The bustle of the ancient city began at dawn.
The morning sun shone on the golden statues, and the precious light reflected onto the two people who had just come out of the instance.
Just like last time, the teleportation point was automatically set within the Huagu City by the system.
The dizzying darkness disappeared. Upon first contact with the golden light, Zhou Qi’an subconsciously looked at it a few more times.
Then, he felt a chilling cold in the air. His psychic body didn’t feel anything, which meant this cold was not condensed from yin energy, but a low pressure caused by pure resentment.
Zhou Qi’an tilted his head. Beside him, Shen Zhiyi maintained a posture, facing the statue at a forty-five-degree angle, motionless.
“Have you logged into the forum already?”
Today’s Huagu City was a special area, so using the forum was not affected.
Gradually, Shen Zhiyi went from a forty-five-degree angle to a sixty-degree angle.
The last time he saw this posture was when he killed He Yang to plunder his energy.
Zhou Qi’an looked at the picture and told the story, translating the other’s expression.
Four words.
The sky is falling.
“…”
The manual translation was absolutely accurate. This was Shen Zhiyi’s current state.
Every comment on the forum was stepping on his bottom line.
“Shocking! The Whaler Association’s Love Turned to Hate…”
Just the first half of the title had already made Shen Zhiyi silent for a long time. Phoenix man, white moonlight, emotional entanglement, and so on. All the elements converged, directly pushing him into the position of a knowing third party.
The post now had over a few hundred pages of replies, ranking in the top three of the forum’s hot posts.
Ranked fourth below it was “Confirmed! The Whaler Association’s Love Turned to Hate, Even Killed His Own Mother.”
The comments were all telling the Whaler Association not to love too much.
This morning, before leaving the instance, Shen Zhiyi had specially looked at the status Zhou Qi’an had posted last night. Because that one hadn’t had time to have its data manipulated, the views and comments were very average.
Far from being comparable to these two posts.
Currently, the only ones who knew about their relationship were the insignificant NPCs in the instance.
After an unknown amount of time, Shen Zhiyi came back to his senses from the state of being struck by lightning and said coolly, “Can I hammer to death everyone involved in the forum?”
Real death.
“…You can’t.”
Zhou Qi’an tried to explain a few things and also advised him to calm down.
The person who posted can’t be killed. Shen Zhiyi frowned. “What about the ones who read the post?”
Zhou Qi’an’s eyelid twitched. “You can’t do that either.”
Shen Zhiyi silently calculated.
Then only the Whaler Association was left.
Unfortunately, the people from the Whaler Association were already thoroughly dead, some to the point where not even dregs remained.
He once again looked up at the sky at a seventy-degree angle, and there was even a trend towards ninety degrees. Before the scene became horrifying, Zhou Qi’an timely changed the subject. “Let’s go back to the church first.”
He had been suddenly pulled into the game and still didn’t know what the situation was with his mother and his superior.
They rented a convertible from the ancient city to drive back to the church. The lonely road had no traffic rules.
The shadow was responsible for driving. Zhou Qi’an thoughtfully opened the sunroof above, convenient for a certain someone to gaze at the sky.
The atmosphere was exceptionally quiet. During this time, he also logged into the forum after a long absence.
Humanity’s love for gossip was ever-increasing. Zhou Qi’an shook his head. It had been so long, yet the post was still on the first page, someone having just bumped it a few minutes ago.
He had always been uninterested in gossip.
Just as he was about to exit, Zhou Qi’an let out a slightly puzzled “hmm.”
“A Deep Dive into the Two Big Shots Who Carried Me Through an Instance”
Such an old-school forum style.
He clicked on it in a second.
[Newbie’s first post, recording the big shots who carried me through the instance.]
There were already replies below:
[Laughing my ass off, you don’t even understand the game mechanics and you’re making stuff up here. People with such a large skill gap will never be put in the same instance.]
[That’s right, for a pure newbie, the first instance is basically level one.]
Even for a newbie used to buffer the difficulty, it was only after going through one or two instances that they might be matched into a medium-to-high difficulty instance.
