At this moment, Lu Ran felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, with daggers at his back and a fishbone stuck in his throat…
He couldn’t even remember when he’d agreed to have dinner with Cong Yu.
But given the situation unfolding before him, he didn’t feel like he could say much either.
Still, they couldn’t just keep standing there deadlocked forever, could they?
“Um, well, since it’s already dinner time anyway, how about we grab a meal first? Then we can figure out where to go afterwards?” Lu Ran suggested.
This was the first time.
Lu Ran felt something akin to having a foot in two boats.
“Sure! I know a great restaurant—really excellent. I’ll take you there,” Cen Yubuo said immediately.
“As if I don’t know it? I’m from the imperial capital—I know the place way better than you!” Cong Yu shot back without backing down.
“I’ve lived in the capital too, so what’s the difference? Besides, the restaurants under my Cen family are already top-notch,” Cen Yubuo retorted.
“Mine under the Cong family aren’t any worse either,” Cong Yu fired back.
Lu Ran, caught right in the middle, was absolutely miserable.
He even started to regret coming out at all. If he’d just stayed inside, none of this would be happening, right?
And just then—
“In that case, why don’t we skip both family restaurants and go to the Imperial Capital Hotel instead? That one’s under the Tianfa Alliance,” said a voice that belonged to neither Cong Yu nor Cen Yubuo.
It was Cong Shuang!
Cong Shuang had appeared as well!
Lu Ran stared at Cong Shuang in surprise.
He’d hardly had any contact with Cong Shuang at all—was she jumping into the mix too?
“Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Cong Shuang, Cong Yu’s older sister. I watched your matches—very impressive. You’ll be an opponent I need to take very seriously,” Cong Shuang said, extending a hand to Lu Ran.
Cong Shuang and Cong Yu now stood side by side.
Lu Ran almost felt dizzy just looking at them.
No wonder they were twins—they looked absolutely identical!
If it weren’t for their different hair colors, Lu Ran probably wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.
Of course—
The two sisters also had completely different personalities. The moment they spoke, you could instantly tell who was who.
“My name is Lu Ran,” Lu Ran said politely, but he didn’t extend his hand in return.
Because both of his arms were tightly gripped—one by Cong Yu and the other by Cen Yubuo.
Cong Shuang didn’t mind. She just smiled.
“Then let’s go to the Imperial Capital Hotel. You don’t mind, do you, Yubuo?”
Since they were both members of the Tianfu Association and had been classmates back in the capital, Cen Yubuo and Cong Shuang were quite familiar with each other.
Hearing this—
Cen Yubuo pursed her lips and said, “The Imperial Capital Hotel is pretty expensive. If you’re treating, then I’ve got no problem with it.”
Cong Shuang nodded. “Alright then. The Imperial Capital Hotel it is.”
With that, she took the lead.
Behind her, the two girls marched along as if escorting a prisoner, with Lu Ran being the one in custody.
Back at the window of the Tianfa Alliance headquarters office—
The four guild leaders were pressed against the glass, gossiping like teenagers. Lei Tai, built like an ox, couldn’t even find room at the window, so he had to stand on his tiptoes behind them, craning his neck to get a look.
“Sigh, these young folks today sure know how to have a good time compared to us back in the day. Just look at Lu Ran’s glory—Cen Yubuo of the Cen family, the Cong sisters—all wrapped up together. Makes me envious,” Yu Qingcang remarked.
Ye Hongyi shot Yu Qingcang a sidelong glance.
“Back when you were in your prime, Yu Qingcang, you never said things like that.”
“Ahem…” Yu Qingcang coughed awkwardly. “Water under the bridge. Let’s not talk about it.”
“I didn’t see anything! I didn’t see a thing! What happened? Did they kiss or not?” Lei Tai was practically fuming with impatience from the back.
At the same time—
At the Zhao family residence in the imperial capital.
A group of people sat in a circle around the sofa.
A stack of documents lay on the coffee table in front of them, and the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
Just then, a young man dressed in a white tuxedo, with slicked-back hair and a pampered look, walked in with two girls on his arms.
“Zhao Xuan, come over here,” the middle-aged man seated in the center of the sofa called out with a frown.
Zhao Xuan glanced over but didn’t pay attention.
He asked casually, “Dad, I’ve still got things to do. Just say whatever you need to say.”
Though disrespectful, the middle-aged man didn’t seem to mind—clearly the type of parent who doted excessively on their child.
But he pointed at the documents on the coffee table and said, “Take a look at this. It’s the information on that Lu Ran guy. You need to pay special attention to him. He—”
Before he could finish, Zhao Xuan cut him off directly.
“No need. In those two rounds, he took out his opponents with two Blood Spears each.”
“That just means his damage is high. Most likely, he’s stacked a full set of ungraded offensive equipment.”
“And he’s probably completely sacrificed his defenses.”
“Haven’t you noticed that neither of his first two opponents even had a chance to strike back?”
“Of course, my defense isn’t as good as Cen Yubuo’s, so yeah—he could probably one-shot me too.”
“But don’t forget my class trait—I can nullify magic damage for ten full seconds.”
“Within those ten seconds, I can also burst him down and finish him.”
“To others, he might seem terrifying. But to me? He’s nothing. Just another loser waiting to happen.”
“So he’d better pray he doesn’t run into me in the tournament.”
With that, he didn’t linger another moment and headed upstairs with the two girls on his arms.
Clearly, he had some business to attend to.
The rest of the people in the living room were left exchanging awkward glances.
“The young master’s analysis actually sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?” someone ventured.
“Reasonable, my foot! Are you blind or am I blind? Didn’t Cen Yubuo attack Lu Ran? Did Lu Ran lose any health? It’s not as simple as he thinks!” the middle-aged man barked furiously.
This kind of authority was something he never showed toward his son.
The others immediately fell silent.
After a few seconds of quiet, someone cautiously asked, “Then what about the young master…”
“Never mind. Let him relax for now. We’ll talk after he’s done. Probably about three minutes—we’ll catch him when he comes back out,” the middle-aged man said with a sigh.
Clearly, he knew his son well.
Three minutes. That was the limit.
And that included the foreplay and afterglow.
As for the documents on the table—
They were more or less the same as what Cong Shuang’s people had found, with no major discrepancies.
“Someone personally requested by the four major guilds—even Ye Hongyi from the Red Clothes Pavilion changed their membership rules for him. Becoming a provisional member of all four at the same time has never happened before. This necromancer is definitely not as simple as Zhao Xuan makes him out to be!” the middle-aged man said, deep in thought.
Meanwhile—
Similar scenes were playing out in other prominent families across the imperial capital.
Of course, not every family had descendants participating in the Hundred Cities League.
Most were just watching the spectacle, gauging the situation, and assessing the current landscape.
The intelligence that Cong Shuang and the Zhao family had obtained was no secret to these families either—they all had their copies.
But for now, no one was ready to take a stance. They needed to observe a little longer, to play it safe.
If Lu Ran got eliminated in the third round, the four major guilds would probably drop him anyway.
But if Lu Ran kept advancing and continued to perform well, then they’d have to make some moves!
The political landscape in the imperial capital was far more complex than in other major cities, with tangled relationships everywhere. One wrong step in choosing sides could have serious consequences!
As for Lu Ran—the very eye of this storm—he had already been escorted by the three young women to the Imperial Capital Hotel.
Even though it was arguably the most exquisite meal the country had to offer, Lu Ran couldn’t feel comfortable at all.
What exactly did these three girls want?
