Chapter 54

"Right, wasn't Li Chuyu's father the one who used to run a sword school?"

After seeing the incoming call, Zhou Xian suddenly remembered this.

Li Chuyu's family originally ran a sword school, and Li Chuyu was forced to learn various sword techniques back then. However, her father later had an accident and lost the use of his hands in a competition with someone else. Although he had recovered thanks to modern medical technology, he was never the same, and the sword school eventually closed down. Incidentally, the reason why Li Chuyu and Su Xiaoyue's friendship turned sour also had something to do with Li Chuyu's father.

Zhou Xian looked at the iron sword in his hand; this weapon and the sword techniques were his main reliance in the real world.

"Ah— the call!"

Zhou Xian, who had been lost in thought, almost forgot about the call. He hurriedly answered it.

"Good morning, Chuyu."

"Zhou Xian, are you okay?" Although Zhou Xian had already sent a text message to reassure her yesterday, Li Chuyu still asked.

"Yes, no problem."

"I really don't understand what's going on with this infectious disease. You need to be careful— by the way, since the school has been sealed off, you should have nothing to do now, right? Do you want to come over to my place?"

"Um, there actually isn't any infectious disease." Zhou Xian thought for a moment and decided to tell Li Chuyu and the others the truth about the Soul System.

The Dragon Tomb Society viewed the Soul System as something akin to a cheating system. However, after discovering that this ability could be used in the real world and recalling what Li Zheng had once said, Zhou Xian knew that this ability was far from simple.

"—Not an infectious disease? Then what is it?" Li Chuyu's voice on the other end of the line was full of questions.

"It's the Soul System. I don't know much about that Wang Dali, but the reason why Li Zheng and Ying Tianlong fell into a coma was because of the Soul System."

Zhou Xian's words left Li Chuyu in disbelief.

"You mean this Soul System actually affects people in the real world? You're not joking, right?" Li Chuyu realized that if Zhou Xian was telling the truth, this was a big deal.

"I was planning to tell you all when the time was right. But now that things have become so chaotic, I think it's better to tell you everything."

Zhou Xian hadn't intended to reveal the truth so soon, but Li Chuyu's call changed his mind.

If they continued to be kept in the dark, they would be in trouble when the danger truly arrived.

"Chuyu, please inform the others in the Dragon Tomb Society. We'll go to the virtual space first, and I'll explain everything there."

"Okay." After giving the instructions, Zhou Xian hung up the call. Then, he called Beidou.

"Good morning, Zhou Xian." The voice on the other end always seemed full of energy.

"I'm waiting for you in the school's virtual space. I plan to explain what happened to the Dragon Tomb Society, and I need your help."

"Sure, no problem. But... before that, can you agree to one condition?"

"Go ahead, let's see."

Upon hearing Zhou Xian's promise, the voice on the other end immediately perked up: "—Let me join the Dragon Tomb Society!"

"Let's talk about it in the virtual space. I'm not the president; you should talk to Xu Tianyun about this."

"Tch... Okay, then."

The call on the other end was also hung up.

After hanging up, Zhou Xian returned to the hall, picked up his black iron head, and logged into the school's virtual space.

As Zhou Xian logged in, he appeared in the virtual space. Although the school was on break, the virtual space was still open.

"Good morning, Zhou Xian!" Before Zhou Xian could even sit down, Beidou appeared in front of him.

"You're really fast." After making the call, Zhou Xian had immediately logged in, and Beidou, who had been notified at the last minute, managed to log in so quickly.

"Yeah, because I was being grilled with questions anyway." Beidou shrugged.

"You? Grilled with questions?"

Is someone investigating me?

"Yeah, that person seemed really worried about you. So, since I was the one who was closest to you during the part-time job, I got targeted. But don't worry, I didn't say anything about Li Zheng or the game world." Beidou gave Zhou Xian a thumbs up.

"—Good morning, Zhou Xian. Looks like you've been doing well recently." At that moment, Su Xiaoyue's voice came from the side.

Alright, the mystery is solved.

"Alright, I won't interrupt your two-person world for now~" Beidou waved at Zhou Xian and moved to the side.

At that moment, Su Xiaoyue stood next to Zhou Xian.

She snapped her fingers, and a chair materialized from the void. Su Xiaoyue pulled the chair over and sat down.

"Don't misunderstand, I wasn't intentionally prying into your affairs. It's just that Beidou has been talking about 'Zhou Xian' non-stop since yesterday, and I'm really tired of hearing it." Su Xiaoyue's first words were about this.

"What?" Zhou Xian was completely confused.

"—Beidou is staying at my place, does that make sense now?"

Beidou is staying at Su Xiaoyue's place? Do they know each other?

