Gu Xiqiao stood slowly, raising her own gla.s.s. "This is the result of your own hard work, what you all rightfully deserve!"
The light reflecting off the transparent wine gla.s.ses that were raised shone with beautiful rainbow colors, all the expressions on everyone"s face was joyful, as a loud, joyous cheer sounded out, rocking the entire private box.
After finis.h.i.+ng their meal, a waiter came to remove the table and chairs, opening the wall at the center of the room to reveal a large LCD screen TV. The box instantly transformed into a large KTV area, and the cla.s.s lead was calling for everyone to play the games offered, while some sang karaoke, chatted and it felt like they had returned to those beautiful carefree days of their final year.
Gu Xiqiao sat on the sofa, her head in her hand as she watched them have fun, she was after all "elderly", and she wasn"t so easily hyped up like these youngsters. The others around her just a.s.sumed that she had a little too much to drink, and didn"t force her to join in on their fun.
"Why are you hiding here, come come come, sing a song! I want to hear how Beauty Gu"s voice sounds!" The girl sitting at the back table was a mic hog, but when she saw Gu Xiqiao sitting there without moving, she couldn"t help but shout out.
With that one exclamation, everyone"s eyes fell on her. Once they heard that Gu Xiqiao was going to sing, they couldn"t help but feel some antic.i.p.ation and eagerness rise.
Gu Xiqiao raised her head to find that everyone had stopped their activities and was looking at her, so she silently got up without protest, heading towards the mic and choosing a song.
The familiar music started playing, and everyone here recognized the melody of the song.
Gu Xiqiao didn"t look at the lyrics, sitting casually on the stool with a lazy look in her eyes. Her long eyelashes and sparkling black eyes were mesmerizing, and a clear voice sounded out, "If the two words didn"t tremble, then I wouldn"t have known that it was unbearable…"
Her voice was like a gentle stream flowing through, and sometimes it went lower to the baritone range, becoming clearer and clearer as the song went on, letting those who listened feel the mild and lingering caress in their ears.
The song was already moving by itself, and her singing was also amazing, and the atmosphere of joy previously in the room was also falling from the emotions in the air.
In their third year, they used to sleep and eat together, and even go to the washroom together.
Especially in the final month, it was the most important and unforgettable time of their lives. They had stuck together, ran together, rebelled against the director together. They pulled each other along all the way, and those days were days that none of them would forget, even when they were too old to walk.
Some of the girls couldn"t help the redness of their eyes, a few of them even hugging each other, promising to attend the same university in the same city.
"Gu Xiqiao, you"re awesome, making our entire cla.s.s cry." Xiao Yun couldn"t help but say after she watched Gu Xiqiao put down the mic. Looking around at her cla.s.smates, she couldn"t help but feel slightly emotional.
Gu Xiqiao was not expecting this to happen either. "...I really didn"t mean to. Um, why didn"t the cla.s.s teacher come?"
Xiao Yun took a piece of watermelon casually, her voice lazy as she replied, "He went off to the Imperial Capital once we finished our exams, but since tomorrow is the announcement, he should be back by then."
With that said, Gu Xiqiao didn"t bother pursuing further. "I"m going to the washroom."
The washroom inside the private box was occupied, and it seemed like the person inside was constipated or something. Gu Xiqiao didn"t want to wait, and as Xiao Yun was talking to the cla.s.s monitor, she only nodded her head and told her to be careful.
"Alright," Gu Xiqiao said, taking her phone with her as she left.
The washroom wasn"t that far from the room, just take a turn and it was there. Strictly speaking, she was still underage at this time. This is the first time she had drunk alcohol at this age, and this wasn"t the same body that could walk in a wine pool. Drinking a little wine in this body was already uncomfortable.
The light was dim in here, and her pale white skin contrasted against it, standing out even more, like a sparkling beauty. The corridor was quiet, but she slowed her steps, her brows furrowing. She looked to the left of the room, her eyes sharpening.
There was a presence in there that made her uncomfortable.
