Xia Zichen leaned over to look at An Jing’s computer screen. The wedding hall was draped in crimson brocade, radiantly festive. Fireworks had been set off at the entrance, the hall was packed with people, guild members were handing out red packets and wedding candy, and the atmosphere was lively and warm. The two newlyweds stood in the center, receiving congratulations from all sides.
Xia Zichen tilted his head slightly. The scene looked perfectly normal by any measure, and there was no sign of Canmo Wuhen anywhere. He looked at An Jing’s knowing smile with confusion. “What’s the big deal? It looks fine.”
“Look at this.” An Jing clicked on Wuqing Xue’s character profile. In the marriage slot sat a wedding ring engraved with Lian Feier’s name — but the key detail was the small slot beneath the ring, which held a gleaming golden Eternal Bond Lock. “That lock was sent by Canmo Wuhen in both your names.”
“Hm?” Canmo Wuhen hadn’t mentioned anything about sending a gift, and at this hour he should have been in the middle of a dungeon run. “What is the lock for?”
An Jing gave Xia Zichen a helpless look. “Little Zhen-zhen, you haven’t just overlooked the marriage system — you’ve completely tuned it out.”
Xia Zichen took off his coat and changed into his usual dorm clothes. It wasn’t like he was getting married anytime soon, so there wasn’t much point in following the details closely.
“The full name of that lock is ‘Bound Forever in Love.’ The couple gifts it to each other on the wedding day, and for five years afterward, divorce isn’t possible. If one player deletes their account, the marriage is automatically dissolved after one year. After the five-year mark, if divorce occurs, the initiating party’s level is cut in half, and they must pay the other party one million in-game currency. In plain terms, it locks the marriage in.” An Jing explained in detail. “The lock can only be purchased with real money. Not outrageously expensive, but definitely not cheap either.”
“That sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?” Xia Zichen washed his hands and opened his computer, sorting the things he’d bought and putting them away as he did.
“It’s a great thing. I just didn’t expect Canmo Wuhen to go this big.” An Jing looked at Xia Zichen with a meaningful expression. “For an ordinary kind of connection, there’s no reason to send something this expensive.”
Even though questions stirred inside him, Xia Zichen kept his surface perfectly composed. His questions were about Canmo Wuhen — and the only person who could answer them was Canmo Wuhen.
He logged into the game, but rather than heading to the wedding venue right away, he checked Canmo Wuhen’s location and sent him a message.
[PM] [Chenxi]: Weren’t you supposed to be in a dungeon? How did you end up at the wedding?
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: You’re back on? The dungeon wrapped up in about an hour. Nothing else going on, so I figured I’d stop by. I was thinking of waiting for you, but didn’t know when you’d log on.
[PM] [Chenxi]: Right. Thanks for the gift, by the way — that was quite something to send.
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: It’s nothing. I don’t know them well, so if I was going to show up at all, it was only as your friend. The gift naturally had to be appropriate — I didn’t know if you had anything prepared, so I sent it in both our names.
[PM] [Chenxi]: Yeah. Shenye mentioned it to me over the phone.
In the game, Chenxi’s identity to Shenye Qianxing and the others was as a classmate of theirs from school — a girl. So he obviously couldn’t say he had seen it on An Jing’s computer. Besides, it was already nearly ten at night — a girl alone with three guys wasn’t exactly the most appropriate situation to admit to.
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: I see. Thought you might not log on at all tonight.
[PM] [Chenxi]: A family member suddenly had work to deal with, so I came back to the dorm. If I’d stayed home I wouldn’t have logged on.
After sending it, Xia Zichen paused for a moment, slightly surprised at himself. He was always careful about his privacy — he never talked about home matters in the game. Yet somehow, he had said it to Canmo Wuhen completely naturally, without thinking.
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: Your guild master’s wedding turned out to be quite the event.
[PM] [Chenxi]: I haven’t gone into the hall to see yet. A lot of people are getting married today — nobody in your guild?
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: Everyone in our guild is single.
[PM] [Chenxi]: That can’t be right…
Tianfeng Yage had so many top players — finding a romantic partner should have been effortless for any of them.
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: The guild master is still single. Nobody else is in a hurry.
Xia Zichen found the people of Tianfeng Yage genuinely interesting. Come to think of it, their guild master was Jianlang, wasn’t it? Over all this time getting to know them, Xia Zichen had indeed never seen Jianlang particularly close with any girl. If anything, he spent most of his time with Baicao Zhe.
[PM] [Chenxi]: What about you? Are you also waiting until Jianlang finds someone before you bother?
There was a pause on Canmo Wuhen’s end before two words came through slowly.
[PM] [Canmo Wuhen]: Not in a rush.
