Nine Star Burden

Chapter 163: Missing

One month later.

In the classroom of Year Three Class 1 of Jiangbin High School.

Teacher Ye was talking incessantly on the podium and would smack her hand against the blackboard from time to time to wake them up.

Han Jiangxue was sitting in the last row of the class and resting her face on one while staring at the empty seat in front of her, slowly spacing out.

As a scholarly student who often achieved wonderful grades, she was rarely so distracted during lessons.

While you’re standing on the bridge and enjoying the scenery, someone else is looking at you from below.

On the other side, Xia Yan pretended to be writing notes in her notebook, but she wasn’t paying attention to the teacher at all. She smoothed her slightly messy chestnut-colored hair with one hand and secretly glanced at Han Jiangxue seated near her.

Whenever she saw Han Jiangxue spacing out, Xia Yan’s feelings became particularly complicated. She liked it when Han Jiangxue was quiet, but she didn’t like it when she was missing others.

The morning sun was wonderful and the rays of sunlight were scattered all over Han Jiangxue’s long, dark hair, giving her a halo that accentuated her beautiful body.

The quiet and elegant person in the beautiful scene was frowning slightly, seemingly disgruntled and troubled.

Xia Yan looked away helplessly and rested her left elbow against the table. She then lowered her head and took out her mobile phone from beneath the desk with her right hand.

She ignored the notifications from WeChat and immediately opened the Weibo app.

It was rather amusing, actually.

Xia Yan realized that she had begun to miss Jiang Xiao a little.

Logically speaking, she ought to be worried about him. After all, he was a member of her team.

But... why did she miss him?

Her Year Three life seemed to lack some fun and vibrance without a noisy rascal whom she could bicker and banter with.

Okay.

Yes, I must be bored out of my wits. That’s why I’m missing that mischievous little imp.

Xia Yan opened her Weibo page and mindlessly tapped on a profile photo out of habit.

At the instant that she grabbed her mobile phone, she had already expected the outcome, because she had already followed “Jiang Xiaopi-mischievous-or-not”. If there were any new status updates or activity from his account, she would have already received notifications that she could see without logging into the app.

Below the profile photo was the latest post on his Weibo page that was published a month ago.

–

Jiang Xiaopi-mischievous-or-not

11-27 from Huawei Maimang C199

Must be crazy and obsessed.

(Photo)

PS: 99th day of having a crush on Little Jiangxue.

–

The photo below the caption was indeed that of a battle sword and a wooden giant sword.

The giant sword was given to him by Xia Yan, and there was a black and exquisite battle sword diagonally on top of it.

Xia Yan had seen that photo several times before. In the beginning, she still felt that Jiang Xiao was showing off his new weapon, but after giving it some thought, she seemed to have understood what he was going to do.

Is this healer bent on becoming an attacker?

Due to the fact that he has too few star slots and can’t acquire new output Star Techniques, he has to train hard and improve the ones that he currently has. Does he want to be an Assassin?

Xia Yan disdained that and felt that Jiang Xiao was being too greedy. It’s good enough that you understand swordsmanship. Why do you want to master multiple skills?

Moreover, why do we need you, a healer, to be in charge of attacking?

You just have to heal the team members and leave the attacking to us.

However, when Xia Yan recalled Jiang Xiao’s superb swordsmanship during the siege of the Ape Ghouls, she no longer felt disdainful.

However, Jiang Xiao had undeniably impressed her with his mastery of the double-handled sword.

Whenever Xia Yan thought about the scene of Jiang Xiao being besieged, she would find it incredible. Every advanced technique that he displayed was an evolution of the most basic moves. Even though she didn’t teach him any advanced stances and techniques, he seemed to have managed to train and familiarize himself with plenty of practical combat skills.

Besides, he had probably been through plenty of torment and obstacles after being smacked away by the Ape Ghouls.

In addition to being chased by the Ape Ghouls, he had also encountered the adult Awakened. Xia Yan couldn’t imagine how Jiang Xiao managed to face the situation of being alone and helpless, especially since he was a healer.

