Lei Yating's bad mood didn't last long—the group of Immortals in the chat were sending out red envelopes again!
Lying in the lower bunk, Pei Ye noticed a momentary disruption in Lei Yating's mental fluctuations. Even her breathing stopped. She immediately knew the female lead in the upper bunk was snatching red envelopes again.
"Girl, wake up!" she thought.
"Are Immortals really this idle?"
Counting on her fingers, the Immortals had sent out red envelopes at least three times today.
The first time was a Gathering Luck Talisman. Lei Yating had won over forty thousand yuan but lost 23 points of Qi Fortune. Pei Ye wondered if that trade-off was really worth it.
The second time was Immortal Water. Lei Yating had used it twice, losing two days of her lifespan—perhaps not a big deal for a vain young girl.
She wondered what the third item was.
While Pei Ye pondered this absentmindedly, the female lead in the upper bunk unleashed hand speed honed from over twenty years of being single, swiftly snatching a red envelope sent by [Shangqing Lingbao Heavenly Venerate].
[Taiqing the Lord of Tao and Virtue]: What's with this red envelope??? Where did you pick up a disciple this time? @Shangqing Lingbao Heavenly Venerate
[Shangqing Lingbao Heavenly Venerate]: A junior I accidentally picked up a while ago. It's just that the child has excellent talent and mastered the basics in a matter of days. The foundational mental methods and materials I prepared are no longer needed. Aren't there a few juniors in the group who haven't even reached the strength of an Earth Immortal? These Cultivation Techniques will be somewhat beneficial to their Cultivation. It would be a pity to throw them away.
[Yuqing Primordial Heavenly Venerable]: Scoff. Just beasts of fur and horn, hatched from slime and egg. Their so-called strong talent is nothing more than that.
Seeing that the two big shots in the group were about to fight across the screen, the other Immortals trembled in fear and quickly found excuses to close the chat.
Seeing the group go quiet, Lei Yating secretly exited the chat and took out the red envelope she had just snatched.
It was a Jade Scroll. Supposedly, it contained a foundational introductory Cultivation mental method prepared by an Immortal for their disciple.
Lei Yating fiddled with it back and forth, not knowing how to use it. Suddenly inspired by the tropes of Cultivation novels, she ruthlessly used nail clippers to pierce her finger and smeared her blood onto the Jade Scroll.
A white light flashed and faded.
The Jade Scroll transformed into that light and merged straight into the center of Lei Yating's forehead. In an instant, countless profound and mysterious concepts appeared in her mind. Every single word was clear and deeply imprinted.
[17:33: Female lead Lei Yating learned a set of introductory Cultivation mental methods. Qi Fortune -125 points, Merit -666 points.]
Pei Ye looked at the System Record that popped up, her expression remaining indifferent.
While Lei Yating lay in the upper bunk secretly rejoicing, deafening background music suddenly blasted from the lower bunk.
"Even in death, I will love!!! It's no fun if it's not extreme—"
Bai Xiaoxiao, who had just lost her game and was already depressed and looking for a reason to vent, flew into a rage when she heard Pei Ye's phone ringing. "You country bumpkin, would it kill you to change your ringtone?"
She thought the sudden noise was enough to scare someone to death.
Pei Ye glanced at the caller ID. It was a call from Sister Bai. The woman was probably afraid that Pei Ye would break their appointment and stand her up again.
"I haven't forgotten the time. I'm coming over now. Yeah, I won't be late." Hanging up, Pei Ye shoved the phone into her pocket and got up to leave the dorm room. From beginning to end, she didn't even glance at Bai Xiaoxiao.
"What kind of person is she!" Bai Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes so hard she nearly strained them out of anger. "She really is just a cheap bone from a poor, uneducated family. The moment she gets her hands on a little something, she acts like she owns the world."
Although these curses were aimed at Pei Ye, the veiled attack included Lei Yating as well. Secretly furious, Bai Xiaoxiao decided that since all her roommates acted like this, she would definitely apply to the dorm manager to switch rooms. Damn it.
A few minutes after Pei Ye left, three rhythmic sounds came from outside the window: KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
No one paid it any mind. Their dorm was located near the school's outer wall, and there was a primary school nearby. The kids would occasionally throw stones at the windows out of mischief after school.
