Chapter 57: A Book
Time ticked by minute by minute. Tang Cuo continuously channeled his mana into the Sword of Judgment, carefully sensing its flow. Finally, forty-three minutes into his session, he caught onto the trick.
The key lay in the exact timing of the mana infusion and the release of the incantation; the two needed to coordinate perfectly.
Tang Cuo’s elemental affinity was truly abysmal. Unable to command the magic with ease, his only option was relentless training—like arraying troops for battle, forcing the magical elements to memorize exactly where they belonged.
Five minutes later, relying on the Sword of Judgment, Tang Cuo finally condensed a small fireball. Though it was tiny and didn’t last long, it was undeniably a good start.
Approaching the one-hour mark, Tang Cuo practiced a little longer before voluntarily ending his session and heading for the elevator.
But as he walked through the public arena area, a group of people approached, blocking his path. He turned slightly sideways to let them pass. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure standing by an arena some fifty meters away.
Because of the distance, Tang Cuo didn’t get a clear look. Yet, that fleeting glance made him frown deeply.
Why did that person look so much like Meng Yufei?
Tang Cuo decisively gave chase, but the noisy crowd instantly swallowed the gap between him and his target. When he looked again, the person suspected to be Meng Yufei was nowhere to be seen.
Some in the crowd recognized Tang Cuo.
Not wanting to deal with the chorus of “Brother Tang,” he gave a cold, aloof nod and promptly left the training grounds.
Stepping out the doors of the reception area, he cast one last look back before hurrying to East Cross Street and knocking on Jin Cheng’s door. Jin Cheng was quite surprised that he had initiated a visit. “Did the sun rise in Yong Ye City?”
Tang Cuo stared at the moisturizing face mask on Jin Cheng’s face and the book in his hand, momentarily speechless.
Ten minutes later, having washed off the mask, Jin Cheng wiped his face methodically while leaning against the sink. “You’re saying you saw someone who looked like Meng Yufei?”
“Yes, but I can’t be certain,” Tang Cuo replied.
“Yong Ye City does have resurrection items. Whether Meng Yufei has one, I don’t know, but if you really saw him, it’s highly likely he isn’t dead.”
“Then what do you plan to do?”
Since Jin Cheng had already made a move against Meng Yufei, leaving him alive was a massive liability. Given Meng Yufei’s personality, he would never let this go.
“Since he’s not dead and there hasn’t been a peep from him for so long, he’s definitely hiding on purpose. He won’t be easy to find. Drawing him out like last time probably won’t work either; compared to death, losing a little face is nothing.” Jin Cheng was adept at reading people, and his judgments were rarely wrong.
If Meng Yufei was lying low, there wouldn’t be any issues in the short term.
Jin Cheng was far more concerned with Tang Cuo. “How did the training go?”
Tang Cuo gave him the gist of it. After listening, Jin Cheng said, “You’re still lacking a bit in sword skills. Want me to teach you?”
“You know how?”
“Don’t underestimate your instructor.”
Jin Cheng’s sword skills didn’t come from Yong Ye City; they were abilities he possessed prior. While not a grandmaster, he could at least help Tang Cuo wield his sword more naturally and correct some common-sense mistakes.
Tang Cuo asked, “How does Yong Ye City assess skills learned before coming here?”
“You just have to execute them,” Jin Cheng answered. “Once the system verifies it, it will be added to your skill bar as a skill reward.”
So that was how it worked.
Tang Cuo understood, but the sword guidance could wait. Wen Xiaoming had relayed a message through the Ruby Tavern: Lin Yandong had agreed to meet. He suggested a book café in the Central District.
The book café was located on an inconspicuous, quiet street in the Central District. The street was the usual black stone, but both sides featured flower beds enclosed by wooden fences, blooming with unnamed tiny white and red flowers. There were barely any pedestrians; it was secluded and elegant.
Tang Cuo had never wandered this far and had no idea Yong Ye City harbored such a place. The book café at the corner of the street stood in stark contrast to Yong Ye City’s usual aesthetic. It looked exactly like one of those trendy, aesthetic check-in spots in a real-world cultural district. Creeping floral vines decorated the entrance and windows, and a few mechanical birds perched among the flowers, their hollow, carved hearts glowing with warm light. Everything was exquisitely crafted.
“This is Lin Yandong’s turf?” Tang Cuo asked.
“It was opened by one of his former companions. That person’s term ended, and they’ve already gone to reincarnate. But no matter how many times the boss changes, this place has always remained Lin Yandong’s territory, unchanging,” Jin Cheng explained.
Lin Yandong was a man of formidable means. Having spent so many years in Yong Ye City, he was the one most familiar with how the system operated. When it came to acting without violating the system’s rules, he was even better at it than Jin Cheng.
