"Eh? Xiao Yu!" Wang Da Dong's voice appeared and he ran up to Xiao Yu with Wang Ya Se following. "What are you doing out here?" he paused when he noticed Yu Yan, "Oh, Jiang Yu Yan? How come you two are together?" he asked.
 

Yu Yan kissed her teeth: her peace would come to an end now. "Why do I have to explain to you?" She hissed before standing up and leaving.

Wang Ya Se turned and watched her leave, "She's an interesting person." he spoke, "Being a blind student in Zhong Ji Yi Ban is pretty impressive."
"How come you two were together?" Da Dong asked, settling himself down next to Xiao Yu.
"No reason," he answered plainly, "I just wanted some peace."
"Oh?" Da Dong asked, playfully, "Really?"
Xiao Yu rolled his eyes, "You're thinking too much of it. I had no intention of talking to her."
"But you sat next to her~" Da Dong continued, before being interrupted.

"Pythagoras said: 'Silence is better than unmeaning words.'" Ya Se Wang announced elegantly as a large scroll appeared before him with the words which he had just quoted whilst classical music echoed in the background.

"Egomaniac, Xiao Yu is not the type to start a meaningless conversation." He explained, “Why would he even talk to someone like her anyway?”
"Narcissist, you take the fun out of everything!" Da Dong whined, "Let me have some fun!"
"What fun do you want? We're in school." Ya Se retorted, "And ever since we lost our battle points we've also lost most of our physical strength. Even attending class is tiring."

*~*~*

Jiang Yu Yan sat on a wall, away from Zhong JI Yi Ban. In her hand was a phone and it was placed to her ear, “Did you do it?” she asked into it quietly, being cautious of her surroundings. “…Great, we can continue then.” She then ended the call.

*~*~*

"Duan Chang Ren~!" Da Dong whined, "I'm so bored!" The three friends were sat at Duan Chang Ren's stall with a bowl of noodles each.
"I say, little friend Wang Da Dong, has nothing interesting happened in school?" He replied, "You youngsters are always doing the same old things everyday - try something new!"
"So what do you suggest?" Xiao Yu asked.

Duang Chang Ren smiled and then disappeared beneath the counter and in a few seconds he popped up again wearing an oversized woolly hat, scarf and gloves. In his hands was a half knitted sweater with knitting needles tangled in a ball of blue wool.

Ya Se sighed with a slight roll of his eyes, "Duan Chang Ren, it's not even winter yet." he commented, "And even if I wanted winter clothing, I can just buy some."
"Well okay, young Master." The stall keeper replied, playfully acting offended, "Let me try and please you with something else." With that, he disappeared once again and re-emerged wearing smart and old-style clothing, holding a chess board.
Wang Da Dong laughed dumbfounded, "Duan Chang Ren, you're not serious, right?"
"Egomaniac doesn't have the brain capacity or ability to play such a game!" Ya Se mocked, chuckling, earning a "Wei~!" from his best friend.

Xiao Yu smiled at his friends before looking at the adult in front of him. "Ding Xiao Yu, little friend," Duan Chang Ren spoke suddenly, almost seriously, "What do you do when you're bored and need entertainment?"
Finding it an odd question, Xiao Yu replied honestly, "I play piano."
"You're always surrounded by some sort of noise?" he asked.
"I would say so," Xiao Yu replied slowly, with a slow nod, "Da Dong and Ya Se are pretty noisy but when you're around them as much as I am, you get used to it."
"I see... you have a simple life." Duan Chang Ren nodded slowly, as though he was thinking about something important in his head.
"Excluding everything that has happened with Hei Long and all, yeah I guess so." Xiao Yu looked up at him, confused, "Why? Is there anything wrong?"

"Remember to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose." Duan Chang Ren looked at each of the three friends directly as he spoke, with a stare so serious that shivers could be felt running down their backs. "There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from."

"Eh? What lessons? What blessings? What silence within myself?" Da Dong blurted out, "I don't understand what silence has to do with all this. Aren't you just saying nonsense?"
Ya Se smiled, amused, "Egomaniac, Duan Chang Ren is trying to give us some old words of wisdom to keep us entertained."
"Old?" said person exclaimed, "I'm not that old Ya Se Wang, little friend!"

"But," Ding Xiao Yu paused, "You're acting weirder than usual today."
"Am I?" Duan Chang Ren asked with a small smile.
"You know something we don't." KO4 pointed out, "You're not making any sense at all today. You talked about other ways of entertaining ourselves, then it was on the topic of noise and then to silence, and now to events with a purpose. Just what are you trying to say?"

Da Dong threw an arm around his friend's shoulder, "Xiao Yu, you're reading into it too much. This is Duan Chang Ren we're talking about; he's the definition of 'weird' and 'unusual'! Narcissist is right, he's just trying to entertain us with random nonsense." he reassured with a smile, "Now let's eat, I'm starving!"

As Xiao Yu ate his food silently, he glanced up at Duan Chang Ren who met his gaze. Although the duration of eye contact was short, Xiao Yu saw meaning behind Duan Chang Ren's words in his eyes, but just what was he trying to say to him? It was obviously a message directed at Xiao Yu, but what was it? His words didn't make any sense but he felt like they had some sort of meaning. Or was he just thinking too much into it like Da Dong had said? Something didn't feel right. From that moment onwards, Xiao Yu felt discomfort from the ignorance of Duan Chang Ren's words.