I found a building and sat inside waiting for the next day to arrive.

The long night stretched on. I flipped through the “Higher Plant Encyclopedia” that Earth-Snake had given me. Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time I had obtained a book on my own after entering the “Land of the End.”

I didn’t know how it was for others, but for me it was indeed a nice gift.

Although when I bought books or borrowed them from the library, I would never choose something like a “Plant Encyclopedia,” being able to supplement my knowledge a bit here wasn’t bad.

Ever since I met Baiyang, the speed at which I gained knowledge from conversing with him far exceeded reading books. It seemed I had been slacking off. I shouldn’t stop reading.

The academic content in this book was indeed a bit too much. For someone like me who knew almost nothing about botany, it was difficult to read.

Each plant had a Chinese name, Latin name, morphological characteristics, pictures, and uses. When explaining flowers, it even very fashionably included the flower language of each type of flower for reference.

I imitated Baiyang and read the book all night long. During this time, I tried hard to forget what I was doing and immerse myself in the plant world as much as possible. When dawn came, I indeed didn’t feel the slightest bit of fatigue, though my shoulders and neck were somewhat sore from looking down at the book for so long.

I put the book away and came to Baiyang’s venue in the morning sun, preparing to ask him for an extended leave. If he agreed, in the afternoon I would return the book to Earth-Snake and begin my own journey.

Over these three-plus years, I had come here to report almost every day. I had become much stronger. Now I also wanted to do some things for myself.

Thanks to Jiang Ruoxue, I discovered that I seemed to have become more opinionated than before.

The “Blissful Bank” was still the same as before—terrifying and powerful. This place could operate on its own without even needing a “Zodiac.”

At the outermost gambling tables, gamblers gambled of their own accord, willing to accept their wins and losses.

As soon as a white light lit up, the gamblers would place their bets one after another. When everyone knew there was a “Zodiac” stationed here, no one dared to renege on their debts here. If you lost, you paid. If you won, you collected. The rules were extremely simple.

Even if you lost until you didn’t have a penny left, it was absolutely better than being beaten to death by a “Zodiac.”

Those eyes only needed to look at someone to be enough to scare them out of their wits.

The “lottery” and “bank” were even more worry-free. Baiyang would only occasionally appear to receive some “major clients.”

The standard for “major clients” was depositing eighty “Dao” at once. Anyone who could produce such stakes absolutely belonged to the famous powerhouses of the “Land of the End.”

“Brother Yang,” I found him in the office. He wasn’t reading a book today, just spacing out.

I called him several times and found he had no reaction.

Strange… It was clearly morning now…

I remembered that Baiyang would only space out in the afternoon. Now he was starting to space out in the morning too?

“Brother Yang…?” I called out softly again.

He clearly had his eyes open, but was staring vacantly ahead the whole time.

If you forcibly wake someone during hypnosis or sleepwalking, it could very likely cause far-reaching effects, but I also had no way to leave without saying goodbye.

Just as I was hesitating, I suddenly thought of Jiang Ruoxue.

Hadn’t she already taught me a method?

I walked forward, looked around Baiyang’s surroundings, and finally could only fix my gaze on the table in front of him.

I reached out and forcefully knocked on the tabletop.

Knock knock knock!

Although Baiyang didn’t wake up, I clearly saw his expression change. This was really effective.

Knock knock knock!

I knocked on the tabletop once more. Baiyang immediately came back to his senses and looked at me with a blank expression.

He first looked at my clothes, then at the tattoo on my hand. Just when he was gradually showing a puzzled expression, he finally looked at my face.

In an instant, his expression calmed down.

“Yan Zhichun…?”

“Yes, Brother Yang. I didn’t cause you any trouble, did I?”

“No.” Baiyang quickly looked around at the surrounding environment, as if confirming where he was.

A few seconds later, he stood up and went to the bar counter on one side of the office, where there were some wines and coffee powder sent by “major clients.” But Baiyang had said he didn’t drink alcohol. These things were probably used to entertain distinguished guests.

“Want something to drink?” he asked.

“No thanks. I’m here to ask you for a leave of absence,” I said. “About one cycle’s worth of time. I won’t be able to come find you.”

Baiyang nodded and didn’t refuse me.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” he said to me.

“Mm…” I smiled. “I’ve figured out many things. I’m planning to stop letting myself fall into passivity, and pursue what I want just like I pursue my life goals.”

“Good.” Baiyang nodded. “Is one cycle’s time enough? If not, you can add more. You’ve already helped me a lot. There’s no need to be so tired going forward.”

“Brother Yang…” I smiled and asked him a question I’d been holding back for a long time. “Have you been doing well lately?”

“Have I been…?”

“To be honest… you seem to be in a good mood too,” I said. “Is it because this game has brought you abundant wealth? I feel like you’re not as heavy as before.”

“How should I put it…” Baiyang poured himself a glass of water, and after taking a sip said, “This game is originally developing according to my design. There’s nothing worth being happy about.”

“Then you…”

“If there’s something affecting my mood… it’s that I’ve taken on several students who can annoy people to death. They give me trouble all day long, but… this feeling isn’t bad.” The corner of Baiyang’s mouth lifted slightly. I actually saw him smile lightly.

Good heavens, a true rarity.

“Students…?” I nodded as if remaining calm. “So ‘Earth-level Zodiacs’ will take on students?”

“I also found it very troublesome at first,” Baiyang said. “I refused a massive number of ‘Human-level Zodiacs,’ only wanting to be alone. But Earth-Dragon told me that if an ‘Earth-level Zodiac’ refuses to lead students, it would violate regulations. After all, ‘Zodiacs’ also need inheritance, so I could only randomly pick three human-level ones that nobody wanted.”

“Ah…?”

Although it was a bit absurd, I had to say this was very in line with Baiyang’s style…

“I didn’t expect them to be quite interesting,” Baiyang said. “Originally I had planned to stop eating, but being able to sit together with them every day and say a few words at the dining table, that feeling isn’t bad either.”

It seemed my previous speculation was completely correct. Baiyang would mistake this feeling of staying together and getting along for being “family.”

This was precisely what he lacked most.

Even if the other party consisted of several problem individuals that nobody wanted, as long as Baiyang could speak a few words with them, bonds would naturally form—

I was genuinely happy for Baiyang.

Before I could say a word of congratulations, Baiyang changed the subject and said, “But… such days will also end one day, won’t they?”

“End?”

“There are no banquets in the world that don’t eventually end,” Baiyang said. “If you have feelings, you’ll have weak points. If you have weak points, you’ll have pain points. One day… others will threaten me the same way I threaten them.”

“But you’re strong enough,” I said. “How could truly powerful people fear threats?”

“What if I forget them?” Baiyang asked.