Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 783 - 46 Two Burdens

Chapter 783: Chapter 46 Two Burdens

The demonic shadows which appeared in the newbie hunting zones were weaker. This was a concession given to them by Silver Trojan, otherwise, without the ability to use weapons, they would surely be annihilated. It was a pity that, except for Gu Xueqi and Sha Ou, none of the others were capable. Even Tao Hong who had been taught by Tang Zheng one night was still unable to make any significant accomplishments, just being able to survive was already considered not bad.

Ai Yixin, who was hunting around with her husband, quickly discovered this secret and generously shared it with Red Sister who she happened to bump into.

Red Sister was immensely grateful. Although she had activated her Seed Ability, she was still finding it hard to fight against the demonic shadows, now things had become much easier, and she finally had some gains. Everything was moving in a good direction. As for the Shadow Demon Ninja, it did not attack her during this round of attacks, one-fourth of the survivors were spared completely.

Leading the newcomers from the Students’ Union back to his own hunting zone, Tang Zheng was slightly frowning, worried about the number of demonic shadows, they were simply too few to kill. Regarding the Mei Jueye situation, he had left notes at all the locations he knew of.

"You guys find a house on the other side to stay in, some residents have moved out." Tang Zheng parked the car at the entrance, instructed them, then prepared to go home.

"Wait, Tang Zheng." Song Huiqiao stepped out of the car, stopping Tang Zheng from leaving. She wanted to live with the group leader, but felt too embarrassed to voice out this desire, let alone with her classmates present, it was too embarrassing."

"What else is there?" Tang Zheng picked up his backpack and started to walk towards the house, "Go and rest quickly, and have your meal. In two hours, go and kill some demonic shadows."

Although the heavy rain had lessened, night had arrived. As Song Huiqiao looked at the houses sinking into the darkness, she felt terrified, likening them to wild beasts ready to devour people. Upon hearing Tang Zheng mention food, her eyes instantly lit up.

"Tang Zheng, let me cook for you." She came up with a respectable excuse and without waiting for Tang Zheng’s response, she walked toward the courtyard.

"I can help as well." Liu Liu did not want to be outdone, she was already disappointed in those classmates.

The other people remained silent, quietly watching these events unfold.

Seeing his school belle who he secretly admired acting submissive towards Tang Zheng, fearful of displeasing him, Zhang Teng clenched his fist, grinding his teeth and shaking with jealousy.

"This is not fair!" Zhang Teng murmured continuously, feeling hurt. Unable to bear it any longer, he turned around to find a house, "I must have you, even if it is just once."

Zhang Teng was taking unnecessary pains to study an insignificant problem, all the feelings from his first love came pouring back when he saw Song Huiqiao again. Recalling the hundreds of love letters he had written to the school belle in his middle school days, yet receiving no reply in return, he witnessed the woman he loved cherishing for other man, and felt that the traces of his beautiful first love was collapsing.

"No need, go and rest." Tang Zheng stopped Song Huiqiao, "I need some personal space to think about some things."

Song Huiqiao’s face instantly drained of colour, her fingers tightly intertwined. How could she not understand such a tactful rejection? Knowing her classmates were behind her made her feel terribly embarrassed. She couldn’t help but hold her shoulders, squat down and cry.

From childhood to adulthood, whether it was in school or the workplace, the beautiful Song Huiqiao was always the focus of attention. There were countless men chasing her, but today, she was actually rejected in front of everyone. Song Huiqiao thought she could hear faint laughter from behind.

At this moment, no one came forward to comfort Song Huiqiao, not even Liu Liu, who had her own plans.

"Let’s go, find a house." Zhao Feng called out loudly to his classmates. Secretly, he glanced at Song Huiqiao and licked the corner of his mouth. She was now isolated and helpless, should he take advantage of her vulnerable state? The thought of having Song Huiqiao made him a little excited.

As Tang Zheng entered the house and was about to sit on the sofa, he saw Jing Xiang, in her swimsuit, panting as she ran down the stairs.

"Brother Tang, you’re back." Jing Xiang ran up to Tang Zheng, behaving obediently like a dedicated timid maid. She took his backpack from his hand, placed it aside and then went to get him a glass of water.

"Still practicing? Aren’t you tired?" Tang Zheng took a sip. Jing Xiang was covered in sweat.

"Not tired." Jing Xiang shook her head. She thought Tang Zheng was praising her and her nervous expression slightly relaxed.

"Go take a bath, change your clothes." Tang Zheng couldn’t bear it when a woman was dressed so scantily in front of him, especially if she had a good figure. If she stayed too long, an accident was bound to happen.

Jing Xiang was already incredibly shy, the flush that had taken over her neck was proof of that. She was about to change clothes when she saw Tang Zheng coming back. But the sight of Song Huiqiao made her feel pressured, so she practically ran down stairs in her swimsuit.

"Where’s Cheng Cheng?"

