Xia Zichen returned to school at the peak time of the new semester return, and the dormitory area looked a bit chaotic, everyone smiling and greeting each other. Although it was not as full of anticipation as when leaving for vacation, seeing classmates they had not seen for two months still made them happy.
When Xia Zichen went home, he did not bring much luggage, and when he came back naturally there was not much to bring either—the main thing was just the computer.
Opening the dorm room door, a wave of damp cold air rushed out, the chilly feeling was really uncomfortable. After a holiday without heating, the weather had also begun to slowly warm up as school started, and the heating provided was not very strong either. The damp cold air inside the room could not be dispersed quickly, and staying there was indeed suffering. But there was no choice—school was not like home, so they could only wear more clothes.
An Jing and Tang Hui had not returned yet, but Shen Yicheng had come back earlier than usual and was already packing his luggage. Seeing him come in, he smiled and said: “You’re back?”
“Mm.” Xia Zichen responded lightly. He used to like the feeling of being alone with Shen Yicheng, even if they did not talk, but today he felt an indescribable awkwardness, subconsciously hoping An Jing or Tang Hui would come back soon.
He put the computer on the desk and pulled off the white cloth that had been covering the bed and desk before leaving. Every time during holidays when he was not in the dorm, Xia Zichen would cover things like this to prevent dust. When he returned, he would just remove the cloth and throw it into the washing machine.
The dormitory remained quiet. Shen Yicheng turned on a small electric heater, speeding up the dispersing of the cold air in the room. Xia Zichen washed his hands, took out the electric heating blanket and spread it on the bed, arranged the quilt, plugged it in and turned on the heating blanket to warm the bed so it would be easier to sleep at night. The dormitory prohibited appliances like electric heaters and electric blankets to prevent fires. But students would still secretly use them behind closed doors, because in cold weather it was really hard to endure without them.
“Zichen, I heard from An Jing that you joined Tianfeng Yage?” Shen Yicheng broke the silence in the room.
“Mm.” Since leaving the guild, Xia Zichen had not encountered Shen Yicheng in-game again; at most he only saw him online in the friends list. However, he did run into many members of Zhan Ming Hall in between. Regarding the guild name that appeared above Chenxi’s head, some were surprised, some understood. Since he had already joined a guild, there was nothing left to explain.
“Are you still angry about what happened that day?” Shen Yicheng sat in his chair and looked at Xia Zichen seriously.
Xia Zichen put the clothes from the box into the wardrobe and said with a faint smile that was not quite a smile: “I’m not angry.” It had already been so long; Shen Yicheng still thought he left the guild because of anger. It was somewhat funny.
“That day I didn’t consider things thoroughly. Fei’er’s other equipment is already quite good, but her weapon has always been hard to upgrade. The weapon in your hand was not much worse than the one that dropped, so I directly gave it to Fei’er.” This was the first formal explanation Shen Yicheng gave after that incident. “We are brothers, Fei’er is my girlfriend, I was in a difficult position. But Fei’er is a girl, you should let her a bit.”
There were many players in the game, and many guilds. Situations like priority given to the guild leader’s girlfriend were actually not rare; in some large guilds it was even the default. Even if Xia Zichen had not encountered it before, he had seen many complaint posts about this on forums while reading guides.
The reason for such distribution methods was related to guild management, and also to how much importance members placed on it. Some guilds thought it was fine and harmonious; others thought it was unfair. There was no absolute right or wrong, just different viewpoints. Compared to those who directly stole equipment, this was already considered restrained; at least Shen Yicheng compensated with money afterward.
“I really wasn’t angry, and there was nothing worth being angry about.” Xia Zichen placed the empty box on the top of the cabinet and continued: “If I stay in the guild, things like this will inevitably happen again, and I can’t possibly argue with a bunch of girls over this—it’s meaningless. Games are meant for everyone to enjoy. If playing a game becomes so troublesome, it’s better not to play. Now I’m doing fine in Tianfeng Yage, and no one argues about these messy things. I just need to be happy.”
He could not possibly give up the game because of something like this. It was not that he was addicted, but simply that the game was his form of relaxation—there was no need to give it up because of others. He could still play well and happily on his own.
Shen Yicheng sighed slightly. He could not find even a trace of “care” on Xia Zichen’s face. “It’s good that you’re not angry. Don’t let this affect our relationship. We’re still brothers.”
