Shoving aside his underling, Gu Chao Yan took over the computer to search the news, and the more he searched, the more his eyes were opened. In just a short month, this internet had spun out so many versions of the story? Stories about a young girl’s abortion and suicide, about a competitive team captain being a scumbag, about a boy silently enduring for ten years to seek revenge… What the hell was this?! Looking at these fabricated posts, Gu Chao Yan felt like beating the authors to death. Sister… my sister… who disturbs your rest…
Gu Chao Yan tried to calm himself down. After spending a day carefully going through some “mega compilations” posted by enthusiastic netizens, he finally understood the whole story. Luo Zishang… this instigator… he actually thought his sister had died because of unrequited love… Gu Chao Yan felt like tearing him apart! He still remembered how his parents had forced his sister to drop out and work, crushing all her dreams. When he rushed back home, not even having time to tell his parents he had decided to work in the North to give his sister the chance to study, all he saw was an empty house and his parents crying at the emergency room door. In his life, he had never loved anyone else; the person he loved most had died ten years ago, even if she was his own blood sister. Because of their blood bond, he knew the pain of losing someone irreplaceable in life.
For the rest of his life, whether by fair means or foul, he lived for Gu Xinyan, to save children like her. However, perhaps driven by some subconscious need for confirmation, after reading the posts, Gu Chao Yan found himself back in his sister’s room, locked the door, and took out the diary. He opened it…
After returning home, Su Yao couldn’t sleep. Her days now consisted of work, eating, and sleeping, living a monotonous yet fulfilling life, but today, she just couldn’t sleep. Wang Shenmu’s words kept echoing in her mind: “No sword in the world, no sword in the world, if you don’t understand this plot, you have no right to judge its creator.” Eventually, Su Yao found herself inexplicably opening her computer, logging into the game, Red Medicine Hall, a character she hadn’t touched in a month. It turned out that Qin Chuan had indeed protected her well; most of the messages in her private mailbox were from Liushui Changsi, asking where she had disappeared to, with no signs of harassment or doxxing. Thinking about Qin Chuan facing the storm somewhere unknown, Su Yao’s heart ached again. All that talk about letting go and living happily ever after was just self-deception.
Red Medicine Hall walked alone in the valley; no one could walk beside her anymore. No sword in the world… Was it a main quest? Where was the starting point? In the beginner’s village…? With her mind in a muddle, Su Yao unknowingly entered Xinjiao Valley.
Xinjiao, meaning “heart’s aperture,” lay beside the Bailong River, which was the border river between Yan and Xia. The paths in the valley twisted and turned, making it easy for players to enter but hard to leave; only those familiar with the pattern of the path changes could move freely, making it a prime spot for ambushes. In the past, Su Yao often led her band of rogues here to ambush rich targets from Yan, but today, with her mind all over the place, she had almost forgotten the way.
After walking for a while, sounds of cold weapons clashing and spells being cast came from ahead. Su Yao activated her invisibility buff, sneaking closer to take a look, and what she saw was astonishing. There were Acao, Lu Guo Er Yi, and a few other thieves fighting against Ji Canghai and dozens of elite soldiers from Xia’s team. Even more surprising was that Acao and his group were at a disadvantage! Acao was formidable in combat, but being outnumbered was understandable. However, hadn’t Acao obtained a divine weapon? How could he still be overpowered? After watching for a while, even after her invisibility buff wore off, Acao and his companions were still surrounded and beaten by the soldiers. They were using only basic skills, not a hint of the divine weapon’s power in sight.
Unable to bear it, Su Yao charged in, lashing out with her chain to knock two soldiers away, breaking their formation and temporarily halting the brawl. “You’re all from Xia, what are you fighting about?” Hong Yaotang stood between the two groups. “Sister Yao, you’ve finally arrived,” Acao said, tears streaming down his face. “These idiots want our thief guild to surrender, threatening to mobilize the entire army to slaughter us if we don’t comply. Sister Yao, isn’t that foolish?”
“Wait, you’ve defected from Xia?”
“Yeah, we’ve long stopped following that idiot king. Now we belong to Changsheng Island overseas. Don’t you know, Sister Yao? Changsheng Island is the home of all Changsheng Cult followers.”
“…” Su Yao was speechless. Ji Canghai, however, typed out a sinister message from the side: “Yao, persuade your brother to turn back. If he does, he can still be the leader of the thief guild, and you can still be the national advisor. You must know that the Changsheng Cult is now public enemy number one.”
“Sister Yao, look, some people’s IQs are forever stuck here,” Acao sent a shrugging emoji.
“They think we’ll still fight for him without you here.” Su Yao was inwardly shocked; she hadn’t seen the devotion of the cult followers on Wang Shenmu’s screen, but she didn’t expect the situation to escalate this far. To seize the vast resources of Wusheng City, the two superpowers, Yan and Xia, had allied, their combined citizens accounting for over 80% of all players. Faced with such high bounties, she could imagine the frenzy, yet the followers of the Changsheng Cult still defended Wusheng City to the death. “Where is Changsheng Island?” Su Yao typed. “I’ll take you there,” Acao sent a party invitation.
World Hong Yaotang: I’m also joining the Changsheng Cult.
Ji Canghai was dumbfounded. Hong Yaotang… the first thief of the world, former national advisor of Daxia, had shed her thief’s tight suit for the black robe and hood of the Changsheng Cult, settling with all the believers on Changsheng Island. It wasn’t as prosperous as Tianya City, nor as wealthy as Yanjing, but Changsheng Island held a natural, untouched beauty. However, the island was almost deserted.
Upon asking Acao, Su Yao learned that everyone had gone to defend Wusheng City against the army. If Changsheng Island was their home, then Wusheng City was their faith, which they would defend to the death. Everyone there believed in Qinchuan, believing that one day the Changsheng Hall would return and lead them to create a new history.
On the way to Wusheng City, Su Yao remembered the divine weapon. When she asked Acao about it, Acao said, “Sister Yao, you really haven’t logged in for a month? I sent the bell to your mailbox a month ago!” Su Yao had been the Lord of the West for a month and didn’t know about it!
“What do I need a divine weapon for? You brought it back, you use it,” Su Yao said, laughing and crying, pulling out the private message to return the bell to him.
Player “Hong Yaotang” has requested an item exchange with you. Accept? Reject?
Acao rejected. “I don’t need it,” he said. “I got it for you.” Seeing the thief Ding nearby, she had an idea and half-coaxed, half-threatened Ding: “Little Ding, now you can be the Lord of the West for your brother…”
“With the system announcement of the change of the Western Lord, Ding reluctantly accepted, leaving Acao with nothing to say.