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Chapter 23

Entering V Tripled Chapter~

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Although Xie Chengyan entertained this possibility, it being confirmed as true was still somewhat unexpected.

People’s line of thoughts were sometimes deceptive, always trying hard to rake in all kinds of spider’s threads and horse tracks to assemble an outcome they desire. Therefore, he had fully prepared himself psychologically for the outcome to be “they thought too much.” Who would have thought it really was the person they had been looking for. 

He clicked his tongue and said, “Your tied fate is quite deep ah.”

Fang Jingxing’s mood was fantastic. He laughed, voicing an “En.”

Xie Chengyan suggested, “We can invite him out to eat a meal.”

Fang Jingxing said, “He might not be nearby. He might have been here earlier simply for surgery.”

He cheerfully curled his lips. “But auntie knows him. This is certain. When will she be back?”

Xie Chengyan glanced at the time. “Already done with work; I’ll ask.”

After he said this, he gave Jiang Shilan a call.

There was no answer on the other side. On the contrary, a car sound could be heard from downstairs. He walked over to the balcony to take a look and discovered Jiang Shilan’s car. The two of them then went downstairs and helped Jiang Shilan carry in bags of groceries.

Jiang Shilan saw Fang Jingxing’s car in the yard, so she was not surprised when he showed up. Smiling, she asked, “Have you two eaten?”

Xie Chengyan replied, “No.”

Jiang Shilan knew the answer would be no; otherwise, how could her son not tell her in advance there was no need to wait for him at dinner?

She said, “Then you two take a seat. I’ll prepare you a meal.”

Xie Chengyan did not see the housekeeper auntie when he came home, and he also saw his mom personally buy groceries. He understood. “Auntie requested a leave of absence?”

Jiang Shilan said, “En, she has something to do at home.”

Xie Chengyan asked, “Where is my dad?”

Jiang Shilan replied, “He is working overtime today, so he’s eating at the research institute.”

Xie Chengyan agreed. After his mom changed clothes and came back downstairs, he followed her to the kitchen to lend a hand.

Fang Jingxing naturally wouldn’t sit there and also followed. Jiang Shilan urged them several times, but it was useless. With no other choice, she let them in.

Xie Chengyan’s father was the youngest of three and so did not have the pressure of inheriting the family estate. He wholeheartedly wanted to just do research, but the Xie family’s estate was, after all, not for decoration. Xie Chengyan was also born with a golden spoon in his mouth. Excluding the troubles of an actor when shooting a movie, he had never eaten hardship.

Fang Jingxing went even more without saying. Apart from the fatigue from being a professional player, he also did not eat any hardship.

When the two young masters entered the kitchen, they could only strip the vegetables down to the edible parts and wash them. Occasionally, they would help pass over things.

Even though it was like this, the two were completely enthusiastic, even feeling similar to a breeze springing up and creating waves on the water.^[1]

Jiang Shilan saw their eager, attentive attitudes. For a split second, she suspected they were definitely in a relationship and wanted to come out of the closet to her.

The Alliance male god Fang Jingxing was even washing vegetables. His attitude was also extremely heart-warming and eye-pleasing.

He sensed the askance look sent his way and slightly turned his head, asking, “What’s the matter, auntie? Do you need something?”

Jiang Shilan shook her head and continued to work with her hands.

When the meal was finished, she watched the two children serve food and even pulled out her chair for her like gentlemen. She sat down, amused. “Speak, what’s the matter?”

Xie Chengyan asked, “Mom, do you remember roughly three to four months ago, how you asked me to use the Wandering Dream equipment?”

Jiang Shilan did not expect to be asked about this and was immediately startled.

She eyed their expressions and said, “Remember.”

Xie Chengyan asked, “Who did you give it to?”

Jiang Shilan said, “A friend.”

She asked without a word or movement out of place, “What’s up?”

Xie Chengyan said, “He is especially awesome at playing the game.”

Fang Jingxing followed the conversation and briefly recounted the matter once through, expressing how he very much wanted to sign him. Therefore, he wanted to know the other’s basic circumstances.

Jiang Shilan remained silent for a moment.

She naturally trusted Jingxing’s club, and she also wished for Jiang Chen to be able to smoothly compete in the future.

But Jiang Chen participated in the cryostasis project, and as family members, his father, his older brother, and she knew about this. Besides them, no one else knew. At present, the project was caught at an impasse, and there was a non-disclosure agreement. She could not speak of it to outsiders. Regardless of her being a relative, if she was merely a person of no great importance to the subject, her personal integrity as a researcher would not allow her to speak of this.

However, she could not directly tell them, “I cannot speak of it.”

Because this child Jingxing was too intelligent.

She had watched him grow up. This child was gentle and soft; considerate of other people’s needs; sensible and obedient; charming; but he was absolutely not harmless. He was very meddlesome, and as long as a slight clue was revealed, he could think up a rough outline. After so many years,  she had not once seen him eat a loss.

Therefore, she could only speak the truth as much as possible, so as to avoid creating “a lie was full of countless lies” situation and allowing Jingxing to spot a hole.

