Chapter 37: You Were the One Who Killed Him

"I am a swordsman, not a Taoist, remember that. As for autographs, forget it—I'm no celebrity." Qin Xuan chuckled and refused him.

Watching Qin Xuan and his companions walk away, the refined young man was not discouraged; instead, he seemed excited. "So Brother Dao isn't a Taoist, but a swordsman. No wonder he's so incredible! Right, he should be called Brother Sword!"

Thus, Qin Xuan's nickname quickly upgraded from "Brother Dao" to "Brother Sword."

...

Just as Zhou Xiaoyu had said, whenever a new semester began, there were always telecom companies running promotions at the school gate—top up your phone credit and get a free mobile phone. It really was quite a good deal.

Qin Xuan paid for a three-hundred-and-eighty-eight yuan phone top-up for Liu Qianqian, and received a Huawei smartphone as a gift. After a brief inspection, he found it could make calls and send texts without issue, and could easily access the internet to check maps.

She shouldn't get lost anymore, right?

Qin Xuan felt a bit more at ease.

Just then, Liu Qianqian suddenly handed him the phone. "Little Qin Xuan, what does this text message mean?"

Qin Xuan thought, since the phone was newly bought, it should be some business message from the telecom company. He took the phone and was momentarily stunned.

"Account changed to 4563..., Bank of China Jiangxi Branch, Li Xiaogang. Just transfer the remaining money to this account."

It was a typical scam message.

"These scammers are really relentless! The phone was just bought and they're already sending messages?" Qin Xuan was both amused and helpless.

Qin Xuan had received such scam messages himself ever since he bought his phone; he always ignored them.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiaoyu hurried over. "Boss, what's going on?"

"See for yourself," Qin Xuan replied, handing Liu Qianqian's phone to him.

Upon reading it, Zhou Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. "Boss, this is right up my alley. Watch this—I'm definitely going to mess with them!"

"Oh? You're good at this?" Qin Xuan was surprised and looked forward to the show.

Zhou Xiaoyu swiftly typed out a line and sent it back: "You killed the person, it has nothing to do with me! Now you hide yourself and extort me every day! I can't take it anymore! I'm turning myself in! I've already given this new number to Officer Wang. Just wait for your doom!"

Every word dripped with deep resentment—Qin Xuan felt a chill just reading it.

Soon, the other side replied: "Sorry, wrong message..."

"You can fool others but not me! Officer Wang has traced your signal! He's contacting the local police now! I advise you to surrender!"

The reply came even quicker: "Bro! I was wrong! It's really not me!"

"Damn! Now you know you're wrong! Forget it, don't extort me again! On account of our years together, I'll give you a tip: ditch this number! I deleted the previous message! I haven't given the bank account to Officer Wang yet! If you die, it's your own fault!"

Qin Xuan watched, dumbfounded, thinking: Zhou Xiaoyu, what a talent!

It must have been torture for that scammer...

"Done," Zhou Xiaoyu grinned, passing the phone back to Liu Qianqian. She glanced at the message log and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Her smile was as radiant as a blooming flower, making the nearby boys drool.

"Xiaoyu, I never would have guessed. Where did you learn that?" Qin Xuan laughed and patted his shoulder in praise.

"Heh, nothing special, just picked it up online..." Zhou Xiaoyu scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.

"So the internet has its perks? Looks like I should spend some time online myself," Qin Xuan mused. He had spent the past ten years living deep in the mountains with his master—not entirely cut off from the outside world, but the internet was still foreign to him.

"Alright, let's go eat. A senior recommended the Sichuan restaurant up ahead—it’s supposed to be pretty good. Let's give it a try," Zhou Xiaoyu pointed forward.

Qin Xuan looked up and saw a restaurant with an excellent location, right across from the dormitory area. Its decor was nice and business was booming.

Qin Xuan wasn't picky, so he nodded and followed.

"Hello, how many people? Do you have a reservation?" A beautiful waitress soon greeted them.

"Yes, the eighth private room. We're eleven people," Zhou Xiaoyu replied.

"The eighth private room?" The waitress frowned slightly, then apologized, "Please wait a moment, I'll check with the owner."

The owner was a chubby man who soon approached with a beaming smile.

"I'm terribly sorry, the eighth room is already taken. Would you mind sitting outside? After all, meals are meant to be lively, and the atmosphere outside is quite good."

Clearly, the owner was quite adept at business.

Unfortunately, anyone would be annoyed in such a situation. Zhou Xiaoyu questioned him, "That's not right. I just called to reserve, and you promised me the eighth room. How come it's taken just ten minutes later?"

He'd made the reservation while Liu Qianqian was picking out her phone, and didn't expect this outcome.

"Well, it was unexpected, really unexpected," the chubby owner whispered to Zhou Xiaoyu, clearly troubled. "Brother, a bunch of big guys just came demanding the room, and since you hadn't arrived yet, I gave it to them. It's not easy running a small business. Look, our main hall is quite nice..."

Zhou Xiaoyu was never one to shy away from trouble, and he instantly got angry. "What kind of owner are you? It's my first time treating the boss to dinner, and you gave away our reserved room?"

"Brother, we have our difficulties too..." The owner tried to explain, but Zhou Xiaoyu waved him off. "I want to see who took my reserved room."

"Damn right, Xiaoyu, I'm with you," muscle-bound Xiaogang chimed in, and the two marched straight toward the private room.

"Qin Xuan, shall we?" Liu Qianqian asked excitedly.

"Let's go see," Qin Xuan replied, equally displeased.

Of course, the chubby owner and two waitresses tried to stop them, repeating, "Harmony brings prosperity, harmony brings prosperity," but no one paid them any mind. In front of Xiaogang's muscular frame, all obstacles were fleeting. Soon enough, they stood at the door of the eighth private room.

Bang!

Zhou Xiaoyu pushed open the door.

Qin Xuan looked inside—sure enough, a group of tall, burly young men sat around the table, still waiting for their meal.

He called them young men because Qin Xuan instantly recognized a familiar face: Yang Guang, who had played against him for forty minutes on the basketball court. He too was a freshman, but a basketball recruit.

There were twelve people inside, all staring in surprise at the doorway.

"It's you guys!" Yang Guang slammed the table and stood up, frustration written all over his face.