We reached the Frost Cloud workshop at 11:30 pm.
Knock knock!
I carefully opened the door and looked into the living room after knocking. The lights were all turned on, and He Yi, Murong Mingyue and Beiming Xue were all sitting on the sofa looking like they were waiting for me.
"Big bro is back!" Beiming Xue said with a smile.
He Yi asked, "Why are you just standing there? Come in already!"
I pointed behind me and said, "Er… well… I brought someone back with me…"
"Oh really? It can"t be a certain pretty babe, can it?" Murong Mingyue replied with a giggle.
"..."
……
"Get in already!"
After Lin Yixin pushed me through the door, she slipped into the workshop and greeted everyone from the entrance, "Sister He Yi, Sister Mingyue, Beiming! Long time no see, everyone!"
Beiming Xue exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Wah! Sister Lin Yixin came back with you, big bro?"
I replied awkwardly, "Er… her university was closed by the time we finished supper, and Yiyi said she wanted to come here since it"s been a long while since she saw everyone. Do you mind her sleeping in your room for the night, Beiming?"
Beiming Xue nodded. "Not at all!"
……
Before He Yi and Murong Mingyue could rise to their feet, the intelligent Lin Yixin had already latched onto He Yi"s arm and shot her an affectionate smile, saying, "Sorry for missing most of the time for this Nation War and letting Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls bear all the burden, Sister He Yi. Please don"t get angry with me, hehe…"
He Yi burst into a giggle herself. "Of course not. If it wasn"t for your G.o.d"s Tear at the end, Lu Chen would"ve dropped to Level 0."
I added, "My account would"ve been deleted if I had dropped to Level 0."
"Ah? It was that bad?" He Yi exclaimed in surprise.
I nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. Resurrection Art isn"t a perfect skill."
Murong Mingyue immediately said, "This is a cla.s.sic "beauty saves the beast" story alright…"
I glared at her. "Who are you calling a beast?"
Beiming Xue suggested, "Should we play Legends of the Three Kingdoms since there are five of us today? We can sleep after a game or two…"
I nodded. "Sure. What do you girls think?"
The three girls nodded in unison. "Let"s do it!"
……
The battle began after the cards were put down, everyone had taken their seats.
During the first match, He Yi was the Emperor, and Beiming Xue and I were the Rebels. We pretended to be Loyalists, but the true Loyalists, Lin Yixin and Murong Mingyue, quickly figured out our ruse. Murong Mingyue"s Zhang Fei was unbeatable, so she annihilated both of us an instant.
During the second match, I was the Emperor, while He Yi and Lin Yixin were the Rebels. Abandoning me immediately and coordinating with each other like a well-oiled machine, they were able to take out both my Loyalists and myself.
During the third match, Lin Yixin threw in the towel very early into the game. While we were busy murdering the h.e.l.l out of each other, she took something out of her handbag and went away to the kitchen. A while later, she carried a tray of five tea cups to us and said, "I learned a little sado from a cute j.a.panese girl while I was abroad in Vancouver. Please give it a taste, everyone. It"s a Ning Shen Tea…"
I asked, "Awakening (Ning Shen) Tea? Will it keep us from falling asleep?"
"No way, I"m nowhere skilled enough to produce such an effect…"
While saying this, Lin Yixin carried a cup of tea to He Yi herself and said carefully and politely, "Sister He Yi, please give it a taste!"
He Yi accepted it without a word.
Murong Mingyue commented as she watched the scene, "What a lovely scene this is. Don"t you agree?"
He Yi and Lin Yixin both looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean, lovely?"
Murong Mingyue giggled. "I was just reminded of the olden days when a man receives a new concubine. This is exactly how the concubine serves tea to the first wife…"
"Pu…"
An amused He Yi looked like she didn"t know how she should react. Lin Yixin turned red as if she was found out.
……
Beiming Xue said with a smile, "Now that you mention it, it does look like that. Big bro, are you marrying both Sister He Yi and Sister Lin Yixin?"
I replied awkwardly, "What the f.u.c.k girl, I… haven"t thought about this yet…."
Lin Yixin let out a chuckle. "In his dreams!"
He Yi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like something this fantastic would happen to him. Yiyi and I ain"t that easy!"
I curled my lips and rose to my feet. I then wrapped a hand each around their waist and said with a smile, "Wives, I"m going to sleep, so come to my bed immediately…"
Murong Mingyue goggled at the unbelievable sight. "He"s acting uncharacteristically bold today. Was alcohol served at your supper, Yiyi?"
"No!" Suddenly, Lin Yixin let out a devious laugh and caught He Yi"s hand in her own. "Come on, Sister He Yi! Let"s go to his room and wait for him right now! Let"s see if he actually has the guts to carry out his claim!"
He Yi laughed. "You serious about this?"
"Sure I am!"
"Alright then…"
The two girls acted to walk into my room, and I immediately turned as white as a paper. It was one thing to say about such things and another to actually do them. I was sure I wouldn"t survive the night if this actually happened.
So I hurriedly stopped them in their tracks. "Wait…"
"What"s wrong?" both girls asked me in unison.
"My legs are shaking, so…"
"So shameful…"
……
In the end, Lin Yixin waved a hand at me and returned to the sofa, taking small sips from her tea cup. He Yi also sat back down before shooting me a glance. "By the way, Lu Chen, you really should take a shower. Mingyue told me that it"s been a week since she saw any of your clothes in the laundry basket…"
"I know…"
I blushed and ran into the shower room. Outside, the girls burst into cheerful laughter.
