“Yao Yao… don’t disappear again, okay… I missed you… don’t leave…” Qin Chuan murmured in her ear, repeating the same phrase. She could hear his heartbeat, feel his pants, still warm from the water, pressed against her thigh – an odd mix of awkwardness, discomfort, and peculiarity. Su Yao finally lifted her head to look at his face, his frantic kiss landing near her lips – more intense than their first kiss – from initial resistance to gradually enjoying it, Su Yao let the sweetness of their entwined lips seep into her heart.
After a long kiss, Su Yao was gasping for air, lying back in the chair. She felt her lips must be swollen, and looking at Qin Chuan’s face, she wondered, “Why does he look a bit pale? Is it the lighting?” She didn’t overthink it; the cold water on her pants was already making her uncomfortable.
“Go take a shower and sleep. The room next door is mine,” Qin Chuan said quietly, then added, “I’ll stay up all night farming mobs, so you can leech experience.”
When the sun rose the next day, the unapologetic female warrior yawned as she emerged from the next bedroom.
Qin Chuan was asleep, slumped over his desk. She glanced at the screen; her Little Mary was now level 120, and Three Ways River was at 122. Both characters stood on a safe platform at the cave’s top. This otaku had indeed farmed all night, and Su Yao felt deeply moved. She returned to the bedroom and fetched a blanket to cover him.
One had to admit, this guy was different from other otakus. His home was not cluttered with random posters of female idols nor did it have unwashed floors and trash scattered about. Instead, it was spotless, with CDs, figurines, and original art collections neatly displayed in cabinets.
Su Yao’s gaze fell on her own photo in the cabinet. She looked at herself, then at the still handsome face beside her, fast asleep. For a moment, she felt disoriented, as if she had returned to the past. Yes, those days of pursuing him—how many days and nights had she stayed up grinding through maps, drinking coffee, eating instant noodles, and taking quick naps—only to repeat the cycle upon waking? Night after night, she challenged those ranked higher than her and, in doing so, challenged herself. She fought her way up through regional, provincial, and national tournaments to one day stand by the side of the legend, to look up at his face, to ask him if he could love her. Six years, and nothing has changed.
Whether you’re like this now or old, bald, and overweight, I love you, as vibrant as yesterday, my youth, never aging in my eyes. Qin Chuan woke up at noon, and Su Yao was not surprised that he seemed more energetic than her. After ordering the essential takeout breakfast, the assassin, accompanied by the priest, embarked on another day’s adventure. Now, the level 120 Little Mary had mastered most of her skills. They were at the end of the riverbank, where the cave ceiling was sealed. Since the cave was flooded with underground river water, they had no choice but to swim in. After agreeing, Little Mary cast an underwater breathing buff on both of them, and they dived into the water. The underground river, shimmering with a mysterious light, seemed endless as they swam side by side. Little Mary kept casting the breathing buff until her hands nearly cramped from the constant casting. After swimming for an unknown duration, light finally appeared ahead. With a mutual understanding, she cast a series of defensive buffs on Qin Chuan before the assassin surfaced first. “No monsters,” Qin Chuan said, and then Little Mary also surfaced. They had reached the other side of the sealed cave ceiling, entering a vast space.
Once on shore, they discovered an intricately carved stone staircase spiraling off in another direction. “Quite the treatment,” Su Yao said, casually casting a buff called “Glow of Fireflies,” lighting up a three-meter radius around them. Under her control, the priest was undoubtedly better than Han Yanyan could manage. “Looks like the server’s top priest will have a new owner soon,” Qin Chuan laughed. Su Yao neither confirmed nor denied; she just wanted to find the artifact to sell to a coal boss for a hefty sum! Navigating around layers of overlapping stone walls, they followed the staircase to a stone door. “Could it be that by randomly killing monsters and leveling up, we’ve accidentally found the right place?” Su Yao looked in surprise at the rough yet mysterious stone door, adorned with countless ancient patterns. If there wasn’t something important inside, she’d never believe the game designers would go to such lengths just to place a stone door there. Qin Chuan motioned for her to bring the light closer. Su Yao complied, and the light from her wooden staff fully illuminated the stone door.
Now she could see clearly; on both sides of the patterns on the door were eight large characters: ,. Below was a peculiar keyhole. “Do you have a key in your bag?” Qin Chuan immediately asked Su Yao. “I do have one.” Su Yao opened her inventory. Since coming to the ancient world, only the quest log and silver were usable. The quest log contained items they had acquired, like some potions and a key they got after defeating the Abyss Black Snow King. Su Yao, naturally a hoarder, had kept everything, and now it came in handy. Facing those eight characters, Qin Chuan took the key without hesitation and opened the door, with Little Mary following closely behind, hurriedly casting various defensive buffs on him. At that moment, Su Yao truly understood what it meant when even the gods could not stop someone.
Chapter 27: I’m the Most Evil
In the light that enveloped them, the assassin’s solitary, unyielding back merged with the silhouette of Death from six years ago. With a mortal body, he stood at the pinnacle of the world.
Over the long years, the legend of his dark figure never faded from people’s hearts. From ancient times, it has been extremely fierce, with no one daring to speak of it. The mountain god’s hidden abode was not for mere mortals to defile. Yet Qin Chuan, with his level 122 body, ventured into the forbidden land of the gods alone. His courage and skill truly made him the first of his kind in human history, unstoppable even by the gods. Su Yao closely followed him. Inside the door was a vast stone chamber, its walls lined with thousands of candles, brilliantly lit. The sudden brightness blurred their vision, and when the light dimmed, they saw a statue with white hair and fangs sitting on a grand stone throne in the center, wrapped in what looked like the fur of some wild beast. One hand held a wooden staff. Su Yao zoomed in on the staff, noticing skulls hanging from its top, with hexagonal snowflakes faintly emerging from their mouths, clearly superior to the junk staff provided by the system in her hands. “Is this the artifact? The staff of the priest?” Su Yao examined it from all angles. Was the mountain god just a statue?