Xia Zichen smiled noncommittally and said nothing more. From the moment he chose to give up, he could clearly feel the change between him and Shen Yicheng. This change was mutual, to the point that after crossing the intersection point, they began to walk in different directions.
And those things already missed could only exist in the past tense; they could not go back, and even if they did, they would not be as pure as before, so there was no need to regret something already changed.
Even though his feelings for Shen Yicheng had changed from someone he liked to an ordinary friend, the relationship between them had become distant. But in the small “society” of campus, interpersonal relationships were actually quite complicated. As long as they did not interfere too much with each other, there was no need to make things too stiff. Xia Zichen understood this very well; if he did not even understand this bit of social skill, he probably would not survive in a more complicated real society in the future.
Perhaps this was a bit hypocritical, but who could guarantee they had never been hypocritical?
Of course, if anything went too far again in the future, he would absolutely not yield…
Life continued, and the game naturally continued as well. Although the four of them were not in the same guild anymore, they still had a lot in common when it came to game matters.
Apart from sorting out reality, Xia Zichen also forced himself to distance himself a bit more from Canmo Wuhen in the game. Many things could quietly integrate into your life when you were not aware of them, but when you realized they would make you feel pressured, the only choices were advance or retreat. Standing still was only temporary; it was not the end of the matter.
So when he realized he might be falling, Xia Zichen subconsciously chose to retreat—even though in his heart there was already nowhere left to retreat.
Xia Zichen did not want to deny anything, but his experiences told him that these things were not something he could bear… the problem was not a single isolated issue.
Chenxi no longer waited for Canmo Wuhen to do daily instance runs together. After ignoring Canmo Wuhen twice, Canmo Wuhen probably felt it was strange and asked why Chenxi was not waiting for him.
Xia Zichen replied perfunctorily: “Now you’re in the country, no time difference, it’s easy to form daily parties. The guild also organizes them.”
He did not know whether Canmo Wuhen accepted this reason, but at least he did not bring it up again.
During this period, Jian Lang accepted a new female disciple, said to be a favor for a friend. So a character that had not even reached max level directly joined the guild, and everyone did not say much, treating it as contributing guild development points.
This was Jian Lang’s first disciple, and Bai Caozhe also helped to bring her along. Die Meng Xin Zui played a healing class from Shengxian Valley. Although her speech was a bit coy, she got along well with guild members and did not ask for equipment, seeming like just an ordinary, easygoing girl.
When Xia Zichen saw Jian Lang accompanying her to do quests in the wild, he only glanced from afar without much contact or concern.
The quarterfinals and semifinals of the 2v2 PvP competition were in full swing. During matches, Chenxi and Canmo Wuhen also encountered several members of Tianfeng Yage, and the fights were naturally quite difficult. Fortunately, although Xia Zichen deliberately distanced himself from Canmo Wuhen, that tacit understanding did not change.
In the last semifinal match, Chenxi and Canmo Wuhen’s opponents were guild members Aojiao Nurse and Greedy Bloodthirst.
Aojiao Nurse was a healer from Jingning Hall like Chenxi, while Greedy Bloodthirst was a Night Fortress blade user. His output was average, but he had high HP and defense, a close-combat class.
This combination was also not to be underestimated. After all, those who reached the top four were not ordinary players, and they still needed to be careful.
During preparation, Xia Zichen saw people in the guild saying that the B group finalists were Jian Lang and Bai Caozhe. In other words, if they won this match, they would face Jian Lang’s team for the championship.
Shen Yicheng and Lian Fei’er did not even make it into the top fifty and were eliminated early; the ones who eliminated them were Aojiao Nurse and Greedy Bloodthirst. To Xia Zichen, this was expected—reaching this level was already a good improvement for Lian Fei’er.
After five minutes of preparation, they were transported into the instance, followed by a ten-second countdown. The gates opened, and four players flew onto the central arena.
Aojiao Nurse immediately immobilized Chenxi. Xia Zichen instantly dispelled his own immobilization and applied a continuous heal, then was immediately immobilized again by Greedy Bloodthirst. In PvP, targeting the healer first was correct; once the healer went down, DPS became easy.
Chenxi had no self-dispel skill. Canmo Wuhen rushed to Chenxi’s side and cast an AoE attack directly. The two who could not dodge lost half their HP. Aojiao Nurse first escaped the AoE range, while Canmo Wuhen applied a root effect to Greedy Bloodthirst during the attack, leaving him unable to escape and forced to take damage.
