After this matter was completely out in the open, the two both didn’t mention anything about the engagement anymore.
Naturally, Van Zhuo didn’t come to find him for this reason.
He was here to ask Zong Jiu about how Vincent died in their first instance, Mental Asylum.
It was only now that Zong Jiu remembered that Vincent and Anthony were both a part of the upper ranks in the Night Clan and were the left and right arms of No. 2. Additionally, the Night Clan had always been at odds with the Holy Templars of the Messiah, and their relationship with Zhuge An was even worse. They had even been screwed over by him before.
In the Mental Asylum instance, only a total of three people survived. Finding Zong Jiu was indeed the easiest way.
Unfortunately, it was a pity that Zong Jiu hadn’t paid much attention to Vincent.
From the beginning to the end, this person had only existed within the narratives of other people. Even in the original novel, the only thing written about him was that he was very confident in his own strength, so he chose to act independently from the beginning.
“I understand.”
Since Zong Jiu had said it like this, Van Zhuo didn’t continue to question and only coldly said, “I just wanted to ask. If he died because he was overconfident, then it was his own fault.”
Clearly, he was well aware of the personalities of his two subordinates.
After his questioning was finished, Zong Jiu felt that there was nothing else and thus brought up leaving.
“I’ll see you off.”
The man in military uniform stood up and walked out of the tea room with him.
After they came out of the tea room side by side, the trainees on the terrace outside quieted down immediately.
Everyone was communicating with their eyes. “Why is the Night Clan’s Lord, Van Zhuo, walking together with the Magician?” “And they are walking side by side. It seems like they are quite close.” “Sh*t, what is this situation?” … And other similar things.
However, no one dared to get closer to No. 2.
Van Zhuo was famously cold-blooded and ruthless. He was incredibly imposing, and his way of doing things was merciless and cruel.
Although the status he held was far from No. 1, who was basically considered a god, he was still someone feared by others.
However, right now, the onlooking trainees actually found, to their horror, that this Lord of the Night Clan looked to be in a pretty good mood???
Even Zong Jiu felt a bit surprised.
After having confirmed relative relations with him (?), No. 2’s attitude towards him could be considered as having taken a 180-degree turn.
But when he saw the slight nostalgia in his eyes, Zong Jiu knew why.
No matter what kind of person the original Zong Jiu had become, he had once been innocent, pure, and naive when he was young.
Then that period of time should be a pretty good memory. Otherwise, the two families wouldn’t set up an arranged marriage. Even within the infinite flow filled with danger, reminiscing still brought warmth.
According to what Zong Jiu knew, Van Zhuo had the surname of the Night Clan. For the sake of living, he had changed even his race and surname. When encountering things from when he was human, he probably feels some nostalgia.
If it was like this, then he had indeed ridden on the coattails of the original Zong Jiu.
Zong Jiu thought absentmindedly.
Everyone only snapped out of their stupor once he and the white-haired young man bid farewell by the pool and the cape of the black and gold military uniform disappeared into the entrance of the S-rank trainee dormitory.
“No. 2 is so imposing.”
“What did you expect? That’s a true bigshot who had been on a real battlefield before. He had entered an instance based on World War II, and in the end, he still came back alive. So amazing.”
“Ktfc ktja jybea atf Zjulmljc? Ljr tf pblcfv atf Rluta Jijc? Qjrc’a tf atf qfgrbc atja qjgalmeijg ylu rtba kjr bqalwlralm jybea?
“Vb pfjiber. Jbwqjglcu sbegrfio ab batfgr lr gfjiis wjvvfclcu. Po atf cfkmbwfgr jgf atlr ragbcu, tbk vb kf nfafgjcr ilnf?”
Kbkjgvr atfrf vlrmerrlbcr, Ibcu Ale aegcfv j vfjo fjg.
He walked to the bar and very familiarly ordered a cup of whiskey from the bartender.
“Okay, sir. Please wait.”
