Chapter 62: Promoted to Rank-Eight Grandmaster

Chapter 62: Promoted to Rank-Eight Grandmaster

I looked at Liu Tanzhuang sharply.

This man knew far too much. That wasn’t information some minor errand boy ought to have. Something was off. And why had he seemed to seek me out on purpose from the start?

I stared at him, startled. “Do we know each other?”

“Do we?” Liu Tanzhuang said. “Who are you, in the real world?”

“My name is Du Xiaoran,” I said. “You know it, don’t you?”

He smiled suddenly. “You really are something. How did you figure me out?”

“When you said the Ziyun Sect’s energy comes from Treading the Wind, Seeking the Dao, I guessed it had to be you,” I said. “You know too much. Only someone who’s actually been in the Mundane World would know about that game. And only someone who loves doing business knows a little of everything and masters none of it. A researcher, an intellectual—who’d care where the data comes from? Besides, you started approaching me the moment I arrived. What I can’t figure out is how you knew I’d come in at all, let alone whose body I’d end up parasitizing.”

“You really do have a guarded personality,” Liu Tanzhuang said. “Have to dig to the bottom of everything, don’t you. Fine, I’ll be straight with you. I was entrusted by someone. You don’t understand a thing here and you go charging around regardless—of course something was bound to happen. I told you before, follow me, and you’ll have meat to eat. That wasn’t just talk. The virtual world is my territory too. From now on, anything you don’t understand, come ask me.”

“Who hired you, then?” I said. “And why would they bother helping me?”

“Now you’re the one not understanding how things work,” Liu Tanzhuang said. “I take people’s money, I handle their troubles. You think I can just hand over a client’s information? Especially to the person involved? Do that once and I’m finished doing business.”

“You think I actually believe that?” I said. “You’ve got some way of tracking me, clearly, because you’re hoping to squeeze more out of me. You made out well last time we worked together, didn’t you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Just don’t screw me over, and we’re still partners. Otherwise, I’m not so easy to trifle with either.”

“Now that,” Liu Tanzhuang said, “I can respect. Direct. Let’s lay it all out, then. I followed you here because I want to work with you again in the virtual world. I noticed something—as a smuggled-in person, your abilities are a cut above. That tells me you’ve got serious backing, maybe you’re the descendant of someone important. And you’ve got the resistance behind you besides. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare cross you—not worth the risk. But I might use you as a shield. The reason Pu Liuqian caught you last time is that your aura is strong enough to draw the Shadow Pavilion’s eye all on its own. Keep you near me, and I stay safe. So when I say I like following you, it’s the same as saying I like following money. Wherever you go, there’s business to be had.”

“Then I’d better keep my distance,” I said. “You’re clearly already on the Shadow Pavilion’s books. Being near you feels dangerous.”

“Not entirely wrong,” Liu Tanzhuang said, “but I’m a speculator, and the Shadow Pavilion’s known that for ages. They won’t come down hard on me. Catch me, and it’s a fine at worst. You’re different. You’re a new member of the resistance—the Shadow Pavilion’s greatest enemy.”

“Then why do you still dare follow me?” I said. “Aren’t you afraid of being dragged down with the resistance?”

“I’d never work with the resistance itself,” Liu Tanzhuang said. “I’ve a family to feed. But you’re not the resistance—you just have a resistance background. At heart, you’re a smuggled-in person who’s never lived in the Elite World. The Shadow Pavilion has no file on you. So following me actually makes you safer, because they’ll take you for nothing more than a smuggled-in speculator.”

“Fine, let’s not wander too far off,” I said. “Why did you lower yourself to play a servant boy?”

“This…