"I"ve run a bath for you, and I"ve only got female dresses for children, so you have to wear my clothes. Some porridge will be ready after you finish the bath," Xiaofeng said to Si Yejing as he put a set of his clothes on the sofa and a towel beside her.
At the moment, Si Yejing had calmed down, her eyes fixed on the floor blankly, as she was in low spirits.
On hearing Xiaofeng"s words, she remained silent and went into the bathroom with the clothes.
Xiaofeng looked indifferent despite having heard of Midsummer Rose"s misery. He did not regret what he had done.
Being the subject of a human experiment for five years in a place as horrible as h.e.l.l had once killed all Xiaofeng"s human nature. Had it not been for Xiao Ling, he would still be a cold-blooded killing machine now.
At present, nothing could distract him from finding the man behind the crime and taking care of Xiao Ling.
He placed the cooked porridge on the table and told Si Yejing to get some for herself before going back to his room with a bowl of porridge. He woke up the sleeping Xiao Ling, cooled the porridge down, and fed her with a spoon.
He was so gentle that Xiao Ling was not awakened even after she finished the porridge and went back to sleep again.
When Xiaofeng walked out of his room again, Si Yejing had eaten up half of the porridge. She sat on the sofa in his shirt and jeans, wrapping her legs with her arms, silent and depressed.
Xiaofeng left her alone and went to take care of the leftovers. After he cleared the table, he went back to his room.
Holding the game helmet for a while, he still could not concentrate on the game.
Though Xiaofeng was not bothered by Midsummer Rose"s misery, he felt uneasy at the thought of Si Yejing glancing at him in a way as if he had betrayed her.
However, Xiaofeng took his feeling as a sign of regaining his human nature. It was a good thing that he was no longer as cold-blooded as a killing machine.
Putting away the game helmet, he decided to go to sleep first because he had not slept for a long time. Though when he entered the game world, his body would be in light dormancy, it was not an actual rest. Thus, even with a rebuilt body, he still felt under pressure.
Finally, Xiaofeng could have a rest after so many sleepless days. With one of his arms around Xiao Ling"s small body, he stroked her smooth but thin shoulders and back, and closed his eyes.
Sunlight was shining into the room through the window when Xiaofeng woke up, and it was extremely bright after the rainfall. The air was still moist with the raindrops, so it was cool.
Xiaofeng checked the time and did not wake up Xiao Ling, who was crouched in his arms, since it was still early and she could sleep longer.
He got out of bed cautiously, and there were dull, cracking sounds as he stretched his body. He then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
"Hm?"
Xiaofeng was stunned when he got out of his room, and he looked toward the sofa, where lay a tall figure whose arms wrapped around the legs. The figure was asleep, frowning as if under much pressure, even while dreaming.
The figure was none other than Si Yejing. She did not leave and had slept on Xiaofeng"s sofa last night. Xiaofeng did not wake her up, and when he prepared breakfast, he made enough for three people.
Si Yejing was woken up by the noise in the kitchen. She opened her eyes, tidied her long hair, and went to the bathroom as she usually did.
At the moment, Xiao Ling also got up. With her nightgown hanging on her loosely, and her golden, long hair s.h.a.ggy, she went into the bathroom as well while rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Ah!!!"
A screech sounded in the bathroom, followed by a sigh of relief from Si Yejing after she found that it was Xiao Ling.
"Why are you in my house? Why are you wearing my brother"s clothes? What have you done last night!"
Xiaofeng picked up his ears and pretended not to have heard the noise in the bathroom—out of sight, out of mind.
Soon after, the two girls left the bathroom one after the other. Xiao Ling stared at Xiaofeng, arms around her chest, and her delicate face was full of anger and questions.
Si Yejing regained some of her spirits and explained that because of the rain last night, she did not go back home. However, she hummed and hawed when trying to explain why she would come last night.
Her hesitation deepened Xiao Ling"s suspicion. She then stared at Xiaofeng even more fixedly with her blue eyes.
"Breakfast is ready."
Xiaofeng gave a gentle knock on her head and took out a comb from behind him to smooth her golden, s.h.a.ggy hair.
Xiao Ling puffed herself up like a gamec.o.c.k and glanced at Si Yejing with a superior air from time to time while gracefully cutting her poached egg with a knife and fork and enjoying Xiaofeng serving her.
"Won"t you go home now?" Xiaofeng asked Si Yejing.
"I don"t know what to do after I go back. I dare not go online," Si Yejing answered with her head down in low spirits.
Xiaofeng continued to speak. "Your cousin may need you with her now."
"What did she mean by saying that? Won"t she leave?"
"I"ll go later."
Si Yejing was stunned. What Xiaofeng said made sense. Though she was afraid to face Midsummer Rose, she should accompany her, who might need her support after the huge blow.
Thinking of this, she started to eat faster and gorged her food.
