Chapter 38: The Qilin’s Wish to Return

Yu Xiaozhe and the others were talking about Ruan Xingwen, who was currently snoring away in bed. The reason he was sleeping so late had to do with a conversation he had with the system the previous night. The previous night at eleven o’clock Ruan Xingwen had finished washing up and was ready for bed when a line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes. [Task Progress: 0%] "Huh, you can speak on your own too?" Ruan Xingwen was a bit curious. [Your task completion rate is too low, I have the authority to remind you.] "Oh, but isn’t the task deadline two years from now?" [According to the system’s calculation, reconstructing the villa requires around 10 million.] Ruan Xingwen felt like coughing up blood... 10 million, how many events would he have to join for that... After getting the money, he still needed to find people for the reconstruction too, and that would take time. He had previously overlooked the time required for construction, so considering that, he would only have about a year and a half to earn the money! Oh my god! Just let his misfortune continue... Although Ruan Xingwen complained a bit in his heart, he never gave up on the task. "How are Little Qilin and the others doing?" [Do you need me to connect you to Yun Jing?] The system mechanically replied with captions. "Connect to Yun Jing." After saying this, Ruan Xingwen noticeably felt the space before him warp a little, and then a bleak land appeared. The perspective shifted, and Ruan Xingwen saw two black figures, one big and one small, sitting side by side on a small mound. Hmm? What’s going on? Ruan Xingwen was a bit puzzled because these two figures seemed somewhat... sad?! At this moment, a voice from Yun Jing came from outside the background, "Xingxing, is there something you need from me?" "Nothing much, I just haven’t contacted you in a few days and wanted to see how things are going on your end." "Progress is swift; Little Qilin is very talented. In a few days, we can return," Yun Jing spoke with evident joy. Ruan Xingwen hesitated a bit before speaking, "But I feel like the two of them seem a bit off emotionally?" Yun Jing was a bit helpless too at this point, "Little Qilin heard his predecessor talk about the past of the Qilin clan and felt a bit down. Oh, you haven’t met Senior Qilin yet; let me introduce you." Then he turned to the two on the mound and shouted, "Xingxing is contacting me!" As soon as he finished speaking, the two on the mound quickly ran over and sat in a row opposite Yun Jing, both a little nervous. Especially the big one, after all, this was the new master of the Classic of Mountains and Seas and its future "keeper"? Ruan Xingwen saw that Big Qilin was also a bit nervous and reached out a hand to wave lightly, "Hello, I’m Ruan Xingwen, you can call me Xingxing." Big Qilin also extended its paw, trying to mimic Ruan Xingwen’s action, but, being in beast form, it didn’t quite manage to do it right. So it withdrew its paw halfway through and spoke in a deep, resounding voice, "Hello, new master." "Xingxing, did you miss me?" A slightly anxious voice came from Little Qilin. Ruan Xingwen looked at it, its head arrogantly raised, its expression clearly saying, "Even this Qilin missed you, how dare you not miss me?!" and couldn’t help but chuckle. "Of course I missed you, how could I not? I heard from Yun Jing that you’re coming back soon. Little Qilin, you are truly amazing!" With that, Little Qilin was no longer just arrogant but also proud, "Hmm, that’s right. You see how awesome I am, so you should treat me well and buy me lots of tasty treats in the future!" "Your true intention is just to get food..." Ruan Xingwen knew it too well. Little Qilin refuted with a bit of grievance, "There’s nothing here, and the cans you brought for me were all eaten by the senior! Boo hoo." He ended with a whimper. Big Qilin quickly explained, "I, I just hadn’t eaten anything for a long time, couldn’t resist at the moment, and ended up... eating them all." Yun Jing was a bit helpless now too. In the Mountain and Sea Realm, all living things could sustain themselves on Spiritual Energy. As long as they didn’t leave the Mountain and Sea Realm, it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t eat. It’s just that now the Mountain and Sea Realm no longer had plants, and the remaining Spiritual Energy was very thin. "Xingxing, why are you still living here? I remember you won a villa that day, didn’t you?" Yun Jing looked at the familiar house behind Ruan Xingwen with confusion. !!! Oh right, he had won the Binhai Bay Villa in the lottery that day! How could he have forgotten about it! He quickly took out his phone to contact the person he saved at the time but stopped when he glanced at the wall clock; it was almost midnight. Better to deal with it tomorrow. Yun Jing looked at him, puzzled, as he picked up the phone and then tossed it back onto the bed, "Why didn’t you call?" "I won’t call; it’s already midnight. It’s not good to disturb people this late, they should have rested long ago." Yun Jing nodded indifferently, he was just curious and had casually asked. Xingxing could do as he pleased. "You should sleep early too. We’re all doing well, no need to worry about us. But take care of yourself, I sense something’s a bit off with your aura, like how I was in your Divine Sense before. Be cautious, something might happen." Ruan Xingwen nodded carelessly, whatever happens, it won’t be worse than before, "Mm-hmm, I know. Let the system notify me before you return; I might not be home recently." With Yun Jing’s "Okay," the void scene vanished. The room fell silent, as if the earlier lively scene was just an illusion. This was Ruan Xingwen’s familiar home, with no one else, just himself. He burrowed into the warm blanket, rubbed the pillow. He was used to this sense of loneliness; Little Qilin’s arrival made him forget that he was actually alone all along. But their brief time together and sudden departure left him a bit unadjusted. Thankfully, they’ll be back in a few days, and he won’t be alone anymore. After his mind wandered half the night, he finally succumbed to drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep. The consequence of staying up late is waking up late. Upon seeing the time on his phone, Ruan Xingwen doubted whether he had traveled to another time. He actually slept for twelve hours! Furthermore, it seemed each time Mr. Yu messaged him was when he was in a stupor of sleep... This time it was sent just recently, thankfully. If Mr. Yu always found him sleeping, the image he held of him would surely be... beyond words. Didn’t they just say yesterday to think about it for a few more days? Why the sudden urgency? Well, if he wanted to make money, going solo wasn’t likely feasible, maybe he should just sign? Mr. Yu wouldn’t set him up, and besides, he had nothing worth setting up. [Wen Xingcui: Brother Ze, I’ve decided to accept your invitation. / Little Bear Twirling] Upon receiving the message, Yu Xiaozhe saw the familiar little bear emoji and had only one thought: he must find that set of emoticons!