Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 112 - : Self-righteous

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Self-righteous

Hu Qi Mountain.

Jiang Ning slowly came to his senses, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

He had been a lifeless statue in the Cultivation World for two hundred years, devoid of joy or sorrow.

For those memories, Jiang Ning could not empathize; whenever he reflected on them, he felt like a mere observer.

“The mistakes of the past cannot be reversed, but there is still time to correct the future.”

Even if his cultivation remained stagnant for the rest of his life, Jiang Ning would never practice that cultivation technique again.

He was human, not wood.

Then, Jiang Ning pondered the location where the qi had been stripped away.

According to Junior Master Xu, this depletion of qi and the stripping away by the Heaven and Earth Laws were the deeds of the “Source Power Civilization,” an enemy of the Cultivation World.

Jiang Ning estimated that this space would need hundreds of years of erosion to reach the level of devastation seen in the eastern territories of the cultivation world; only then could the beings of that civilization cross dimensions and trigger a great war of civilizations.

Hundreds of years… Time would have changed everything beyond recognition.

Jiang Ning was not worried. Let alone whether he would still be around in a few hundred years.

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Besides, given the speed at which modern technology is advancing, by the time a few hundred years passed, it’s quite possible that civilization might not be able to defeat modern technology.

He leapt down from the second-floor balcony, landing on the ground.

Although the villa was spacious and bright, it lacked the feeling of home; he preferred the warm rows of bungalows down by the river dam.

“From now on, this will be my place for cultivation.”

Jiang Ning deployed the Concealing Qi Technique and headed for the bungalows. Thanks to his breakthrough into the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation, his speed had increased slightly, to over fifty meters per second.

…

The temperature dropped again that evening.

Yuzhou was geographically peculiar, with the Huai River, the dividing line between the northern and southern regions, flowing through this small city.

It was often joked that if you stood on the south bank you were a Southerner, and on the north bank, a Northerner.

Thus, Yuzhou has the chill of the Northern winters and the heat of the Southern summers.

Jiang Ning rode his bike to school, gripping the handlebars through fuzzy gloves.

On his ears, he wore blue earmuffs that stuck out.

Both were gifts from Xue Yuantong, who claimed that although she didn’t ride a bike, this gave her a sense of participation.

Jiang Ning, who rarely did so, wore a cotton-padded jacket. He had previously worn autumn clothes, though his spiritual power maintained his temperature.

But he often got asked if he felt cold, which was more troublesome to explain, so he decided to conform.

“Jiang Ning, where have you been these past two days? I haven’t seen you at all.” Xue Yuantong, sitting on the back seat, questioned him aggressively.

She had wanted to go to the city with Jiang Ning to a newly opened self-serve hotpot restaurant near the department store that everyone said was delicious, costing only 19.9 yuan per person.

Unfortunately, Jiang Ning was absent for two days straight, and she had no place to spend her money.

“I had some things to take care of, but they’re all done now,” Jiang Ning said.

On Saturday, he had contacted Shao Shuangshuang to transport materials to Hu Qi Mountain for setting up an array.

On Sunday, he activated the Spirit Gathering Array, reached the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, and harvested ‘Taiyin Cloud Marrow’.

“Jiang Ning, how come you haven’t been buying elixirs lately? I remember you used to buy a lot of them every few days?” Xue Yuantong asked.

“Is your illness cured?” Her little face lit up with excitement. Although she didn’t know what ailment Jiang Ning had, his recovery must surely be good news.

Recalling this, Jiang Ning smiled. Once, he had carried a whole box of goods, ready to make Evergreen Liquid, but Xue Yuantong insisted on tasting his medicine, claiming she needed to test it for poison.

Jiang Ning disagreed, and afterward, Xue Yuantong kept finding various excuses to try his elixirs, so he deliberately prepared an especially bitter medicinal soup.

After just one sip, Xue Yuantong ran off, so bitter that she sat at her doorstep, sighing and rinsing her mouth over and over with a kettle.

Jiang Ning replied, “Yes, it’s all better now.”

He had moved the production of the Evergreen Liquid to the factory along with the procurement of herbs for making the Gathering Spirit Pill, all overseen by Shao Shuangshuang. This way, whenever Jiang Ning needed elixir pills, he could directly go to the factory to concoct them.

The bungalow side, as a quiet residence, he quite enjoyed being neighbors with Xue Yuantong’s house.

“It’s really cured, huh!”

Xue Yuantong decided that she would buy some snacks to eat after school to celebrate Jiang Ning’s recovery.

…

In the Yuzhou winter, the windows and doors of Class 8 Grade 1 were closed.

