579 Chapter 579 - Bury Them with Money (1/2)
Flame Singed Clothes stood staring at the open sky in the Mage Academy of Baishi City. This was not Linyin City where leaves dancing with the cool breeze could match the melancholia in his heart. Instead, it was white dust, unique to this region, that was in the breeze in this city. He stared into the distance with dazed eyes, and the dust quickly blurred his vision, causing the man to tear up freely.
His eyes were hurting, and so was his heart.
It was not too long ago that the Mage Flame Singed Clothes was among the Ten Great Adepts. Because of the sensitive nature of his profession, which required him to maintain a low profile, he had never once revealed the depths of his skills. Still, he was proud of his achievement, but this sudden blow had truly been too quick and far too ferocious.
In Luori City, Flame Singed Clothes' heart was aglow with pride as he held off a host of experts in a corner of a valley when he linked two Palatial Balefires into a single boundary. Alas, Parallel World's number one Mage, Drifting, used his Icy Mirage to get past his wall of flames, and the man's magnificent Blossoming Crimson Lotus explosion had sent him turtling behind Southern Lone Blade's shield, not daring to poke his head out. It was in that moment that tragedy began.
When that was over, he had ended up killing himself by sliding into his sea of flames in Linshui City. In Xiawu City, he burned his own comrade, Blackwater, to death, earning him that 1 PK point that led Gu Fei's men to him. Later, when they were lost in the thick mist of Xiawu City, Flame Singed Clothes, who had lost his spirit to escape the fate of being hunted, became the first to fall as Eternal Dominion came out of nowhere and clutched his throat, dying with a bellyful of spite in the end.
After that enraged BOSS incident over at Xiawu City, they heard that there were plenty of players who died that received recompense, yet none of the seven brothers saw their names come up.
Originally considered among the ranks of the Ten Great Adepts at level 41, most players would feel disheartened after losing three levels in such a short span of time, but this was not the case for Flame Singed Clothes. He might not have his levels, but he still had his career. Leaving for another city far away from Gu Fei, he diligently and tirelessly grinded up his level again for a time until he managed to level up twice, only a bare step away from level 40.
However, everything had burst like a bubble in the sun in the blink of an eye.
Level 38. Flame Singed Clothes was back to the same state he was after he had gotten slain thrice that time. This time, with the wind in his eyes, Flame Singed Clothes stood at the entrance to the Mage Academy, no longer having any idea where he should go.
”I got slain.” Southern Lone Blade received this message from Glue.
”How did that happen?!” Southern Lone Blade quickly asked.
”Thousand Miles Drunk and Eternal Dominion were waiting for us outside the Bounty Assignment Hall. They've seen through our attempt at using the Windchaser's Emblem to escape,” Glue reported.
Southern Lone Blade thought himself as clever and crafty – someone who acted carefully – but when it came to brilliant schemes, Gu Fei's bunch was always one step ahead of him. He was no match for the strength and intelligence of their opponents, so how would they be able to eke out a win?
”We've been busy this whole day; let's all take a rest first!” Southern Lone Blade really had no idea what to say. None of them had slept a wink since last night because they were all busy grinding out the Windchaser's Emblem. They each took turns to take a short two-hour nap sprawled on the tables of a tavern, each making their preparations at the last minute, all for this battle to find their confidence back. Unfortunately, the result was still the same; they had disastrously lost on every front.
Southern Lone Blade wanted to message his team, saying, ”The battle has just begun; let's not give up, everyone,” but he could not find it in him to type it out because even himself had difficulties believing what he wanted to say. Southern Lone Blade was also slowly losing his self-confidence at this point.
The members of Southern Lone Blade's team, hidden in the various corners of the city, each began to walk to a spawn point to log out. Paddy Scented Pastures happened to be at the Mage Academy, so he spotted Flame Singed Clothes standing right outside the entrance, facing the incoming breeze to the point of being unable to open his eyes. Paddy Scented Pastures had no idea what to say, so he just patted the man on his back before he proceeded to log out with a soft sigh.
