Chapter 114: Fortune and Misfortune, an Unexpected Joy

"*Burp.*"

Full and satisfied, Lin Li burped and said to Su Yue, "Well, I’m heading back."

"Okay, be careful on your way," Su Yue said with a smile. At the same time, she handed over some packed-up cold dishes. "Take these. If you stay up late gaming and get hungry, you can have them as a midnight snack."

’These days I’ve been so busy hunting Mutant Beasts that I’m exhausted and go to bed as soon as I get home. Even when I do play games, I usually stop around ten at the latest...’ Lin Li grumbled to himself.

Then, he gave a slight nod, took the packed cold dishes from Su Yue, and turned to leave.

THUD.

Su Yue closed the door. She had a wonderful time eating hot pot with Lin Li tonight. Humming a popular song, she started walking toward her bedroom.

She’d worked up quite a sweat eating the hot pot, so she planned to take a shower next.

RING RING RING...

Her phone, which she’d left on the living room sofa, started ringing. Su Yue, who had been about to go back to her bedroom to get a change of clothes, stopped and turned back toward the living room.

"Zhang Xiaohao?"

She picked up her phone, looked at the caller ID, and saw that the call was from Zhang Xiaohao.

Su Yue frowned slightly. The last time Zhang Xiaohao had managed to persuade her to have dinner with him, and ever since, he would call about once a week to ask her out to eat.

Counting the days, it had been almost exactly a week since their last dinner. She figured he was probably calling to ask her out to eat again.

The past few times they had eaten together, Zhang Xiaohao had kept his word and acted purely like a regular friend, so out of respect for the friendship between their parents, Su Yue had agreed.

"Hello."

"Su Yue, good evening!"

"Hi. What’s up?"

"Well... my parents are coming back from abroad this weekend, and we’re having a party at our house. I’d like to invite you."

"I..." Su Yue hadn’t expected Zhang Xiaohao to invite her to a party at his house instead of asking her out to dinner.

Su Yue’s immediate instinct was to decline this kind of gathering, but Zhang Xiaohao beat her to the punch, giving her a reason she couldn’t refuse.

"Su Yue, my parents are abroad most of the time for work, so it’s a rare occasion for them to come back. They specifically told me that I absolutely had to invite you to this party."

"..."

Zhang Xiaohao had played the parent card, so Su Yue couldn’t very well refuse anymore. "Fine. Send me your address."

"My family’s villa is in the North District, which is probably quite far from your place. How about I just drive over and pick you up?" Zhang Xiaohao said.

"As the host, you’ll definitely have to stay home and greet guests on the day of the party. I don’t want to trouble you. I can get there myself. It’s really easy to get a taxi these days..."

"Alright then, I’ll send my address to your WeChat in a bit." Seeing that she was firm, Zhang Xiaohao didn’t insist.

After hanging up, Su Yue put her phone down on the sofa and muttered to herself.

"Ugh, among the guests at Zhang Xiaohao’s party, there will definitely be a lot of people who know my parents. I’ll have to make small talk with all of them."

"I’m not going to think about it, not going to think about it. Time for a shower... It’s strange, though. How come Lin Li hasn’t asked me to play games with him recently? I haven’t seen him post any updates on his WeChat Moments, either."

Wondering why Lin Li hadn’t asked her to play games with him lately, Su Yue stood up from the sofa and headed toward her bedroom.

...

"*Burp.*"

After leaving Su Yue’s place, Lin Li started walking home. Along the way, he let out several more full burps.

’I’m so full. The hot pot base Su Yue made today was just as good as any you’d find in a restaurant.

When I asked her how she made it, she said making a hot pot base is super simple—you just have to follow the steps from a food blogger’s online tutorial.

That was so frustrating to hear. I’ve tried following online food bloggers to make a hot pot base before, but the result never tastes very good.’

Carrying the cold dishes Su Yue had packed for him, Lin Li walked slowly, lost in thought.

CLICK.

THUD.

Once home, Lin Li immediately turned on the living room air conditioner, then put the cold dishes Su Yue had packed for him into the refrigerator.

He didn’t plan on having a midnight snack tonight. He wanted to go to bed early so he could wake up early tomorrow and head to that unknown Otherworld to continue his exploration.

It was only 8:10 PM. Even though he planned to go to bed early, this was too early.

Turning on the TV, Lin Li lay down on the sofa. While listening to a news anchor’s report, he opened the Exotic Beast Hunter app and started browsing the discussion forum.

Soon, Lin Li came across a very popular discussion thread.

Looking at the username of the Exotic Beast Hunter who made the post, Lin Li couldn’t help but mutter, "’This Old Monk Ain’t Small’? This person’s username certainly has a hidden meaning!"

This Old Monk Ain’t Small: SHOCKER! I heard the "Thunderbolt Squad" found a Spirit Fruit in the wild. After some discussion, they decided to let their captain eat it.

Bookworm For Life: And then? What happened after he ate the Spirit Fruit?

This Old Monk Ain’t Small: What else? His cultivation level soared, of course. I heard the Thunderbolt Squad’s captain was stuck at the Second Order Middle Stage for five years and couldn’t break through. After he ate that Spirit Fruit, he broke through to the Second Order High Rank on the spot.

Not A Pushover: Damn, Second Order High Rank! Isn’t he basically set to take off from now on?!

Kalanina: Now that the Thunderbolt Squad’s captain has the strength of a Second Order High Rank, doesn’t that mean their squad can start operating in deeper parts of the wilderness?

It’s All Vanity: The deeper you go into the wilderness, the stronger the Mutant Beasts you encounter. The risks are immeasurable. It’s not necessarily a good thing.

Uncomfortable: To the poster above, we can’t just hang around the safe zones forever, right? You know what they say, fortune favors the bold.

SuperSuperStrongSoldier: @Uncomfortable, bro, I agree with you. I’ve also heard a thing or two about the Thunderbolt Squad getting that Spirit Fruit.

I heard their squad ran into heavy fog in the wild, lost their way, and accidentally wandered into a danger zone thirty kilometers out. But instead of running into danger, they ended up finding a Spirit Fruit.

Infinite Maze: What insane luck! I’m so jealous.

Lonely Soul: I heard the Thunderbolt Squad are a bunch of guys who like foot spas. I like foot spas too. Anyone have their contact info? I want to join them.

A Loner’s Cutie: Sigh... Too bad I prefer taking baths. Otherwise, I’d kind of want to join them too.

...