IWOL Chapter 166: Xia Qiongyun

What was the situation? 

Cui Zuojing still maintained the posture of flipping through materials, but he secretly perked up his ears, listening to the movements over there. Dong Linhai directly looked over, his eyes full of doubts.

Was it someone he knew before?

“Long time no see.” The young woman named Miss Xia smiled at Dong Zheng. She was just over 1.6 meters tall, with a peaked cap slightly covering her eyebrows. Her facial features weren’t as delicate as Wang Que’s, but it was still well worth a second glance. 

Seeing them chatting like this, Cui Zuojing’s heart began to feel slightly unhappy. Before he could understand why, his body took one step ahead of his thinking and walked over.

“Do you know each other?” He casually placed the information on the computer desk. Cui Zuojing knew that he shouldn’t show that he cared in front of Dong Zheng, so he didn’t show an unhappy expression. He merely stood beside Dong Zheng, as if it was perfectly normal, and asked indifferently.

“I’ve met her in the real world.” Dong Zheng didn’t explain much. He seemed to understand the subtle emotions in Cui Zuojing’s heart. He raised his hand and placed it on Cui Zuojing’s arm, as if declaring sovereignty with the act of placing his arms around Cui Zuojing.

“When I saw your name, I thought it was familiar.” The young woman glanced at Cui Zuojing and recognized that he was the young man that the Deep Disguisers had singled out in the rumor. However, her attention was temporarily focused on another matter. She asked Dong Zheng, “How did you get here?”

“Car accident. How about you?”

“Same.” The young woman didn’t seem to want to talk about real world things, and asked again, “You’re the captain of the Wonton Insurgency?”

Dong Linhai also came over at this time, and before Dong Zheng could answer, he said first, “Yes, may I ask what the matter is?”

“My name is Xia Qiongyun. I want to ask if your team is short on members?”

Xia Qiongyun?

Dong Linhai seemed to have heard this name somewhere, but he couldn’t remember. He frowned, trying to search his memory.

Dong Zheng was a little surprised. They were about to enter Hell Circus and had no plans to recruit new members for the time being. However, since someone took the initiative to come to their door, it wasn’t impossible. He didn’t speak nonsense and directly said, “How long has it been since you joined Heimdall?”

“Four months ago. I was in another S-level team before, but the captain died in the previous box. I had a little disagreement with the others and left,” Xia Qiongyun said concisely.

At this time, Lin Hangzhi and Wang Que, both of whom were originally far away from the others, also came over. Hearing her words, Lin Hangzhi remembered that when he first entered Heimdall, he seemed to have heard this woman quarreling with another man as they rushed past him.

At that time, he thought that she looked a little familiar.

He stood to the side and looked at Xia Qiongyun. When Xia Qiongyun glanced over Dong Zheng’s shoulder and saw him, her face had a trace of embarrassment that wasn’t easily detectable. 

Dong Zheng had heard not too long ago that a team had indeed disbanded due to the death of the captain. It was one of the five S-level teams in Heimdall, so when the news came out, it was extremely explosive. 

“Were you in ET before?” Cui Zuojing raised his eyebrows, raising his estimate of Xia Qiongyun’s strength by one level in his heart. 

“Yes, my rating was excellent at the time. If I join you, I definitely won’t hold you back.”

Cui Zuojing and Dong Zheng looked at each other. Cui Zuojing saw the inquiry in the man’s eyes. He smiled and spread his hands. “You are the captain. Whatever you decide is fine. Why are you looking at me?”

“Isn’t our team always about democratic decision-making?” Dong Zheng pondered for a moment and said, “Miss Xia, although we currently have no intentions to recruit new players, if you want to join, I don’t think anyone will have any opinions. Let’s run together for a while and get to know each other before we decide for certain.”

“That’s fine. Please call me Xiao Xia.” Xia Qiongyun was secretly relieved. Heinrich had told her that Dong Zheng had lost a team member not long ago, and that they weren’t necessarily willing to recruit new members so quickly. She was prepared to be rejected. But since Dong Zheng said this, it showed that there was still room for maneuver. 

“Let’s find a lounge first and get acquainted with each other.”

Xia Qiongyun said, “Will this delay your business?”

Cui Zuojing said. “It’s okay. We’re just looking for some information. It doesn’t matter if we do it in the morning or in the evening.”

“Big sister, were you the one who made the scented tea in the kitchen?” The observer Wang Que asked aloud. She still remembered that when she’d asked about it, Heinrich had replied that it was made by a young woman named “Xiao Xia.” 

“It’s me.” Xia Qiongyun was a little surprised, and then she smiled, “Did Heinrich tell you?”

Wang Que couldn’t help wanting to jump for joy. She realized that if Xia Qiongyun could join the team, there would be someone to accompany her. 

A few days ago, the terrifying shadow the box had left behind made her too scared to sleep. Dong Zheng and Cui Zuojing, Dong Linhai and Lin Hangzhi, the four male could sleep with each other, but as the only female in the group, she had to sleep by herself. 

Victor was a cat with the soul of an adult man hidden in his body. Even if she wanted to sleep with him, it wouldn’t be appropriate to do so. In the end, Fu Zhen couldn’t stand it anymore so he’d been hypnotizing her to sleep every night, when she dared not even close her eyes.

They were about to put down the things in their hands to go and talk with Xian Qiongyun when Lin Hangzhi, who had been thinking about where he’d seen Xia Qiongyun, suddenly widened his eyes and gasped. 

Everyone turned to look at him.

The past suddenly emerged from the ocean of memory. Lin Hangzhi was dimly aware of the faint fragrance that had once swept across his nose. It was her! It was her! The woman who had brought him shame and anger. The woman who had cruelly robbed him of the treasure he’d worked so hard for!