After chatting for a bit, Canmo Wuhen was called away by Jianlang. With nothing pressing to do, Xia Zichen went to the wedding hall to offer his congratulations to the newlyweds, collected the red packet and stats-boosting wedding candy, and then headed off to do his dailies.
He had just come out of a daily dungeon when a message arrived from Baicao Zhe. The two of them had known each other for a fair amount of time now, but they rarely sent private messages. Come to think of it, the person he sent the most private messages to in the entire game was still Canmo Wuhen…
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: Are you busy? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. Is this a good time?
[PM] [Chenxi]: Sure. What is it?
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: Next Friday, the guild members are planning to host a birthday celebration for Canmo in our voice chat channel. We’d like to invite you. Are you free?
[PM] [Chenxi]: Friday is Canmo Wuhen’s birthday?
That was a surprise. Nobody had mentioned it before. Come to think of it, Canmo Wuhen seemed just like him when it came to privacy — very guarded about personal things.
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: Technically his birthday is Saturday, but he’s going home for the weekend to celebrate, so the guild girls wanted to do something early.
[PM] [Chenxi]: Would it be alright for me to come?
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: We’re all friends here — no reason it wouldn’t be. Canmo would definitely be happy you came. Though this whole thing needs to be kept secret. Canmo doesn’t like making a fuss — if he finds out, the guild won’t be able to pull it off.
[PM] [Chenxi]: Got it. If I’m free that day, I’ll be there.
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: Perfect, let’s call it settled. Oh, and you’ll need to prepare something to perform.
[PM] [Chenxi]: …
That Xia Zichen hadn’t considered. He had only been thinking of going to watch.
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: You have a week to think about it. Just come on and sing a song when it’s your turn.
[PM] [Chenxi]: We’ll see when the time comes. It might not be convenient for me to use the mic on my end.
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: Sure, whatever works best for you. Really, just being there is enough — nothing else is required. Don’t let me scare you off.
[PM] [Chenxi]: I won’t.
[PM] [Baicao Zhe]: Alright, I’ll go tell the girls so they can start planning.
[PM] [Chenxi]: Sure.
From start to finish, Xia Zichen had barely given a second thought to Wuqing Xue and Lian Feier’s wedding. Canmo Wuhen’s birthday celebration, on the other hand, was something he found himself genuinely thinking about. Since he had agreed to go, showing up with nothing prepared wasn’t right. He couldn’t speak on voice chat, so singing was obviously out — what else he could do was something worth thinking through carefully.
Of course, Baicao Zhe had asked him to keep the birthday celebration secret, and he had no intention of saying a word. He would act as if he knew nothing. Though honestly, knowing Canmo Wuhen’s personality, he probably wouldn’t enjoy a time-consuming and elaborate voice chat celebration — but the thought behind it was genuine, and that deserved to be received with appreciation.
The day after the wedding, over lunch, An Jing announced in a conspiratorial tone that after thorough joint deliberation between himself and Tang Hui, they had unanimously concluded that Canmo Wuhen was absolutely someone who played the long game with a hidden agenda.
Chenxi’s previous closeness with Wuqing Xue had never been a secret. Now that Wuqing Xue had married Lian Feier, in the eyes of outsiders, Chenxi’s position was at least a little awkward. By sending the Eternal Bond Lock as a wedding gift, whether Shen Yicheng liked it or not, he couldn’t risk making a scene and losing face on his own wedding day — he would naturally use it with Lian Feier. In doing so, Canmo Wuhen had essentially eliminated a potential rival entirely. Whatever Shen Yicheng might have wanted to do going forward, there was simply no room left to do it.
After listening to An Jing’s analysis, Xia Zichen gave him a mildly helpless sideways glance and went back to eating. He felt An Jing was overcomplicating things to a serious degree. From beginning to end, Canmo Wuhen had never said he liked him. The night he mentioned sending the gift, Canmo Wuhen had also said explicitly that he was only going in the capacity of a friend. So they had always just been friends. Even if things occasionally felt a little ambiguous, there was nothing like the romantic connection An Jing and the others were imagining.
Xia Zichen had no interest in explaining further. It was just a game — as long as it was enjoyable, that was enough. Everything else would become clear in time.
After the wedding, Wuqing Xue and Lian Feier running quests together as a bound pair was only natural, and there was no longer any question of one dragging the other along. An Jing and Tang Hui helped out occasionally; Xia Zichen wasn’t involved. From what Tang Hui had said, Lian Feier’s mechanics had improved, and with better gear, the daily dungeon no longer ended in full wipes — at most one or two people would go down. Things were no longer quite such a headache.
For Xia Zichen, that was unambiguously good news. At least he wouldn’t have to go rushing in to save the situation anymore, wasting his own time.
