Chapter 172 – 1992-2020
Back in the room, RenDong carefully inspected Lian Qiao’s injuries.
Apart from some bruises, the only injury was the knife wound on his back. RenDong didn’t intend to ask about the specific situation at that time but just said: “In the future, you are not allowed to act alone.”
Lian Qiao said: “Okay.”
RenDong took out bandages and alcohol from his backpack, and cleaned and changed his dressing. When changing the dressing, Lian Qiao didn’t say a word and remained quiet like a ceramic doll. RenDong knew that he was afraid that he would feel sorry for him, but with such a long cut on his white back, how could RenDong not feel sorry for him?
As if aware of the gaze from behind, Lian Qiao asked softly, “RenDong? Are you okay? I’m a little cold.”
Xu RenDong could only look away and help him put on his clothes.
There were anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers in the backpack. RenDong took them out for him and then asked Lian Qiao to lie down and rest. Lian Qiao shook his head and asked, “Have you finished your thesis yet?”
RenDong said, “Is this the time to think about that? Don’t worry about it.”
“No. In case you don’t graduate…”
RenDong frowned. Lian Qiao was right. If he failed to graduate, he might miss the elevator. But he doesn’t have a computer, so he has to go to the library to write his thesis. How could he leave Lian Qiao and go to the library alone at this time?
Lian Qiao held the water glass, gulped down the warm boiled water in it and said, “I’ll accompany you to the library. I’m fine, I’ll just drink more hot water.”
RenDong said helplessly, “You were cut down. A knife wound can be solved by just drinking more hot water?”
Lian Qiao: “Drink water to restore blood and replenish magic?” {I think game speech.}
RenDong: “?” Hearing this witty remark, instead of feeling funny, he became angry again.
Looking at his expression, Lian Qiao knew that his joke was not at the right time so he took out his trump card and hugged him coquettishly.
At this time, the door was knocked suddenly. It was the Monk who had returned.
The Monk opened the door and came in and saw the two people who were tired and crooked at a glance. He said with a smile: “Oh, you are in good spirits, it seems that you are all right.”
RenDong sat up straight and asked lightly: “Have you finished collecting the corpses? Where did you throw them?”
The Monk said: “There happened to be a hole behind the forest, I pushed the body in and buried them together.” Then he turned his head to look at Lian Qiao and sighed, “You really don’t look like someone who could do something like that. Look at you, you look so weak and scholarly but you actually took down five people by yourself easily. Powerful!”
RenDong frowned and wondered: Are you blind? What do you mean ‘easily’, can’t you see the knife wound on his back? But after thinking about it, Auntie Long-Hair came prepared. She had concentrated sulfuric acid hidden in her hand and she probably planned to splash Lian Qiao’s face as soon as she came up, so as to blind him first. Although Lian Qiao was on guard against them, there were five of them after all… How did Lian Qiao kill all five of them in one go?
Also, how those five people died…
At this moment, RenDong recalled the death of those five people and suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart.
If it was just to save his life, did those people need to die so badly? Especially the long-haired aunt, who was almost cut into pieces. In the eyes of ordinary people, this can already be said to be torture.
However, Lian Qiao himself was injured, it is impossible for him to have the energy to flog the corpses after killing those five people.
RenDong frowned, feeling that things might not be as simple as they seemed on the surface. He thought for a while and asked the Monk, “What do the other people in the hotel say?”
The Monk said, “When you went up the back mountain, I came back and asked them if they knew the whereabouts of Lian Qiao. They were all evasive and I beat them up. Only after suffering did they become honest.”
The Monk said that the team split into two camps and now that the group that wanted to kill Lian Qiao has been killed by Lian Qiao, what would the rest do?
RenDong was silent.
The Monk said: “Actually, it’s understandable for them to do this. After all, after staying in the dungeon for more than 20 days, there are no clues to the elevator or the button. The direction of the dungeon prompt is so obvious…”
RenDong suddenly smiled and asked: “What about you?”
Monk: “What about me?”
RenDong: “If you really have to kill me to get out, will you kill me?”
The Monk said without hesitation: “Kill.”
RenDong laughed: “You are not hiding it. Aren’t you afraid that I will kill you first?”
The Monk put his hands together and said, “Amitabha, I want to kill you, but you also kill me, isn’t this fair?” After a pause, he returned to a normal tone of voice, “Actually, no one is at fault, the fault is this fucking dungeon. I know that some dungeons have key players, but how can there be someone like you? First let everyone protect you until you are 28 years old and then kill you? That’s fucked…”
He thought about it but couldn’t find any suitable words, so he scratched his head irritably, and said something indiscriminately: “…fucked.”
RenDong sighed: ” Don’t worry about it anymore. Let me tell you the truth, even if you kill me, you won’t be able to get out.”
As soon as the words came out, the Monk immediately opened his eyes wide in surprise: “What do you mean?”
RenDong thought for a while and for some way to explain it without talking about the death cycle. But Lian Qiao said coldly: “Because if he dies, I will take all of you to bury him.”
RenDong: “…”
The Monk: “…”
The two fell into silence at the same time, although the reasons for the silence were quite different.
Lian Qiao squinted at the Monk, his eyes full of arrogance: “I will say it clearly. You have already seen the fate of those who tried to attack him. Don’t make trouble anymore, at least you can live a few more days. Since you are so free and if you have time, why don’t you look for the elevator and the buttons, and stop thinking about him.”
