The Unspoken Truce

Lin Shenyue ignored Ye Jue for over thirty minutes, leaving him with a wry smile. Throughout the dungeon run, Lin Shenyue maintained her aloof demeanor, radiating an icy aura that silenced the entire party.

Fortunately, the group had already cleared the Hell-level dungeon once before. Their coordination remained strong, even without verbal communication, and they successfully completed both Hell-level runs.

Three hours of daily experience time had passed. Thanks to the generous experience from the Hell-level dungeons, both Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue reached Level 8. Lin Shenyue was at 30% of Level 8, while Ye Jue was at 20%. The rest of the team also gained more than half of the experience needed for Level 7.

****

The final two Hell-level dungeons each dropped one silver-grade equipment piece: a leather lower garment and a plate armor helmet. These were ultimately distributed to Divine Wind and Fissure.

Iron Blood Plume acquired a bronze-grade cloth shoe and a bronze-grade off-hand weapon. They then spent nearly 100 gold coins to purchase all the other dropped equipment, distributing 25 gold coins to each party member.

This was a substantial sum in the early stages of the game, and it was fortunate that Iron Blood Plume belonged to a large guild, or they might not have been able to afford it alone.

****

After parting ways with the others, only Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue remained. Ye Jue, still met with Lin Shenyue’s silence, felt a pang of helplessness.

He finally broke the quiet. “Should we tackle the Level 8 quest we received earlier?” He was referring to the task of clearing desert scorpions from the Yellow Sand Plains, which they had previously avoided due to their low level. Now at Level 8, success seemed assured.

Lin Shenyue stared at him for a long moment before finally nodding.

Ye Jue wiped a bead of cold sweat from his brow, thinking, ‘One truly cannot provoke a woman.’

Unaware of Ye Jue’s thoughts, Lin Shenyue silently followed behind him, allowing him to lead the way toward the Yellow Sand Plains.

Few players were currently in the Yellow Sand Plains, as not many had reached Level 7 yet, let alone Level 8 like them. Of course, some Level 6 players had formed parties to hunt monsters here.

However, the Yellow Sand Plains had a peculiar characteristic: its monsters, the desert scorpions, lurked underground, only ambushing players as they passed. Consequently, players preferred hunting Level 7 leopards rather than the Level 8 scorpions.

An ambush by a single scorpion on a warrior might be manageable, but if it targeted a healer, the party would be instantly wiped out. The situation would become even more dire if two or more desert scorpions were accidentally aggroed simultaneously.

Furthermore, it was still early on the second day of the game, and many players were busy in dungeons, leaving the plains even emptier.

The quest required them to clear 20 desert scorpions. Ye Jue, fearless, strode into the plains. His health now exceeded 800, and his physical defense reached 30 points.

With desert scorpions having only 80 attack power, their strikes felt negligible to him. Even if three attacked simultaneously, he would be fine for a short while.

Lin Shenyue, trailing behind him, was even less concerned. She now possessed nearly 300 health. Even if a scorpion managed to ambush her, she wouldn’t be instantly killed, merely experiencing some pain.

Logically, any path Ye Jue had already traversed should be safe. An ambush on Lin Shenyue would only occur if a desert scorpion moved into her aggro range immediately after Ye Jue passed, triggering its attack.

Suddenly, a yellow scorpion burst from beneath the sand, charging at Ye Jue. He didn’t even bother to block, taking the damage head-on.

His immediate strike dealt 50 damage, quickly diminishing the scorpion’s 900 health. Killing it would take less than twenty seconds.

With his skills, he dispatched the scorpion in under fifteen seconds.

From the scorpion’s corpse, a common plate armor upper garment dropped. Ye Jue looted it himself, knowing that even with the best luck, small monsters rarely dropped anything valuable. Moreover, given Lin Shenyue’s less-than-ideal mood, he wisely avoided involving her and simply handled the loot himself. The scorpion also dropped 10 copper coins, a significant improvement compared to Level 1 monsters.

Having completed their task in less than ten minutes, Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue made their way back to the village.

****

Inside the village, two factions were currently locked in a tense standoff. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the Flowing Cloud Clan and the Pink Rose guilds were facing each other.

