My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times-Chapter 70 - 69: Old Friends Meet Again

"So this is the place?"

Zhang Tiandong glanced around, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly before he covered his nose in disgust.

"Why does it have such a strong, sour stench?"

"I was born here. I grew up here. What about it?" Li Xiaosang shot him an indifferent glance.

Beside them, Chen Qishou touched his forehead in resignation before smiling.

"Alright, let’s go in with Xiaosang and have a look. Didn’t you say you wanted to visit an old acquaintance, Xiaosang?"

Only then did Zhang Tiandong belatedly realize he had misspoken,

He quickly forced a smile.

"Xiaosang, that’s not what I meant..."

Li Xiaosang ignored him, simply striding forward to set foot on this familiar ground once more.

She glanced around, a little puzzled. Many of the wooden huts in the shantytown seemed to have been rebuilt. ’What’s going on here?’

But thankfully, the overall layout hadn’t changed much; it was still the place she knew.

Involuntarily, Li Xiaosang found herself thinking of that boy.

’How is he doing now? Is he still the same as ever?’

With that thought, she sighed and said softly,

"Let’s go. We’ll visit my old acquaintance and, while we’re at it, ask if there have been any traces of a suspected Evil Cult."

Chen Qishou and Zhang Tiandong hurried to catch up. The latter asked with a grin,

"By the way, Xiaosang, did anyone ever bully you here? I remember you’re an orphan. A place like this must be rife with scheming and backstabbing, right? If anyone ever gave you trouble, now that you’re back is the perfect time to..."

Li Xiaosang cut him off coolly.

"No. My life here was very good. There were people who took care of me, people who cared about me, and someone I liked."

Zhang Tiandong’s expression froze.

A moment later, he forced a smile.

"Someone you liked... To be liked by you, Xiaosang, he must have been quite something, right?"

"Yes."

For once, Li Xiaosang nodded, reminiscing.

"Him... well, how should I put it? He was an incredibly pure boy, completely different from this place. Like a Cyan Lotus blooming from the mud. It’s just a shame he was a bit stubborn and unwilling to accept my help."

After a pause, she sighed softly.

"He’s probably still the same way now. I believe he’ll definitely make a name for himself and reach great heights. A person like him could never be ordinary... But we can no longer walk side by side. It’s all in the past now."

Zhang Tiandong breathed a slight sigh of relief and smiled.

"Xiaosang, you’re just too exceptional. While there might be other talented people here, they can’t compare to you. Besides, headquarters has clearly started to value you highly. Your future..."

As they were speaking, the three of them, treading through the muddy ground, encountered their first person.

"Uncle Chen." Li Xiaosang gave a slight nod in greeting.

"You are..." Old Chen pushed up his glasses, his voice filled with surprise. "Xiaosang?? You’re back??"

"Yes, I came back to take a look," she said calmly. "How have things been around here? How’s business?"

Old Chen looked at the young woman before him, then cast a fearful glance at the two young men beside her.

He then said,

"Business has been pretty good lately. Lu the Kid comes by almost every day to buy something... As for the shantytown, it’s the same as always, no major changes. Wu Datong did move away a while back, though. Said he was going to the provincial capital."

"Lu the Kid... you mean Lu Xuan?"

Li Xiaosang ignored the second half of Old Chen’s sentence and asked in surprise,

"He’s finally willing to buy snacks for himself now? It seems life has gotten better for him..."

Old Chen opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He wanted to say that Lu the Kid wasn’t buying them for himself, but for another girl as beautiful as a Celestial Immortal. But recalling that Li Xiaosang had once seemed to have feelings for Lu the Kid, he ultimately kept quiet.

Old Chen laughed awkwardly.

"Xiaosang, and these two are...?"

"Friends I met at Longque Technology."

Chen Qishou and Zhang Tiandong gave a faint nod to the middle-aged man selling sugar-roasted chestnuts, a perfunctory greeting. They clearly had no intention of saying more.

In their eyes, if it weren’t for Xiaosang, this middle-aged man would never in his entire life interact with people of their social stratum.

They were worlds apart.

Old Chen instinctively hunched his shoulders, his demeanor turning utterly respectful. He knew these were important people from Longque Technology—bigwigs he absolutely couldn’t afford to offend.

Li Xiaosang asked again,

"Lu Xuan... is he still in that same wooden hut? Has he gone to school?"

"He has, he goes every day," Old Chen replied hurriedly.

"Where is he now?" Li Xiaosang asked softly. "I planned on visiting him on this trip back."

Old Chen hesitated for a long moment before pointing toward the deeper part of the shantytown and saying,

"I just saw Lu the Kid a little while ago. He should be on his way to sweep Old Chu’s grave... Oh, right, the old cemetery was still contracted out to those big shots from Sakata Heavy Industries, but the new cemetery isn’t far from it. You can see it if you just walk over."

"Have there been any strange occurrences around here lately? For example, anyone going missing, or people in hoods coming and going?"

"I don’t think I’ve heard anything like that."