Although he had never complained about it before and was still as jovial as ever after exiting the Arsenal, Xia Yan still felt guilty after she recovered from the shock.

To put things bluntly, she just wanted Jiang Xiao to perform the duty of healing the team members. But what happened in the end?

Where was she when Jiang Xiao was being attacked and hunted?

Xia Yan pursed her lips and looked at his Weibo post again.

She sighed softly and felt that the more time she spent with Jiang Xiao, the more she understood him.

She knew that he was different from what he seemed to be like on the surface.

He was mischievous, frivolous, and often liked to sweet talk. He was just like a troublemaker and a naughty younger brother.

However, whenever they faced a critical juncture, be it in the snowfield or the Holy Ground where they had had a close shave with death, or even during the ordeal in the Arsenal, he was always the most reliable one.

Xia Yan looked at her mobile phone and sighed while thinking to herself, Xia Yan, as the main output of the team, you actually let a kid who’s responsible for healing make such a choice. He’s only a Medical Awakened with just five star slots left. He can’t waste any of them on output Star Techniques. Hence, he has no choice but to train his Basic Techniques...

Hey, Xia Yan, why are you being so emotional? Think about what he has done to you.

Xia Yan grabbed her chestnut-colored hair in frustration and glanced at the words “PS: 99th day of having a crush on Little Jiangxue.”

Look!

He only cares about Han Jiangxue. What’s the point of you treating him so well? He didn’t even mention your name...

But then again, this kid has had a hard time.

Xia Yan especially counted the days. It had been exactly 99 days since the very first day that he declared his love for Han Jiangxue.

As a bubbly and active little husky, she wouldn’t sink in guilt for that long. After getting a grip on her emotions, Xia Yan thought, It’d better be longer than 99 days.

In the comment section below the post, there was a slew of comments from Jiang Xiao’s fans...

The comments were all symbols of candles because of Su Rou.

The viewers of Su Rou’s live-stream were glad to see it and Su Rou was willing to play a fool with him too.

Jiang Xiao’s age was a natural safety protection for him and none of the fans would think that he had a romantic affair with Su Rou because he was just like a younger brother. Besides, Jiang Xiao was also a friendly and enthusiastic person. Hence, Su Rou was glad to interact with him.

Su Rou found out from Han Jiangxue that Jiang Xiao had applied for leave and gone to the snowfield to train. Not only did she leave well-wishing comments under his post, but she also revealed this piece of information during her live-stream.

Hence, the bunch of fans also found out about Jiang Xiao’s whereabouts. There were also numerous “prayers” in the comments section, signified by the candle icons...

Whether the netizens were genuine or simply trying to mock Jiang Xiao, candles were better than joss sticks...

Xia Yan found a few familiar faces in the comments section. Although she had never spoken to them before, she knew that they were Jiang Xiao’s only friends, the members of the Year One team in Jiangbin High School.

This “Citizen of China Yi Lianna” seems to be very concerned about Jiang Xiao.

Did this “Zhu Wu” guy say that he’s waiting for Jiang Xiao to come back for a gathering?

A celebratory meal for his success in finding love?

Xia Yan tossed her mobile phone below her desk and turned her head to look at Han Jiangxue, who was still seated quietly and spacing out while staring blankly at the empty seat in front of her.

Unable to stand the scene any longer, Xia Yan, who had been tempted for a long time, whipped out her mobile phone again and aimed it at Han Jiangxue to snap a photo of her side profile.

“Ka-cha!”

“Xia Yan!” As the sounds of her camera shutter filled the air, Ye Lanxiang, who was standing on the podium, immediately hollered. “Come forth and do this question!”

“Hehe...”

“Haha!” The students burst into laughter while Xia Yan stepped forward dejectedly.

The students were living a normal and ordinary life in the warm classroom.

Meanwhile, in Xindan Creek that was hundreds of kilometers away, in the snowfield training site in the southern suburbs of the city, an intense battle was taking place...