Dragon Slayer:The King’s Return

Lin Nian closed the door to the private room with a soft thud, as if locking away the fiery atmosphere inside. The door separated two worlds.

He didn't go to the bathroom. Instead, he grabbed two pieces of toilet paper from the cabinet and walked to the entrance of the hotpot restaurant. There, a girl was squatting by herself, drinking, while the speakers played "Quiet," with the lyrics singing, "Don't worry too much, I will live well, you've already gone far away, and I will slowly walk away too." The girl was crying as she drank.

The sound of a beer can opening suddenly broke through the air, crisp and clear.

Su Xiaotang turned her head to see Lin Nian holding a can of cola, with the pull-tab still in his hand, carbonated bubbles fizzing out with a "sizz" sound.

"Do you want some?" Lin Nian asked.

Su Xiaotang, unsure of how to respond, stared blankly at him holding the cola.

"Not drinking?" Lin Nian asked again, seeing that she hadn't taken it, before bringing the cola to his mouth and drinking it.

For some reason, perhaps from the alcohol, Su Xiaotang suddenly stood up, grabbed the can from his hand, and drank it all down in big gulps, then held her mouth and burped lightly.

"Oh," Lin Nian remarked, looking a bit regretful at the cola he had just bought with his own money.

"Are you really leaving?" Su Xiaotang asked, placing the empty can at her feet.

"Mm," Lin Nian nodded.

"Why so suddenly?" Su Xiaotang couldn't help but ask.

"Is it that sudden?" Lin Nian asked in return, "The rest of the class is happy for me."

"Happy?" Su Xiaotang stood up, collected her thoughts, then suddenly slapped Lin Nian's shoulder, hitting it once, then twice, harder.

Lin Nian didn't avoid it or say anything, and after a long silence, Su Xiaotang lifted her head and said, "Right, this is a happy thing. I should be happy for you!"

"If by 'happy,' you mean crying and running out, then yeah, you've really expressed your happiness well," Lin Nian teased.

Su Xiaotang froze for a moment, realizing the irony, then playfully nudged Lin Nian in the side and walked into the hotpot restaurant. But suddenly, she stopped and asked out of nowhere, "Did you know about this already?"

"A long time ago," Lin Nian replied.

Su Xiaotang nodded to herself, then marched into the hotpot restaurant without looking back, saying, "Since everything that's happened today is happy, we should celebrate! Let's go back, and we'll have another drink!"

"I'll go buy another bottle of cola and catch up," Lin Nian called after her as he stood at the entrance of the restaurant.

"Cola's boring! We're drinking alcohol!" Su Xiaotang's voice came back, already far away. She was walking quickly, almost as if she was running away, as if trying to leave the earlier conversation behind and start over.

For some reason, Lin Nian sighed lightly. He bent down and picked up the empty can Su Xiaotang had drunk from, staring at the lipstick mark on its rim, muttering to himself, "How old is she?"

"A girl's never too young to start wearing makeup," someone behind him teased.

Lin Nian instinctively turned around and saw the blonde girl standing behind him with a can of cola in her hand, leaning against the door of the hotpot restaurant, wearing a half-smile. The warm yellow light from inside the restaurant softened her facial features, and her eyes glowed with a captivating golden hue.

"Mandy, senior?" Lin Nian straightened up and nodded, greeting her. "What a coincidence, you're here eating hotpot too?"

After leaving the Regal Hotel, when he saw Mandy again, he now addressed her as "senior."

"How did you know I was eating hotpot? Just because I'm standing here in front of a hotpot restaurant with a can of cola?" Mandy raised an eyebrow and asked.

Lin Nian glanced at the corner of Mandy's mouth, where there was a trace of hotpot oil she hadn't wiped off. It was obvious she had just been inside, enjoying a hearty meal.

"Do I have something on my face?" Mandy noticed Lin Nian staring at her and quickly turned to check herself in the glass door.

"Right here, on the corner of your mouth," Lin Nian pointed to the spot, and Mandy hastily wiped it off with some tissue, then smiled awkwardly at him. It was clear she realized that her earlier line, trying to look cool, was a little silly.

Lin Nian sighed, asking, "So why are you here, senior?"

"Didn't I mention before? I wanted to try the local specialty," Mandy sniffed the air, savoring the smell of hotpot seasoning, a look of contentment on her face. "When you're following Professor Manstein, you can only eat health food. It's been a while, so I decided to treat myself."

