Chapter 29

Jing Huan was taken aback and wanted to press further, but Lu Tiaotiao refused to elaborate any more details.

This half-revealing, half-concealing attitude completely piqued Jing Huan’s curiosity—what kind of matter could make someone unwilling to even maintain gaming friendships?

While verbally agreeing with “Mm-hmm, it’s big brother’s personal privacy after all,” his hands skillfully navigated to open the famous gossip hub—the Nine Heroes forum.

The Nine Heroes Forum is a magical place with an astonishingly high daily traffic, even attracting many non-gamers to browse.

The reason is simple – this place is full of juicy gossip. Every other day there’s a new exposé thread, covering topics beyond imagination but nothing that can’t be dug up inside. The content is thrilling and sensational, often more interesting than entertainment industry scandals.

Jing Huan didn’t frequent this place much when playing Nine Heroes. But when his sister had that incident recently, he got so angry he refreshed the forum multiple times a day. Within just a few days, he became thoroughly familiar with all the forum’s features.

He secretly investigated and learned that “Heart’s Desire” had been playing since the launch of Mirror Flower Water Moon server and was always quite famous. If anything noteworthy happened to the Heart’s Desire account, there would definitely be traces left on the forum.

Jing Huan logged into the forum with his account, found the search function, and typed in the four characters “Xin Xiang Wang Zhi.”

A few seconds later, the search results appeared.

A full twenty-eight pages, with several popular threads. Jing Huan was shocked by the sheer volume of posts. He knew Xin Xiang Wang Zhi was famous, but he hadn’t expected it to be this overwhelming.

He completely ignored the threads about Xin Xiang Wang Zhi and Xian Meng Meng, directly skipping to the last page, intending to start browsing from the earliest posts.

【Breaking News: The new number one on the Mirror Flower Water Moon rankings is revealed – Heart’s Yearning from Qiya Mountain!】

【How does Heart’s Yearning play Qiya Mountain so masterfully? They completely dominated the number one Fox Immortal Cave in cross-server PK!】

【Urgent report – Heart’s Yearning has obtained a divine artifact! Attributes unknown – could this be the Nine Heroes server’s top physical equipment?!】

【How can Heart’s Yearning make even the most ordinary costume look so incredibly dashing?】

………

After reading several pages of effusive praise, Jing Huan felt somewhat bewildered.

In a forum known for its drama and arguments, he had only ever seen one person who could inspire pages of related posts filled with nothing but admiration and lavish compliments—Xin Xiang Wang Zhi.

He had just searched the IDs of several top players from other servers, only to find threads full of criticism, emotional revelations, and even scandalous exposés.

Yet before that incident, Xin Xiang Wang Zhi had been spotless—completely untainted and universally revered.

He snapped back to attention and continued clicking to the previous page.

It was still a screen full of praises.

He quickly skimmed through it, about to turn the page with little interest, when he noticed a post sunk at the very bottom.

[I heard Heart Towards It has disbanded the guild?]

Jing Huan’s eyes lit up—he had an idea.

This thread had over 300 replies. The post was made six years ago, and back then, 300+ replies already made it a hot topic.

Jing Huan scrolled the mouse wheel.

[Original Post: Can someone explain what’s going on here? Super curious!]

1L: Same server here, no idea what’s going on. I’ve applied to join their guild like N times but never got accepted, even though they never reached full capacity… Probably the bigshots have super strict requirements. [wiping tears]

13L: Nah nah, I’ve seen several of their members – none were particularly strong. Lots were just alt accounts for grinding, or maybe they only accept people they know?

45L: Actual member reporting in. I’m total noob material, don’t know any big names in guild, but got accepted on first application. Did get the guild disbandment message this morning though, no clue about details.

57L: Same… Woke up to find the guild gone T^T No more chances to admire the gods up close!

99L: How come the guild members who popped up didn’t know about the guild disbanding? That Heart Towards is so irresponsible, what about everyone’s guild contribution points?

111L: Replying to 99L, you’re mistaken. The god-tier player was actually very responsible. Although he didn’t give advance notice, he compensated everyone with gold coins based on their guild contribution points. Rumor has it the compensation was generous – no one got less than they deserved.

172L: So after all these posts, what was the actual reason for disbanding the guild?!

Jing Huan had the exact same question.

How come even this kind of thread is full of nothing but fawning praise?!

He scrolled to the last page and finally found some clues on the 377th floor—the very last reply in the thread.

377th Floor: Actually, nothing too serious happened. It seems the big shot’s comrade-in-arms screwed him over, even costing him quite a bit of money. Combined with the big shot being busy with school and unable to manage everything, that’s why [the guild] disbanded.

The thread received no further replies after this one because the forum moderator locked the post.

After reading through this thread, Jing Huan immediately lost interest, propping his chin on his hand as he closed the webpage.

“Tongpao” in Nine Heroes is similar to forming a sworn brotherhood.

But he only wanted to read about romantic stories involving Heart’s Yearning, having no interest in quarrels between brothers.

    ——

The following week, Nine Heroes updated, announcing that the guild dungeon would be released across all servers at 12 PM on Tuesday.

The university canteen was bustling with people, filled with the aroma of food.

“Huanhuan,” Gao Zixiang casually slung his arm around Jing Huan’s shoulder. “Are you free tomorrow at noon? I need a favor, urgent!”

Jing Huan looked at the extra lion’s head meatball in his lunchbox, bent down, and smiled at the cafeteria lady. “Thank you, auntie.”

Only then did he straighten up and say, “No, I’m not.”

“Don’t be like that, at least ask me what the urgent matter is.”

Is that even a question?

