The Unforeseen Betrayal and a New Alliance

Even though Ye Jue had sent a message to Divine Wind, he didn’t dwell on it. He was confident that Divine Wind, upon learning they could leave, would easily shake off the monsters with his abilities.

Lin Shenyue, seeing Ye Jue safely retreat, let out a sigh of relief. She merely asked, “What should we do about Divine Wind’s situation?”

Ye Jue waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, that guy’s capable enough to get out safely.”

Lin Shenyue offered a wry smile, realizing Divine Wind had been inadvertently thrown into a difficult spot. Ye Jue pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered he hadn’t bought any return scrolls. He awkwardly confessed, “Let’s walk back then. We need to remember to buy city return scrolls next time.”

Lin Shenyue gazed at Ye Jue, utterly speechless. He surely knew the importance of return scrolls, yet he hadn’t purchased any. Such oversight required a remarkable level of carelessness. It seemed she would have to take charge of acquiring essential supplies from now on.

Ye Jue felt quite embarrassed himself. He was accustomed to having dedicated item distributors in a team, so he genuinely forgot the need to buy basic necessities.

****

As the two walked back to the city gate, they discovered Divine Wind already waiting for them. Seeing them arrive on foot, Divine Wind asked in astonishment, “You two walked all the way back?”

Both Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue blushed with discomfort. It was clear that even Divine Wind, who had only recently entered Vermilion Bird City, knew to buy city return scrolls, while they, the more experienced players, did not. General stores selling such scrolls were conveniently located near the city’s major teleportation arrays. When they first entered, Lin Shenyue had been completely overwhelmed, and Ye Jue had simply skipped past them, deeming them unimportant. Consequently, neither had made the purchase.

Observing their expressions, Divine Wind understood their oversight. He could only sigh helplessly. “You two should go buy some quickly. These items are quite essential.”

Ye Jue nodded. “Yue’er, let’s go.”

After taking Lin Shenyue to purchase a good number of city return scrolls, Ye Jue mused, “Our eight hours for the day are used up. Since we spent some time in the city, it’s already past seven o’clock outside. Let’s log off and take care of our personal matters first.”

Divine Wind nodded. This hour typically marked breakfast time, and as a working professional, he didn’t have unlimited vacation. He still needed to go to work today.

After Divine Wind logged off, Lin Shenyue hesitated. “Are there any places in the city where I can practice alchemy and cooking?”

Ye Jue nodded. “Of course there are. But you still can’t log off, can you?”

Although he had asked a few days prior, he had assumed it was merely a minor bug that would soon be fixed, allowing her to log off.

Lin Shenyue spoke with a hint of reluctance, “For some reason, I can’t log off. But it should be fine in a few weeks.”

Ye Jue looked at Lin Shenyue with a touch of surprise. Since she was the only one experiencing this issue, it clearly wasn’t a problem with the game company. It could only be due to Yue’er’s own circumstances. However, he ultimately chose not to press for details, merely nodding. He then led Lin Shenyue to the western commercial district. This area offered specialized rooms for alchemy and other sub-professions, available for rent at a modest price of one silver coin per hour. However, players were responsible for providing their own raw materials. While purchasing materials from the shop owner was an option, it came with a premium of about 20% above market price.

After Lin Shenyue paid for three hours of rent, Ye Jue logged off to attend to his own affairs. Lin Shenyue, on the other hand, immediately bought materials from the shop owner. She had already inquired with Bloodthirsty Rose, and upon learning that their guild had no plans to come to Vermilion Bird City, she had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea of buying materials from her. Moreover, she was already close to becoming a high-level alchemist, and the current materials were, at most, relatively rare intermediate ones, which wouldn’t be very useful to her.

****

As Lin Shenyue embarked on her alchemy journey, Xu Linglong encountered some trouble in the newbie village.

While she was running a difficult dungeon with a pick-up group, a silver-grade warrior’s equipment dropped. Theoretically, this item should have gone to Xu Linglong, but the party leader unfairly claimed it for himself. He then kicked her and the two other players he didn’t know from the group.

When Xu Linglong indignantly broadcasted the incident in the regional chat, the leader, anticipating her move, preemptively twisted the narrative. He accused Xu Linglong of attempting to greedily claim equipment that wasn’t hers, thus justifying her removal from the party. A group of people, presumably from the same guild (though not yet officially established, they were clearly in contact), backed his story.

Even when the other kicked player spoke up to defend them, they were dismissed as accomplices.

Xu Linglong’s eyes blazed with fury. She had never imagined such blatant injustice. She sent a friend request to the other kicked player, who readily accepted.

[Exquisite Heart]: “I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

[Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze]: “It’s nothing. They were in the wrong, but I didn’t expect them to turn the tables and use their numbers to blame us directly.”

[Exquisite Heart]: “I didn’t expect them to be such people either. Your skills seem pretty good; let’s team up and level up together.”

[Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze]: “Alright. Honestly, besides us two, I doubt anyone else would add us.”

[Exquisite Heart]: “They’ll get their comeuppance eventually. Let’s hurry and reach Level 10 so we can go to Vermilion Bird City and find my best friend.”

[Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze]: “Your best friend? She’s already in Vermilion Bird City?”

[Exquisite Heart]: “Mm, do you want to go?”

[Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze]: “Okay, I don’t really know many people anyway.”

[Exquisite Heart]: “Then it’s settled. I’m at the newbie village entrance now; come over.”

[Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze]: “Alright.”

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze’s appearance could be described as quite handsome, exuding a gentle aura. However, in Xu Linglong’s eyes, he presented quite differently.

“Why do you always look like such a submissive little guy?” Xu Linglong remarked bluntly.

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze’s mouth twitched. He hadn’t expected his supposedly gentle and handsome demeanor to be perceived as ‘submissive’ by the woman before him. He could only offer a gentle smile. “No help for it, it’s natural.”

Xu Linglong nodded. “Naturally born to be submissive, then.”

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze’s brow twitched, but he ultimately held back. He took a deep breath, thinking to himself, ‘I don’t argue with women.’ Then, forcing a smile, he said, “Let’s hurry and clear the last dungeon.”

Xu Linglong looked doubtful. “Just the two of us?”

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze nodded. “While we can’t tackle the high-difficulty ones, the difficult one should be manageable, right? You were holding back in the last dungeon, weren’t you?”

Xu Linglong shot him a glance. “I didn’t expect your eyesight to be pretty good. I wasn’t going all out, but if your skill level is just ‘so-so,’ it’ll still be impossible to clear.”

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze sensed the scorn in her words, and his gentle aura momentarily faltered. However, his self-control was strong, and he quickly regained his composure. “How will you know I can’t do it if you don’t try?”

Xu Linglong glanced downwards at Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze, and scoffed, “Just by looking at your submissive appearance, I know you definitely can’t.”

Noticing Xu Linglong’s gaze directed below his waist, Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze finally lost his composure. “Hey, hey, are you even a woman? You say things like that without even blushing.”

Xu Linglong sneered, “Are you even a man? You react so strongly to such words.”

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze was finally left speechless. He turned and walked directly towards the dungeon entrance, ignoring the chattering Xu Linglong beside him.

Seeing him ignore her, Xu Linglong pouted, thinking, ‘Yue’er is so much better. She listens patiently no matter what I say, unlike these men…’

Upon entering the dungeon, both Xu Linglong and Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze grew serious. After all, for two of them to clear a dungeon designed for five, any distraction was simply out of the question.