Chapter 7: Key Information

How do we draw the lottery?

Bai Ling hadn’t thought it through, because she figured that as long as she saw Yuan Xiaoling — like the blonde busty girl now, with a pair of white and tender legs cutely sitting in a duck position, her petite body slightly leaning forward, Dabeitù and her lolita face both tilting up to look at her.

There would be infinite credit… infinite inspiration surging into her mind, such as having Ningle try on all sorts of cute or spicy outfits, or using abilities for various movie cosplay methods.

But these things had already been done many times. Today, Yuan Xiaoling voluntarily proposed rewarding her, so Bai Ling wanted to try something special.

“What do you think?” The blonde busty girl leaned in a bit closer, blinking innocently. “Have you decided yet?”

“Still thinking…”

“Why so slow? There’s nothing to hesitate about in this kind of thing.”

Bai Ling twitched her lips, thinking that matters like this should be carefully considered; one shouldn’t just recklessly act without thought. Just like last time, acting without consideration led to Ningle doing her own thing afterward, lying down for an entire day, almost delaying the important discussion at the Nameless Bar that evening.

She glanced at Yuan Xiaoling, who was rubbing her lower back, seemingly tired from sitting in a duck position for too long, burdened by Dabeitù’s weight.

“Are you done yet~” Yuan Xiaoling softly urged.

Bai Ling snorted, thinking that lying around had spoiled her, making her complain about sitting for a while, truly speaking without considering others’ efforts.

Suddenly, an idea struck her.

“Alright, today you’ll help me out with this.”

Yuan Xiaoling blinked in surprise, pointing at herself with her small finger: “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Bai Ling climbed onto the bed, lying down on another pillow, facing upward in a supine position.

Yuan Xiaoling shifted her thighs, scooting over next to her, looking down to see the white-haired maiden’s charming face, calm but filled with anticipation. Her delicately curving body had her chest rising slightly with excitement.

“Bai Ling,” the blonde said, “you’re already very beautiful.”

All my hard work!

Bai Ling tightened her pretty face: “At a time like this, why are you saying these things…”

And, being watched from above like this felt strange, her body slowly heating up, how curious…

“Then I’ll start,” Yuan Xiaoling extended her tiny hands, “heishou~!”

She’d heard an old saying: prolonged illness makes a good doctor, meaning those who suffer much also become accustomed to suffering’s ways.

In Ningle’s case, after countless battles, she had grown incredibly skilled.

Heishou~!

…

Bai Ling’s expression was quite dramatic, transitioning from initial anticipation, a trace of imperceptible tension, to now… resignation.

Yuan Xiaoling was already a university student and her senior, but her hands were still small and soft.

“Or maybe I should…” she looked complexly, “I thought you were teasing.”

Yuan Xiaoling tilted her head, blinking confusedly: “What’s teasing?”

Not that, she was trying her best here, and suddenly you say something like that… Can you respect the effort put in?

“Do you have a cat?” Bai Ling asked her.

Yuan Xiaoling shook her head: “No, but I’ve seen others keep them.”

“Have you ever squeezed a kitten’s paw pads, or let it pat with its paw pads?” Bai Ling continued asking.

Yuan Xiaoling kept shaking her head: “No… but I’ve seen it on Bilibili.”

“This is exactly like that,” Bai Ling expressionless, “no different from what you’ve seen in videos of kittens kneading milk.”

Just like kneading milk versus flowers.

“I… I…”

Only then did Yuan Xiaoling finally realize — she was criticizing her for being too soft?

Tsk!

The blonde’s chest trembled in anger, feeling cold despite the hot weather… oh, it must be the air conditioning, but it sufficiently showed her indignation.

But she was a soft girl, what could a soft girl do?

“Then… what should I do? I’ve already tried my best. Not everyone is like you, an athlete, dealing high damage, with unbeatable telekinesis helping out.”

Bai Ling sighed faintly: “I’m not blaming you, just suggesting we switch.”

Yuan Xiaoling reluctantly lowered her head.

Damn, is it over already?

Just then, she noticed her bouncing Dabeitù due to her anger.

Wait, right, though I’m weak and powerless, I do have one incredible advantage that no one else can match.

It’s not over yet!

Bai Ling was about to get up when Yuan Xiaoling tackled her again.

“What’s wrong?” She asked curiously.

“Nothing, just want to ask you a question.”

