"Where have you been?" Second Ye asked as the three guys stumbled in.
"Creating the moment that should have happened in the first place," Big Ye said with a straight face.
"It was rather cruel..." Ye Xiu couldn't help but expressed.
"I only heard shrieks, Third bro covered my eyes," Little Ye regretted.
Second Ye shook his head, "Yifan arrived when you guys went off, come and greet him."
"He arrived? That's nice," Big Ye smiled leisurely as they walked into the living room.
When they entered, their eyes were set on the familiar new boy who was smiling slightly as he listened to Steamed Bun's animated storytelling.
"One-Inch Ash!" Little Ye called out happily that he even forgot to use Yifan's real name.
Qiao Yifan perked up when he heard his avatar's name being called out and looked up to see Little Ye, "One-Inch Love!" He had no way of calling Little Ye's real name when Little Ye himself called him with his avatar's name.
It was rather Wei Chen whose expression sunk, "Couple names," he said in disgust.
"Long time no see! Glad to see you finally and officially joined us, don't have to fear, we'll make those guys regret it for overlooking you," Little Ye said confidently as he offered a handshake.
Qiao Yifan accepted it and smiled, "Long time no see and thank you, I'll work hard."
"Oh no, long time no see? Long distance relationship before being reunited back?" Wei Chen mumbled darkly under his breath as he wondered whether it'd be worth it if he took all his money and ran away before surrendering to himself. Some things needed sacrifice, if he had to suffer from all the dog foods, suffer he would. As long as the championship is upfront.
"Yifan will be your roommate, is that okay with you, Xiuliu?" Second Ye asked as an empty formality.
"That's okay! I don't mind," Little Ye nodded readily.
Second Ye ignored how Wei Chen looked at him like he had just decided to hog all the wild bosses, pissed on Han Wenqing, encouraged Huang Shaotian to talk, and asking Guo Mingyu to pay back his debt. "Anyways, since we already have a new member joining, I'm telling you that our sub-cleric and mathematician will also come along, but they're good kids with promising futures even without being a pro player, so they're still in college currently. But no worry, they'll join us as well."
"Ye Xiu, say something. You're the captain," Big Ye kindly reminded Ye Xiu and Second Ye. Both blinked and Second Ye shook his head, he was too used to inform and instruct both as a captain and a coach to the National Team.
Ye Xiu nodded his head, "For the meantime, we don't really have too much work. Just keep train yourselves to be better, frankly, I feel really confident in this team."
"That's frankly narcissistic of you," Wei Chen said seriously as the few younger version of Ye Xiu smirked slightly.
"If you chose to say it like that, then, yes. Little Tang had a solid foundation, no doubt she'll be a future god-tier player. Little Qiao is very restrained but is a hardworker, I believe he'll also be a great pro player in the future. Bun is... great as long as he's within our watch," Ye Xiu said solemnly as he glanced at Bun and the others grimly agreed.
"With this, it's only a matter of time," Big Ye whispered with an ambiguous smile as he looked out of the window.
"Alright, let's explain about our relationship so that you guys won't be confused. Mostly for Yifan," Big Ye kindly nodded to Qiao Yifan who felt a bit guilty for the need of explanation for him.
"And maybe Little Tang too," Big Ye added and Tang Rou simply nodded indifferently.
"Right, so Shunfeng and I are twins, you guys know it. I'm five days older than him since his labor was a bit complicated because of our mom's young age of nineteen at that time," Big Ye slung his arm around Second Ye's shoulder. Although this kind of lie was a bit useless towards Wei Chen who already knew their identities, it was also needed so that Wei Chen would know what their fake relation was to create an even stronger lie.
"Ye Xiu is the child of our uncle. Xiusi and Xiuwu were the children of our youngest uncle," Big Ye said and subtly glanced at Second Ye who gave him a thumbs-up for being right.
"Ye Xiuliu is my son," Big Ye patted Little Ye's head next and continued "He just turned fourteen..." Big Ye lied. This was not without reason.
A little background story first. It was only after months being here that Little Ye realized that he wasn't growing at all. Amongst them, the ones who were still growing were Little Ye and Fifth Ye, but at Fifth Ye's age, his growth would be a bit slow. Little Ye's growth, however, was supposed to be fast at his age, added with many nutrition that may or may not been forced on him by the older ones, he supposedly to grow steadily.
However, reality said otherwise as much to Little Ye's horror (who had been waiting for his growth because he was jealous of the surrounding tall people), he didn't grow even a centimeter up in all these months. Thus, after several extensive research to which everyone but the real Ye Xiu had to suffer through, they decided that they didn't grow up at all in this different timeline. Only the original Ye Xiu from the timeline that change, like growing his hair out- yes, much to Fifth Ye and Fourth Ye's horror, their haircut would stay like that until they go back...
That's why, Big Ye actually wanted to have Little Ye a bit younger, but thirteen was too pushing it so fourteen it is. Little Ye smiled, "Don't treat me any less just because I'm a bit younger, okay?" Little Ye said to Qiao Yifan who smiled back and shook his head.
"It's okay. Age is not a problem, you're better than me anyway," Qiao Yifan said sincerely, unaware that his words were misunderstood by a certain old shameless guy who cringed in disgust.
"Ugh- dog food..." Wei Chen cursed under his breath.
"But, how old are you?" Tang Rou asked Big Ye.
