The moment Wen Jifei reached that conclusion, he thought to himself that this had to be it. The common ground between Wu Xu and Han Qingyu went far beyond the simple fact that neither had ever liked a girl.
For instance, both possessed a fighting will and combat instincts that ordinary people found incomprehensible.
In every single battle, both displayed an extraordinary tenacity, composure, and even cold-bloodedness.
What was more, this talent seemed inborn.
Before Qingzi had even joined Azure, he had killed two men from Pure Purgatory with ruthless calm and decisiveness. Back then, he had only just graduated from high school and was, by all accounts, a model student.
As for Wu Xu, he had grown up amidst brutal training and slaughter from childhood, yet he had never turned vicious or monstrous because of it.
"You can only deduce that their combat instincts come from what they inherited—the Yanxiu."
"At the same time, any Yanxiu that could endure the river of time without being completely annihilated, preserving its will and remains, must have been extraordinarily powerful. They lived through countless battles, etching those instincts into their very being."
Such were Wen Jifei's deductions.
"No, I'm not like Qingzi," Wu Xu said, his gaze fixed on the eaves atop the courtyard wall, looking eager to clear his name.
"How are you not?!" He Tangtang thought to himself, *Just admit it already.*
"Well, I... I can tell when a girl is pretty. Qingzi only ever says they're fat." An awkward flicker crossed Wu Xu's eyes as he spoke.
The three on the wall burst out laughing.
Wu Xu looked somewhat embarrassed, but he continued, "And I wasn't entirely honest just now. I think... maybe I did like a girl once."
"...Woah!" The three on the wall leaned forward excitedly.
Wu Xu had no choice but to go on:
"When I was around ten, during a long-distance raid drill, my calf was impaled and I was abandoned on a mountain. An older sister who had gone up to gather bracken ferns happened to pass by. She went to search for medicinal herbs, and in her rush, she scraped her palms and knees. She even tore off her sleeve to bandage my wound."
"So you liked her! And then?" Wen Jifei asked.
"Then she tried to carry me down the mountain. I said no, the mountain path was too dangerous and she couldn't carry me. She said she'd run to the village to get her father to come carry me, and told me to wait..."
"And what happened after that?" If Rusty Sister's eyes could be seen, they would definitely be glowing. This was Wu Xu's love story!
"After that... I left," Wu Xu said.
"Left?! The hell you mean you left! What about that village sister?" He Tangtang demanded indignantly.
"If the Yu family found out, it would have gotten her killed," Wu Xu said.
"Oh, right. Was there anything after that?"
All three looked at him with great anticipation.
Wu Xu shook his head. "No. I never saw her again."
"How old was she back then?" Wen Jifei pressed.
Wu Xu thought for a moment. "Maybe sixteen or seventeen."
"Was she pretty?"
Wu Xu nodded. "Mm."
"Then she's definitely married by now! Her kid could probably run errands to buy soy sauce already," He Tangtang said callously.
Wu Xu: "...Mm."
With the clarification over, even though the story hadn't had a romantic ending, Wen Jifei still breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. Xu'er still has some difference from that dead iron straight man. At least his heart can be warmed. As for a certain Han... no matter how well a girl treats him, he'll never feel anything resembling attraction."
As the three climbed down from the courtyard wall, Wu Xu carried his clothes back along the wall.
At this hour, dawn had barely broken.
Zhu Jiaming's figure appeared, walking down the street from the other direction.
He was carrying a large pack on his back.
In his hand, he carried a bag of deep-fried dough sticks and bread...
"Up so early, Little Prince?! What time did you head out? How come none of us saw you leave?" Wen Jifei stood at the doorway with a smile, glancing at the large pack on his back.
"Yeah, woke up before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep, so I just went for a walk and bought breakfast."
The Little Prince lifted the bag of dough sticks and bread, gesturing with them.
"But it was clearly my turn today," Wen Jifei said.
"Between brothers like us, why keep score?!" the Little Prince replied with a laugh as he walked inside, loudly calling everyone to eat.