The Monk suddenly smiled, rolled up his sleeves and showed his plump biceps. He said: “Since you said that, I’m curious… who will win a fight between us? This poor Monk is not talented but he has learned kung fu for a few years…”
Lian Qiao immediately lifted the quilt: “Okay. Come and try!”
Seeing that this direction was getting more and more strange, RenDong quickly pushed Lian Qiao back on the bed, pulled the Monk away and said helplessly: “Can you two be more mature? Don’t be like children and talk nonsense. Right now I don’t have time to talk nonsense with you, I have to go write a thesis.”
The Monk said that what he said made sense, so he left the room to convey Lian Qiao’s words to others.
RenDong returned to the bed, rubbing Lian Qiao’s hair pamperingly and helplessly: “The Monk is not a bad person, so don’t take your anger out on him. You have killed everyone who tried to harm you. As for the rest…”
Lian Qiao interrupted him: “The Monk is testing me.”
RenDong was taken aback.
Lian Qiao stared at the direction where the Monk left, and said every word: “He is testing me. If he can beat me, he will have nothing to fear and he can stand on the moral high ground and continue to act as a judge to uphold justice. If he loses… …”
RenDong was surprised: “Why do you think so? The Monk is not this kind of person.”
Lian Qiao asked back: “How do you know he is not?”
Because he became an ice sculpture to sacrifice himself to save others…. However, before he could utter the words, RenDong suddenly felt as if his throat had been filled with paste and his tongue was too stiff to move.
RenDong couldn’t help but smile bitterly. How long will he keep this secret?
RenDong’s hesitation seemed speechless to Lian Qiao. So Lian Qiao changed the topic, got up and said: “Go to the library, there will be no seats if it’s late.”
RenDong frowned: “But your injury…”
“This injury may look scary but it’s actually not deep. After all, I am flexible and I can hide in time. To be honest, I am fine. Don’t talk about accompanying you in self-study, even if it is…” Lian Qiao suddenly came over, bit his ear and said, “As long as you want, I can even right now make you cry and beg for mercy, want to try it?”
“…” RenDong remembered the absurd things in the library that day, couldn’t help but blush and pushed him away angrily, “What’s the matter with you these days? Your mind is full of…all…” He didn’t know how to finish.
Lian Qiao stopped teasing him. After all, time was running out and the two quickly went to the library.
Sure enough, the computer room at this point was already overcrowded. The two walked back and forth several times, and finally found a spot to sit. RenDong sat down and got to work writing his paper.
What he wrote was his graduation thesis from back then. The outline of the thesis has been roughly written silently, and the materials have been collected. All he needs to do now is to integrate the sentences. Having said that, the dissertation word limit is still there. RenDong hasn’t touched this thing for many years, and it is inevitable to stumble when writing it.
The computer room is open until ten o’clock in the evening. According to the time schedule of the dungeon world, the thesis will be handed in early tomorrow morning, the final exam will be held in the morning and the graduation defense will be held at noon. If all goes well, he can officially graduate in the afternoon and get a certificate.
To be honest, it was stressful. RenDong concentrated on this wholeheartedly, his eyes staring at the computer screen almost without blinking. Lian Qiao was there to help him sort out his notes, reducing the obstacles in his review.
It’s unknown how long it took but the first draft of the thesis was finally written silently. RenDong stretched, seeing that it was only nine o’clock and he’d made it in time. He let out a long breath.
Lian Qiao said: “Let’s take a break.”
RenDong shook his head: “No need.” Then he buried herself in the thesis and started the first round of revisions.
Modifying and polishing is much easier than silently writing the full text. Before ten o’clock, RenDong completed three rounds of revisions and format adjustments. At this time, there was no one in the computer room. Students who plan to study all night have moved to the all-night study room.
Lian Qiao had already helped him reserve a seat in the all-night study room in advance. The two ate something simple and then moved to the next battlefield.
With the notes that Lian Qiao helped organize, Xu RenDong’s review was more effective. Although Lian Qiao was not a major in this field, he is a smart person after all. After reading the textbook at a glance, he can quickly grasp the key points and list them clearly. Therefore, although the review task is heavy, Xu RenDong has read all the syllabus in advance.
When he was about to do the second brush, Lian Qiao pressed his hand: “Enough, let’s take a rest.”
RenDong subconsciously wanted to say that it’s okay and that he wasn’t tired but suddenly noticed that Lian Qiao’s face was a little haggard. He then remembered Lian Qiao was injured and still actually stayed with him most of the night. Feeling guilty all of a sudden, he said, “I’ll accompany you back to the hotel. I can also read in the hotel.”
Lian Qiao sighed, “The lights in the hotel room are too dark. If you read all night, your eyes will go blind.”
“What should I do then?” RenDong frowned, “Your injury…”
In the all-night study room, everyone was buried in their studies, and it was extremely quiet. So even though the two lowered their voices, someone still looked over.
RenDong made an apologetic gesture, and persuaded softly again: “Go back.”
Lian Qiao lay on the table, tilted his head to look at him: “If you feel sorry for me, just touch me.”
RenDong reached out and rubbed his hair.
Lian Qiao suddenly smiled, grabbed his hand and kissed it on his lips, then suppressed his voice and said, “It’s not here. It’s below.”