"Thirty," Big Ye answered without batting an eyelid. Once you weave the lie, it got bigger and so big that it went out of hands. In Big Ye's case, once he lied he got so eager over the details of the lie.
"Then. Isn't that mean you had Ye Xiuliu at..."
"Sixteen. Yes," Big Ye replied before sighing. "I was young and impulsive back then. I got a bit rebellious and mistakes just happen with the wrong girl... After giving birth, she just dumped Xiuliu on me and ran off with another rich uncle. But Xiuliu is not a mistake, I'm thrilled to have him here," Big Ye smiled down to his 'son' who warmly smiled back despite Wei Chen's dirty look.
"I see," Tang Rou nodded solemnly, something like that often happened whether in high or low society. She felt even more sympathetic towards the little guy who actually grew up without a mom.
Qiao Yifan looked at Little Ye with sympathy, so Little Ye grew up without a mom? How pitiful...
Steamed Bun sagely looked at the young man that he had taken as a little brother. He nodded solemnly, no one really knew what he was thinking, and no one wanted to know.
"But, Ye Xiu, you called Ye Xiuliu your youngest brother back then," Tang Rou remembered something and asked again.
Ye Xiu gracefully puffed out a cloud of smoke, "It was a shock for Big Ye to have a son at the age of sixteen. It was also a shock for me to be an uncle at the tender age of eleven, rather than an uncle and nephew, our age is close enough to be brothers!" Ye Xiu sighed, "The young me cannot accept to be called an uncle so I treat him as my younger brother."
"Naturally, it was even harder for us. We were seventeen right now, fourteen years ago we were only three! Seeing a baby, of course we'll think of it as a younger brother. The concept of nephews didn't make sense for us at that time," Fourth Ye also gracefully added his side of story. It's really painful to make yourself younger by three years, but it's necessary for the sake of Fifth Ye and himself.
Fifth Ye also gracefully nodded, "Although Xiuliu is our nephew, but he became the youngest brother since we weren't ready to be uncles."
"I see..." Tang Rou smiled. Hearing their story she felt it was really adorable.
"Xiuliu is really lucky," Qiao Yifan chuckled in good nature. He was honestly glad and a bit jealous that Xiuliu got such a loving family. Qiao Yifan is an only child so he never felt any brotherly love before, except if you count Gao Yingjie in.
"I am," Little Ye laughed innocently. With brothers like this, you can even deceive yourself...
"But, why are you guys calling yourselves brother instead of cousin-brother?" Tang Rou then asked again, her high-class upbringing made her too used to ask for details.
"That's because our fathers are identical triplets!" Big Ye gritted his teeth and weaved the enormous lie. "You know, when identical twins- triplets in this case- had children, their children can be regarded as half-siblings. So that's why we were all raised like siblings and treat each others so."
"I see," Tang Rou exhaled in astonishment and admiration. "What a good family you have, you're not lying when you said your family produced a lot of twins..." The innocent girl said with a smile as pretty as flowers.
Wei Chen stared at the Ye's with a blank stare as if saying 'You guys are totally lying...' But none of them had the mood to trash talk back.
"Yeah, kinda fun, right?" Second Ye laughed exaggeratedly as he patted Big Ye's shoulder to tell him that he did a good job.
Meanwhile, Ye Xiu secretly scribbled down all the new lies just to make sure that they won't forget them by the next morning.
Qiao Yifan was happy with his new team. Everyone had been nothing but kind and helpful, it felt rather baffling how quickly they treated him as a part of them but that made Qiao Yifan's heart warmed.
So far, Qiao Yifan had nothing but good opinion mixed with respect and maybe a bit of worship towards his teammate. Yes, even Wei Chen, because Qiao Yifan was nice like that.
The first one he met was the extremely beautiful and elegant Soft Mist, who went by Tang Rou in real life. Despite his initial impression of a strong, valiant and cold girl like in the game. The real Tang Rou was actually very kind and sisterly, she was also thorough and refreshing. She didn't seem to mind to sit in a house full of guys and treated them all the same.
Senior Ye Shunfeng was a charismatic man in Qiao Yifan's opinion. Something about the man's aura just screamed... Professionalism? Either way, he was such a great guy who helped Qiao Yifan to settle down.
The younger pair of twins, Ye Xiusi and Ye Xiuwu, were also very nice and kind. Though Qiao Yifan wasn't really close with Ye Xiusi who played in the first server, Ye Xiuwu had always shown nothing but smiles towards Qiao Yifan. Not to mention they were his age too, so he could relate to them somehow.
Steamed Bun... His impression of Steamed Bun in real life was roughly the same as his impression in the game. He was a nice guy, very supportive, but there were just some moments where you'd stop and looked at him like he had grown two heads. But Qiao Yifan didn't hold it against him, how could he? The guy was so nice and had helped Qiao Yifan to ease his anxiety... Even though that may be unintended from the other person.
Wei Chen was... a nice senior, though, his trashtalks often times made Qiao Yifan wished he could glue his earphone to his ears. But Wei Chen often praised him which was... a welcome change, Qiao Yifan supposed.
The captain of the team, Ye Qiu which actually Ye Xiu, was also a nice man. He was very understanding and indulgent to everyone and everything. But he was very serious when it came to train him in Glory, which everyone also did.
