Chapter 54: Deeds of Darkness Fully Revealed

Four years of undergraduate studies followed by three years of graduate school had left me with few special skills, but my talent for cooking instant noodles was peerless, especially the instant noodles boiled with an egg, which always smelled utterly enticing.

In Star Abyss, Master Kong instant noodles existed just like brands such as KFC and Pizza Hut, though their origins were untraceable. Many players on the dark web attempted to uncover the truth behind them, but in reality, there was no truth to be found, much like how JD.com existed in the Dragon Kingdom, yet its founder was a man named Hu Jiandong. If one stubbornly pursued the truth, they would ultimately find that it left no trace at all.

I placed the bowl of noodles on the table and then squatted on the floor right in front of Lin Qingying to devour my meal.

Perhaps the noodles smelled too good; she glanced up at me, her eyes filled with a trace of confusion.

After finishing, I washed the dishes.

Lin Qingying seemed to have finished her work as well. She rubbed her shoulders, looked over at me, and asked, "Are you in the mood to play a song?"

"You want to hear one?"

"Mm."

So, I took the guitar down from the wall, wiped away a thin layer of dust, but I had no intention of playing anything sentimental today. Instead, I sang a song of which I only knew a few lines, my voice full of wild, untamed spirit: "Don't get drenched by the rain or blown by the wind, don't look back, just walk away fast. The dogtail grass on the earthen mound is swaying, swaying until tears fall... singing the puppy's ballad, my little Yellow, you can no longer hear it..."

After singing those few lines, I couldn't remember the rest.

"That's it?" Lin Qingying asked.

"Yeah, that's it. That's all I remember."

She said flatly, "A drastic drop in your standards."

"Is that so?"

I smiled slightly. "Let me tell you a story."

"Mm."

She nodded gently.

I quickly pieced together the outline of the story in my mind and said, "When I was little, I lived in the mountains, and every time I went to school, I had to walk a very long mountain path. Once, on my way home from school, I met an abandoned little yellow dog. Afterwards, I kept it, and every day on my way to and from school, it would accompany me through that stretch of the mountain path. I considered it my best friend."

"And then?" she asked.

"Later, it contracted a disease called parvovirus, but it still limped along to send me to school. Eventually, it could no longer walk and died on the road while waiting for me to come home. I cried for a very, very long time. Dad buried Little Yellow on the earthen mound along the way to school. A few years later, a stalk of dogtail grass grew right where Little Yellow was buried. Every time I passed by, it would sway and sway, just like it was saying hello to me."

At this point, I fell somewhat silent.

Because I really had raised a little yellow dog when I was a child, and after it died from accidentally eating rat poison, I had cried for a very, very long time.

"Now, do you still think this song sounds terrible?"

I strummed the guitar once more and sang in a slightly husky voice: "The dogtail grass on the earthen mound is swaying, swaying until tears fall... singing the puppy's ballad, my little Yellow, you can no longer hear it..."

Lin Qingying's eyes instantly turned red. She slowly stood up and averted her face. "You really are so annoying..."

With that, she walked straight back to her room and closed the door, acting as though she never wanted to speak to me again.

I could tell that her emotions were quite fragile.

I frowned. Perhaps she was naturally fragile-hearted, or perhaps she was going through something at the moment, but I could neither empathize nor understand. There was a distance between people; just as Zhao Yihang had said, she and I were simply not people from the same world.

Within ten days, once I found a new place, I would have to move out.

...

The next day, work proceeded as usual.

During work hours, I secretly goofed off and wrote two chapters of my novel, publishing them online. I actually discovered that even with only a few hundred subscriptions, I could still earn a little money. Little by little, it might add up enough to buy an RPG grenade launcher or two, so I could blast whoever I didn't like!

Lu Xiaobei had been very busy these past few days.

Before long, the Spring Festival would arrive, and the Spring Festival had always been the peak tourist season in Xicheng. With mountains, the sea, and an ancient city steeped in historical sediment, it was the prime vacation destination of choice for many tourists from the Dragon Kingdom.

Therefore, major inns had already deployed their strategies well before the arrival of the Spring Festival. Naturally, a wild "model" like Lu Xiaobei—with her insanely high looks and high cost-performance ratio—was highly favored. Of course, the greater reason was that the free-spirited, leisurely vibe exuding from Lu Xiaobei was simply spot-on, making the owners of the ancient city inns drool with envy one after another.

"Ding!"

A WeChat message came from Zhang Ruolin: "Ding Han, Xiaobai asked if we should prepare ourselves and go out to grind levels again? This time we won't go to Morning Glow Plain, let's pick a more distant map so we might shake off Ragnarok's surveillance."

"I don't advise going."

I replied directly: "It's best for all of us to keep a low profile lately, especially you and Xiaobai. Ragnarok's people know the difficulty of killing me isn't low, so they are more likely to target the two of you. I suggest you stay within the city limits to do daily quests and practice sub-profession skills as much as possible. We can leave the city once the heat dies down a bit."

"That's what I thought too."

She sent a doge emoji: "Then I'll reply to her like this, and say Ding Han won't allow it."

"Damn it..."

I was completely left speechless.

Before I knew it, afternoon arrived. Barely four o'clock, Zhao Yihang showed up.

"Ding Han."

He sneaked a cautious look outside the door. "Is your pretty roommate not coming to pick you up today?"

"Pick me up my ass."

I rolled my eyes. "Just ordinary roommates, what reason does she have to pick me up?"

"Hehe, hearing you say that warms my heart!"

"Get lost, you!"

I glared at him. "Old K ordered a cup of milk tea, go deliver it to him in a bit."

"Alrighty, how come Old K logged on during the daytime?"