Jokes aside, everyone here could see that Lin Yixin had willingly made a compromise and improved her relations.h.i.+p with He Yi and Murong Mingyue greatly as a result. Not that there was anything wrong with allies improving their relations.h.i.+p with one another, but it was clear that both He Yi and Lin Yixin were locked in a mighty struggle of wits and psychological warfare for my love. Unfortunately, the object of their affections, namely me, couldn"t do anything to break this tie. One was the boss I deeply loved, and the other, a girl I loved just as deeply. How could I possibly make a choice between the both of them?
……
The night pa.s.sed by in the blink of an eye, and by the time I woke up it was already 8 in the morning. Lin Yixin had already called a cab and gone back to the university. We had promised each other to continue the grind at 8:30 am sharp!
Swhoos.h.!.+
After logging into the game, I crawled out of the tent just in time to hear a rustling sound from the tent next to mine. A while later, a beautiful wanderer carrying a war axe and wristguards with a pair of devil bells on them appeared. The Cambrian-grade item was quickly becoming a symbol of Lin Yixin, sp.a.w.ning a saying: “If you hear the ringing of the Devil Bell, then you know that the Fruit Knife G.o.ddess has arrived.”
"Where are we grinding today?" Lin Yixin asked with a smile.
I thought for a moment before answering, "Let"s fight at the mountaintop. There are Level 170 ancient mobs up there, and at our current level, they"ll give five times the experience or more! We"ll definitely hit Level 120 before the morning is over!"
"Alright then, let"s go!"
I summoned the Armored Ice Qilin Horse while Lin Yixin followed me on foot. Yesterday"s hard work gave us plenty of experience and equipment, so Lin Yixin was now wearing an absolutely broken Cambrian-grade Divine Armament and two Outstanding Purple Gold–grade pieces of equipment right now. Both of these items were Level 100 metal armor, and although they were nothing compared to the Devil Bell, the increase in Defense was still much appreciated.
Currently, the Devil Bell was sitting at the top of the Equipment Ranking and point-wise, it scored more than 30 times the runner-up. It was a sight that could drive a player into crying hax. According to Murong Mingyue, the only reason I got a super equipment like the Devil Bell was because my Nation War contribution points were eight times higher than Luo River G.o.d"s; an impossible achievement that could only be properly compensated with an equally impossible reward. In comparison, the 2nd place of the Nation War, Purple Lily"s super mage, only got a 4-star Outstanding Heaven-grade mage robe, nothing at all compared to the Devil Bell. The 3rd place"s reward was even worse; an Earth-grade item only. That being said, everyone in the ranking got a level reward, which was great for them and pointless for me because I had dropped to Level 70 or so at the time. The 7-Luck reward was definitely worth it, however.
……
We continued to climb up the mountain. The thick snow on the mountaintop was showing signs of melting, and after we reached the top, the entire map was colored blood-red. The color was meant to tell players that they were in the territory of the undead; a map that had fallen to the Night Creature faction. The mobs" levels were super high, and most players wouldn"t train here because the cost was too high. Lin Yixin and I paid no heed to the visual warning, however. With the Phantom Wolf King, an Immortal Rank Boss pet, carving open a path for us, we felt no pressure whatsoever!
A long trek later, we finally arrived at a map with rotten, pitch-black ground. Further ahead, there was a territory of the dead where large graves littered the ground until horizon, and ghastly cries filled the air—
Beep!
System Notice: You have entered the map "Ghastly Wail Cemetery"!
……
"Ghastly Wail Cemetery?" Lin Yixin blinked once before saying, "I"ve read about this place in the database. Even the weakest mob here is a Level 170 ancient mob. Are we sure we can do this?"
I raised the Cyan Netherworld Sword and declared confidently, "No problem. Did you forget that I"m the 4th ranker in the CGL Hall of Fame, and you are the 5th? If people our caliber were to be afraid to grind in a map like this, then who in the world would respect us?"
Lin Yixin raised her eyebrows as she replied, "Check your level again before you say that, you shameless, Level 110 b.a.s.t.a.r.d…"
"It"ll be fine! Risk and profit are two sides of the same coin, and with me around, nothing will dare to hurt you!"
The ground suddenly shook before I could finish my sentence. The next moment, an earthen spike burst out of the ground and pieced both me and Lin Yixin. It hurts!
17263!
20182!
Lin Yixin turned as white as a sheet of paper as she backed away. She had almost been one-shot. "What the h.e.l.l is this thing! It"s way too powerful! Little Cheat, it"s all on you now…"
"What the f.u.c.k, my level is only a bit higher than yours…"
"Well your equipment"s better, so get your a.s.s in there already!"
Left with no choice, I Charged toward the estimated source of the attack and hit the ground with War Crush. A bunch of damage numbers rose from the ground, and the rotten earth split apart to reveal an ugly, ghastly scorpion—
Cave Devil Scorpion LV-170 (Ancient)
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
HP: ???
Introduction: One of the protectors of the Ghastly Wail Cemetery, the Cave Devil Scorpion used to be the overlord species of the mountain. They transformed into the puppets of the Night Creatures after they were infected by the death plague. The Cave Devil Scorpions possess incredibly powerful twin blades and an incredibly poisonous tail. Countless adventurers had perished beneath their sharp talons.