Yuan Xiaoling, self-proclaimed best friend of animal friends, had just been questioned about animals by Bai Ling, and now she wanted to return the favor.

“Do you know,” the blonde seriously asked, “what rabbits eat?”

“Grass.” Bai Ling answered immediately.

“Hmph, correct,” Yuan Xiaoling leaned in preparing to strike, “today I’ll show you… Huh?”

Where’s the grass?

Ah, right, forgot. Bai Ling is like me.

“Do you know,” Yuan Xiaoling continued, “besides grass, what else do rabbits eat?”

Bai Ling thought for a moment, tilting her head slightly: “Carrots?”

Yuan Xiaoling’s mouth twitched, unable to hold back anymore.

“Flowers, sweet flowers! Because grass and flowers grow together, when eating grass, they accidentally eat flowers…”

Actually, as the best friend of animals, Yuan Xiaoling didn’t know if rabbits ate sweet flowers.

But hers definitely will!

“What exactly are you…”

Bai Ling was about to get up to check what ailment Ningle had, when suddenly she felt an unimaginably soft impact, causing her to gasp sharply.

Hiss… huff.

She obtained the creative idea she wanted — too creative, it just came straight up.

…

Half an hour later, Bai Ling exhaled deeply, the ceiling in her view seeming slightly blurred. A hint of pink appeared in her crimson eyes.

Though it might sound strange, she really felt great, like getting drunk beautifully at a dinner table.

But the other side wasn’t as comfortable.

Plop!

Yuan Xiaoling flipped over, flopping down with a thud, panting heavily.

“Tired, so tired, I’m dead, never coming back.”

Who knew how exhausted she was, feeling like her lower back was about to snap.

“No way,” Bai Ling somewhat reluctant, “I think it’s pretty good, you should try more.”

“No no,” Yuan Xiaoling buried her little head in the pillow, shaking it like digging, “never coming back, no matter what you say.”

Tsk.

Bai Ling rolled her eyes, not particularly concerned, knowing there’d always be chances to trick her… cough, persuade her to come again.

“By the way, how did you suddenly remember,” Bai Ling curiously asked, “about rewarding me?”

“Because I do whatever comes to mind, act whenever I feel like it,” Yuan Xiaoling buried her little head in the pillow, muttering, “unlike someone who thinks for ages.”

Thinking for ages and then making her exert herself while enjoying it herself, how infuriating!

Bai Ling shook her head, unsure what to say. She felt that Yuan Xiaoling was like a kitty enthusiastically playing with toys, only to exhaust herself, wanting to be angry but lacking the energy.

“Let’s sleep,” she said, “goodnight.”

As a truly experienced person, based on personal experience from a few days ago, Bai Ling understood that it was better not to do anything at this point, just sleep well first. After waking up, one has the strength for a second nap, and after the second nap, the strength for a third nap, fully recovering eventually.

By the time Bai Ling finished thinking about these things, she noticed Yuan Xiaoling had stopped moving. Crawling over, she found her already fast asleep.

Zzzz

The next day arrived, Bai Ling opened her eyes and saw the busty girl beside her still sound asleep, deeply.

She herself felt refreshed, changed clothes, got out of bed, and went downstairs for breakfast.

Today was the first day after team building completion. When Bai Ling descended, she just happened to see Luo Zou Cheng and Wu Bian standing ahead, giving instructions to several teams.

“Remember our survival rules, first and foremost, don’t pick unnecessary fights. Always assess whether you’re in the right first; if you are, stand your ground, otherwise handle it coolly…”

She used her spiritual power to investigate. Two teams were present—one with heavy spiritual energy stationed nearby, the other with light spiritual energy as a mobile unit. Their quality was decent, averaging around two-and-a-half tiers, with plenty of three-tier members.

Considering only this location needed to be occupied currently, this stationed team could be considered the first generation of elite guards.

“White Sister, White Sister.”

Wu Bian saw her and ran over from afar to consult: “Do you think these people are okay?”

“They’re fine, continue, I’m here for breakfast,” Bai Ling said, “also, try to control your volume, don’t be too loud.”

Wu Bian looked toward the hotel’s direction and understood: “Got it.”

Though it was a night for two, only one walked out at dawn, what happened goes without saying.

Nothing noteworthy happened today. Bai Ling encountered nothing outside, and it wasn’t until dusk that Yuan Xiaoling slowly woke up from her resting slumber.