Jing Huan picked a spot to sit down and opened the lunchbox. “Go on,” he said.

“The guild dungeon opens tomorrow at noon, and my team is missing one person…” Gao Zixiang said, “Can you come help us run it?”

Jing Huan chuckled, “I don’t have an account, how can I help you with the dungeon?”

“Use my wife’s account! She’s getting her nails done tomorrow and won’t be free. Plus, her gameplay is a bit unstable.” Gao Zixiang paused. “No, actually, use my account instead. You’re good at DPS, and my wife’s account is a healer—you probably wouldn’t be comfortable with that.”

Jing Huan raised an eyebrow, “Who said I can’t heal?”

“Ah? Well, if you want to play as a healer, that’s fine too.”

“I don’t want to, not going.” Jing Huan took a bite of rice. “I really have something to do tomorrow, can’t make it.”

Gao Zixiang slumped: “What’s the matter? Can’t you postpone it?”

“No, it’s as urgent as your thing.” Jing Huan wiped his mouth with a tissue and looked at the milk tea shop in the cafeteria. “Want some milk tea? I’ll go buy.”

Gao Zixiang: “Yeah, get one for Hao’er too. He’s in the dorm practicing Fox Spirit Cave like crazy for tomorrow’s dungeon run. Tell me, is he out of his mind? I told him to play his old class but he refused, insists on mastering Fox Spirit Cave… What?”

Jing Huan spread his palm toward him: “I’m queuing for you, Hao’er is training hard to help you with the dungeon—isn’t it fair for you to buy us some milk tea?”

“…” Gao Zixiang silently handed over his meal card.

The line at the milk tea shop was long, and Jing Huan wouldn’t have bothered if he wasn’t genuinely craving it. Standing at the end of the queue, he looked up at the menu, debating whether to get milk tea or coffee.

The person in front of him was a girl, wearing a tank top and long pants—hard to tell which season she was dressing for, but at a glance, the outfit looked really good.

The girl had long hair that reached her waist, her exposed shoulders were smooth and fair, and she carried a faint fragrance.

Jing Huan felt too shy to get too close, maintaining a one-person distance while taking out his phone to ask Lu Wenhao what he wanted to drink.

The girl was laughing and chatting with her friend, and at some point in the conversation, the two started poking each other’s tummies playfully.

Unable to bear the tickling, the girl giggled and stepped back several times.

Jing Huan first thought the scent was a bit too strong, but when he looked up and saw that head of jet-black long hair, he realized it was the smell of shampoo.

Afraid of touching something he shouldn’t, he instinctively stepped back. But he’d only taken two steps when he bumped into someone behind him, and his left foot landed squarely on the other person’s shoe.

“Ouch…” The person behind him hissed sharply.

Jing Huan froze for a moment before quickly pulling his foot back. He turned around and said, “Sorry… Senior?”

“Hmm.” Xiang Huaizhi lowered his head to look at his shoe, which had deformed at the toe from stomping too hard.

Having bumped into someone twice, Jing Huan was genuinely embarrassed: “Sorry, I didn’t notice anyone behind me.”

Following the other’s gaze, Jing Huan looked down and saw the white shoe tip covered in dust, feeling even more guilty. “Let me grab a tissue…”

As he spoke, he tried to step out of line, but Xiang Huaizhi reached out and grabbed his arm. “No need to wipe it, it’s fine.”

“No, your sneakers are too expensive.”

“Really, no need.” To divert his attention, Xiang Huaizhi looked ahead. “If we don’t move forward, we’ll get cut in line.”

Jing Huan instinctively responded with an “Oh” and took two steps forward.

He had confirmed it last time at the basketball court—it wasn’t just his imagination from being startled by the cockroach. Xiang Huaizhi’s voice really did sound remarkably similar to Xin Xiangwangzhi’s.

…Come to think of it, even the names are quite similar.

“Senior,” Jing Huan turned his head and asked a pointless question, “Are you here to buy milk tea too?”

Xiang Huai glanced down: “Coffee.”

Only then did Jing Huan realize that Xiang Huai was quite a bit taller than him, at least 185 cm, with a noticeably larger frame. Standing in front of him, Xiang Huai almost completely blocked the view of the people behind him.

“What kind of coffee do you want? It’s on me,” Jing Huan said. “Consider it my apology.”

Xiang Huaizhi wasn’t used to letting others pay for him, so he shook his head. “No need, I’ll get it myself.”

“Americano?” Jing Huan asked. “Or mocha?”

“…Americano.”

“Okay.” Jing Huan shifted slightly to make room for him. “Come stand next to me, senior. It’ll be easier to grab things later.”

Xiang Huaizhi hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward.

After taking the coffee that Jing Huan had paid for, Xiang Huaizhi said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I should be the one thanking you for saving my life on the stairs last time,” Jing Huan replied with a smile.

When he smiled, his eyes would curve slightly like crescent moons, revealing neat and white teeth that were pleasant to look at.

Xiang Huaizhi had never seen any guy with a more charming smile than his.

Jing Huan suddenly remembered something and took out his phone: “By the way, senior, shall we exchange WeChat? We can play basketball together later… or something.”

Xiang Huai zhi snapped back to attention and nodded: “Sure.”

Jing Huan opened his QR code and was about to hand it to Xiang Huai zhi when he saw him holding his phone, pressing the unlock button a couple of times, his brow slightly furrowed.

“Sorry,” Xiang Huai zhi put his phone away. “My phone just ran out of battery.”

Jing Huan didn’t mind—guys usually don’t make a habit of remembering WeChat IDs. He closed the QR code: “Then next time. When we meet again, we’ll add each other.”

Author’s Note:

Your life was almost over, you know that, son.