Chapter 296: The Sky Has Changed
Qi Xia looked at Chen Junnan, who was not far away, and asked, "Have you seen this young man before?"
"I don't think I have any memory of him," Chen Junnan replied, then glanced at Qin Dingdong. "You'll have to ask Sister Dong about this one."
After hearing this, Qin Dingdong also shook her head. "I haven't seen him either."
The whole night, the young "hero" made no move, and the group managed to get a decent night's sleep.
The next day, Chen Junnan got up early. When he confirmed that his teammates were still sound asleep, he strolled over to the classroom door.
Qi Xia was sitting there with his eyes open, looking as if he hadn't slept at all.
"Yo, Old Qi, you're looking lively," Chen Junnan said. "Getting up this early, off to practice your sword in the park?"
"Chen Junnan... are you sure you don't want to bring anyone?" Qi Xia asked.
"What?" Chen Junnan gave a bitter smile. "You think I'm going to die?"
"Of course not," Qi Xia replied. "I just hope you don't."
"Then that's settled." Chen Junnan waved his hand and opened the classroom door. "I'm not too familiar with this area anymore. I'll go ask Little Chu for an address first."
"Be careful."
"Got it."
Chen Junnan bid farewell to Qi Xia and left the house before dawn.
He was about to head to Chu Tianqiu's classroom to ask for details when he noticed the young "hero" from last night standing at the door of Chu Tianqiu's classroom, his hands trembling as he held a newspaper folded into a short sword.
The kid looked pale, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept at all.
"Yo, isn't this our 'hero'?" Chen Junnan laughed and took a few steps forward. "What's this? Delivering newspapers to people this early in the morning?"
"Civilian... stay back..." The young man turned around nervously, the newspaper sword in his hand shaking along with him. "It stinks here... something's wrong here..."
"If something's wrong, then go in and fight," Chen Junnan sighed. "You've been standing here holding that newspaper all night, aren't you tired?"
"Fight my way in...?" The young man frowned. "But I'm a 'hero.' If I happen to fall in battle..."
"It's fine; if you die, I've got your back," Chen Junnan said, patting the young man on the shoulder. "I'm a Calabash Brother. Any monster you can't handle, I'll deal with."
The young man looked at Chen Junnan with confusion for a moment, then nodded slightly. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open.
There was nothing unusual inside. Five people were present.
Chu Tianqiu was writing on the blackboard, Yun Yao was chatting with Tiantian, while Xu Liunian and Zhang Shan sat off to the side, staring blankly into space.
Chen Junnan cautiously observed the five of them, then stepped inside first.
"Little Chu," Chen Junnan called out. "Your uncle here needs your help with something."
"Civilian, you—" The young man reached out to stop Chen Junnan but was brushed aside impatiently.
"What is it?" Chu Tianqiu asked with a smile. He glanced at the young man, thought for a moment, and asked, "Is this the kid Zhang Shan brought back yesterday... What's his name?"
Zhang Shan muttered softly, "Zheng Yingxiong."
"That's right... I'm the 'Hero'..." The young man nodded seriously. "Excuse me... Do you... do any of you have..."
Chen Junnan reached out and ruffled the young man's head, cutting him off at just the right moment. "Kid, what are you doing coming here asking for things so early in the morning?"
Then he turned back to Chu Tianqiu.
"Little Chu, draw me a map. Your uncle here is going to go have some fun with that old pervert, Earth Snake." He pushed the young man back and took a few steps forward, positioning himself between the four of them and the kid.
"Earth Snake, huh...?" Chu Tianqiu nodded. "It's a bit far. Let Yun Yao draw it for you."
Yun Yao nodded upon hearing this, took out a notebook from her bag, thought for a moment, and quickly sketched a rough map.
Chen Junnan took it and waved his hand. "Thanks, big star."
Yun Yao was taken aback. "You know me?"
"Of course," Chen Junnan nodded. "You promised to introduce me to Andy Lau. Forgot already?"
"Andy Lau...?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room turned awkward.
Chen Junnan swallowed, then corrected himself, enunciating each word carefully. "So what, now you're just going to deny it?"
"I don't know what I might have said to you before, but I don't know Andy Lau..." Yun Yao shook her head helplessly, a resigned expression on her face. "I've drawn your map. Now get going."
"Alright, I'm off." Chen Junnan took the note, tucked it into his pocket, then turned to the young man. "'Hero,' come out here with me. I need to talk to you."
He grabbed the young man by the arm and pulled him out of the room, leading him to the other side of the corridor.
"Civilian, what are you doing?" The young man steadied his newspaper crown, looking bewildered.
"How long have you been this crazy, you brat?"
"What am I crazy about?" The young man tucked his short sword back into his waist. "It's just that what a 'hero' does, you don't understand. I'm destined to be different from you all."
"And so?" Chen Junnan reached out a finger and flicked the newspaper sword. "You smell some 'stench' and you're going to charge at a monster with this scrap paper? What, you gonna wipe its face for it?"
"I..." The young man bit his lip. "Among everyone, only I can detect this stench. If I don't do something..."
"Give it a rest." Chen Junnan sighed. "Kid, your ability is pretty special, but you're a bit short on brains. Last night, the room you went to had a guy named Qi Xia. Go talk to him, see if he can give you some brains."
"Qi Xia...?" The young man thought for a moment. "But I'm a 'hero.' I'm destined to be lonely..."
"Enough, enough." Chen Junnan waved his hand. "Your hero stats are way too low. Go find Old Qi to give you a power-up patch."
He stopped paying attention to the young man and walked out the door into the light of dawn.
This mission was heavy. Not only did he have to stand out in Earth Snake's game, but he also had to extract the whereabouts of "Heavenly Snake" from that old pervert as best he could.
If only Heavenly Horse and Heavenly Tiger had started moving, there might still be a chance for a turnaround... But once all the "Heavenly" zodiacs mobilized, Qi Xia's situation would become dangerous.
No one knew what that lunatic Heavenly Dragon might do to Qi Xia.
Chen Junnan walked to the school gate, exchanged a few polite pleasantries with the guard at the entrance, then took out the map to get a rough sense of direction. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed someone approaching from a distance.
He looked up and focused his eyes. They were all in leather jackets.
Without even seeing their faces clearly, Chen Junnan reached back and pulled the iron school gate shut, then said to the guard, "Go back and call the others."
"Huh...?" The young guard hesitated for a moment, then immediately turned and ran back.
It seemed that the sky over the Land of the End was really about to change.
Chen Junnan stretched, then did a few warm-up exercises. By then, the approaching figures came into view.
"Huh...?" Chen Junnan had been expecting a big fight, but instead he saw familiar faces. "Little Song?"
Song Qi's expression today was completely different from yesterday.
"I want to see Chu Tianqiu," Song Qi said.
"Oh, telling me won't help. I'm not some errand boy here." Chen Junnan smiled as he looked at Song Qi, then at the throng of black-clad men behind him. "Little Song, big lineup like this. Planning to throw down?"
"There might be a fight," Song Qi said, sizing up the man before him. He knew Chen Junnan retained a lot of memories, but he didn't know exactly who he was.
"If you're going to fight, wait a bit," Chen Junnan said. "I've got a few bros who aren't up yet. After they leave, you can do whatever the hell you want."
"Brother, I didn't ask last time... Can I get your name this time?" Song Qi said.
"Calabash Brother," Chen Junnan replied. "What's it to you?"