The eldest of Ye family's members, Ye Qianliyan was a very nice man with a pleasant smile that seemed to be permanent on his face. He sometimes patted Qiao Yifan's head and looked at him like he was his son that had grown so much and ready to be married off before he seemed to wake up from his thought and said a few encouraging words then leaving Qiao Yifan to his devices.
The youngest, Ye Xiuliu, was his precious partner as well half-coach. Despite having some age gap by about three years, Qiao Yifan was actually closest to him. Maybe it was because Ye Xiuliu was his partner in the game, or maybe it was also because Ye Xiuliu's mischief and confidence that drawn him in to make up for his own scaredy and anxious self. Ye Xiusi might also be mischievous and confident but he was on the whole another level that it sometimes horrified Qiao Yifan.
All in all, being here for a few days was actually much more fun and thrilling than being in Tiny Herb for an entire year...
Except...
Qiao Yifan stopped after they won over the Wild Boss to look outside the window.
'Yingjie...' Qiao Yifan smiled a tad bid sadly. It had been days, Qiao Yifan still wondered how his friend been doing. Sure, this place was fun, but Gao Yingjie had always been with him, his best friend.
Come to think of it... Qiao Yifan tapped on his desk's surface. Gao Yingjie never knew anything about his borderline-traitorous activity of helping the enemy back when he was still in Tiny Herb. Let alone that, Gao Yingjie didn't even know that he was changing class to Ghostblade.
Qiao Yifan felt a hand tapped his shoulder and looked back to see Little Ye looking at him curiously, his earphone was around his neck, "Third brother and the others had gone off," he said as he pointed to Qiao Yifan's screen with his eyes. "What are you thinking, Yifan?" he asked as he noticed Qiao Yifan's obvious distraction.
Qiao Yifan smiled, "Nothing, I just remembered something."
Little Ye tilted his head but before he could say anything a shrill of an outraged yell broke out from Fourth Ye's side.
"Fuck! Why is this guy so insistent?! Can't you leave me alone with my fucking Cleric?! Why you-?!" Fourth Ye yelled furiously, lost all those annoying wicked serene and cool temperament that he tried to mimic from Ye Xiu.
Everyone ceased down their activities to look at the fuming Fourth Ye with wide eyes.
"Fourth?" Ye Xiu gently called out as he took off his earphone and hung it around his neck.
"What the-?! Are you satisfied now?! I don't care! I don't care that you need a Knight, goddammit!" Fourth Ye cursed. "It's been days!"
"What's wrong?" Second Ye furrowed his brows and Fifth Ye, who sat beside Fourth Ye, shrugged in bewilderment.
"No." Fourth Ye furrowed his brows and growled as he threw his hands up. He soon brought his hands back down to whisper to Little Cold Hands that they're done for now.
"What's wrong?" Ye Xiu patiently asked again to his twenty-year-old young self that was admittedly had the shortest fuse amongst his other versions.
Fourth Ye sighed tiredly, quickly calming down as he took off his earphone, "Nothing. Just some annoying flies coming to buzz around me like insistent demands to go home by Ye Qiu, only a dozen times less tolerable and less amusing."
"Details?" Big Ye asked serenely.
Fourth Ye's face darkened, "There won't be any for them."
Wang Jiexi didn't even bat an eyelid as the Knight disappeared after he died by ramming himself to the nearest wall. Wang Jiexi had to admit the level of savagery to get out of their pestering was truly admirable if not over the top.
"He rejected us again, let's just give up," Deng Fusheng said exasperatedly from Wang Jiexi's side.
Wang Jiexi spared a glance towards him, "You're the one who said to look for the best available, he's the best."
"But not available, let's just see the Knights in the Alliance and forget about unwilling stray talent, Wang Jiexi..." Deng Fusheng said slowly.
Gao Yingjie silently peered to his two seniors' face and bitted his lips as he focused back into the game, his eyes stared to the space where the earlier Knight died and disappeared. This Unrivalled Super Hottie was truly a stubborn guy...
Even when Captain Wang himself had stepped up to offer him his only answer was a sarcastic "Hah?" followed with "You look at my name, does it really look like your team could handle me?"
Of course as a counter-attack, Wang Jiexi ordered the bench team to hunt him down. He was usually seen with a girl Cleric, which, according to the voice, was actually a man in real life. But the more they interact (fight) the more everyone couldn't help but agree on this Unrivalled Super Hottie, despite having such lousy equipments, was a Very Amazing Knight player.
And Captain Wang became even more unwilling to let him go after forced to give up the Battle Mage girl under Ye Qiu's tutelage. But the problem was, the Knight was even more unwilling to join.
Gao Yingjie's lips quirked in a shy and sheepish smile as Deng Fusheng looked at him to convey his exasperation. Even if Deng Fusheng wanted to complain, what's the use of complaining to him? It wasn't like Gao Yingjie could say anything to Wang Jiexi.
Wang Jiexi sighed, "He's truly a good Knight..."
"Captain, maybe we should leave him alone and let him think about it?" Liu Xiaobie said reluctantly with an awkward smile.
Wang Jiexi nodded, "That's alright. You all may log off and continue with half of your training regimen."
"Yes, captain!"
Gao Yingjie sighed as he logged off. He looked around him and saw his teammates were interacting rather happily about what they would do later as the training was halved and they could get out early...
Gao Yingjie said nothing as he logged back in for training. It was at a time like this he hoped he had a friend to talk to...