Zong Jiu was very in love with this kind of Scottish alcohol. Every time he went to the bar, he would order a cup.
He looked at the bartender skillfully shake the cocktail shaker, making it fly through the air. He couldn’t help but admire the competence of the system’s employees.
The dealer was so, and the waiter as well. Now even this insignificant bartender was a hidden master. If he used this technique in the international bartender competition, he should be able to get within the top three.
After receiving the whiskey, the white-haired young man turned his head around and asked Anthony, who was walking towards him, “Have you found that since you’ve returned from the Famine Village instance, you’ve been very sleepy?”
“No.” Although Anthony wasn’t sure why he was asking, he still answered.
“Then have you felt a lot of pain on the top of your head or felt that something is tugging on you?”
“…No.”
“Then have you not found that your thought process has become very unusual?”
“No.” Anthony was a bit annoyed. He suspected that he was messing with him.
Zong Jiu used a very strange gaze to look over Anthony a few times, “Oh, then there’s nothing else. You can leave.”
Anthony: ?
He remembered the relationship between this person in front of him and his boss. Instantly, he became silent.
Whatever. He couldn’t afford to offend him, but he could still avoid him. Time to run.
After the half-vampire left, Zong Jiu sat by the bar alone for a long time, thinking.
At this time, everyone on the terrace had gone to play The King’s Game. Only a small number of trainees were exercising in the infinity pool. The location of this bar he was at was relatively remote. For a long time, there was only him sitting there. No one else came.
The sky had darkened; the stars in the sky were each brighter than the next, hanging in the sky and making it easy to find the positions of the constellations. If this was on Earth, this kind of good weather was very hard to come by, much less all these stars appearing out at once in such a brilliant way.
Not far away, the trainees were energetically playing The King’s Game.
“I command the trainees of the three of hearts and five of hearts to carry out the command.”
“Hahahahaha, this command is so embarrassing. You guys, quickly take off your pants and go run a lap around the trainee dormitory.”
“Get a compliment from any S-rank? What kind of fucking high difficulty task is this?”
“If you don’t complete the task, then flesh will be cut off from you. Fuck, brothers, I’m going to leave first.”
The salty sea breeze carried these conversations over intermittently.
Zong Jiu slowly spun the wine cup in his hand while staring at the hazy liquid inside, and became lost in thought.
From Anthony’s response, Zong Jiu gathered that the puppet strings were indeed the same as Zhuge An described, undetectable. Even after it was forcibly pulled out, there would be no awareness of having been controlled before.
It was an ability that was basically like a bug, and it even basically had no weaknesses.
The white-haired young man’s face was a bit blurry under the dim lights, making him seem more like someone out of a beautiful drawing rather than someone from the mortal world.
Before he knew it, he had drunk another cup, and his face had been stained with a light blush, like a red flower on falling snow. A soul-stirring sight.
“Do you want another cup? Sir.”
“Thank you. No need.” If he continued to drink, he would get drunk.
Zong Jiu waved his hand, motioning for the waiter standing off to the side to bring a box of cigarettes over.
Drinking leads to trouble. Zong Jiu would never let himself become drunk.
Although he didn’t like smoking very much, sometimes, tobacco could make him think more calmly and carefully, and it could alleviate his alcohol intoxication slightly.
Propping up his head with one hand, Zong Jiu lazily thought.
Strange, this cup of whiskey today seems to be unusually intoxicating.
In the past, this one cup would only make Zong Jiu energetic. However, after downing the cup, he was actually seeing double and had some of the signs of getting drunk.
In the dark, the bartender who had turned around to organize the wine cabinet bent the corners of his mouth unnaturally.
When the waiter had brought over the box of cigarettes, cigar cutter, and the lighter, Zong Jiu frowned, picked out a cigarette with a slightly lighter smell, and was just preparing to light it.
“Sir, let me help you.”
After Zong Jiu had flicked the lighter a few times without any response, the bartender very considerately put down the wine cup he was wiping and passed over a ball of fire.