The Pink Rose guild consisted entirely of women, and their numbers were visibly fewer than the predominantly male Flowing Cloud Clan. The Flowing Cloud Clan was represented by I Am a Ruffian and his group, suggesting that I Am a Ruffian held a high position within their guild.

Bloodthirsty Rose glared at I Am a Ruffian, her voice cold. “Is your Flowing Cloud Clan declaring war on our Pink Rose?”

I Am a Ruffian chuckled. “How could that be? I would never be so cruel as to fight such beautiful women. I merely snatched a deal from you. Don’t be so petty, or no one will ever want you.”

Bloodthirsty Rose gritted her teeth, her voice laced with hatred. “You are deliberately provoking a conflict.”

I Am a Ruffian shook his head repeatedly. “How can you say that? I merely engaged in fair competition. It simply means this brother ultimately chose us.” He gestured to a person behind him, who nodded with a helpless expression.

This incident mirrored a previous one. Someone had been lucky enough to acquire a mage’s skill book. Though it was only the very basic Fireball spell, such a book held immense value in the early game.

Bloodthirsty Rose had already negotiated to purchase it for 10 gold coins, but I Am a Ruffian intercepted the deal. The seller, clearly aware of the Flowing Cloud Clan’s notorious reputation, reluctantly agreed to sell it to them for a lower price.

This led to the confrontation between Pink Rose and Flowing Cloud Clan. While the women knew this standoff might not yield a favorable outcome, they understood that remaining silent would mean losing the respect of their members.

Hades, the Vice Guild Leader of the Heaven Guild, watched the argument unfold, silently calculating. Since their Guild Leader was still managing their guild in the previous game, only a tenth of their members, including five high-ranking officials, had entered this new game.

Therefore, Hades urgently needed an ally. Otherwise, guilds previously marginalized by the Heaven Guild would undoubtedly cause trouble for them in this game. Moreover, with the guild’s primary focus elsewhere, he couldn’t guarantee their safety if they were surrounded by numerous other guilds.

Although he yearned to ally with Pink Rose—after all, a group of beautiful women was certainly pleasing to the eye—reason dictated otherwise. First, Pink Rose had some past friction with them in the previous game.

Second, the women of Pink Rose were strong-willed individuals, making it difficult to imagine them submitting to the Heaven Guild. Furthermore, the Flowing Cloud Clan clearly held a greater advantage at the moment. Despite their notorious reputation, it was precisely their infamy that allowed them to handle matters the Heaven Guild could not.

Naturally, if their entire guild had deployed, there would be no cause for concern. However, their leader had not yet given explicit instructions for a full deployment to this game, even after Hades’ repeated persuasions.

Hades, accompanied by a dozen or so people, stepped forward with a chuckle. “Ladies, let’s not get so heated. The seller has already agreed to sell to the Flowing Cloud Clan. Any further argument would simply be harassment.”

Bloodthirsty Rose’s brow furrowed noticeably upon seeing Hades. Although she didn’t know what Hades looked like, no one dared to usurp the names of Heaven Guild’s administrators, given their influence.

There was a past incident where someone who consistently used the name Sea God in the old game also used it in the new one. As a result, they were hunted down by Heaven Guild members in-game and even tracked into reality. The consequences for that person were dire.

While the Heaven Guild didn’t directly harm the individual, they threatened their company in reality, forcing the company to terminate their employment. Afterward, no other company would hire them, and the desperate person ultimately committed suicide. Even an appeal was useless, as the Heaven Guild hadn’t directly harmed them, leaving no grounds for a lawsuit.

“Are you also going to interfere in this matter?” Bloodthirsty Rose was well aware of the Heaven Guild’s influence in reality, leaving her feeling utterly helpless.

Hades laughed it off. “How could I? I’m merely here to mediate. After all, we’ve all played several games together; there’s no need to ruin our harmony over such a minor issue.”

Bloodthirsty Rose sneered. She knew that with the Heaven Guild’s involvement, the matter could only end this way. It would be incredibly difficult for her guild alone to oppose two guilds, especially with one of them being the Heaven Guild.

Watching the women depart in indignation, members of the Flowing Cloud Clan and the Heaven Guild began conversing. What was said afterward remained a mystery to all others.