Xiao Fan called Lin Xianhuo. With their class group chat, finding her number was easy.
The call was answered quickly, and Xiao Fan heard crying on the other end.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Fan's voice was filled with a rare, gentle concern.
Lin Xianhuo said through her tears, "Ding Dong's grandmother... passed away."
"Ah..." Xiao Fan abruptly straightened his back.
Deeply emotional, Lin Xianhuo spoke in a trembling voice. "Little Dingdong was so happy when she got more than a dozen boxes of cancer medicine."
"She skipped and hopped all the way home, thinking her grandmother could live for a very, very long time."
"But..."
"But Grandma only held her hand for a moment, and then... then she was gone."
"She's gone..."
"Xiao Fan, I'm so sad."
"Why do people have to face partings in life and death?"
Xiao Fan's brows and eyes knotted together, harboring boundless sorrow.
He was saddened by it too, but he still comforted her. "They didn't die. They just got tired of playing in this world."
"Mm..." Lin Xianhuo gave no response for a long while.
Then Xiao Fan forced a smile and asked, "Send me your location. I'll come over."
The location soon arrived. It was a morgue.
Xiao Fan hurried over.
As he stepped into the room, an icy chill washed over him. A row of deathly pale cabinets came into view, utterly devoid of life.
By the wall, Little Dingdong was crouched down, sobbing inconsolably.
Lin Xianhuo was crying too, but she held herself together, standing as she comforted Little Dingdong.
Xiao Fan stood quietly, without a word.
At that moment, the attendant came over and asked with a sigh, "Cremation, or...?"
Little Dingdong was too choked with sobs to speak clearly. "Mm... mm..."
"Cremation is three thousand."
Little Dingdong abruptly raised her head, panic and helplessness written all over her face.
She couldn't come up with three thousand.
Lin Xianhuo hurriedly pulled out a hundred-thousand federal currency note, but Xiao Fan stopped her. Making change for that would be too much trouble, and he had exactly three thousand in his pocket, so he handed it over.
The attendant sighed. "My condolences."
They were to collect the ashes after the cremation tomorrow. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Little Dingdong suddenly took out a box of cancer medicine, opened it, and removed the medicine inside, leaving only the plastic box.
"Let's use this as the urn," Little Dingdong murmured, her eyes vacant.
Alarmed, Lin Xianhuo said, "It's all right. I'll take you to buy one tomorrow. I'll buy you one as beautiful as you want."
But Little Dingdong shook her head. "No... this one will do."
Xiao Fan rested a hand on Little Dingdong's head and smiled faintly. "This thing won't stand up to corrosion. Give it enough time and it'll disintegrate. You should pick a good one. It's fine, she's rich. She can afford it."
"Don't stand on ceremony with us."
Little Dingdong broke down sobbing again. She threw her arms around Xiao Fan and mumbled, "Th-thank you..."
Xiao Fan couldn't hold back either. For some reason, his eyes grew warm with tears. He quickly wiped them away and stroked Little Dingdong's head, repeating over and over, "It's all right... it's all right... it's all right..."
After a long while, Little Dingdong said, utterly lost, "I'll be an orphan from now on."
Xiao Fan said seriously, "That's nothing."
"I was an orphan before, and I'm still an orphan now."
Xiao Fan had lived two lives.
He had been an orphan in both.
"Huh?" Both Little Dingdong and Lin Xianhuo could hardly believe it.
But Xiao Fan smiled and pointed at the twinkling stars. "Being an orphan is great."
"No one to control you, no one to hold you back."
"Only the sea of stars is our limit!"
Hearing that, Little Dingdong abruptly stopped crying and stared blankly.
Beside them, Lin Xianhuo wore a complicated expression.
This despicable Dog King was surprisingly good at comforting people...
In the end,
Little Dingdong was afraid to sleep alone. Xiao Fan was going home, and Lin Xianhuo went along too.
The two of them returned to Xiao Fan's home.
Xiao Fan's parents had died in battle when he was seven. He really had been an orphan in his previous life, but in this life, he had had parents and experienced a father's and mother's love. So he had grieved for a long time back then before recovering.
By now, Little Dingdong was already asleep.
It was late at night, nearly one o'clock, and the night was quiet.
But neither Xiao Fan nor Lin Xianhuo felt the least bit sleepy.
Xiao Fan's refrigerator was stocked entirely with ice-cold beer. He took out half a case and set it on the balcony.
The man and woman sat side by side on a rocking chair and drank together.
Then.
Xiao Fan's gaze drifted to Lin Xianhuo's outstretched legs, and his heart immediately began to race.
Only then did he realize how stunning her legs were. Like spring water by a lakeshore, they were snow-white as jade, straight and slender.
She usually wore long pants, but now she had shorts on, displaying all their allure.
Suddenly.
"Ahem." Lin Xianhuo cleared her throat.
Xiao Fan quickly looked away, wondering if she had caught him.
That was close. Lin Xianhuo had simply never drunk alcohol before and found it a little harsh.
But she soon fell in love with the taste, unpleasant yet addictive.
"Hey, slow down. Do you think that's a soft drink?" Xiao Fan glanced at her.
Lin Xianhuo gave a soft snort. "I can afford your beer. I'll buy you ten or twenty cases later!"
"It's not about the money. I'm afraid you'll get drunk and lose control of yourself." Xiao Fan scoffed.
Lin Xianhuo flew into a rage. "You're the one who'll get drunk and lose control!"