"I guess, I’ve been seen already." Jing Xiang comforted herself, she was about to leave at Tang Zheng’s words but she didn’t notice the tea table. She knocked her knee and suddenly yelped, falling towards the tea table.

A glass ashtray was placed on top, Jing Xiang’s forehead was heading straight for it.

Tang Zheng was taken aback. If she knocked into it, her face would surely be bloody and ruined. He immediately got up to try to pull her away.

However, Jing Xiang couldn’t avoid it and she hit her brow against the ashtray, blood immediately started flowing out.

"So clumsy." Tang Zheng quickly helped Jing Xiang up, and pulled out the prepared gauze from his pocket, pressing it onto her wound.

Jing Xiang, upon hearing the scolding, let her tears flow involuntarily. She wanted to cry but didn’t dare to.

"From now on, no matter what happens, always keep your protective clothing on when in the game,"

Tang Zheng lectured.

Jing Xiang blushed and nodded.

"Where’s Cheng Cheng?" Tang Zheng needed to divert his attention, "look out for yourself."

"In the kitchen, cooking. She said she wanted to cook something delicious for you." Jing Xiang’s face turned red, but she breathed a sigh of relief when Tang Zheng helped her onto the sofa.

"Child’s play, what can a child cook?" Tang Zheng wanted to scold Jing Xiang, but when he turned around, he saw Cheng Cheng peeking from the kitchen door.

Upon seeing Tang Zheng looking her way, the little Lolita withdrew her head. When Tang Zheng is with Jing Xiang, she doesn’t dare to interrupt, afraid of causing trouble. However, she was also too scared to stay away—so she watched them sneakily.

"Cheng Cheng, come here."

Upon hearing Tang Zheng’s voice, Cheng Cheng vanished, only to reappear holding a plate of cookies in her small hands, running over to stand obediently in front of him. If this was Lu Fan, he would have jumped onto Tang Zheng like a koala bear by now.

Tang Zheng ruffled Cheng Cheng’s hair and took a cookie to eat.

Cheng Cheng opened her innocent eyes wide and stared at her big brother, holding her breath, waiting for his verdict.

"Too much sugar, a bit sweet, and a little burnt."

Cheng Cheng’s face fell, and she returned to the kitchen dejectedly.

"But it’s delicious, I like this taste."

Cheng Cheng turned around in surprise and saw big brother looking at her with a smile. The little girl held back for a long time before virtue restrained her from jumping into his embrace, fearing he might be bothered by it.

"What will you do if you can’t eat it in the future?" Tang Zheng took the plate, much bigger than Cheng Cheng’s tiny hands, and picked her up. The little girl needed care.

"No, I will make it for big brother." Hugging Tang Zheng, Cheng Cheng nodded firmly, then clenched her little fist, resolved to add less sugar next time and make cookies to her big brother’s liking.

"Here, Jing Xiang, you eat some too. It’s really good."

Jing Xiang pressed her forehead, watching as the little girl cheered up under Tang Zheng’s encouragement. Viewing this heartwarming scene, she thought the group leader was genuinely a great person.

At that moment, in the eyes of Jing Xiang and Cheng Cheng, Tang Zheng’s smile embodied the essence of a warm spring day: sweet and comforting, radiating saccharine warmth.

"Ah, bandages, Sister Jing Xiang needs bandages." Cheng Cheng suddenly wriggled out of Tang Zheng’s hold and ran upstairs. She came back in a while with a big backpack, set it on the tea table, opened it, selected a piece of gauze, and helped Jing Xiang tend to her wounds.

Tang Zheng saw the neatly organized contents of the bag and looked at Jing Xiang. He had never seen this backpack before; it must have been prepared by the female staff in the afternoon. But he soon found out he was wrong.

"No, it’s not me, it’s Cheng Cheng’s." Jing Xiang was extremely embarrassed, feeling outdone by a little girl.

"Well done." Looking at Cheng Cheng, who had lost her mother half a month ago, Tang Zheng sighed. It’s true, only in adversity does one grow up prematurely.

"I will cook for you." was Cheng Cheng’s mature response. Nonetheless, Tang Zheng was still skeptical about her chances of survival in the game. He could help her gather 200 points, but what about during the BOSS battle? She could choose not to participate, but that would be a short-term fix. With only 200 points each time, she would eventually die in the Trojan Horse Game.

After dinner, Tang Zheng took everyone hunting. Within half an hour, a rapid alarm sounded on their radars. Seeing a dozen red dots moving rapidly their way, the newbies were utterly scared.

A moment ago, Tang Zheng had been worried about the scarcity of Demonic Shadows, but now there were suddenly a dozen of them.

"Brother Tang, shouldn’t we run?" Liu Liu’s voice trembled with fear. When they encountered just one Demonic Shadow, they were defeated and had to escape in panic. Facing this many, they were definitely heading for a wipeout.

If it weren’t for fear of Tang Zheng’s reprimand, the newbies would have taken off at the sight of the red dots rapidly closing in on the radar screen, their backs drenched in cold sweat.