Chapter 32: Chapter 29 Friends? Friends!

He suddenly realized that two knights were watching him, waiting for his response, so he immediately changed his mood and declared with fervor:

"Thank you very much, Your Royal Highness the Prince, I will study diligently and strive to serve my country in the future!"

The two knights nodded in satisfaction.

"You can either travel with the troops returning to the imperial capital or head back on your own. Either way, take this letter and report to the Imperial Military Academy, understand?"

"Understood!" Shen Ye said.

"And take this, too."

A small pouch was stuffed into Shen Ye's hands.

"Kid, go do a good job!"

The knights had completed their mission, mounted their horses, and quickly rode off toward the military camp.

Shen Ye weighed the small pouch in his hand.

The pleasant sound of coins clinking against each other came from inside the bag.

Thank you for the kindness of the Prince.

With these coins, I'll have enough to cover my living expenses in this world.

The gold I just received from the Hand of Shadow can be taken back to help support the family.

"Let's go, it's time for us to set off."

Shen Ye muttered to himself.

He decided not to enter the military camp again and turned towards the depths of the dense forest.

A few dozen minutes later.

"There should be no one else around now," the Skeleton said.

"Good."

Shen Ye opened the door, stepped through, and returned to his dormitory in the real world.

So tired!

Shen Ye took a shower, washing off all the blood and dirt on his body, opened the refrigerator, took out some drinks and snacks, ate while glancing at the clock on the wall.

It's already past twelve noon now.

How time flies!

After eating and drinking for a while, Shen Ye got out his phone and turned it on.

If I had left it on and people noticed they couldn't contact me, it might lead to some unnecessary speculations.

——Turning off the phone means I am occupied.

Ding ding ding ding ding——

The phone just switched on and a string of notification sounds rang out.

Messages from mom and dad, of course, merit an immediate reply.

Shen Ye made a direct phone call and lied without changing his expression:

"Mom? I was taking extra classes at the group this morning and didn't have my phone with me. I just finished and returned to the dorm."

"I see, I guessed as much," Zhao Xiaochang said with a sigh of relief on the other end of the line, "Are you coming home for a meal these few days?"

"Not coming home, and by the way, Mom, let me tell you, I received a subsidy as soon as I joined the group."

Shen Ye mentioned a number.

I really do have a subsidy, but not as much as this number.

"That much? It's really a large group, that's great. Your dad and I were just discussing to give you some living expenses."

Amidst her surprise, Zhao Xiaochang breathed another sigh of relief.

"There's no need—the subsidy from the group is so generous, I won't even use it all. Maybe you could take it and fill the gap from buying the Marrow-Supplementing Pill," Shen Ye said.

"Keep your own money for yourself," Zhao Xiaochang said.

"Mom, I'm afraid I can't resist buying some games and comic books, or maybe I'll make other unnecessary purchases, but exams are coming up soon…" Shen Ye said.

"Send me the money later, just keep a little for yourself to eat," Zhao Xiaochang immediately said.

"Alright, I won't talk anymore, I'm going to eat at the company's canteen."

"Remember to keep in touch with us."

"Mmm."

The call ended.

Shen Ye's lips curled slightly.

In the past, I was an orphan, drifting alone in the mortal world— the difficulties I faced are beyond words.

In this life, I truly enjoy living with the care and concern of others.

He changed his clothes and continued to look at the messages on his phone.

Many classmates had sent their congratulations.

It seems the school has already started promoting the news.

Even Zhao Yibing sent a message with a photo:

"Wuwuwu, it's all my fault, Shen Ye, please forgive me, shall we go watch a movie tonight?"

The photo was her portrait.

Really beautiful.

Shen Ye appreciated it for a while, slowly typed a reply to her:

"Face reality, Bingbing, I am the swan meat that will forever be out of your reach."

After sending the message, stretching lazily, he felt that everything was so wonderful.

——Time to exchange the money!

Shen Ye went straight to the financial services institution inside the group, familiar with the process, and exchanged the gold into digital currency.

It amounted to about sixty to seventy thousand.

Shen Ye only kept a few thousand for himself, and the rest he transferred to Zhao Xiaochang.

——The Marrow-Supplementing Pill originally cost about sixteen thousand, so this money just filled the gap.

Now the family wouldn't have to pinch pennies anymore.

Next, go eat!

Shen Ye was in a great mood as he walked, continuing to scroll through his phone.

"Strange." Searᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

He went through his phone messages back and forth twice, and suddenly noticed something.

His good friend, his buddy, the brother he had grown up with, Chen Haoyu, had not sent any messages since last night.

What's going on with him?

Ding!

The phone suddenly made a sound.

"Brother Ye, congratulations on signing with the Human Martial Arts Group. Shall we celebrate together tonight?"

Chen Haoyu sent a message.

Shen Ye put down his phone and thought for a moment.

Celebrating...

It would be right to celebrate.

But I'm currently facing assassination threats from the Assassins Alliance, and leaving the group to go out is unsafe.

But Chen Haoyu had good intentions by wanting to celebrate for me—

In junior high, there wasn't much fuss among classmates.

The friendships were very pure.

I too long to maintain such friendships.

Shen Ye pondered for a moment and typed a reply:

"We should celebrate, but you also have your second exam coming up. Let's have a meal together after your second exam is over."

The message was sent.

A few seconds later, a reply came back:

"Brother Ye, take me to visit the Human Martial Arts Group today, that's my dream place, just a glance would suffice."

Shen Ye replied swiftly, "Come over, you can join me for a meal."