She said, “His situation is a bit special. I need to first get consent from the person himself before I can tell you both.”

Fang Jingxing and Xie Chengyan were simultaneously surprised.

They originally thought it was a trivial matter of “who did you lend my stuff to,” so Xie Chengyan had straightforwardly asked.

Even if they knew that Seal Master did not play professionally, there might be some insights. But despite them being her own son and a son in all but name — not to mention their deliberate, extravagant fawning just now to make Jiang Shilan smile — based on Jiang Shilan’s nature, she certainly would speak up. Who would have thought their plan actually failed.

Fang Jingxing couldn’t refrain from beginning to reflect on what kind of special circumstance caused Jiang Shilan to not talk at all. He voiced, “Then forget about it; no need to ask him. I’ll spend some time with him and will ask him myself.”

He could sense  that the Seal Master might have some kind of misgivings, so he had asked Jiang Shilan. It was also because he did not clearly understand the specific circumstances and was afraid he would try to be clever and end up with egg on his face if he asked hastily. That was why he wanted to come to Jiang Shilan’s place, make some inquiries, and see if he could help settle any problems.

Now since his questioning came up with nothing, then it was best to not let the Seal Master know about this matter, to avoid the other being unhappy and blacklisting him.

He thereupon changed topics. “Is he still in Wencheng?”^[2]

Jiang Shilan said, “Yes.”

Fang Jingxing probed, “Is his health no good? I heard he had surgery.”

Jiang Shilan replied, “Already recovered.”

Fang Jingxing nodded and did not ask anything else.

At the very least, he knew that boy was still within the county. Even if he disappeared again, he could also find that boy through Jiang Shilan.

Xie Chengyan, on the contrary, was a bit curious about the Seal Master. After all, separated by the internet, who knew whether the person across the screen was a ghost.

He asked, “How old is he? Is he really a man?”

Jiang Shilan felt helpless. “Is a man, 18.”

She paused and then corrected, “No, 19.”

Fang Jingxing heard this and thought it funny.

Last time, that boy really did look at him with an unfavorable gaze, insisting on having him call the other uncle.

Xie Chengyan sighed with sorrow. “So young, just happening to fit the age to compete……hey, what does he like? Next time I go shoot a movie or record a program, I will give him a gift and tell him that I recognize him as a younger brother.”

Jiang Shilan looked at him and tried with great difficulty to control her expression. “Let’s talk about it later.”

She did not want to continue this topic and asked, “How long can you stay home this time?”

Xie Chengyan said, “No work after shooting a magazine cover tomorrow, so I can stay for about a month, taking a vacation.”

Jiang Shilan smiled. “En, you should take a proper rest.”

A meal was eaten peacefully.

Fang Jingxing stayed for nearly an hour after the meal was done. He then got up and said his goodbyes.

Xie Chengyan sent him off before returning inside and looking at his own mother. “In the end, what is his situation? I guarantee I won’t tell Jingxing.”

Jiang Shilan said, “Don’t ask.”

Xie Chengyan embraced her shoulder and acted cute. “Tell~”

Jiang Shilan said, “Other people’s privacy.”

Xie Chengyan thus shut up.

Jiang Shilan hesitated for a moment before telling, “He might look a bit unreasonable, but he is really nice. You all should get along well in the game.”

Xie Chengyan said, “I got it.”

He returned to his room to take a shower. While he toweled his hair, he sent his friend a message: Done, even to me, my mom said nothing.

Fang Jingxing was in the middle of driving, so the phone read out the message to him verbally.

After he heard it, he recalled a previous question he had —— what made Jiang Shilan be unwilling to talk?

Common family reasons would not be so bad that she would be unwilling to talk.

Then was it some bodily disability or defect that made him unwilling to show his face in public?

With something like this, a person would have low self-esteem. That Seal Master did not seem like someone with low self-esteem.

Not only did he not seem like it, that temperament probably had the ability to make others have low self-esteem.

Within Fang Jingxing’s mind, that refined persona of the Seal Master that was actually not at all refined flashed through. His lips subconsciously curled into a smile as he replied, “Don’t ask. Let’s take it easy.”

In any case, the person was already before his eyes.

He drove home and headed upstairs. After a quick shower, he put on the eyeglasses and entered the game, discovering that Xie Chengyan had entered long ago.

However, the Film Emperor was currently just a pitiful Level 27 and could not leave the territory. Those in the gang were taking him to level.

Jiang Chen was naturally included.

They hit several instances during these three days, with their levels already being in the 40s. Hitting the small instances within the territory was simply no trouble at all. He thus did not feel like fighting with all his strength, paddling water as he chatted with Xie Chengyan. He then heard his nephew disgracefully want to recognize him as a younger brother and immediately refused.

Xie Chengyan was very surprised.

That boy was his passerby fan and also liked his little uncle. He was also familiar with his mom. Moreover, Jinxing wanted to recruit him into the club after consideration……because the fate bringing them together was so deep, he thus wanted to recognize the other as a younger brother. He originally thought this was going to be a cinch. In the end, the other party had a different idea.