An Wenyi truly didn't understand what was in the mind of those people. It had been a usual activity for him to be tutored by the arrogant but experienced Knight and he also had long agreed to be their sub-Cleric after much urgings and bribes to convince him.
But then one day, a bunch of people from Herb Garden just swarmed them after Unrivalled Super Hottie just lectured him about a Cleric's etiquette and how a Cleric can't just rush upfront to beat up the enemy's cleric.
Though, it was certainly entertaining to watch how Unrivalled Super Hottie trash talked almost the entire group with his natural talent to frustrate people, it was truly concerning when their interference became too much that even Unrivalled Super Hottie who, although arrogant, was very calm and collected.
An Wenyi sighed as he controlled his petite pretty cleric to run away from the location. Luckily, no matter how much the other side annoyed Unrivalled Super Hottie, they still had enough honors to not attack a defenseless Cleric that was just randomly there.
Whatever, maybe he could still join a Wild Boss hunt. An Wenyi opened the guild's chat when he suddenly got a friend invite and a Whisper was sent to him all of a sudden after he accepted the invitation.
[Whisper] Lord Grim: Forget it. Let's stop the training. Come here and meet the rest of the team, you might want to assimilate with them. P.s this is Unrivalled Super Hottie.
An Wenyi stopped before smiling wryly. Seems like it's starting.
Ye Xiu puffed out his smoke and tossed away his cigarette and stepped on it, he swore Big Ye cheated on the freaking rock-paper-scissor, but he couldn't prove it. What's with the eldest managed to slip off of grocery duty every time...
"Third brother! Slow down a bit, I brought more plastic bags than you, just because you're holding the umbrella..." Fifth Ye complained to Ye Xiu who had walked several steps in front of him. As always, grocery was very much needed if you didn't want to die out of starvation. This time, much to Fifth Ye's dismay, it was Ye Xiu and him (again) who did it.
"Xiuwu, you're becoming like Ye Qiu," Ye Xiu said mockingly.
"I'm not whiny like him," Fifth Ye said as he readjusted the plastic bags in his hands.
Ye Xiu sighed as he stopped and looked back, extending his hand, "Here, let me bring some."
Fifth Ye stopped as he saw Ye Xiu extending his hand to him under the shade of the umbrella and Ye Xiu also froze, mainly because he saw his younger self- wearing Excellent Era jacket (That Mucheng packed because Ye Xiu truly didn't have a big closet) and the said club's building wasn't really far away.
"..."
"..."
Fifth Ye coughed, "Seeing you like this, under the umbrella and extending your hand... I've changed so much, right..." Fifth Ye looked up to his older self.
Ye Xiu dropped his hand, "Yes..." Ye Xiu looked at the building behind Fifth Ye, Excellent Era... "Little captain, it's been a long time," Ye Xiu smiled sadly. A picture of a young boy standing not far away, completely similar to the boy in front of him, formed in his mind. Hopeful and determined.
Fifth Ye stared sadly at Ye Xiu before he also looked back to the building across the street, "In my timeline, we didn't even have the third floor," he sighed.
Ye Xiu smiled as he bent down and snatched two plastic bags from Fifth Ye's hands, "Nostalgia is not your job, it's mine, Big Ye's and Second Ye's. Just have fun while you're here, little one."
Fifth Ye looked back, "Ye Xiu, if you know... What will happen after all these years, would you... even did all of these?" he asked gravely. The way he called Ye Xiu is also different than usual... He was not asking the elder brother figure he had for years... He was asking to himself, his future self.
Ye Xiu straightened, he stared into Fifth Ye's eyes, "What are you talking about?"
"Was it worth it? All of your sacrifices, have you ever regret it?" Fifth Ye asked.
Ye Xiu's calm smile was completely absent from his face, "Fifth, exactly, what are you thinking?"
"What do you think?" Fifth Ye returned the question.
Ye Xiu stared at him for a while before he gave Fifth Ye a kind soft look that he usually gave to Qiu Fei when the boy became too stubborn, "No. Even if I know what will happen, let's do it again." Ye Xiu turned around and walked off, not waiting for his response.
Fifth Ye's eyes widened before he shook his head and looked back to the tall building that had never been grander, "Should I continue then?" Fifth Ye mumbled before lowering his cap and ducked to chase after his older self.
"What makes you so melancholic, Fifth?" Fourth Ye dropped beside Fifth Ye who was hugging his thigh and instantly teased.
Fifth Ye glanced at his a few years older self and opened his mouth, "I just had a talk with Third Ye."
"What did you guys talk about?" Fourth Ye blinked as he pulled out his cigarette from his mouth.
"Whether or not should I continue despite knowing the ending," Fifth Ye said bluntly and Fourth Ye froze.
"What was that?" Fourth Ye narrowed his eyes subtly as he puffed a cloud of smoke.
"It was just a question, relax," Fifth Ye sighed. "I just... couldn't help but disappointed. If you paid closer attention to Third Ye, you'll notice his condition was really not good at all. Even worse than me, and I hadn't even started my job. His complexion improved though after he lives with us."
Fourth Ye closed his eyes and put off his cigarette, "Why don't you ask me too?" he smiled.
"Huh?" Fifth Ye blinked and looked up at him.
"Come on," Fourth Ye smiled encouragingly. "Ask about my feeling after knowing what will happen eventually after I won them all those shiny three championships," Fourth Ye threw his hands up and tilted his head.
