Master of the Stars

The atmosphere in the room turned quite odd.

Yue Zheng’s smile, as well as the meaning behind his words were quite vague, but the direction in which he faced was quite clear. It was enough to let most people fill in the various details in their minds.

He was pretending that what he said was a coincidence. Was he intending on trampling on Luo Nan and the other’s faces?

Was he trampling on Luo Nan and the other’s faces to show off to Tian Si?

Huh? It seemed that all the ideas were pretty much the same....they all involved trampling on Luo Nan’s face.

Ruan Zihui shot Mo Han a glance, and she saw her best friend frown. She then giggled and said, "What’s the point of switching? In the end, we have to go to area ABC. The size of the room isn’t worth a damn."

"Wow, you said some dirty words." Tong Hui made a fuss over nothing.

"I was made dirty by you long ago!" Ruan Zihui unexpectedly let out some shots, causing everyone present to be greatly shocked. Unfortunately, she was not an old hand at banter. She stopped after a single sentence and couldn’t hold back from laughing as she squatted down with hands covering her face.

She had made her own bed and had to lie in it, having even Tong Hui stupefied on the spot. The focus of the entire room was drawn askew by her.

Mo Han watched her with shock. She thought,

All you had to do was take a side. There’s no need to go this far!

In any case, Ruan Zihui really did sacrifice her in the Hui-Hui Gray-Gray way, changing the atmosphere. Though there was no teasing or joking, the boys and girls were trying to hold back their laughter. They took the matter of upgrading the room and threw it to the back of their minds.

Yue Zheng gaped, unable to speak the words he wanted to say. It was very clear to him; it was too difficult to force the atmosphere back to the way it was, and one bad move would be very damaging to him. In the end, he wanted a certain someone to have a good impression of him. He didn’t want to crash into the wall instead.

Yep, from the moment Tian Si first entered, Yue Zheng was certain that she was her most favorite type of prey. She knew appropriate behavior, and she knew when to advance or retreat. She possessed grace, and she wasn’t that much older. The gentle and mature bearing she revealed was what he was infatuated with the most in recent years.

Though Mo Han was youthful and beautiful, in comparison, her temperament was quite thorny. One bad move and he would wish he was dead from the torment.

Yue Zheng’s gaze remained neither close nor distant upon Tian Si’s body. The more he looked, the more he felt that she was his taste.

He was still unclear on why this outstanding beauty would be friends with Luo Nan, a typical homebody brat. However, he dared to gamble on his two eyes that these two people weren’t that close. Luo Nan’s polite performance clarified that quite well.

Oh, he had been a bit hasty in the beginning. After all, this was Mo Han and Mo Peng’s social circle. Being too forceful would likely be counterproductive. He could wait until they entered the gaming grounds, then things would be different.

A smile appeared on Yue Zheng’s face. He shrugged and pretended that what had just happened never happened. He didn’t mention upgrading rooms anymore, and he took his time in taking off his outer garments to prepare to swap for his equipment.

Bright lights flashed in the room suddenly, then came upbeat music and a background voice, "Adventurers! I admire your valor! Now, advance towards the region of greater danger!"

"What the heck?"

"The equipment’s locked."

"We’re upgrading rooms!?"

"Yue Zheng, what the hell did you do?" Ruan Zihui shouted once more.

Everyone’s accusing gaze shifted toward Yue Zheng. No matter what you want to do, this sort of ‘act-first-and-report-later’ attitude was far too becoming!

But Yue Zheng donned an innocent appearance. He was halfway through taking off his coat, so one sleeve still hung from his upper arm. He just froze in place like this, facing a dozen gazes with a blank expression.

It was right in this awkward and tense moment that someone knocked on the door. The door then opened, and a young man in a crisp suit came walking in. "Zhengster, why are you hesitating about upgrading a mere room. It’s just a bit more on my tab. I can act first and report later, man...whoa, there really is quite a few new friends."

How wonderful!