A hand emerged from the corner, and Gu Xiqiao"s eyes widened in surprise. Her heartbeat sped up in an instant, this was the first time, the first time that she had felt so powerless in front of a person. Since she had leveled up her ancient martial arts skill, she was able to sense everything within the radius of ten meters, but she didn"t even detect the presence of this person!
"What are you doing here?"
A familiar voice rang out from the top of her head, and a tug came at Gu Xiqiao"s heart as she felt a warm touch on her back. The chest behind her was hard and solid, and although the usual smell on him was absent, she could make a guess at the familiar feeling he gave off. "Brother Jiang!"
She raised her head, her eyes meeting those deep, black eyes that looked like they were glittering in the dark.
Hearing her voice, Jiang Shuxuan"s expression gradually eased, the corner of his lips tilting up slightly. His eyebrow c.o.c.ked up, he was just standing there, and yet he could portray himself to be indecently handsome. "And you"ve been drinking?"
"It"s a cla.s.s party, I only drank a little," Gu Xiqiao replied, touching her nose lightly. She had already washed her face, how was he able to still tell from the lingering smell?
[Forced chain mission: Purify the evil aura! Please follow Jiang Shuxuan into the mission venue, find the mission target, and purify his evil aura.]
[Mission completion reward for first part completion: 200 points! Mission completion reward for the entire part: 100,000 points! Penalty for incomplete mission: Obliteration!]
A paragraph of blood-red words had appeared on the transparent panel in front of her, one sentence at a time. It was as though the words were engraved in her mind, and her mental state took a huge blow.
This was the first time a mission like this had appeared, and the words "obliteration" made all blood drain from her face. She called out to the system in the void, "System! What is going on?!"
[Wait a while, don"t panic, Beauty Qiao, I"m investigating.] A serious look was on the system spirit"s face, as it sat crossed legged while reading through the information. It was not omnipotent, everything that it knew came from a chip implanted by others into its brain. It required some time to process and digest millions of data.
"What"s wrong?" Jiang Shuxuan saw that she was even more pale than usual, he grabbed her arm immediately, searching her face for any hints.
Gu Xiqiao was someone who had already died once, so she calmed down fairly quickly. Reaching out a hand to grip the corner of Jiang Shuxuan"s s.h.i.+rt, a pair of clear, calm eyes looked up at him. Her skin was as white as ice and snow, and her delicate eyebrows made her face look even more fragile. "It"s alright, Brother Jiang. I will go with you."
"Alright." With such a determined look on her face, he couldn"t find it in him to reject her. In addition, the task he was on wasn"t that dangerous, and he agreed with little thought, "After we go in, don"t talk. Just stay by my side."
Jiang Shuxuan rubbed her head gently, and then led her to a luxurious box room.
When they reached the door of the room, he let go of their intertwined hands. Gu Xiqiao followed behind him.
There weren"t many people in the room, and the room was incomparable to the one that the parallel cla.s.s was in. Seeing that Jiang Shuxuan had returned, the people inside greeted him. Most of the people here were upstarts in N City, and were families who were not really well known. Naturally, they wouldn"t know of Jiang Shuxuan"s ident.i.ty either. They just saw him as someone who was overly generous, and would quietly accept his arrival.
Everyone was crowding a fierce looking man, and his name was displayed above his head: w.a.n.g Lixin.
The words were marked red by the system, and Gu Xiqiao knew immediately that this was the mission target!
[Beauty Qiao, I"ve found it. This is also known as the ultimate chain mission. The year you died and was scanned by the system, because you met the criteria of the system, the system was willing to spend so much energy to help you be reborn.] The system spirit paused a while here, before continuing, [But you know, everyone"s fate is unchangeable. Your rebirth has already changed history to a certain extent, so you are required to complete some missions in order to ensure the natural order of the world is not disrupted. This ultimate chain mission is the most important and dangerous mission that you need to complete, and only after completing it will you have a real rebirth, and be free from the control of the system. This mission is linked to others down the road, and it will get more dangerous in the future, this is just the beginning!]