Chapter 206: An'an's Cry for Help, Zhang Yu's Plan

Chapter 206 An'an's Cry for Help, Zhang Yu's Plan

Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu watched the bill grow steadily with their every breath, a tightening ache gnawing at their hearts.

On the other side, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen strolled along the shaded path of the sanctuary, gazing at the boundless forest before them, feeling their hearts gradually settle into serenity.

Inhaling the oxygen flowing from his tank, Zhang Yu remarked with a touch of emotion, "The first time I came here, I hadn't prepared an oxygen cylinder. I had to breathe so carefully, terrified of wasting even a single second, and so I couldn't properly appreciate the scenery."

Bai Zhenzhen nodded slightly, looking out at the quiet, distant forest beneath the moonlight as they walked leisurely along the trail, feeling her spirit experience a rare moment of release.

Suddenly, she recalled that it seemed to have been an incredibly long time since she last walked aimlessly like this, completely free from both cultivation and study.

And it was precisely this feeling of walking down the path with Zhang Yu, needing to do absolutely nothing at all, that granted her a profound sense of peace.

"If only there came a day when we didn't have to study or cultivate, where we could daze out whenever we pleased, stroll however we wished, and squander as much time as we wanted... how wonderful that would be."

But upon thinking this, Bai Zhenzhen let out a soft sigh, knowing deep down how terribly difficult it was to achieve such a state within the Kunxu domain.

The pressure of the Foundation Establishment Exam loomed perpetually behind her like an inescapable shadow.

Yun Jing’s overwhelming, formidable power was like a needle pricking her heart; every time she imagined that the prominent figure of the Immortal Capital might still be working hard at this very moment, she found herself entirely unable to let her guard down.

Yet Bai Zhenzhen truly felt so exhausted, a weariness that had grown heavier ever since high school, and the foreseeable future promised only to be more grueling year by year, occasionally leaving her with the suffocating illusion that she could hardly breathe.

"Alas, let us at least take this opportunity to relax a little..."

Just then, she caught the sharp rustle of rushing wind from a fist, and turning her head, she saw that Zhang Yu had begun cultivating once more.

You guy are still trying to out-compete everyone even now... Bai Zhenzhen opened her mouth, ultimately sighing in resignation as she began to practice her movements alongside him.

She lamented silently, "Ah, such is the destiny of high school students. If one wishes not to be eliminated, dedicating all of one's time and mental energy is merely the most basic requirement."

To the side, Zhang Yu felt the chilling dread recede from his mind, cursing inwardly, "This idiotic ritual truly doesn't give me a single moment to relax."

However, though the two seized the time to cultivate, standing within the sanctuary meant they dared not absorb even a fraction of the spiritual aura around them, terrified of bankrupting their currently impoverished selves.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu knit their brows tightly as they watched the duo actually begin practicing.

"Why are they starting to cultivate here?" Yue Jincheng ground his teeth. "My funds are about to be completely drained."

Beside him, Si Zhouyu sighed and said, "Hand over your phone."

"This is the company's employee loan portal. You should borrow some money from here first."

Yue Jincheng asked in surprise, "Our company has an employee loan portal too?"

"How is that surprising?" Si Zhouyu smiled. "Which company doesn't have one? 'Focus on employee financial services, earn an early raise and enjoy early benefits'—that's the company slogan, after all."

"Haven't you always wanted a salary increase?" Si Zhouyu gestured toward the phone in Yue Jincheng's hand and said, "Apply for a raise pre-experience trial here, and you can automatically advance a portion of your salary every month."

Yue Jincheng naturally had no interest in any early experience scheme, but if he wanted to continue tracking Zhang Yu now, he had no choice but to borrow the money.

Though reluctant, Yue Jincheng ultimately gritted his teeth and borrowed a sum of money to tide himself over.

He continued to watch Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen cultivate for a while in the sanctuary, wondering if these two had come here solely for this purpose and if today's surveillance would end up entirely fruitless.

Then, he saw Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen move again, and before long, they entered the breeding base of a Red Tower.

Inside the breeding base, the lesser panda An'an looked at the two arrivals in surprise, "Why are you here? And how did you get in by buying tickets directly without a reservation?"

Due to a lack of funds, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had not come to leech off the breeding base's spiritual meridian for a long time.

Hearing An'an's question, Zhang Yu smiled slightly and said, "We didn't come to cultivate. We just came in to wander around."

Bai Zhenzhen, however, patted An'an's head and asked, "An'an, have you lost weight?"

An'an gave them a disorganized reply, looking preoccupied from start to finish.

Zhang Yu naturally discerned that something was weighing on An'an's mind, but since he was currently entangled in plenty of trouble himself, he hardly had the leisure to worry about others.

Finally, An'an could not help but ask, "Are you two never coming back to leech off the spiritual meridian again?"

"Please, could you come here to cultivate?"

Looking at An'an whose tail drooped low, Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu exchanged a helpless glance; having spent all their backup funds, where would they find the money to access the spiritual meridian now?