Yue Zheng’s entire face lit up in an instant. He never thought that his mate would put on such a show. Perhaps it was acting, or perhaps there was some other cause. In any case, Yue Zheng was now freed from a passive situation. It was truly an elated turnaround!

He tore off the clothes that hung on his arm and drew in a breath. Then he laughed as he walked over, "Brother Fan, you’re too fast."

The young Mr. Fan who just came in was clearly a clever character polished by society. He bumped his fist against Yue Zheng’s chest, expressing an intimate attitude. Then he turned to the room and revealed a flourishing smile, "My last name is Fan. I’m Fan Qu. I’m in charge of a few things in this branch, and it’s been almost two years since I started. This is my first time meeting most of you, little brothers and sisters, but you’re all Zhengster’s classmates. Zhengster’s my little brother’s childhood friend. Let’s not be strangers everyone."

Fan Qu spoke quickly, but he enunciated each word clearly, "There are many guests today. Please do not mind if there are some aspects neglected. I have provided some fruit plates and refreshments in the luxurious room, a compensation for the little brothers and sisters. You can always contact me directly for booking a room when you come here in the future. If you’re unable to get a hold of me, you can drop my name. I will also do my best to make satisfactory arrangements."

The more Yue Zheng heard him speak, the more his heart felt at ease. He had looked down on Brother Fan, one whose social bearing was thick and dense in the past, but his opinion of Brother Fan changed greatly today.

Brother Fan was indeed a very busy person. He answered his phone after the moment it took for him to speak. He waved goodbye to everyone with a smile, leaving with large and quick strides.

Though Brother Fan had came and went in a hurry, his visit was akin to taking a crappy hand and recycling it anew, from Yue Zheng’s perspective. He was going for the royal flush, and he held all the cards he needed. It was hard to lose.

The more things felt under control, the more smoothly Yue Zheng behaved. He didn’t need to show off any more. He just needed to show his hand. He faced the crowd and adopted a most magnanimous gesture, "All right, I didn’t know that he would play this hand. I’m afraid all the data has been transferred already. Let’s go then. It’s not far at all."

Having said this, he rushed a smile at Luo Nan, "Junior Nan. I didn’t mean for this matter to happen, and I know that it’s quite frustrating. How about we have a discussion? Give me this chance. Tonight’s my treat, even if its as an apology to everyone. This also gives the senior sisters and junior brothers of Acumen College a show of face."

Yue Zheng’s words were said beautifully, especially after being ’wronged’. He acted so humbly that his words flowed cleverly, so clever that it was like words of Ruan Wenhui, a Chinese master of the literature arts. People were speechless.

Yue Zheng gazed around the room upon speaking, making a mental estimate. Right now he should have taken over Luo Nan’s role as host. Then he continue with deep plowing and careful cultivation. Just look, wasn’t that Senior Sister Tian looking quite amazed?

Tian Si was truly quite amazed. She was able to guess Yue Zheng’s intentions, but her amazement lay in the fact that Yue Zheng was toying with his own life. Though she had yet to truly understand Luo Nan’s supernatural abilities, it was not enough to hinder a basic understanding.

For people like Yue Zheng, Luo Nan would probably be able to kill them without a sound, with just a stir of a thought!

With such thoughts formed, it was hard for Tian Si to not feel terror deep within. This fear was formed from the reverence she had toward Luo Nan for breaking away from the laws of society. And right now Luo Nan’s wooden expression was a sort of mask or disguise from her perspective. Perhaps that mask would be torn in the next moment, revealing the face of the grim reaper.

She glanced at Yue Zheng in the blink of an eye. Yue Zheng just so happened to lock gazes with her. He gave a slight bow and a smile from a distance. He was feeling confident and outstanding, but from Tian Si’s perspective, his appearance was akin to nothing other than rotting flesh and bones.

She shivered, subconsciously shifting a bit in Luo Nan’s direction. Then, under the eyes of the crowd, she reached her hand out to touch Luo Nan’s upper arm. With a slight hesitation, her hand slipped down to hold Luo Nan gently by the arm.

