Nine Star Burden

Chapter 176: Night Attack?

The rail set off at 6 PM sharp and would be arriving at Guanlin City at 6 AM the following morning. The entire journey did take twelve hours.

After the lights went out at 10 PM, the members of Jiang Xiao’s team, except Han Jiangxue, were all using their mobile phones which looked searchlights in the pitch dark room.

Jiang Xiao scrolled through Weibo for a while and felt extremely surreal when he saw that he had 3001 followers.

How is this possible?

How did I get more than 3000 fans?

Apart from those fans of the “toxic healer”, there’s also an army of accounts that often call me “brother-in-law”. They’re probably Han Jiangxue’s fans, right?

Han Jiangxue has a Weibo account too. Why don’t you guys follow her instead of commenting “Brother-in-law” on my account every day...

Eh? Since I have so many fans, can my account get verified officially?

Uh, but then again, what’s the point of being a verified account?

To look like I’m a figure of status?

Hey, the light beside me has been switched off?

Jiang Xiao turned his head to the left to see that Han Jiangxue and Li Weiyi seemed to have already fallen asleep.

What time are these people going to go to bed?

Forget it, forget it. Since we’ll be arriving at 6 AM, they’ll probably perform the ticket checks at 5 AM. I’d better get some sleep.

Jiang Xiao thought about it and switched off his mobile phone too. He then pulled the duvet over himself and listened to the sounds of the rail moving before closing his eyes slowly.

While in a daze, Jiang Xiao heard the sounds coming from the upper bed.

Jiang Xiao opened his eyes and looked out, only to see a pair of legs dangling in front of him continuously.

Jiang Xiao stared at it for a long while, and just as he was about to close his eyes and continue sleeping, the person on the bed above turned over and got down.

Her movements were gentle and nimble. She immediately stepped on Jiang Xiao’s white sneakers.

Jiang Xiao felt the pinch and turned his head to the side, only to see that Xia Yan was resting her elbow against Han Jiangxue’s bed and looking down at him.

Slightly stunned, Jiang Xiao looked into her eyes for a long while before asking, “What are you looking at?”

Xia Yan’s body swayed slightly together with the moving train as she kept her eyes fixed on him.

Flustered by the way she was looking at him, he asked softly, “What’s the matter?”

Xia Yan pursed her lips and tilted her head while looking at Jiang Xiao. “I feel terrible and exasperated.”

Jiang Xiao said helplessly, “It’s just a trivial issue. Why can’t you get over it?”

Xia Yan humphed and said, “When you insulted me previously, how did I get over it?”

Previously?

When?

I’ve insulted you so many times before... Oh, you should be referring to the time when I got back at you using Xia Shanhai. That was the only proper one.

After giving it some thought, Jiang Xiao asked softly, “Previously... you threw me into the room and beat me up into a pulp.”

Xia Yan nodded, seemingly deep in thought.

Jiang Xiao panicked and tried to suppress his voice. “Don’t, the lights have been switched off and everyone is asleep. Are you trying to wake everyone on this train up?”

Xia Yan scratched her head again in frustration.

Jiang Xiao blinked and said, “It’s been ten days. You’ve been winning all the sparring sessions that we had too. Haven’t you already taught me enough lessons?”

Xia Yan shook her head and said stubbornly, “Your swordsmanship is great, and whenever you win, I always feel like I only won because of my physique. I feel like I’ve lost every single time and that makes me feel increasingly infuriated.”

Jiang Xiao was speechless.

Xia Yan suddenly leaned forward and lifted up Jiang Xiao’s duvet.

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.

Huh!?!

This chick has grown up!?!

She’s learned how to attack at night!?!

Jiang Xiao frantically sat up and pressed his back against a wall of the room to look at Xia Yan vigilantly, keeping his guard up.

Xia Yan got out of bed and leaned against the wall beside the window. She then extended her long legs towards him. “Warm my legs up.”

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.

Xia Yan urged softly in annoyance. “Hurry up. I’ve already taught you Freehand Combat and swordsmanship. I’ve also been training and sparring with you every day. Have you forgotten what you promised me?”

Jiang Xiao looked at her tender and fair feet with a look of dismay. Under the moonlight, he could see the stubbornness on her face and wondered what madness she was getting up to.

Feeling helpless, Jiang Xiao had no choice but to pull up his clothes because her icy cold feet were pressed against his belly.

Woah...

Her feet are so cold.

Do you suffer from anemia or a weak kidney?

You don’t seem to be ill, given how menacing you usually are...

Jiang Xiao frowned and thought about it, wondering to himself, Why did she get so exasperated? Is she feeling that terrible?

After giving it some careful thought for a while, Jiang Xiao finally found the reason. It was not because of the joke that he made—such a trivial joke definitely wouldn’t trigger such a serious matter. It was just a catalyst.

What was the root cause?

Judging from her words, it seems to have something to do with the swordsmanship?