Lin Hangzhi cried, “It’s you!”

Dong Linhai was dumbfounded. “Why? Do you two also know each other?”

In a flash, Lin Hangzhi remembered everything. “Someone took the ticket I got from a secret realm in the Labyrinth of Time. Wasn’t it you?”

It must be said that Lin Hangzhi was an extremely straight guy. Compared to when she was in the Labyrinth of Time, Xia Qiongyun had only cut her smooth and long black hair into a shorter haircut tucked behind her ears, but it was enough to make it difficult for him to recognize her.

Xia Qiongyun stiffened. Realizing that Lin Hangzhi had recognized her, she moved her hands behind her back and her two index fingers squeezed her other until they hurted. She pursed her lower lip, took a deep breath, and said, “I’m really sorry. I, at the time…I had no other choice.”

Lin Hangzhi’s dispirited eyes stared at her like a goldfish, burning with small flames. “You had no other choice and so you robbed me? Why could I tell? Do you know how much I had to suffer to get that ticket?!”

“I…” Xia Qiongyun knew that she was the one in the wrong. Faced with Lin Hangzhi’s fury, she swallowed all the excuses into her stomach and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“….” Seeing the other party lowered her head until the brim of her hat covered most of her face, exposing only a small section of her chin and her tight lips, as if she was ashamed from the bottom of her heart, Lin Hangzhi became silent. He wasn’t an aggressive person. He gave a cold snort and turned his face away. “That was in the past. This big person is magnanimous and won’t bother with you anymore.”

In fact, Lin Hangzhi wasn’t as angry as he’d shown. Almost half a year had passed. The resentment and heartache he’d experienced at the time had long since disappeared. If he hadn’t seen Xiao Qiongyun again, he wouldn’t have remembered it. Give it a little bit more time, and he wouldn’t have recalled it at all.

Dong Linhai and Wang Que, both of whom were nervous and were planning to intercept should the situation become too bad, were at a loss when seeing this “thunder and rain” development. Cui Zuojing roughly guessed the whole story from the conversation between them. He clasped Lin Hangzhi’s shoulder and patted him on the back saying, “Since you think this, it’s for the best. If you have any prior contradictions, it’s best to talk about it first. Don’t keep it in your heart; it may give rise to other troubles.”

Lin Hangzhi hummed in acknowledgement. The emotional stimulation and indignation gradually faded from his body. His shoulders went back to their habitual docile slump as he changed back into his customary passiveness.

 Xia Qiongyun looked at him anxiously. When she’d quarreled with her former teammate in the hallway of Heimdall, she’d passed by Lin Hangzhi and recognized him in an instant. She’d been relieved when he didn’t seem to recognize her.

After that, she was always afraid of running into Lin Hangzhi and had avoided the headquarters for a long time. But, she didn’t expect that the other part would be a member of Dong Zheng’s team. 

It seemed that Fate wanted the two of them to run into each other, and there was no way for her to hide. 

Everyone knew that Lin Hangzhi was a good-tempered person, and his so-called anger took only three to five minutes to pass. Dong Zheng comforted him, “Think about it carefully. At that time, if you had gotten the ticket, you might not have ran into us.”

“That’s also true,” Lin Hangzhi murmured. Even from an early age, his heart had long since been tempered by fate. He followed Dong Linhai and walked toward the lounge in silence.

Xia Qiongyun walked in front, side by side with Dong Zheng and Cui Zuojing. As she walked, she answered their questions.

After talking for a bit, Cui Zuojing got some information. Xia Qiongyun was 24 years old this year. To be precise, she died in an accident when she was 24. She’d been in the Pure White Realm for around a year, longer than everyone else. 

Speaking of the Labyrinth of Time, it seemed that everyone except Wang Que had been there. After all, the number of participants in one area of ​​the Labyrinth of Time was two thousand, and many props could be obtained. When it was opened, every pilgrims who knew about it had participated. 

Once they found an empty lounge, Dong Zheng said, “Since you received an excellent assessment, we wouldn’t doubt your strength. Can you show us?”

“My ability or something else?”

“Both.”

Xia Qiongyun said, “My ability…it’s a bit difficult to show. It might be somewhat offensive.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Cui Zuojing stood in the middle of the room with one hand in his pocket. He motioned at her with his other hand. “Regardless, you can use it on me.”

Dong Linhai touched his chin. “How do I feel that we’ve had this conversation before? Brother Hang, didn’t you say this in your interview?”

Lin Hangzhi laughed. “It’s a long time ago. I can’t remember.”

Xia Qiongyun resolutely stood. She looked around for a while and took out a table from the fruit tray on the small coffee table. She held it in her hands and said, “No matter what I say next, can you try to believe it?”

Cui Zuojing nodded.

Xia Qiongyun held the apple steadily and said very seriously, “Why is this apple rotten?”

She said it like she was stating a fact.

Although Cui Zuojing didn’t understand what she was doing, he still followed her request and tried to believe that the fresh, red apple in her hand was rotten.

He silently thought so in his heart and the more he thought, the more he began to believe.

Maybe the apple really was spoiled, either on the side he couldn’t see or inside the peel?

At this moment, black spots began to appear without warning on the smooth skin of the apple. It quickly expanded until, within a few breaths, the apple had completely deteriorated and rotted in full view.

Everyone: !!!

“This is my ability.” Xia Qiongyun dropped the rotten apple into the trash can. “Truth Talk.”

———————-

Xixi: Frankly, I felt like they swept what Xia Qiongyun did under the rug so quickly. If it were me, I would be quite affronted for my teammate and would have a bad first impression of Xia Qiongyun. Poor Lin Hangzhi. On the other hand, if Lin Hangzhi insisted on making it a big deal, I believe that they would have definitely supported him and rejected her straightaway.

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