dragon. As he walked, he poured a sticky black liquid into his mouth.

"They've gone into the alley." The flesh on Fat Dragon's face twitched as he stared wickedly at the four girls' backsides. He spoke quietly into his headset. "Have Skinny Monkey block the road. I'm moving in."

Through the headset, Mr. He gave a calm order. "Don't leave the three ordinary people alive."

"Heh heh. Even if you hadn't said it... they'd still die." Fat Dragon answered with a lecherous look and started forward.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Ren Qingning, who had just entered the side road, suddenly stopped. Turning to her three friends, she said, "...Oh, I forgot. I was going to buy Xiao Han some milk tea. Come on, let's go back."

The plump girl replied lazily, "Forget it. Let her order some herself...!"

Smiling, Ren Qingning pinched the plump girl's wrist and insisted, "Come on. I promised to treat her, and she's always bringing things back for us."

The plump girl paused, then nodded obediently. "All right, let's go!"

Just like that, the four girls who had been about to enter the side road abruptly turned around and headed toward the bustling street just a short distance away.

Fat Dragon, who had been about to follow them in, knitted his brows. Glancing back at the noisy street outside the side road, he involuntarily clenched his hands.

Whoosh...!

The four passed him at a distance of roughly five meters.

"...The four of them just went into the alley, then came back out. They said they wanted to buy milk tea," Fat Dragon said quietly into his headset.

"This isn't our territory. Don't act rashly. Wait a little longer," Mr. He replied.

Fat Dragon paused, tipped his head back to gulp down some of the viscous liquid, then followed them out again.

Once Ren Qingning had led her three friends onto the bustling main street, the plump girl immediately asked in a low voice, "Why did you pinch me just now?"

"...Keep quiet, keep quiet. Follow me." Her brows slightly furrowed, Ren Qingning walked at a steady pace to a milk tea shop she often visited and ordered five cups.

While they waited, Ren Qingning glanced toward the side road out of the corner of her eye. A fat man was wandering around outside a two-yuan store.

"That'll be forty-five. Thank you."

After quite a while, the shop owner called out.

Ren Qingning paid and picked up the milk teas. "We're not going back to school that way."

"Why? What's going on?" Another friend was confused as well.

"Keep quiet!"

Ren Qingning led the three toward the other end of the main street at a very slow pace. All the while, her eyes scanned either side, but she never looked back.

About thirty meters behind them, Fat Dragon threw away his foul-smelling empty can and leisurely followed the four. He spoke quietly again. "They aren't going back to school."

Inside an SUV, Mr. He listened to opera and tapped his thigh with his fingers. "Don't tell me ordinary people spotted you?"

No sooner had he spoken than Ren Qingning suddenly pulled her three friends to the right. There stood one of the police stations commonly found near the university district.

"Qingning, what's going on?!" the plump girl pressed.

"Someone's following us. A fat man. He's been watching us from outside since we were eating," Ren Qingning replied calmly. "...Come on. Let's go to the police station first and have the officers question him."

Crimes involving female students were not uncommon near university districts in remote areas. On hearing this, none of her three friends argued. They followed Ren Qingning straight toward the police station lobby.

"How did you notice him?" the plump girl asked again. "I didn't notice anything."

"Did you forget what my brother did for a living? I read his course materials every day when he was studying..." Ren Qingning had already stepped onto the police station steps.

Standing about twenty meters away, Fat Dragon immediately asked, "She noticed. She's about to enter the police station. What do we do?!"

Mr. He tapped his thigh with his slender fingers and replied in a singsong voice, "The arrow is drawn; we have to let it fly! Cover your faces. You and Skinny Monkey grab her and leave. Try not to kill any officers, and don't display supernatural abilities."

Whoosh!

At those words, Fat Dragon's eyes instantly turned savage. A sticky liquid suddenly welled up over his cheeks, and he lunged toward the police station at incredible speed.

Whoosh!

Hidden on the other side of the police station, Skinny Monkey flicked his hand and shot out two thin chains, aimed straight at Ren Qingning's lower back.

Clatter!

The chains left a streaking afterimage. Upon touching Ren Qingning's body, they instantly coiled around her waist like nimble snakes.

Feeling a sudden chill around her waist, Ren Qingning looked sharply down. The thin chains glowed purple, and two iron barbs instantly pierced her skin. "I... I...!"

Before Ren Qingning could finish speaking, her eyes suddenly turned purple, and dizziness overwhelmed her.

Whoosh!

Another chain shot toward Ren Qingning's neck.

Thud, thud!

Fat Dragon's heavy footsteps pounded the ground, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the police station entrance.

"You... what are you doing?!" The plump girl reacted, but when she looked up and saw Fat Dragon's face bubbling black, she nearly fainted from fright.

Fat Dragon raised his fist and swung straight at the plump girl's head.

Clatter!

The chain swept through the air, about to coil around Ren Qingning's neck.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a graceful figure flashed past and flicked three playing cards from her hand.

Bang, crack!

The chain pulling Ren Qingning gave a sharp crack as a playing card sliced clean through it.

Fat Dragon whipped his head around and growled, "Solidify!"

In the blink of an eye, his cheeks and neck turned to stone, enveloped in a black, viscous substance.

Thwip, thwip...!

Two playing cards skimmed past his neck. The first broke through the petrified layer, and the second cut a shallow wound across his neck.

Fat Dragon abruptly raised his head and looked a short distance away.

Whoosh!

The graceful figure came to a stop, revealing a pair of long, straight legs. She held a black magician's cane and had already raised her arm again.

"Fuck, a New Year's Watcher!"

Fat Dragon stared at those long legs and cried out.