Half an hour later,
Shen Yun Yao was still chatting happily with Xiao Xiao and Ye Feng, her pleasant laughter ringing out from time to time. Qiao Ying and Shen Yun Yao, who had met for the first time, talked a little less.
"Yun Yao, what's making you so happy today?"
At this moment, a booming male voice echoed.
Ye Feng turned his head and saw a man with a well-built physique and a red bandana tied around his forehead. He looked kind and familiar. It was Luo Ming, the person he had bought arcane energy guns from at the Tyrannosaurus Rex base.
"Teacher Luo Ming, these are Lin Dan Da, Xiao Dou Ya, and Qiao! They are my life-and-death friends, my very, very good friends!"
As she spoke, Shen Yun Yao pointed at Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying.
By now, Shen Yun Yao had grown accustomed to the fake names of Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying, and she said them quite smoothly.
"Hello!"
Luo Ming nodded at Ye Feng and the other two, a look of surprise on his face.
Since Shen Yun Yao had spent most of her time studying and cultivating after arriving at the City of Arcane Arts, she had very few social interactions. How could she suddenly have three very close friends today, friends with whom she shared a life-and-death bond?!
"Teacher Luo Ming, please, have some tea, and this delicious dessert~"
Shen Yun Yao invited Luo Ming to sit down.
"Yun Yao, you can just call me Uncle Luo Ming when we're not at the academy!"
Luo Ming said to Shen Yun Yao with a chuckle.
"Alright, Uncle Luo Ming~"
With that, Shen Yun Yao handed Luo Ming a cup of freshly brewed Tie Guan Yin tea and a taro paste pie.
Luo Ming didn't stand on ceremony and immediately accepted them, eating and drinking...
"Golden Rank Seven... no wonder..."
Ye Feng sized up Luo Ming for a moment, and he began to understand.
The first time he met the man at the Tyrannosaurus Rex base, Luo Ming had been somewhat angry because of Xu Xun. The aura he had exuded at the time had given Ye Feng a sense of immense pressure, like encountering an ancient beast...
After all, Ye Feng's strength at that time was far from Golden Rank Seven...
While Ye Feng was observing Luo Ming, Luo Ming was also observing the three of them. He was quite surprised.
Because he could sense that Ye Feng's arcane energy fluctuations were at the Silver Intermediate level, but his battlefield intuition told him that something wasn't quite right...
What surprised him even more was that the girl named Xiao Dou Ya was emitting arcane energy fluctuations at the same level as him... and he couldn't sense anything from the one named Qiao at all...
Since Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying had all disguised themselves, it was a bit awkward for them to engage in casual conversation with Luo Ming. After chatting for a while, the atmosphere became somewhat strained...
"Ye... Lin Dan Da!~"
At this moment, a voice Ye Feng was quite familiar with sounded. It was Jiang Si Shan, who had come looking for him and was now standing at the doorway, observing.
"Here!"
Ye Feng immediately waved to Jiang Si Shan.
"Lin... Lin Dan Da, you know classmate Yun Yao?"
Jiang Si Shan found Ye Feng's fake name a bit difficult to pronounce. He looked at Shen Yun Yao, who was sitting at the same table as Ye Feng, with some surprise.
"Yes!"
Shen Yun Yao nodded and followed up, "Si Shan classmate, we've known each other for a long time!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Si Shan looked at Ye Feng for confirmation. Ye Feng also nodded.
"Holy cow..."
Jiang Si Shan, having received confirmation, was quite surprised. "Your circle of friends is really..."
Before Jiang Si Shan could finish his sentence, his expression suddenly changed. The smile on his face froze unnaturally as he saw Luo Ming, who had his back turned, turn around.
Luo Ming frowned as he looked at Jiang Si Shan, then spoke to Shen Yun Yao, "Yun Yao, come with me for a moment!"
After saying that, without waiting for Shen Yun Yao to respond, Luo Ming stood up and left.
Shen Yun Yao nodded at Ye Feng and the others, then stood up and followed...
...
"Si Shan, what's going on between you and Luo Ming?"
After Luo Ming and Shen Yun Yao had left, Ye Feng looked at Jiang Si Shan with some confusion.
"Whoosh!~"
Jiang Si Shan took a deep breath. "Ye Feng, do you remember what I told you not long ago about those who had repeatedly accompanied my father to repair the Annihilation Array and survived... only Lan Yin and one other were left?"
"The other one is Luo Ming?!"
Ye Feng finished his sentence.
"Yes!"
Jiang Si Shan nodded slightly. "Many years ago... my father went on a top-secret mission to the Brad base and inexplicably died..."
"There are rumors that my father was ambushed and murdered by Luo Ming, someone I trusted the most..."
"To be honest, I don't want to believe it... because Luo Ming has been very good to me since I was a child... and my father trusted Luo Ming very much... but when I asked him what happened at the Brad base, he never told me exactly what happened... he even prevented me from investigating..."
"Several times I was close to uncovering something, but each time the clues were cut off by him..."
Jiang Si Shan sighed, with obvious dissatisfaction and anger on his face.
...
At the same time,
Inside Ting Fang Yuan, in a secluded corner,
"Yun Yao, how did you meet those three people, Lin Dan Da, Xiao Dou Ya, and Qiao? Are they trustworthy?"
Luo Ming asked Shen Yun Yao seriously as he scanned their surroundings.
"This... Uncle Luo Ming, why are you asking like that?"
Shen Yun Yao frowned slightly.
"Yun Yao, that Xiao Dou Ya is not old, yet she's already Golden Rank Seven. She's an absolute genius... and that Lin Dan Da, although his arcane energy fluctuations are only Silver Intermediate, he gives me an extremely dangerous feeling..."
"As for that Qiao... he's probably not an ordinary person either..."
Luo Ming paused here. "All three of them are in disguise... although their disguises are quite clever, they can't fool me, the best disguise expert in Dawn Academy... and their names are probably fake too..."
"Yun Yao, before you came, Elder Shen specifically instructed me to look after you. Don't blame me for being too cautious..." Luo Ming looked at Shen Yun Yao very seriously. "Are you really friends with them to the point of life-and-death?"
"Uncle Luo Ming, those three... I don't know about Qiao, but Lin Dan Da and Xiao Dou Ya, even though they used fake names and disguised themselves, they truly have a life-and-death bond with me and Grandfather!"
"Let's put it this way... Mech City is still standing... and they both played a significant role in that... They've saved me more than once..."
"As for why they're disguised, I'm afraid I can't say!"
Shen Yun Yao glanced in the direction of Ye Feng and the other two and explained quickly.
"This... Yun Yao, you're referring to the attack on Mech City that Elder Shen mentioned before..."
Upon hearing this, Luo Ming looked shocked.
"Mhm mhm!"
Shen Yun Yao nodded seriously.
"No wonder..."
Luo Ming looked at Shen Yun Yao speechlessly. "No wonder, from what I discreetly observed, you seemed to be acting sincerely and showed no signs of coercion..."
...