"Junior..."

Just how many bulging eyes were there in the room at this moment? Chaotic thoughts spun and flew. Of course, Yue Zheng’s expression instantly darkened.

Luo Nan was weird. He turned to look at Tian Si. He was a bit uncomfortable with how Tian Si had suddenly closed the distance. He opened his mouth to ask why.

But at this time, Papercut suddenly popped out. He chuckled, "Let’s not be in a bind. Let’s not be unreasonable. The data has already been transferred, and its impossible to get it back. We can just go experience the luxury room for a moment. I have yet to be in one in my life!"

He waved his hand to shoo everyone out, "Go, go, go. Everyone go. Don’t forget your clothes and personal items. Hey, Nanster. When you and Tian Si finish talking, hurry up and come over."

Though most of the people in the room wanted to see what would happen, Papercut’s little method was able to make these boys and girls, who lacked the strength to even truss a chicken, leave. Even Yue Zheng, whose mind was quite frozen, involuntarily left.

In a few breaths time, the room became completely empty.

"Senior Sister, is something the matter?"

Luo Nan’s reactions were just a bit lacking, that’s all. He wasn’t truly retarded. Though he didn’t completely understand the ways of the world, he could see that Tian Si’s heartbeat was erratic and fear was breeding in her heart. The hand that pulled his arm was quite stiff, like she had encountered a scare. Her mind also seemed to be in quite the bind.

And it seemed that he was the reason why for all of this?

Luo Nan had to be a lot more open with someone like Tian Si, a character who knew half the facts. He had gradually gotten used to the new distance he had with Tian Si, so he laughed and said, "What are you afraid of?"

"I-I’m worried about you getting angry." Tian Si’s voice was a bit hoarse, She had trouble controlling her breathing. She was nervous, when all was said and done.

"Me?" Luo Nan was baffled.

"I’m a bit surprised as well."

Papercut spoke out of nowhere as he stood by the door, startling Tian Si once more. But she saw this plump young man chuckle simple-mindedly, creasing the skin of his face, and felt that it was rather pleasing. She calmed down quite a bit.

Xue Lei stuck his head in from outside the door and grinned, "That Mr. Yue needs a spanking. He’s sick for wanting to trample on people."

Papercut chuckled again, "Nanster is normally well-tempered. I know this, but I didn’t think that he would be able to be so calm when that happened. How remarkable."

"Who?" Luo Nan was a bit uncertain, "Are you talking about me?"

"Who else is there? That bro trampled on your face today. He wasn’t even willing to overlook or spare you. I was really scared that you would mentally snap and clean him up just like you did with Tank. Motherfucker, speaking of that guy, do you know how hard it was to clean up the scene back then? That bro was complete paste, Just the slightest force would cause his skin to slip from his flesh. It’s as if he had been pressure cooked."

Luo Nan’s expression was that of complete innocence. He had been so busy recently that he didn’t have the time to consider dead people.

Tian Si finally came back to reality. It seemed that Luo Nan had no intent to kill, but she asked carefully in confirmation, "You’re really not mad?"

Luo Nan became depressed, feeling like he had been wronged, "You thought that just because he blathered away and talked big that I would want to kill him? Wasn’t everything he did absolutely meaningless? He was never able to persuade anyone from beginning to end, and that included his sister, and you expected me to be angry? Brother Papercut, the few lives I have taken with my own hands all began with them seeking to kill me first. They also destroyed my mother’s work. I’m not the type to go killing indiscriminately, okay?"

"Of course, of course you’re not. Nanster, you’re so impressive!" Papercut gave a big thumbs up.

Tian Si couldn’t help feeling that their conversation was strange. The talk of taking a few lives was seriously contrary to the logic of normal society, but such talk was so casual and natural when it came out of Luo Nan’s and Papercut’s mouths.

And, on the side, Xue Lei’s expression didn’t really change as well.

