Chapter 116: Still the familiar formula
After the excitement of successfully condensing a psychic weapon passed, Lu Heng felt a wave of fatigue rise from deep within him. A night without sleep, combined with the effort of condensing a psychic weapon for the first time, was honestly quite a burden for an ordinary person.
Since he only had an unimportant elective class today, Lu Heng decided to skip school. He set his phone to silent and promptly fell asleep.
He woke up hungry, reaching for his phone to see that it was already 4 p.m. Waking up from daytime sleep often left him feeling weak, so Lu Heng simply lay in bed, playing on his phone and waiting for the weakness to pass.
As soon as he opened WeChat, he noticed a friend request. The requester? Gu Lingjun.
His still-groggy mind finally remembered that he'd agreed to treat the kind Mr. Gu to a meal today, but had forgotten to send a heads-up after sleeping until four in the afternoon.
Feeling guilty, Lu Heng accepted the request and immediately sent a message.
"Sorry, I stayed up all night and just woke up. Let me treat you to dinner."
The other person must have been on his phone, as he replied almost instantly.
"Alright. What time?"
"Six. I'll come by your place when I'm ready."
After arranging the dinner with Gu Lingjun, Lu Heng casually opened his Weibo to check how many followers he'd gained from last night's meticulously prepared livestream. As soon as he opened it, he saw today's top trending topic:
#InMyLifetimeSeries[1], I can't believe I saw Lord Junlin post on Weibo#
Lu Heng was a bit curious—back during the livestream, Junlin's swift moves and fierce momentum had indeed left a strong impression on him. He conveniently tapped on Junlin's Weibo profile, only to find the default page with just two solitary posts.
Unhappy. Posted on November 3rd at 11:00 a.m.
Happy. Posted on November 2nd at 8:00 p.m.
Both Weibo posts had been reposted millions of times by Junlin's fanatical fans. Comparing his own follower count, Lu Heng couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the living legend before he closed the app and got out of bed to start getting ready.
As Lu Heng was washing up, Junlin's Weibo account hit the trending topics again, this time with the hashtag: #Is Lord Junlin's Weibo a Bot Post?#
Apparently, Junlin had just posted another one-word message. Now his barren profile displayed a perfectly orderly set of three posts:
Happy
Unhappy
Happy
Without even an emoji, fans were starting to suspect his Weibo posts were published by a bot.
Meanwhile, the "bot" himself, Gu Lingjun, was on a call.
"Lingjun, I heard from your dage that you finally posted two messages today on the Weibo account he set up for you! Does this mean you've finally come round and are willing to connect with your fans?" Mr. Gu, the family patriarch, had heard about it from his eldest son and immediately called, elated. His excitement wasn't so much about fan engagement or something, but more about a long-awaited sign that his youngest son, Gu Lingjun, might finally be open to interacting with the outside world.
"Mm. I posted three."
"Can you tell me what made you suddenly change your mind?" Patriarch Gu pressed on.
"Dage said that I can share my mood on Weibo, whether I'm happy or unhappy," Gu Lingjun explained in detail, knowing his father was concerned about him. "Before, I didn't feel like I had any reason to post anything, so I didn't."
After hanging up the call with his youngest son, Patriarch Gu finally pieced it together—Gu Lingjun was essentially saying he had never felt happy or unhappy. This realization left the old man even more worried; it seemed his son might not only have social difficulties but also emotional impairment.
At 5:55 p.m., Lu Heng was ready to head out for his dinner appointment, only to open the door and find Gu Lingjun standing there.
The familiarity of this behavior pattern moved Lu Heng's heart, though he kept his smile in place: "Mr. Gu, what a coincidence. I was just about to come to find you."
November's weather had already turned a bit chilly, yet Gu Lingjun was dressed simply in a shirt, knit sweater, and casual pants. But with the impeccable tailoring and high-quality fabric, it was clear his outfit wasn't from an ordinary brand.
"Mm." Gu Lingjun nodded slightly and turned toward the elevator.
"..." Lu Heng spotted the tag peeking out from under Gu Lingjun's sweater and quickly stopped him, "Wait a second."
As Lu Heng snipped off the tag from Gu Lingjun's sweater with a pair of scissors, he couldn't help but admire his new neighbor's composure. Clearly, this new neighbor was a man of extraordinary background who had seen the world—unfazed and calm even in such an awkward situation.
Gu Lingjun said that he was new to S City and wasn't familiar with the area, leaving all decisions up to Lu Heng. So Lu Heng took him to a well-known local private restaurant specializing in traditional S City flavors. Throughout the dinner, both the guest and the host thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Gu Lingjun didn't speak much, but he had an uncanny ability to pick up on Lu Heng's shifts in mood, and the two of them got along swimmingly.
However, as they were saying their goodbyes, something happened that confounded Lu Heng a little. Here's how it went.
Lu Heng said out of courtesy, "I didn't know you were from A City before. The flavors here in S City might not be to your liking. If so, I'll take you to a restaurant that's known for A City cuisine some other time."
Unexpectedly, Gu Lingjun acted in an unconventional way. He responded bluntly, "Not to my liking. Sure."
"…" Such a straightforward and somewhat familiar formula made Lu Heng fall into deep thought.
S City was huge, and the private restaurant they visited was in a far-off part of the city. By the time Lu Heng got home, it was nearly ten, yet he didn't feel the slightest bit tired.
Last night, Lu Heng had used up most of his thought energy unblocking his heart apertures, and with no livestream planned today, he intended to rest up. Yet, during his usual meditation, he found that his thought energy had not only fully recovered but was even slightly stronger than yesterday.
