Chapter 152 – The Latest Style of Guarantee?

Although some memories were better left in the past, Su Ming wasn’t digging up his embarrassing history for fun—he was trying to recall the true nature of his childhood neighbor, An Zijin.

Simply put, An Zijin was someone deeply afraid of loneliness and isolation.

Despite now being universally adored, held high in everyone’s esteem, with flocks of admirers—both female and male—clustering around her, as a child, An Zijin was often bullied.

The affection elders showered upon her didn’t always work in her favor; instead, it led to her being ostracized by her peers.

Girls envied her and refused to include her in their circles.

Boys, equally jealous, frequently targeted her with bullying.

Adults would dote on and protect An Zijin because of her cuteness, but in the eyes of children, no amount of cuteness could compare to a toy or a doll.

Thus, young An Zijin’s life swung between two extremes: either surrounded entirely by adults or completely alone—there was no third scenario.

It wasn’t until Su Ming “turned over a new leaf” that this situation began to change, at least to some extent.

It was during that time that Su Ming realized just how lonely and fearful of solitude this neighbor girl truly was.

Years of isolation had made this adorable girl desperately yearn for a friend—a friend her own age.

In the heart of such an An Zijin, it was easy to imagine how precious Su Ming—who was willing to “reform” and befriend her—must have been.

Over time, this neighbor girl seemed to grow accustomed to his presence.

Su Ming didn’t know whether An Zijin actually liked him or held romantic feelings for him.

But he did know that she undoubtedly saw him as an important possession—something she didn’t want others to touch or take away.

This mindset had been present since childhood.

Now, however, that mentality was veering into a rather dangerous direction.

“Sigh…”

Seeing that An Zijin still looked aggrieved, Su Ming felt a headache coming on, unsure how to console her.

In the end, he decided to cut straight to the point.

“Let me make this clear first: Xu Qianqian and I don’t have the kind of relationship you’re imagining.”

Su Ming stated this bluntly.

An Zijin indeed reacted to his words.

However, her response sounded a bit odd.

“I know,” An Zijin muttered gloomily. “But I can’t shake the feeling that you two will develop into that kind of relationship.”

“Where did you get that idea?” Su Ming retorted, even more frustrated. “I had no clue.”

“Because you’re a dummy, Su Ming-gege,” An Zijin huffed. “Only girls understand girls. When that pretty senior treats you differently from others, your relationship is already anything but ordinary, my silly brother.”

An Zijin’s words prompted the two girls eavesdropping in the room to nod in agreement.

While the notion that “only girls understand girls” might be a bit overly assertive, it had to be admitted that some things were indeed understood only by girls themselves.

If An Zijin could detect such signs, others could probably sense them to some extent as well.

Otherwise, where would all the gossip and rumors in the world come from?

Weren’t they all born from exactly this?Meanwhile, the two men eavesdropping nearby were grinding their teeth in frustration.

“Damn that Su Ming! Isn’t having a sweet girl next door like An Zijin enough for him?”

“Damn that Su Ming! If he’s already involved with Senior Xu Qianqian, then he shouldn’t make my goddess sad!”

Envy and jealousy truly had the power to tear people apart from the inside out.

Unaware of all this, Su Ming remained his usual self.

“Who can say for certain what will happen in the future?” Su Ming rolled his eyes and said, “Anyway, I never intended to develop that kind of relationship with that Young Miss.”

Well, aside from those moments when his Dao Heart would be shaken by Miss Xu’s generous gestures, making him entertain thoughts of being kept, he genuinely had no such improper intentions.

Thinking this, Su Ming couldn’t help but recall the night he was “rescued by the beauty” and the electric, weak-kneed sensation when that female vampire sucked his blood.

…This doesn’t count as improper thoughts, right?

Su Ming suddenly felt somewhat guilty.

Fortunately, An Zijin didn’t seem to notice.

Su Ming’s words made An Zijin lift her eyelids, speaking with a hint of hope.

“Really?”

This was both seeking confirmation and verification.

“Re…really.”

Su Ming could only brace himself and nod.

“Good.” A flicker of excitement appeared on An Zijin’s small face as she said, “In that case, Brother Su Ming, please sign this.”

Saying this, An Zijin took out a piece of paper from her person.

“What’s this?”

Su Ming was taken aback.

“A pledge.”

An Zijin answered with complete seriousness.

“You want me to sign a pledge?”

The corner of Su Ming’s mouth twitched.

“Only this way can I feel at ease.”

An Zijin remained utterly serious.

“Let’s not, okay?”

Su Ming resisted strongly.

It wasn’t like he was promising his wife he’d never cheat – why sign a pledge?