In the end, they were different from normal people. It was hard for Tian Si to calm her heart-rate. She had no choice but to breathe deep and slow and try to calm down.

Luo Nan felt her actions clearly and was uncertain of himself when seeing them. He turned to ask, "Was there a problem with how I handled things?"

How was Tian Si to answer? Though she was a cunning and eloquent person who could fit into many situations, she was completely unable to display her skills during this time. She really admired herself for thinking of creating a situation to converse with Luo Nan in private.

In the end, it was Papercut who helped her out of trouble once more, "That’s not what we all meant. We weren’t praising you...I just want to know. How were you so sure that this Yue kid didn’t win anyone to his side? He played his moves out quite well, especially when that Fan kid came over. I really didn’t know that boys and girls these days had these sort of ideas. Tian Si has experienced them before, but the others might not have.”

Luo Nan especially liked this topic. He immediately laughed and pointed at his own head, "Sensed it."

Papercut had been teasing him. He never expected there to be truly an answer. He was stupefied for a time, "You can sense this too?"

"Of course, it’s very clear."

It must be stated that Luo Nan truly didn’t understand some of the ways of the world, but when it came to sensing the hearts, minds, and energies of people, there were few people who could beat him in the entirety of Xia City, let alone this room.

It was just as he said. Yue Zheng was just like a large ant endlessly ramming into a tree when it came to this matter. The living starry sky illustrated him as a bleak star. This bro’s ’gravitational force’ didn’t form any effective fluctuations at all. There was little effect on the people present during the time.

Yue Zheng’s influence, no matter how high its wave crest or low its wave trough, didn’t have a single moment that touched upon a level that required Luo Nan’s attention. It just quietly dissolved into the abyss of the vast sea of stars.

So, there were really no fluctuations within Luo Nan’s heart.

He was prepared to explain it to Papercut, but Papercut had already given up, "All right. I still need to help you out in a little bit with Cat Eyes. Spare me the brain power. Let us go to the luxury room to experience it thoroughly. Oh, you went to a luxury room last time at the other, destroyed, Frost River Reality at Fudong, right?"

Luo Nan gave a grunt. His mood was a bit bad, since Papercut wouldn’t let him explain himself. His stomach was stuffed with words.

They hurried to the luxury room in area A and saw Mo Peng’s spittle fly through the air. He was describing the ’heroic feat’ of a certain someone back at the Fudong Frost River Reality.

"I’ve never been to this place before, but Nanster should have."

"Oh, he doesn’t like this sort of place?" Luo Biyao acted as Mo Peng’s support in a very familiar way. The two matched perfectly.

Mo Peng chuckled, "He doesn’t like it, but he’s no match for bad luck! Last time the Fudong Main Street’s Frost River Reality was attacked by terrorists. The luxury room was smashed to bits and pieces. I looked at the police report after the matter. Nanster and the other’s evacuation route included the rooms of area A...it seemed that one of the rooms was the starting point?"

"Whoa, Nanster was a victim?" Tong Hui had heard Mo Han mention this before, but he didn’t have much of understanding back then. He was really curious.

"Of course! Not to mention, a third of our current party were victims. There was Sister Pomegranate and I, and Senior Sister Third Brother, Brother Qi. We were all victims. But none of us fooled around as big as Nanster. He was of the last group to come out. Oh right, there was also Xue Lei. He was one of the last ones too. His father was the captain of the special police who was in charge of the protect and defend mission!"

Mo Peng’s arms were waving and feet were stomping as he spoke. Luo Nan and Xue Lei glanced at each other. Both of them had their mouths shut, wishing to maintain low profiles. Luo Nan wanted to be done with this group, so that he could converse with Papercut, Cat Eyes, and the others. He didn’t care about Mo Peng’s show at all.

However, Yue Zheng, who stood within the center of the large room with its bright flowing lights and first class sound effects, had an ugly expression when he heard the words ’attack’, ’destroyed to bits and pieces’, and so on.

At this time, a call came through to his wristband.