The next day, in the fortress's morning light.
Wang Jixuan heard some movement from the bed, stopped his meditation, straightened up, turned on the lamp, and picked up a thick book beside him.
"Mechanics: An Introduction."
On the spacious bed, Zhou Zhengde opened his eyes in confusion, feeling the cool touch of the blanket against his skin. His left hand trembled as he reached for the lump in the blanket next to him.
Ah, skin...
He jumped up suddenly, wearing only a pair of briefs, staring at the figure on the other side of the bed.
Zhou Zhengde first sighed in relief.
Lying next to him was Lin Bo, who was sound asleep, also bare-chested.
Oh no!
Zhou Zhengde felt two bolts of lightning strike his back, and his legs went weak, almost causing him to kneel. He had to grab the edge of the bed to steady himself.
He knew that when he drank, he easily got drunk and ended up in all sorts of situations, but this... was this workplace bullying? Lin Bo was a conservative guy; could it be because of his demands as the team leader...
Fortunately, Wang Daolong's voice came in time from the side:
"Don't worry, I've been watching over you. Nothing uncontrollable happened. I washed your clothes since they got dirty."
Zhou Zhengde let out a long breath and slumped down on the edge of the bed.
He looked at Wang Jixuan and smiled gratefully:
"Thank you. What did I do after I got drunk last night?"
Wang Jixuan's expression was a bit hard to read, and some images that were hard to look at floated in his mind. Out of friendship, he quietly tore those images apart.
Wang Jixuan closed the thick book in his hands, cleared his throat, and said seriously:
"Last night, you got drunk and held Wei Na's hand, saying a lot of things."
"I held Wei Na's hand? Is that true? Don't joke like that. We used to be a couple, but we've long since drawn the line."
Zhou Zhengde frowned at Wang Jixuan.
Wang Jixuan shrugged and nodded slightly.
Zhou Zhengde whispered, "Did I really say that?"
"You did."
"What did I say?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes," Zhou Zhengde's expression turned more sincere and anxious.
Wang Jixuan stifled a laugh: "You said you liked her and asked if she would marry you. You talked about a marriage where you both keep your vows of chastity. You mentioned applying for IVF and that you could keep exercising until she reaches menopause, doing fifty squats every day... I just learned what menopause means yesterday."
"And her reaction?"
Two flames appeared in Zhou Zhengde's eyes.
"She was very touched," Wang Jixuan said sympathetically, "then she shook her head and refused without hesitation. She said she likes her freedom and doesn't want to have children."
Zhou Zhengde cleared his throat: "Hahaha! I knew it would be like that, haha... sigh."
He wanted to insist a bit more.
But Wang Jixuan had already tossed him a box of tissues.
Zhou Zhengde sniffed, tilted his head back at a forty-five-degree angle, and tried to act nonchalant:
"It's all in the past. I know it’s all over. I shouldn’t have held her back... Alright, I’ll head out now... I need to lift my spirits and work hard. When I have some free time in a few days, I’ll help you arrange some conservative girls to meet. You need some emotional healing..."
Wang Jixuan was about to refuse when he suddenly thought of something and nodded slowly.
Wang Daolong said softly, "I can try to get in touch with them, but I don't plan on starting a family for now."
Zhou Zhengde sighed, feeling a bit lost: "Okay, I’ll get dressed. Sorry for bothering you... Wait, should I say this is my home?"
Wang Jixuan closed the book and stood up, smiling, "Then I’ll go back and wait for news from the investigation team."
"Go ahead, rest well. I’ll check on the investigation team in the combat zone... Did you not sleep last night?"
"I slept a bit, in the chair," Wang Jixuan said seriously, "I need to make sure nothing really happens between you and Lin Bo."
Zhou Zhengde gave a firm thumbs-up: "I’ll do my best to find you a pure soul."
Wang Jixuan adjusted the edges of his uniform, tucked the book under his arm, put his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the security captain's dormitory.
...
In his new dormitory.
Wang Jixuan took his time organizing various items.
Mu Liang's work clothes had been put away in the innermost corner. He had used the universal allowance he had saved up to buy a few loose cotton and linen shirts and cropped pants.
He quite liked this casual outfit.
'If I hadn't practiced, how would I have lived in the mundane world?'
This was something Wang Daolong had been pondering lately.
Previously, in the wooden house in the Wanlijin greenhouse area, his progress in cultivation had been quite fast. Although it was still slow compared to his past life, it was much better than in the central city.
Why was the Wanlijin area more spiritually rich?
Wang Jixuan had naturally investigated this before.
It wasn’t because there were more plants in the greenhouse area, but because of their special soil formula.
Wang Jixuan had studied this before. The formula soil contained some spiritual energy, but he didn’t know the exact source, so he asked Lin Bo to help him get some and asked Doctor Wei Na to analyze the components.
He suspected that this special soil was related to the Blade Beasts.
Some ingredient in the formula soil was very likely...
The blood and flesh of Blade Beasts.
Now, besides cultivation, the only thing Wang Jixuan really needed to worry about was one problem.
Kong Nu wanted to slice him up.
Wang Jixuan was also waiting for the investigation team sent by the combat zone to see how strong this group of 'experts' was.
This investigation team was purely summoned by Zhou Zhengde using his solid background, and Zhou Zhengde wanted to use this group against Kong Nu.
Wang Daolong had also figured things out.
Make the most of available resources; he didn’t have the hard power to ignore worldly rules for now.
Since Zhou Zhengde had a grandfather who was a general and could keep all kinds of troublemakers in check, he would temporarily hide here, focus on his cultivation, strengthen his own power, and find more escape routes.
Now, he just feared that the winds of trouble wouldn’t settle.
