Chapter 19

Connections

Zhang San shot a puzzled look at Zhao Shang. Did you tip Chao Musheng off, Shang-bro?

Zhao Shang shook his head slowly. He'd only just taken out his phone — hadn't had time to send anything.

"I was just passing by and I heard—" Chao Musheng stepped into the bathroom and stopped. Zhou Yi was there, soaked through. The smile at the corner of Chao Musheng's mouth disappeared. "Lao Zhou?"

The younger student flinched at the sight of Chao Musheng and shrank into the corner without a word.

Chen Er shot Zhang San and Zhao Shang a savage glare. "Mind your own business." He threw this over his shoulder and walked out — though as he passed Chao Musheng, he shifted slightly to one side to make room.

Vicious with the weak, spineless with the strong.

Zhang San wanted to tell Chao Musheng directly what had just happened — that these two had been tormenting Zhou Yi. But he saw that Shang-bro wasn't speaking, and Zhou Yi had his head down and wasn't saying anything either. He kept his mouth shut.

The bathroom went quiet. A tap dripped steadily somewhere.

Chao Musheng walked to the sink and turned on the tap to wash his hands. "I've been craving barbecue. Either of you want to come? My treat."

"What?" Zhang San stared, confused. He noticed Zhao Shang nod and did the same.

"Lao Zhou, come with us." Chao Musheng shook the water off his hands and slung an arm around Zhou Yi's shoulders, dropping his voice as he leaned close. "I'm still getting to know these two visiting students. Without you there, the whole thing feels a bit flat."

The warmth of that arm worked its way through the chill at the back of Zhou Yi's neck and seeped, slowly, under his skin.

The numbness in his expression shifted, just slightly. He looked up at Chao Musheng's quietly pleading eyes. His mouth opened and closed. Then, stiffly, he nodded.

"Great, let's go — I'll walk you back to your room to change first." Chao Musheng's arm tightened around his shoulders with cheerful warmth. "You're the only one who'll do this with me. My three roommates just want to game."

"Zhang San, Zhao Shang — wait for us at the school's back gate. We'll be there soon." He left them with that and steered Zhou Yi out of the bathroom with one arm still around him.

Zhang San followed them out and lowered his voice to Zhao Shang: "Shang-bro — did Chao Musheng actually not notice what was going on with Zhou Yi?"

"He noticed." Zhao Shang shook his head. He stood watching the two of them disappear down the corridor. "He's protecting him."

"How do you mean?"

"He's protecting his dignity." Zhao Shang lowered his gaze, keeping his own feelings out of his expression. "Zhou Yi seems like someone quiet and proud. He didn't make a sound through all of that — which means he's already past the point of actively hurting, just going numb. If we'd made a scene and drawn a crowd, what do you think that would have done to him?"

"But if nothing's done, he'll keep getting pushed around." Zhang San muttered a quiet curse, then turned optimistic: "Maybe Chao Musheng has a way to deal with it?"

Zhao Shang looked at him for a moment longer than necessary.

Zhang San probably hadn't noticed it himself — the ease with which he'd placed trust in an NPC.

"Shang-bro, why are you looking at me like that?" Zhang San rubbed his arm.

"You might be right. Maybe he'll figure something out." Zhao Shang opened his phone. A new message had just come in from Chao Musheng.

[Enjoy the barbecue tonight. Other matters tomorrow.]

That was enough for Zhang San. He relaxed — and had already begun calculating whether barbecue would add to his health total.

When the four of them gathered and settled into seats at a barbecue stall outside the gate, Zhang San remembered something: "Xiao Chao — does the school have a curfew at night?"

"It does." Chao Musheng pointed at item after item on the order sheet without slowing down, and added a dozen cold drinks on top. "But don't worry about it. With me involved, I promise you'll get back without a hitch. Lao Zhou can vouch for that — right, Lao Zhou?"

"Yes." Zhou Yi sat beside Chao Musheng and nodded. He wasn't much of a talker, but whenever Chao Musheng addressed him directly, he answered properly.

Zhao Shang noticed that Zhou Yi moved through the world with a particular caution — even the bamboo skewers he finished were lined up in a neat row beside his plate.

Even so, there was more life in his face now than there had been in the bathroom.

When the bill came, Chao Musheng went to pay and appeared to run into some difficulty, because he called Zhou Yi over. A few quiet words were exchanged. Zhou Yi reached into his own pocket and produced six yuan in paper notes, which he handed to the stall owner.

Chao Musheng brightened immediately. He glanced back toward their table with a look that clearly said don't tell those two, then murmured something into Zhou Yi's ear.

For the first time that evening, Zhou Yi smiled.

Zhao Shang looked away and fixed his gaze on the pile of skewers on the table.

"Shang-bro — did you just smile?" Zhang San leaned in.

Zhao Shang held his expression flat and pushed him off. "No. You're imagining things."

He had only a passing ability to read lips. But he'd read Chao Musheng's clearly enough.

He'd said he was six yuan short for the bill and didn't want to lose face in front of the visiting students. Lucky Zhou Yi had saved him.

A few minutes later, all four of them were standing outside the campus perimeter wall.

"Xiao Chao — when you said you'd get us back without a hitch, you meant you'd walk us over the wall?" Zhang San stared. This was a campus instance full of high-achievers — and an NPC local was voluntarily leading players over the perimeter?