Miao Qi came to open the door.
He wasn’t hauling his cannon today, but that vibrant red scarf was still wrapped around his neck, dazzling as ever. He raised an eyebrow, his expression carrying the same arrogant, perverse edge as that night, though he didn’t harbor any overt hostility.
“Come in. Sir is waiting for you.” Whenever he mentioned the word “Sir,” his tone softened involuntarily.
Lin Yandong was sitting by the window. Through the glass, he smiled and nodded a greeting to Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng. Dressed in off-white cotton and linen, his features were handsome and clear, his aura elegant.
Tang Cuo noticed a string of Buddhist prayer beads around his wrist. Furthermore, his seating position offered an excellent vantage point—not only could he observe everything happening at the entrance, but he could also see that black magical steam train chugging far away into the sky.
As Miao Qi led the two over, Lin Yandong gestured for them to sit and spoke first. “Long time no see.”
Jin Cheng sat down across from him unreservedly. The hint of roguishness in his demeanor clashed against Lin Yandong’s refined elegance, much like the stark contrast between strong liquor and clear tea.
“It has been a while. If you hadn’t sent Miao Qi over that night, I would have almost thought you were no longer interested in the Twelve Movements,” Jin Cheng remarked.
Tang Cuo and Miao Qi took their seats beside them. However, while Tang Cuo sat normally next to Jin Cheng, Miao Qi pulled out a small wooden stool and insisted on sitting on that instead, for whatever weird reason.
Lin Yandong just smiled and said nothing.
A waiter came over to take their orders, and both Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng ordered the signature coffee.
“Let’s cut to the chase. Has Mr. Lin heard of the Sicilite Continent?”
“I have.”
Their exchange was far more straightforward than Tang Cuo had anticipated, without a single condition negotiated. Lin Yandong took a sip of his coffee and continued, “I did a mission once concerning the Sicilite Continent. You encountered it too?”
Jin Cheng nodded.
Lin Yandong: “There isn’t much to hide about that mission. It was about the final battle of a knight. It was a story-driven combat instance.”
A knight?
Both Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo immediately thought of Theodore, but Lin Yandong’s answer was entirely unexpected—”That man was the Duke of the White Knight Family from the Kingdom of Hundred Flowers. His name was Edwin.”
The two exchanged a look, both seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes before quickly realizing who this Edwin was. Theodore had an older brother; when he and Lancelot first met, his brother was still the reigning Duke.
Jin Cheng immediately asked, “You mentioned a final battle. Did it involve the Greenvines Alliance and the Rose Sect?”
Lin Yandong showed no surprise that they could accurately name those two factions. “Edwin died at the hands of the Rose Sect. That great battle even has a specific name—the ‘July Rose’.”
July Rose. So that was the July Rose Incident.
A ripple went through Tang Cuo’s heart. If Edwin died during the July Rose, then Theodore inheriting the title and becoming the new Duke made perfect sense.
Jin Cheng asked again, “Among the people from the Rose Sect, was there anyone named Batz or Peter?”
Lin Yandong shook his head. “Though it was story-driven, there actually wasn’t much narrative exposition, and the character introductions were vague. It was a vicious battle; players hardly had time to ask around for details like that.”
Jin Cheng: “What about Theodore and Lancelot?”
Lin Yandong: “I have heard of them. Lancelot is a very famous bard, correct? As for Theodore, Edwin called out this name as he was dying. It must be someone very close to him.”
He paused, then added, “Oh, right. The person from the Rose Sect was named Aesop.”
Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng understood clearly now. Aesop knew Theodore’s brother. Perhaps they had fought in the past, or perhaps they had been acquaintances before his rebellion—there was no way to know.
The duel between those two had undoubtedly been a vicious battle.
It was Lin Yandong’s turn to ask. “Is there something special about this mission?”
Jin Cheng smiled. “It’s a serial mission.”
At this point, Jin Cheng was no longer being completely straightforward. Although he was having an amicable conversation with Lin Yandong regarding the Twelve Movements, it wasn’t the right time to reveal that the side missions rewarded fragments of a Movement.
However, he didn’t expect Lin Yandong to drop a massive bombshell on him next. “I have intel on a piece of the Twelve Movements.”
Jin Cheng’s hand, which was holding his coffee cup, paused slightly. He looked up. “Which number?”
Lin Yandong tapped his knuckle against the table. “Number Six.”
“Where?”
“Zone E. A Special Trigger Instance.”
Hearing this, Tang Cuo’s expression remained calm, but doubts surfaced in his mind; he had no idea what a Special Trigger Instance was.