After a while, three more knocks sounded on the window: KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
Bai Xiaoxiao's temper flared. "Can't those parents teach their bratty kids any better? Throwing stones at windows all day long! What are they knocking for? Sounding a death knell?"
Everyone knew that Bai Xiaoxiao was so irritable because Lei Yating had humiliated her earlier, so no one felt it was their place to speak up and comfort her.
The dorm head, Zhou Huirong, smiled. "I'll open the window and scold them. Don't be angry, Xiaoxiao."
She pulled open the curtains, her gaze crossing over the wall and landing on the street outside. It was completely empty. Thinking the bratty kids had left, Zhou Huirong closed the curtains.
Before she could even turn around, the window was knocked on again.
This was the third time. Even Zhou Huirong felt somewhat displeased. She pulled back the curtains, pushed the window open, and poked her head out to look.
"There's no one here. Where did that sound come from?"
Despite the hot weather, Zhou Huirong suddenly shuddered, feeling as if a gust of eerie, cold wind had just swept across the back of her neck. She completely failed to notice the two figures slowly crawling inside, each entering through a different window pane.
The eyeless, tongueless female ghost whimpered twice, "WHIMPER, WHIMPER."
The teenage boy in a hospital gown replied just as slowly. "This is a girls' dormitory. Since I'm a male ghost, I have to knock and wait for permission before entering. This is called being a gentleman."
"WHIMPER, WHIMPER," the female ghost cried.
The boy continued, "For us ghosts, knocking on a window is the same as knocking on a door. Ghosts don't use human doors. Haven't you seen in horror movies how they always come through the windows?"
Since Zhou Huirong had opened the window for them, it meant they had permission to enter.
"..." The female ghost was speechless. The problem was that they were ghosts. Couldn't they just walk right through the wall?
The boy said reservedly, "We are the new ghosts of the twenty-first century. We promote civilization, understand manners, and establish a new ethos. We aren't like those old, crude, undying ghosts."
After crawling through the window, the boy stood up and looked around, his pale ears turning slightly red.
There were six girls in the dorm. Because of the hot weather, they were all wearing short shorts, underwear, tank tops, and bras, exposing bare thighs and arms. The sight made the ghost feel quite shy.
"WHIMPER," the female ghost whimpered.
The boy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the living are truly cunning. We came up empty-handed."
To find Pei Ye's resting place, the two ghosts had asked other ghosts for directions all the way from the hospital to here, only to find she wasn't around.
"The living have a saying: 'The monk can run, but not his temple.' We'll just wait for her to come back in her dorm."
The boy climbed onto Pei Ye's bed, wrapped his arms around his knees, and sat obediently. The female ghost followed suit, her scattered black hair spreading all over the mattress as she chatted with the boy.
"Sitting on a girl's bed is indeed impolite, but there isn't a living room or a guest sofa here," the boy reasoned. "We have no choice but to sit right here."
"..."
"You are my subordinate. Since she bullied you, I will stand up for you and scare her to death!"
The girls, who had felt terribly hot just moments ago, now found the air growing strangely cold.
"Do you guys feel really cold?" Zhou Huirong asked her roommates in confusion.
"The AC must be on," one girl replied.
"Hasn't that broken AC been busted for days without anyone coming to fix it?" another chimed in.
"Be glad there's cold air. Maybe the AC turned over a new leaf and fixed itself."
Zhou Huirong was speechless. That sounded like it made a lot of sense.
"You've never been to this kind of high-end club before, right? If you catch the eye of some tall, rich, and handsome guy, you'll be able to come here all the time," Sister Bai said. Today, she was dressed sharply. Her usual smoky eyeshadow had been swapped for a standard internet celebrity makeup look, giving her a surprisingly fresh and youthful vibe.
Pei Ye followed behind her, silently taking in the surroundings and keeping her lips pressed tightly together. "I really haven't been here before."
As one of the former big shots of the Federation, Pei Ye's subsidies and salary had never been low. Naturally, she would never visit a club in a rural town on a remote planet.
Sister Bai put on the air of a host, leading Pei Ye up to the second floor to a private room tucked away in a secluded corner. As she pushed the door open, the mixed scent of smoke and alcohol hit them in the face.