He asked, “Why?”

Jiang Chen stated, “I do not like others calling me younger brother.”

Xie Chengyan settled for second best. “Then you call me brother.”

Jiang Chen looked at him. “Is there a difference?”

Xie Chengyan said, “Yeah, I’m not calling you younger brother, but you are unilaterally calling me brother.”

Jiang Chen said, “Not doable.”

Xie Chengyan asked, “You wouldn’t let me call you brother, right?”

Jiang Chen said, “It’s fine if you just call me by this ID.”

Xie Chengyan said, “Too distant.”

Captain Jiang quite agreed and then also settled for second best. “At home, I am second in seniority. How about you call me uncle, but I won’t call you nephew?”

Xie Chengyan inwardly thought, you — this was a little shameless, didn’t you already finish secondary school ah?

He conscientiously said, “World Annihilation is very pleasant to hear.”

The subject was hereunto concluded.

The two men started a new one.

Jiang Chen explained to his nephew the hidden plot.

Xie Chengyan listened with keen interest, especially the segment where the gate-watching uncle was kicked and the group beat up the Diviner. He clicked his tongue twice and deeply felt that this boy was very interesting. He asked, “You really won’t recognize me as a big brother? I’ll take you to see stars.”

Jiang Chen said, “Won’t recognize.”

Xie Chengyan asked, curious, “Then what will make you recognize?”

Jiang Chen stated, unperturbed, “If you win a PK against me, I’ll recognize.”

Xie Chengyan saw the party members were all absorbed in hitting the boss and drew a bit closer. He lowered his voice and said, “I am no match for you, but my little uncle is definitely able to beat you. I heard Jingxing say you like Jiang Chen. Do you know he is my little uncle?”

Jiang Chen glanced at him. “Oh, is that so?”

Xie Chengyan heard his flat tone and thought, sure enough, he did know.

He had yet to mention the closed beta account and his mom’s matter. Seeing this boy pretend to be naive, he also temporarily pretended to be naive. “Yes, if you don’t believe, then some day, I will go to my grandfather’s house. We’ll video call, and I will show you my little uncle’s trophies. There are Wandering Dream League Tournament’s Season 1 and Season 2 trophies, as well as Season 2 MVP……”

He wanted to borrow his little uncle’s might so this younger brother would recognize him, but after mentioning these things, he felt he was being both childish and disrespectful to his little uncle. He felt even more regretful and said, “I watched his competition videos. He was really awesome, but unfortunately, I have not been able to talk to him.”

Jiang Chen was silent for a moment and then stroked the other’s head.

Xie Chengyan raised a brow. This chuunibyou^[3] youth could actually comfort people.

He recalled how his own mother evaluated this boy and inwardly thought, this person seemed not bad.

Jiang Chen withdrew his hand and asked, “Who do you think is more powerful between your little uncle and Fang Jingxing?”

Xie Chengyan was a little burdened by having to maintain his image as a star and his integrity. He did not boast brainlessly and truthfully said, “This I can’t say, but if they PK, I will certainly stand by my little uncle.”

Captain Jiang nodded, very satisfied with this nephew of his.

He glanced at the set of fashion clothes his nephew was wearing and estimated that he was not lacking any pieces. He thus sent flowers.

Wandering Dream had a flower delivery system. Flowers could be used as a confession, but it could also express feelings of fondness and adoration. The popularity list within the rankings were ranked according to the number of flowers received. The quotes sent alongside the flower gifts within domestic servers followed the local customs. The chosen quotes were ancient verses with some modifications made. If players sent a certain amount, they could choose whatever quote they liked.

Jiang Chen passed over all those “when the mountains have flattened, when the heavens and earth fuse as one”^[4] and such verses and chose, with difficulty, a verse that did not look that much like a confession. He pressed the send button.

[System] Player World Annihilation gifted Player Halite 99 roses. Rain falls on Musa basjoo this night,^[5] the person before my eyes is my fated destiny.

Xie Chengyan’s entire body was shrouded by a flower special effect. He froze before asking with laughter, “What are you doing, sending me flowers suddenly?”

Jiang Chen said, “You deserve it.”

Xie Chengyan could not touch upon what he meant for a while. He was about to ask for more clarification, only to see a message appear.

[Loudspeaker] Male God Wants To Marry: [screenshot] This is the person himself???

People curiously opened the file and were shocked.

World Annihilation appeared cold and mocking. Since the servers launched, he had only bubbled once, in order to publicly call out people. Such a person could unexpectedly send flowers to someone. What was this situation? Could it be that the server’s first pot of dog blood had a follow-up?

The instance party had just finished hitting the boss. The group of players looked at the two persons involved and withdrew from the instance after brushing the corpse. At the gate, they ran into a Master of Darkness, who had been looking for them.

Although they also ate melons, after interacting the past few days, they all could see that the Seal Master and Master of Darkness were not sweethearts, but they did not know what sort of entanglement existed between the two. Moreover, this other party admired by the Seal Master was the Halite he wanted to add to the ranks, and they also did not know what relationship there was between the two.

