The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

Organizing and categorizing the messy items one by one, and watching the scene become tidy with your own eyes, is a godsend for some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Even ordinary people would feel a sense of comfort seeing such a scene.

It's clear that this "scapegoat" is an extremely serious person who is meticulous in his work.

She has great potential for research. If she has even one percent of genius inspiration, Gu Ran believes she can definitely produce one hundred percent genius results.

"Hey, you still haven't told me your name," Gu Ran said without stepping forward.

"Ah!?" The "punishment bag" picked up a test tube that had fallen to the ground, intending to put it in the box, but was startled and immediately dropped it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Gu Ran half-squatted down, wanting to help the other person pick it up.

However, to Gu Ran's surprise, before he could even squat down, the other person immediately picked up the test tube from the ground with a speed that he had never expected and put it into the box.

The process was incredibly smooth and pleasing to the eye.

"My senior said... I can't let anyone else touch these things, I have to organize them myself," Xue Xiling said weakly.

Gu Ran sighed. For some reason, he thought of his younger sister and felt a pang of pity.

"Why do you have to listen to everything your senior says? Would you be willing to die if she asked you to?" Gu Ran decided to have a serious talk with her.

"Huh? How could that be? My senior is very good to me. She's been mentoring me all along. As long as I can gain her approval, I'll definitely be able to stand on my own in the future," Xue Xiling said with anticipation.

Gu Ran fell silent.

In the end, he decided to drop the subject. This silly girl hadn't realized she was being bullied in the workplace, so no amount of badmouthing her would help.

"Forget it, she's not really my concern anyway. I'm not some saint who's going to correct someone who's gone astray. I should figure out what's wrong with the triangular crystal cone as soon as possible and then leave for Suzaku City."

After figuring this out, Gu Ran said, "I've asked so many times, and you still haven't told me your name. Do I have to say it again and beg you one last time?"

Although Gu Ran's tone wasn't blaming, Xue Xiling still seemed startled and said fearfully, "I...I didn't mean to, my name is...Li Xiling."

"Li Xiling? Not a bad name." Gu Ran looked the other person up and down and said, "Have you noticed anything unusual lately?"

"Abnormal?" Xue Xiling said, puzzled.

“It’s just different from what you usually encounter in your daily life… How should I put it? Have you ever seen anything that can fly around by itself? Not an animal, but some kind of object, like a cone shape…” Gu Ran tried to guide the other person.

However, with Gu Ran's explanation and guidance, Xue Xiling became even more confused.

"Oh dear, you haven't told me how to address you yet."

Lin Gang came up from behind and spoke loudly, seemingly casually, but he happened to interrupt Gu Ran and Xue Xiling's conversation.

"Looks like I need to find an opportunity to be alone with you, otherwise there are too many people in this team who are wary of me," Gu Ran thought to himself.

"I am Leng Ran." Gu Ran turned around and gave Lin Gang a slight fist salute, using Leng Feng's surname instead of his real name.

"Haha, Brother Leng Ran, I hope you don't mind me calling you that." Lin Gang also clasped his hands in a fist salute. "Although I have already reported to the school, we should return to Canglong City as soon as possible. We'll have to trouble you with the rest of the journey, Brother Leng."

Gu Ran's heart stirred, and he asked, "In the wilderness, there are almost no examples of so many ferocious beasts gathering together to attack humans. Do you know why the beast horde attacked you?"

"I don't know either. We were just attacked out of nowhere. Our captain was at the Qi Condensation Realm, but he was killed in one blow by one of the ferocious beasts. I thought that since they were able to kill our captain, there must be at least some elite-level ferocious beasts with very high combat power among these beasts, or even some lord-level ferocious beasts. But you saw the final result, Brother Leng Ran."

Lin Gang said with a puzzled tone, "We killed all those ferocious beasts, but even after killing them all, we didn't find any elite-level or lord-level ferocious beasts."