Fortunately, Lin Yandong knew Tang Cuo was a rookie, and Jin Cheng didn’t try to gloss over it, explaining directly: “A Special Trigger Instance means it triggers once you meet specific conditions. However, a player can only enter the same instance once to prevent score farming. Moreover, all Special Trigger Instances have a time limit—maybe a week, maybe a month—after which they disappear automatically.”
Lin Yandong waited patiently for him to finish before saying, “This instance appeared four days ago. The very first group to discover it caught wind of the Twelve Movements and kept the information tightly under wraps. I only found out by accident. But since I know, others will eventually find out too.”
Jin Cheng narrowed his eyes. “How many people do you think will deliberately break the rules just to get themselves demoted to Zone E?”
Players from different zones couldn’t undertake missions together. A Zone E mission could only be accepted by Zone E players. The Twelve Movements weren’t something you could trust to an underling; whoever obtained one had the potential to become a king in Yong Ye City.
Not to mention, it was the highly ranked Sixth Movement.
“I don’t know, but there will definitely be some,” Lin Yandong shook his head slightly, musing for a moment. “Our initial prediction was correct. After the first Movement was used, the frequency of the remaining Movements appearing will keep accelerating until all twelve have surfaced.”
Jin Cheng: “Number Ten and Number Eleven were used, Number Five is with Black Hat, and now Number Six has appeared. A quarter of them have already surfaced. There might even be others we haven’t noticed yet.”
“Therefore, you must be fast. You need to upgrade to Zone E as quickly as possible to prevent anyone else from taking Number Six.”
“And what about you? Is Mr. Lin going to sit comfortably behind the scenes again?”
Jin Cheng’s lips curved into a smile, but his gaze suddenly sharpened—like an unsheathed sword, its lethal edge fully exposed.
Lin Yandong didn’t fear that sharpness, but he did yield slightly. He lowered his eyes to the prayer beads on his wrist, and after a long moment, said, “I can lay my cards on the table for you—I cannot leave Zone A. This is the restriction Yong Ye City has placed upon me.”
Jin Cheng narrowed his eyes, unsure whether to believe him or not.
Lin Yandong seemed to relax. He glanced at Miao Qi with a smile and said, “I’m not too comfortable letting Miao Qi go alone. Jin Cheng, you are someone I can trust. That’s why I’m sharing this information with you. What you choose to do is your own business.”
“Sir.” Miao Qi voiced his displeasure right on cue. What did he mean, ‘not comfortable letting him go alone’? Why couldn’t he be trusted? Lin Yandong simply patted his head to quiet him down again.
Watching this scene, Tang Cuo inexplicably felt that Miao Qi was exactly like a domesticated puppy. He didn’t mean it as an insult.
“It seems to me that Mr. Lin didn’t have a strong intention of telling me from the start,” Tang Cuo interjected. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have waited for Jin Cheng to extend an invitation before showing up.
“I never make any plans. A plan implies there are tracks to follow. When I feel it’s the right time to tell you, that is the best plan.”
Finally, he smiled again and said, “Fighting over the Movements is something you were going to do anyway. However, to show my sincerity, I can lend you an item I brought out from the ‘July Rose’ instance.”
Jin Cheng raised an eyebrow. “Lend?”
“It is a book. As you likely know, reading is the only hobby I, Lin Yandong, have acquired over all these years. Please be sure to return the book after clearing the instance.”
“And what if I don’t return it?”
Whenever Jin Cheng encountered a demand like this, he always had the suicidal urge to challenge it.
Lin Yandong looked at him mildly without speaking, yet he radiated the aura of a big boss silently projecting: If you really don’t return it, I’ll make you disappear from here without a trace.
Jin Cheng shrugged. “What book is it?”
Lin Yandong: “Sicilite Fairy Tales.”
Jin Cheng was speechless.
So this is what Lin Yandong was really like—reading fairy tales at his advanced age. Return it? Books like this should be donated to spread warmth. Did he really think that once something fell into Jin Cheng’s hands, it would ever see the light of day again?
Meanwhile, Meng Yufei appeared in Zone F’s department store.
His face wasn’t as conspicuous as Jin Cheng’s or Tang Cuo’s, and the players in Zone F didn’t have a deep impression of him, so very few people cast glances his way as he walked. His expression was slightly gloomy; he was still dwelling on running into Tang Cuo at the training grounds.
Those two were lunatics. They absolutely wouldn’t let him off the hook.
When a madman curses another madman, they always grit their teeth the hardest. Meng Yufei didn’t have a second feather from Mr. Crow, and he absolutely didn’t want to get bitten by those lunatics again. Thus, he finally turned his gaze toward his last resort for survival.
Five minutes later, steeling his resolve, he sat down at the service desk.
“Character customization. I want the most expensive one.”
“Certainly, sir.”
