99: Chapter 99 Huge Fund Arrives
Early the next morning, the three of them woke up on the stone floor of the basement.
Clothes were scattered all over the floor, some already torn to shreds.
Yunxiu was the first to sit up. She picked up her scattered clothes and put them on one by one, her face a mix of misery and resentment, with a trace of imperceptible fatigue lingering between her brows.
Su Li leaned against the stone wall, resting her sword horizontally across her knees, arms crossed, and remained silent for a long time.
Shirley lay on the floor, stretching lazily, her tail curling up to rest on her waist.
On the floor lay the mutilated male corpse. The cuts were clean, but the clothes were also in complete disarray, seemingly caught in the crossfire last night.
The two exotic beasts in the iron cage were still stuck in the cage door; hearing the three of them get up, they squeezed out a few low whimpers from their throats.
Yunxiu looked at Zhen Lu's corpse, fell silent for a moment, and then spoke: "This revenge was a total loss."
Su Li leaned against the stone wall, shifting her sword to her other hand, her tone filled with helplessness. "Stepmom, could you please not make any more plans next time? Your plans have too many loopholes, and I got dragged into it again."
Shirley walked up from behind, draped both arms over their shoulders, pulled them gently into her embrace, and chuckled. "I think it's quite nice; the three of us are happy together."
Yunxiu picked up the Soul Casket scroll from the floor, checked that the seal was intact, and handed it to Su Li. "You take this and bring it out later. Contact him when the time comes. I'll transfer the money to you in a bit—twenty-five million, pay him everything."
Su Li took the scroll, her brows knitting together. "Are we really paying? Can't we just renege on the debt?"
"No reneging. We have to remember this grudge."
Yunxiu fastened the last button of her dress, stood up, and smoothed her skirt. Her tone was calm, but every word seemed squeezed out from between her teeth. "If you renege now, how can we deal with him later? Whatever we pay out this time, I'll make him pay it all back next time."
Shirley changed her grip to hold their waists, her tail swaying lazily behind her. "I'm afraid you're just looking to get yourself dragged into it again next time."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yunxiu turned her head, a hateful gaze pinning Shirley's face. "You have the nerve to say that? Where's the antidote? Don't you provide an antidote when you make potions?"
"It's because you were in such a rush."
Shirley's voice grew quieter as she spoke, burying her face in the crook of Yunxiu's arm, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Su Li tucked the scroll away, watching the two of them. The corners of her mouth curved slightly, then she lowered her head and hung her sword back on her waist.
A white light flashed across Main Star Plaza, and Zhen Lu stood on the plaza once again.
He looked down at his hands—intact and undamaged—then reached up to touch his neck; the skin was smooth and whole, without any trace of a cut.
He adjusted his pants, confirming that all his parts were present, his resurrection complete, with no discomfort whatsoever.
He opened his personal panel and quickly scanned his asset records. The scroll commission and mission fees he had earned in the Dark Night world had all been left behind in that world because he had committed suicide; he hadn't brought them out.
What remained on his panel now were the earnings from the previous racing competition and The Resistance missions. However, the thought of the twenty-five million incoming made him feel a bit more relaxed.
He was still a bit worried, fearing that these women might renege on the debt. But Yunxiu had given her real name; a rich second-generation family background like that wouldn't be weak, and a prominent family wouldn't risk their reputation over this amount of money.
He had spent much longer in the Dark Night world than expected, so he decided to log off and sleep first, then check if the money had arrived when he logged in tomorrow.
A white light flashed. He opened his eyes to the ceiling of his Central City apartment. It was already late at night; he turned over, pulled the quilt up to his shoulders, closed his eyes, and his consciousness quickly drifted away.
The next morning, he was woken up by his communicator's alarm. He sat up, stretched his neck, washed up, changed into clean casual clothes, pushed open the apartment door, and walked along the streets of Central City toward Saint Grace Cathedral.
Nothing happened today, except that Bishop Lin was a bit too enthusiastic toward him and kept asking about this and that.
Returning home that evening, Zhen Lu lay on his bed and touched his ring. A white light flashed, and the plaza of the Realm of Holy Light spread out beneath his feet.
He had just steadied himself when a message arrived—a message from Su Yunli, consisting of only one sentence: "Come to the cafe."
He walked across the stone path of the plaza's rest area and pushed open the door to the cafe. It was the same window-side booth as last time, but this time, only one person was sitting there.
Su Yunli was leaning against the back of her chair with two cups of coffee in front of her; one had already gone cold. Her expression today was very poor, and the sharpness between her brows was even more intense than when they last met.
Zhen Lu sat down opposite her, picked up the remaining cup of coffee, took a sip, then set it down, his tone as casual as if he were chatting with an old friend. "Little Li, were you happy last night?"
Su Yunli's eyes instantly turned icy. She picked up the cup of cold coffee in front of her and threw it directly at Zhen Lu's face.
Zhen Lu's Mental Power activated at that exact moment; the splashed coffee was caught by an invisible force field, forming a ball of coffee suspended in mid-air.
He flicked his finger lightly, and the coffee ball traced an arc, landing in the trash can nearby without a single drop touching him.
"If you dare say such snide, bullshit remarks again, I won't give you a single cent, believe me?"
Zhen Lu quickly put away his playful smile and waved his hands repeatedly. "My mistake, I'll take this seriously."
Su Yunli pulled the Soul Casket scroll from her bosom and slapped it onto the table. "I'm transferring the money to you now; receive it. Take the scroll, and we're even."
She opened her panel and transferred the funds; a moment later, Zhen Lu's twenty-five million credits arrived.
Zhen Lu tucked the scroll away, glanced down at the payment notification, then suddenly looked up, the corners of his mouth curving upward again.
"Oh right, my earnings and commissions from the Dark Night world were all lost, too. Shouldn't you compensate me for that?"
Su Yunli didn't reply, only glared at him. That look was like two swords about to shoot out from her eye sockets.
She lowered her head, tapped her panel again, and transferred another two million.
Zhen Lu accepted it happily.
Su Yunli stood up; as she was leaving, she deliberately took an extra step around the trash can before pushing the door open and walking out.
Walking onto the stone path, she looked back at Zhen Lu. Seeing him looking over, she gave him the middle finger, a white light flashed, and she logged off directly.
Zhen Lu didn't care; he sat in the booth, unfolded the Soul Casket scroll, examined it carefully, and tucked it away.
Now, with a huge sum of twenty-seven million lying in his account, plus what he had left before, he was wealthier than he had ever been.
He finished the last sip of coffee, stood up, and walked toward the Church's exclusive teleportation portal on the west side of the plaza.
He passed through the main hall, turned into the side corridor, and pushed open the door to the Training Room. Matthew was meditating in the center of the concentric circles.
He looked up at Zhen Lu. "You're in good spirits today," Matthew said.
"Not bad, I slept quite well last night." Zhen Lu walked onto the concentric circles and stood still.
The training content was still Mental Power guidance, instant interruption, and sustained output of Holy Light Infusion, with many rounds of each.
Matthew corrected a few details on the side. After the training ended, Zhen Lu left the Training Room and headed straight for the Church's wing hall.
He had to spend some of this money today. Although he was already an Esper, having over twenty million appear in his account suddenly would definitely be flagged as abnormal. So, he had to spend it today.