”Southern Lone Blade's logged off!” Even though they were enemies, Brother Assist was still a friend of Southern Lone Blade, and he immediately spread the news when his name dimmed on the list.
”No way!” Gu Fei was very disappointed. He had been camping out by the Bounty Assignment Hall and was waiting to catch the big fish! Southern Lone Blade was well-deserving of the villain title for being able to exchange a few rounds with Gu Fei, yet the latter had sent the former to Prison by borrowing the combat strength of an NPC guard the first time. He was uninvolved the second time they crossed paths, while the third time was Eternal Dominion's doing. Gu Fei, who had never once had the chance to deal a satisfying cut to the man, had been waiting for his chance to do just that this time.
Eternal Dominion was no exception as well. Honestly, he doubted that he would earn any remuneration for the two players he had just stomped to death since the target he needed was Southern Lone Blade! As the man was no longer online, he simply had no means to conduct his business anymore.
”Let's go!” When the two martial arts practitioners realized that there was no fight to be had, and that it was about time for them to log off as well, they made their way to the safe zone, too, leaving just Young master Han and the others to conclude what happened today elsewhere. Sword Demon and Royal God Call were a little dispirited as losing sight of Southern Lone Blade respectively was their only contribution for today. They had no idea what had happened to the rest, making them feel as if they were bit characters in this story.
From the message Vast Lushness's side had sent them, the situation was more or less resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. It was just as Young Master Han had expected; after Vast Lushness clearly stated that she did not mind what had happened to the magic staff, no one else really had anything else to say regarding the matter. It was unavoidable for the Priest that had lied about successfully making the purchase to suffer a harsh bout of admonishment from Blue Ease, but given how everything had passed, a few rounds of liquor down their gullets were all it took for the whole lot of them to begin enjoying themselves. In truth, Vast Lushness was the only person who was truly affected by the loss of the Utopian Magic Staff, so how could the others stay unhappy for long?
Blue Ease's men organized for them to go grinding, but Vast Lushness excused herself by saying that she was a little tired and did not wish to join them. Sakurazaka Moony was obviously the most elated when he saw how Blue Ease got rejected. By the time they all walked away, the Hunter had bounded over to Vast Lushness excitedly. ”Lushness, let's go questing!” He thought that the haze was over, and that his blissful life was about to begin anew.
”I'm tired; I wanna sit here for a bit. You guys go ahead!” Vast Lushness rejected.
”Then, I'll accompany you!” Sakurazaka Moony said, leaning in eagerly.
”There's no need for that. I'll be fine here having Svelty with me,” Vast Lushness rejected again.
He had more to say, but then he saw Svelte Dancer slice off a corner of the table with her dagger and pull out a coin pouch to pay for the damage before saying through bared teeth, ”Don't be annoying. Quickly go play by yourself.”
Sakurazaka Moony pulled his neck back. In his eyes, Svelte Dancer was far more frightening than Gu Fei. This was because people like him who were casually acquainted with Gu Fei knew he would not really strike his friends viciously no matter what happened, but this lady was different. He reckoned that she did not even consider his lot to be any sort of friends at all. What if he were to disobey her? Did she not just demonstrate what would be his likely outcome with what she had done to the table?
”Then, you two, take care!” Sakurazaka Moony expressed his concern before hurriedly bringing all his comrades to get out of Dodge. Svelte Dancer was a beauty with filled pockets; she was originally a top-grade lady the members of Forever in Flowers could only dream about, but considering her viciousness, everybody felt that their lives were more important. It was important for them to have fun and not feel tortured when flirting.
”Aside from Drunk bro, there's no one else out there who can handle this sort of chick!” Fireball boasted. He made it sound as if Gu Fei's ability to handle her meant he could do it himself, leading the pack of men away from the tavern while acting like an alpha.
Seeing everyone leave, Vast Lushness finally shed her façade and revealed her sadness. Playing with the sack of coins in her hands, she felt a little troubled in her heart.