Chapter 23

Seeing her reply, Autumn Maple couldn’t help but laugh.

It seemed Spring Dawn was right—this account had indeed changed hands, with even the speaking tone completely different now.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: I’m truly sorry. My friend was just standing up for me and got too angry.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: How many times did you die and how much money did you lose? I’ll compensate you.

[Friend] Sweet Scenery: Forget it, didn’t die too many times. Saved them a lot on bounty fees.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Haha, you’re quite interesting. Being killed like that and still able to joke with me.

[Friend] Sweet Scenery: You’re interesting too, having the courage to talk to this account after being completely scammed.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: “…Alright, fine. It’s true, I was scammed out of quite a bit of money. All the limited-edition outfits and game cards for this account over the years were bought by me.”

Jing Huan saw a shadow of Lu Wenhao in Autumn Maple and couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for him.

[Friend] Sweet Little Scene: [Patting shoulder] It’s okay, live and learn. Just consider it tuition money paid to a scammer.

Autumn Maple froze for a moment—he hadn’t expected this person to turn around and comfort him instead.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Hmm, I’ve already recovered.

[Friend] Little Sweet View: By the way, since you’ve invested so much money into this account, how about I repay some on her behalf?

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Huh?

[Friend] Little Sweet View: She left a lot of items for this account. My storage is full, and it’d be a shame to discard them. You might as well take them.

……Probably nothing good when you think about it.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Alright, come to Phoenix Nether Valley.

Right after finishing the BOSS fight and the party disbanded, Jing Huan was about to fly there when he suddenly remembered something.

[Friend] Sweet Scenery: No way, you come to the main city instead. That place isn’t a safe zone—I’m afraid you’ll ambush me.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Hahaha, OK.

Autumn Maple’s character is depicted as a scholar, dressed in flowing white robes, idly waving a folding fan in hand.

Seeing the outfit on Sweet Scenery, he couldn’t help but feel even more amused. With so many fashionable options available on the account, how did she manage to pick the absolute ugliest set?

Before he could even type a response, the screen was flooded with countless yellow system messages.

[Sweet Scenery has given you Advanced Teleportation Talisman x3]

【Little Sweetie gave you Moonstone x1】

【Little Sweetie gave you Nameless Key x4】

………

Just a bunch of little trinkets that would be hard to sell even at a stall.

Qiufeng couldn’t help but chuckle. It seemed this new account owner was quite honest, holding these worthless items in such high regard and insisting on “comforting” him with them.

Just then, an exaggerated flashing effect suddenly appeared in the lower right corner of the game interface.

Qiu Feng focused his gaze and saw that it was the glow of a divine weapon—a long sword, pitch-black and eerie, emitting a garish light, held deftly in someone’s hand.

It was something his heart yearned for.

He was about to avert his eyes when the yellow text suddenly came to a halt.

[Current] Little Sweet Scenery: Big bro! [Flying kiss]

Xiang Huaizhi paused to think—had he banned that emoji last time?

[Current] Heart’s Desire: Mhm.

[Current] Little Sweet Scenery: Where are you going? [Wink]

[Current] Longing Heart: Taking medicine to play in the arena.

[Current] Sweet Little Scene: Oh, okay, go ahead. Go get ’em, bro. [Cheers][Fist bump]

Xiang Huaizhi was about to leave when he spotted Autumn Maple standing opposite Sweet Little Scene.

If he remembered correctly, this Autumn Maple seemed to be the husband of “Don’t You Frown.”

[Current] Longing Heart: What are you doing?

[Current] Sweet Scenery: Ah, I’m taking out the trash. [Cute]

[Current] Autumn Maple: ……

[Current] Heart Yearns: ?

[Current] Sweet Scenery: This guy in front got scammed by my account’s previous owner. Poor thing. So I thought I’d give him all the stuff left behind by the previous owner as a warning—so he won’t get fooled again in the future.

[Current] Autumn Maple: …Thank you.

Xiang Huaizhi raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.

Little girl, you’re quite sharp with your insults.

[Current] Sweet Scenery: Bye bye, brother, take care [waving]

Qiufeng found this girl particularly amusing. After tossing all the items, he tapped his keyboard a few times, about to say something.

Before he could even finish typing the words, SweetJing had already flown off without a second thought.

