Chapter 110 - What a coincidence?
“Alright. There’s nothing else now, so I’m taking my leave,” Xi Xiaotian said.
“Since you’ve swindled Frost Memories away from them, they’d probably take their revenge on you. It might be best if you stick to me,” Gu Fei offered.
“Don’t worry about that. I have my ways,” Xi Xiaotian flashed him a smile before turning around and leaving.
Gu Fei stood rooted to the ground for a moment or two.
“There will still be times when you’ll hate me.” This statement of Xi Xiaotian echoed in his ears repeatedly. He somewhat understood what she meant by it. Although she aided Gu Fei this time, Xi Xiaotian was still a swindler through and through. If Gu Fei was troubled by her swindling ways in the future, he might end up hating her.
Nonetheless, it seemed that he had been very unjust to her! When Xi Xiaotian stole Sword Demon’s Frost Memories, he was very outraged by her actions. Now that she swindled Frost Memories back from that gang, he was singing a different tune. The words Xi Xiaotian had said were very clear: Sword Demon could only get Frost Memories back because he was Gu Fei’s friend. In other words, if that top-grade equipment belonged to another player, she would pocket it without a second thought.
If that had been the case, what would I have done? Gu Fei was at a loss.
As he was pondering on this issue, a message came through the mercenary channel, “What’s everyone’s status?” It was from Young Master Han.
“Great,” Gu Fei answered.
“What do you mean?” Young Master Han asked.
“We can call it a day now!” Gu Fei said.
“Ahhh?!” everyone exclaimed in surprise.
“Meet you all at Ray’s Bar,” Gu Fei left it at that. Such an exciting story was best told in person; saying it on the mercenary channel was far too emotionless.
Gu Fei was the first to arrive since Ray’s Bar was closer to Yunduan City’s west gate.
“Hey, Ray!” After his excursion in Yueye City, the sight of these familiar faces in Yunduan City really made him feel all warm and fuzzy.
“Long time no see!” Ray smilingly greeted Gu Fei. Since this was an online game, there were a few routines very different from reality. An example was the in-game taverns; the same person could visit a tavern to drink liquor several times in just a day. Thus, if a player did not visit a tavern for even once in a day, he or she could be considered as a long-time-no-see patron.
“How’s business lately?” It was rare to meet someone who provided service with utmost sincerity like Ray, so engaging in small talk with other tavern owners was almost impossible.
Ray smiled, “Same old, same old.”
“Six glasses of liquor,” Gu Fei waved his arm casually as they headed toward the room that they usually occupied.
“There’re people there!” Ray hurriedly called after Gu Fei.
“What?” Gu Fei did not hear him clearly and continued to walk toward the room. It was boisterous inside the bar, so hearing each other clearly became harder the more distance the two put between them.
Ray did not answer him anymore as Gu Fei had already lifted the entrance curtain of the room.
“Eh… What a coincidence!” Gu Fei said in greeting to the people inside the room when he peeked in. They were the ladies of Amethyst Rebirth.
Lie Lie was seated at the center of the room. Her eyes were puffy as if she had just cried her heart out. July on the left and Luo Luo on the right were consoling her. Only Ice Glaze was seated on the other end of the table, fiddling with her sleeve. She looked as if she wanted to say something but did not know how to do so.
When Gu Fei stepped inside the room, the four ladies lifted their heads. “Continue chatting; I’ll go somewhere else,” Gu Fei did not wish to intrude.
“Don’t leave!” July stopped him as she stood up.
“Is there something wrong?” Gu Fei played the fool.
“Sit down!” July ordered as she sat down once more.
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Ice Glaze shifted to the side and made space for Gu Fei to sit.
“Thank you!” Gu Fei smiled. This lady was really nice, especially when compared to Lie Lie. Seeing his suddenly appearance, Lie Lie showed a wanting-to-cry-again expression. The pained look on her face seemed capable of producing salty tears with just a squeeze.
While Gu Fei already considered Lie Lie’s sin as something minor after obtaining Frost Memories, his dislike for the lady remained the same. He sat himself down. His expression was no longer frosty like before, but he made no move to comfort the lady and merely smiled as if nothing was unusual. Ice Glaze felt somewhat awkward about his attitude, so she tugged the corner of Gu Fei’s sleeve and gave him a look.
This lady’s truly kind! Gu Fei thought to himself. With her passive personality, Ice Glaze must currently be feeling distraught at finding herself entangled in such a difficult situation. Wanting to extricate Ice Glaze from the situation, Gu Fei spoke, “Shall we order something to drink?”
Gu Fei’s words made everyone feel faint. July was the first one to recover. Since it seemed that Gu Fei did not intend to broach the subject, such a task would naturally fall on to her, the guild leader.
“What happened between you two? We’re all in the same guild. Talk things over if there’s a problem. No need to be so stiff about this.” July was being very objective about the issue and did not appear to be taking sides. Her position as a guild leader compelled her to mediate the issue with zero bias.
