“A map of the Arsenal?” Jiang Xiao asked after finding a topic.
“It’s locked now, and some teams have gone in to set up different formations for the creatures of other dimensions.” Second Last seemed to be in a good mood and turned around to wave at the middle-aged woman behind the counter. “The location is Zhongcheng County in the southern part of Guanlin City.”
There were plenty of arsenals in Beijiang Province, and it seemed that the location of the provincial league was set to be in Guanlin City. Although it was not a city with a port, it was also very close to Russia.
“So this is the monster distribution map that was drawn after the authorities rearranged the Arsenal?” Jiang Xiao asked as he pointed at the rolled-up map.
“I drew it according to my experience.” Second Last stood up while Auntie Yu poured some white wine into her glass.
“Will you be violating the rules by doing this?” asked Jiang Xiao, feeling a little touched.
“It’s a map that I’ve drawn based on my conjecture.” Second Last then picked up the glass of wine.
“Have something to eat,” Jiang Xiao said all of a sudden.
Second Last paused in her action and placed the wine glass beside her lips before taking a small sip.
“The way my parents joined the army is very interesting,” Jiang Xiao said as he picked up a mutton skewer.
Second Last nodded and said, “If you have to multi-task, the task will sometimes get delayed. A team should be together all the time.”
Jiang Xiao was munching on the delicious meat skewers and was in a much better mood. “This is the best solution I can think of. Also, aren’t I just your apprentice? I’m not a proper member of the team.”
“Is that what Hai Tianqing said to you?” Second Last asked as s she picked up an entire codfish, her chopsticks seeming to have become a decoration.
Jiang Xiao didn’t answer and instead asked, “What do you think of this suggestion?”
“You will be very tired, and your campus life will not be as great as you imagine it to be,” Second Last said as she ate a large piece of grilled cod, her fingers covered in the golden grease from the fish. There was also some chili on her lips.
Staring at Second Last who did not bother about her image anymore, Jiang Xiao shook his head and said with a smile, “I’m young, I can bear it.”
Second Last said, “Where does Han Jiangxue wish to go?”
Jiang Xiao took out two napkins and handed them to Second Last, who had put down the cod. “Maybe she wants to go somewhere further to take a look. She has an uncertain future. Different cities, different environments, different classmates, and different teachers will result in a different starting point.”
Second Last felt a little surprised. She had never expected that he would say that.
After staying silent for a while, she said, “China?”
Jiang Xiao nodded and said, “It should be in China. I’ve never heard her mentioning anything about studying abroad.”
Second Last then nodded and said, “Well, having an uncertain future is great.”
Staring at the fish in front of her, Jiang Xiao suddenly felt that it had a terrible life.
“We’ll see. It’s still early now,” Jiang Xiao said while munching on his skewers and forgetting about his troubles.
The two of them fell silent, and the only sounds that could be heard were that of them chewing.
In the end, Second Last finished the second glass of wine. When she stood up, her large figure began to sway unsteadily from side to side.
Jiang Xiao prayed that she could walk on her own. His body was too petite for him to carry her home. If nothing else worked, he would have to drag her away like she was a dead dog.
Auntie Yu walked them to the door and watched as Second Last left in the dark without turning back. She said concernedly, “Hongying, be mindful of your safety. Visit us often.”
Second Last didn’t look back and simply waved her hand casually before continuing to walk forward.
The cold wind blew past her, but it was not chilly enough to make her fasten the buttons of her trench coat.
“This shop is?” Jiang Xiao quickly caught up with her.
“They’re my comrade’s parents,” Second Last said as she walked on an unsteady gait and placed her hand on Jiang Xiao’s shoulder.
Finally, what was supposed to happen still happened.
Jiang Xiao felt helpless as he sensed the weight being placed on his shoulders. He asked, “Is that why you didn’t have to pay for your meal?”
Second Last added, “Former.”
It was impossible for one to have former parents. After all, people rarely severed ties with their parents in this world.
Hence, she should have been referring to her comrades when she said “former”.
That meant that her so-called comrade had already left her. Maybe, he or she had betrayed her, or left the team, or died.
Since Second Last patronized the shop, it was likely that it wasn’t betrayal.
In that case, it could be a comrade who left the team or a comrade who died during a mission.
If the comrade had simply left the team, Second Last and Auntie Yu wouldn’t have avoided bringing him or her up. From beginning to end, the elderly couple never once mentioned about their child, nor did Second Last talk about her comrade. Hence, Jiang Xiao deduced that that person should have already died.
After analyzing that, Jiang Xiao stopped probing, for fear that he would trigger her. He changed the subject and asked, “Where are we going now?”