Seeing the three face each other at the moment, Squeezing Purple and co silently moved aside, making way for the Master of Darkness.

Fang Jingxing drew them all into a party and said, “Let’s go, hit a ten-person instance.”

Squeezing Purple and co: “……”

No, 99 flowers ah, you aren’t going to comment?

The previous incident when you lovingly received fireworks pitapat, did you forget?

They once again eyed the trio. Hearing Escape Empath cough dryly, they forced themselves to endure the desire to investigate and headed toward the ten-person instance.

The trio unhurriedly followed in the back. Fang Jingxing glanced at a certain confusing boy and had no choice but to admit that within his heart, there existed a trace of sourness. These days, he had accompanied the other party to hit instances, to level, to fish, and even to explore the plot. He was well-aware that he had never treated any other player so well, but he had received not one flower.

He joked, “Only gifting him, but not me?”

Jiang Chen said, “Passerby fan.”

Fang Jingxing kindly reminded, “I remembered in the closed beta, a certain person also said he was my fan?”

Jiang Chen was very calm and collected. “That was a new fan.”

He looked at this thing. “The new fan’s life that day was too lively, so a decision was made to not be a fan.”

Fang Jingxing said, “I spoke with good intentions. That day was also not solely my fault.”

Jiang Chen was silent.

Indeed, he had previously just stood there and called out 6 before things got out of control.

Fang Jingxing, upon seeing this, smiled and asked, “Now, do you still have the wish to be a fan?”

Jiang Chen said, “No.”

To the side, Xie Chengyan listened to the entire thing from beginning to end and immediately laughed, taking joy in calamity and delight in disaster. He saw the gossiping masses all call out to him, asking him what he thought about the boss taking a fancy to him.

In the game world, no one knew his identity, so he was relatively free to fly and so bubbled.

[Loudspeaker] Halite: Because I deserve it [smug]

The gossiping masses stared at his bubble before once again becoming excited. One after another, they inquired as to what the Master of Darkness thought.

The Master of Darkness himself did not want to say anything, precisely because he had a subtle trace of disequilibrium. He reasoned that he must have the Seal Master be perfectly happy to give him flowers in the future. He then flipped through the flower delivery system and saw a poem he thought very much reflected his heart. He then used it.

[System] Player Darkness gifted Player World Annihilation 99 roses. Garments gradually hang looser on my frame as I regret endlessly, becoming thin and pallid due to your disappearance.

Jiang Chen remained unmoved and simply said his thanks, continuing to walk forward.

Xie Chengyan glanced at his friend and felt it was too wretched. He gave the other a consolation prize, straightforwardly allowing the system to choose a verse at random.

[System] Player Halite gifted Player Darkness 99 roses. Ask the world, what is love? A promise between us ‘til death do us part.

Everyone: “……”

Hoh, this melon appeared to be a bit fragrant! Love triangle!

Squeezing Purple and co suppressed the urge to turn around to look. Finally, they arrived at the instance gateway.

The party entered to hit the instance, and when they exited, they looked at the three individuals, wanting to know whether an outburst would occur. They saw the Seal Master serenely say, “I’m going off. See you tomorrow.”

Squeezing Purple and co: “……Going off immediately?”

Jiang Chen said, “En, going to bed.”

Xie Chengyan had come alone around eight o’clock. Jiang Chen played together with him for a while before also going offline at half-past nine.

Squeezing Purple and co played with him for three days and knew he went offline at a fixed time every day. Who would have thought that despite today’s situation, he was still not shaken by thunder. Once again, they thought this was a Wolf Blazer as they watched him disappear on the spot.

Xie Chengyan was somewhat surprised. “He goes to bed so early?”

Fang Jingxing said, “He has a disciplined work-rest balance.”

Xie Chengyan felt admiration. He then followed them and switched to another ten-person instance.

Squeezing Purple and co observed surreptitiously and discovered the Assassin and Master of Darkness’ relationship was pretty good, but it did not look to have a spark. They surmised the two might have sent the gifts for fun but felt this answer was an especially unpleasant surprise. The corner of their mouths twitched downward before they obediently carried the Assassin to Level 35.

Xie Chengyan finally stepped out of the territory and chose a system, joining the As One Wishes gang. He then played with them for a while before going offline.

Next morning, everyone gathered at half-past eight and sat in the gang’s meeting room. They listened to the Master of Darkness explain his idea of fighting the Lion King.

Simply speaking, they had a summoning token Ling Huai gave them. When needed, they could call her to lend a hand.

Fang Jingxing said, “I looked at the map. Glazed Light River just happens to cross the Lion King’s domain. We’ll draw it to the riverside and then have Ling Huai fight.”

Members of As One Wishes didn’t know there was actually external aid and asked, “Can she defeat it?”

Fang Jingxing said, “Don’t know; let’s give it a try.”

It made sense. In any case, it was better than them leveling up to get stronger.

The party of eight then went to buy medicine before taking the teleportation formation to arrive at the grassland.