There was a message lingering in her mind before falling asleep.

[Ding Dong, Congratulations for completing Weekly Task: Balance.

Through your efforts, the female lead, who suffered constant bullying and was on the brink of despair, has regained some hope in life and felt the sunlight.

Reward: Fourth-tier Water-element Skill: Water Storage Rush. Sacrifice all water constructs on the field, charge up, then launch a vectorized water cannon. If the sacrificed water constructs include a Water Dragon, the water cannon’s power increases significantly, and its shape transforms into a dragon.]

High-pressure water cannon? Seems alright, just… currently, both direct damage skills she possessed required sacrificing water constructs.

Guess the animal friends will have to endure a bit more hardship.

As for the system’s commentary on task completion, Yuan Xiaoling twitched her small mouth, unsure what to say.

She made Bai Ling feel the sunlight, and Dabeitù even bloomed and produced honey. Could there be any lack of sunlight?

“Sigh, the female lead.”

Yuan Xiaoling struggled to wave her small hand, conjuring a Little Water Jellyfish for recovery, feeling slightly better, supporting her lower back to sit up. Grabbing her phone, she noticed several missed calls and a text message.

[Li Li: Miss Yuan, are you there?]

Nope! I’m sleeping. What am I doing? Answering calls during broad daylight.

Yuan Xiaoling procrastinated a bit, waiting to recover some strength before returning the call.

Beep beep beep, drip.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Miss Yuan, hello, this is Li Li, the member of the office you met before.”

The serious response from the other end reminded her—oh, this call was initiated by her side.

“Oh, it’s you,” Yuan Xiaoling lazily said, “why are you in such a hurry to find me?”

“I heard you’ve consolidated two forces…”

“Not yet, still a bit short.”

Yuan Xiaoling thought that only the people were gathered so far, they hadn’t taken control of the Beach Area yet. Without their own base and industry, they couldn’t truly be considered a force.

Otherwise, having people without land, how would this group handle food, clothing, shelter, and transportation? They couldn’t possibly go out and rob, right?

In short, she had her eyes on the Scenic Tourism Area in the Beach Area and Seafood, and had a slight interest in the Seaport.

“We’ll discuss further later,” she said, “the timing isn’t right now.”

In any case, capture the beach first, otherwise if there’s conflict, they won’t even have a hotel to stay in at night.

“Ah… Okay, Miss Yuan, actually, I wanted to tell you something important,” Li Li paused briefly, “do you know about the Four Squares Academy incident a year ago?”

A year ago? Four Squares Academy? What’s that?

“I don’t know,” Yuan Xiaoling replied, “I was just starting university last year, focusing on studying.”

First-year students have military training, early readings, evening study sessions, daily packed schedules, and numerous general and elective courses, where would they have time to care about external affairs?

“This incident involves a lot, including your main opponent. But I don’t have much information either. If you’re interested, you can try investigating it yourself.”

After saying that, Li Li hung up. On their side, they were rather wary of this matter, but didn’t want to completely ignore it, so they wondered if Yuan Xiaoling would pursue it.

“…A year ago, Four Squares Academy.”

Yuan Xiaoling put down her phone, quietly chewing on these two words.

Honestly speaking, even in her past life with lost memories, events from a year ago weren’t within her recollection since she hadn’t arrived yet.

But since Li Li mentioned it, this matter must be related to her opponent. And regarding the opponent, it must be the Yun Family. In the current Tianhai City circle of Spiritual Energy Manipulators, aside from her scattered group, there couldn’t possibly be anyone else.

She tried searching with her phone, but unexpectedly, the search results were blank.

“That’s odd.”

Even if there were no news online, a term as broad as Four Squares Academy should yield plenty of results, whether similar terms or places with the same name elsewhere.

“You’re awake?” Bai Ling walked in, placing the food box in her hands, “playing with your phone as soon as you wake up.”

…

Yuan Xiaoling stiffened her little face, thinking why do you talk like grandpa?

After being fed a sip of jujube wolfberry chicken soup by Bai Ling, Yuan Xiaoling recalled the earlier matter and asked her: “Do you know about the Four Squares Academy incident a year ago?”

Bai Ling shook her head: “Never heard of it, why?”