Luo Luo also spoke, “It’s true that Lie Lie is a bit impulsive, but I’m sure she hasn’t done it with any ill intent. I’ll apologize on her behalf if she accidentally offended you or caused a setback in whatever crucial task you’re on!” Luo Luo’s words were far more powerful than July’s. She lowered herself to an equal standing and took the initiative to apologize. At the same time, her voice carried a somewhat jesting tone. It somewhat conveyed the message to Gu Fei that her apology was not completely sincere. Thus, he should probably….
Gu Fei suddenly found all this hilarious. He noticed the similarity between July and Luo Luo’s pair and Sword Demon and Young Master Han’s combination. Between the two men, Sword Demon always took the lead while Young Master Han acted as his support in other MMOs. However, Gu Fei could tell that while Sword Demon was the one who acted as the guild leader, Young Master Han was the one who did all the planning and made all the decisions. Based on his narcissistic personality, Young Master Han was not the type people would easily find likeable. It was possible for him to lead a small mercenary group composed of familiar people, but it was a different matter when it came to leading a large guild. A guild he would try to lead was highly likely to fall apart in less than a week. In contrast, Sword Demon was loyal, was heroic, handled affairs delicately, and minded the little things, which made him the perfect man to lead any group of players. This was wholly demonstrated in Yueye City. Instead of a high level of intelligence quotient, it was preferable for a leader to have a certain air and temperament.
As for the pair of July and Luo Luo... Honestly speaking, Gu Fei felt that July’s temperament was not as good as Sword Demon’s. Although she had the impartiality found in guild leaders when it came to dealing with matters, her attitude was far too solemn that it made it difficult for people to believe that that was her true nature. Meanwhile, Gu Fei had always felt that Luo Luo was the remarkable one. She was great at handling affairs, had a cool composure at all times, and could get right to the crux of an issue with a few words. She definitely had the makings of a guild leader.
“Miles, what do you say?” Gu Fei was mum for quite some time, so July asked him once more.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ve already forgiven her,” Gu Fei answered uncaringly.
Luo Luo also felt like fainting this time. Her carefully phrased words for this delicate matter were easily resolved by Gu Fei. Although his wording was not as clever as hers, he managed to resolve it by being thick-skinned.
Once again, Gu Fei found something laughable. Lie Lie was known for her quarrelsome personality, yet she was currently keeping her silence and depending on Luo Luo and July to speak for her. He he… Guess she’s all bluff and bluster.
“In that case, shouldn’t Miles apologize as well? You did cause Lie Lie to fall down on her back at a busy street,” July said helplessly.
“Sure. But she must apologize first since it’s her fault in the first place,” Gu Fei demanded mildly.
Lie Lie finally exploded, “Didn't I already apologize?”
Her self-righteous behavior really makes liking her difficult! Gu Fei thought disdainfully to himself. Sighing, he showed a smile that did not reach his eyes, “You need to bear some responsibility. Is it you who just apologized to me? It’s Luo Luo speaking on your behalf, right?”
If Gu Fei’s tone did not have a hint of disdain and ridicule, Lie Lie would probably not pursue the matter further. She had a quarrelsome behavior, after all. Ignoring July and Luo Luo’s coaxing, she bawled, “Don’t stop me! I must ask him, what did I do wrong? I ran over to help him! Is that wrong?!”
Gu Fei quickly fixed his evaluation of Lie Lie’s personality. She was truly not a dog without a bite. It was only the concerted efforts of July and Luo Luo that had kept her muzzled until then. But since she asked, Gu Fei gladly told her, “Where did you go wrong? Did you know that person took my friend’s top-grade dagger? I put a lot of effort into making him come near me so that I could snatch back the dagger, but you actually tossed him out! Where am I gonna go to find him now?” Since he had gotten Frost Memories back, Gu Fei’s tone was not very forceful.
Nonetheless, his empty words still left Lie Lie speechless. July, Luo Luo, and Lie Lie had once witnessed Gu Fei disarming and taking No Smile’s dagger, so they knew he was truly capable of doing it. Therefore, his opportunity to reclaim that weapon from Nightmare of Death more or less made sense.
“I… I didn't know!” Lie Lie’s indignation disappeared, sputtering as she tried to explain away her mistake.
She’s pretty cute if she isn’t so arrogant and self-righteous! Gu Fei thought to himself, noting the deflated look on Lie Lie’s face now that she knew her mistake.
“Miles, where’s that dagger now?” July asked.
“I don’t know,” Gu Fei answered. Naturally, he was not going to tell them he had gotten Frost Memories back. The weapon was swindled back by Xi Xiaotian. He did not know if she had other plans in mind over the equipment-looting gang; casually revealing the dagger’s whereabouts like this might invite trouble to her.
“If that’s the case, I’ll pay back what Lie Lie owes to your friend!” July declared.
Everyone was shocked. Any equipment, once it was deemed as top-grade, would cost thousands of gold coins.
Gu Fei finally understood where July’s élan to be the guild leader came from. Just as he was about to say something, another person lifted the entrance curtain of the room.
“You?” Luo Luo and the newcomer asked the same thing at the same time. The newcomer was…
…Young Master Han.