“Comrades, they'll be here any minute now.” Brother You announced, surveying the crowd, then whispered to Young Master Han, “Too many who shouldn't be here, and some who should are missing.”

“You mean people from Against the Wind and Mu Yun Guild?” Young Master Han chuckled.

Brother You nodded.

“If Against the Wind was sending people, would I be sitting so calmly? I’d have to avoid them!” Young Master Han laughed.

“What’s going on?” Brother You inquired.

“Not too sure, but it seems they’ve already met with Qian Li,” Young Master Han said.

“So the Mu Yun Guild is the same! I can’t believe their little ads actually worked,” Brother You said, surprised.

Young Master Han shrugged.

Brother You scanned the room again and said to Young Master Han, "I also see some people hiding in the shadows, as if they're embarrassed to show their faces in public. And most of them are unfamiliar faces."

Young Master Han nodded. "I noticed them too." They both glanced subconsciously at those shadowy figures.

"No time to think about it. The focus of this event is still on Qian Li. Let's get ready!" Young Master Han said.

Brother You nodded and gestured to Zhan Wu Shang. Zhan Wu Shang emerged from a dark corner, and the once-noisy tavern instantly fell silent.

"What is that? A pet?"

"I haven't heard of a pet system!"

The guild leaders whispered amongst themselves. Zhan Wu Shang's attire was simply too bizarre. As a realistic game, equipment wasn't just about stats; the overall look was also important. Zhan Wu Shang's mismatched ensemble looked like an abstract painting.

Yu Tian Shen Ming was laughing so hard his face cramped, drawing some attention. Unfortunately, Wu Shi Zhi Jian, who had just arrived, noticed him and immediately called out, “Yu Tian, what are you doing here?” As a guild leader, he might not know everyone in the guild, but Yu Tian Shen Ming’s name was eye-catching enough that Wu Shi Zhi Jian had taken note. If Yu Tian Shen Ming wasn't so young and playing a class other than his best mage, he would have already invited him to be a core member.

Yu Tian Shen Ming’s overconfidence led to his exposure, but he quickly turned the tables, "Oh, Guild Leader, you're here too! You want to meet that mage too? Why didn't you just ask me? I know him."

By this point, Wu Shi Zhi Jian had already paid, and Yu Tian Shen Ming was boldly proclaiming these things.

But since it was only 100 gold coins, Wu Shi Zhi Jian didn't feel too regretful. Instead, he felt that having someone in his guild who knew that mage meant many future opportunities to talk. With so many people here today, everyone was probably just trying to see him and become familiar. Maybe they could add him as a friend. Trying to recruit him today was probably impossible.

Meanwhile, Zhan Wu Shang's appearance had shocked everyone, leaving him embarrassed. Brother You stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "The guild will give you extra compensation."

Zhan Wu Shang gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and strode to the door with his usual boldness. They had planned it all out: as soon as Gu Fei entered, Zhan Wu Shang would put his arm around his shoulder, preventing him from escaping.

"Xiao Lei, close that door!" Brother You said to Xiao Lei. There were two doors in the tavern, one on the left and one on the right. Zhan Wu Shang was guarding the right door.

Xiao Lei nodded. As the tavern owner, he could do that. He was about to lock the left door, but this aroused suspicion among some of the guild leaders.

Guarding the right door while locking the left door looked like they were trying to trap someone. The highly experienced guild leaders became vigilant, especially those shadowy figures that Brother You and Young Master Han had noticed earlier. For a moment, it seemed like they were about to rush out.

Brother You hadn’t anticipated that this would cause suspicion and explained with a wry smile, "I just don't want to be disturbed. What I'm selling is information. Only those who have paid should be here. If someone accidentally wanders in and overhears, it wouldn't be fair to you all!" Brother You didn't say he was afraid the merchandise would escape but found such a plausible excuse.

The guild leaders accepted this explanation and stopped paying attention to Xiao Lei locking the door, continuing to focus on the colorful Zhan Wu Shang guarding the right door.

At that moment, the right door creaked open, and a mage in a black robe appeared in the expectant gazes of the crowd. The guild leaders eagerly looked over, only to find that this person was masked.

But familiar faces like Brother You and Young Master Han could still tell from his figure that this was undoubtedly Gu Fei. Brother You was puzzled but quickly winked at Zhan Wu Shang.

"Haha, what took you so long!" Zhan Wu Shang said with forced joviality, reaching out to put his arm around Gu Fei's shoulder.