Zong Jiu needed it because he felt that his head was a bit dizzy right now. Thus, he complied and lowered his head to light the cigarette.
But only a little bit. As long as he could inhale one breath of smoke and let that choking smell flow through his lungs, then he could immediately——
Milk white smoke rose up from the end of the cigarette.
The moment when Zong Jiu’s mind had slightly sobered up, he happened to see a pair of cold, golden eyes flash past.
Behind the smoke, that strikingly perfect face was vaguely visible. His long black hair was tied up and hung off to one side.
Wearing a white shirt and a black vest, with his gloved hands propped up against the bar, the bartender was watching him with great interest.
Zong Jiu: “……”
Zong Jiu, “So the famous and renowned No. 1 also has the hobby of being a part-time bartender.
“No no no.”
The bartender smiled and shook his finger, “You are the first.”
No. 1’s mood seemed to be pretty good today.
He even turned around and pulled out a new wine bottle from behind.
Zong Jiu clearly saw that he had only hooked his finger, and then the wine bottle opened by itself and was poured into the cocktail shaker by itself. Other supplementary alcohols also flew over. Lastly, the shaker was closed and did all sorts of acrobatics in the air.
Puppet strings were really useful, especially when used to give a show.
Zong Jiu felt that him sincerely praising the system’s employees before was completely because he had been blind at that moment.
The Devil put the cocktail that had just been mixed in front of the young man with a smile, “Tequila sunset. Please enjoy.”
“Tequila sunset without salt or lemons. Drink it yourself.” Zong Jiu sneered.
“That’s a shame. I can only enjoy it myself.”
The Devil looked like he didn’t care about his hostility, shrugging.
This feeling of a punch landing on cotton made Zong Jiu a bit annoyed.
He looked very relaxed as he smoked, but actually, the muscles in his entire body had started tightening.
This guy appeared and disappeared like a ghost, and was completely unpredictable. With a moment of inattention, he got Zong Jiu to drink a cup of wine. Zong Jiu really couldn’t relax for a moment.
“Relax, relax.”
As if he could accurately detect his state of mind, No. 1 slightly pressed down with both of his hands, “If I wanted to, I should’ve done something to the whiskey just now.”
The white-haired young man was unmoved. He coldly asked, “Your purpose?”
“Don’t be so guarded.”
The Devil put his index finger on his lips and made a “shhh” gesture.
Only then did Zong Jiu realize that their verbal confrontation had already attracted the attention of quite a lot of people.
However, what was strange was that if No. 1 appeared, those countless fanatical worshipers on the terrace would all go crazy. But right now, it was like they didn’t see the unusualness of the bartender in the bar. Their gazes were only on him.
The Devil waited patiently for him to finish observing before playfully teasing.
“Instead of asking that half-vampire, why didn’t you directly come and ask me?”
He had heard his conversation with Anthony.
Zong Jiu frowned.
He had sat at this bar for more than half an hour. He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Devil had been waiting here for him.
Of course, even if it was so, Zong Jiu wouldn’t have the slightest bit of awkwardness from being caught talking behind someone’s back.
The white-haired young man scoffed, “If I asked, would you answer?”
Zong Jiu wanted to know the limits of No. 1’s puppet strings, the range of them, and the conditions for controlling them.
Needless to say, that information was extremely confidential and sensitive. Knowing that might not be enough to confront him head-on, but at the very least, the information was a crucial key to guardian against No. 1.
The Devil smiled, “I might.”
He stared at the triangular-shaped shadow of the indent made by the white-haired young man’s clavicle and lowered his voice, which was cold and pleasant to the ears with a slightly upward hook at the end, like some snake staring at its prey, making people shiver.
“If you can… please me.”
Zong Jiu laughed out loud.
He slowly stood up from the bar, placed the lit cigarette off to the side, and made a beckoning gesture with his finger towards the person behind the bar, indicating the latter to come closer.
——And then, his fist flew towards that sly and perfect face.
He asked, “Is that enough to please you?”