Even locals in Tianhai haven’t heard of it…

Thus, Yuan Xiaoling recounted what she heard on the phone. Upon hearing that this event was related to the Yun Family, Bai Ling immediately became alert.

“The Four Squares Academy incident I haven’t heard of, but the name Four Squares Academy I do know. It used to be a scenic building in Tianhai City, but was converted for public use several years ago,” Bai Ling spoke, frowning slightly, “you mean you can’t find anything online?”

Yuan Xiaoling directly handed her the phone, the screen still on that page.

Skimming through a few pages, Bai Ling pondered deeply, then raised an eyebrow: “Blocked by local network operators. As long as you’re within Tianhai City, you definitely won’t find any information.”

She was relatively familiar with this, because later on, many families often did this, mainly to conceal intelligence about their high-tier Spiritual Energy Manipulators.

Yuan Xiaoling’s eyes brightened: “So, outsiders can search for it, right?”

She quickly grabbed her phone, initially planning to contact her cousin Yuan Tong — the one who always called her sister. But upon reconsideration, she remembered someone else more adept at finding information online.

[Ningle: Hey hey hey, are you there?]

[Gu Hui: Not there, I’m talking about Tianhai City, it’s the second month of summer break.]

[Qiao Lili: If you want me to be there, I’ll be there, whether in Li Yue or Xianzhou, just say the word to log on.]

After exchanging pleasantries with her two roommates, Yuan Xiaoling approached Qiao Lili, asking her to help investigate the Tianhai Four Squares Academy incident.

[Qiao Lili: Such a simple task, leave it to me, takes seconds.]

She talked big, but after her avatar went dark, it stayed off for a long time. By the time Yuan Xiaoling finished drinking the chicken soup and Bai Ling wiped her little mouth clean, she came back online.

[Qiao Lili: Good grief, exhausted me. Ningle, you owe me a barbecue meal when school starts.]

Yuan Xiaoling’s mood brightened, judging by her tone, it seemed she found something.

[Ningle: No problem, I’ll treat you guys to a seafood feast when school starts, guaranteed top-notch quality and unlimited quantity.]

Subsequently, Qiao Lili sent a screenshot showing a square-shaped building, but its retro design resembled an ancient temple deep in the mountains more than a courtyard.

[Qiao Lili: I first tried searching “Tianhai Four Squares Academy,” guess what, buddy, no information whatsoever. No choice but to remove “Tianhai City” and search for “Four Squares Academy.” The results were overwhelming, thousands of pages. I sifted through each page, searching for a long time without success, trying unique filtering methods, and managed to find these.]

[Qiao Lili: I’m sure that besides me, no one else in the world could find these… cough, alright, maybe a few could, anyway… remember when I told you about surprising you after summer break? Let’s save that for later, let’s talk about the real deal now.]

She uploaded a few more pictures, mostly snapshots from Baidu. Most introduced the tourist spot of Tianhai Four Squares Academy, describing the cultural background of this decades-old temple.

Until the last one—

[Report by our reporter Wang Zhen, XX22 year X month X day, an unknown accident occurred at Fill-the-Sea Four Fragrant Courtyards, suspected legendary superhero battle, the incident occurred when…]

It was just a picture, no specific content, because it was merely a snapshot from Baidu, and the original link was already blank.

[Qiao Lili: This matter is really bizarre, all relevant content has disappeared. The reason this snapshot remains, I estimate is partly because it’s an image snapshot, not plain text, and partly because this image contains several typos that weren’t detected, plus the unusual title.]

During the initial resurgence of spiritual energy, there wasn’t yet a unified term for Spiritual Energy Manipulators. More common were “superhumans” and “psychics,” while “mutants” and “superheroes” belonged to personal styles.

Evidently, the editor who wrote this piece loved typos and had a strong personal style, which is why this snapshot remained.

[Qiao Lili: I checked for you, this was a Tianhai-based online newspaper named “Big Events of Tianhai,” which has since transitioned to a semi-active online media platform.

And the editor Wang Zhen was fired over half a year ago for excessive typos in his articles.]

Yuan Xiaoling’s eyes lit up: [Is he still in Tianhai City?]

[Qiao Lili: Yes!]

———————-Divider———————-

PS: Adding a little more, more on weekends.

Lingling Assistant reminds everyone, it’s the end of the month, monthly votes expire soon, please don’t forget to cast your monthly votes~! Mwah mwah.