The week passed quickly. Friday arrived before he realized it. After dinner, Xia Zichen stepped out for a bit and came back carrying a leather case and a bag.
“What’ve you got there?” An Jing reached over to help take the case — it was heavier than expected.
Xia Zichen smiled. “I need to get on voice chat for a bit later tonight. When I do, don’t make any noise. Just ten minutes.”
“What are you being all mysterious about?” An Jing set the case on the desk, puzzled.
Shen Yicheng and Tang Hui looked over as well, waiting for the answer.
“You’ll see in a minute.” Xia Zichen checked the time, then calmly changed into fresh clothes and washed his hands. Only then did he open the case — revealing a beautiful guzheng inside.
He had borrowed it the day before from the senior who had first asked for his help. The moment she heard he needed it, she had told him without a second thought to come pick it up from the Music Club’s activity room whenever he liked, and to return it whenever was convenient.
“A guzheng?!” An Jing stared at Xia Zichen in astonishment. “Why’d you bring that thing back here? To look at?”
Tang Hui stood up and walked over. “You can play?”
“Yeah.” No point denying it — they’d all hear it in a few minutes anyway.
“Since when do you know how to play that thing?” Shen Yicheng frowned slightly. He’d never heard Xia Zichen mention it before.
“Studied it for a while when I was younger.” Shen Yicheng probably wasn’t particularly interested, and Xia Zichen couldn’t be bothered to elaborate.
Tang Hui helped Xia Zichen set up the guzheng. Xia Zichen casually opened his computer — not to log into the game, but to go directly to the voice chat software. Baicao Zhe had given him the channel number the day before and told him to join directly once he was online.
By the time Xia Zichen entered the voice channel, the celebration had already been underway for some time.
The moment Chenxi’s name appeared in the channel, the host greeted her with enthusiastic excitement, and the Tianfeng Yage members immediately flooded the chat with messages. Xia Zichen typed a greeting to everyone.
“Chenxi’s here — did you bring a performance? You can’t leave without one.” Baicao Zhe came on the mic. His voice was cultured and refined, with a faint undercurrent of mischief — very much in line with how he came across in the game.
“Requesting Chenxi the divine healer perform something!”
“Requesting Chenxi confess her feelings to the top player!”
“Requesting a mic kiss for the top player from Chenxi!”
…
A torrent of requests came scrolling past so fast they were impossible to keep up with.
“If you all scroll this fast, Chenxi won’t be able to read the replies.” Baicao Zhe said over the mic.
The moment he said it, the chat slowed down noticeably.
“I do have something prepared, but let’s keep the original order — I’ll go when it’s my turn.” Xia Zichen typed back in the channel.
“Oh come on, if Chenxi has something prepared, she should go early! The top player agrees too, right?” The girl hosting had a very animated voice — the kind that naturally lifted the energy of any room she was in.
“Chenxi should go first. Everyone’s really looking forward to it.” This time the voice belonged to Jianlang. Jianlang’s voice had a rich, grounded quality to it — the kind of voice that was easy to trust and believe in. It truly suited someone who led a guild.
Since everyone was saying as much, Xia Zichen had no reason to make a fuss about it. He simply replied, “Give me two minutes to get ready.”
He wound the finger picks onto his fingers, signaled to the three others in the dorm to be quiet, and opened his mic.
His fingers moved — and a cascade of beautiful notes rang out.
He and Canmo Wuhen had met in the game, so the gift naturally had to connect to the game. Xia Zichen had taken the background music from several places in the game the two of them had frequented, and woven them together into a single continuous piece.
There was the snow field and bamboo grove from the arena, the city gate plaza where they had sparred, the waterfall where they had set off fireworks… Every place held something worth remembering — small moments, perhaps, but precious and rare nonetheless.
The game itself had an ancient classical aesthetic, which made the music sound beautiful on the guzheng. And compared to the versions that looped again and again in the game, the tones Xia Zichen drew out carried far more feeling.
Notes danced from his fingertips — gentle, then deep, tender, then warm with romance… Like the narration of a memory, or the telling of a story. What he expressed reached far beyond what the music itself contained, drawing the listener quietly inward — to listen, to feel, to be present in it.
The sound was ornate and delicate, like whispered words between two people who knew each other well — played only for one person, and understood only by that one person… Joyful and rare…
And more than anything… it stirred something.
The voice channel went quiet. Nobody typed, nobody spoke — as if they were afraid of interrupting these melodies that felt both familiar and unlike anything they had heard before…
The three others in the dorm room also set down whatever they were doing, and watched quietly as Xia Zichen lost himself in the music…
When the final note of the medley fell, Xia Zichen lifted his hand and closed the mic…
Silence remained…