Second Last’s crimson windbreaker fluttered in the wind and her body swayed a little. She said in a hoarse voice, “I don’t know.”
“Where do you live?” Jiang Xiao continued to ask.
“I don’t have a home,” Second Last asked casually.
Jiang Xiao was speechless.
“You don’t have any family members or friends? Or anyone you can live with?” Jiang Xiao asked helplessly.
Second Last did not answer and simply shook her head.
“The weather is freezing. Are you planning to stroll along the streets with me by using me as a walking stick?” Jiang Xiao asked.
“Where are we going?” Second Last asked.
Jiang Xiao said feebly, “There’s a bathhouse ahead…”
Lowering her head, Second Last’s narrow and glassed over eyes gradually became clear.
Jiang Xiao asked, “That bathhouse looks great. Why don’t you go to the hall to get some sleep?”
As soon as he finished speaking, her narrow eyes began to get clearer as she stared at him quietly. Under the dim yellow street lights, her eyes looked as menacing as fierce beasts in the dark night.
Jiang Xiao was incredibly flustered and spluttered, “Shall we check into a room?”
Her beastly gaze gradually became sharper.
Jiang Xiao said hurriedly, “I, um… there’s no one at home.”
Second Last finally looked away and the two of them also exited from the alley and walked towards the car.
Ever since the two of them stayed in Xia Yan’s place, they hadn’t gone home in a long time.
Jiang Xiao drove towards Huayuan Estate in Dongcheng District smoothly, as he was familiar with the route.
Fortunately, they did not encounter any traffic police along the way. Although he had been driving for years and was an experienced driver, he didn’t have a driver’s license in this world.
At 12:15 AM, the car pulled up slowly in front of Block 1 Building G7. The two of them then got out of the car slowly.
“What’s the matter?” Jiang Xiao locked the car and saw that Second Last was still standing rooted to the ground. He then glanced at her resignedly.
He discovered that she was looking up at the house above.
Jiang Xiao looked in the direction of her gaze and saw a residential house in the pitch darkness. A figure seemed to be tugging on the corner of the curtain and looking at the two of them from above.
If Jiang Xiao didn’t look closely, he wouldn’t have discovered that there was someone in that room.
Is that unit… Apartment 702?
Jiang Xiao froze for a moment. His home was Apartment 701 and in his memory, he had never seen the owner of Apartment 702. He and Han Jiangxue only knew that the unit was occupied, but the owner seemed to be very mysterious.
At the next moment, the curtains were drawn and the figure vanished.
Jiang Xiao knew that Second Last definitely managed to find out his home address since she was one of the Guardians Of The Night. In fact, he reckoned that she should have already found out everything about him after deciding to take him under her wing as her apprentice.
“Do you know that person?” Jiang Xiao asked.
Second Last shook her head and stepped forward while leaning on Jiang Xiao.
The two of them two walked into the building and got inside the elevator. Jiang Xiao continued, “For as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen the person living in Apartment 702. This is my first time and yet, it was a shadow.”
“Hah.” Second Last snorted and sneered.
Soon, the elevator stopped on the seventh floor and Jiang Xiao exited, after which he turned his head subconsciously to look at Apartment 702, hesitating and contemplating if he should go take a look.
It seems inappropriate to visit your neighbors at midnight?
Forget it, I’ll look for another chance to visit.
Jiang Xiao opened the door with his key and said, “You go… um, stay in my room. It’s over there. Hey, remove your shoes.”
Second Last kicked her boots off and followed Jiang Xiao to his room, after which she slammed the door shut with a loud thud.
Jiang Xiao sighed helplessly and entered to pick up her shoes.
You had a drop too much today, so I’ll give in to you this once. If you do this again, I’m going to heal you to death…
However, ever since Jiang Xiao saw the rare side of Second Last, he no longer felt that she was as daunting and terrible as Hai Tianqing described.
Jiang Xiao looked at Han Jiangxue’s room before glancing at the training room. After some thought, Jiang Xiao decided to enter the training room, which used to be the master bedroom of his parents.
After washing up, Jiang Xiao took out his mobile phone and realized that Han Jiangxue had already replied to his message on WeChat, where he told her everything.
All Han Jiangxue said was, “Respect yourself.”
Upon reading her message, Jiang Xiao wanted to reply to her with a question mark.
What if Jiang Xiao had other ideas?
The scene of Second Last tearing the cod was still fresh and vivid in his memory. Jiang Xiao’s fragile body was just like the grilled cod.
Jiang Xiao looked at the question mark that he had typed on the screen and thought about it before deleting it again.
Okay.
He dared not reply to her with that.
He couldn’t afford to provoke her.
Forget it, forget it. Love is tolerance, love is acceptance and compromise, love is restraint.