The majority of Wandering Dream’s max level monsters were active monsters. As long as players entered their range, they would actively launch an attack at the players. That hidden plot during the closed beta was discovered within a wild area of max level monsters. Because of this, no one dared to touch that mission so far. This time, the medicinal ingredients they wanted to find were also on some max level monsters. When fighting, they rubbed against the edge of the wild area. Full of trepidation, they drew a monster over and slowly grinded it. This way, they would not die.

In comparison, the Redstripe Lions were much easier.

The developers probably felt the Lion King was already difficult enough to kill, so they did not want to make the players to be harassed by the mobs while hitting the Lion King. Therefore, the Redstriple Lions were a rare passive monster. As long as it was not hit, it would not attack you.

However, several people still felt a bit frightened by the waist-high lions prowling back and forth beside them. Fang Jingxing said, “When hitting the Lion King later, pay attention to the attack range. Don’t hit these mobs.”

King Flying Bird said, “Whose control is this good?!”

Fang Jingxing said, “Then you guys don’t move. I’ll pull aggro.”

King Flying Bird and co simultaneously stared at this crispy skin and asked, “Can you pull it?”

Fang Jingxing replied, “Should be able to.”

Two minutes later, they saw the Lion King.

It was an entire size larger than the mobs, reaching as tall as an adult’s chest. On its body were veins colored a dark red, making it look malevolent and terrifying. Seeing it in the virtual reality edition was especially frightening.

King Flying Bird and the others looked at the Lion King and then at the river two hundred something meters away. They felt chilled.

Their levels were low, so they basically could only run away from the Lion King. It could kill them in two bites. If their luck was good, they could run ten meters. At the very least, it would take over twenty corpses to run this entire route. 

King Flying Bird swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “Can you……can you really do it?”

Fang Jingxing said, “En, you all run to the river. Seal Master stay.”

King Flying Bird and the rest said, “——what?”

Careless Magnificence: “Do you both not need us to help carry the burden?”

Most Beautiful Royal We: “Milk Mommy also not needed?”

Squeezing Purple: “Just you two?”

King Flying Bird: “You’re still crispy skins!”

Escape Empath lazily commented, “Don’t speak nonsense; listen to the commander.”

Upon the deputy leader’s word, they promptly shut up.

Silently, they made their way to the river, staring at those two in the distance with the thought that they would soon collect two corpses.

The remaining two looked at each other.

Fang Jingxing asked with a smile, “You understand, right?”

Jiang Chen said, “Understand, start.”

Fang Jingxing was very at ease as he walked up to the Lion King and threw over a basic attack. He then turned around and ran.

The Lion King roared, rushing forward to take a bite. The Master of Darkness instantly had only 10% blood left.

Flying Bird and the others: “……”

Just as they said, two corpses!

Fang Jingxing did not turn his head around. Before it took a second bite, he ate medicine, topping up his blood.

A second later, there was only 10% left. He thereupon switched to another type of red medicine. Soon, there was once again only 10% left.

King Flying Bird and co watched on, heart alarmed and body leaping.

If he took medicine a step too slow, he would become a flattened corpse. This was simply no different from walking a tightrope.

Before setting off, they bought all the red medicine they could buy at the present stage, altogether four types.

But the medicine in the game all had a cooldown period. Before it ended, the medicine could not be consumed again.

“Third type,” Careless Magnificence observed. “Once he consumes the fourth type, the first one should have cooled off?”

“No,” Escape Empath said. “Time’s not enough, too short.”

King Flying Bird howled in grief. “Then it’s over.”

While they chatted, Fang Jingxing finished consuming all the medicine.

The Lion King took a bite, leaving him with 10% blood again. Just as it was about to take another bite, Jiang Chen sent out a move from the side — a basic attack alongside a single-target attack — and immediately snatched the Lion King’s aggro.

He thus took over Fang Jingxing’s position and ran, continuing to pull the Lion King along.

Fang Jingxing followed him to the side, asking, “Have you grasped its attack frequency?”

Jiang Chen had studied the Lion King’s information these past two days and replied, “No need to worry.”

Fang Jingxing then asked no more questions, watching the other replenish his blood with precision without the slightest slip-up.

He smiled in satisfaction and waited for the Seal Master to also finish consuming his medicine. On his side, the medicine had all cooled down, so he quickly attacked, snatching the Lion King’s aggro once again.

King Flying Bird and the others directly kneeled.

“Holy shit!”

“Awesome!”

“Great Expert!”

“It’s us mortals who have eyes blind to jewels!”

Escape Empath had heard about the Seal Master’s strength.

But knowing of it was one thing; seeing it with his own eyes was another thing.

Indeed, this was just the fundamentals. Any professional player could accomplish this, but after thinking it over a bit, this was the first time the Seal Master was hitting the Lion King.

After only seeing Fang Jingxing pull the monster for a brief dozen seconds, he could perfectly do it himself. No wonder Fang Jingxing was being such a good person, agreeing to play the game together during this time with the other — it was indeed worth it.

The two took turns pulling the monster. Their movements were so fluid, it appeared like it was an official publicity video. In the blink of an eye, the Lion King was successfully pulled to the river bank.

Jiang Chen made a prompt decision. He fished out the summoning token and used it.

