“This one’s mine…” I said while producing a Sealing Card.

Lin Yixin immediately hugged her sword and leaned against a rock, giggling. “Do your best! If you fail 5 times in a row, that Level 1 Blood Skeleton will level up!”

I nodded. A Blood Skeleton was a top-tier defense-focused pet. If I could catch it, it would earn a fortune for Bloody Mercenaries!

Swhoosh!

I tossed the Sealing Card into the air as it turned into a hexagram formation. It spun quickly beneath the Blood Skeleton and glowed brightly with magic, pulling its target into the sealing space.

“Hiss hiss…”

The Level 1 Blood Skeleton hissed quietly. It clearly wasn’t going down easy.

Ding~!

System Notice: Sealing failed. Process can be repeated 4 more times!

I clenched my teeth and threw another card!

Ding~!

System Notice: Sealing failed. Process can be repeated 3 more times!

Ding~!

System Notice: Sealing failed. Process can be repeated 2 more times!

In that moment, my complexion was as white as death’s. Is this cutey destined to pass me by?

Lin Yixin raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled. “Your luck really isn’t too good. Do you want to give up your last chance to me? I can give it back to you if I succeed.”

“No need, I can do this myself!”

I tossed the Sealing Card again, its magic struggling to pull the Blood Skeleton unto itself. Finally, it vanished completely from our sights!

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, you have successfully captured Blood Skeleton!

……

I did it!

I almost leaped into the air in joy. I held up the Creature Holding Stone as the Blood Skeleton looked around blankly from inside. Then, I brought up its stats window.

Blood Skeleton

Level: 1

Attack: 7

Defense: 9

HP: 10

Agility: 8

Growth——

Attack ★★★☆

Defense ★★★★★

HP ★★★★★

Agility ★★☆

……

Holy shit, this guy has 5 stars in both Defense and HP! Even its Attack is half a star higher than Lin Yixin's Cyan Skeleton. Agility is an entire star higher as well! This is wonderful!

Lin Yixin leaned in, checking out the Blood Skeleton herself. She smiled. “Congratulations on getting a prize that’s worth 50000 RMB at minimum! It would be a crime to sell it for anything less than 500 gold!”

I nodded. “Your Cyan Skeleton can’t go lower than 400 gold as well.”

Lin Yinxin giggled. “Alright, let’s go. We need to turn in our quest and grab our supper. It’s already late.”

“Mn.”

We killed a couple more skeletons before realizing that we really didn’t have any time to spare. It was past 8 pm already in real life. Thus, Lin Yixin and I returned to the valley entrance and turned in our quest to the NPC soldier.

The soldier looked at us with respect as he said, “Young warriors, your heroic deeds will spread to every corner of the continent! Come, this is the reward you deserve!”

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, you have completed the quest [Spreading Blood]. You have gained 12000 EXP and 450 Reputation!

……

Swoosh!

I barely reached Level 39 as golden light enveloped me. Lin Yixin herself was still stuck at Level 40.

“Time to go back to Floating Ice City. We need to list our pets for sale!”

I grabbed a return scroll and exchanged a nod with Lin Yixin. Then, we teleported back to the city.

“Where should we list it?” I asked.

Lin Yixin pointed toward the south and said, “The auction house is over there. A lot of tamers consign their pets to the auction house for sale too.”

“Mn.”

We ran to the auction house. I paid 2 gold as the consignment fee and consigned the Creature Holding Stone holding the Blood Skeleton under the pet category. There were 17 other pets waiting to be sold besides ours—4 Green Praying Mantises and 7 Wasps with an average BN of 20. They were incredibly common since the tamers most likely kept the best pets to themselves. After all, one of the key factors to be successful in this game was personal strength.

I set the minimal price for the Blood Skeleton to 400 gold. Once the consigned object was confirmed for bid, players had 10 hours to place their bids. After this period of time passed, the highest bidder would obtain the Blood Skeleton.

The instant the Blood Skeleton was confirmed for bid, a melodious ring resounded throughout Floating Ice City.

Ding~!

System Announcement (Trade): Player “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand” has listed “Blood Skeleton” for auction. 3.5-star Attack, 5-star Defense, 5-star HP, 2.5-star Agility, 34 BN. Starting bid of 400 gold. All players are welcome to make a bid!

……

“Oh?”

Lin Yixin couldn’t help but smile at the announcement. “Your Blood Skeleton must be really good, or it wouldn’t have triggered an automated announcement. Only items that had reached a certain level of value would get a free announcement from the system~”

I nodded, deriving great pleasure from this pleasant surprise. Free advertisement by the system was incredibly rare and difficult feat to replicate in practice. I didn’t think I would be able to trigger one.

Lin Yixin put up her own Cyan Skeleton for bid, and the system rang again.

Ding~!

System Announcement (Trade): Player “Wind Fantasy” has listed “Cyan Skeleton” for auction. 3-star Attack, 5-star Defense, 4.5-star HP, 1.5-star Agility, 36 BN. Starting bid of 300 gold. All players are welcome to make a bid!

As expected, both skeletons were valuable enough to impress the system. Although there was a 5% trading fee on all auctioned items, listing it at auction ensured price bumping and competition. Therefore, ultimately the system favored the player, especially when it promoted the goods as well.

Lin Yixin checked the time and said without looking up, “Meet me in front of the eastern gate of the university in half an hour.”