Is this lass feeling it’s unfair?

Jiang Xiao finally discovered how serious the issue was. He realized that she had already imparted all of the moves she knew to him and reckoned that she should be feeling terrible the past few days.

Without comparison, there would be no damage.

So, you’re not angry at me. You’re just upset with yourself.

It’s clearly called the Xia Family Swordsmanship and yet, a non-Xia-Family-member actually managed to master it and surpass you within just a few months.

Was she feeling ashamed? Guilty? Embarrassed? Angry?

Jiang Xiao pulled his shirt down to cover her feet, warming up her cold feet with his hand that was filled with a faint ray of light.

“Do you feel better?” Jiang Xiao asked softly.

“Yeah,” Xia Yan said while leaning against the wall and enjoying the comfort of the warmth that was coming from her feet. She heaved a sigh of relief and seemed to air her grievances.

Jiang Xiao whispered, “I just discovered that there are such effects in my Star Technique. I don’t have to massage you at all and there are already such effects. I should go sit for the examination and get a masseuse certificate. That’s a feasible career choice.”

Xia Yan sneered. “Can’t you have more realistic ideas and ambitions? All you think about are these indecent things.”

Jiang Xiao asked in displeasure, “Every career choice is to be respected and there are always outstanding ones in every field. Do you know how much a top masseuse can earn in a month? Why are you belittling masseuses?”

“Haha.” She moved her body and leaned back against the corner, and the silence of the room was restored again.

A few minutes later, Jiang Xiao was still holding onto her feet. She suddenly realized that he had been tolerating her willfulness and giving in to her ever since the beginning.

Not only did he allow her to get up to her nonsense, he even had a glib tongue and often changed the subject to distract her.

Xia Yan rubbed her short, chestnut-colored hair in frustration and thought to herself while feeling slightly guilty, Xia Yan, since when have you become so sensitive? Why are you thinking so much?

“By the way, you mentioned that you’re going overseas to study?” Jiang Xiao asked, breaking the silence with a random question.

“We’ll take a look at the criteria for bonus points to be awarded during the provincial league this time and my results for the next semester. If it’s ideal, I will go to a good school in China. If not, I’ll just spend some money to go abroad for some fun,” Xia Yan whispered.

Go abroad to get gilded?

That term was very popular ten years ago, but as China progressed and developed rapidly, everyone began to feel more objective about those who went abroad to study.

In today’s society, a degree from a foreign university was no longer a guaranteed opportunity for a successful career in China.

However, being an Awakened was a special profession, after all. It was a good thing to broaden one’s perspective and see more of what the world had to offer.

Xia Yan asked, “What about you? Do you really want to study for three years at Jiangbin High School?”

Jiang Xiao shook his head and said, “High School is rather boring. I thought it’d be great to stay in Year Three at first, but now...”

He smiled and continued, “I’ve seen more things, so I’ve become more ambitious. I don’t want to stay behind anymore.”

Xia Yan raised her eyebrows. She preferred it when he was less mischievous and more confident. “Do you have an ideal school in mind?”

Jiang Xiao shook his head and said, “I’ll go wherever she goes.”

Xia Yan looked at Jiang Xiao quietly without answering.

Jiang Xiao added, “I don’t feel safe about having other Medical Awakened by her side. ”

Xia Yan’s heart skipped a beat and she chuckled. “You have to work very hard, then. Your sister’s grades are excellent.”

While leaning on her side to face the wall, Han Jiangxue kept her eyes wide open and held her breath when she heard Jiang Xiao’s words.

However, the next thing he said made her snap back to reality.

Jiang Xiao said, “It’d be great if you go overseas. You’ll be away from her, so I’ll have one less competitor.”

Xia Yan remained silent.

Han Jiangxue was speechless.

Indeed, Jiang Xiao had failed since he only made her feel touched for three seconds.

Xia Yan rolled her eyes at Jiang Xiao and seemed to have suddenly thought of something. “By the way, I’ve prepared a new weapon for you. It’s in your sister’s Sky Smasher.”

“Huh?”

“The wooden sword is not powerful enough and your physique is improving exponentially. I can sense it clearly whenever I spar with you. I’ve replaced your wooden sword with a giant one that’s made of metal. It’s much lighter. Leave the wooden sword for the semi-finals,” Xia Yan said softly.

“Okay,” Jiang Xiao answered with a nod.

“Although each of us will wear cameras, accidents will inevitably occur. Take note of Xing Lang’s team too. During critical junctures, you don’t have to spare them any mercy,” Xia Yan said.

“Don’t worry, my goal is very clear. I know my purpose of coming to Year Three and joining this team,” Jiang Xiao answered.

As a huge fan of Han Jiangxue, he wouldn’t allow anyone to hamper her from scoring bonus points!

“It’s best to be careful. Gao Junwei is also taking part in the competition representing another team,” Xia Yan cautioned.

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.