Hearing this, Li Xiaosang said no more. With another nod, she headed straight for the deeper part of the shantytown, the two young men close behind her.

Before long, they passed the old cemetery. After a glance at the high walls erected by Sakata Heavy Industries, Li Xiaosang looked toward the new cemetery in the distance.

Sure enough, she saw a familiar figure.

"Lu Xuan..." Her heart fluttered. Just as she was about to call out his name, she saw the beautiful figure beside him, and her expression instantly froze.

Zhang Tiandong and Chen Qishou followed her gaze into the distance. They too saw Yan Jiangxue, and astonishment flashed in their eyes.

’There’s such a stunning girl in a place like this?’

’I thought Xiaosang was one of a kind... but that girl over there is obviously much prettier!’

At that moment, even Li Xiaosang herself felt plain in comparison.

Meanwhile, in the distance, with Lu Xuan’s current level of hearing, he could perceive the flapping of a fly’s wings from a hundred meters away. Naturally, he had also heard Li Xiaosang’s call just now.

He glanced to the side, slightly taken aback, then turned to Yan Jiangxue to explain.

"She’s an old acquaintance."

Xiaoyan nodded lightly, her voice crisp and clear as she spoke.

"Go say hello."

With that, the two of them walked forward, side by side.

"Xiaosang," Lu Xuan greeted her openly. "What brings you back?"

Li Xiaosang snapped back to reality, tearing her gaze away from Yan Jiangxue with difficulty.

She stared at Lu Xuan for a long moment before suddenly losing all her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, just came back to see how things are... Is this your new friend?"

Beside her, Zhang Tiandong and Chen Qishou were also sizing up Lu Xuan. Disdain flashed in the former’s eyes. ’He’s a handsome enough kid, but that’s all there is to him.’

’His clothes are simple, he has no aura of a Cultivator, and his qi and blood are unremarkable...’

’Just an ordinary person, nothing more.’

Lu Xuan just nodded slightly, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Yes. Her name is Yan Jiangxue."

An inexplicable pang of bitterness struck Li Xiaosang’s heart. In the past, Lu Xuan had never introduced her to anyone with such tenderness.

She lowered her gaze and asked coolly,

"Oh. And where might this little sister be from? How come I’ve never seen her in the shantytown before?"

Yan Jiangxue had reverted to her usual icy demeanor. She nodded slightly.

"I’m from Shengjing, but my father’s hometown is in the East Sea, so I came here for school."

Shengjing?

Li Xiaosang and her companions froze. What a coincidence.

Longque Technology’s headquarters was also in Shengjing.

After a moment of thought, Li Xiaosang said,

"My two friends here, Chen Qishou and Zhang Tiandong, also work at Longque Technology."

As she spoke, a faint hint of arrogance touched her face.

After seeing Yan Jiangxue, Li Xiaosang completely forgot her original reason for coming back. A competitive streak had flared up...

She couldn’t understand what she had lacked compared to this girl... ’Alright, in terms of looks, maybe this girl really does have the upper hand.’

’But now... now things are different!’

At that moment, Lu Xuan smiled again and introduced her to Yan Jiangxue.

"This is Li Xiaosang, an old friend of mine."

He paused, his gaze dropping slightly. Noticing the resentment on Li Xiaosang’s face, he added a nonchalant reminder,

"It’s quite a coincidence, actually. Xiaoyan’s family is also involved with Longque Technology."

Lu Xuan knew Li Xiaosang’s temperament. She wasn’t a bad person, but she wasn’t a particularly good one either... If she started to cause a scene, it would be a huge hassle.

Sure enough, Li Xiaosang’s imposing air deflated instantly, her expression turning a little sour.

"Also with Longque Technology? I don’t believe I’ve seen you before..."

"Which branch is your family in?" Zhang Tiandong suddenly interjected, trying to back Li Xiaosang up. He shouted at Yan Jiangxue, "It really is a fateful meeting, huh? We’re from headquarters. And your family?"

Startled by his shouting, Yan Jiangxue subconsciously clutched Lu Xuan’s arm, a sight that made Li Xiaosang’s eyelid twitch violently.

After a long silence, Xiaoyan said, looking conflicted, 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"I guess... I guess you could say headquarters..."

"’I guess? You could say?’" Before Li Xiaosang could speak, Zhang Tiandong sneered. "What position at headquarters? Tell us, I’d love to hear. Maybe I even know them."

He didn’t believe a word they said. ’How could there be such a coincidence in the world?’

Besides, headquarters dealt with too many sensitive matters. Under its strict confidentiality protocols, why would they ever allow an employee’s child to attend school in some remote city?

Not even a low-level employee’s!

Therefore, Zhang Tiandong immediately concluded that the two of them were lying through their teeth.

Li Xiaosang and Chen Qishou also realized this, their brows furrowing slightly as their expressions grew much more distant.

Meanwhile, Yan Jiangxue blinked her eyes. After a moment of thought, she decided to answer honestly.

"As for my father’s position..."

"He’s the chairman, I believe."