Besides, even if she were his wife, there’d be no reason to sign a pledge for something like this. How humiliating!

“Just once, only this once.”

Yet An Zijin fought hard for it, even preparing a pen for Su Ming, spreading open a corner of the pledge and placing it before him.

“Just sign here.”

An Zijin pointed to the unfolded corner, looking at Su Ming with expectant eyes.

Those eyes blinked repeatedly, shining brightly.

Su Ming didn’t want to compromise, but those bright, blinking eyes were making him soften.

Maybe just indulge this girl this once?

Otherwise, her tendency to suddenly turn dark was really quite frightening.

After all, he’d used similar methods to coax this girl before – why not just go along with it this time?

But if he signed this, would he really have to avoid any ambiguity with Academy Beauty Xu from now on?

For some reason, Su Ming felt this was a loss.

Although women would only slow down Su Ming’s growth speed, Xu Qianqian could be particularly enticing when she wanted to be.

For example, when that woman wanted to suck blood…

Thinking of this, Su Ming suddenly said,

“Let me see that pledge first.”

At these words, An Zijin’s delicate body visibly trembled.

“No… no need, right?” An Zijin averted her gaze, saying, “It’s just an ordinary pledge.”

This response and attitude made Su Ming narrow his eyes.

His intuition told him this so-called pledge had problems.

“Give it here.”

Su Ming reached his hand out toward An Zijin.

“No.”An Zijin pressed down firmly.

“Give it to me.”

Su Ming reached out to snatch it.

“No way, no way!”

An Zijin acted coquettishly.

But the more she behaved like this, the more suspicious Su Ming became.

“Ah!”

Finally, amid An Zijin’s sudden exclamation of surprise, Su Ming moved like lightning and snatched away that guarantee letter.

Su Ming unfolded it.

Immediately, he clearly saw a form.

At the top of the form was written a line of large characters—”Marriage Registration Form.”

And in the section for the female party, An Zijin’s name was already signed, accompanied by copies of various documents—truly complete with all necessary information.

“You call this a guarantee letter?”

The corner of Su Ming’s mouth twitched repeatedly, and his heart felt as if ten thousand grass-mud horses were trampling over it—such was the turmoil within him.

“This… this is a guarantee letter! The latest style!”

An Zijin continued to stubbornly insist.

“But why does it say ‘Marriage Registration Form’ on it?”

Su Ming’s expression remained blank.

“Now… now all guarantee letters are written like this!”

An Zijin persisted in her stubbornness.

Thus, Su Ming said no more.

A gentleman acts rather than speaks.

Since words were useless, it was time for action.

“Rip!”

The next second, Su Ming tore apart the so-called “latest-style guarantee letter” without hesitation.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

An Zijin let out a heartbroken cry, filled with sorrow and grief.

Finally, those who had been secretly watching from the shadows could no longer stand it.

Lei Hao and Ye Bai were the first to burst through the door, charging at Su Ming with ferocious expressions.

“Strangle you, you damn normie!”

Lei Hao and Ye Bai roared as they pounced.

“Holy crap!”

Su Ming was startled and immediately turned to flee without a second thought.

Lei Hao and Ye Bai chased after him, shouting and yelling all the while.

Only Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei remained, calmly walking over to the weeping An Zijin.

“It’s alright, Zijin.”

“It’s Senior’s lack of discernment; little Zijin is innocent.”

Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei hugged An Zijin from either side, secretly stepping on the torn marriage registration form, crumpling it, and kicking it out the window.

Who would have thought that the next moment, they would hear An Zijin muttering to herself.

“Luckily, I prepared over a dozen copies. There’s no chance this time, but there will definitely be another opportunity next time…”

This muttering made the corners of Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei’s mouths twitch in unison.

You really are well-prepared, aren’t you?

…

The farce only came to an end after the neighbors complained about the noise.

However, An Zijin seemed to still be scheming something, unwilling to let it go.

“Brother Su Ming is mine; no one can take him away.”

The girl muttered these words once again before running back to her room, leaving everyone wondering what she was up to.

Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei, meanwhile, secretly conspired.

“Next, let’s secretly investigate Zijin’s room.”

“Mm.”

The two quickly made their plan.

Some dangerous items simply must be properly destroyed, right?

Even if there are over a dozen copies, not a single one can be left behind!

With this thought in mind, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei also left.

The remaining trio—Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai—could no longer continue their scuffle and could only exchange harsh words.

“There’s plenty of time ahead; we’ll settle this score sooner or later.”

Lei Hao, carrying his greatsword, made his declaration.”When I master my divine technique (Offensive Spirit Art), it will be the day you, Su Ming, meet your doom.”

Ye Bai perfectly embodied the valiant warrior of the Martial Forest.