The original poster ignored the doubts and updated in real time:
[The one who helped me was a particularly beautiful player. The feeling he gave me was ‘I’m a big shot, ever-changing’. Sometimes he’d turn into a small cake, sometimes an elf…]
A wave of laughter in the replies:
[Don’t be too ridiculous, you’re even using the wrong measure word.]
[It’s hard to imagine how someone who lives in a fantasy like the original poster was chosen to become a player?]
[+1]
[The handsome big shot and another player who is suspected to be a big shot should be a couple. To protect the big shot’s privacy, I’ll use Z to represent the handsome big shot and S for the other big shot.]
[On the first day of the instance, Z specially went to the square to sing, while S waved a glow stick in the audience. Later, they even had special makeup and styling done and went out to shoot a photo series…]
Because the post was too ridiculous, it attracted many bored people to come in and complain. From telling him to get lost at the beginning, the central idea now became: no one interrupt the original poster, I want to see how he makes this up.
On the highway, he cursed, “Are you crazy?”
At first, he didn’t react, but now it was a solid confirmation of Shen Zhiyi.
One of the new posters, but who would make a post as the first thing after coming out of an instance?!
Today’s players, one generation worse than the last.
Shen Zhiyi’s way of thinking was different from ordinary people. After seeing the CP shipper’s article, the haze in his eyes dissipated quite a bit. “This forum, it doesn’t have to be blown up.”
Someone is still speaking human language.
Hearing this, the corner of Zhou Qi’an’s mouth twitched. He considered whether to bump the post down.
Just in that short time, the new player had already written a completely natural short essay, detailing the events in the instance.
[Thinking about it now, Z is really an amazing and good person. Not only did he occasionally give me and the other player hints, but he also didn’t ask for the money left over from buying the fake fans back.]
[On the first night, a knocking ghost suddenly sang. It’s probably not that it’s really stupid; it’s probably also related to the big shot.]
[Anyway, I pretty much just lay down and won.]
[…Oh, about how we finally passed the instance?]
[Actually, I don’t know either. A mustard-yellow player went into the company…]
[Ah, sorry, a slip of the tongue. It’s actually a handsome guy with blond hair and blue eyes. The big shot described him as mustard-yellow, and I got a little sidetracked. Before the mustard-yellow player went to report, we dug up a hidden ditch together. Z directed us to place an explosive prop inside.]
[Anyway, the instance ended in an explosion in the end.]
The last few large paragraphs of text were all posted within less than three or four minutes. The laughing comments that were interspersed before suddenly stopped after the last sentence came out.
After a long while, the comments began to pop up again like bamboo shoots after a rain.
[Three words just popped into my head: map cannon]
[Hahaha, me too. But don’t joke, Cannon Bro won’t go to a low-star instance.]
Amidst a group of hehehahas, a comment suddenly jumped out:
[@OriginalPoster. When you said the Z big shot looked like a cake, was he wearing a hair clip?]
The original poster replied quickly: [Are you talking about a strawberry hair clip?]
In this short exchange, the forum strangely fell silent again.
The account that had just asked the original poster was not unfamiliar to many people. It was the vice president of Baichuan. It sounded like she knew something.
Someone tentatively asked: [Could what the original poster said be true? Is the map cannon going to a low-star instance related to the so-called hair clip?]
Chen Su didn’t reply again.
The players each had their own interpretations.
Silence often meant a lot. If it wasn’t the same person, she should have just said no.
One wave had not yet subsided, and another had risen.
Someone else @’d the original poster.
[The S big shot you mentioned, does he have grayish-white eyes?]
This question was too private, and the original poster didn’t respond.
But similarly, the shrewd old players already had the answer in their hearts.
[Wait! If it’s really the map cannon, his boyfriend has red eyes!]
The one who typed this response was Mu Ge. In the Cyclamen instance back then, everyone could see the relationship between Zhou Qi’an and Mu Tianbai.