But Gu Fei seemed to have anticipated this, dodging Zhan Wu Shang's arm and staring at him with surprise. "What is that thing?"

"It's me!" Zhan Wu Shang quickly showed Gu Fei his face.

"What did you do to yourself?" Gu Fei asked, astonished.

"That's a long story, cough!" Zhan Wu Shang said, trying to pat Gu Fei again. Gu Fei took a well-timed step, dodging the pat once more. Then, in a few strides, he was in front of Brother You. "What did you want to talk about?"

Brother You cleared his throat and was about to speak when Gu Fei suddenly stopped him. "Wait for me in the private room. I'll come in after I'm done."

"Huh? What do you have to do?" Brother You was stunned.

Gu Fei flicked a gold coin towards Xiao Lei. Seeing this signal, Xiao Lei was instantly stunned. Then, he saw Gu Fei kick over a bench in front of him, draw his sword, and shout, "Bounty mission, move out of the way!"

The tavern erupted in chaos. As guild leaders in Cloudy City, everyone was well-informed. They had all heard of a mage who specialized in bounty missions. He was skilled and, reportedly, had never failed. Some were curious and wanted to seek him out, but he was constantly doing bounty missions, chasing coordinates all over the world, appearing and disappearing like a dragon. Those lucky enough to see him once would wait for him to finish his business before approaching him. But after he was done, while they were tidying their clothes and preparing to greet him, he would vanish in a flash of white light.

No one knew the role of the Chasing Wind Emblem in these missions. Those who had seen this scene thought that this person was using teleport scrolls to do bounty missions, which was truly dedicated and extravagant.

Judging from the expressions of Brother You and the others, the powerful mage they were referring to was undoubtedly this person. Some of the people present who were somewhat familiar with Gu Fei, like Xi Yao Wu, recognized him by his figure and attire. Piao Liu, who wasn't too familiar with him, immediately recalled their first encounter when he saw Gu Fei throw the gold coin and shout "Bounty mission," smiling knowingly. "It really is him." And Yin Yue was another person who had become acquainted with Gu Fei through this mission. Moreover, that was the starting point of all the events in Moonlit Night City. For a moment, Yin Yue felt like she had traveled back in time.

Gu Fei's words shocked the crowd. Then, he pointed his sword forward. "It's you! Everyone else, move aside!"

But this sword was just a feint. After quickly pointing in several directions, he retracted his sword. At least a dozen people felt that Gu Fei was pointing at them. There were quite a few guild leaders with PK points in the tavern. Those who were unlucky enough to be pointed at by Gu Fei were immediately at a loss. Even those who clearly had no PK points were momentarily flustered by Gu Fei's gaze in this situation and instinctively dodged.

There weren't that many top-tier players in online games, and it was impossible for them all to coincidentally gather in Cloudy City to become guild leaders. A guild leader wasn't necessarily a peerless expert who could take on a hundred people at once. Their main advantage was that they could use a hundred people to take on one. But everyone here was alone, without any subordinates. Faced with the legendary instant-kill mage, they suddenly felt completely insecure.

"Move! Move! Spells don't have eyes!" Gu Fei shouted, waving his sword and pretending to chant. This caused even more people to panic. Everyone in the tavern was sitting very close together, even more packed than during a fight. If a mage really cast an area-of-effect spell, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Fire Tree Thousand Flame! Arise!" Gu Fei shouted randomly, triggering a large commotion. The guild leaders lost their composure and scrambled to their feet. But Gu Fei's chant was purely for show. He used a trick called "Morning Three, Evening Four" when pointing his sword, pointing at over a dozen places. Even the most experienced players couldn't tell where the fire would erupt from.

Of course, experienced and calm mage experts like Piao Liu could see at a glance that no spell could be cast with the sword waving like that. When casting such a spell, the hand or staff had to point at the location to be attacked without wavering during the chant. Gu Fei was waving his sword more than ten times in the time it took to say one line. Although Piao Liu didn't know how he did it, he was sure that it was a failed chant.

Piao Liu wasn't the only one who could see that Gu Fei was bluffing. Throughout the tavern, the people from Zong Heng Si Hai, the leader of the Black Mercenary Group Black Finger, Yin Yue, Yun Zhong Mu, who had come all the way from Moonlit Night City, and several other guild leaders remained seated.

In addition, the girls from Rebirth Purple Crystals were also very calm. They believed that they had a relationship with Gu Fei, and even if they were the bounty target, he would have to give them some leeway.