With the event confirmed, all the freshmen gathered neatly on the field the next morning.
“So, where are we going?” Luo Chenxuan asked from the side.
“Aren’t you in the Student Council? Don’t tell me you don’t know? Were you too busy staring at pretty girls or something?” Li Hao teased.
“I wasn’t! I just fell asleep in the office.”
“What a waste~ You wasted such a good opportunity.”
“So seriously, where are we going?”
“To Yulu Town.”
“Huh??”
“Yulu Town!” Li Hao enunciated every syllable clearly.
Hearing the name, Luo Chenxuan nearly went numb. It felt like fate was constantly playing tricks on him. “Sigh…”
From the other team, Jiang Ru spotted Luo Chenxuan and ran over excitedly, giving him a hard slap on the back. “Why so down first thing in the morning~?”
“You nearly slapped me to death!”
“Don’t be dramatic~ You know what? We’re going to Yulu Town!”
“I just found out…”
Luo Chenxuan looked at Jiang Ru gloomily. “By the way… why are we going there?”
“Because it’s a resort town! We’re staying at the Sunset Ocean Hotel—it’s super famous in Yulu Town!”
“A resort town?” Luo Chenxuan frowned. If he remembered correctly, that place used to be lawless.
“But I remember it being pretty chaotic over there?”
“You’ve been there before?”
“Yeah… I stayed there for a while.”
“Then you probably haven’t kept up with Yulu Town since.”
“What do you mean?”
“Most likely when you lived there, Yulu Town still belonged to Xiayu City.”
“Huh? I thought it was always part of Shangdong City?”
Li Hao, a bit surprised, patiently explained, “Yulu Town used to belong to Xiayu City. Back then, there was rampant human trafficking, and it was completely lawless. The Beast Gang controlled the area, including the schools and hospitals under their protection.”
“If they protected kids, why allow human trafficking?”
“Because the Beast Gang wasn’t run by just one person—it had three leaders. One of them ran the trafficking, and the other two couldn’t stop him. They could only turn a blind eye.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Everything suddenly clicked in Luo Chenxuan’s mind.
“Later on, the other two leaders couldn’t tolerate it anymore. They stripped that one of power internally. But he retaliated viciously—killed one of them, and the other went into hiding. Eventually, Shangdong City took over Yulu Town and started redeveloping it. That’s how it became the resort spot it is now.”
“So… what about the Beast Gang now?”
Li Hao shook his head. “They’re long gone. One was killed, one was arrested, and the last one disappeared. Oh! But I have an exclusive piece of gossip!”
Li Hao leaned in conspiratorially, glancing at Luo Chenxuan and Jiang Ru. Their curiosity piqued, they urged him to continue.
“Apparently… the one who disappeared adopted a child and trained them to become their successor—someone to lead a new organization they secretly built.”
“You mean the Iron Mask Organization in Xiayu City, right?” Yue Xi’s voice suddenly came from behind.
“Ah, Yue Xi, when did you get here?”
“Of course I’m here. I’m one of the supervising staff for this class.”
“Oh, right… So I’m both participating and managing?”
“The president said you should just focus on enjoying the event. Forget the rest.”
“Alright… So about that story earlier, were you talking about Iron Mask and Gui Hu?”
“Yeah… I think so too. But did she really get adopted?”
“Yeah, the year I left, she was taken in by a kind elderly couple.”
“Hmm… Have you seen her since?”
“No…”
“Then everything makes sense now.” Luo Chenxuan lowered his head in thought. “No wonder… I always thought I’d never been to Xiayu City, including Yulu Town. I assumed it was always part of Shangdong City.”
Just then, the instructors and Student Council members began organizing the students.
Once everyone boarded the buses in order, Luo Chenxuan leaned against the seat, deep in thought. So all this had happened to Lou Yuxi after he left.
The gentle rocking of the vehicle lulled him to sleep.
Despite resting the night before, the recent string of events had left him completely drained. The fatigue in his body couldn’t be shaken.
…
When they arrived at the destination, the lodging arrangements included all four lower floors of the Sunset Ocean Hotel.
The hotel had a prime location, nestled by the coastline, and surrounded by a forest park, amusement park, zoo, and aquarium—an ideal recreational paradise.
Stepping off the bus, Luo Chenxuan marveled at how much time had passed and how skilled the craftsmen were. Compared to the place he knew as a child, it felt like an entirely different city.
They checked into the hotel as assigned—two people per room, separated by gender. Luo Chenxuan and Li Hao were on the first floor, Jiang Ru and Jiang Wan on the third. New chapters come out on g.com first.
After settling in, all students were instructed to download the Xingyue Academy app on their phones.
Shortly after, a notification appeared: students could now move about freely but had to stay within their assigned groups. The app also introduced a feature called “Friend Points.”
These points could be earned through various activities across Yulu Town, especially in and around the Sunset Ocean Hotel. The group with the highest points would win a reward.
“This is trouble…” Luo Chenxuan sat on the bed, staring at his phone. “I’m stuck doing group activities with that Young Master Wang Tianwen. Us getting friend points? We’ll only rack up enemy points…”
“Hey~ It’s fine. No need to win. Just take it easy and enjoy the event~”
“Guess that’s the only way…”
No sooner had he said it than someone pounded violently on the door.
“You two done loafing yet? Get your asses out here now!” Wang Tianwen shouted.
Li Hao, annoyed, opened the door. “What’s your problem? You trying to nag us to death?”
Wang Tianwen sneered at him. “Get moving and start earning friend points. Don’t drag me down.”
“You seriously want first place that badly?”
“You idiot! Do you even know what the reward is?”
“No one told me, so how should I know?”
“The reward is from the Leng family. You get to make a request within reason, and they’ll fulfill it!”
“What?!!” Li Hao and Luo Chenxuan gasped in unison.
After all, the Leng family was the richest among Long City’s top three families. Even a “reasonable” request would be out of reach for an ordinary person.
“They’re taking this too far…” Luo Chenxuan couldn’t understand. Why go to such lengths for a simple social event?
“You think this is just about making friends, you fool? In front of massive profits, truth and lies mean nothing. They say it’s about bonding, but it’s really a screening process.”
“What the hell is this school trying to pull!!”
…
Meanwhile, in central Xiayu City, at the Beast Hall—
“Is that so… they’re heading to Yulu Town…”
“Boss, should we retrieve him?”
“No need… Chenxuan going there is his way of setting up a romantic reunion for me, isn’t it? After all, that’s where we met as kids… Maybe I didn’t consider things carefully enough. Or maybe Chenxuan knows best how to make me happy…”
Lou Yuxi gently flicked her sleeve, lifting her slender pale leg as she stood and walked out of the hall. Behind her, the kneeling Shimian Xiong and Shimian Tu quickly rose to follow.
“I’m coming for you~ Chenxuan~”