These past two days, there have been rumors that the Whaler Association has been wiped out, and the one who did it was Red Hood. The forum hasn’t seen any response from the association either. Since the Whaler Association is no longer a threat, she will not allow others to spread rumors about the relationship of someone who has helped her.
[?]
[??]
Mu Ge typed furiously on her keyboard: [Don’t spread rumors. I can swear on my life, the map cannon’s boyfriend is a man with red eyes wearing a hoodie.]
A player agreed with her: [Uh, the red-eyed one, is his surname M? I met them in a building instance. The two of them were indeed together at that time.]
There was also another voice: [No, it’s white eyes, definitely white eyes!]
The number of replies to the post was increasing, with a stream of exclamation marks filling page after page.
The forum started to lag.
[Everyone, let me summarize! Cannon Bro’s ex-ex was the president of the Whaler Association, his ex is suspected to be red eyes? The white moonlight is gray-white eyes (suspected reconciliation?)… is that what it means?]
[Holy shit, shit, shit. Judging by the instance timeline, for a period of time, he might have been dating both the red eyes and the white eyes at the same time.]
[Cannon Bro really lives up to his name! Not much else to say, hehe, this gray-white eyes is definitely the third party. I don’t believe he didn’t know about the Whaler Association and the red eyes.]
On the lonely highway, the shadow was still driving.
Zhou Qi’an glanced at Shen Zhiyi. “Mr. Shen.”
Shen Zhiyi understood, quietly opened the sunroof again. This time, it was two people looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.
Zhou Qi’an looked up at the black pot falling from the sky and sighed. “They say I’m fickle.”
Shen Zhiyi said with a blank expression, “I’m the mistress.”
The shadow floated a few words in the sky with yin energy: Me too.
“…”
Shen Zhiyi seemed to have thought of something. Finally, he slowly uttered four words: “Prophecy Wizard.”
He wanted to ask the Prophecy Wizard when his identity would be recognized by the public.
If they didn’t acknowledge it, it would be better to just blow it up.
Zhou Qi’an didn’t say any nonsense like ‘don’t care about what other people say’. Shen Zhiyi seemed to have an extremely great obsession with having his identity publicly acknowledged.
The Prophecy Wizard, who had been dormant for some time, looked even more sharp-tongued after reappearing.
Someone was even more sharp-tongued than him.
Zhou Qi’an’s sharp comment: “Compared to the number one wizard, this one looks really shabby.”
Shen Zhiyi just stared at the wizard coldly.
The proud wizard reluctantly lifted his eyelids. The next moment, it was unclear whether it was his robe that was trembling or his body that was trembling slightly.
The aura of a fully evolved being couldn’t be hidden from it. As for the other one, without deliberately restraining it, his presence was extremely strong yet extremely weak, as if he would silently drag it into a swamp in the next moment.
All of this was still tolerable. Why was there a shadow driving a car!
Was this reasonable?
While the Prophecy Wizard was wildly imagining various possibilities, Zhou Qi’an had already finished asking his question. Shen Zhiyi tapped his finger next to the wizard, the tapping sound tinged with a hint of impatience.
Even the shadow exuded a hint of gloom.
Originally, it had wanted to show off and say some ambiguous things. With a series of strange occurrences, the Prophecy Wizard decided to speak human language.
Two lips moved. This time, what it gave was not advice, but truly seemed like a prophecy: “Soon, the whole world will know.”
Six words saved its career.
The frost in Shen Zhiyi’s expression gradually melted. When he got married, this Prophecy Wizard could also have a seat at the table.
For some reason, the Prophecy Wizard shrank its neck into its Hood and shivered.
·
The weather in the ancient city was changeable. By the time the car finally arrived at the church, there were signs of rain at any moment. The dark clouds in the sky were as thick as if they were made of rumors.
Only the superior was in the church. The man with the elite air was sitting on a bench, reading a book.
The footsteps from behind did not disturb him at all.
As he got closer, Zhou Qi’an glanced at the book: “On How a Couple Can Live a Life Without Trust.”
The name alone sounded insane.