As if reading Zhou Xian's thoughts, Su Xiaoyue said, "I don't actually know her, but Beidou's family might know my father. So after the school was sealed off, she was forced to stay at my place. But it looks like you had a pretty good time during your part-time job, with such a young and beautiful girl by your side. I'm really envious."

The last sentence was definitely sarcastic!

"Speaking of which, since you're here, there's something I need to tell you. It's about the person you asked me to investigate, right?"

Su Xiaoyue sent a document to Zhou Xian.

After receiving the document, Zhou Xian opened it. It contained information about a student named Hou Zi, along with a photo. Zhou Xian nodded and said, "Yes, that's the person."

"That's right. But there's one unfortunate thing: this skinny guy also fell into a coma yesterday, making him the fourth case at our school. However, he was one of the first students to leave the school, but he was close to the first case, Wang Dali, so he might have been infected that way. They are still investigating the incubation period of this infectious disease, so if you have the chance, it's best to come back and check. The hospital's tests might not be reliable."

"Cough, it's not a big deal. But since you're here, there's something I need to explain. Since you're here, it's good for you to know as well."

"What are you going to say?" Su Xiaoyue noticed that Zhou Xian's expression was serious.

"—The virus at the school is probably not a real 'virus' but something related to the game."

"How do you connect the virus with the game?" Su Xiaoyue looked at Zhou Xian curiously.

"Have you heard of the 'Soul System'?"

"That strange story? It was popular in the e-sports club a while ago. What about it?"

"—If I'm not mistaken, the students who fell into a coma probably have one thing in common: they learned Soul Techniques, right?"

Zhang Taihao suddenly interjected, with Lai Yiming by his side. They had clearly been discussing for a while.

"You're here." Zhou Xian immediately stood up. "I think this matter is more complicated than it seems, so I think it's best to explain it."

"Old Zhou, you're okay!" At that moment, Xu Tianyun and Tao Shan arrived together, followed closely by Li Chuyu.

With this, the members of the Dragon Tomb Society were all present.

"Old Zhou, what did you call us here for suddenly?"

"Um, there are some important things. Let's go to a private room to talk—Beidou, come over!"

"Oh—!" Upon hearing Zhou Xian's call, Beidou immediately bounced over.

"What a cute girl!" Tao Shan and Xu Tianyun's eyes lit up when they saw Beidou. "Zhou Xian, is this the girl who almost caused a commotion during the competition?" Lai Yiming had a good memory, and his words reminded the others. Zhou Xian could only give an awkward smile.

"Let's talk about the details in the room." Zhou Xian led everyone into his private space.

"Old Zhou, did you buy this place? When did you get so rich?!" Xu Tianyun's family wasn't well-off, so he was surprised to see Zhou Xian's private space.

"Just for temporary use; there's nothing here yet." This was a private space Zhou Xian had bought with the leftover money from selling gold. However, it was indeed empty and dark.

"Give me the room permissions." Su Xiaoyue suddenly elbowed Zhou Xian.

"Huh?" Zhou Xian looked at Su Xiaoyue with some confusion but still gave her the permissions.

After receiving the room permissions, Su Xiaoyue immediately opened her panel.

The dark room immediately transformed.

White walls, sofas, and chandeliers appeared, and within minutes, a beautifully decorated living room was formed.

Three sofas were arranged in the center of the living room, surrounding a small, elegant glass table, with a luxurious chandelier hanging above. The corners of the room were also decorated with vases and potted plants, making them look very charming.

On the side wall, a large flat-screen TV was placed.

"Uh..." Everyone was momentarily blinded by the sudden transformation. Although it was a virtual room, Su Xiaoyue's actions were quite extravagant.

Zhou Xian had intended to ask about the money, but after a fierce glare from Su Xiaoyue, he decided to drop it.

"In any case, let's sit down and talk."

Zhou Xian sat on the middle sofa, taking on the role of the meeting's host.

"Come, Sister Xiaoyue, let's sit here." Beidou pulled Su Xiaoyue and sat down on either side of Zhou Xian.

"..."

Li Chuyu and Su Xiaoyue exchanged glances, then looked at Beidou, and silently sat on the sofa to the right.

"..."

Feeling the strange atmosphere from Li Chuyu, Tao Shan and Xu Tianyun wiped their sweat and sat on the sofa to the left, opposite Li Chuyu. Lai Yiming followed and sat next to them, while Zhang Taihao sat expressionlessly next to Li Chuyu.

Zhou Xian was drenched in cold sweat due to the strange atmosphere.

"Cough, since everyone is here, let's get to the point..."

The page turns, and the ad starts.

The page turns, and the ad ends.