Chapter 95: Exam Week and the Gathering
The problem could have all been in his position. Anyhow, Zhang Heng attempted to shoot his Paris Arrow a few times, only to find that this arrow that cost him 465 game points was no different from any conventional arrow. Perhaps, it was something to do with his chosen target. Theoretically, boards, apples, and cups had no weak points, all being inanimate objects. Zhang Heng deduced that the Paris Arrow might only work on living organisms. Right now, however, no suitable target was available for him to test his theory.
Three days later, the necklace and key were identified. Zhang Heng received an express delivery from the bartender, immediately opening it up and taking out one of the cards from it.
[Name: Hunter’s Blessing]
[Grade: F]
[Effect: Increases the chance of encountering certain types of prey.]
This item was similar to the necklace that Simone gave him and the Lucky Rabbit Foot that he owned. It was hard to determine if increasing the chances of encountering prey was a good or bad thing. To a hunter, this item would allow them to improve their yield. However, if hunting weren’t in the books, bringing this around would cause unnecessary trouble.
After that, Zhang Heng placed the necklace inside the tule wood box that he bought from the bartender. Then, he looked at the identification report of the key.
[Name: Shadow Key]
[Grade: E]
[Effect: Can be used to transform your target into Shadow Form. Lasts three minutes. Remaining uses: 3]
The price of an E-grade item usually ranged between 80 to 100 points. Earlier, Zhang Heng had spent a total of 100 game points to purchase this item. Albeit a little bit overpriced, this was all very normal. Typically, unidentified items belonged in the F-grade category. E-grade were uncommon. D and C-grades were even rarer. As for B-grade items, it had only happened once so far.
What Zhang Heng was interested in the most was the connection between the Shadow Key and Shadow Moment. Each time Zhang Heng activated his Shadow Moment, he could sense that the crow was trying to tell him something. He had a hunch that if he managed to check out the background of the crow, he would gain a better understanding of this supernatural item.
Right now, though, he had a more pressing matter to deal with.
The issue in question was his final exam. The exam week would officially begin right after the New Year. From the 3rd to the 7th, he was to attend the public course exam. When that ended, it was then a professional course exam next. It was definitely an intense period where every night, there would be a power cut at Zhang Heng’s hostel. Anticipating the time it would happen, he had to finish studying everything before it happened. Otherwise, he would just wring it out in the corridor and study there for the rest of the night.
Even before the new year, the corridors were packed with zealous students. When Zhang Heng went out at 12 a.m, he could always see a group of students cramming hard on their books. Amongst these were Wei Jiangyang and Chen Huadong, where they stole a little time in between their busy schedule to read some manga. In this challenging time, they seemed to have found happiness amid suffering.
Zhang Heng met Shen Xixi twice while he was studying in the study room, but after crossing paths with each other that night, they did not talk much after that. All they did was nod to each other when they met again. On the other hand, Xu Jing, the Loli, had always considered Zhang Heng her best friend. Ever since he used a bow and arrow to scare away bad guys from harassing her, she started to call Zhang Heng her Ironman. And she was not afraid to tell everyone about it.
There was this once when Zhang Heng met her at the canteen. He was around five meters away from her when all of a sudden, she started to shout ‘Ironman’ at him ever so passionately. Immediately, half of the students in the canteen turned around to stare at her.
After some days, Zhang Heng finally finished his last paper for this term. Alas, his second year in the university was coming to an end. Chen Huadong went as far as taking out his entire pile of photocopied study material and tore them into pieces before throwing them away in the water house. While returning to them, Chen Huadong realized that he left his cup there. Naturally, he turned back to go and get it.
On the other hand, Jiang Weiyang was just as happy. He spent the entire night attempting to memorize notes that were written down with Chen Huadong. Coffee was the pillar they relied on to stay awake throughout the exam. When the exam was over, though, all the sleepiness miraculously disappeared. They both suggested that everyone should go to Food Street to grab some good food and have fun. Since everyone was cool with the idea, Jiang Weiyang proceeded to call his girlfriend to join along.
It seemed like Han Xiaxiao’s dorm wanted to celebrate the end of the exams too. So, Wei Jiangyang had to inform them about the rendezvous point.
However, the atmosphere quickly really awkward when all of them gathered at the same spot. Ma Wei was not the kind of guy that had a smooth mouth with the ladies, nor did he spend much time with them. Basically, he was here simply to eat his food and drink his beer, not intending on sharing a single word to the others. As for Chen Huadong and Xu Jing, they were usually the stimulus of the group. With the chattery duo present, they should be able to get everyone to mingle. Unfortunately, tonight had to be the night where they were both quiet.
During Christmas Eve, Zhang Heng sensed something wrong between Chen Huadong and Xu Jing when he agreed to go to the amusement park with him. After the camping trip, both were always seen together as if connected by glue. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped talking. Right now, they behaved like strangers who had never met.
When it came to the love matters of others, it was inappropriate for an outsider to comment about it. Amongst them, Shen Xixi had the highest EQ. She was typically the go to girl when it came to matters like this. However, it seemed that she was terribly distracted, popping out her cellphone from time to time and checking for messages.
And that marked the end of the first term of the second year in university.
The most awkward incident of the night happened right after the meal. When everyone walked out of the restaurant, they saw a black Mercedes parked at the entrance. This time Zhang Heng took a good look at the driver.
Unlike the rumor about her hanging out with a bald old man, the driver was a young stallion. Judging by his demeanor, he should still be studying as well. Having a somewhat fit physique, it seemed that he spent a reasonable amount of time working out every day. Seeing the whole bunch walking out of the restaurant, the young man stepped down from the car and graciously opened the car door for Shen Xixi.
“There’s something I need to do. I’ll take my leave first,” said Shen Xixi.
She entered the car after the. Han Xiaoxiao wanted to say something, but she stopped midway, only sighing as the car silently rolled away.
“I have asked her in private before. She told me that she has no intention of getting a boyfriend. She told me that she wanted to do something meaningful. I have never seen her defending herself against all those horrible rumors. Initially, I wanted to believe her. Right now, I’m not sure if I should.”
“I will always support her no matter what,” Xu Jing interrupted.
“That is because you are just like her,” said Chen Huadong with a smile.
Seeing that the two of them had their horns locked, they quickly stopped them from doing so.
“Both of you… the winter holidays are coming soon. We won’t be seeing each other for a month. Can we just end this gathering peacefully? Right? Zhang Heng…” said Wei Jiangyang.
He wanted Zhang Heng to support his notion, but he looked distracted by the fact that Shen Xixi left them. Wei Jiang’s heart dropped immediately. The matter between Chen Huadong and Xu Jing was still unresolved, and he saw that something unpleasant was playing in Zhang Heng’s mind. Rumor had it that Shen Xixi and Zhang Heng used to flirt with each other.
But then again, that was just a rumor. He wanted to know what Zhang Heng really thought about it.
When Zhang Heng realized that Wei Jiangyang was staring at him, he quickly turned around and gave everyone a quick nod.
“See you guys next year.”
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