143. National Day Outing

"Are you girls from the Northeast all this blunt? Still, I suppose I could consider it. After all, ordinary girls aren't right for me, and I suspect ordinary men aren't quite right for you either. We might as well just settle for each other." Chen Fengyun never lost when it came to banter, so he nodded as if giving the matter serious thought.

Ma Dingdang’s face flushed suddenly. While she did have a favorable impression of him, it was rooted more in curiosity than true affection. Hearing him put it that way, she realized it might actually be a possibility.

"So, are you coming over to my place for dinner? If you are, I’ll call my mom right now and have her prepare something."

"Let's skip today; it's too rushed. Let's just grab a bite out for now. We can go to your place another time, and I'll make sure to let your parents know in advance so I can prepare some gifts." Chen Fengyun ultimately backed down, though Ma Dingdang seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as well.

Afterward, Ma Dingdang led the way, helping Chen Fengyun complete his enrollment formalities, showing him around the campus of Beijing University, and introducing him to various aspects of school life.

Along the way, they encountered many freshmen reporting for duty, as well as seniors guiding them. Almost every senior greeted Ma Dingdang with respect, while the freshmen looked on with curiosity.

Walking alongside Chen Fengyun, Ma Dingdang was all smiles, her voice crisp and clear. She was remarkably eye-catching, completely stripped of her usual icy demeanor, which left the seniors feeling baffled by the man beside her.

"How strange. The campus beauty, Ma Dingdang, seems like a different person today. She’s smiling so brightly and even nodding at us."

"I'm more curious about who that guy is. He looks pretty ordinary. How did he manage to capture the campus beauty's favor?"

"Could our 'Ice Goddess' be in love? Otherwise, why would she be showing a boy around campus, and acting so charmingly, too?"

"This is huge news! Ma Dingdang has a boyfriend, and he’s a freshman. The campus forum is probably going to crash over this."

Chen Fengyun could vaguely hear the whispers of the passing seniors. With her cultivation, Ma Dingdang heard them too, but she said nothing, her face merely turning a deeper shade of red.

Sure enough, the Beijing University campus website crashed that day, as countless students uploaded intimate photos of the "Goddess" Ma Dingdang with the mysterious boy, drawing a deluge of traffic.

The man who triggered it all, Chen Fengyun, was blissfully unaware. He and Ma Dingdang had a delightful lunch at a small hotpot place off-campus. Although they had first met in the Changbai Mountain underground palace, they had rarely had the chance to talk then, leaving them quite unfamiliar with each other. Today allowed them to finally bridge that gap.

Following this, Chen Fengyun began his long-awaited university life. His major, Archaeology, was somewhat obscure; there were only three classes for the entire freshman year, totaling about 150 students, with only twenty or so girls.

Because a career in archaeology meant either field excavations or working in museum administration—both involving constant contact with funerary objects—most of the less courageous girls steered clear of the major.

The first month of school was dominated by military training during the day and introductory professional courses at night, which included touring the archaeology department’s collection of tens of thousands of burial artifacts.

These items, ranging from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties to the Qing Dynasty and the modern era, were souvenirs brought back by faculty and students over the past decade. They were housed in the university museum, accessible only to archaeology students for study and research.

Chen Fengyun was fascinated. While other students lost interest after a few visits, he spent over ten nights personally examining every single piece.

Of course, Chen Fengyun wasn't interested in the artifacts themselves, but in whether they contained any special energy. Over the course of half a month, he harvested 22 attribute points from the collection.

On weekends, when he wasn't grabbing meals with Ma Dingdang, he would scour the antique markets with Qian Qingping, Geng Chunming, Xu Dalin, and Zeng Yiyue, continuously scavenging for more attribute points.

Although hunting for points in antique markets was like finding a needle in a haystack, it was still far more productive than his nightly meditation sessions.

As September drew to a close, military training ended, and the National Day holiday approached. Ma Dingdang found him and asked, "Fengyun, do you have any plans for the holiday?"

"Actually, there’s a place I want to explore. Would you like to come along?" Chen Fengyun didn't hide his intentions. He invited her because her cultivation required the Dragon to devour evil energy, and he suspected the Hundred Flower Valley might be helpful to her.

"What place? Is there anything strange about it?" Ma Dingdang’s eyes lit up at the mention of it, more excited than if they were going on a normal trip.

"It's a bizarre valley deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains of Western Hunan, known to locals as the 'Valley of Death.' Neither people nor animals who enter ever come out. I suspect it might be the site of an ancient cultivation sect, protected by some kind of formation," Chen Fengyun analyzed.

"Really? When do we leave?" Ma Dingdang was adventurous and immediately agreed to join him.

"The 8:00 PM high-speed train on the 30th gets us to the Ancient City of Fenghuang by 5:00 AM on October 1st. From there, we'll need to find a local guide to lead us into the mountains. If all goes well, we might reach the valley by October 2nd," Chen Fengyun said.

"We'll find it eventually. We have plenty of time during the holiday," Ma Dingdang replied, completely unbothered.

When Geng Chunming and the others heard that Chen Fengyun was heading to the Ten Thousand Mountains of Western Hunan for the holiday, they wanted to join too. But since they were ordinary people, Chen Fengyun initially refused.

"You're going to Fenghuang first, right? We'll just hang out in the ancient city and won't follow you into the mountains. We won't get in your way," Zeng Yiyue insisted. Chen Fengyun finally relented.

The group expanded to eight people. In addition to Qian Qingping, Geng Chunming, and Xu Dalin, Zeng Yiyue brought two female classmates along, making it a group of four men and four women.

When Zeng Yiyue saw Ma Dingdang, he winked at Chen Fengyun and whispered, "You've got a sharp eye, kid. Just started school and you've already snagged such a beautiful girl."

Ma Dingdang overheard this and cast a glance at Chen Fengyun, her face reddening again. However, knowing that Zeng Yiyue was Chen Fengyun's former teacher and a good friend, she didn't take offense; in fact, she felt a secret sense of joy.