Moreover, whether it was Zhang Yu or Bai Zhenzhen, their magical power was drawing closer to the 100-unit limit of the Qi Refining stage, making them less reliant on spiritual meridians; even if they had money, they would certainly prioritize purchasing cultivation techniques.

Seeing the silence of Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu, An'an slouched in disappointment.

Bai Zhenzhen could not help but ask, "Did Xiong Wenwu run into some trouble?"

An'an spoke softly, "Red Tower High School established a physical cultivation experimental class, but besides good grades, one needs to pay a registration fee to attend. Wenwu didn't have enough money, and his grades have started falling behind lately."

"I wanted to scrape together some money for him, but my salary is too low." "If you are willing to come and use the spiritual meridian, you don't even need to help him tutor; just giving a little money would be enough."

Bai Zhenzhen glanced at Zhang Yu and said, "How about we introduce Yu Xinghan to this place? He should be in need of a spiritual meridian, right?"

"He has to spend money to cultivate at a spiritual meridian anyway, doesn't he? It would be better to come here, and it might even be a bit cheaper."

Zhang Yu stroked his chin. Over these days, he had grown increasingly familiar with Yu Xinghan and understood many of the boy's operations.

"If he comes here to use the spiritual meridian, this fellow can pocket another price difference. He will definitely be willing and will certainly keep it a secret."

Thus, Zhang Yu nodded, looked at An'an, and asked, "Although we can't come, we can introduce a wealthy guy over. How does that sound?"

An'an's eyes widened instantly, and her furry head nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Yu said, "Then it's a deal. I'll contact him for you later."

Having casually resolved An'an's issue, Zhang Yu asked further, "Do you have surveillance cameras we can look at here?"

So, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen arrived at the monitoring room, instantly bringing every corner of the breeding base into view.

"Mm." Zhang Yu quickly located Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu who had appeared on the screen. "Let's see when these two came in."

An'an also felt a wave of surprise. This breeding base was old and remote, making it rare to see tourists even once every couple of weeks. Yet today, besides Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, two others had actually arrived?

Under An'an's operation, the surveillance footage quickly began to rewind.

Watching the changing images on the screen, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Did they enter shortly after we did?"

"Then it looks like there's a high probability these two are tailing us."

Beside him, Bai Zhenzhen said, "These two fellows don't look familiar at all. They might possess the ability to alter their body shapes or facial models."

As someone who could likewise alter his appearance, Zhang Yu had naturally anticipated this.

"But while an appearance can change in a thousand ways, the method of paying for a ticket cannot."

"The exact moment these two bought tickets to enter the breeding base, their accounts were recorded."

He thought to himself, "According to the plan, I'll lead them around a bit more later to drain more of their money and disturb their peace of mind."

"Speaking of which... they must have recorded quite a bit of footage of us practicing by now. I'll give them something big later, and then report them directly for stealing martial arts secrets..."

Zhang Yu glanced at the Thunderclap Talisman poised for action on his phone.

This talisman left to him by Zhang Pianpian could sound a thunderous alarm, summoning the armed forces of the patrol team to enforce the law within one minute.

Zhang Yu had already contacted Captain Yun Ni of the patrol team beforehand, and he could activate it at any moment.

This was the leverage that Zhang Yu, Fu Ji, and Bai Zhenzhen had planned to provide for Deng Bingding after their consultation.

"Although Deng Bingding is a Fourth-Direction Wandering Deity of the sixth rank, her status can already be considered remarkably high to the noble clans of Songyang City."

"But a higher status does not mean she can do as she pleases; on the contrary, because of her elevated rank, she cannot directly govern the local clans here in Songyang City, leaving her with strength but no place to apply it."

"However, if we can capture these two stalkers, and if they happen to have secretly filmed the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen that I learned during the Foundation Establishment Exam, it would give Deng Bingding a reason to intervene in Songyang City under the pretext of maintaining candidate information confidentiality..."

However, Zhang Yu also understood that plans could not keep up with changes; while they had broadly planned in this direction, they would need to adapt on the fly if unexpected situations arose.

Various pieces of information flashed through his mind quickly. Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and An An exchanged a word, then prepared to leave the breeding base.

Zhang Yu led Bai Zhenzhen out of the monitoring room and walked along the path they had taken into the base, soon coming face to face with Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu, who were searching for them.

Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu pretended to be ordinary tourists looking at the Yaoyi in the study room, but their attention was entirely focused on Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

Cautiously following the pair, Yue Jincheng glanced at his bill again, a flicker of impatience and restlessness in his eyes.

"If I keep following them like this, I'll have spent all the money I borrowed."

"And who knows if they're even up to anything today? What if these two are just out for a stroll..."

As a recent college graduate who had just started working, Yue Jincheng had to repay both his upbringing loan and his college loan, as well as buy medicine to maintain his cultivation—he never had much money to begin with.

The thought that he might spend all his money today and gain nothing made a flash of irritability appear in his eyes.

Should he borrow another sum?

His salary wasn't rising, but his debts were piling up?

(End of chapter)