He saw the river water churn and a familiar girl leap out. Fang Jingxing and Jiang Chen simultaneously moved to hide behind her body. Ling Huai was just about to inquire as to what she was looking for, only to raise her head and see a lion charging at her with its bloody mouth wide open like a sacrificial bowl. “Ya!” She slapped it aside.

The Lion King’s blood “brushed” down one-third.

King Flying Bird and co: “……”

WTF!

The aggro produced was huge. The Lion King immediately dropped the players and specifically fixated on Ling Huai to bite.

Ling Huai sent out a move with another “ya,” and the Lion King’s blood once again dropped a third.

Everyone was incessantly rejuvenated by watching this. One after another, they gave this missy a call.

However, the missy’s appearance time was limited. After the third hit, she waved at Jiang Chen and the others before leaving.

The group: “……”

This was what people do?!

The external aid was automatically designated as an ally to the team of players. After the Lion King lost its priority target, its gaze then turned to the rest of the players.

Its blood had yet to reach 10%, and its aggro was maxed out. Its attack smashed into the group, and the lowest leveled Xie Chengyan was directly thrown onto the street. The remaining seven players were all left with minimal blood.

It immediately launched a single-target attack. At the moment, Fang Jingxing, who had just replenished his blood completely, had the highest aggro value. Once again, he was left with only a sliver of bloody skin.

Jiang Chen, upon seeing this, hastily pulled the aggro to his side but to no avail. The Lion King released another group attack, throwing three of the team out onto the street. Amongst these three were Fang Jingxing, who had no time to jump out of the attack’s range.

One thigh was dead, and it was too difficult for one to be a solo pillar.

A second later, a corpse floated on the surface of the river. The Lion King valiantly roared before majestically prancing off. 

The party of eight revived on the spot and weren’t discouraged, as they all saw the hope of victory.

Normally, even if the Lion King had only 10% blood remaining, it was not something they could handle at their level, but Miss Ling Huai’s attack could break and reduce its defense, making it significantly easier for them to hit. 

Fang Jingxing said, “Another round. This time, you do not need to go down to the river. When Ling Huai confronts it, World Annihilation and I will climb ashore to find you. When we’re all ashore, we’ll launch an all-out attack at it.”

The rest of the group nodded simultaneously.

Movement was restricted in the water, making it too difficult to bear.

Fang Jingxing briefed them on the particulars before taking the Seal Master to once again look for the Lion King.

The two of them had experienced it once, so the second time was akin to handling a butcher’s cleaver with ease. They ran after summoning Ling Huai. When the Lion King found them, they had already moved into formation.

The two thighs combined were the absolute best commander. Although there had been some confusion in the middle, they were all successfully stabilized.

The blood within these players heated up and boiled. Attacks of all levels and power smashed into the Lion King, who roared angrily at the sky — “bang” — before falling. 

Instantly, a golden announcement floated up: 【 Congratulations Players World Annihilation, Darkness, King Flying Bird, Careless Magnificence, Squeezing Purple, Escape Empath, Most Beautiful Royal We, and Halite for successfully killing the Redstripe Lion King, achieving the first kill accomplishment! 】 

The entire server exploded.

[World] Lacking One Rice: ???

[World] Romance Pledge: ??????

[World] Little Goldfish: Am I crazy or is the system crazy?

[World] Assist Protect: Investigated them one by one; one at Level 51, six in Level 40 range, as well as one only at Level 35!

[World] One Orange Tree: Can that kill the Lion King?

[World] Mobei Demands Dried Fish: If the Lion King ate them all, I’m afraid they will not be enough to stuff the gaps between its teeth.

[World] Isatis Root: Where are they, squeak!

[Loudspeaker] King Flying Bird: Hahahahaha, invigorating!

[Loudspeaker] Unhesitatingly Envious: You all who live awesome lives can also only be envied.

[Loudspeaker] Squeezing Purple: Look well, it’s first time has been taken by us [blow a kiss][screenshot][screenshot][screenshot]

Everyone hastily opened the files, discovered they were screenshots of the Lion King’s corpse, and went crazy again.

[World] Lacking a Rice: WTF!

[World] This Sect Are All My Friends: WTF!

[World] Releasing That Fish: WTF!

[World] One Leaf Boat: I have read too little books, how can this be motherfucking hit?!

[World] Paper Is Too Difficult To Write: I have, on the other hand, read a lot of books, but I, your servant, also do not understand ah!

[World] Too Long Windbreaker: Come, come, come, tell us, why did you hit?

However, the party of eight did not bubble again.

After seizing the Lion King’s tooth, they had gathered all the medicinal ingredients and thus returned to give them to the Diviner.

The Diviner was extremely happy. He impatiently boiled a large pot of murky black substances. Facing a mirror, he smeared the cream on his face and then poured the contents of the bowl, which had less than half remaining, into a bottle. With a quacky laugh, he said, “This is good medicine. I heard it can even raise the dead. I am certain it can cure my face.”

King Flying Bird asked, “Then you should directly drink it; can’t it cure your entire body?”