Once Han Qingyu got up, came out, and took a seat at the table,
Zhu Jiaming retrieved a smaller parcel from the large pack right in front of everyone, carried it into Han Qingyu's room, and placed it back under the bed.
Then he walked back out, offered a small smile, and returned the large pack to his own room.
Inside the large pack were his clothes and personal belongings.
Inside the small parcel, there should have been the Bones of Eternal Life.
However, after sprinting for his life all the way to the seashore, the Little Prince had discovered they were not. They looked very similar, but they were likely bones from some other animal.
Most probably Doctor Zhe's handiwork.
*So their original plan was probably to use them to deceive Shu You, but I ended up running right into the trap first. No wonder it felt so easy!* he thought.
In reality, Zhu Jiaming had been waiting for an opportunity all along. When Han Qingyu finally got up in the middle of the night to use the latrine, Zhu Jiaming had smoothly stolen the Bones of Eternal Life and made his escape...
And then, things turned out like this: he had come right back.
In any case, that was how things stood. Both sides knew full well what had happened—and had known each other's true thoughts for a long time.
Breakfast proceeded as usual. After finishing, the Little Prince took the initiative to clear the bowls, wash them, and then gather up clothes to do the laundry.
The unspoken understanding was clear: from this day forward until the outcome of the battle between Han Qingyu and Shu You was decided, he would do all the chores, and this incident would be considered water under the bridge.
Early in the morning, having finished the laundry, the Little Prince took a plastic sheet and wrapped it tightly over the washbasin.
"Wrap it up already, will you? I still need to hang up the clothes, and you're kicking up dust everywhere!" he shouted after waiting for a bit.
Han Qingyu and Wu Xu stopped their spar.
"How is it?" Seeing Wu Xu walk over, Rusty Sister immediately hurried up to ask.
Wu Xu was currently the only person here who could serve as Qingzi's sparring partner.
"He's getting stronger and stronger," Wu Xu said, wiping a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth before muttering, "Now I want bones too."
After obtaining four Bones of Eternal Life from Yuan Youque and consuming three of them, Han Qingyu's strength had been increasing at an accelerating pace. Even though he held back while sparring in the courtyard now, Wu Xu could barely hold his own.
"What about compared to Shu You? Is there any chance of winning?" Rusty Sister asked anxiously.
Wu Xu considered it, then turned his head. "I don't know. You'll have to ask Qingzi himself."
"I can't beat him. Not a single chance."
Han Qingyu walked over, speaking with a smile.
He had witnessed Shu You in action at close range. Setting aside the strike that had slashed Alphonse, just the cut that split the ship made the gap between them unmistakably clear. Such a divide was not something three Bones of Eternal Life and a short span of time could bridge.
"Then what do we do? It's not like we can find more Bones of Eternal Life anywhere in the short term," Rusty Sister fretted.
Han Qingyu looked at her. "Yeah. All I can do is work as hard as I can over these next few months."
A few months slipped by in a flash.
February 11, 1994.
The day after the deadline Shu You had promised Chen Buer expired.
The second day of the Lunar New Year.
In this city where not everyone celebrated the Spring Festival, the streets were as bustling as a festival celebration. Nearly every soul had stepped out of their home, yet every shop along the streets was shuttered.
The crowds streamed toward the outskirts of the city in the morning light...
...and then came to a collective halt several kilometers away from the battlefield.
"Can we see from here, Grandpa?" Tugging at her grandfather's hem, Yuan Xiaoxin looked up and asked.
"We won't be able to see. We can only listen, and then see who comes back." Yuan Youque's gaze was somewhat grave.
Unaware of his solemn mood, the little granddaughter asked innocently, "Then why don't we walk closer to watch?"
"Because it would be very dangerous," Yuan Youque said.
That was a battlefield of Supers... and more.
Shu You had proven long ago that he was a peak Super. His standing on the Dome Leaderboard was seventh.
So, if Han Qingyu truly possessed the strength to face him in battle...
Chapter 526