The call was from Victor Su.
"Hello?"
Evan Lin walked slowly down the street with a backpack slung over his shoulder.
After spending so long under Heavenly Lake, he actually missed the noisy sounds of the city streets.
"Hey! It's me, Victor Su!"
Victor Su sounded especially excited on the other end of the line. "You finally answered! I've called you so many times. At first your phone was out of service, then it was just powered off. I thought something might have happened to you!"
You could tell Victor Su was clearly relieved.
He'd seen Evan Lin's power before, but that only made him more afraid Evan might disappear for decades in closed-door cultivation, like Morgan Yang.
If that happened, who knew if the next time they'd meet would be decades later—and Victor Su wasn't even sure he'd live that long.
"What's up?"
Evan Lin kept talking on the phone as he walked down a busy commercial street. It was midday, and after glancing around, he stepped into a restaurant with a distinctly elegant décor.
Evan Lin entered and looked around.
The place was doing good business; almost every table was full.
Only two empty tables remained not far away.
Evan chose a seat by the window and sat down.
A server brought over the menu.
The prices on the menu were steep—even a plain plate of greens cost thirty yuan.
The waitress smiled warmly. Seeing Evan was on the phone, she quietly asked what he'd like to order.
Evan's clothes were pretty scruffy at the moment, but the staff here didn't judge people by their appearance.
"These ones."
Evan picked up the pen and marked several dishes on the menu.
With just a few strokes, he ended up ordering more than ten dishes.
"Excuse me, are you expecting friends to join you?"
The waitress asked softly, a bit surprised.
"No, just me."
Evan shook his head.
Victor Su waited a moment on the other end before continuing: "Here's the thing, a few people have come wanting to meet you. Do you have time?"
Victor Su asked cautiously.
He chose his words carefully, afraid of upsetting Evan.
Victor Su hadn't dared to mention Evan's true identity to anyone.
Master Lin from Seacrest—those five words are now forever linked with the phrase 'the Thousand-Saints Duel and Mo Yang's burial.'
Although Evan Lin never tried to hide his face, very few people have actually seen him up close.
Even those who watched the duel between Master Lin from Seacrest and Morgan Yang at Thousand-Saints Mountain only saw a distant figure blazing like fire.
Victor Su knew Evan hated being disturbed. If he leaked Evan's identity, it would bring endless visitors and probably annoy him.
"Who are they?"
Evan took a sip of water and asked.
Just then, the restaurant door swung open again. In walked three girls dressed to impress, followed by a trendy-looking guy in a jacket.
"Mandy, there's a seat over here!"
One of the girls grabbed Mandy's hand, hurried over, passed through the aisle, and sat down at the table next to Evan.
Their outfits screamed city students.
Especially the girls—even if they weren't stunning, their fashion sense was way above that of girls from Whitewood County like Ivy Deng and her friends.
"They're from Nightstar. Last time, Ethan Xu submitted your name to Nightstar. They probably already tried to reach you, right?"
Victor Su's voice sounded a little strange.
"Yeah, they did. But I turned them down."
Evan replied quietly, "I don't really like troublesome stuff."
Victor Su could only give a bitter laugh on the other end.
At the next table—
Mandy Yu sat with her head down, fiddling with her phone, not noticing Evan nearby.
The only guy, arm around another girl's shoulder, glanced over at Mandy and her friend, then laughed: "Order whatever you want. This restaurant is my dad's latest venture, just opened a few days ago. I was going to get us a private room, but business is so hot that all the rooms are booked by Capitalview's top bosses. So you'll have to rough it out here for now."
He wore designer brands, flaunted a Cartier watch, and spoke with arrogant pride.
"Of course! Everyone knows the Jiao family owns a restaurant empire. This must be your family's fifth place in Capitalview, right?" one of the girls said, giving Jiao Chuanhao a flirtatious look and covering her mouth with a giggle.
"That's right! Chuanhao will have his own restaurant soon—his dad's investing three million in him! You all can eat there every day once it opens!"
The girl sitting next to Jiao Chuanhao wore heavy makeup.
As she spoke, she snuggled closer to Jiao Chuanhao, her smile sweet and full of pride.
Still, she wasn't as pretty as Mandy Yu.
"Mandy, what do you want to eat? Order whatever you like—don't be shy! If you don't, Wenbo will say I'm being a bad host!"
Jiao Chuanhao handed the menu to Mandy.
"Anything's fine with me," Mandy replied.
Mandy looked up with a smile.
"What, Mandy? Still chatting with that old deskmate from junior high?"
The girl beside her sneered: "That loser from some backwater county? Last time he even came all the way to Jinnan to treat you to dinner—what a toad lusting after a swan!"
"By the way, what does his family even do?"
The girl asked with interest.
"I think they just opened some little resort in the county..."
Mandy started to explain.
She hadn't finished before someone burst out laughing.
"A resort?"
The girl covered her mouth, laughing. "How much could a shabby county resort be worth? I bet it's not even as expensive as the décor in Chuanhao's restaurant!"
"I really don't get you—why waste your time on someone like that? Is it worth all the trouble? And I'm surprised Wenbo isn't jealous!"
The girl looked even more puzzled. "Mandy, don't tell me you actually like that guy?"
At that, everyone turned to look at her.
"No way!"
Mandy shook her head quickly. "There's no way between us. As for why I still..."
She trailed off, catching sight of a server bringing over dishes.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the person sitting at the next table looked oddly familiar.