“Do you really think you can handle me with your abilities?”

Su Ming, meanwhile, played the part of a despicable villain, letting out frequent cold sneers.

The three of them engaged in this theatrical exchange before finally parting ways and returning to their respective homes.

That being said, their days of living here were numbered.

With the battle concluded and all statistics tallied, necessary repairs had been completed and rest had been taken. The next step was undoubtedly to leave Huaming District and return to the Academy.

On this day, the Academy sent a notification to all students:

“All students assemble at the station tomorrow at 8 AM to return to the Academy.”

Thus, today marked the final day all students would remain in Huaming District.

Afterward, Longyao City would dispatch personnel to repair and reconstruct Huaming District.

With the aid of extraordinary items like alchemical tools, the reconstruction of Huaming District would likely proceed rapidly.

However, Huaming District would no longer serve as a residential area as it had before.

After all, the entrance to the Spirit Demon Abyss had only been sealed, not eliminated.

Later, Su Ming heard that Longyao City had designed a project to transform the area around the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance into a military stronghold.

From now on, Huaming District would become a unique and special zone within Longyao City, drawing attention from all.

……

In an obscure, dark location within Longyao City.

Here, figures cloaked in black gathered silently, exuding an eerie and sinister aura.

They surrounded the area while others inside carried out excavation work.

However, this was no ordinary excavation project.

The people here weren’t using common digging tools but precious alchemical instruments.

Under the influence of these spiritually charged devices, the land was excavated at an astonishing rate, gradually revealing what lay beneath.

Upon closer inspection, the remains of ancient ruins emerged.

“Finally found it.”

A ruthless-looking middle-aged man stood before the ruins’ entrance, gazing at the structure with visible excitement.

Beside him stood another black-clad figure, whose eyes shimmered as they observed the ruins.

Had Little Hai’er been present, she would have recognized this black-clad individual.

He was the Underground Professional who had injured her and prevented her return to the Spirit Demon Abyss.

And the ruthless man beside this powerful Underground Professional was undoubtedly the high-ranking member of 『Sin』 who had ordered the attack on Little Hai’er and collaborated with a high-ranking official in Longyao City.

Both of them fixed their intense gazes on the interior of the ruins.

“Are you certain this is the place?”

Even the Black-Clothed Expert couldn’t resist asking for confirmation.

“It should be correct.”

The Ruthless Man reined in his exhilaration and spoke slowly.

“According to the ancient stone tablets we’ve collected from ruins around the world, this is where that ‘King’ was sealed.Hearing this, the Black-Clothed Expert nodded while sighing in emotion.

“To think that ‘King’ was sealed in such an obscure rural Base City—it certainly made our search difficult.”The Black-Clothed Expert’s words were met with a shake of the head from the Ruthless Man.

“To be more precise, Longyao City didn’t exist when that ‘King’ was sealed here,” the Ruthless Man stated. “Longyao City is merely a ‘lid’ built over the seal. Its very existence is meant to allow the ‘Tomb Keepers’ to guard this place.”

“Where are the ‘Tomb Keepers’ now?” the Black-Clothed Expert asked, raising an eyebrow. “That clan should have passed down their legacy, right?”

“Of course, otherwise it would be troublesome,” the Ruthless Man replied. “After all, to break the seal, we need the blood of a descendant of the Tomb Keeper clan and the symbolic object of the ‘King’.”

They had already obtained one of these two things.

All that remained was…

“The blood of a Tomb Keeper descendant?”

The Black-Clothed Expert murmured.

With the blood of a Tomb Keeper descendant and the symbolic object of the ‘King’, they could hold the ritual and break the seal here.

Once that happened, who in this world would be their match?

The Ruthless Man clearly thought the same.

“I’ve already notified headquarters to have them transport the ‘Sword’ over,” the Ruthless Man turned to the Black-Clothed Expert and said. “Once the ‘blood’ is in place, we can proceed to break the seal.”

“What about the owner of the ‘blood’?” the Black-Clothed Expert asked. “Have you identified them?”

“Is there any need to investigate?” the Ruthless Man gave a cold smile. “This is a base city built by the Tomb Keeper clan. In that case, there’s no need to guess where they are.”

The two of them simultaneously turned their gaze toward the city center of Longyao City.

There lay their target.

“Leave it to you.”

“No problem.”

The Black-Clothed Expert vanished from the spot.

Leaving the Ruthless Man alone, continuing to gaze at the ruins before him, the fervor in his eyes undiminished.

“Soon…”

“Very soon…”

“Very quickly, we will achieve our goal and seize everything for ourselves…”

A sinister voice stirred restlessly in the darkness.

Making one’s blood run cold.

(End of Chapter)