Chapter 93 — A Strange Dream: "Yao Yao, what's wrong?" Shen Yushu was startled, looking at Gu Mengyao, whose expression was on the verge of tears, and wondered what had happened to her.

"Nothing..." Gu Mengyao sighed faintly. "Little Shu, do you think I went too far today?"

"No, of course not." Shen Yushu caught a certain undertone in Gu Mengyao's words. Was she still brooding over what had happened today? But Yao Yao had never seemed the sort to be so sentimental.

"Maybe... He doesn't even care..." Gu Mengyao shook her head.

"Yao Yao, your test paper?" Shen Yushu suddenly noticed that Gu Mengyao's paper was densely covered with step-by-step solutions, and she was taken aback. "Did Shield B write these for you? He's really quite good to you."

When grading someone else's paper, one had no obligation whatsoever to write out the solutions to the problems they had gotten wrong. Everyone had heard the teacher go through the steps, and they were all supposed to go home and make their own corrections. Yet Wei Zhao had written out the full solution steps for Gu Mengyao in detail, which surprised Shen Yushu and also made her understand why Gu Mengyao was acting this way.

Gu Mengyao said nothing, turning her attention to the problems she had gotten wrong. Seeing Gu Mengyao settle down to study in earnest, Shen Yushu likewise turned her attention to her own test paper.

To her surprise, Wei Zhao's solution steps were even more detailed than the teacher's explanation. Gu Mengyao was somewhat astonished. It was as if Wei Zhao had been afraid she would not understand, for every step was extremely thorough, complete with annotations. This left Gu Mengyao surprised, and at the same time she began to wonder about Wei Zhao's identity.

Just where had her father found this man? The first time she saw him, she had taken him for a migrant worker who had come to the city looking for work, but now it seemed, how could a migrant worker possibly solve senior-year math problems?

When Gu Mengyao came to the last bonus problem, she was surprised at first. Had she not solved this one correctly? When Teacher Liu had gone over it in class, she had even felt a little smug about it. So many students in the class had failed to solve it, yet she had gotten it right, which had given her vanity a small measure of satisfaction.

But when Gu Mengyao finished reading Wei Zhao's solution steps, she could not help but freeze. It was a method of solving she had never seen before, yet it was far simpler than her own.

An inexplicable wave of emotion welled up in Gu Mengyao's heart. She knew that Wei Zhao had truly done this for her sake, and not merely to go through the motions; otherwise, there would have been no need for him to write out this alternative method at all.

"Little Shu... look at the solution to this problem..." Gu Mengyao sighed and pushed her test paper over to Shen Yushu.

"Hmm?" Shen Yushu had assumed at first that Gu Mengyao had run into a problem she could not solve and wanted her help, but when she saw the problem Gu Mengyao was pointing at and Wei Zhao's solution, her mouth fell open. "No way! Shield B is that impressive? Not only is he good at fighting, he's a genius at his studies too. Yao Yao, you've hit the jackpot!"

"Hit the jackpot?" Gu Mengyao looked at Shen Yushu, puzzled.

"Where are you going to find a guy like that? You have to strike first before someone else beats you to him," Shen Yushu said.

"..." Gu Mengyao pursed her lips, then said with a trace of disdain, "Him? Who would ever fancy him?"

"Hehe..." Shen Yushu gave a sly grin. "Plenty of people. Just you wait and see."

After finishing his meal, Wei Zhao tossed the two remaining spare ribs he had not eaten to General Weiwu. He had originally intended to save them for making noodles the next morning, but then he remembered that tomorrow was the weekend and Uncle Qing had said he would take care of all three meals, and besides, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu would surely sleep in, so there was no need for him to get up early to make breakfast.

Back in his room, Wei Zhao collapsed onto the bed. There had been a great deal to do today, and in the afternoon he had been on edge brewing medicine for Yang Huaijun. He really did feel a little tired, and lying on the bed, he did not much want to get up again.

Skipping one day of practice should not matter, should it? Wei Zhao hesitated for a moment... Ever since he had come out of that strange cave, he had not slept at all, spending every night in cultivation. Fortunately, after cultivating he was always full of energy, and a few hours felt as refreshing as ten hours of sleep.

At home, no matter how tired he was, Elder Wei was always there watching him, and Wei Zhao did not dare slack off. And while carrying out missions, he had to stay constantly alert, and dared even less to truly sleep.

A situation like the present one had never occurred before. There was no old man around to urge him on, and no danger lurking nearby, so Wei Zhao began to think of slacking off.

Sure enough, people start to grow lazy once they are comfortable.

Wei Zhao sighed. But today he really was exhausted, and he did not want to cultivate either; he just wanted to sleep soundly and peacefully.

Dimly, however, Wei Zhao seemed to enter a void, a space of utter darkness...

Wei Zhao was instantly on his guard. What place was this? Could he be dreaming?

All at once, in response to Wei Zhao's very thought, the void around him blazed with light, bright as day.

And a human figure, too, gradually took shape before his eyes...

"Who... are you?" Wei Zhao asked instinctively.

Dreams had not come to him for many years now, and Wei Zhao had gradually forgotten what a dream felt like... And today, was he dreaming?

"My surname is Jiao..." The figure slowly coalesced into the likeness of an old man, who did rather cut a figure of otherworldly, Daoist refinement, and he spoke to Wei Zhao with calm composure.

"What? Xing|jiao?" Wei Zhao stared at the old man in astonishment... thinking to himself, how is this man even cruder than I am? That is the first word out of his mouth? Could it be that I have watched too many dirty little films and my mind has been corroded, so that even my dreams are full of this sort of garbage?

"Uh..." The old man was at once thrown into embarrassment. "My humble surname is Jiao, and men call me Jiao Yazi — that is myself."

"What? Feet?" Wei Zhao was even more astonished. What kind of dream was this? Was it meant to be a comedy?

Jiao Yazi was for a moment speechless... No one had called him by that nickname for many years, and he had never expected this brat to blurt it out. He was somewhat displeased. "It is Jiao Yazi, not feet. You little whelp, you must not be rude to this old man."

"My apologies, Elder Jiao... I misheard you before..." Wei Zhao felt somewhat embarrassed, though he thought to himself, this is only a figure in a dream, there is no need for me to take it so seriously, is there?

"Do you think you are dreaming?" Jiao Yazi, as though he had seen straight through Wei Zhao's thoughts, gave a cold laugh and looked at him.

"Huh? Am I not?" Wei Zhao was taken aback and looked at Jiao Yazi with some puzzlement.

"Then pinch yourself and see whether it hurts." Jiao Yazi regarded Wei Zhao with a face full of mockery. "To think that my master's grand-uncle sealed a wisp of my illusion within this jade pendant back then, to await the coming of a destined one — and instead he waited for a fool like you."