Fifth Ye slowly straightened and lowered his knees, "How do you feel about that, Fourth?" He obediently asked.
"Terrible," Fourth Ye spat out. "I won them the third championship yesterday and the next day I found myself in the future, finding out that they're dumping me. Not my best day," Fourth Ye sighed dramatically.
"I'm sorry," Fifth Ye expressed.
"No need to, I should be the one who is sorry for you. After all, you just signed a contract with them, how long it took to expire again?" Fourth Ye shrugged before smiling, "Do you have any other question again?"
Fifth Ye hesitated, "What will you do?"
"Continue," Fourth Ye looked at Fifth Ye with a gaze that he used to make when looking at Ye Qiu all those years ago. "The world is yet to end. Your journey is yet to end, heck, it hadn't even started. All I can say is, it's not your ending as long as you haven't experienced it."
Fifth Ye's brows furrowed, "But..."
"But if you stop, you'll miss me," Fourth Ye cut him off by opening the window. "You'll miss the three times champion you," the night sky is utterly mesmerizing but what Fifth Ye could see is the confidence and pride in the eyes of his older self.
For the first time, Fifth Ye felt the over-confidence and pride in Fourth Ye's eyes is truly mesmerizing. Fifth Ye always felt there's something mesmerizing in every version of himself's eyes. Little Ye's innocence and curiosity were very adorable. Big Ye's wise and peaceful vibe always brought serenity to Fifth Ye's heart. Second Ye's confidence and leadership made him very dependable. Whereas Steadfastness and resilience in Third Ye's eyes made Fifth Ye truly admired him.
The over-confidence and pride in Fourth Ye's eyes used to never move Fifth Ye at all, but now... He understood even those could be mesmerizing. "You're right..." Fifth Ye's gaze changed.
Fourth Ye smiled, pleased. The innocence in Fifth Ye's eyes had decreased a lot but the hope was still as strong as ever, that's the gaze Fourth Ye wanted to see.
"As for me, I'll also keep going," Fourth Ye stated as he stood up to sit on the windowsill. "Because if I don't, I would miss Third Ye. I would miss my steadfast and resilience self, I would miss my time to mature. I would miss my moment of breakthrough," Fourth Ye looked back to Fifth Ye who looked back at him with a surprised look and smirked.
"Fourth..." Fifth Ye gasped as he looked at his older self in disbelief.
"Don't you think so? Keeping on winning is a bit boring, right? Always being the king is a bit too bland..." Fourth Ye looked down. "Humans need their low moments, If I missed it, I would only be a grand palace without foundation, once something unexpected happened, I'll be blown away. Moreover, don't you think Third Ye is cool?" Fourth Ye looked back at Fifth Ye and said with a boyish grin fitting for his age.
Fifth Ye blinked before laughing, "Yeah, he sure is cool." The two so-called 'pair of twins' laughed together.
Meanwhile, Big Ye who stood hidden outside the hallway smiled exasperatedly as he walked back to the training room where the rest is playing.
"Big Ye, where are them?" Ye Xiu noticed Big Ye and took off his headphone. At first, it was Fifth Ye who was gone, then Fourth Ye excused himself to look for him and also never came back. After that, Big Ye himself went out to drag them back into their training, unexpectedly Big Ye came back alone?
Big Ye looked at Ye Xiu and sighed long-sufferingly.
Ye Xiu blinked, "What's wrong? Are they out without telling us again?" he asked.
Big Ye shook his head, "Third, you're really getting yourself a harem. It's not fair," Big Ye said bluntly.
"... What?" Ye Xiu looked at Big Ye strangely.
"That's news," Wei Chen, who overheard their conversation, said in a mocking tone.
"Third, what did you do?" Second Ye glanced sharply at Ye Xiu.
"I don't remember doing anything?" Ye Xiu threw up his hands.
"Even though we're the same person, but the air around you is indeed more attractive to young men who idolized capable and cool-tempered character," Big Ye said.
"Big Ye, exactly, what are you talking about?" Ye Xiu asked helplessly.
"We're back!" Fourth Ye announced as he entered the training room with Fifth Ye.
"Welcome back!" Qiao Yifan instinctively welcomed.
"Where have you been?" Little Ye demanded even though he didn't really notice their absences.
"Yo!" Bun cheerfully waved.
"What were you guys up to?" Ye Xiu changed the target of his questioning and abandoned Big Ye who smiled leisurely.
"At least we still have each other, Shunfeng," Big Ye said to Second Ye who looked at him strangely.
"Can we not?" Second Ye said flatly.
[Party] Little Cold Hands: Seems like I couldn't arrive there in time.
[Party] Lord Grim: What are you talking about? We're not waiting!
[Whisper] Lord Grim: We'll wait if you're really caught up in something, do you need any help?
[Party] Soft Mist: Are you surrounded by thirty players from different guilds and currently hiding?
[Whisper] Little Cold Hands: Thank you... Big Lord Grim, right?
[Party] Little Cold Hands: No. Not that much. It's just... Little Lord Grim left me with problems.
[Party] Lord Grim: Why is it my fault?
An Wenyi truly didn't know what had he done to deserve this...
One little Cleric, surrounded by experts. Damn it. Little Lord Grim managed to slip by changing his avatar back but him? Little Cold Hands was his main avatar!
