Chapter 51

Jing Huan rested his hands on the keyboard, silent for a long while.

Xiang Huaizhi wasn’t in a hurry either. He leaped up, using his blade to block Zui Ai Mai Mai’s twin swords aimed at Xiao Tianjing, then asked, “Is the person who kicked you in this group?”

“No, the team leader is someone else.” Jing Huan hesitated before asking, “Brother, how did you know I got kicked?”

Xiang Huaizhi said, “I saw it in the WeChat group.”

On the other end, in YY, Xiao Mai’s tone was already a bit anxious.

“Honey, didn’t you say that Xin Xiang Wang Zhi wouldn’t interfere?”

“It’s fine. Didn’t you see he hasn’t fought back at all?” Zui Ai Mai Mai snapped out of his surprise. “Let me talk to him.”

[Current] LoveMcMai: Say something, what’s going on? Did you misclick?

Meanwhile, their battle was also noticed by passing players.

[World] NoOneLikeYou: Holy shit!!! Moon Palace (81,99)!! XiangShen and LoveMcMai are fighting!!!

[World] DancingPetals: I saw it too! It’s a team PK! LoveMcMai brought his wife, XiangShen brought Xiao Tianjing!!

[World] MyFaveZhiZhiPeach: ?! I’m rushing to the scene ASAP!

[World] IHaveACatNow: For real? These two are finally fighting?! Are they competing for top DPS or something??

[World] DrunkInMortalDust: What… is there even a competition? How can LoveForMaiMai compare to HeartForXiangZhi? Are y’all joking? What I’m curious about is… why is SweetScenery here again?!

[World] AltAccount123: I know! I got the tea today in some MirrorFlowerWaterMoon QQ group! SweetScenery joined LoveForMaiMai’s pickup team this afternoon, got kicked right at the boss fight, and the most ridiculous part is the KirinMountain boss dropped right after and got snatched by JiXiaoNian!

[World] I Have a Cat Now: …For a moment, I can’t tell if Little Sweet Scenery is lucky or unlucky. To this day, I still don’t know what the Kirin Mountain BOSS looks like.

[World] Only You Can Save Me: I’m just curious—what on earth made Little Sweet Scenery lose his mind to dare join a team that loves Mai Mai the most? [Sweat]

[World] I’m Out: Same as above +1.

[World] Drunken in the Red Dust: I truly believe Little Sweet Scenery’s account has changed hands now.

Every server has its own server tyrant. The tyrant doesn’t necessarily have to be the strongest player on the server, but they’re definitely the most pretentious one around.

The server tyrant of Mirror Flowers, Water Moon is none other than Favorite MaiMai.

No one dares compete for gear he wants; no one interrupts when he spams world chat; if he’s buying materials, everyone else has to wait their turn.

There was once a player who offended him during a dungeon run, and not only did he sabotage the boss fight, but he also relentlessly hunted the player down for a whole week. The player quit the game in frustration within days.

And this kind of thing, “LovesMcDonalds” has done many times, with “SweetJing” being just one of them. Players in this server have long gotten used to it.

Of course, there were players who couldn’t stand it, but Aiai Mai had deep pockets—he owned four or five god-tier accounts, and in the entire server, only one person could rival him. Ironically, that person was unusually low-key and clearly had no intention of interfering with the matter.

If you can’t afford to provoke him, you can at least avoid him. Later, when players in the server saw him, they would choose to steer clear.

And today, Heartyearn has finally made an appearance.

The players of Illusory Moon were filled with mixed emotions and couldn’t help but speak up.

[Broadcast] Qingchi: Is Xiangshen finally stepping in to save the world?! Kill him, kill him ah ah ah!!

[Broadcast] Pingzhi Yiyi: Why is everyone so excited? Have you forgotten the recent drama surrounding Heartyearn? This is just a case of the pot calling the kettle black, so forget about saving the world.

[Horn] Is Longing Bitter or Not: To be honest, yearning for someone is an emotional flaw, and outsiders have no right to judge. He’s never bullied the weak, has he?

Jing Huan shifted his gaze away from the horn message.

“Bro, did MaiMai’s Greatest Fan do this kind of thing before too?”

Xiang Huai Zhi switched his blade to a longsword: “Don’t know, maybe.”

He had never paid attention to this person before.

Seeing no response from the other side, MaiMai’s Biggest Fan thought that HeartYearning had muted the current chat.

He turned on the in-game microphone: “What’s going on, bro?”

Still no reply.

He was still puzzled when Heart’s Yearning suddenly charged at them with his sword, giving them no time to react.

The sword struck Xiao Mai, and a bright red number popped up, instantly reducing Xiao Mai’s health bar to just one-third.

Xiao Mai was startled: “Honey, how is his damage so high?”

“It’s okay, baby, we can take him,” Most Loved Mai clenched his teeth. “He’s carrying a useless Fox Immortal Cave, so it’s basically two against one. Cast a magic damage buff on yourself.”

