The next day, Chaos Moon woke me up really early in the morning. After we ate breakfast, we left the hotel and took off. I only brought my phone and wallet with me. Chaos Moon brought a small bag and the ritual offerings she had bought the day before. Of course, they were mostly easily portable stuff like paper money. Offerings such as goat skulls and chicken blood would have to wait another day...
We stopped beside the road and waited. Cold wind blasted against my body and caused me to pull my clothes in. I looked left and right and felt like I was tricked, again.
"Chaos Moon."
"Hmm?"
"Is there really no place where we can buy a bus ticket or something? Must we wait here and flag down a car?"
"There is, actually, but I"m more accustomed to this, and it"s more convenient."
"f.u.c.k…"
……
A while later, I saw a bus in the distance and hurriedly waved my arm almost like I was calling for help. However, the sonuvab.i.t.c.h blitzed past us and left behind only a cloud of engine smoke.
Almost an hour later, a kindhearted uncle finally stopped their vehicle and let us in. The problem? He was driving a tractor. A tractor! What the h.e.l.l is wrong with our luck today?
It was the middle of the spring season already, but the air was still a bit cold.
The kindhearted uncle said with a grin, "Adaxis (T/N: meaning "friends"), you are really lucky to catch me, you know that? My tractor pa.s.ses through here only once a day. Also, even the students studying here can"t even catch a ride at the bus station these days. All the tickets are sold out in the blink of an eye!"
Shaking like a rag doll in the small open trailer, I asked expressionlessly, "Thank you so much for giving us a ride, uncle. So, how long will it take to reach our destination?"
"Three hours…"
"Ugh…" My already pale complexion turned even whiter.
The one good thing about this trip was that the scenery of Xinjiang was very different from the ones in the south. For starters, the visibility was absolutely insane. Most of the time, I had an un.o.bstructed view of the expanse all the way to the horizon. In Suzhou, the only view I got was buildings, some buildings and then some more buildings unless I visited an artificial park, and its scale was terrible to say the least. Sometimes, it felt like I was a plant trapped inside a steel cage. That suffocating feeling of ever-present beauty was completely absent in this place.
Oh well. As the saying goes, if you cannot resist, then you may as well enjoy it!
There was a sack on the trailer that was filled with food. I leaned against the seat and stared at the beautiful scenery outside. I also shot Chaos Moon a look.
"What are you looking at?" Chaos Moon stared at me.
"Hmph!"
"What do you mean, hmph!?" Chaos Moon started punching me. "Say it to my face if you have something to say, b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I forbid you from criticizing me inside your head!"
I happily obliged. "I was supposed to be grinding the Ancient Divine Dragon"s level right now, but no, not only did you drag me all the way here, I may catch a flu by the time we get back home! What kind of scam is this?"
Chaos giggled. "That"s it? And here I thought it was something serious. People who stay in all day and night gaming are going to turn into idiots, you know. In fact, you should be thanking me for dragging you out on a vacation!"
"Pooh pooh pooh… Ah s.h.i.+t, it"s so cold!"
"Really?"
"What do you think?" I looked at my G2000 jacket. This thing was a bit warm to wear in Suzhou, but the north? I would be lucky not to catch hypothermia.
Chaos Moon stuck out her tongue before sitting on top of the sack next to me. Then, she wrapped her arms around me and blinked at me cutely. "You warm now?"
I felt a twinge in my heart as I looked at her. "Chaos Moon, you"re a good girl, you know. It shouldn"t be hard for you to find a boyfriend. Instead, you chose loneliness…"
"Me? A boyfriend?" Chaos Moon looked away with a chuckle. "You think I don"t want to? It"s just that I would rather be single than get a chucklehead to be my boyfriend. It"s ironic. A woman"s life becomes a tragedy when they set their bar high…"
Feeling a sudden tinge of pity for her, I returned the hug and said, "Don"t worry, you"ll find the one for you one day."
Chaos Moon looked back at me and asked, "Say, would you have chosen me if you met me first before the guild leader or Beauty Lin?"
I gave it some thought before answering, "No, I wouldn"t."
"Why?"
"To begin with, there is no "if". Eve and I had gone through so much that no one can ever hope to come between our relations.h.i.+p. Lin Yixin"s love for me is unique and unchanging, which is why I will cherish her back more than I cherish my own life. Also, I don"t need a reason to love her…"
"Hmph!"
Chaos Moon softly snorted once before teasing me, "If only you had the courage to confess your feelings to the guild leader and Beauty Lin instead of me. I don"t understand you sometimes. You have the courage to face down millions and millions of players from the Northern Alliance by yourself, and yet you can"t muster even a sliver of that courage before the women you love? Why?"
"It"s different."
"Pooh! It is the same. You just don"t want to hurt either of them, but that hesitation is going to do exactly that."
I looked down and asked, "What do you think I should do then, Chaos Moon? I"ll treat you for an entire year if you can come up with a perfect plan for me…"
Chaos Moon replied, "Just accept them both, duh."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
Chaos Moon"s arms grew tighter. "What do you mean, "okay"? Are you actually serious about this?"
"You"re the one who suggested it to me."
"Very well, I look forward to the day you sleep with guild leader Eve and the Fruit Knife G.o.ddess on the same bed…"
"You make it sound like you want to watch it happen with your own eyes."
"Can I?"