Gu Ran pondered for a moment, then suddenly revealed a hint of embarrassment: "There does seem to be an elite-level ferocious beast. It seems to be a wolf king mixed in with the ferocious wolf pack. Its combat strength should be quite strong. I guess it originally wanted to disguise itself as an ordinary ferocious wolf so that it could launch a sneak attack."

Lin Gang exclaimed in surprise, "How is it possible to kill a martial arts Qi Condensation Realm elite-level ferocious beast wolf that can disguise itself? I clearly saw you kill it with a single dagger strike..."

As he continued, Lin Gang's tone softened.

Yes, he saw Gu Ran kill all the ferocious wolf beasts one by one with a dagger, but that doesn't mean there weren't any elite-level ferocious beasts with superb combat power among them.

To put it another way, even a wolf king whose strength reached the elite level of a ferocious beast could not survive a single encounter with Gu Ran. Like an ordinary wolf, it could not exert the power of a wolf king at all and became a dead wolf.

Lin Gang swallowed hard, realizing he needed to reassess Gu Ran's strength.

With Gu Ran's strength, what's the point of him defending? The opponent alone could wipe out their entire squad.

Gu Ran was in such a frenzy of killing that he didn't really assess the strength of these ferocious beasts. In his eyes, all of them were about the same, and he could take them down with a dagger or a punch. He didn't expect that this would expose a significant portion of his strength and make Lin Gang fear him.

Upon learning that the ferocious beast that killed their captain was dead in Gu Ran's hands, the remaining two guards were overjoyed, and their attitude towards Gu Ran became exceptionally good.

After a brief rest, the group immediately began heading towards Canglong City.

Gu Ran kept looking for opportunities to talk to Xue Xiling along the way, inquiring about her situation from various angles.

Faced with Gu Ran, who has a social anxiety disorder, Xue Xiling, who has a social autism disorder, is completely at a loss, as if she has met her nemesis. Gu Ran keeps controlling the topics of conversation.

After learning of Gu Ran's true strength, Lin Gang stopped staying by Gu Ran's side and being cautious and wary of him. Instead, he used a communicator to communicate with the rescue team at the front and the school, reporting their current situation.

Gu Ran was too lazy to guess Lin Gang's little schemes; it was good that he didn't bother her.

After testing her for a while, Gu Ran felt that this girl was a bit rough on the outside but delicate on the inside. She seemed easy to bully and usually appeared to be absent-minded and couldn't remember anything, but in reality, he could feel that her mouth was very tight.

When the conversation turned to more important topics, such as when Gu Ran felt that her identity was somewhat suspicious and asked her more questions, she would stop talking and not explain anything. She simply became "mute" and would not say anything more no matter how you tried to get information out of her.

Gu Ran was somewhat helpless. He hadn't expected this girl to be so tight-lipped. He thought she was an innocent girl who was easy to fool, but he didn't expect her to be so alert and determined.

Along the way, Gu Ran also noticed that Ye Liqing was glaring at them from the other side, her anger practically spitting fire.

Gu Ran looked back, chuckled, and didn't say anything more.

After the battle, neither the researchers of the research team nor Lin Gang and his three escort team members paid any attention to Ye Liqing, only ensuring that she did not fall behind.

After losing her temper several times, Ye Liqing found that her authority was waning, and even invoking her father's name was useless. She knew that she could no longer command these people.

Finally, she looked at Li Xiling behind Gu Ran, this junior who dared not disobey her at all.

Ye Liqing walked up to Gu Ran and said loudly, "I told you to pack your things, and how did you pack them?! You didn't pack all those precious things, but only packed useless things. Did you think you could get praise just because you packed neatly?!"

After she finished speaking, she gave Gu Ran a smug look.

That clearly meant I was disciplining the junior girl; she could scold me all she wanted, but she had no right to interfere.

"I...I'm sorry, senior, I..." Xue Xiling wanted to apologize, but after thinking about it, she still didn't know how to apologize.

Most of those things were just ordinary value anyway, so it doesn't matter what you throw away or take with you. What matters are the documents and data.