MaiMai’s Biggest Fan had never teamed up with Heart’s Desire before. Plus, he preferred playing 2V2 with his wife, while Heart’s Desire had only ever played 1V1, so the two had never crossed paths.

Although he had watched many of Heart’s Desire’s videos, the other’s true strength remained a question mark in his mind.

Still, he had full confidence in his own gear. The only thing standing between him and Heart’s Desire, he believed, was a single divine weapon.

He had long planned it out: the day he finally obtained that divine weapon and claimed the top spot on the leaderboard, he would spam a thousand in-game announcements and host a server-wide banquet, inviting every player to feast.

But soon, MaiMai’s Biggest Fan dismissed the thought.

After being hit by another combo crit from Heart’s Desire, his health was down to just 17%.

“Heart’s Desire, are you using a script or something?!” MaiMai’s Biggest Fan asked through the mic, gnashing his teeth. “Almost every attack lands? Even a fucking script wouldn’t be this accurate!”

The spectators outside couldn’t take it anymore.

[Current] PeachTeaLover: Xiang Shen’s accuracy has always been insanely high, and why would anyone risk using scripts on such a god-tier account? Getting caught means permanent ban, hello?

[Current] AltAccount123: MaiMaiLover’s movement is so sloppy—even I could land hits, let alone Xiang Shen. What’s the issue here?

[Current] PureSnow: I agree it’s not scripts. Nine Heroes’ official site constantly features HeartTowards’ PK videos. If it were scripts, how would the devs miss it?

[Current] SweetScenery: 9494, can’t win so you slander my hubby?? What kinda man are you!! [Rage]

[Current] Dancing Petals: ?

[Current] Alt123: ??

[Current] Taste of Love: ? Can you focus on the PK?

[Current] No Return Date: [Shared Song – What Kind of Man – Jay Chou]

The outcome of this battle was entirely predictable.

In less than ten minutes, only a critically injured MaiMaiFavored remained on the opposing side, with XiaoMai having long been knocked down by HeartYearns.

On this side, SweetScenery, thanks to her high movement speed, barely took any damage, while HeartYearns’ health bar was consistently kept full by SweetScenery’s healing.

“HeartYearns.” MaiMaiFavored turned on her mic again.

Just as everyone thought he was about to start cursing, the other party suddenly lowered his voice: “You can kill me, but let my wife go. It was my idea not to let SweetJing kill the BOSS—it has nothing to do with her.”

Jing Huan was taken aback, thinking to himself that this MostLovesMaiMai really dotes on his wife.

However, today’s incident couldn’t possibly be unrelated to Xiao Mai. It only occurred to him later that Xiao Mai was the loli chatting with Xian Meng Meng and her friends near the foreign merchant that day.

Jing Huan frowned. He wasn’t some saint and wasn’t buying MostLovesMaiMai’s act, but there was no guarantee Xiang Wang Zhi Zhi wouldn’t fall for it.

Aren’t all scumbags just central air conditioners? Warming up their ambiguous relationships, warming up their wives, and even warming up other people’s wives…

[Current] Heart’s Desire: So only your wife gets to feel wronged?

The person who had remained silent finally spoke up.

After throwing out this remark, Heart’s Desire swiftly struck down MaiMai’s Favorite with a single sword blow before anyone could react, causing the wheat on the ground to vanish as well.

Jing Huan stared blankly at these words, his ears inexplicably heating up.

By the time he regained his composure, the black-robed man had already sheathed his sword and returned to his side.

A sea of people surrounded them, completely covering both of their game avatars.

[Current Channel] Pure Snow: Is this supposed to be the duel between the top two DPS? How underwhelming.

[Current] Wind Chaser: Snow, you’re mistaken. In our server, there’s only the top DPS—no second place.

[Current] Not Your Cup of Tea: Wait… “Only your wife gets to feel wronged”?? Why does that sound kinda weird when you think about it?!

It was only then that Xiang Huaizhi belatedly realized how ambiguous his earlier words had been.

[Current] Falling Sakura: So your wife gets to feel wronged—doesn’t my wife get to feel wronged too?

[Current] Favorite Peach Tea: Damn, that matches up.

[Current] Drunken in the Mortal World: Holy shit, it really does seem to have that meaning?!

[Current] Sweet Scenery: (*·Δ·*)!!! Really?!

[Current] Drunken in Mortal Dust: ……

[Current] Not Your Cup of Tea: ……

[Current] Pure Snow: ?

[Current] AltAccount123: Could you stop sneaking in every time there’s chaos?

Xiang Huaizhi’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and he silently curled the corner of his mouth.

Then before Xiao Tianjing could continue spouting nonsense, he held their hand and flew away together.

Xiang Huaizhi originally intended to take them to the guild scene, but since Jing Huan had left the guild, the guild carriage driver refused them entry.

So he took them to Falling Flower Valley.

