That thing? Ye Ci was momentarily stunned before realizing what NightAndDay had meant. She did not intend to tell him anything. After all, an outsider like her should avoid meddling too much in such an affair. If not, she ran the risk of causing trouble for herself while not benefiting from it.
Hence, Ye Ci who claimed to be part-genius began to play dumb, "What thing?"
NightAndDay studied Gongzi You silently. Her pale face betrayed no emotion, as if she was a mass-produced toy from a factory. There was no happiness nor was there sorrow on her face. It was impossible to discern what she wastruly thinking. NightAndDay felt helpless. It would be difficult for him to repeat himself again. He was but a human, and was unable to speak of something of this nature without a hint of emotion.
He gulped down another mouthful of wine. Fate is such a well-designed game. Even the hint of acrid taste in the wine felt real. In that moment, the taste lingered right at the tip of his tongue, no matter how hard he tried to wash it away.
However, there were times when curiosity and doubts could overpower one's sense of shame. NightAndDay looked at Gongzi You and said in a low voice, "Do you remember the thing you said to me when you told me to retreat."
"Ahhh?" Ye Ci replied nonchalantly.
NightAndDay went straight to the point when Ye Ci continuously refused to disclose any bit of information, "You told me that my backyard was on fire. What did you mean by that?"
What do you mean by that? Ye Ci would never bring herself to believe that NightAndDay had not a single clue at all at this point. He must've known something all along, but he lacked the courage to voice it out, or even the courage to bring himself to admit the truth. He was looking for a strong reason to force himself to believe the truth, and Ye Ci's words were exactly what he needed.
But, Ye Ci was not one to meddle in arduous and thankless affairs that would not benefit herself. She replied with an indifferent tone, "There are things that you should not be so curious about."
Her voice was low and soft, and NightAndDay could only vaguely hear her words. He immediately asked out loud, "What did you say?"
Ye Ci turned around and stared at NightAndDay with a smile lighting up her face, "What did I say? I said nothing."
NightAndDay grimaced. He believed that Ye Ci's behavior was a sign that his assumptions were correct. Ever since that day Gongzi You told him that his backyard was on fire, he was able to make sense of certain things that were off.
Why had he always felt that the way Wandering Cloud and Into the Sunset were talking to each other was quite weird? Why had he always felt that the indifference Into the Sunset had towards Wandering Cloud was weird? He did not think, or was rather too afraid to think about the answer to his questions. He had always felt that Glistening Snow and Wandering Cloud were a couple. That was why such a thing between Wandering Cloud and Into the Sunset did not occur to him. Or perhaps he was indeed the victor in his competition with Wandering Cloud. He was the one who would be walking into a church with Into the Sunset.
He held on to such a belief, but there was still a sliver of doubt in his heart. However, his unyielding belief was quick to suppress such doubt, until Gongzi You pointed the matter out to him. So even an outsider like her could see it so clearly? Or perhaps she knew something about this?
NightAndDay's faith was shattered completely. The strong castle of confidence that he had been building up crumbled just like that. Despite appearing strong on the outside, NightAndDay's heart was in turmoil. That was why he gave up on everything, including guild affairs, and spent his time leveling up in such a secluded place.
Although Ye Ci was able make a guess about such things, the details were unclear. Based on her memory of her last life, Wandering Cloud was the final victor. He was able to take over Tang Dynasty and Into the Sunset. As the saying goes, "the background of a hero does not matter". Despite being the guild leader with the most scandals in the forums, his place in Tang Dynasty held firm. But, who would remember the true founder of Tang Dynasty, and the poor little girl who was one infatuated with Wandering Cloud?
The past is ever so painful. Ye Ci could feel the shame even with a mere thought of such an event. Whenever she thought of the foolish self she once was, Ye Ci hoped that she could grind herself into paste and pour her remains into the sewers. Truth be told, despite telling herself to let go, Ye Ci could still feel anger when she faced Wandering Clouds.
Alright, alright, Ye Ci had to admit that she had always been a narrow minded person. The virtue of tolerance had nothing to do with her. She had always been petty throughout her entire life.
Although it happened in her last life, although things changed with the passing of time, Ye Ci was still unhappy about it.
This unhappiness drove Ye Ci into scheming as she stared at NightAndDay. However, that thought did not stay in her mind long. Ye Ci's expression reverted to her previous smile within a fraction of a second, "I think that you're such a lucky person. A guild leader of such a huge guild is able to leave everything behind and level up solo. How wonderful it is to just leave matters to your subordinates."