Aojiao Nurse immediately dispelled the effect on Greedy Bloodthirst and did a group heal, raising both their HP. But during her heal, Chenxi’s immobilization ended, and he immediately immobilized Aojiao Nurse in return and used an attack. Although healer damage was low, it was still effective against another fragile healer.
After finishing Aojiao Nurse, Chenxi did not linger, giving Canmo Wuhen a large heal and two continuous buffs, then healed himself.
Greedy Bloodthirst broke free and retreated, while Canmo Wuhen focused fully on Aojiao Nurse. She quickly returned to fight back, but Chenxi also supported damage from behind.
Aojiao Nurse could only rely on group healing to maintain HP, but Canmo Wuhen’s DPS was too high; if she could not keep HP stable, she would fall from a burst.
After two minutes, neither side had gained advantage. Eventually, Canmo Wuhen lost patience.
‘Team’ [Canmo Wuhen]: follow.
‘Team’ [Chenxi]: 1.
Afterward, Canmo Wuhen targeted Aojiao Nurse and chased her. Chenxi followed behind, while Greedy Bloodthirst chased Chenxi.
Aojiao Nurse was forced into constant healing and evasive movement, while Chenxi kept applying pressure. Greedy Bloodthirst could only keep chasing but struggled due to being melee.
Chenxi was immobilized by Greedy Bloodthirst and dispelled it himself. Sometimes Canmo Wuhen pulled enemies to him with his whip skill, allowing Chenxi to recover and continue.
Aojiao Nurse eventually ran out of mana, leaving only 5%. She could still heal over time but could no longer use large heals or group heals.
Canmo Wuhen immediately pressed the advantage. Together with Chenxi, they immobilized Aojiao Nurse and burst her down. Greedy Bloodthirst tried to kill Chenxi, but without healing support, he soon fell as well.
System: Chenxi and Canmo Wuhen win.
[Guild] Aojiao Nurse: The boss and Chenxi are too hard to deal with, kept chasing me QAQ
[Guild] Sunflower: Pat pat, don’t take it too hard. In the boss’s eyes only Chenxi is fragile, you don’t count.
[Guild] Aojiao Nurse: sob sob, Chenxi isn’t fragile at all, she even used single-target attacks on me! My mana was completely drained!
[Guild] Greedy Bloodthirst: = = you should’ve managed your mana better, it was obvious the boss was trying to drain it.
[Guild] Aojiao Nurse: I was too nervous, I didn’t notice while running and healing.
[Guild] Three Lifetimes of Love: Losing to the boss isn’t embarrassing.
[Guild] Aojiao Nurse: That’s true.
[Guild] Sunflower: So the final is boss + Chenxi vs guild leader + Bai Cao?
[Guild] One Season Bloom: Definitely worth watching!
[Guild] Fluttering Dance: No official tickets to watch T T
[Guild] Sunflower: request recording!
…
After leaving the PvP field and confirming the finals time, the two returned to the main city, leaving behind a crowd of people admiring the “boss”.
“Rest well tomorrow. The match against Jian Lang and the others will probably be a long battle.” Canmo Wuhen sent a PM.
“Mm.” Xia Zichen replied, “I’ll pick up my mail at the courier NPC and then log off.”
“Alright, I’ll log off too. Good night.” Canmo Wuhen said.
“Good night.”
After sending that message, Canmo Wuhen disappeared beside Chenxi. Xia Zichen looked at the empty spot beside him and felt a slight emptiness in his heart…
He opened the courier and found ten unread letters, all sent by Canmo Wuhen. Each letter contained ten high-quality attribute stones.
Looking at the ten letters that contained nothing except stones, Xia Zichen sighed slightly. He understood that Canmo Wuhen had already sensed his distancing, which was why he did not trade directly and instead used this method to send the items.
Since meeting Canmo Wuhen, the other party had done so much for him that sometimes Xia Zichen himself could not even remember. Even when he distanced himself, Canmo Wuhen did not become cold; it seemed as if nothing had changed…
Silently collecting the stones, Xia Zichen went to the warehouse area and took out all his previously stored high-quality orange materials, then bought some high-level purple materials from the trading house. He crafted six top-tier enchantment items usable by Canmo Wuhen—permanent enchantments that enhance equipment attributes.
Xia Zichen knew Canmo Wuhen was not short of money to buy these things, but this was all he could do—a kind of equal exchange.
After sending the enchantments, he looked at the money left in his bag and slightly curved his lips—
This time, he really was going broke…