No “take care” or “bye-bye,” not even a single emoji was left for him.

Too real.

He stuffed all his belongings into the warehouse and then sent a message to ChunXiao.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Chunxiao, what’s going on with Sweet Scene and Heart’s Desire?

[Friend] Chunxiao: …What, did Sweet Scene blind you with glitter too?

[Friend] Autumn Maple: Haha, what do you mean?

[Friend] Chunxiao: Nothing much. Sweet Scene seems to be chasing after Heart’s Desire.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: I can tell, but is she crazy? Out of all people to chase, she goes for Heart’s Desire? Didn’t they say he’s a scumbag?

[Friend] Spring Xiao: Well, what a coincidence. Little Sweet View happens to be into that—the worse the guy, the more she likes him.

[Friend] Autumn Maple: …

    ——

Jing Huan was unaware that his “special preference” had already become public knowledge. Waking up early, he found Gao Zixiang and Lu Wenhao sitting on either side of him, chattering incessantly in his ears—even more talkative than the old professor lecturing at the podium.

“She confiscated our hot pot and even fined us!” Lu Wenhao fumed. “The fine is one thing, but she also reported our dorm number to the school, saying she’d criticize us in the class group chat. Seriously, aren’t we all adults here? Why bother with this nonsense?”

“This is all your fault!” Gao Zixiang said. “I told you to eat faster, but you insisted on taking your time. Now we got caught with the leftovers—who else should be fined but you?”

“Like I was the only one eating? Just because you wolfed yours down faster, you’re pinning the blame on me?”

Jing Huan yawned. “I’m about to pass out from exhaustion. Can you two stop bickering in my ear? Give me some peace and quiet, I’m begging you both.”

“Who said we’re like brothers? You have no idea, we battled it out for three hundred rounds in the dorm yesterday!” Lu Wenhao crossed his arms and asked, “Wait, what were you up to last night? You’re dozing off in a nine o’clock class?”

He was grinding for forging materials until midnight, working hard for two hours but didn’t even get a single useful drop.

In Nine Heroes, to craft weapons and armor, you need specific forging materials. Books and iron can be bought from other players, but some small miscellaneous items can only be obtained through grinding missions. This damn setup is practically designed to torment unlucky players like them.

He leaned back and closed his eyes: “Nothing much, just stayed up late watching a movie.”

Lu Wenhao let out a long “Ohhh”: “So? Any good seeds to share with the boys?”

“Stop being gross, I was watching a proper movie.”

“Hey, Huanhuan.” Lu Wenhao scrolled through the WeChat group. “Room 313 invited us to play ball again. What do you say, should we go?”

Jing Huan opened his eyes: “When?”

“Just today, at 4 PM after class, we’re meeting at the basketball court downstairs.”

Jing Huan thought about it; he hadn’t exercised in a long time, especially since he’d been sitting in front of the computer so much lately, making him feel easily fatigued.

“Alright, let’s play. I’ll go home at noon to get my jersey.”

In the afternoon, as Xiang Huai-zhi left the classroom right after class, he saw three guys dart out from the restroom next to the classroom, all wearing freshly changed jerseys.

The boy in the middle was hastily dragged out by the other two before he could properly put on his clothes. A large part of his shirt was still tucked around his waist, revealing a fair and slender waist, and from behind, the distinct curve of his spine was clearly visible.

“Xiangxiang, what are you doing?” Lu Hang came out of the classroom and asked.

Xiang Huai withdrew his gaze: “Nothing, just getting ready to go back.”

“Don’t go, it’s not even four yet, why go back so early?” Lu Hang hugged the basketball, “I’m heading to the basketball court. What do you say, want to come along? Even if you can’t play for now, at least you can soak in the atmosphere.”

Xiang Huaizhi glanced at the time—it was indeed still early, and besides, it had been a while since he last stepped onto a basketball court.

“Alright.”

The two headed to the East Basketball Court nearest to the teaching building. They rarely came here, and today’s visit was only because Lu Hang had arranged a game with some juniors.

Upon arriving at the court, Lu Hang immediately dashed onto the playing area, while Xiang Huaizhi casually chose a spot to sit down.

The phone beeped, and he picked it up to take a look.

Xiao Jing: Brother >.