"Xiao Ling, it"s time to go to school," Xiaofeng said to Xiao Ling, who had finished her breakfast, after tidying her golden, long hair and tying it into two pigtails with a pretty knot.
Xiao Ling lingered for a while but still went back to her room to change her clothes into a princess"s dress. After that, she glanced at Xiaofeng and went to school, pouting with her mouth.
"Why didn"t he go to play the game today? I can"t skip the cla.s.ses again."
Soon after Si Yejing left, Xiaofeng went online.
He had been offline for just one night, but the game world had witnessed a huge change.
The top 10 players on the level list all had reached level 16, and Ximen Chuixue, who ranked second, was at level 17, one level lower than Xiaofeng.
Xiaofeng could not help gasping in shock. "What a bunch of leveling-up freaks! They must be online 24 hours a day given their leveling speed."
The same changed occurred to the equipment list as well. Two new immortal pieces of equipment appeared on the list, which indicated that a high-level BOSS must have been killed last night. As for the guild list, after the Midsummer, Dynasty became the second guild set up in Huaxia District on the list.
Considering the appearance of new immortal equipment, the guilds had to be hunting the high-level BOSSes everywhere. It seemed that they were planning to set up a new guild based on the experience they had gained from the defensive war of Midsummer Guild.
Xiaofeng had no intention to hide his ident.i.ty, so he took off his mask before wandering in Tianlong City to carry out some small missions. He was waiting for Midsummer Rose to come to him. Meanwhile, he sent a message to Qian Duoduo, asking her to do him a favor.
"Where are you, Brother Xiao?" Qian Duoduo replied. "I... I need to dress up now. I"ll be there in half an hour."
The address Qian Duoduo received from Xiaofeng was his address in the real world, at which Qian Duoduo"s voice became nervous. She was tongue-tied while having expectation as she hung up the phone.
Xiaofeng wandered in Tianlong City, the base of the Midsummer Guild, for quite a long while, and sure that he had caught the attention of many players of the guild, he left for the business street to get some snacks for Xiaobai. He wanted to bring them to Xiaobai during the next visit because Xiaoxue had almost eaten up all the food in his backpack.
However, half of a day had pa.s.sed as Qian Duoduo arrived before Midsummer Rose, which caused Xiaofeng to murmur to himself, "Why hasn"t the Midsummer Group taken any action after suffering such a big blow?"
He had given Midsummer Rose a chance. As long as the man behind the matter took action, smart as Midsummer Rose was, she would know what to do with it.
Xiaofeng had no choice but go offline since Midsummer Rose did not seize the opportunity. He had received the call from Qian Duoduo that she was outside his door.
As a matter of fact, Midsummer Rose had received the news that Xiaofeng appeared in Tianlong City, but she did not go to see him after careful consideration.
At the moment, standing high on a huge rock on the Vast Plain, Midsummer Rose looked where the encampment of her guild had once been built, despite there being nothing left.
She was there alone, her white dress spotlessly clean, her figure tall and graceful. As a wind blew over, her hair and dress fluttered in the air; though her face was half-covered by a veil, she looked like nothing in the world.
She gave off an unworldly air from her nature, like the snow on the Tian Shan that was beyond people"s reach, so ethereal and stunning.
Lost in thought, she was suddenly awoken by the call from Brother Nine of Glory, but she turned it down without hesitation, and there was determination in her beautiful eyes as she went offline.
"Brother Xiao, I"m here!"
Xiaofeng opened the door of his apartment for Qian Duoduo and stared at her.
Looking like 17 or 18, Qian Duoduo was young and pretty with natural beauty. There was not much makeup on her face, even though she had said that she would dress herself up. Her white legs looked long and straight under her plaid skirt like pencils, and the transparent sandals she wore were rather cute.
She wore a simple, slim white shirt, which was taken in at the waist, revealing her extremely slender figure and flat belly. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, exposing her snow-white forearms. Yet, she stared at Xiaofeng unblinkingly.
"Brother Xiao, you look even more handsome than in the game."
"Well, you have good taste."
Xiaofeng nodded his agreement and let Qian Duoduo into his house.
Qian Duoduo became speechless, but before long, she became constrained and looked at Xiaofeng shyly with her pretty cheecks blushed.
"Brother Xiao, could you show me your bedroom?"
"Why? What do you want to look for?"
Xiaofeng felt confused but still took her into his bedroom.
"I..." Qian Duoduo looked even shyer after entering the room. Her face was aflame with blushes, and she lowered her head to avoid looking at Xiaofeng.
"I... Brother Xiao, I"ve never had it before, so, please be gentle. And, please... please take this..."
Qian Duoduo spoke in a bashful manner and handed Xiaofeng what she took out from the pocket of her skirt.
Xiaofeng received it subconsciously, and when he opened his hands, his face darkened—it was a Durex.