"Of course not!" I looked to the distance before saying, "By the way, is your aunt"s house on the way to the grave?"
"It wasn"t, but uncle"s tractor is going through my aunt"s town, so I"m probably going to visit it anyway. I may buy some fruits and gifts or something and deliver it to my aunt before sweeping the grave. We"ll head back to the hotel in the evening and go home first thing tomorrow."
"Okay…"
……
We finally stopped at an unfamiliar town when it was almost noon. Chaos Moon tugged at my sleeves and said, "Come on, let"s go visit my aunt!"
"Okay."
We bought the fruits and arrived at a certain household. The auntie Chaos Moon spoke of looked to be around 50 years old. She exclaimed in pleasant surprise when she saw Chaos Moon, "Aiya, it"s Little Yue! You should"ve called and told me that you"re coming!"
Chaos Moon held her aunt"s hand and said with a smile, "I didn"t want to disturb you. Today"s grandma"s death anniversary, so I wanted to visit her and sweep her grave…"
"Oh, I see. Actually, your older cousin just went away to buy fruits and paper money as well. You should wait for him!"
Then, the auntie looked at me and said, "Who"s this boy, Little Moon? He looks very quite healthy and… have I seen you before? Hmm..."
I wouldn"t be surprised. Heavenblessed"s promotional posters were everywhere. Half of them were about players, and half of that half was about me and Lin Yixin. Since I hadn"t altered my in-game face in any way, it made perfect sense that she would recognize me.
Chaos Moon replied smilingly, "He"s a friend—a superior I guess?—of mine from Suzhou. He came with me because he"s worried for my safety."
"Oh, I see…"
The auntie walked over and grabbed my hand affectionately. She then said, "My, you are one handsome boy, aren"t you? Little Yue, don"t let him slip out of your grasp, understand?"
Chaos Moon turned bright red, but I felt like digging myself a grave. Oh come on!
……
A while later, a young man with a jarhead haircut entered the house with some fruits and a chicken. He had a bandit"s face, and there was a faded scar beneath his chin. The moment he saw Chaos Moon, he smiled and greeted her, "Yo, what"s the occasion, cousin?"
Chaos Moon replied expressionlessly, "h.e.l.lo."
"Who"s he?" her older cousin asked while pointing at me.
"I"m Chaos Moon"s friend," I replied indifferently. "I"m here to protect her while she sweeps the grave. She"s an important a.s.set of my company after all. We"ll return to the south once she"s done with her business."
"Oh, I see. Well, let"s go together then."
"Mn."
……
Chaos Moon"s jarhead cousin kept shooting us weird looks as we walked out of the backyard and headed to the hill at the back. He also shot Chaos Moon disgusting looks while saying, "Very impressive, cousin. This boss of yours is real smart-lookin". He must be pretty rich, ain"t he? I heard that the rich people in the south all have a couple houses and cars at least. You must"ve "earned" a car for yourself, haven"t cha?"
Chaos Moon"s expression turned ugly. "It"s not what you think. He didn"t give me anything."
"That"s not fair!"
Jarhead grinned an ugly grin before continuing, "It"s all about fair trade these days, ain"t it? You keep him company for a couple of years, he pays you your rightful compensation. Perfectly fair, am I right, brother? Unless she let you screw around with her for free? Wow!"
I abruptly stopped in my tracks and shot him a cold glare. "One more word and I"ll end you."
Jarhead looked completely caught off-guard by my threat. He gritted his teeth but kept his silence.
Chaos Moon pulled my arm and said, "Come on, we"ll go back after we sweep the grave."
"Mn."
……
We arrived at a low tombstone around halfway up the mountain and put down our stuff there. Her eyes reddened as she said, "Grandma"s the one who raised me when I was younger. However, I seldom visited her after I started attending university. Auntie told me that she often sat in the backyard, looked to the south and asked her when I"m coming home…"
I gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder and said, "Come, it"s time to burn the paper money. And don"t cry. Your grandma will be sad if she sees you like this."
"Mn."
Chaos Moon broke into a smile before kneeling in front of the grave. First, she dug a small hole with a spade. Then, she lit up the ritual offering. I helped her out here and there while jarhead set down the fruits, chicken and other stuff. It was obvious that he was hostile toward me, but I paid him no heed.
A short time later, the grave sweeping was done.
I rose to my feet and grabbed Chaos Moon"s hand. "Come on, let"s catch a real car when we reach the town later. I"ve just about had enough of tractors…"
Chaos Moon giggled. "Fine. Was the experience too much for you?"
I pointed at my s.h.i.+rt and said, "Duh. Look what happened to my clothes. The rucksack we sat on this morning was covered in soil, and we just knelt on muddy soil. Eve bought this for me, which means that it"s literally more expensive than me…"
Chaos Moon burst into another giggle. "Fine, fine…"
After we returned to the foot of the hill, Chaos Moon said, "We"re leaving, cousin. Tell aunt that we"ll visit her next time."
But the jarhead smiled and said, "What"s the hurry? At least stay around for lunch."
"No, it"s fine."
"Fine, but you gotta leave something behind, you understand?" Greed suddenly erupted from the jarhead"s eyes. "Grandma used up a ton of money while she was living at our house, you know. You"re her precious little granddaughter, right? Don"t you think it"s only right that you compensate my family? I think some cash will do just fine…"
At this point, Chaos Moon"s complexion had turned scarily white. "What do you mean by that?"