After this matter was completely out in the open, the two both didn’t mention anything about the engagement anymore.
Naturally, Van Zhuo didn’t come to find him for this reason.
He was here to ask Zong Jiu about how Vincent died in their first instance, Mental Asylum.
It was only now that Zong Jiu remembered that Vincent and Anthony were both a part of the upper ranks in the Night Clan and were the left and right arms of No. 2. Additionally, the Night Clan had always been at odds with the Holy Templars of the Messiah, and their relationship with Zhuge An was even worse. They had even been screwed over by him before.
In the Mental Asylum instance, only a total of three people survived. Finding Zong Jiu was indeed the easiest way.
Unfortunately, it was a pity that Zong Jiu hadn’t paid much attention to Vincent.
From the beginning to the end, this person had only existed within the narratives of other people. Even in the original novel, the only thing written about him was that he was very confident in his own strength, so he chose to act independently from the beginning.
“I understand.”
Since Zong Jiu had said it like this, Van Zhuo didn’t continue to question and only coldly said, “I just wanted to ask. If he died because he was overconfident, then it was his own fault.”
Clearly, he was well aware of the personalities of his two subordinates.
After his questioning was finished, Zong Jiu felt that there was nothing else and thus brought up leaving.
“I’ll see you off.”
The man in military uniform stood up and walked out of the tea room with him.
After they came out of the tea room side by side, the trainees on the terrace outside quieted down immediately.
Everyone was communicating with their eyes. “Why is the Night Clan’s Lord, Van Zhuo, walking together with the Magician?” “And they are walking side by side. It seems like they are quite close.” “Sh*t, what is this situation?” … And other similar things.
However, no one dared to get closer to No. 2.
Van Zhuo was famously cold-blooded and ruthless. He was incredibly imposing, and his way of doing things was merciless and cruel.
Although the status he held was far from No. 1, who was basically considered a god, he was still someone feared by others.
However, right now, the onlooking trainees actually found, to their horror, that this Lord of the Night Clan looked to be in a pretty good mood???
Even Zong Jiu felt a bit surprised.
After having confirmed relative relations with him (?), No. 2’s attitude towards him could be considered as having taken a 180-degree turn.
But when he saw the slight nostalgia in his eyes, Zong Jiu knew why.
No matter what kind of person the original Zong Jiu had become, he had once been innocent, pure, and naive when he was young.
Then that period of time should be a pretty good memory. Otherwise, the two families wouldn’t set up an arranged marriage. Even within the infinite flow filled with danger, reminiscing still brought warmth.
According to what Zong Jiu knew, Van Zhuo had the surname of the Night Clan. For the sake of living, he had changed even his race and surname. When encountering things from when he was human, he probably feels some nostalgia.
If it was like this, then he had indeed ridden on the coattails of the original Zong Jiu.
Zong Jiu thought absentmindedly.
Everyone only snapped out of their stupor once he and the white-haired young man bid farewell by the pool and the cape of the black and gold military uniform disappeared into the entrance of the S-rank trainee dormitory.
“No. 2 is so imposing.”
“What did you expect? That’s a true bigshot who had been on a real battlefield before. He had entered an instance based on World War II, and in the end, he still came back alive. So amazing.”
“Ktfc ktja jybea atf Zjulmljc? Ljr tf pblcfv atf Rluta Jijc? Qjrc’a tf atf qfgrbc atja qjgalmeijg ylu rtba kjr bqalwlralm jybea?
“Vb pfjiber. Jbwqjglcu sbegrfio ab batfgr lr gfjiis wjvvfclcu. Po atf cfkmbwfgr jgf atlr ragbcu, tbk vb kf nfafgjcr ilnf?”
Kbkjgvr atfrf vlrmerrlbcr, Ibcu Ale aegcfv j vfjo fjg.
He walked to the bar and very familiarly ordered a cup of whiskey from the bartender.
“Okay, sir. Please wait.”