The Group should be a safe place, and since he wanted to come, Shen Ye figured he might as well show him around.

"Okay, I'll be there in no more than ten minutes."

Chen Haoyu said.

All messages had been replied to.

Shen Ye put away his phone and took the elevator to the lobby on the first floor of the Group's building.

He sat on the comfortable, spacious sofa in the lobby, legs crossed, idly waiting.

This was the central office of the Human Martial Arts Group in the Southeast Five Provinces, with a constant stream of people coming and going.

After watching for a while, Shen Ye spotted some very powerful Professionals among the crowd.

His observation naturally attracted the attention of those Professionals.

However, when they realized it was a teenager, they all gave him friendly looks.

"Are you the newcomer this year?"

A two-meter-tall fat man asked.

"Ah, yes, sorry, I shouldn't stare at you, should I?" Shen Ye said.

"No problem," the fat man said with a reminiscent smile, "when I was selected and came here as a newcomer, I also stood here like you, watching the Professionals inside the Group."

"Were you envisioning your future?" Shen Ye asked.

"No, back then I thought all of them were arrogant, and I wanted to beat up every single one of those arrogant guys," the fat man answered earnestly.

Shen Ye was stunned.

People in this world are so overtly confident? Don't they understand our traditional virtues...

Then Shen Ye had a moment of realization.

Oh, this isn't our world.

His expression amused the fat man.

"Keep it up, junior!"

With a hearty laugh, the fat man waved at Shen Ye and walked away.

A while later.

A long-haired lady wearing skinny jeans and dual revolvers at her waist approached from the entrance and said softly,

"Shen Ye, there's a boy named Chen Haoyu looking for you, his identity has been verified, shall we let him in?"

"He's my classmate, please let him in," Shen Ye stood up and said.

"Alright, don't move from here, I'll bring him to you right away," the lady said.

"There's no need!"

Shen Ye didn't want to be babied, so he quickly waved his hands, "I'll go get him myself."

"I'm sorry, little brother, Manager Qian has ordered that you seem to be in a bit of trouble right now, we need to protect you."

The lady gave him a gentle smile and strode towards the entrance of the hall.

Shen Ye felt somewhat dejected.

He didn't become a child, but turned into a little brother.

He would have rather been the child.

The fat man who was just about to leave saw the lady approaching and quickly greeted her:

"Wenna, you're on duty today? Are you free to have dinner tonight?"

"Buzz off," the lady glared at him.

"No need to be so fierce if you don't want to eat," the fat man mumbled as he shied away.

"Talk nonsense again and I'll skin you alive, just like the pervert I killed a few days ago," Wenna said.

The fat man seemed to recall something, his face changed, and he quickly lowered his head, saying nothing. His steps sped up and he was gone in an instant.

Wenna went to the entrance and led in a skinny and tall boy into the hall.

"Thank you, sister," Shen Ye expressed his gratitude to Wenna.

"No need to be polite, just call me anytime you need," Wenna smiled and turned to leave.

Only Chen Haoyu stood before Shen Ye.

He was dressed in a school uniform and looked around ceaselessly.

"Wow, this place is so magnificent, my eyes can't take it all in,"

Chen Haoyu exclaimed.

Shen Ye smiled and said, "You can come here anytime you want to visit in the future."

"Brother Ye, that's amazing, signing directly with the Human Martial Arts Group, you have no idea how sensational it was back at school," Chen Haoyu gave a thumbs up.

"Let's not talk about that, come on, I'll take you to the Group's cafeteria," Shen Ye said.

"I'm not hungry, I want to see where you live," Chen Haoyu said.

"That works too," Shen Ye replied.

The two walked to the elevator, and just as the elevator arrived and the door opened, a few other Professionals also entered, and both Shen Ye and Chen Haoyu joined them in the elevator.

It was too crowded.

The two were separated and each stood in a corner.

The several Professionals were boisterous, seemingly having just completed a task, discussing it with great excitement.

Chen Haoyu listened with interest to their conversation.

Shen Ye, on the other hand, stood in another corner, silently waiting for the elevator to reach its destination.

Suddenly.

His pocket vibrated with a text message.

He took out his phone and saw it was a message from Xiao Mengyu:

"The witnessing nurse has disappeared, but I found a body unrecognizable in appearance, yet the body structure doesn't match that of the female nurse, very puzzling."

"A professional organization is currently conducting an autopsy."

"I suspect this body is connected to you, someone silenced, so I re-investigated your surroundings."

"Did you find anything?" Shen Ye typed a line and replied.

The other side promptly sent a new message:

"No issue with the others, but take a look at this."

A surveillance video clip.

Shen Ye clicked to play, and saw it was yesterday's corridor surveillance from the school.

The time stamp read 9:37 a.m. the previous morning.

A person appeared in the corridor of the school building, walking and looking around.

The video was fast-forwarded.

The person checked the restrooms on each floor, then went up to the top floor and also checked the empty classrooms.

In the video, he found nothing and left the building disappointed.

Shen Ye closed his phone after watching the video.

Yesterday morning—

What was I doing?

That's right, I had Chen Haoyu stand in line for me, then I went to the empty classroom on the top floor and through the door, entered the Nightmare World.

So in this surveillance footage, Chen Haoyu couldn't find me no matter how much he searched the school building.

Why was he looking for me?

(Thanks to 'Half-Curtain of Dreamy Dust' for their Hierarch-level reward, more chapters are coming for you, and thank you all for your readership and support. Please continue to follow and vote; Yan thanks everyone!)