Jiang Ning pushed open the door, and none of the students were standing at the podium for a meeting.

Everyone knew that there was a thief at school, and although they couldn’t catch them, they had all smartened up and no longer left their valuables in the classroom.

Dozens of students warmed up the temperature of the classroom just by being there.

The Life Committee member Hu Jun stood on the vacant space at the back of the classroom and shouted to everyone:

“Which group was in charge of cleaning last week? You guys didn’t take out the trash before the holiday. If it were summer, it would have stunk by now. Everyone, be more responsible!”

Nobody answered. Hu Jun felt that his dignity as a class cadre had been violated, leaving him somewhat embarrassed.

He took out the duty roster from the drawer, scanned it, and called out:

“Yang Sheng, it’s your group’s turn to be on duty. Get a move on and take out the trash.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Sheng shouted at Jiang Yanan, “Hey, take some initiative, it’s your turn to take out the trash!”

Jiang Yanan was fuming, and her already pale face turned even whiter with anger.

She had lost a bet the last time and had been on duty for Yang Sheng ever since. Simply being on duty was fine, but every time Yang Sheng’s duties involved taking out the trash.

As a result, Jiang Yanan, a girl, became the designated trash handler. The classroom trash bins were the standard large ones, quite big and hard for her to handle.

And with the winter cold, after taking out the trash, she would have to wash her hands, which made it even colder.

Jiang Yanan had very fair skin, which covered a multitude of other flaws. With just her skin alone, two boys in the class took a liking to her. If not for her slightly small eyes, her looks wouldn’t fall short of Shen Qing’e.

Seeing that nobody was helping Jiang Yanan, Dong Qingfeng stood up with a smile and said,

“I’ll help you with it, you stay in the classroom and rest.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Yanan expressed her gratitude. She thought she was in for a tough time but was relieved to see that there were still kind classmates in the room. Dong Qingfeng was really a good person.

Yang Sheng watched the two, and muttered, “Mind your own radish and stop worrying about others!”

After hearing that, Dong Qingfeng responded righteously,

“Yang Sheng, do you not have hands? Why do you always make other students take your duty?”

He used to have a good impression of Yang Sheng and even supported her during her quarrel with Ma Shicheng. But later, Dong Qingfeng realized that Yang Sheng’s personality was too wild for him to handle, so he gave up on her and started supporting the group of girls that included Shen Qing’e.

Yang Sheng retorted sarcastically, “Exactly, I have no hands.”

Seeing her response, Dong Qingfeng did not pursue the matter further. He grabbed the trash bin and stepped out into the chilly wind outside the classroom. What he threw out was garbage, but what he earned was the goodwill of Shen Qing’e and her group.

Not long after Dong Qingfeng left, the door of the classroom opened and Shen Xu from Class 9 came in with a big smile on his face.

He was carrying a black bag and holding a light gray hand warmer.

“Good evening, everyone. It’s getting cold now, and studying is really tough. That’s why I’ve brought you these wonderful hand warmers. There’s no need to fill them with hot water – they’re rechargeable, just charge them up a bit and you can warm your hands.”

“Look at this hand warmer, it’s big and warm!” he showcased the hand warmer to everyone.

“Only 34 yuan each, look at the quality. It’s really solid!”

Some students in the class were tempted; Shen Xu had become famous in the grade for selling things, and there was no doubt about the quality.

Dan Kaiquan vividly remembered just earlier, his deskmate Bai Yuxia sighed on her hands after writing for a while, and it broke his heart to see her cold hands.

He touched his pocket. It was Sunday evening self-study, and he had just brought over a hundred yuan for living expenses.

Then, Dan Kaiquan confidently walked up to the podium and slapped down thirty-five yuan.

“Give me a pink one!”

Shen Xu saw his first sale happening and was overjoyed, praising his choice:

“Just so happens I have a pink one left, here you go!”

And he gave Dan Kaiquan a one yuan change.

Dan Kaiquan said nonchalantly, “Keep the change.”

All the students watched him, and as he basked in everyone’s gaze, Dan Kaiquan felt a rush, believing he was the center of the class! His every move affected his classmates!

He walked back to his seat with a cool stride, tossed the hand warmer nonchalantly onto Bai Yuxia’s desk:

“Here, borrow it for a while.”

That’s right, Dan Kaiquan had learned from past pain and had been smart about it, not using the word “give” but “borrow” instead.

This approach was more tactful and made it easier for girls to accept.

He looked at Bai Yuxia, eagerly anticipating her reaction.

Bai Yuxia looked at him as if he were insane: “How am I supposed to use this hand warmer when it’s not charged?”