"We just want to know about your partner, Unrivalled Super Hottie," The Witch, Royal Fern, said calmly.
"I don't know about him... You know, err- Hottie was a bit secretive. He just appeared one day, declaring that I was suited for his taste amongst all the noobs and just took me in as his healing partner," An Wenyi lied smoothly. Don't underestimate a college student's ability to weave a lie.
"We just want to talk," a Knight, Amaranth, said kindly to An Wenyi.
"I truly don't know where he is," An Wenyi answered helplessly. "If I may know, sirs... Are you Tiny Herb's members?"
Not Herb Garden but Tiny Herb.
The guys instantly felt a bit apprehensive to let a normal player know about them but their captain quickly dissolved their dilemma, "Yes."
Short and concise, without any nonsense, typical Wang Jiexi.
"Ah, I see... What makes Tiny Herb anxiously searching for a Knight in the Alliance's break?" An Wenyi, contrary to their expectation, asked calmly with a hint of curiosity and professionalism.
"Might as well transfer him in before the Summer ends," Wang Jiexi didn't mind to share such a piece of measly information.
'How lucky...' Even without being in his main class, Little Lord Grim still manage to steal such a big fish's attention.
"Or, we might want to look at other team's promising Knight..." Deng Fusheng mumbled.
"From what I heard from him..." An Wenyi interrupted. "He already signed a contract with a club," He also invited him to join it, which he accepted.
"What?" Wang Jiexi and Deng Fusheng blinked and glanced at each other.
"Which club?" Liu Xiaobie asked skeptically.
"I don't know," An Wenyi smoothly said.
"If he already signed a contract, this might be difficult," Wang Jiexi shook his head.
"No new camp-member then," Deng Fusheng sighed.
An Wenyi took a deep breath, "Then, if you may excuse me, I have some other place to be," he politely said.
"Yes, thank you," Wang Jiexi controlled Royal Fern to fly away followed by his teammates.
"Sorry for troubling you," Gao Yingjie said to Little Cold Hands when his teammates all followed their captain.
"No problem," An Wenyi said calmly and Gao Yingjie's Witch took his broom and also flew away. Little Cold Hands also turned away, running towards another direction where his team waiting for him.
Tiny Herb, the team that relied heavily on their captain... An Wenyi thought as he kept controlling Little Cold Hands to run. Whoever is gonna be the future captain will have to learn a lot... An Wenyi calmly mused as he recalled the second Witch's shy and shaky tone.
"…" Blue River truly didn't know how to feel as he met old friends on his way to scout the area with the new baby boy of Blue Rain.
Unfortunately, the other side seemed to still recognize him in his main account, "Blue River!"
Correction, Blue River felt terrible. "God…" Blue River promptly greeted, trying to not to cringe at the sight of two Lord Grims.
"Here for Wild Boss? Good luck, then," Second Ye serenely said and Blue River silently scolded him in his heart. What good luck? All good lucks had gone down the drain the moment he met them!
"Thanks…" However, displeasure was displeasure, Blue River still couldn't say that out loud.
"Let's try our best, shall we?" Ye Xiu also said pleasantly.
"Haha…"
"Let's cut this short here," Fourth Ye, who didn't really know who was this 'Blue River', said uncaringly. "Come on, we have a Wild Boss to kill. Autumn Sky, Little Hands, prepare yourselves," He said exclusively to the two clerics.
"Soft Mist, you'll charge from the front as always. Just follow Little Lord Grim's and my lead. Steamed Bun, remember to cover the rear, and One-Inch Ash…" Ye Xiu also started to walk off while instructing his teammates for his plan.
Qiao Yifan almost flusteredly wanted to follow Lord Grim's steps to listen more of his orders and plans when he noticed there was no the usual footstep's noises from his side. One-Inch Ash looked back to see One-Inch Love was still standing rooted in his place.
"One-Inch Love, you coming?" Qiao Yifan asked. He was too used to have the Blademaster's presence beside him to accompany him so if possible, he didn't really want to separate unless needed.
To Qiao Yifan's surprise, One-Inch Love responded to his question by drawing his sword, then Qiao Yifan also noticed the other side's Blademaster also did the same.
A pair of synchronized Sword Draw was released from two opposite directions and against each other. The momentum was too sudden that Qiao Yifan hadn't even registered it yet when the two Blade Master had dashed forward furiously.
As fast as possible, One-Inch Ash also drew his sword and his grey eyes shone with eerie light when Little Ye suddenly yelled.
"NO! Don't buff me!" Little Ye stubbornly yelled to Qiao Yifan who jumped and turned to look at him confusedly in real life.
One-Inch Ash canceled his skill and stood there, at a loss on what to do next.
The others also stopped to look at the fight that happened all of a sudden. Second Ye sighed lamentingly, "Ah, he found out so quickly."
"That will take a while," Ye Xiu mused out loud.
"Let's just keep going. Little Ye will be fine," Big Ye agreed with Ye Xiu and said carelessly.
"Hold on, we just gave him a piece of Silver Equipment…" Fifth Ye, who was still sensitive about Silver Equipments and weapons alike, said worriedly.
The other immediately remembered that… Yes, they did just created a piece of Blademaster's equipment and gifted it to One-Inch Love…
"… One-Inch Ash, can you wait for One-Inch Love? If he died and dropped something, can we trust you to quickly snatch it up and not let anyone to steal it?" Big Ye said kindly.