The Diviner blocked his ears and did not listen. Not wasting anymore time, he hummed a folk tune as he took out a crystal ball. He said, “Give the token to me. I’ll help you divine.”

Xie Chengyan was very curious. “Won’t he be disrespecting the gods by divining in exchange for a pile of medicine?”

Jiang Chen replied, “Who knows, just watch.”

After he finished speaking, he took out Jiali’s token and handed it over.

The Diviner grasped it in his hand and muttered to himself. Visibly, the crystal ball emitted a beam of light that briefly illuminated the dusky wooden house. That face with features too horrible to endure viewing was also lit with an unfathomable tint, making the party of eight greatly surprised. They thought, this Diviner was actually not boasting. It seemed he really was very awesome.

A moment later, the Diviner set down the pendant. “Bleh—” He vomited a mouthful of blood. 

Party of eight: “……”

Don’t tell me he will produce demon moths^[6] again? 

The Diviner said, “Cough……cough cough, I…I found out……”

Party of eight: “……”

Oh, fortunately he found out.

You also didn’t need to play so many tricks.

The Diviner fished out a pill to eat, relaxing slowly.

He wrote down a coordinate and said, “I could only find this and couldn’t get any closer. He should be over there.”

Jiang Chen accepted the paper and saw the mission successfully refresh. He then turned around to walk outside.

The others followed him, but just as they pushed the door, they heard the Diviner excitedly wash his face. Agreeing by chance, they turned back, wanting to see this plot finish and see his restored looks.

The Diviner did not care that they were standing in a circle and watching. He quickly washed away the medicine and picked up a mirror to look — seeing a face full of wrinkles as well as numerous blood-filled pimples.

Party of eight: “……”

Help, their eyes!

The Diviner and King Flying Bird simultaneously shrieked, both feeling especially sincere: “Aaaaahhhhh——!” 

Most Beautiful Royal We immediately kicked King Flying Bird. “What are you hollering for?! You scared me!”

King Flying Bird was bitter and hateful. “Not cured. We painstakingly procured those medicinal ingredients only for him to waste it like this; I hate!”

The rest of the group were, for a while, unexpectedly left speechless.

Fang Jingxing smiled and suggested, “You can hit him again.”

King Flying Bird looked over at the little gremlin sobbing and gasping for air. He raised his weapon before lowering it again, saying, “Forget about it. He’s already miserable enough. Let’s go.”

The group soon arrived at the coordinate.

Before their eyes was a gloomy forest, with a light layer of fog loosely shrouding it. Even though it was daytime, there was not a single ray of light able to penetrate through. 

Jiang Chen looked at the place name: Forest of Despair.

He asked, “How much despair?”

Fang Jingxing smiled and said, “There are no displayed coordinates here. A person with a poor sense of direction is likely to lose their way. Inside, there are various poisonous things; if one’s not careful, they will be poisoned while treading through.”

Jiang Chen nodded and felt it was not bad.

The party of eight then entered the forest and began looking for their target.

While they concentrated on their mission, the forum over yonder had already exploded.

Today was Saturday, and there were far more people online in the morning compared to the weekday. The matter of Dawnstar Reflecting Fate killing the Redstripe Lion King had just been uploaded to the forum, the post heating up. The bosses discussed for a long time, all of them not understanding how they hit it.

“Don’t tell me it’s because of the hidden mission. Doing this mission, it dropped the difficulty?”

“If the difficulty dropped, the system wouldn’t have given an announcement.”

“Then how did those motherfuckers hit it. Did Dawnstar Reflecting Fate ask?”

“We asked, they did not say ah.”

Redstripe Lion King, as the most powerful wild monster within Wandering Dream, was really conspicuous.

In just one morning, following “Bosses Collectively Streaking,” another topic about Wandering Dream —— “Dawnstar Reflecting Fate Redstripe Lion King First Kill” —— also climbed the hot search.

When the internet-addicted youths of every club crawled out of their blanket burritos one after another, the hot search had already entered the Top 10.

All the captains had killed the Redstripe Lion King and so were very surprised by this too. After reading the list of names, their gazes stayed on the Master of Darkness for two seconds before almost simultaneously asking a question: “Which server is Fang Jingxing in?”

The newcomers had paid attention to gossip and said, “Previously Dawnstar Reflecting Fate, but don’t know his current one.”

The several captains asked, “Previously?”

The newcomers then explained it all thoroughly.

The several captains found the time to flip through the forum, scanned through a certain duo’s love-hatred-enmity, and looked at the strange screenshots about “becoming thin and pallid due to your disappearance.” Apart from the Captain of Team TQ, who knew the facts, the other captains all suddenly saw the light. “As it turned out, he was looking for a Seal Master.”

The newcomers were puzzled. “Ah?”

The captains’ trains of thought were basically the same.

They pointed at that screenshot, reasoning, “Fang Jingxing is still in Dawnstar Reflecting Fate. He is there. Xie Chengyan is also definitely there. Xie Chengyan always plays an Assassin.”

They drew a circle around that sentence “I deserve it” said by Halite. “This is Xie Chengyan.”