Zong Jiu was very in love with this kind of Scottish alcohol. Every time he went to the bar, he would order a cup.
He looked at the bartender skillfully shake the cocktail shaker, making it fly through the air. He couldn’t help but admire the competence of the system’s employees.
The dealer was so, and the waiter as well. Now even this insignificant bartender was a hidden master. If he used this technique in the international bartender competition, he should be able to get within the top three.
After receiving the whiskey, the white-haired young man turned his head around and asked Anthony, who was walking towards him, “Have you found that since you’ve returned from the Famine Village instance, you’ve been very sleepy?”
“No.” Although Anthony wasn’t sure why he was asking, he still answered.
“Then have you felt a lot of pain on the top of your head or felt that something is tugging on you?”
“…No.”
“Then have you not found that your thought process has become very unusual?”
“No.” Anthony was a bit annoyed. He suspected that he was messing with him.
Zong Jiu used a very strange gaze to look over Anthony a few times, “Oh, then there’s nothing else. You can leave.”
Anthony: ?
He remembered the relationship between this person in front of him and his boss. Instantly, he became silent.
Whatever. He couldn’t afford to offend him, but he could still avoid him. Time to run.
After the half-vampire left, Zong Jiu sat by the bar alone for a long time, thinking.
At this time, everyone on the terrace had gone to play The King’s Game. Only a small number of trainees were exercising in the infinity pool. The location of this bar he was at was relatively remote. For a long time, there was only him sitting there. No one else came.
The sky had darkened; the stars in the sky were each brighter than the next, hanging in the sky and making it easy to find the positions of the constellations. If this was on Earth, this kind of good weather was very hard to come by, much less all these stars appearing out at once in such a brilliant way.
Not far away, the trainees were energetically playing The King’s Game.
“I command the trainees of the three of hearts and five of hearts to carry out the command.”
“Hahahahaha, this command is so embarrassing. You guys, quickly take off your pants and go run a lap around the trainee dormitory.”
“Get a compliment from any S-rank? What kind of fucking high difficulty task is this?”
“If you don’t complete the task, then flesh will be cut off from you. Fuck, brothers, I’m going to leave first.”
The salty sea breeze carried these conversations over intermittently.
Zong Jiu slowly spun the wine cup in his hand while staring at the hazy liquid inside, and became lost in thought.
From Anthony’s response, Zong Jiu gathered that the puppet strings were indeed the same as Zhuge An described, undetectable. Even after it was forcibly pulled out, there would be no awareness of having been controlled before.
It was an ability that was basically like a bug, and it even basically had no weaknesses.
The white-haired young man’s face was a bit blurry under the dim lights, making him seem more like someone out of a beautiful drawing rather than someone from the mortal world.
Before he knew it, he had drunk another cup, and his face had been stained with a light blush, like a red flower on falling snow. A soul-stirring sight.
“Do you want another cup? Sir.”
“Thank you. No need.” If he continued to drink, he would get drunk.
Zong Jiu waved his hand, motioning for the waiter standing off to the side to bring a box of cigarettes over.
Drinking leads to trouble. Zong Jiu would never let himself become drunk.
Although he didn’t like smoking very much, sometimes, tobacco could make him think more calmly and carefully, and it could alleviate his alcohol intoxication slightly.
Propping up his head with one hand, Zong Jiu lazily thought.
Strange, this cup of whiskey today seems to be unusually intoxicating.
In the past, this one cup would only make Zong Jiu energetic. However, after downing the cup, he was actually seeing double and had some of the signs of getting drunk.
In the dark, the bartender who had turned around to organize the wine cabinet bent the corners of his mouth unnaturally.
When the waiter had brought over the box of cigarettes, cigar cutter, and the lighter, Zong Jiu frowned, picked out a cigarette with a slightly lighter smell, and was just preparing to light it.
“Sir, let me help you.”
After Zong Jiu had flicked the lighter a few times without any response, the bartender very considerately put down the wine cup he was wiping and passed over a ball of fire.