“The books in the city are quite interesting,” the superior said, “just like the forum.”
Zhou Qi’an chuckled inwardly. Of course, the other had also seen the forum content.
He looked around. Where had his old mother gone?
As if knowing what Zhou Qi’an was looking for, the superior said without looking up, “Getting her hair treated.”
When mentioning Zhou’s mother, the superior’s brow furrowed slightly.
Based on Zhou Qi’an’s understanding of him, only when facing difficult or unpleasant clients would the superior show such an expression.
It seemed that although his rationality had recovered quite a bit, both his old mother and his superior were instinctively avoiding each other as much as possible when it came to meeting.
Although he didn’t like Zhou’s mother, the superior had his own set of standards in certain aspects, for example, his insistence on the atmosphere of a dinner party.
He suggested having a dinner party in the city tonight before going to the new world.
Zhou Qi’an had no objection to this. He even instantly thought of where to eat. The restaurant he had gone to during the last instance was not bad.
Around 6:30, the three of them arrived at the entrance of the Hao Da Restaurant.
It was the perfect time for the setting sun to be like blood. Zhou Qi’an sighed, “The ‘dusk’ of ‘fickle’ has arrived.”
After saying that, he looked at the other two. “You two go to the private room first. I’ll go to the beauty salon to find my mom.”
There was only one beauty salon in the Huagu City. Zhou Qi’an successfully found Zhou’s mother. When he brought her into the private room, the dishes were almost all served.
He glanced at them. Many of them were his favorite foods.
Shen Zhiyi saw the young man come in, and the corner of his mouth subconsciously hooked up, waiting for the other to sit next to him.
Anyway, there were only two chairs left, both very close to him.
Zhou Qi’an sat down as he wished.
After quitting her drinking habit three years ago, Zhou’s mother, for the first time in a long while, ordered a bottle of wine.
The atmosphere was just right. Zhou Qi’an, holding the status of a junior, poured half a glass of wine for everyone. As he was about to toast, a sudden idea came to him. “Want to try a game of truth or dare?”
Their company, every dinner party, was never without a small game.
It had now become a conditioned reflex.
But soon he felt it was too troublesome. Zhou Qi’an changed his mind. “Let’s just have each person say a secret or something unexpected, something more explosive than the forum.”
Before the Prophecy Wizard’s observation appeared, he had to use magic to fight magic and forget about the matter of him almost being upgraded from Cannon Bro to Cannon King on the forum.
The superior said faintly, “I have no objection.”
Zhou’s mother and Shen Zhiyi certainly wouldn’t object either.
Rolling the dice, the one with the smallest number went first. After a round, the superior had the smallest number, and Zhou Qi’an had the largest.
Zhou Qi’an smiled slightly. After extreme misfortune comes bliss. He was finally turning his luck around.
The superior barely thought about it and said directly, “I have never seen the big boss of the company.”
A small breeze suddenly blew in from the window, making one feel a sudden chill.
Zhou Qi’an, in fact, had also never seen the big boss. His colleague, who had joined the company very early, had mentioned it once, saying that the big boss only appeared in the group chat occasionally and didn’t have much to do.
Having been through too many horror instances, his first reaction was: what the hell was he working for?
On second thought, maybe the big boss lived abroad for a long time. After all, their company also had business abroad. It was normal not to have seen him.
It was Zhou’s mother’s turn. She looked at Zhou Qi’an and said calmly, “When you weren’t at home, I lent a few strands of your hair to the neighbors, let them become players, and even took them down to a few instances.”
“…”
Zhou Qi’an silently drank a glass of wine.
How had he not thought of such a simple and crude method? He had even thought of going through a few detours to find someone to bring the neighbors.
A moment later, Zhou Qi’an took a deep breath.
So when he wasn’t at home, his mother was either robbing tombs or taking people down to instances?
My dear mother!
“Two years ago, I taught a college student.” At the side, Shen Zhiyi took out his teaching certificate and said suddenly.
Zhou Qi’an: “???”
Zhou Qi’an: “!!!”
