Corners, sewers, dark places...
They were everywhere.
If I could understand every rat's voice.
Would that mean...
I could use their squeaks to find that depraved cannibal lurking on campus?
That depraved cannibal was suspected of having fed human flesh to the rats at school.
As long as I kept coming into contact with the rats at school.
And slowly pieced together the clues.
Then I might really be able to root out that depraved cannibal hiding in the darkness!
PS: Holding out my bowl, begging for monthly votes and recommendation votes!
Chapter 27: The secluded Old Ancestor
When Gu Qing arrived at the sports field, it was 7:45 p.m.
There were fifteen minutes left until his agreed meeting time with Xia Shuran at eight.
Gu Qing casually looked around and soon spotted Xia Shuran on the steps ahead.
This sports student, the Junior Schoolmate, liked arriving early, just as always.
Gu Qing mentally gave this punctual junior a perfect score.
Xia Shuran spotted Gu Qing at once too. She immediately stood up with a radiant smile and walked toward him.
"Senior, long time no see!"
"That's a bit much. We only missed seeing each other on Saturday."
Gu Qing replied with a smile.
Xia Shuran blinked. "Senior, that's where you're wrong. How does that saying go? One day apart feels like three autumns!"
"In three autumns, I won't be at school anymore. I'll be out working and getting beaten down by the real world."
"Senior, you could go to grad school."
Xia Shuran earnestly suggested, "If you get into a graduate program here, Senior, you can stay at Haicheng University for another three autumns."
She didn't want Gu Qing to graduate next year. She wanted him to stay at Haicheng University for another three years.
That way.
Gu Qing could keep her company all the way through her undergraduate studies.
Just thinking about it felt wonderful.
After that.
The two didn't chat much.
They soon began practicing with the Red-Tassel Spear.
Practice flew by, and three hours passed in the blink of an eye.
[You have practiced martial arts with your classmate Xia Shuran for over one hour] x3 [Martial arts technique +1] x3 [Physical constitution +1] x3 [Accumulate 100 points of physical constitution to obtain the attribute-Knotted muscles] [Points obtained so far: 44]
Gu Qing glanced at the text notifications.
He had now accumulated forty-four points in his favorite attribute, physical constitution.
If he practiced with Xia Shuran for another three hours tomorrow.
And played basketball with Gao Fei for three hours.
He would gain another six points of physical constitution, bringing his total to exactly fifty and pushing the progress bar to the halfway mark.
That way, the progress bar toward obtaining knotted muscles wouldn't look so frustrating anymore.
It was as though that hulking-muscle attribute, knotted muscles, was already right before his eyes, within reach.
"Senior, here, have some electrolyte water to replenish your electrolytes and fluids."
Xia Shuran took a bottle of electrolyte water from the backpack beside her and handed it to Gu Qing.
Then she took out a bag of cookies, opened it, and set it between them, her eyes sparkling as she said:
"Electrolyte water first, then cookies to replenish our energy. Perfect!"
"You really know how to enjoy yourself."
Gu Qing smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
Then, without standing on ceremony, he picked up a cookie and began eating.
"Senior, are these cookies good?"
Xia Shuran looked at Gu Qing with her big, dewy, mascara-ad eyes and asked expectantly, "Don't they taste better than the ones sold in stores?"
Gu Qing caught on.
The Junior Schoolmate had made these cookies herself.
He immediately gave her all the validation she could want, lavishing her with praise:
"They're good."
"To be more precise, they're really good."
"By the way, where did you buy these cookies? I'll buy some for my parents and little sister to try next time I go home."
That triple helping of direct and indirect praise sent Xia Shuran into raptures.
She hadn't expected her homemade cookies to earn such high praise from Gu Qing.
"Actually... I made these cookies at home and brought them over."
Xia Shuran's eyes curved, and she couldn't hide the smile on her lips. "Senior, tell me a day before you go home next time, and I'll make you a big bag of cookies. I can make any flavor, and I guarantee they'll be better than anything in stores."
"You actually made these delicious cookies yourself?"
Gu Qing feigned surprise, offering validation again and again as though it cost him nothing. "You're seriously amazing. You can perform martial arts and make desserts and cookies. You're so multitalented."
"I'm not that great."
Xia Shuran grew a little embarrassed by his praise and complimented Gu Qing in return. "You're the amazing one, Senior. You're not just good at academics, you're great at sports too. I've never met a top student as accomplished in both as you."
They exchanged flattering compliments for a while, both smiling.
Just then.
Xia Shuran suddenly changed the subject.
"Senior, guess what I went home to do this weekend."
"You missed your parents?"
"That too, but there was something more important. Guess again."
"A blind date?"
"Senior, you're so mean!"
Xia Shuran feigned displeasure. "I only just turned eighteen. Why would I go on a blind date?"
Then she added, "Besides, when I get married, it'll definitely be to someone I find myself. I don't want someone introduced by other people."
Gu Qing thought for a moment and made his third guess. "Was it something to do with your family's martial arts school?"
"You got it!"
Xia Shuran snapped her fingers with a smile.
After that, she didn't make Gu Qing keep guessing.
Instead, she said mysteriously:
"Senior, I'll tell you a secret, but you absolutely can't tell anyone else."
"I promise I won't. Go ahead."
Gu Qing's curiosity was piqued, and he pricked up his ears, waiting for Xia Shuran to continue.
Xia Shuran shifted closer to him and brought her lips to his ear, whispering:
"You might not believe this, Senior, but those masters in martial arts movies and TV shows actually exist."
"There really are people in this world who can use traditional martial arts to fight ten people at once, or even a hundred."
"Senior, I saw everything I'm telling you with my own eyes at the martial arts school during those two days I was home. I'm not exaggerating at all."
Xia Shuran sounded very serious, with no hint of a joke.
Gu Qing raised his eyebrows, chose to believe the Junior Schoolmate for now, and asked:
"What exactly happened? Tell me in detail."
Ever since he had awakened his cheat.
No matter how bizarre the things that happened in this world.
He wouldn't find them strange.
He would always leave room to believe them.
Seeing that Gu Qing didn't express any doubt and instead seemed to actually believe her.
Xia Shuran froze for a moment.
She had already prepared for Gu Qing to doubt her, then for herself to prove it through action.
She hadn't expected that preparation to be utterly useless and entirely unnecessary.
After a moment, she came back to her senses.
Xia Shuran began explaining at an unhurried pace:
"Well... an Old Ancestor of my family who died several hundred years ago suddenly came back to life."
"Actually, coming back to life isn't right. More precisely, he came out of seclusion."
"According to the Old Ancestor, he never died. He'd been training in seclusion, hidden from the world all this time."
"It wasn't until a few days ago that he successfully finished his secluded training, or what he called coming out into the world."
"After the Old Ancestor came out, he soon found us, his descendants, and showed us his strength."
"Senior, do you know how absurdly strong my Old Ancestor is?"
"There are several dozen people at my family's martial arts school. You couldn't call them incredible fighters, but every one of them is at least strong and sturdy, packed with muscle."
"You could say that with so many burly men there, even an elephant would end up hauled into a pot and cooked."
"But this Old Ancestor of mine, who claimed he'd spent hundreds of years in seclusion, took down every one of those several dozen people at the school all by himself."
"They didn't take turns fighting him. He fought dozens of people at once."
"It was seriously unbelievable."
"So unbelievable that even now, I still feel like I'm dreaming."
Xia Shuran spoke animatedly, growing more enthusiastic as she went, her eyes brimming with irrepressible excitement.
Wait, what?
One man taking on dozens of people?
Hundreds of years in seclusion?
Before you continue