Exploration instances really were different. No rule was unbreakable. NPCs did whatever they felt like.

"Don't worry — it's easy going here." Chao Musheng climbed over, reached back to pull Zhou Yi up, then waved at the other two through the fence. "Hurry up."

Zhao Shang planted one hand on the railing and vaulted over in a single clean motion.

Chao Musheng applauded enthusiastically. "Nice!"

Zhao Shang, ears going faintly red, reached up and caught Zhang San as he scrambled down.

"We're just... in?" Zhang San looked back at the wall in disbelief.

"How else were you going to get in — walk through it?" Chao Musheng draped an arm around Zhou Yi's shoulder, laughing at Zhang San's expression.

Only Zhao Shang understood why Zhang San was actually stunned. Yesterday they'd tried other entry points around the campus. Every one had been blocked by an invisible barrier. The only way in was through the main gate with a card.

That barrier was gone now.

Not far off, a security patrol vehicle noticed the movement and turned its headlights toward them.

Zhang San's stomach tightened. Here it came — the classic chased-by-campus-security scene.

The vehicle drew closer. One of the guards leaned out — and his gaze met Chao Musheng's.

Then the patrol car turned around and drove unhurriedly away. Smooth and seamless, without a moment's hesitation.

Zhang San's heart returned from his throat to its proper location. He exhaled quietly. Chao Musheng hadn't been exaggerating after all. "You're close with the security team, Xiao Chao?"

"That guard lives in my building." Chao Musheng cleared his throat. "Come on — back to the dorm."

Right. Zhang San had a moment of clarity. Personal connections in an instance world could be just as blunt and immediate as anywhere else.

*

Zhou Yi returned to his dormitory to find his three roommates still awake.

They looked up when he came in, concern in their faces. "Zhou Yi, you're back so late — Chen Er came by with a couple of guys looking for you earlier. You okay?"

"I'm fine." He paused, then added: "I went out for a late supper with Chao Musheng."

That settled them. "Okay — get some sleep. Lights out soon."

Zhou Yi opened his wardrobe to find a change of clothes. At the very bottom, half-hidden beneath everything else, sat a fruit knife and several small bottles of rubbing alcohol.

He looked at them for a long moment, then covered them with a shirt.

Later. Not yet. At least wait until next month.

Chao Musheng and his roommates were running low on their living allowances. They needed him at the serving window.

*

In the neighboring dormitory, three roommates were working through the barbecue Chao Musheng had brought back with extraordinary efficiency.

"Fourth, you go out for barbecue and don't bring us — what happened to brotherhood? What happened to loyalty?"

"Then I'll take back what I brought you." Chao Musheng, toweling his hair dry, regarded the three of them — mouths shining with grease — with magnificent disdain. "And I won't bring you anything when I go home this weekend either."

"No, no, no — our brotherhood is as constant as the sun and moon." Third put down his skewer and poured Chao Musheng a glass of water with a very winning smile. "Fourth. Xiao Chao. Most Honored Ancestor. My high school friend is coming to visit tomorrow — could you lend me some money?"

Chao Musheng raised an eyebrow. "High school friend, or person you've been secretly in love with?"

Third grinned and fidgeted with his hands.

"Sent." Chao Musheng took the water and drank. "You're dismissed, Third."

"Long live the Emperor!" Money received. Third retired, satisfied.

*

"Last night I had a dream. There was a dormitory in the school — fire everywhere, smoke pouring out. Students in the corridor, shouting in a panic — something about someone being killed. Then not long after, someone jumped from the eighth floor."

The female player speaking had a rare skill: prophetic dreams. It only activated once per instance, at random.

Several days had passed with no progress on the instance objective. Taking advantage of today's anniversary celebrations — which had their hosts too occupied to monitor anyone's study progress — the players had gathered together.

"Are you certain the corridor in the dream had only male students?"

"Yes."

"Then the incident was probably in a male dormitory." The player who replied frowned. "But the campus is enormous. There are several male dormitory buildings. How are we supposed to find which one?"

"I remember something." The female player sat forward. "The building had beautiful roses growing below the windows — all different colors, very striking."

"And—" She pressed her fingertips to her temple where a dull ache was building. "In the dream I saw a news alert on someone's phone. It said: 'Tragedy strikes the night before the top university's anniversary celebrations — who bears responsibility?'"

"That's odd," the vegetable player said. "Today is the anniversary. If something that major had happened last night, even the most reckless school leadership couldn't ignore public opinion and press on with a celebration this elaborate. Are you sure you haven't misremembered?"

The female player began to doubt herself. "I... I don't know."

"Fine — since no one has anything useful, let's not waste more time." Two of the male players got up and brushed grass off their clothes. "We have things to do."

Zhao Shang watched as the two of them jogged over to a student on the far side of the sports ground — someone he vaguely recognized. One of the boys who'd been hanging around Chen Er the night before.

Both players bowed and scraped in front of the student with identical expressions of enthusiasm, then followed him away.

"Didn't think they'd manage to latch onto someone useful," the vegetable player said, a note of envy in his voice. "No wonder they've been so confident."

Using an NPC local as leverage was a standard player technique. But the locals in this instance were notoriously difficult to win over — no one could figure out how those two had managed it.

Zhang San crossed his arms and lifted his chin.

That was their idea of a useful connection?

Nothing compared to having Xiao Chao in your corner.

No taste at all.