Chapter 121 - Contract (2/2)

Next to the floor-to-ceiling windows were two rattan chairs. There was also a light-coloured wooden coffee table that was like a tree. All buildings in the City of the Moon had this style.

There was an LCD TV, desktop computer on the table and broadband Internet connection.

In the real world, this was a homestay that would receive a very good evaluation.

All five people were satisfied with the hotel environment and found a place to sit down.

Yu Hanjiang whispered, “Chief Shao, Little Xie, have you heard of World Weekly?”

Xie Qi and Shao Qingge exchanged blank looks. “What is World Weekly?”

Yu Hanjiang explained, “We were picked up by a challengers organization when we got off the plane. We met their president and the other side revealed that not only do challengers have to clear instances, they also have to partic.i.p.ate in the World Weekly every weekend.”

Xie Qi soon responded. “Is it the same as a weekly task in the game? Is this mandatory reporting?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. “It is said that all challengers will be forced into the weekly secret room. The secret room is random and might be Hearts, Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. The World Weekly’s task isn’t directly related to the 54 cards on the Card World and is a separate secret rooms. Many challengers are said to have not returned after disappearing on the weekend.”

Shao Qingge frowned slightly when he heard this. “A large number of challenger will partic.i.p.ate in the World Weekly. If it is a Spades secret room then it will be very vicious. The killing among challengers will be terrible.”

Yu Hanjiang said, “That’s why I want to discuss with you how to deal with it. If we don’t collect clues as soon as possible and attract fierce teammates, it is likely that we won’t be able to pa.s.s the World Weekly, let alone the later secret rooms.

Shao Qingge looked at Xiao Lou with a puzzled manner. “What is the situation of the challengers a.s.sociation? A guild was looking for you to invite you to join them?”

Xiao Lou replied, “Yes, it is the Distant Guild. Their management saw the world announcement about Group Leader Yu and I refres.h.i.+ng the record of the Hearts secret room. They sent someone to the airport to invite us to join the guild. However, at that time, we haven’t found you and Xie Qi yet. Secondly, we don’t know enough about this guild so we didn’t dare to agree.”

“Yes, once we join a big guild, we’ll be bound to their interests.” Xie Qi agreed. “Their enemies will become our enemies. It is like big guilds in a game. Their relations.h.i.+p is quite complex!”

Shao Qingge frowned. “I personally prefer to be free. A big guild will have huge power but there will be many rules, regulations and internal intrigue. Does this guild have any hostile forces? Let’s find out before we join. Once we join, we will offend them if we quit.”

Xiao Lou stated, “Yes, we aren’t in a hurry to make a decision. Wait until the end of this weekend’s World Weekly.”

Xie Qi was curious. “Apart from the Distant Guild, are there other challenger organizations?”

Xiao Lou replied, “There is a large guild called the Eternal Kingdom. They only want to pa.s.s the World Weekly and not challenge the following secret rooms. They want to settle in the Card World. The other is the Luoying Pavilion, which only accepts female players. At present, we only know that their boss is very powerful. I don’t know about others. There should be some smaller and powerful teams.”

Xie Qi spoke up, “I can understand if I treat this world as a game. The Distant Guild, Eternal Kingdom and Luoying Pavilion are large player guilds while the other small groups are groups of friends and relatives.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “You can understand it like that.”

Xie Qi said, “My personal opinion is that we should set up a small team on our own. It is easier to manage and a smaller number is more unified. A big guild is too complicated. Whenever I play a game, I’ve been trapped by the guild many times…”

Xiao Lou smiled. “The president of the Distant Guild, Gui Yuanzhang is a well-known calligrapher. I heard he is very good and shouldn’t be deliberately pitting us. However, Little Xie’s concerns are very reasonable. A guild is very complicated. If there are any conflicts between us and the members or forces hostile to the guild then it will be difficult to deal with.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “It is better to be free. We can make our own decisions. However, I’d like to confirm your thoughts again.” His eyes swept over Liu Qiao, Shao Qingge and Xie Qi. “Professor Xiao and I have agreed to go back a long time ago. How about the three of you? Do you want to stay in the City of the Moon and live here or do you want to go back to the real world?”

Liu Qiao said, “I have to go back.”

Yu Hanjiang looked at her. “Why?”

Liu Qiao’s eyes were very firm. “My sister also came here. If both of us were killed in that car accident, what would our parents do? Our parents are ordinary workers and worked hard in order to let us go to university. I can’t leave them alone.” Liu Qiao took a deep breath and said, “I want to go back and if I find my sister, I want to take her back together.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at Xie Qi.

Xie Qi scratched the back of his head and spoke with some embarra.s.sment. “I also want to go back. In fact, in the real world, I partic.i.p.ated in a singing compet.i.tion and reached the finales. My dream is to become a singer who can hold countries all over the country. I might be far away from that step but I have learned vocal music and various musical instruments since I was a child. My parents spent a lot of money to learn musical instruments so I just can’t give up.”

Liu Qiao suddenly asked, “Are you the Xie Qi who took part in ‘Chinese Singer’ and made it to the final round? I remember that Xie Qi was also proficient in the piano, guitar, flute and other instruments. No wonder why I always feel you are familiar.”

Xie Qi was proud about being recognized and excitedly turned to see her. “You have watched this program?”

Liu Qiao nodded. “I watched several episodes during the holidays. You sang well and scored in the top three. If you continued then you might’ve been able to win a prize. I remember that after that game, your Weibo fans rose to the hundreds of thousands? You are quite popular.”

