Chapter 51: I Will Always Stand by Your Side

"This is one of the most valuable rewards of this competition. If you miss this opportunity, you’ll have to spend Ice Points in exchange for an opportunity to enter the dungeon, and saving up that amount of Ice Points would be nearly impossible for freshmen students," Lin Xingxue explained, her voice sounding enticing.

Mo Shiyan didn’t get distracted and asked, "So you stopped us because you wanted to invite us to your team?"

"Exactly," Lin Xingxue replied, and chose to directly tell them why. "The competition requires teams of seven, and currently our team only has Chen Tianyu and me. You two were stronger than I thought, and if you’re willing to join us, then our chances of winning would highly increase. After all... the number of freshmen who had self-awakened only builds up a small percentage of the entire class."

"Even if that’s the case, why do you think we would choose to join your team?" Mo Shiyan, his voice deep.

Lin Xingxue lifted her head and met his gaze, not stepping back either. "Because I know that you need this opportunity. Every freshman needs it."

"If we can win this competition... then there’s a high possibility that you would be selected for the academy’s representative team. You should understand what that means to your professional career as a Hunter. Isn’t this enough to make your heart race?" she asked back.

Mo Shiyan fell silent, and after a long moment, he took Jiang Zihan’s hand and led him back toward the direction of the dorm. Before he left, he said, "We’ll give you an answer by tomorrow."

Lin Xingxue stared at their backs, but did not stop them from leaving. Chen Tianyu walked beside her and asked, "Why didn’t you continue to persuade them?"

All she did was turn and walk away. "They will come back," she replied calmly.

——

"Shiyan, why didn’t you agree to team up with them? I do think that her words make sense," Jiang Zihan asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Mo Shiyan suddenly stood in place. Just as Jiang Zihan was about to ask what was happening, Mo Shiyan turned his head and ruffled his hair again. Jiang Zihan immediately covered his head with both hands, staring at him with complaint.

Mo Shiyan especially likes to mess up my hair for some reason...

Then Mo Shiyan turned around and said, "Don’t always believe in others’ words so easily. Lin Xingxue did not tell us the whole story."

Jiang Zihan froze for a moment before asking, "You mean she wasn’t telling us the truth? But why would she do that?"

"She was lying... to be specific. However, she definitely didn’t tell us all the details. Just remember to never believe fully in what others say," Mo Shiyan reminded him again.

Jiang Zihan nodded his head, his expression looking dazed. Then he lowered his head and whispered softly, "...What about you?"

"What—?"

"Should I believe in your words?" Jiang Zihan asked again, his voice sounding louder this time.

Mo Shiyan was stunned for a moment before he turned his head and looked directly into his eyes. "As long as you believe in me, then I will always stand by your side."

Although Mo Shiyan didn’t answer his question directly, that response somehow provided Jiang Zihan with a sense of security.

The next moment, Mo Shiyan suddenly ruffled his hair again before he quickly walked away. "Let’s go back; we still have to find a time to ask Shen Qingci and Shen Qingyi if they’re willing to join us," he said.

"Oh yeah... we need seven people for a team. We could ask if they would like to join us," Jiang Zihan subconsciously replied. After saying so, he finally managed to process what Mo Shiyan had just done and quickly followed after him, complaining, "I said to not touch my hair! I still need to grow taller!"

——

The moment they stepped into their dorm, Jiang Zihan immediately lay down on the sofa, no longer willing to move even an inch. Although he didn’t drain all his magical energy like he had done last time, it was pretty close.

Jiang Zihan closed his eyes and planned to go to sleep when a rose scent drifted suddenly toward him. He didn’t even need to open his eyes to know that it was Mo Shiyan.

He rolled around and muttered, "Shiyan... let me sleep for a while."

Mo Shiyan froze for a second before reaching out a hand as he wanted to pull him up from the sofa. "The winter days are coming; don’t sleep over here. You’ll catch a cold."

Jiang Zihan was so sleepy that he could barely hear his words. Feeling the warmth coming from Mo Shiyan’s hand, he unconsciously wrapped his arms around it and continued to sleep.

Mo Shiyan stood there for a moment before letting out a sigh. But at last, he didn’t choose to pull his arm back.

Jiang Zihan groggily opened his eyes and sat up from the sofa. As he did, the blanket draped over him fell down his body. He glanced at the clock: 2:30 A.M.

It’s so late already?!

He looked around but did not see where Mo Shiyan was. Just as he was about to get up, Mo Shiyan’s phone on the table suddenly received a message.

He hesitated for a while, but still decided to not look at it. Although Mo Shiyan had already told him what the password was (meaning that he allowed him to look through his phone), he still thought that Mo Shiyan should have his own privacy.

He walked throughout the dorm and realized that Mo Shiyan was taking a shower, so he waited by the door.

When Mo Shiyan opened the door, Jiang Zihan’s eyes immediately widened as he quickly looked away. His cheeks blushed red; he had not expected Mo Shiyan to be unclothed!

Mo Shiyan also seemed to freeze when he saw Jiang Zihan standing there, but he reacted quickly and put on his clothes before Jiang Zihan actually saw anything.