"Okay, I'll wait," Qiao Yifan readily agreed.
"Great, don't worry about us, we'll manage," Big Ye nodded and the others quickly took off.
One-Inch Ash quickly refocused on the battle before him between One-Inch Love and Blue Brook's Flowing Cloud.
On the battlefield, the two Blade Masters had locked to each other again for the nth time, "We meet again!" Lu Hanwen was grinning when he exclaimed this.
"It's really you!" Little Ye sneered as he activated Sky Plunging Blade but Flowing Cloud managed to retreat in the last second and Headwind Strike was activated forcing One-Inch Love to Guard and got knocked back.
Flowing Cloud's sword danced and his body suddenly multiplied to eight. All eight Flowing Cloud dashed toward One-Inch Love who had recovered.
One-Inch Love activated Sword Mastery, a precise and beautiful Sword Draw was used the second it was out of cooldown, hitting one of the shadows. Instead of retreating, he chose to brashly run upfront with a Triple Slash!
While Triple Slash's effect of quickly going upfront was still present, Little Ye used Rising Dragon which sent him to the air and immediately used Falling Light Blade which forced him down and created a shockwave with his descends- two shadows disappeared because of the impact.
Then, as if those flashily quick actions were not eye-catching enough, One-Inch Love immediately Lunged to the real body and knocked it back with several stabs, effectively canceling out Shadow Steps.
"Brat, you want to use your lousy Shadow Steps on me? Dream on!" Little Ye arrogantly said.
"You just got a bit quicker than last time, what are you so proud of?!" Lu Hanwen exclaimed indignantly. Flowing Cloud recovered and a Sword Draw was used, One-Inch Love was hit a bit and immediately retreat to avoid the attack.
Triple Slash to send him closer to One-Inch Love and the two were immediately involved in another fierce exchange.
"Wait! Wait, wait, this can't keep going, Little Lu! Stop!" Blue River didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he cried out to stop the fierce fight.
But how could they stop just with Blue River's cries?
One-Inch Love's sword danced and Shadow Steps was used, eight shadows appeared. Flowing Cloud didn't care that the other side tried to show off and start hacking off the shadows which he grudgingly admitted had slightly better control than his eight shadows ever.
"Five times…" Lu Hanwen heard the other side murmured.
"What?!" Lu Hanwen asked.
"I lost to you five times… I'll repay all the debts," Little Ye smirked.
The members of Blue Brook would love to help their responsibility, but a well-placed Ice Boundary and Shadow Boundary told them to better give up as One-Inch Ash stepped in front of them, sword drawn, eyes shone with an eerie light.
"Don't move," Qiao Yifan, for once, ordered with a firm tone.
Lu Hanwen noticed the mess outside his battle and yelled "No need to help me!" before he had to use Falling Light Blade and rolled out of the way to avoid One-Inch Love's Sky Plunging Blade.
This round might be more difficult.
"I just recalled how annoying this time around," Big Ye's voice actually tinged with mild annoyance when he said that. And it said a lot as no matter how much shits or trashtalks he got, his tone was never any less than serene and pleasant.
"Tyrannical Ambition..." Second Ye sighed harshly. "Zhang Xinjie..." He said the name with exasperation as their force was slowly pushed back by the other, more competent, side.
"Let's not mention Old Lin in there, and possibly LeLe, who knows?" Big Ye said again.
"It's fine, let's break through them. Soft Mist and Bun round around them and focus to the coordinate I'm about to give you, Cloudy Autumn Sky will be with you two. Cleansing Mist, wait on the southern side, you'll know what to do. Fourth, prepare to be my shadow and cover, Little Cold Hands, you'll follow us," Ye Xiu decided.
"No need for that, let me show you the might of a Battle God. Just give me one part of the troops and I'll give you guys a big chance," Second Ye interrupted as Sad Autumn Night stepped up and thrust his spear forward for a Dragon Tooth.
Sad Autumn Night swung his spear and Neutral Chasers appeared after his Dragon Tooth.
Double Stabs.
Circle Swing.
Sky Strike.
And finally, Falling Flower Palm. All skills hit the desired targets and all the bonus Chasers activated around Sad Autumn Night.
No normal players could do anything as Sad Autumn Night speedily and gracefully glided amongst them and threw the craziest Phantom Dragon Teeth that they ever had the displeasure to experience to stab and knocked out everyone in the way.
Second Ye's fingers danced and Dragon Rises from the Sea was activated, knocking a Knight in front of him to the air.
Rising Dragon Soars the Sky immediately formed and lurched itself toward the Knight, while the skill was still up, a Blade Master from the other side used Rising Dragon and leap forward to attack Sad Autumn Night. Second Ye didn't even bat an eyelid as he finished his furious tapping and took a break by putting off the cigarette in between his lips and puffed out a cloud of smoke.
However, the normal players in the game were not as calm as him as the Rising Dragon Soars the Sky that supposedly hit the Knight turned its head and snapped its jaw towards the unfortunate Blade Master.
Silence quickly reigned in the battlefield- no, even Chaos Theory's training room also quickly descended into an awkward and disbelieving silence.
"DRAGON RAISES ITS HEAD?!" Everyone practically shrieked in shock as they all simultaneously took a step back from Sad Autumn Night.
"Shunfeng..." Big Ye glanced to his 'twin brother' with exasperation but also mild approval.
