[Hua: Shocking! A rundown of cosmic scumbags getting karmic retribution, every case is so satisfying]
[Hua: Cheating? Love triangles? Mind control? Countless scumbags end up behind bars]
[Hua: Love turns to hate! A freeloading man gets his karma, stabbed thirty-seven times and left dead on the street]
[Zero: What kind of nonsense is this… Stop reading this kind of garbage from now on]
Zero just felt baffled. After sending that line, he put his jade communicator on silent and slipped it back into his pocket.
"Jingliu, really, you don't need to trouble yourself."
Zero tried to persuade her, but she wouldn't back down, insisting on escorting him home.
Jingliu took the medicine package handed over by the physician, then passed it on to Zero.
She looked at him, calm as ever, and said, "It's fine. It just happens to be on the way."
Zero, "..."
Jingliu was using his own words to block him.
And really, that wasn't easy to refute.
He ran out of arguments. After thinking and thinking, he could only trace it all back to that meal she'd brought him.
Normally he only paid attention to results, not the process.
And at the root, this whole mess was a Vidyadhara issue. It had nothing to do with Jingliu at all. Rather, it was him who had ignored her feelings.
Maybe she felt guilty because of this.
Zero admitted frankly, "This poisoning wasn't your fault. At the root, it was those villains' fault. There's no need to trouble yourself."
Jingliu sighed, "How could I not care? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have suffered this."
"From the end result, I just lost a day of vacation. It's nothing serious…"
Zero tried to reassure her, but after he said this, her expression only grew uglier.
The once aloof and restrained Swordmaster actually revealed a trace of anger. Though she quickly controlled her face again, her voice was a little stiff as she asked,
"In your eyes, even being poisoned doesn't count as a big deal?"
Just how much had he suffered?
Jingliu sighed inwardly. She didn't press the issue further, to avoid touching on Zero's painful memories, and changed the subject, "Dan Feng prescribed three days of medicine. Remember to take it."
Zero wasn't good at refusing others' kindness. He could only let out a dry "oh."
The memories from his dreams were too tangled. After waking, he had no time to think them through in detail.
And besides, he couldn't spare the focus to chat with Jingliu right now. The two of them walked side by side in silence.
Zero, 'Why does this feel so off…'
He couldn't help letting his mind wander, analyzing his relationship with the Swordmaster.
If he remembered right, this was the third time Jingliu had escorted him home.
Counting them up, she had sent him abundant game meat, which he supposed was a Cloud Knight specialty gift…
She had transferred money to him, saying it was for that bottle of float-goat milk he'd bought when he escorted her home.
She had invited him and Jing Yuan out for a meal, though in the end Jing Yuan didn't show up…
So if he used his usual thinking style and worked backward from the results…
The result was, their interactions were becoming more frequent, and they owed each other more and more favors.
So was Jingliu doing all this to get closer to him? What was her goal?
Could it be… Jingliu liked him?
Or did she just see him as a junior to look after?
Then he remembered that strange line she had dropped during the barbecue, "When did you get a girlfriend?"
Thinking it through, he realized both options made sense.
Whether it was hearing that the person she liked was already taken, or worrying that her junior was secretly dating behind her back… both explanations sounded plausible.
But if it was that she liked him, uh…
What was there about him for anyone to like?
He was just a boring, ordinary person. The Xianzhou was full of people like him.
If he had to name anything unique, it would only be his thousands of years of overtime work.
Zero couldn't figure it out, and ended up glancing at Jingliu beside him.
The Swordmaster walked straight ahead, her eyes steady, as if she hadn't noticed his gaze.
Zero silently looked away, turning to another question.
Did he like Jingliu?
Like this person who, on the surface, was cold and aloof, but in reality was so good at finding others' strengths and considering their feelings?
He didn't know. No one had ever taught him.
Zero tried to dig through his memories of his past life, searching for useful clues. But aside from playing match-three games and clashing with Aeons… he hadn't done anything at all.
Nothing useful.
Zero, "..."
Ah, this felt a lot less simple than playing match-three.
Expression blank, he walked with Jingliu until they reached his door. Again, his thoughts started spiraling.
Normally, shouldn't he invite her in for tea?
But that felt so strange…
Wasn't it usually the man escorting the woman home? And then, naturally, going in for tea?
Ever since he'd concluded that Jingliu might like him, he couldn't stop himself from overthinking, turning over every word and action.
Until he was sure of a conclusion, Zero didn't want to accidentally send her any ambiguous or misleading signals.
If possible, he wanted to still be a decent person in this lifetime…
After all, their age gap was too big.
No matter what he did, it felt like taking advantage of seniority and experience to bully someone younger.
Better to stay cautious.
If he let Jingliu get the wrong idea, wouldn't that make him a scumbag…
"We're here."
Jingliu's voice cut into his thoughts.
Zero was just about to say something, when his attention was caught by his own door, familiar, yet unfamiliar.
Following his gaze, Jingliu fell silent for a moment before speaking with difficulty,
"In the urgency of the moment… Sorry. The lock core is still the same, but… Dan Feng's people already replaced the door for you."
Then, before Zero could speak, Jingliu continued, "The medicine was paid for by them as well. Make sure to take it. Starting Monday, come eat lunch with me at the Cloud Knights' cafeteria."
Jingliu had thought long and hard along the way before coming up with this solution.
She didn't really understand Zero's situation. Not to mention things like "second cup half price"… Just from his words alone, she could tell he hadn't been living well.
She didn't know about his material conditions. But emotionally… he probably wasn't happy.
To be this calm, he must have experienced countless hardships, to the point that no problem felt worth complaining about anymore.
Of course she wanted to just throw money at the issue. But Zero would never accept that.
In all their past interactions, at most he would split the bill fifty-fifty. He would never accept a woman paying for him.
As for the medical bills she had covered… let him think it was the Vidyadhara who paid.
And the Cloud Knights' cafeteria food was better than most takeout or restaurants.
It was free for members, and charged outsiders. All she had to do was pay in advance, and then tell him it was free.
'Three free meals, surely he'd accept that, right?'
Jingliu quietly waited for his reply.
Zero, "...ah?"
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