Zong Jiu needed it because he felt that his head was a bit dizzy right now. Thus, he complied and lowered his head to light the cigarette.
But only a little bit. As long as he could inhale one breath of smoke and let that choking smell flow through his lungs, then he could immediately——
Milk white smoke rose up from the end of the cigarette.
The moment when Zong Jiu’s mind had slightly sobered up, he happened to see a pair of cold, golden eyes flash past.
Behind the smoke, that strikingly perfect face was vaguely visible. His long black hair was tied up and hung off to one side.
Wearing a white shirt and a black vest, with his gloved hands propped up against the bar, the bartender was watching him with great interest.
Zong Jiu: “……”
Zong Jiu, “So the famous and renowned No. 1 also has the hobby of being a part-time bartender.
“No no no.”
The bartender smiled and shook his finger, “You are the first.”
No. 1’s mood seemed to be pretty good today.
He even turned around and pulled out a new wine bottle from behind.
Zong Jiu clearly saw that he had only hooked his finger, and then the wine bottle opened by itself and was poured into the cocktail shaker by itself. Other supplementary alcohols also flew over. Lastly, the shaker was closed and did all sorts of acrobatics in the air.
Puppet strings were really useful, especially when used to give a show.
Zong Jiu felt that him sincerely praising the system’s employees before was completely because he had been blind at that moment.
The Devil put the cocktail that had just been mixed in front of the young man with a smile, “Tequila sunset. Please enjoy.”
“Tequila sunset without salt or lemons. Drink it yourself.” Zong Jiu sneered.
“That’s a shame. I can only enjoy it myself.”
The Devil looked like he didn’t care about his hostility, shrugging.
This feeling of a punch landing on cotton made Zong Jiu a bit annoyed.
He looked very relaxed as he smoked, but actually, the muscles in his entire body had started tightening.
This guy appeared and disappeared like a ghost, and was completely unpredictable. With a moment of inattention, he got Zong Jiu to drink a cup of wine. Zong Jiu really couldn’t relax for a moment.
“Relax, relax.”
As if he could accurately detect his state of mind, No. 1 slightly pressed down with both of his hands, “If I wanted to, I should’ve done something to the whiskey just now.”
The white-haired young man was unmoved. He coldly asked, “Your purpose?”
“Don’t be so guarded.”
The Devil put his index finger on his lips and made a “shhh” gesture.
Only then did Zong Jiu realize that their verbal confrontation had already attracted the attention of quite a lot of people.
However, what was strange was that if No. 1 appeared, those countless fanatical worshipers on the terrace would all go crazy. But right now, it was like they didn’t see the unusualness of the bartender in the bar. Their gazes were only on him.
The Devil waited patiently for him to finish observing before playfully teasing.
“Instead of asking that half-vampire, why didn’t you directly come and ask me?”
He had heard his conversation with Anthony.
Zong Jiu frowned.
He had sat at this bar for more than half an hour. He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Devil had been waiting here for him.
Of course, even if it was so, Zong Jiu wouldn’t have the slightest bit of awkwardness from being caught talking behind someone’s back.
The white-haired young man scoffed, “If I asked, would you answer?”
Zong Jiu wanted to know the limits of No. 1’s puppet strings, the range of them, and the conditions for controlling them.
Needless to say, that information was extremely confidential and sensitive. Knowing that might not be enough to confront him head-on, but at the very least, the information was a crucial key to guardian against No. 1.
The Devil smiled, “I might.”
He stared at the triangular-shaped shadow of the indent made by the white-haired young man’s clavicle and lowered his voice, which was cold and pleasant to the ears with a slightly upward hook at the end, like some snake staring at its prey, making people shiver.
“If you can… please me.”
Zong Jiu laughed out loud.
He slowly stood up from the bar, placed the lit cigarette off to the side, and made a beckoning gesture with his finger towards the person behind the bar, indicating the latter to come closer.
——And then, his fist flew towards that sly and perfect face.
He asked, “Is that enough to please you?”