"Aren't you doing exactly the same thing?" NightAndDay was rather gloomy.
"You and I are different. I'm just a guild leader in name. I'm not the one who created the guild, nor was I the one who had recruited our members. All the administrative work of the guild hasnothing to do with me. I'm just somebody who is muddling along. We have our own guild officers to manage the guild. A person like me is basically not at all important. Don't tell me you're just like that as well?" Ye Ci answered honestly.
"Whenever I'm not around, I'll leave matters to Wandering Cloud, he would usually…" NightAndDay shut his mouth abruptly, and his expression darkened. He the stood up and looked at Ye Ci with a gloomy expression, "I'm almost running out of potions. I'll head back to the city, and I don't think I will be coming back for a while."
"Oh, alright. Let's party up again next time!"
NightAndDay took out a city-recalling stone, and suddenly spoke up, suddenly remembering something, "Can you please keep our meeting today a secret?"
"I know, I know. If the folks in Upwards Ho! finds out that I've been leveling up with you, Remote Depths might choke me to death." said Ye Ci in an exaggerating tone. Her eyes formed into slits. She was in a good mood. She could almost wave NightAndDay goodbye with her handkerchief. A question floated into Ye Ci's mind: Would Bai Mo have the courage to choke her to death? He certainly would not.
"Ok. Goodbye." with that, NightAndDay began to activate the city-recalling stone. He stared straight at Gongzi You, and the corner of his mouth twitched, as if he was about to speak up, but decided against it. NightAndDay disappeared from Ye Ci's view and from the Mausoleum of Blades in a flash of green light.
Since both of them have added each other as friends, Ye Ci was able to clearly see NightAndDay's location: Dallas City. Ye Ci's lips formed into a beautiful curve. That was the home city of Tang Dynasty.
Sigh. Ye Ci let out a breath. Her mood was very good.
As he stood in Dallas City, NightAndDay could not help but think of Gongzi You's calm demeanor earlier. That girl… Was just too subtle, too shrewd. Despite being unwilling, he was still being led by the nose by Ye Ci. Even though he harbored some contempt towards her in his heart, but for the sake of his benefit, he could not afford to waste his energy on an outsider like Ye Ci. NightAndDay took in a deep breath before looking up at the sky. He loathed the thick clouds ahead. It was a clear portrait of his mood.
As they were fighting the Ogres earlier on, Ye Ci had the opportunity to observe her surroundings. Despite being a rare place in the Mausoleum of Blades, there was no hidden secrets in this little basin. It seemed that this was not the place she was looking for.
Ye Ci climbed onto Ol' Four and was readying herself to explore other areas within the map.
Just then, a message appeared in the World Chat.
"Champion City is under attack. The city is under attack by players from the Western Continent. All Eastern Continent players please rush to the city's defense. This is a life and death moment for our continent! If the palace within the Champion City falls, you know damn well what will happen! Let us set aside our past feuds and differences and unite! We must defend the city!"
The message was sent by Sir Ditty, and it received responses from the leaders of several other major guilds. Bai Mo's message followed right after.
"To all combat able players of Upwards Ho!, I want you to head to Champion City. The rest of the Life Players should start storing supplies into our guild warehouse so that our combatants could retrieve them from the warehouse in Champion City when they run out of supplies."
The guild channel was silent, with Bai Mo's voice being the only source of audible sound, "Everybody! Head to Champion City ASAP! Any of you who does not show up will be kicked from the guild!"
"Roger that boss!" the members of Upwards Ho! let out a spirited roar.
"Icy, go to Tang Dynasty's voice chat with Fruit Jelly. Ask them who is in command, and which squadron does our guild belong to."
"Okay, right away." both players who were diplomats for Upwards Ho! immediately switched channels.
"Gongzi You!" after giving out orders to his guild members, Bai Mo noticed that Ye Ci was still in the Mausoleum of Blades, and he shouted her name out in the guild channel.
"I'm here." Ye Ci of course did not talk back against him at a time like this.
"Why the heck are you still there? Get your ass to Champion City or I'll kick your ass!"
"I know what I'm doing, you don't have to worry about me. I will be at Champion City." Ye Ci at that moment was making her way to the highest peak in the Mausoleum of Blades on Ol' Four's back.
"Hurry up Ol' Four, don't let me down." said Ye Ci as she stuffed pieces of meat into Ol' Four's mouth as they went.
The Western Continent is attacking! It's too soon! Have they opened up a tunnel? How did they do it?