Even after Bai Susu left, there were still quite a few people who came over, hoping to change Ji Xiaoxi’s mind. Seeing that her mind was made up, they eventually settled with giving her medicine, weapons, or defensive artifacts.
Zu An was amazed. “Xiaoxi, I didn’t know you are so popular in the academy. It’s almost as if you’re the academy’s pet!”
“Ah~ Aren’t you making fun of me by saying that I’m a pet?” Ji Xiaoxi pouted in dissatisfaction.
“I’m saying that you’re adorable.” Zu An couldn’t help but think that even a pouting Ji Xiaoxi looked incredibly adorable. He instinctively wanted to pet her head, but recalling how his hands became hopelessly swollen the last time he did so, he could only hesitantly retract his hand.
It’s almost like Ji Dengtu is projecting himself on the rest of the world. He thinks that all men are as perverted as he is, so he goes to such an extent to protect Ji Xiaoxi, not leaving any gaps at all.
His explanation placated Ji Xiaoxi, and she broke out in a smile. “Here, I can’t use all of it myself. I’ll give some to you too.”
She stuffed some of the bottles of medicine and hidden weapons into Zu An’s hands, which conveniently brought him a huge inflow of Rage points too. He quickly took a look around him, only to see many of the male students glaring daggers at him.
He was initially intending to attempt to reject the gifts out of politeness, but the reactions of those around him changed his mind. He accepted everything Ji Xiaoxi gave him heartily and said, “Thanks, Xiaoxi! Hahaha!”
It was yet another flood of Rage points.
Tsk tsk tsk. As your teacher, let me give you all a life lesson here: Bootlickers have no future at all! You can fawn on women all you want, but it’ll never get you anywhere!
“Cough cough. It looks like Brother Zu is always in the limelight no matter where you go.” Xie Xiu walked over with a smile, feeling deeply impressed with Zu An. He couldn’t fathom how Zu An was able to survive to this day with how he was constantly attracting aggression from those around him.
Zu An straightened his back and cleared his throat before saying, “Please call me Teacher Zu instead.”
“…” Xie Xiu.
What the hell? How am I supposed to follow up with that?
However, Zu An quickly changed his tune and said, “But in view of our relationship, I’ll allow you to just call me Ah Zu!”
“Ah… Alright, Ah Zu.” Due to Zu An’s disruption, Xie Xiu nearly lost his train of thought. “The dungeon only opens once every few decades. If something happens here it’ll be nigh impossible to investigate the matter. Due to that, it has always been an ideal place to kill and plunder. You must make sure to tread carefully over the next ten days.”
“Hahaha, I didn’t expect you to be so concerned about me. Alright, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to make a friend out of you!” It was at this point that Zu An abruptly changed the topic. “Speaking of which, that beautiful woman sitting next to you during the previous Clans Tournament is your older sister, right? Why didn’t she enter the dungeon too? Can you introduce her to me?”
Xie Xiu was rendered speechless. Are you just trying to get close to me in order to flirt with my big sister?
“My big sister isn’t interested in dungeons and that sort of stuff…” Xie Xiu laughed awkwardly before swiftly fleeing the area. It felt rather uncomfortable for him to be trying to get close to a man.
Before long, the only ones left at the starting point were Ji Xiaoxi and Zu An. Ji Xiaoxi couldn’t help but remark, “Ah Zu, you’re a bad person.”
“How am I a bad person?” asked Zu An.
“You’re still trying to flirt around even though you’re already… already…” Ji Xiaoxi shot a glance at Zu An’s crotch, but her shyness made her eyes flicker around awkwardly. “… like that down there.”
“What do you know? This is called preparing for the future! I’ll be up and going by the end of this dungeon anyway!” replied Zu An. “Only fools would prepare for what that is right ahead of them. Those who are truly wise like me are constantly thinking multiple steps ahead!”
Ji Xiaoxi blinked her eyes in surprise. She didn’t expect him to be so optimistic. After all, finding the Evanescent Lotus in this massive dungeon was like searching for a needle amidst the boundless ocean.
She felt that Zu An’s optimism was unfounded, but she couldn’t bear to point it out and dampen his morale.
“Where should we head to?”
“We’ll head west! West all the way!”
…
The two of them chatted merrily while heading westward, but all of a sudden, Zu An heard the sharp rustle of the wind. He immediately grabbed Ji Xiaoxi’s arm and pulled her to the side.
Several yellowish thorns had pierced into the very spot they were standing on earlier. Had they not moved away earlier, the thorns would have penetrated their body, dealing severe damage to them.
“What’s going on?”
Zu An noticed a rat clicking its teeth in their direction. While it did resemble a rat in terms of appearance, it was massive in size, comparable to a warthog!
However, what was more important at the moment was the numbing pain assaulting Zu An’s arm. He turned to Ji Xiaoxi with an exasperated look as he said, “Xiaoxi, the antidote~”