“Oh?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just, it’s been many years since I’ve waited for a girl in front of a gate…”

Lin Yixin couldn’t suppress a smile. “Come on, are you really embarrassed by this?”

I scowled at her briefly before saying, “My stomach will never be embarrassed as long as you’re the one who’s paying the bill!”

“How low can you get? Well, see you~”

“Mn.”

We entered an inn in Floating Ice City and logged off after that.

……

It was a hot night in summer, so I thanked my lucky stars that we had moved to a new house with air conditioner in every room. When I entered the living room, I saw a bunch of empty food boxes on the table. Du Thirteen and Gui Guzi had already finished their dinner, but they left all the cleaning to me.

I cleaned things up a little and dumped all the food boxes and trash bags downstairs. Then, I went outside and walked straight toward the eastern gate of the Suzhou University of Science and Technology.

I put on a Semir brand T-shirt and came to a stop at the transport station in front of the eastern gate. Then, I plunged my hands into my pockets and waited for the university’s campus belle to come out and receive me with an exaggerated pose. At the security room, the security guard watched me closely as if I was a random thug on the streets.

Occasionally, groups of students would walk out of the campus for some fun in the cybercafes or some fun with the girlfriend. Then there were the shameful little shits who carried thick, black-covered books with them while keeping their heads bowed. They even lowered their caps to make sure that no one could see their faces. I glanced at their books and noticed that the title read “A Classic of Xuanhuan, VRMMO: The Legendary Thief.” Hmph hmph, I know that’s a pirated copy. That poor author must not be earning any money at all...

I waited for a moment, but Lin Yixin was taking longer than I expected. There was no way I missed her either; she was the kind of person who turned heads wherever she went.

Just as I was thinking this, the beauty I was waiting for finally showed up. She wore a white dress, and she was holding a handbag. She had appeared from a tree-lined avenue.

I walked up to her and asked concernedly, “Are you tired?”

Lin Yixin shot me a look of astonishment. “What are you plotting?”

“Hah. Where are we eating? Should we ring a car?”

“Mn.”

Lin Yixin arrived at the roadside and waved her hand a little. A black sedan immediately moved next to her before rolling down the windows. A middle-aged man nodded at her, and after a short conversation that I couldn’t hear Lin Yixin beckoned me. “Come on, get in the car!”

I looked at her suspiciously before glancing at the front of the car. I know that triangular logo, it’s Mercedes-Benz!

What was the relationship between the driver and Lin Yixin? She couldn’t be… The more I thought, the more confused I became. When I sat next to Lin Yixin, she looked at my face and wore a complicated expression. “What on earth are you thinking?”

“Nothing… where are we going?” I asked.

“Land of Sweet Dreams.” Lin Yixin leaned lazily against her seat and cocked her head toward me. Cunning dancing in her eyes, she smiled. “It’s the best restaurant in the entire Suzhou District. Tonight I’ll show you what a real meal is~”

A bit of hesitation crept into my voice. “Is it very expensive?”

“Well, it’s definitely not cheap.”

Lin Yixin let out a short laugh before closing her eyes slowly. She looked very tired for some reason. The way her breasts rose up and down slightly shot tingles up my spine.

I abruptly looked up and saw the driver staring at me very suspiciously through the back mirror. He seemed to be extremely concerned for Lin Yixin’s well-being.

The driver let out a cough and drove onto an overpass. Then, he asked, “Xin’er, aren’t you going to introduce your friend to me?”

Lin Yixin “oh”-ed affirmatively before looking at me. “He’s a friend, a gamer in Heavenblessed. He’s not someone you need to know.”

The middle-aged man snorted once before saying, “Look, I’m not trying to be strict, but you really should be careful when making friends.”

Lin Yixin nodded obediently before raising her eyebrows suddenly. “Hey, let’s get off the overpass!”

“What for?”

“Leave the car keys to me and go home on a public transport yourself.”

“But…”

“Is there a problem?”

“No.”

We drove off the overpass and stopped next to a transport stop. Then, the middle-aged man got out of the car and allowed Lin Yixin to take over as the driver. When she shot me a glance, I wordlessly moved to the front passenger seat.

We got on the overpass once more. This time, Lin Yixin and I were alone.

“Who was that?” I tried for a while, but I just couldn’t hold back any longer.

Lin Yixin looked at me and smiled. “Not telling!”

“Fuck…”

My heart beat like a racehorse. Even now, I was still wondering about the nature of Lin Yixin’s relationship with that middle-aged man. Some time later, I asked another question. “Yiyi, does this car belong to that middle-aged guy?”

“Hey you!”

Lin Yixin scowled at me and scolded. “You can stop guessing already, it’s not what you think. That’s all you need to know, get it?”

“So, what is the model number of this car? It looks pretty cool!”

“Oh, it’s the latest MB-100.”

“MB-100，MB……”

“MB-100? Mother bucker…”

I laughed. “We didn’t need to travel this far for a meal, you know.”

“Heh, is that so?”

Lin Yixin smiled but didn’t say anything else. The car entered an industrial zone, and soon we came to a stop in front of an elegant-looking restaurant. We booked an open-air table next to the dining hall.

There was a group of young people enjoying what looked like a birthday drinking party inside the dining hall. Among them, there was an impressive-looking young man wearing branded clothes from head to toe drinking from a wine glass and holding a woman with a heavy makeup in his arms. The people around him often referred to him as “Young Master Le.”

Lin Yixin shot a casual glance at this “Young Master Le” and smiled.