"Yeah, right." Xiao Fan shook his head and took another sip, rocking back against the bench, feeling the night breeze as he gazed at the dazzling river of stars and the crescent moon.
Lin Xianhuo suddenly sighed. "Xiao Fan, you really are the most extraordinary genius I've ever met."
"A genius with one-star talent?" Xiao Fan said self-mockingly.
"Do you really only have one-star talent?" Lin Xianhuo's face was full of disbelief.
Xiao Fan shook his head. "Why else would I pretend?"
"I'm afraid the military will grab me for human experiments."
"Then aren't you afraid I'll tell someone?" Lin Xianhuo asked with a smile.
"I am." Xiao Fan nodded quietly. Then he took out his phone.
On the phone was a sexy, sizzling photo of Lin Xianhuo lying beside a stinking ditch in an extremely seductive pose.
If that photo got out, Lin Xianhuo would never be able to show her face again!
She flew into a rage on the spot and shrieked, "Delete that photo!!!"
Xiao Fan instantly snatched his phone back and scoffed. "Dream on. Caution keeps a ship sailing for ten thousand years. If you dare tell anyone about me, I'll post this photo of you on every website out there!"
"You!!" Lin Xianhuo was so angry her scalp tingled. She stared fixedly at the pocket where Xiao Fan had put his phone.
But Xiao Fan remained dismissive. "Don't even think about it. I've got more than a dozen backups alone!"
"I..." Lin Xianhuo wanted to cry. She sighed. "Xiao Fan, is that really what you think of me? Someone who'd casually expose your secret?"
"Who knows?" Xiao Fan chuckled, then changed the subject. "Let's not talk about that!"
"Lin Xianhuo, you owe me four lives."
"Bullshit. Just the one back there!" Lin Xianhuo snorted.
"Could you have beaten Black Butcher?" Xiao Fan shot back.
"That's still only two!"
"Could you have outrun the Fire Sparrow King?"
"You! If you hadn't come over and snatched it, I could've escaped on my own!"
"Really?" Xiao Fan glanced at her. "Birds have a very keen sense of smell. Beast Mountain is five kilometers from Green Leaf City, and you can't even escape underground or into the water. You think you could've gotten away?"
"Hmph!" Lin Xianhuo said angrily. "That's three, then. Where did you get four lives?"
"The Bone-Piercing Blade." Xiao Fan took a sip of beer and said mildly, "I could have killed you, but I didn't. Does that count as one?"
"You! That counts too?" Lin Xianhuo's cheeks were red with anger, or perhaps from drinking too much.
"Of course." Xiao Fan grinned. "You owe me four lives. Shouldn't you give me a little compensation?"
Lin Xianhuo quickly covered herself. "What are you trying to do? I already let you kiss me all night!"
"Oh, now that you mention it, that reminds me. Doesn't that make it five lives? Would you have survived without my mouth-to-mouth?" Xiao Fan teased.
"You're so shameless!" Lin Xianhuo's little mouth twisted with anger.
Xiao Fan shook his head. "Relax. I'm not interested in flat chests."
"Oh? Then are you interested in Shao Yan? What exactly is going on between you two?" Lin Xianhuo's tone suddenly turned strange.
"She's... a drunk. Never mind her. You got me sidetracked. Right, I want you to pay me interest!" Xiao Fan snorted.
"What? The Fire Sparrows count, don't they? And my storage ring!" Lin Xianhuo glared at Xiao Fan.
"I snatched those with my own ability, so of course they don't count." Xiao Fan shook his head.
"You!" Lin Xianhuo was so angry she chugged a whole bottle.
"What do you want?"
"A cultivation technique." Xiao Fan grinned. "I want a third-tier cultivation technique, preferably an amplification-type one."
"Hmph, that's all? A third-tier cultivation technique, I... wait, I don't think I have a technique that trashy."
Xiao Fan grew anxious. "You don't?"
"You're such an important person, and you don't have a third-tier cultivation technique?"
Lin Xianhuo pursed her lips. "I have god-tier talent. I've never practiced a third-tier cultivation technique in my life!"
"Damn! What a huge loss!" Xiao Fan trembled with anger.
"Hey, I just said I have god-tier talent. Aren't you shocked?" Lin Xianhuo felt her pride had been wounded.
Xiao Fan pointed at the room behind him. "The one sleeping soundly in there is mythic-tier."
"What!?" Lin Xianhuo's eyes widened instantly. "You mean... Little Dingdong has mythic-tier talent?"
Suddenly, Xiao Fan froze. He realized he shouldn't have said that.
Damn, I've had too much to drink! It just slipped out.
"No, I'm joking." Xiao Fan shook his head.
"That's more like it." Lin Xianhuo breathed a sigh of relief.
If, in this little Green Leaf City, there really was one person stronger than her and another with greater talent, she would lose her composure.
But Xiao Fan grew angry. "I risked my life to save you, and I don't even get interest? No, you have to get me an amplification-type martial art!"
"Right, you're definitely going to follow the martial path at school. You can get into the Scripture Repository, so secretly copy one out for me!"
Lin Xianhuo's eyes went wide. "You want me to steal?"
"I can't do something like that!"
Xiao Fan snorted and began chanting, "Five lives... five lives... five lives... five lives..."
"All right, all right! Enough, stop it! I'll figure something out, okay?!" Lin Xianhuo couldn't take it anymore.