Chapter 764 Monster (1/2)

After ending the call, Chen Xiaolian sighed softly. There was a slightly despondent look on his face.

“What? Are you still feeling worried for your guild members?” There was an ambiguous smile on Miao Yan’s face as she looked at Chen Xiaolian.

The two of them were within a small Arab-styled bar. Middle East music rang out from the speakers there. Looking through the windows, they could see that it was dark outside and there were not many people inside the bar. The two of them occupied a corner within the bar, a glass of freshly-squeezed fruit juice before each of them. A big hookah was placed beside their table.

“There is nothing to worry about. Regardless if I am there or not, Meteor Rock Guild is still Meteor Rock Guild.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head and smiled. “I know my guild members well enough.”

“Then, why the sigh?” Miao Yan raised her eyebrows. “Is it because… … you have to separate with your girlfriend?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?” Chen Xiaolian’s expression seemed to be saying: That’s to be expected. Then, he said, “If you have to leave your boyfriend for a long time, will you not sigh at all? Oh… I forgot. You are someone from the Upper Plane. Maybe… … in the Upper Plane, you are a coarse-looking guy.”

Chen Xiaolian snickered and he regarded Miao Yan from head to toe. “You know? When I am playing online games, the characters I create are always females. At any rate, the one on screen is someone that I have to look at all the time. Looking at a beautiful female beats looking at an old guy. Surely, you…”

“If you ever get the chance to go to the Upper Plane, you will know.” Miao Yan smiled, seemingly unperturbed by Chen Xiaolian’s words. She took a sip of her fruit juice and said, “Not bad. A pity, there is no wine.”

“Alcohol is prohibited in every part of this country. It might be possible to secretly buy it from the black market, but if you want to find a wine bar here, forget it.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and he picked up a mouthpiece – connected to the hookah’s hose – and handed it to Miao Yan. “Although there is no wine, you can try this. It is the famous Arab hookah.”

“I don’t smoke.” Miao Yan furrowed her brows. Looking at the mouthpiece that Chen Xiaolian was handing over, she shook her head.

“This is different from tobacco.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Trust me, try it. This pot is cardamom-flavoured. It should suit you well.”

Miao Yan looked at Chen Xiaolian. Dubious, she reached out to accept the mouthpiece and took a drag. Next, she closed her eyes before slowly blowing out a ring of smoke.

“The taste is… … not bad.” Miao Yan considered it for a while. Then, she opened her eyes and smiled. “All right, let’s move on to the main topic. After we went our separate ways last time, what happened to you? I am very curious to know.”

“Must I answer you?” Chen Xiaolian waggled his eyebrows.

“Of course. You still owe me one question.” Miao Yan held the mouthpiece with two slender fingers as she fiddled with it. “Last time, when we got out from Zero City, we agreed that the both of us can ask the other person three questions. I only used two.”

“You have a very good memory.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “However, answering the question will take a very long time.”

“It’s not an issue. I have plenty of time.” Miao Yan smiled back.

“After we went our separate ways, a great deal of things happened. A great, great deal.” Chen Xiaolian pondered before continuing, “I went to World’s End, found Qiao Qiao and…”

“You went to World’s End?” Before Chen Xiaolian could continue, Miao Yan’s eyes widened all of a sudden and she turned to stare at Chen Xiaolian. “How did you get there? You do not possess the seeds of the World Tree! At the very least… not all of them!”

“Entering World’s End has nothing to do with the seeds of the World Tree.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Every Awakened will end up there after their deaths. However… … in order to return from the place, some preparations needed to be made beforehand. That is all. As for the seeds of the World Tree that you mentioned, they are actually something else.”

“What?” Miao Yan leaned forward to stare at Chen Xiaolian, a somewhat anxious look on her face.

“Why are you so interested about them?” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “You… … want them?”

“Can I not?”

“Naturally, you can.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged. “I am just curious. How did you know that I do not have all the seeds of the World Tree?”

“I guessed.” Miao Yan answered without hesitating in the slightest. “After we escaped from Zero City, you don’t even know what the seeds of the World Tree are. It hasn’t been too long since then. I do not believe that you can collect all seven of them in such a short time. Is there a problem with this rationale?”

“It sounds very reasonable. However, I prefer another explanation…” Chen Xiaolian placed both his elbows on the table and leaned closer to look at Miao Yan. “You have at least one seed of the World Tree with you!”

The two of them stared at each other, seemingly engaging in a confrontation within the air. A few moments later, Miao Yan suddenly revealed a bright smile. “Yes, I possess one of them. However, it is not something I need to hide from you.”

“Tell me, why are you collecting them?” Chen Xiaolian retracted his arms and leaned back against the soft cushion behind him.

“You should talk first.” Miao Yan revealed a wry smile. “You haven’t answered my earlier question.”

“Very well.” Chen Xiaolian rolled his eyes. “After leaving World’s End, I… … hmm, I had to spend some more effort to save Qiao Qiao. And after that, I was forcibly brought to Zero City where I joined a conference. Hmm, it is a conference between true big shots.”

“Big shots?”

“The first batch of Irregularities in this world. Shen is also one of them. There, I came to know the truth of this world, part of it anyways. I also obtained… … mm, a power that the past me could never have imagined.

“Right now, though, there is a problem. Shen wants to do something, something that would utterly wipe us Irregularities out of existence. In order to stop him, those old monstrous characters joined forces to fight Shen.

“In the end, all of them were sealed inside a collapsing Zero City. The problem with this situation is that, Shen is just too strong. Even the collapsing Zero City cannot trap him for long. Before he escapes, I need to make some preparations, preparations that would allow me to stop him!

“I escaped from Zero City just before it collapsed. However, I was temporarily incapable of controlling my newly found power. Due to that… … if I had simply left Zero City and returned to this world, the Development Team would surely and swiftly find me. “

“So, you hid yourself in an instance dungeon first?” Miao Yan thought about it. “However, the system had still found you in the end. The instance dungeon’s abnormal [Red] class danger alert happened after it detected you, right?”