"I heard their guild is going to assault Shabak tonight at eight o'clock, so he logged on early to prepare potions and warm up."

"I see..."

After handing over the shift, as I left the internet cafe, I suddenly thought of a very important matter.

Lin Qingying hadn't returned the front door key I gave her yesterday, which meant I couldn't go back home today.

So, I sent her a WeChat message: "You haven't returned my key yet... What should I do, I can't get back in."

"Sorry."

She replied after a few minutes: "Either you come over to my company to pick it up, or... wait for me a little bit, I'll get off work earlier today."

"Around what time?"

"I get off at five, I'll arrive at the residential complex about ten minutes later."

"Alright then, I'll wait for you downstairs at the complex."

"Okay."

...

Back at the residential complex, I naturally couldn't just stand around waiting. I dug some coins out of my pocket, sat on the small stool in front of the arcade machine by the grocery store entrance, and began my journey through Knights of Valour. I chose Zhang Fei and roared loudly while executing his wild bull charge.

A man had to be fierce; that was how it should be!

One hour later, I cleared the game on a single coin, my face beaming with pride.

However, Lin Qingying hadn't returned yet, so I had no choice but to play something else. This time, I chose The King of Fighters '97, intending to sweep through the competition with my Kyo and Iori.

Before I even reached the third stage, a chubby kid walked over, sat down right beside me without a shred of politeness, inserted a coin, and jumped straight into battle mode!

"Li Xiang, you're courting death!" I sneered.

"Hmph!"

The chubby kid was a neighborhood kid, and he flashed a mocking expression at me as well. "Ding Han, I admit you're pretty good at Knights of Valour, but The King of Fighters '97 is my territory. There's no way you can be my opponent!"

"Is that so?"

I continued to sneer. "Careful now, the wind might blow your tongue off!"

"Bring it on then!"

Li Xiang provoked me frantically.

Thus, the two of us went to war!

I had to admit, Li Xiang wasn't boasting; he really knew his stuff when it came to fighting games. His execution of Iori Yagami's Sunflower combo was slick as hell. After a round of wild bombardment, he actually achieved a three-person sweep, wiping out all three of my characters!

"Hahahaha~~~"

Li Xiang taunted even more frantically: "Ding Han, aren't you supposed to be hot stuff? Where did that arrogant aura of yours go just now?"

"Don't get cocky, just wait!"

I scoffed, then inserted another coin. This time, abandoning any underestimation of my opponent, I earnestly engaged the brat in spacing and neutral gameplay. For a moment, we were evenly matched, until both of us were down to our final Iori. However, Li Xiang's Iori was played slightly better, and in the blink of an eye, he pinned my Iori to the ground, beat him to a pulp, and reduced him to a sliver of health!

"Hahahaha, Ding Han, weren't you super wild just a second ago, hahahaha~~~"

The chubby kid cackled wildly, his backside wriggling restlessly on the little stool as he squirmed back and forth.

This scene and setting—how achingly familiar it was.

If I didn't do something right now, I'd probably regret it for the rest of my life!

So, with one hand rocking the joystick for defense, my other hand applied a clever leverage technique—striking up and down on Li Xiang's stool with minimal effort to move a massive weight. Instantly, the stool toppled over, and the chubby kid wiped out on the spot!

Seizing the opportunity, I operated the controls frantically. Berserk Iori roared loudly, executing a sequence of Lily Cutter + Maiden Masher setup + reverse command grab + Maiden Masher super, and instantly hammered the chubby kid's half-health Iori to death on the ground!

"Ahahahaha~~~"

I turned my head and laughed heartily at him with a Kim Kaphwan-style grin: "Little fellow, although you're strong, it's impossible for you to defeat me. You must understand, you have climbed numerous mountains to reach this peak admired by all mortals, but everything you've done has merely brought you to my doorstep~~~ Ahahahahahaha~~~~"

Li Xiang was utterly convinced of his defeat. He wiped his tears, heartbroken.

Right at that moment, I sensed someone behind me.

Turning around, I saw Lin Qingying looking at me with a speechless expression. She had most likely witnessed everything that just happened.

It was over—my image was severely damaged!

"You're back?" I coughed to ease the awkwardness.

"Mm."

She was sparing with her words as she hoisted her bag and walked ahead up the stairs.

I fished out a few coins to compensate Li Xiang, then lowered my voice and said, "Stop crying. A real man bleeds but doesn't cry; what are you blubbering for, you call yourself a man? Next time I get the chance, I'll teach you Zhuge Liang's infinite ice-sword combo!"

"Really?!"

The chubby kid turned his tears into laughter.

I turned around to catch up, ascending the stairs alongside Lin Qingying.

...

On the fourth floor, Lin Qingying found the keys in her bag, but instead of opening the door immediately, she turned to look at me.

"What is it?"

Her gaze made my scalp tingle slightly.

She said earnestly, "Ding Han, I feel like you are simply steeped in heinous crimes."

"..."

She opened the door, walked inside, placed her bag on the sofa, and asked, "How's your search for a new place coming along?"

"Looking, looking. I'll go look right after I eat."

"Good."

...

Afterwards, the two of us went downstairs together, planning to grab dinner separately.

"Ding Han."

Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs, Grandpa Li from the grocery store smiled and said, "Hey? You and Comrade Xiao Lin are together?"

Grandpa Li was a retired grassroots cadre, which was why he liked calling people "comrade."

"Yeah."

I nodded. "We're sharing an apartment together."

"Aren't you two dating?"

Grandpa Li adjusted his reading glasses. "I always felt the two of you were a particularly good match."

I was somewhat speechless.

Lin Qingying, however, said very calmly, "Grandpa, please don't misunderstand. He and I are not together."

With that, she got into her car and drove away.