God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 44: Action and effects

"So you are telling me that girl killed more than two dozen first-transition Awakened and their second-transition leader?"

The man kneeling before the desk trembled before lowering his head further. "Yes, Young Master. none of them survived."

Qin Haoran swept his arm across the desk, sending the glasses and documents crashing onto the floor.

He grabbed the wine bottle beside him and threw it toward the kneeling man, the bottle striking his shoulder before shattering against the wall behind him.

"Useless!"

The man endured the pain without daring to move, while Qin Haoran stood and walked toward the large window overlooking the city.

Light from the buildings below fell across his face as he stared at the streets in silence, forcing his anger back under control.

After several breaths, he turned slightly. "You also said Luo Xingluo was Level 86?"

The kneeling man nodded immediately. "The detection spell confirmed it, Young Master."

A strange light appeared inside Qin Haoran’s eyes, even with the Qin family’s resources, private instructors and constant supply of various other treasures, he had never increased his level that quickly.

Yet Xingluo had risen from Level 68 to Level 86 in less than two weeks.

"Interesting."

His anger slowly changed into curiosity as he began considering what she might have encountered after leaving the city.

You have only made me more interested in you, bitch.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he looked down at the city again.

Run as much as you want. In the end, your only fate is to grovel beneath me.

Qin Haoran turned toward the darkness at the edge of the room. "Chen Tian."

A faint presence stirred inside the shadows.

"Investigate everything Luo Xingluo has done during the past two weeks. Find where she went, who she met and how she reached Level 86 so quickly."

His gaze became colder before he added, "Bring Yun Xia here as well. I want to hear what happened inside that factory from her directly."

A calm voice came from the darkness. "As you command, Young Master."

The hidden presence vanished without another sound, Qin Haoran looked back toward the man still kneeling near the shattered glass, and the disgust on his face returned.

"Get out."

The man hurriedly bowed until his forehead touched the floor, then crawled backward before forcing himself to stand.

He left the room without daring to look up, while Qin Haoran remained before the window, watching the city with a cold smile.

The next morning, Xingluo finished getting ready for university while checking the messages Professor Liang had sent during her absence.

Only one day remained before the competition he had mentioned, leaving her almost no time to recover or prepare after returning.

When Xingluo reached the door, her mother looked at her with visible concern. "Take care of yourself today."

"I will," Xingluo replied with a small smile before stepping outside.

Wuxia released a quiet sigh as he followed her, Xingluo had washed away the blood at a nearby park before returning home yesterday and had even bought some snacks to avoid raising suspicion.

However, the exhaustion and anger left by Yun Xia’s betrayal could still be seen inside her eyes, and nobody could recognise such a change more easily than her own mother.

Xingluo walked slowly toward the bus stop before glancing at Wuxia and releasing another tired breath.

"I understand that it is not easy to forget," Wuxia said, "but you must remember that Yun Xia chose her own path."

Xingluo remained silent for several steps before nodding. "I know."

She straightened her back and looked toward the road ahead. "The only thing I can do now is become strong enough that nobody dares to threaten me or the people around me."

Her expression hardened slightly before she added, "And I need to become better at understanding people. I maybe cannot trusting someone only because I have known them for a long time."

Wuxia understood that accepting the truth did not mean she could forget the betrayal so quickly.

Yun Xia had been her childhood friend, and discovering that years of friendship had hidden so much resentment was not something Xingluo could simply push aside in a single night.

However, betrayal also marked the end of trust, an enemy would attack from the front, but a friend who betrayed her already knew where she was most vulnerable.

The bus soon arrived, and Xingluo boarded before finding an empty seat near the window.

Wuxia floated behind her and attempted to avoid the passengers moving through the narrow aisle, but several people passed directly through his soul body before he could react.

His expression became increasingly irritated until one large man stopped beside Xingluo’s seat with half his body standing inside Wuxia.

Wuxia stared at him for two silent seconds before finally floating through the side of the bus and travelling beside it instead.

Xingluo looked through the window and noticed him outside, causing the faintest smile to appear on her face as the bus continued toward the university.

The bus finally reached the university, and Xingluo stepped down before it pulled away from the stop again.

She looked toward the familiar campus and took a deep breath before walking through the entrance, feeling strangely relieved to return after everything that had happened outside.

By the time she reached the classroom, several students had already taken their seats.

Su Lan and Ruan Mei were sitting together near the upper rows, but the moment they noticed Xingluo entering, both of them froze in surprise.

They immediately stood as Xingluo walked toward them, while several nearby students also turned to look at her.

"Damn, Xingluo," Su Lan said as she reached them. "Where have you been these past few days?"

Xingluo only shrugged. "I went away for some training Professor Liang arranged."

Ruan Mei looked at her suspiciously, but Su Lan spoke before she could ask anything.

"And you did not tell us? You did not even reply to our messages. We were worried about you."

"There was nothing to worry about," Xingluo replied with another shrug. "It is not as though I went into the wilderness."

"Yeah, only a madman would enter the wilderness before reaching Level 100," Su Lan said without hesitation.

Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Wuxia nearly laughed aloud, while Xingluo shifted slightly under their genuine concern.

She had not only entered the wilderness below Level 100, but had also spent more than a week trapped inside a Hell Mode dungeon.

Before Xingluo could respond, Su Lan suddenly changed the topic. "You know, Yun Xia was missing you the most. She kept asking about you and even pestered Professor Liang several times."

Xingluo’s expression stiffened for an instant before she forced a small smile. "Yeah, she is always like that."

Her stomach tightened as she looked at the two girls before her.

What would they do if I told them the truth? Would they believe me or take Yun Xia’s side?

She also could not understand why Yun Xia had not come to university or contacted either of them after what happened inside the factory.

Ruan Mei nodded before adding, "Yun Xia called me last night as well, but she ended the call before I could answer. I tried calling her back several times, but she never picked up."

A tired smile appeared on Xingluo’s face, she understood immediately.

Yun Xia had probably called both Ruan Mei and Su Lan before contacting her, ending the calls early so their names would remain in her call history.

That way, even if Xingluo had tried confirming her story, the unanswered calls would have made the kidnapping appear more believable.

Before either girl could notice the change in Xingluo’s expression, the classroom door opened and Professor Liang entered.

The conversations around the room gradually stopped as the students returned to their seats, while Xingluo quietly sat beside Su Lan and Ruan Mei.