"So you've been following me?" Lin Nian looked her up and down seriously and asked.

"Following you? Haha, don't make me laugh, little junior," Mandy waved her hand and laughed. "Are you a dangerous person with alchemy items or a half-blood?"

As she spoke, Mandy suddenly fell silent, quickly shoving the cola can into her mouth and drinking it quickly.

"What's alchemy items? And half-blood?" Lin Nian looked at her curiously, and she immediately avoided his gaze, placing her hands on her hips and showing off her good figure while continuing to drink the cola.

"It's nothing. Just think of it as your senior rambling on," Mandy said, her voice suddenly turning louder as she coughed to cover up her awkwardness.

Lin Nian glanced at her a few more times, realizing she wasn't going to elaborate, so he dropped the subject. "Do you need something else? If not, I'm going to go eat."

"Didn't you like that girl from earlier?" Mandy suddenly asked. Lin Nian paused, then looked at her and said, "Still saying you're not following me. You were eavesdropping just now, weren't you?"

"I was sitting near the door. And you were talking so loudly. If I couldn't hear you, my hearing would've been broken," Mandy said innocently, but the next second, her face was filled with teasing. "Junior, you've got some stories, don't you? I can smell the scent of youth!"

"Alright, senior, if you don't have anything else, I'm really going back to eat," Lin Nian sighed.

"You're such an unlovable junior. Compared to you, my other junior is much smarter and more sensible. She knows how to please her senior," Mandy leaned against the glass door with her cola, glancing at Lin Nian with a sideways look. "But I do have something to ask you tonight."

Lin Nian raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Mandy said, "I wanted to ask you something. You know how every stage of life requires different choices that determine the road you'll take? The kind of crossroads where once you choose, your future can only follow one path. There's no 'Save/Load.'"

"Are you majoring in philosophy at Cassell?" Lin Nian tilted his head, puzzled.

"No, although I'm in the humanities, I major in ancient history, kind of like archaeology," Mandy shook her head. "Now, you could say I'm just a little tipsy and philosophizing, trying to talk about life."

"Is drinking too much cola really that bad?" Lin Nian glanced at her can of cola.

"About my question, I can only say this: the path you choose, even if you can't turn back, you have to keep walking it. I've never regretted the choices I've made." Lin Nian returned his gaze to the bustling crowd outside the restaurant.

"If that's the case, then you must also understand that once you choose one path, the other will forever pass you by, right?" Mandy lowered her head, crinkling the can of cola, making the thin aluminum sound.

"Isn't that the way it goes?" Lin Nian asked, his tone casual.

"Think before you speak, little junior." Mandy pointed to her temple. "Do you really realize how far and difficult the path you've chosen is? And the one you've left behind, might have many things you could've enjoyed. But you'll never be able to step onto it. Right now, you still have the chance to change your mind—at least before you step fully onto the chosen path, you can still turn back."

Lin Nian had his hand on the glass door, ready to push it open, but suddenly stopped after hearing Mandy's words.

"Seems like you understand what I mean," Mandy scratched her head.

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you supposed to be on the side of Cassell's admissions office?" Lin Nian turned to her, confused. "The way you talk, it almost feels like the victim of a second-rate school trying to warn someone else."

Mandy gave him a dramatic eye roll and patted him on the back. "Go in. You heartless guy. Looks like it's too early to say these things to you."

"Goodbye, senior," Lin Nian said, pushing the door open and disappearing into the crowd inside the restaurant.

Mandy stood behind the glass door, watching Lin Nian's retreating figure.

Mandy let out a soft sigh as she watched Lin Nian disappear into the bustling crowd. She muttered quietly to herself, "Maybe by the time you understand what I meant, it'll be too late. None of us can see the road ahead clearly when we're at a crossroads—whether it's the life of a half-blood or that of an ordinary person. But who really knows which path leads to a fulfilling end?"

Her words faded into the night as she finished off her can of cola, then crushed it into a small disc with one hand. Tossing it into a nearby trash can from ten meters away, she pocketed her car keys and strolled off toward the parking lot. Moments later, a red sports car revved its engine and roared off into the night, slicing through the silence of the dark streets.

Back inside the hotpot restaurant's private room, Lin Nian was once again surrounded by classmates who were trying to push him to drink. He seemed distracted, as if something on his mind had momentarily pulled his attention away. He glanced toward the door again, then, just as quickly, was pulled back into the moment as his classmates continued to sing a lively farewell song.

(End of Chapter)