As for this Seal Master……Fang Jingxing was willing to endure fireworks pitapat from him, and gifted flowers within the game as well. If this was not true love,  it was some other scheme. Seeing Fang Jingxing be so generous, the scheme was most likely not small.

The several captains said, “Now, all of you change servers to Dawnstar Reflecting Fate.”

The newcomers blanked out again. “Ah?”

They looked at the refined Seal Master in the screenshot and said, “Go test this Seal Master.”

The hot search stayed up. Players of Dawnstar Reflecting Fate were still discussing this matter.

Within the newly established Old But Vigorous Gang, the group of long retired “elderly” were sitting together and researching for a long time before simultaneously shaking their heads.

“Won’t do, can’t understand. Youngsters these days are too formidable.”

“Are they professionals?”

“This level, that is also unlikely ah. Old Du, what do you think?”

The addressed person indifferently said, “They are still fighting in matches right now. Professionals don’t have so much free time. Contrariwise, Fang Jingxing is retired; he might be one of them.”

“What’s the use of only one God?”

“Hoh, this party’s Seal Master walks the attack system and is an output. They could kill the Lion King, so the Seal Master is, at least, not water.”

“So what; is he at the same level as Shining Dawn Cheerful Orchid?”

“You’re also right. So, in the end, how did they kill it?!”

They discussed for a short while longer without reaching a solid reasoning.

Soon, it was noon, and they went to prepare a meal. Some went to pick up children from cram school. Thus, they all scattered.

The party of eight who caused all this were in the Forest of Despair, lingering all morning without finding their target. With no other choice, they had to drop it for the time being.

Xie Chengyan had to go shoot a magazine cover in the afternoon so he could not come. He regretfully told this to the Seal Master, and after hearing the other say they would go fight together when he came online in the evening, he could not help but ask whether the other would recognize him as a big brother again. After being rejected, he said, “Then let’s exchange contact details. We can keep in touch outside the game too.”

Jiang Chen’s birthday gift this year was a cell phone. Inside, there were only the names of his three family members.

He hesitated for a moment and then mutually added his nephew as a friend. He simply warned, “It is too inconvenient for me to answer video; I can receive audio.”

Xie Chengyan said, “Okay.”

Upon seeing this, Fang Jingxing also moved closer and added the Seal Master as well. He was immediately satisfied and watched as the other went offline.

As usual, Jiang Chen took a walk, ate a meal, and then took an afternoon nap.

He slept in a daze until ten minutes past two. He listened to the cell phone on his wrist go off and pressed connect. An audio message instantly rang out — a gentle voice with a light smiling expression embedded within; it was the voice of the Alliance’s male god that impregnated countless fans.

“Wake up and go online. We found the target.”

Jiang Chen could not help but tilt his head. He reacted a few seconds later and glanced at his cell phone, gaining a new awareness of a certain thing.

Although he was a little annoying, as well as a bit troublesome ——

But……his voice was still very pleasant to hear.

⬖ ⬩F⬩L⬩Y⬩ ⬗

The author has something to say:

Entering V so three-in-one chapter muah~

Expressing thanks to everyone for their overlord tickets and nutrient solutions, muah

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Footnotes:

[1] a breeze springing up and creating waves on the water: idiom, figuratively means flourishing/thriving/prosperous

[2] “Wencheng County is one of the five counties in the prefecture-level city of Wenzhou, in southern Zhejiang province” within China (Wikipedia)

[3] Chūnibyō (中二病) is a colloquial term typically used to describe early teens who have delusions of grandeur, who so desperately want to stand out that they have convinced themselves they have hidden knowledge or secret powers.

[4] 《上邪 | Shang Xie 》is a folk song of Yuefu, originating in the Han Dynasty. It is a love song about the heroine’s oath of eternal love. I translated the referenced verse below (it sounds far prettier in Chinese >~<)

山无陵，When the mountains have flattened,
江水为竭，when the rivers have drained of water,
冬雷震震，when thunderstorms rage during winter,
夏雨雪 ，when snow falls during summer,
天地合 ，when the heavens and earth fuse as one
乃敢与君绝！only then will I part from you!

[5] Taken from 宿洞霄宫 (Su Dongxiao Palace) by 林逋 (Lin Bu). Please enjoy my rough translation that is somewhat accurate after referring to various analyses.

秋山不可尽，秋思亦无垠。
Autumnal mountains are endless, autumn rouses boundless thoughts.
碧涧流红叶，青林点白云。
The blue mountain streams flow with red autumnal leaves, white clouds briefly touch the green forest.
凉阴一鸟下，落日乱蝉分。
A bird flies into the cool shade, the setting sun scatters the cicadas.
此夜芭蕉雨， 何人枕上闻。
Rain falls on Musa basjoo this night, who will be with me, listening with heads resting on pillows?

[6] demon moths: slang in pai gow/mahjong that means to create something out of nothing. There is a very long history as to how that happened, as it began because of a typo/misspelling and snowballed, 幺蛾子 aka 妖蛾子 (wordplay at work) literally means demon – moth.

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