'I used to underestimate this mundane world.'
'I should focus on accumulating strength, improving my knowledge, and temporarily align myself with a faction, as long as I don’t get too deep into it and don’t do any evil deeds, that’s enough.'
'Always have respect for heaven and earth.'
Wang Daolong stretched lazily, looking at his full closet, feeling a bit of accomplishment.
Then he looked at the miscellaneous items he had organized.
T.E.R.
He saw those three letters again.
Wang Jixuan had roughly understood their meaning— the name of a virtual singer from a certain underground area of Fortress 76.
Because the fortress prohibited excessive entertainment, T.E.R could only be active on some old-fashioned radios. Having debuted only two or three years ago, she had already built a large fan base in the lower and central cities.
Wang Jixuan picked up the holographic music player and studied it a bit before plugging it in.
On the trapezoidal player box, a thin projection screen appeared, displaying a list of choices. Wang Jixuan tried selecting a song called "Radio LIVE: Little River," and the album cover appeared in the center of the screen.
The cover featured a cartoon girl in a sundress, smiling with her hands behind her back.
The player emitted a gentle female voice, and a solo guitar melody began to unfold.
Wang Jixuan felt inexplicably relaxed.
Oh, a different kind of music.
The clear and gentle female voice began to hum softly, the notes flowing like water in a small river, swirling around in the not too big, not too small room.
Wang Jixuan sat on the bed, lowered his head to read, and with his left hand slightly open, released a breath that surrounded his cup, bringing the stainless steel cup to his lips for a gentle sip.
This thick foundational science book didn’t seem so hard to digest anymore.
"I always thought you would accompany me to see that little river / I didn’t expect we only took two steps / before saying there would be no results / I’m just afraid that my love for you will fade away / but I don’t know how to tell you..."
"After leaving you / I started to enjoy showing off my true feelings / guessing your unpredictable heart / wanting to confirm again / if we can walk to that river / perhaps I’m just afraid my true heart will be buried / and not really wanting you to accompany me all the way..."
Wang Jixuan squinted and smiled, letting time flow over the characters in his mind.
The energy within him became lazy and gentle, no longer rushing forward, but rather slowly soaking into places his Dao body had never been able to reach.
As one song ended, the singer spoke, her clear voice saying:
"Today's song ends here. I hope you can relax your body and mind amidst your tiring studies and work. Keep working hard in life! Let’s meet at the concert in the surface city!"
Wang Jixuan looked at the holographic player and just happened to see the album cover facing him, where the cartoon girl was smiling and making a peace sign.
He put down the cup, looked at his palm, and lightly spread his fingers.
He chuckled silently, shook his head, and continued to read, pondering whether the methods of machinery and refining in this world could be combined.
The music player automatically moved to the next track, all recordings from this virtual singer’s radio.
Soon, Wang Jixuan discovered that enjoying music in this relaxed manner actually had a noticeable benefit for his cultivation of the Dao heart.
'Interesting.'
The clear female voice began to sing a soothing song again, as if she knew her gentle voice could comfort people, and she was trying hard to showcase this talent.
In the song;
Wang Jixuan put down the book, sat cross-legged, and images began to flow through his mind—pictures of high mountains and flowing water, birds singing and flowers blooming, along with a wooden house and a dark area, with little lights slowly gathering towards him.
In the office of the security team captain, Zhou Zhengde was squeezing the communicator with his shoulder and cheek, constantly responding to something, rapidly jotting down some information he had just received with a ballpoint pen on a piece of white paper.
In the simple gym next to the central medical room, Wei Na was wearing yoga pants and a sports tank top, taking advantage of the downtime in the medical room to work on her figure.
A few young men and women passed by outside, chatting and laughing as they headed to their respective workstations.
In the office of the spiritual practitioners on the third floor of the fortress's upper city, Kong Nu was angrily yelling at a few standing researchers in white coats, while a girl in a white dress sitting in the corner hugged her teddy bear tightly, her big eyes showing confusion and emptiness...
The machines in the fortress kept running, and the lights in the lower and middle cities flickered on and off.
"Captain! Mu Liang, Captain!"
Lin Bo's shout pulled Wang Jixuan back from his daze, and he took off the new headphones he had just bought.
He was slacking off at his workstation in the security office.
Wang Jixuan asked, "What’s up? Did that investigation team arrive?"
"Captain, you didn’t forget that you’re supposed to meet a cute girl today, did you?"
Lin Bo muttered quietly:
"The girl has already arrived, sitting on a park bench behind the central elevator shaft, across from the security office.
"Just do it for our team leader's sake and chat with her for a bit! She saw your photo and wanted to meet you. Her name is Wen Tongtong, a standard conservative type, highly recommended by Doctor Wei Na.
"Hehe, as long as you wear our uniform, that’s half the battle won! With our charm and looks, we’re unbeatable!"
Wang Jixuan smiled and nodded, closing the book "Mechanics: Advanced," and asked again:
"The investigation team hasn’t arrived yet?"
"They’re said to be arriving at the fortress tonight, all frontline combat personnel rotating for rest! There’s even a powerful frontline spiritual practitioner among them!"
"Alright," Wang Jixuan replied, straightening his collar, making sure his light blue security uniform was neat.
To be honest, he didn’t have high expectations for a sweet romance; right now, his focus was on his own cultivation.
On one hand, it was a friendly gesture, and on the other, he could take the opportunity to experience interacting with others, which would help with refining his Dao heart.
According to the rules here, he just needed to politely say, "You’re great, but we’re not compatible," and that would be enough.
He adjusted his uniform collar, casually secured his holster, and stepped out of the security office.
(End of Chapter)