Xie Qi’s face was red and he spoke seriously. “I was actually very confident about winning the prize but there was a car accident on the way to the studio.”

Yu Hanjiang never watched variety shoes, Xiao Lou rarely watched it and Shao Qingge was busy making money. All three of them didn’t expect that Xie Qi was actually a small celebrity with hundreds of thousands of fans.

“You made it into the final round of a singing compet.i.tion?” Shao Qingge looked Xie Qi up and down with a smile. “It seems you have the potential to be a star. You can make it to the finals with your singing, indicating that your singing is good. Your appearance… is also good-looking.”

Xie Qi had bright eyes after being praised and scratched his head with embarra.s.sment. “Hehe, that’s why I must go back. If I can become a singer in the future, perhaps I can really open a concert.”

Shao Qingge told him, “Give me a ticket and I’ll go to your show.”

Xie Qi nodded hard. “Definitely!”

Xiao Lou found that Shao Qingge had been chatting with Xie Qi and couldn’t help asking, “Chief Shao? Do you insist on going back?”

He didn’t know if it was his illusion but after hearing this question, something sharp flashed in Shao Qingge’s eyes. “Of course, I don’t want to die for a dubious reason.”

Xiao Lou wondered, “What? You had an accident… didn’t you have an accident?”

Shao Qingge replied coldly, “I was. .h.i.t by a car. It was at an intersection and I was waiting for a red light. Suddenly, a big truck turned left at the crossroad and ran into me. I couldn’t escape and was killed. The day before the accident, I had a conflict with two partners. I decided to dismiss them and take back their power. In a few days, I would’ve held a shareholders meeting to discuss this matter…”

Shao Qingge turned to Yu Hanjiang. “Group Leader Yu, you are a policeman. Do you think this is a coincidence?”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “If the brakes of the big truck failed then the car should hit the embankment when turning left instead of hitting you. The driver would’ve needed to make one more turn of the steering wheel to hit you and this sounds more like intentional killing.” He paused and said, “Of course, this is theoretical speculation and can’t be used as evidence. It needs confirmation through an on-site investigation.”

Shao Qingge stated coldly, “I think it is murder.”

His words silenced the room for a moment.

He had always been smiling but expectedly, he had experienced a crisis in the real world. He was very rich but sometimes people did crazy things for money and rights. His speculation wasn’t groundless. Perhaps the mentality of the two people has changed. Once Chief Shao decided to kick them out, they killed Shao Qingge.

Shao Qingge’s eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter if it is an accident or murder. I have to go back and find out. I can’t let those two b.a.s.t.a.r.ds embezzle from the company I worked so hard to create.” His eyes narrowed. “In fact, I lied to you in 2 of Clubs. The location of my accident was the eastern suburb of Jiangzhou. Group Leader Yu is a police officer of Jiangzhou City. Are you willing to help me when we go back?”

Yu Hanjiang didn’t hesitate. “Of course, this is within the scope of my responsibility. If we go back then I’ll help you with your investigation.”

Shao Qingge nodded. “You rest a.s.sured, I must also go back.”

Yu Hanjiang glanced at Xiao Lou and met Xiao Lou’s eyes.

Xiao Lou had a tacit understanding of his thoughts. He smiled and pulled out the contract book. “Since everyone has the same goal and mutual understanding and trust is sufficient, I have a suggestion. I will upgrade my contract first and you all sign with me. This way, even if we are temporarily separated, we will be transmitted to the same world every time we enter a secret room.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, the World Weekly often produces many identical instances. If we don’t sign a contract then perhaps we will be split up in this weekend’s World Weekly.”

Shao Qingge and Xie Qi had long had a good relations.h.i.+p with Xiao Lou’s team and had no opinions.

Only Liu Qiao…

Xiao Lou looked at Liu Qiao and told her, “Little Liu, it is better for you to sign it temporarily. You are now alone and it is likely you will be transferred to a random secret room separate from us. It would be very troublesome if you want to clear a large weekly instance alone. As for your sister, we can slowly find her. Then after finding her, if you want to leave the team then you can cancel the contract with us at any time.”

After careful consideration, Liu Qiao nodded.

She had known these people less than a week but she worked with them in Liuxi Village and believed her vision wasn’t wrong. Professor Xiao, Group Leader Yu, Chief Shao and Xie Qi were all very principled people. Rather than acting alone, it was better to follow these people and the possibility of clearing the instance would be greater.

Xiao Lou took out the contract book. 40,000 gold coins were needed to upgrade it to an intermediate contract and 170,000 gold coins were needed for a senior contract. At first, he felt this was very expensive when he saw it in 2 of Clubs but now there were millions in Chief Shao’s account. This money was nothing at all.

Xiao Lou opened his mouth. “I remember that the senior contract is 8-15 people. We don’t have enough people and will first upgrade to intermediate.”

He opened the contract and pressed the upgrade b.u.t.ton.

There was a soft light and the contract book shone silver. [Congratulations to Xiao Lou for obtaining the intermediate contract book!]

He opened the page and the terms hadn’t changed. There were just additional signature pages. The limit had also changed from two to five.

Xiao Lou picked up the book’s feather pen and handed it to Shao Qingge. “Sign it.”

Shao Qingge and Xie Qi quickly released their contract and signed with Xiao Lou.

Liu Qiao simply signed her name on the last spot. She had a strange hunch. The people in this contract book might have the potential to do wonders and become the first team to step out of the Card World.

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