The little fox fairy was unusually quiet, obediently fluttering around behind him. Even when they reached the waterfall in Falling Flower Valley, SweetJing showed no reaction.

Still angry?

Well, considering they were just furious enough to go charging off to kill someone single-handedly.

He pressed the push-to-talk button, just about to speak——

“Husband~”

Along with this coquettish and overly sweet voice, the little fox spirit beside him covered her face with both hands, performing a shy character animation.

“……” Xiang Huaizhi coughed violently.

On the other end, Jing Huan was practically dying of embarrassment himself.

But how to put it.

It was both humiliating and thrilling.

Humiliating because of that form of address, thrilling because the one he’d set his heart on had finally taken the bait.

Since Xian Mengmeng wasn’t involved in this matter, it had nothing to do with Heart’s Yearning, and Heart’s Yearning could have just ignored it.

But he still came.

Jing Huan sneered inwardly. Just wait, scumbag. Calling you “hubby” this time will shave ten years off your life.

The headphones were quiet for a long time before a faint buzzing sound finally came through.

“You… don’t call me that randomly.” The guy’s voice was slightly hoarse.

Jing Huan complained, “But you just called me ‘wifey’.”

Xiang Huai replied, “I didn’t call you ‘wifey.'”

Jing Huan insisted, “Anyway, that’s what you meant.”

Xiang Huaizhi: “I’m not.”

The other end immediately fell silent. A few seconds later, Little Fox Fairy’s emoticon changed to crying.

The mood shift was quite swift.

Xiang Huaizhi suddenly thought of something. After a pause, he asked, “Are you feeling better today?”

“What?”

Jing Huan had just killed someone and now felt much more at ease.

Indeed, solving problems with fists feels so satisfying!

Xiang Huaizhi said flatly, “Auntie.”

“……” Damn.

Too excited, I completely forgot about all that nonsense I spouted yesterday.

Two guys discussing this kind of thing is just too awkward. Jing Huan said uncomfortably, “Of course it’s fine, it’s already over.”

Xiang Huai Zhi gave an “Mhm” and said, “If something like this happens again, come to me first.”

Jing Huan was baffled: “But this kind of thing happens to me every month…”

“…” Xiang Huaizhi sighed. “I meant, being bullied.”

Jing Huan’s headphones were of good quality—even the slightest heavy breath from the guy sounded like a whisper in his ear, tickling him until his ears itched.

He lifted his hand to rub his earlobe: “Looking for you… will you avenge me?”

“Didn’t I just avenge you?” Xiang Huaizhi glanced at the coordinates sent by the killer—the other three team members were still in the safe zone.

“Then… can I offer myself in marriage to repay you?”

“……”

Jing Huan suppressed his laughter while continuing his shameless flirting.

“Do you like me that much?” Heart’s Yearning suddenly spoke up.

Jing Huan was stunned for a moment before replying, “…Yeah.”

He blinked, seeming to detect a hint of something in Heart’s Yearning’s tone.

Wait… what does that question mean? Are they finally about to get together?!

Has his plan finally moved to the next stage??

Jinghuan’s heart raced with excitement, his longing growing, yet he fell into silence again and didn’t speak for a long time.

Holding back his emotions, he called out, “Brother?”

Finally, there was a response from the other end. The guy replied in his usual tone, “Got it.”

Jing Huan was taken aback: “What do you mean by ‘I know’…?”

Rather than letting him shift his affections to some stranger in the game, it would be better if he just liked me instead, Xiang Huaizhi thought.

How many online romances actually work out? The virtual aspect of the internet is too heavy—what you see is only the side others want to show you. If it can’t even be real, how can you talk about feelings?

And besides… if other men found out their online crush was actually a guy, forget about accepting it—not turning hostile would already be a blessing. Lovers turning into enemies—how ugly would that be?

Jing Huan’s attention is on him, at least he himself won’t take it seriously and won’t hurt him. When Jing Huan meets a suitable man in reality in the future…

Xiang Huaizhi stopped his train of thought.

“What I mean is, I’ll take responsibility for your feelings. As long as you’re willing, you can come to me for anything related to the game in the future.”

Without hesitation, Jing Huan said, “Then I want to marry you—”

“Except for marriage.”

“……”

Xiang Huaizhi had a vague premonition that if they got married, certain aspects of their relationship would change.

On the other end, Jing Huan sat cross-legged, hugging his laptop with a puzzled expression.

What does this person mean?

You say you’ll take responsibility for your feelings for him, but refuse to marry him?

Then what the hell kind of responsibility is that?

A static crackle came through the headphones before Xiang Wangzhi spoke again.

“But if you ever fall for someone else,” Xiang Huaizhi paused, his tone indifferent, “this agreement becomes void.”

“……”

Jing Huan widened his eyes in sudden realization.

Fuck! That scumbag is shameless!!

He doesn’t want to take responsibility, just fucking wants to lead me on and play ambiguous games with me!!!

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