But if the senior student scolded her like that, there must be a reason for it.

Xue Xiling thus meekly accepted Ye Liqing's reprimand.

Gu Ran, meanwhile, had been observing Li Xiling's demeanor and discovered that she genuinely respected Ye Liqing.

I really don't know what's so admirable about a woman like that; she's a complete paper tiger, easily punctured.

"What's wrong? You're upset because I said a few words to you? I'm doing this for your own good. It's fine if you're my assistant here, since I'm your senior and I can look after you. But if you become someone else's assistant, no, I'm really out of my mind. With your abilities, no other professor would hire you as an assistant."

Ye Liqing stood with her hands on her hips, her words like those of a shrew, each one piercing Xue Xiling's heart like a knife.

Before she knew it, Xue Xiling's eyes gradually reddened, filled with grievance, but she held back her tears.

But Ye Liqing was both disgusted and pleased by her appearance. Disgusted because she thought this junior was putting on a pitiful act to impress Gu Ran and get his help. Pleased because her words had worked. Why did she say that? Wasn't it just to provoke her?

"Hmph, cry, cry, all you do is cry all day long. If crying were useful, you would already be the top researcher at Lanxin University." Ye Liqing sneered. "Someone like you doesn't even have a bit of looks. If you don't work hard to find a good research job, you wouldn't even be wanted if you were sold to the red-light district."

"If you were sold to the red-light district, I think quite a few people would be willing to patronize your business. Tsk tsk, former associate professor and senior researcher at Lanxin University, your place would definitely be packed with customers."

Gu Ran's voice came through.

120. Gu Ran and Xue Xiling's "If only life were as beautiful as our first meeting" (4k)

Gu Ran hadn't expected Li Xiling to be so weak, even tolerating such words.

In the end, Gu Ran couldn't resist and decided to help her.

Of course, this wasn't entirely due to his soft heart; he also wanted to find another breakthrough with her.

Gu Ran's sudden interruption surprised the two women.

However, Ye Liqing was angry and surprised, while Xue Xiling was more puzzled.

"How dare you, a bounty hunter, talk to me like that?!" This time, Ye Liqing finally couldn't hold back and started cursing at Gu Ran.

"Heh... I'm a bounty hunter, but I earn my living through my own abilities. I only eat what I'm capable of, and I work alone so I don't drag anyone else down with me," Gu Ran said calmly. "Unlike you, you idiot, your brain is full of shit. Do you even have the right to lead a research team from Lanxin University? Don't you know how you got your associate professor title? Instead of keeping a low profile, you act like a mad dog, biting anyone you can, needlessly making enemies for yourself."

"Do you think your father is clean? Even if he is the president of Lanxin University, he still has enemies who can bring him down. Besides, your father is not a highly respected president of Lanxin University. This time, you led the scientific expedition team out, and because of you, the team suffered heavy losses. Do you think you can still retain your title of associate professor at Lanxin University?"

"When the investigation is thorough, everything about you will be exposed, and even your father will be held accountable because of you. It's not scary to be an idiot; what's scary is being an idiot without realizing it."

"You!" Gu Ran's contemptuous words completely enraged Ye Liqing. She immediately pulled out the pistol from her waist and pointed it at Gu Ran.

boom!

There was a gunshot.

Everyone was shocked.

What's going on? Ye Liqing really shot that bounty hunter?

Hearing the gunshot, Lin Gang became even more anxious. He wasn't worried about Gu Ran's safety, but rather about Ye Liqing provoking Gu Ran. At that moment, he even wanted to kill her himself.

If we anger him... that could get everyone killed.

Bounty hunters are not exactly gentlemen; they can do anything, even things that defy morality, for a bounty, and there are very few bounty hunters who abide by worldly rules and order.

Although Gu Ran had always acted "kindly," Lin Gang had never let his guard down.

She's too busy flattering him to even think about it, you stupid woman!

Lin Gang rushed towards Gu Ran, intending to immediately capture Ye Liqing and then apologize to Gu Ran.