He couldn't shake a sense of suspicion around Gu Lingjun. But if Gu Lingjun truly was Shi Kong, Lu Heng figured he'd eventually discover it through their interactions. No need to overthink it now; with his thought energy restored, he could implement the next step of his plan tonight itself.
Lu Heng checked the time—it was already nearing eleven. He decided to head out and hunt mutant creatures.
There were two ways to qualify for the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference. One way was to hunt a mutant creature that best showcased one's abilities. If the mutant creature handed in was of a high enough level, its hunter could directly enter the finals as a seeded contestant. This approach ruled out cheating, as each Martial Artist's psychic weapon left a unique thought energy wavelength in the fatal wound on the prey. Additionally, to prevent newcomers with connections from having experienced family members subdue a creature so they could deliver the killing blow, each submission also had to include a full video of the hunt.
The second method to qualify for the conference was the preliminary round, designed for newcomers who had just broken through but hadn't had time to hunt, or for Martial Artists whose submitted mutant creatures did not meet the required level. In this case, the system would randomly match Martial Artists of the same level, using a points system to determine who would advance to the finals.
Lu Heng had originally planned to take this second route, as circumstances at the time only allowed him to advance through the preliminary rounds. However, now that he had cleared his heart apertures in advance, he decided to change his strategy. The preliminary rounds schedule was too long; it would not only waste time but would also consume too much energy. Generally speaking, even if one barely made it through the preliminaries, one would find themselves eliminated in the first round of the finals because one is too tired and has no strength to continue.
The elevator carrying Lu Heng had just closed its door.
The door next door opened and Gu Lingjun walked out. Just now, he sensed the thought power fluctuations from Lu Heng again and could naturally guess what Lu Heng was planning to do.
How can he be assured when someone who had only just condensed his psychic weapon wanted to go hunting alone? Gu Lingjun also stepped out and pressed the button for the elevator. He wasn't the least bit worried about losing track of Lu Heng; he had memorized the other party's thought power fluctuations, and with a little attention, he could easily follow Lu Heng's trail.
Lu Heng did not make the common rookie mistake of being overly eager; he was well aware of his own abilities. Having just established his thought energy cycle, his physical condition had not yet fully improved, and his thought power wasn't particularly strong. The only advantage he had was the combat awareness he had honed through experiences in previous worlds.
He carefully selected his first prey: a mutant flower. This mutant flower was originally just a city horticultural product that had been left in a garden; it had not mutated enough to move. After several tests, Lu Heng discovered that its most threatening attack was simply spewing out toxic pollen.
Feigning an attack, Lu Heng waited for the mutant flower to spray its pollen. The pollen had not yet fully dispersed in one direction when he quickly dashed behind the flower and slashed it with his scimitar, killing it instantly.
Ah Heng is amazing! I've never seen a rookie stay so calm during their first hunt, probing for weaknesses before making a move. Someone stood at the corner, their gaze fixed intently on the battle ahead.
For his second target, Lu Heng chose a mutant rat. It was fast but had low attack power. After some maneuvers, he successfully captured it as well.
Ah Heng is so smart! He knows to choose his prey based on his own abilities. This mutant rat is quick, but both its attack and defense are weak, which is perfect for a beginner to practice on.
Lu Heng continued to hunt mutant creatures according to his plan, making significant progress in his abilities over the course of several hours. However, a sudden situation arose during his final battle with a mutant bird. It turned out to be a pair of mutant birds, and while Lu Heng was engaged in combat with the male, the female was hiding nearby. When Lu Heng was too focused to pay attention, the female bird suddenly darted out from the bushes, its beak sharp as a steel blade, aimed straight for Lu Heng's back.
On a nearby tree, Gu Lingjun felt a tightening in his chest and instinctively gripped the branch tighter.
He had noticed the female bird long before, but he didn't intervene. This was Lu Heng's training, and if he could handle such a sudden ambush, it would greatly aid his growth. Gu Lingjun had already used his thought power to thoroughly assess the strength of the pair of mutant birds, and he believed that Lu Heng would only sustain a minor injury from this sneak attack at most.
It's just that although his reason told him that it doesn't matter and injuries are inevitable for any Martial Artist, when he saw the female bird launch its sneak attack, Gu Lingjun instinctively shifted his weight, almost rushing forward to intervene.
Fortunately, Lu Heng was alert. With his left hand scimitar, he blocked the male bird's talons, sidestepped, and intercepted the female's razor-sharp beak with his right hand scimitar, narrowly avoiding injury.
After a night of fighting, Lu Heng returned home with a full load, his backpack filled with the bodies of small mutant creatures. Turning these in to the Ancient Martial Arts Association would earn him both money and points.
Early the next morning, a Municipal Urban Greening Maintenance Bureau employee noticed several deep claw marks on the bark of a century-old camphor tree. Alarmed, he quickly called the S City Ancient Martial Arts Association.
"Hello? Hi, I've found several very deep claw marks on the camphor tree at the small park off Huxi Road, and they are definitely not made by a human. I suspect there's a mutant wildcat around. Please send someone over to handle it as soon as possible."
[1] 有生之年系列 is an ironic phrase used to describe something highly anticipated that seemed unlikely to ever happen, making it feel almost miraculous when it finally does. It's often used humorously or sarcastically to express the surprise and excitement of finally seeing progress or an event fans thought they might never live to see. It's exactly what I'll say if GRRM ever publishes Winds of Winter.
Translator:
Ah Heng is amazing! Ah Heng is so smart! Not like you're biased or anything, Lord Junlin.
Thank you for the update!
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