The matter with Lian Feier, Xia Zichen didn’t really take it to heart. After all, she was Shen Yicheng’s girlfriend; if anyone needed to worry, it wasn’t him. He wasn’t someone with nothing better to do.
But whether he cared or not didn’t change the fact that things wouldn’t just end there. If others refused to calm down, then this matter wouldn’t stay quiet.
More than ten days later, during dinner time, An Jing mysteriously pulled Xia Zichen aside and said that recently Lian Feier had been trying to gather information about Demon Ink Without Trace from all kinds of sources—even digging information up to him—and no one knew what she was planning.
After hearing it, Xia Zichen didn’t pay much attention. He was just curious why Lian Feier had suddenly set her sights on Demon Ink Without Trace when she had previously been so quiet.
“You should still be careful. I have a feeling she’s going to stir up some trouble this time,” An Jing said, full of gossip energy and confidence in his intuition.
Even though he didn’t care much, An Jing was still kind-hearted, so Xia Zichen nodded.
Thinking about it, since that incident, Lian Feier hadn’t joined their dungeon runs again, nor had she appeared around them. It almost made it seem like An Jing was overthinking things. But on closer thought, Shen Yicheng had also gone out on fewer dates recently—previously, the two of them met at least four times a week and also called each other often—but in these past ten days, Shen Yicheng had only gone out once…
Thinking about it that way, it did feel a little subtle.
The weather in June had gradually turned hot. Students at A University were especially busy during this warming season—some were preparing for final exams, like Xia Zichen; others were busy with graduation theses and defenses, like Gu Xu.
Because of graduation matters, Gu Xu and Xia Zichen had fewer chances to meet, but they still kept a fixed daily phone call. Although they were in a relationship, Xia Zichen had always been rather indifferent and couldn’t stand being overly clingy, so even with less time together, he didn’t mind much. As long as he knew Gu Xu was doing fine that day, it was enough.
After finishing his daily routine, Xia Zichen controlled Shenxi to gather materials, while Demon Ink Without Trace went to the auction house to buy items and would come find him later.
Just as he reached the gathering spot, Shen Yicheng stormed into the dorm, the door slamming shut with a loud bang that shook the room.
Xia Zichen turned his head and saw Shen Yicheng’s face was extremely ugly, clearly furious. Before leaving earlier that day, he had said he was going out with Lian Feier, so the only person who could have made him this angry was probably her.
Before Xia Zichen could ask anything, Shen Yicheng immediately directed his anger at him.
“What exactly is going on with Demon Ink Without Trace? Is he planning to play both sides, or have you already cleared things up with him?”
Xia Zichen was confused. “What do you mean?”
Although Xia Zichen had never officially said he was together with Demon Ink Without Trace, and in real life he had become very close to Gu Xu, Shen Yicheng could still tell that their relationship in-game wasn’t just ordinary friends. After those fireworks confessions, their relationship had clearly become closer. After thinking for a while, Shen Yicheng assumed Gu Xu only treated Xia Zichen like a younger brother, while Demon Ink Without Trace and Shenxi were already a couple.
“Jia Yue said she wants to break up with me today, and the reason is Demon Ink Without Trace,” Shen Yicheng said loudly, causing Tang Hui and An Jing, who had been focused on their dungeon, to slow down.
“Demon Ink?” Xia Zichen truly couldn’t understand how that woman managed to drag him into this.
“She said that recently Demon Ink Without Trace has been very good to her, very caring, and she admires him. She asked me to tell you to stay away from him, otherwise it would be awkward for them to be alone together,” Shen Yicheng said, slamming his fist on the table.
Xia Zichen frowned slightly. Demon Ink Without Trace had been online less frequently lately, and when he did log in, he mostly just did dailies with him. There hadn’t been any interaction with Lian Feier at all. After thinking for a moment, he said indirectly, “It’s probably a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?” Shen Yicheng said coldly. “If Demon Ink didn’t seduce Jia Yue, why would she ignore the interests of both families’ cooperation?”
“Heh…” Xia Zichen let out a cold laugh. “What exactly does Fan Jiayue have that’s worth Demon Ink looking at?”
Talking about “interests” made Xia Zichen feel, for the first time, disgusted by people who prioritized benefits above everything. If Fan Jiayue didn’t know Demon Ink Without Trace was Gu Xu, fine. But if she privately found that out, then which side actually held the bigger benefit was obvious.
“At least she comes from a good family. Isn’t that enough for Demon Ink to be tempted?” Shen Yicheng’s eyes were red with anger. Xia Zichen had never spoken to him like this before, especially not for an outsider like Demon Ink Without Trace.
“Heh heh. Not everyone is like you, only seeing ‘family background’,” Xia Zichen said impatiently.
“How do you know he isn’t?” Shen Yicheng glared at him.
Xia Zichen said nothing, because Demon Ink Without Trace was Gu Xu—his understanding of him was deeper than Shen Yicheng imagined…
“Maybe it really is a misunderstanding,” An Jing finally said to break the tension. “Demon Ink hasn’t been online much lately anyway, and when he is, he just does dailies with Zichen. He wouldn’t have time to be with Lian Feier.”
“If you have time to look for problems in others, you should first look at what’s wrong with yourself,” Tang Hui said bluntly.
Shen Yicheng fell silent, slumping back into his chair. The biggest change recently was that he had given up his guild leader position, and Lian Feier was no longer the so-called guild leader’s wife. But he still couldn’t understand—how could she completely disregard the cooperation between their families and suddenly fall for Demon Ink Without Trace, someone she barely knew?
Even if Demon Ink was a top player in the game, it was still just within the game.
The dorm room fell silent, only the sound of keyboards clicking remained.
“Holy shit!” An Jing suddenly shouted, breaking the silence.
Xia Zichen looked at the screen and froze as well…
—“Lian Feier” used the skill “Eternal Love” on “Demon Ink Without Trace” at the trading house entrance…
(World Chat continues…)