"FUCK! HE'S YE QIU!"
"YE QIU! HE'S YE QIU!"
"THERE'S NO ONE WHO COULD DO DRAGON RAISES ITS HEAD EXCEPT FOR YE FUCKING QIU!"
Screams and shouts soon filled the battlefield that even those who were fighting the Wild Boss couldn't resist stepping away from it to look into the commotion with increasing excitement.
Starry Sky Slaughter shook and shone in a threatening light as Sad Autumn Night spun it, his chasers are still fancily gleaming around his form. "( :) )" a speech bubble floated above Sad Autumn Night's head with a smiley face and that's the only prompting Tyrannical Ambition need before they all screeched in outrage and all but pounced on Sad Autumn Night despite Zhang Xinjie's reminders.
The others resolutely left Second Ye to Big Ye who assisted him in fending off the angry mass with his precise gunfires.
"Okay, the east side is pretty empty now, let's sneak in from there," Ye Xiu said airily as if he didn't just leave two of his teammates to fend for themselves. "Since we're short on four people now, I'm hoping more cooperation from you all. Also, you're allowed to attack people now, Sky."
"If you say so, dearest brother," Fifth Ye said elegantly but if you knew him enough, you can sense eager anticipation in his voice.
Cleansing Mist paused in her run and directed her launcher skyward and Satellite Beam graced the east side of the formation, beautifully vacate the weak side even more.
"Is it okay to leave them?" An Wenyi couldn't help but ask.
"Who?" Fourth Ye asked.
"Well, Autumn Tree and Sad Autumn Night..." An Wenyi said.
"Don't worry, they'll survive the hoard somehow," Su Mucheng said with delighted tone. "If it's about the collaboration between Battle Mage and Sharpshooter, if they claimed to be number two, no one deserved to be number one!" She said confidently.
"Alright..." An Wenyi truly didn't know what kind of team he's signing himself in.
Blue River and the others stared in horror as the battle of the Blade Masters finished, they immediately felt a headache on how to report the whole thing to the upper echelons as one of them darted forward and secured Flowing Cloud's Orange Sword.
One-Inch Ash calmly jogged to One-Inch Love's dissipating corpse and took the Blade Master's Orange Boots before flicking his sleeve and departed from the place without glancing back. When One-Inch Love reached him, he'd give the boots back.
Little Ye almost giggled in triumph but quickly recomposed himself, not wanting to be an object of bullying for beating a younger boy. And not completely beating at that since he also died, his 'father/brothers' would bully him mercilessly if he felt satisfied only because of that.
Beside him, Qiao Yifan shook his head exasperatedly but not with a fond smile on his face.
Little Ye beamed, "Next time, I'll properly beat him," He said.
In his room, Lu Hanwen emptied his juice carton and wiped his lips. His youthful face was filled with faint immature annoyance as he controlled his Flowing Cloud out of the safe area.
"Next time, I'll beat you back!" Lu Hanwen swore.
Hey, sorry for disappearing from this story.
Life has been difficult for me. My beloved paternal grandpa had died of old age and my whole family was extremely devastated. I was there and personally witnessed how his last breath left his body, so the shock had been too great- I didn't even have a desire to touch my laptop nor phone.
The bright side is, I was there. I was with him. As the eldest direct (child of a son) granddaughter, I was there... Because out of nine granddaughters, I was the only one who could make it. So it was a small comfort for me at least.
All nineteen grandchildren had gathered after his death, even those who worked out of town (island) had all rushed back. My grandpa... was very loved.
He was a strict man, hailed from military and all. Whether to his children or grandchildren, he was really strict. I still remember how he yelled and scolded me just because I was gnawing on my pointer finger back when I was young. I still remember how he harshly scolded me for only wearing singlet and shorts back when I was four.
I still remember how he would affectionately called me by my grandma's nickname, eldest direct granddaughter and all, I bore some resemblance from my grandma, wide eyes, wide forehead, cold and harsh expression seemed to be on default on my face.
I still remember how he would sit on the opposite of us, cousins, teaching us how to play chess while smiling in amusement.
I still remember how he would sit beside me, patting my cat- the same cat that my father hated and forbade me to touch since my father was a bit of mysophobia- and telling me about the myths of cats
I still remember how he was so angry because I played alone with a boy from my grade school in the swing on the side yard. I didn't understand why he was so angry back then, until years later my grandma laughingly told me that it was because I was a girl and it wasn't nice for a girl to play alone with a stranger boy in the eyes of a strict and rule-abidding war veteran like him.
I still remember how when I cried too loud because of my brother, he'll come (his house is just beside us) and ask what was wrong. Then, I will recide my crying and my brother would smilingly said nothing while hugging me.
He was a strong man, at the age of eighty, he still climb trees, digging the soil, cutting undesired and dangerous thick branches, cutting the weeds, everything. Even till the end, he still insisted on walking using his legs. He was still so prideful and still thought that he was the strong soldier.
He still insisted to walk despite he was so old, ninety six... It was only on his last month of life that his condition deteoriated and he was forced to use wheelchair when he wanted to go out to hospital. Us, cousins, accompanied him. The men will carry him, the girls will watch over him.
But he still used his legs indoor. Still under the delusion of his dementia that he was still the strong soldier he was.
I poured my all to not mourn on him too much. I tried to write but it was very hard... But I finally finished this one chapter. Thank you for waiting for me...