23 Chapter 23 - The Joy of Helping (1/2)

Players were still required to go to the designated safe zones to log off. So after Gu Fei left Ray's Bar, he quickly headed to a safe zone.

On his way there, he passed by the Hall of Guild Creation and found many people coming and going. Now that most players had finally reached level 30, guilds were being formed like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. A few days ago, Fireball had asked about Gu Fei's preparation to join any particular guild. When he saw Gu Fei's disinterest in the matter, Fireball could only drop the question and conscientiously choose a guild on his own.

Has Fireball found a guild yet? Gu Fei asked in his heart as he pulled up his friends list and saw that Fireball was offline. Fireball had a rather irregular online schedule, so it was rather hard to keep track of his activities in-game. As he was pondering on this, he accidentally collided with someone.

Gu Fei staggered a bit. He really could not stand his weak physique in-game. Thankfully, he had equipped Eddie's Emblem; without the extra 6 stat points to Strength and Endurance, he might have been knocked flat on the ground.

”It's you!” Gu Fei raised his head and recognized the person who had bumped into him. It was Xi Xiaotian.

”Shh!” Xi Xiaotian motioned him to be quiet, ”Help me!” With that, she hid behind Gu Fei's body. Hiding the lady's slim figure from view was pretty easy with his body frame that was toughened by kung fu.

Just as Gu Fei was about to ask her what was going on, he saw a little girl hurriedly rush from an alley. After looking around and only seeing Gu Fei, she stared at him and asked, ”Hey, have you seen a woman pass through here?”

Kids nowadays are so rude! Gu Fei furrowed his brows. The Gu household was a wushu family that preserved many old traditions. They were naturally stricter in observing proper etiquette compared to the regular households. There were not many restrictions or rules to follow in the family but respecting the elders and teachers was one social propriety everyone in the Gu household rigorously adhered to. Hence, younger people were expected to respectfully greet their elders at any given opportunity, even in the wee hours or when they just woke up.

”Hey, I'm talking to you!” the little girl shouted once more when she saw Gu Fei not responding.

It was hard to have a good impression of the kid, but Gu Fei still understood her feelings. She must have been duped by this scammer! So he nodded his head, ”Yes, I have.”

”Where did she run off to?” the girl anxiously inquired.

Gu Fei sidestepped, raised his hand, and pointed toward the person behind him, ”She's right here!”

”Arghh!” Xi Xiaotian staggered forward. She had leaned on to Gu Fei's back as she was trying to reduce her visible areas. Gu Fei's sudden movement had forced her to lose her footing.

Gu Fei stared at Xi Xiaotian icily, but the little girl had unexpectedly rushed forward and helped Xi Xiaotian up, ”Sister Tian, are you alright?”

Hearing how the brat addressed Xiaotian, Gu Fei realized he had misunderstood the situation.

Xi Xiaotian angrily glared at Gu Fei before she smiled at the little brat, ”I'm fine.”

The little girl stared at Gu Fei and could vaguely tell something was up, so she asked once more, ”Sister Tian, what were you doing?”

”Kitty, I just couldn't agree with your request,” Xi Xiaotian replied.

”But we really couldn't find anyone else!” the brat said.

”Just wait a little longer. I'm sure you'll find someone eventually,” Xi Xiaotian bargained.

”Please! You have to help us!” the brat pulled Xi Xiaotian's hand, shaking it as she pleaded.

Xi Xiaotian stubbornly shook her head and remained silent. Gu Fei could not help but interject, ”Just help them already!”

Xi Xiaotian rolled her eyes, ”You don't know anything, so shut up and mind your own business!”

Gu Fei shrugged at the kid, showing his inability to help. He then proceeded to head toward the safe zone.

He had not walked for more than ten meters before he heard someone hollering from behind him, ”Hey, wait a second!” Gu Fei turned his head and saw Xi Xiaotian rushing toward him.

”What?” Gu Fei asked.

”I know you're the kind of person that loves helping people, so why not help them?” Xi Xiaotian said.

”With what?” Gu Fei asked.

”She's asking me to help them make up the required number to nominate their guild,” Xi Xiaotian said.

”That's it? Then why don't you help them?” Gu Fei retorted.

”Me? Hey… You know what sort of person I am. Having any form of relations with me is problematic,” Xi Xiaotian explained.

”That's true! I guess helping them will BE meaningful based on what you said. It would spare them the trouble of being dragged down by your existence,” Gu Fei said.

”Uh-huh. You must definitely join something so meaningful!”

”I refuse,” Gu Fei said.

”Why?” Xi Xiaotian was curious.

”You can't fool me. You only need twenty people to nominate for a guild. Taking into account the number of players in Parallel World, hitting that target is very simple. Why would there be an issue with finding twenty people?” Gu Fei scoffed.

”She's right there. You can ask her if you don't believe me,” Xi Xiaotian was helpless.

Gu Fei regarded her with suspicion before walking toward the girl, ”Are you guys short of people to nominate your guild?”

The brat nodded her head, ”Yup! We searched for so long, and we are now just one person short.”

”Is it that difficult to find just one person?” Gu Fei couldn't make sense of this.