Chapter 2525 — Wang Xinyan Is Sick

Having read this far, Wei Zhao set aside "Jade Pendant Cultivation" and put the fine things he had obtained on this excursion into a drawer. The drawer was by now quite full of treasures—three fragments of the map, the Ten-Thousand-Year Spring Wood box, five spirit-beast inner cores, pure yellow jade, blue crystal, and colored steel, worth a fortune. As for the Heaven-and-Earth Net and the Thousand-Silk Mask, Wei Zhao kept those on his person.

That done, Wei Zhao sat cross-legged on the bed and continued cultivating. Unbidden, his thoughts turned to Wang Xinyan. He could not tell whether he missed her simply because he missed her, or because he missed her help with his cultivation.

After a while, the sound of a car came from outside the villa. Wei Zhao had not expected Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu to have driven back ahead of him.

"Arrow Brand Bro, Xiaoshu brought you something nice!" The moment Shen Yushu stepped through the door, she pulled out the mid-grade golden cicada undergarment and held it up before Wei Zhao's eyes as though claiming credit. "It's Zhong Yongliang's mid-grade one!"

"Zhong Yongliang's mid-grade one?" Wei Zhao was taken aback for a moment before he understood what Xiaoshu meant, and could not help exclaiming in surprise, "Xiaoshu, are you saying this is Zhong Yongliang's golden cicada undergarment?"

"That's right—I swapped it out for a low-grade one, and that idiot still doesn't know!" Shen Yushu said smugly. "Well? Isn't Xiaoshu impressive?"

"Mm, impressive indeed," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"So is there a reward?" Shen Yushu asked. "Like rewarding Yaoyao with a loving kiss, maybe..."

"Pfft... what does that have to do with me?" Gu Mengyao was startled to hear this and nearly gave Shen Yushu a kick.

"Of course it has to do with you! Actually, the credit is all Sister Yaoyao's. If Sister Yaoyao hadn't pretended to be sick to lure Zhong Yongliang to the door, Xiaoshu wouldn't have had the chance to swap it!" Shen Yushu said. "So the credit is all Sister Yaoyao's."

"Then... I don't want a reward. Give it to yourself," Gu Mengyao said, a little embarrassed.

"Great, then come on, Arrow Brand Bro. Kiss Xiaoshu..." Shen Yushu said happily.

"Heh heh..." Of course Wei Zhao could not actually kiss Xiaoshu. True, through a series of mishaps the two of them had kissed, and that night Xiaoshu had even confessed her feelings to him, but Wei Zhao knew very well that Xiaoshu only seemed bold; in certain respects she was quite conservative.

Otherwise, given Xiaoshu's temperament, he would have been pushed down onto the bed long ago. That it had not happened yet proved the point.

"Then I'll put it on record for now—you'll have to pay it back later!" Shen Yushu did not press the matter. Instead, she solemnly picked up a pen and wrote a line on the wall calendar in the living room: On such-and-such date, Arrow Brand Bro owes Xiaoshu one loving kiss. To be repaid double in the future.

Wei Zhao was briefly stunned, then glanced at Xiaoshu thoughtfully, feeling that her actions today carried some hidden meaning—though he could not quite figure out what. He had a premonition that this might actually come true one day. Otherwise, why would Xiaoshu bother writing it down?

But before Wei Zhao could think further, Xiaoshu handed him the mid-grade golden cicada undergarment and said, "Arrow Brand Bro, wash it before you use it."

Wei Zhao nodded and said, "Actually, without this thing, Zhong Yongliang has nothing to rely on. I can beat him even without wearing it."

"That won't do! Zhong Yongliang has a... what's it called, anyway something like the Golden Cudgel—it seems able to break through a person's true-qi protective barrier and wound them directly with the staff. What if he hits you with it?" Shen Yushu said worriedly.

"Oh? Then that's a fine thing too, isn't it?" Wei Zhao nodded and said, "All right, I'll wear it, and tomorrow I'll go settle him."

"Good, good, finally it'll be settled. Otherwise this whole business is such a nuisance..." Gu Mengyao breathed a sigh of relief at Wei Zhao's words.

"Since you two are back, I'll go see Han Jingyi. Have you seen her these past couple of days?" Wei Zhao asked.

"No, we haven't. That girl studies things all day long; when there's nothing urgent, we don't disturb her," Gu Mengyao said. "But Wang Xinyan came by yesterday and asked where you'd gone."

"Wang Xinyan? She came yesterday?" Wei Zhao was slightly startled.

"Yes. She said she was feeling a bit dizzy and wanted you to take a look, but you weren't here, so she left," Gu Mengyao said.

"Dizzy?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback.

"Oh, come on—I think Sister Xinyan just missed Arrow Brand Bro and had no excuse, so she said she was dizzy!" Shen Yushu said.

"Xiaoshu, don't talk nonsense. Do you think everyone's like you?" Gu Mengyao shot Xiaoshu a glare, then said to Wei Zhao, "Now that you mention it, I hadn't thought of it before—hurry up and give her a call and ask how she's doing."

"All right." Wei Zhao felt somewhat uneasy himself. What was this dizziness of Wang Xinyan's about? He did not want anything to happen to her. Even setting aside any romantic considerations, Wang Xinyan was enormously useful to him.

So Wei Zhao gave up the idea of going to see Han Jingyi and dialed Wang Xinyan's number directly. Before long, her somewhat languid voice came through the line: "Hello? Wei Zhao?"

"It's me, Xinyan. How are you? I'm back. Yaoyao said you've been feeling dizzy—are you any better?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I don't know what's wrong either. I just feel a bit light-headed, and I drifted off to sleep just now..." Wang Xinyan rarely slept during the day. She had no idea how she had dozed off earlier. "Maybe I've caught a cold?"

"Caught a cold? Then wait there—I'll come find you at school," Wei Zhao said. "A cold is no small matter; you can't take it lightly. If it gets serious, you might not even be able to attend class..."

"It's not that serious, surely... I'm so sleepy..." Wang Xinyan said. "I'm in the dormitory. You can't get in, can you..."

"How about this—I'll have Yaoyao and Xiaoshu go pick you up. Come have dinner at my place tonight, and if you're still not well, just sleep over. I can take a look at you while you're here," Wei Zhao said. Though his original intention was for Wang Xinyan's good, he could not help also thinking that tonight he might hold her while cultivating—and at the thought of cultivating, he could not help again conjuring up the ambiguities between them...

"Ah... it's probably too much trouble for them..." Wang Xinyan did not refuse, but merely said it would be too much trouble for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, which secretly delighted Wei Zhao.

"It's no trouble at all," Wei Zhao said.

"Then... all right. I'll get ready first; by the time they arrive, I should be about ready to come downstairs..." Wang Xinyan thought it over and agreed. RQ

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