Chapter 175 Very Dismal

Feichang Nitian and his group escorted Gu Fei, strutting all the way to the clock tower. The guild leaders rushed to greet them. They had known the group was coming for a while. Two of them, Zhaoyin and Yunqi Yuanshan, had been following Jian Gui and the others. However, the two only knew that the studio's puppet troops had been wiped out; they weren't aware of the big turning point that had occurred because of Gu Fei's identity. Since Feichang Nitian's group had gathered together afterward, the two outsiders tactfully kept their distance, simply following along.

As the guild leaders approached, they immediately sensed the arrogance radiating from Feichang Nitian's group. The guild leaders were puzzled. It was indeed impressive that they had managed to thwart the studio's plot, but did they have to be so cocky? It was as if they were about to poke a hole in the sky.

Jian Gui, as the guild leader, walked in the front. As the guild leaders prepared to greet him, someone jumped out from the group, saying arrogantly, "Why are you still here? All right, it's over, you can go back now."

The guild leaders recognized him as the little brat who had delivered paper to them when they first arrived. Later, they heard he was called Yutian Shenming. He might be famous, but unfortunately, he lacked the innate aura. His face hadn't even matured yet! When he said something that was supposed to sound impressive, it just came across as childish.

The guild leaders glanced at Yutian Shenming but mostly ignored him, continuing to greet Jian Gui.

Yutian Shenming flew into a rage, shouting "Ban them!" But he was dragged away after only two shouts. Jian Gui wiped his brow and continued to greet the guild leaders. "Kids will be kids," he said.

"Guild Leader Jian Gui, you've worked hard. We've heard about the process, you did a great job!" the guild leaders said, starting with compliments.

"You're too kind. You all came from so far away, we had to do something to give you an explanation," Jian Gui said.

The guild leaders were silent for a moment, and then one of them finally spoke. "Guild Leader Jian Gui, the truth has come out, but the brothers are still in a bit of a difficult spot."

Jian Gui smiled. "We know."

"I wonder if Guild Leader Jian Gui has any good solutions?" the guild leaders asked. They were sincere; they didn't want to stoop to attacking Feichang Nitian to save face after all this. But the problem was that if they didn't stir up some trouble in Cloud Piercer City, their reputations in their home cities would still be at risk. After traveling all this way, they couldn't just go back and tell people that it was all the studio's conspiracy, a conspiracy… Everyone would be more inclined to believe it was just an excuse.

So, the guild leaders were in a dilemma. They had been agonizing over it for a long time without coming up with a solution.

"Please wait a moment, everyone. We have an appointment with someone, they'll be here soon," Jian Gui said.

"An appointment? With who?" the guild leaders asked, puzzled.

"Friends from the press," Jian Gui said.

"The press?" The guild leaders were stunned again. Just then, the people Jian Gui had mentioned arrived: Duo Mu and Mu Duo, the top reporters in the online gaming news world.

The guild leaders were immediately excited. None of them disliked being in the limelight. Being interviewed by online game reporters, having their deeds written up, and then posted online for all the players in the game to admire was something they all dreamed of. Unfortunately, while they were all powerful guild leaders, there were many like them in every city. They weren't anything special, so they rarely attracted the attention of these top reporters. From a reporter's professional point of view, they had no news value.

But now, these two big-shot reporters were standing right in front of them. The guild leaders realized what Feichang Nitian was planning. They wanted to use a formal news report to expose the matter and help them save face! The guild leaders couldn't help but admire how much clout Feichang Nitian had. But then they realized that it wasn't just a matter of clout; the matter itself was indeed worth reporting, and Duo Mu and Mu Duo were already following the dispute between Feichang Nitian and Yingqi Studio. This was just a continuation of their series.

With that thought, the guild leaders began to wonder how big of a role they would play in the report.

Jian Gui clearly understood what the guild leaders were thinking. After Duo Mu and Mu Duo arrived, he introduced each of the twenty-six guild leaders in detail, of course only saying good things. Seeing Duo Mu and Mu Duo recording Jian Gui's introductions in rapid strokes, each of the twenty-six guild leaders beamed like a flower.

"Next… shall we find a place to sit down and chat?" Jian Gui suggested.

"Yes, yes," the guild leaders nodded repeatedly. But when they looked at the thousands of brothers each of them had brought, they were a bit embarrassed. They couldn't all fit in a tavern or anywhere else!

Of course, they couldn't ask Feichang Nitian's people to worry about this. The guild leaders each had their own solutions, and they all sent messages to their guilds. The more than 20,000 people looked at each other, realizing that their long journey seemed to be just a round trip, with nothing to do but travel.

After arranging their guild members, the guild leaders followed the experts from Feichang Nitian to a tavern for a gathering. Wu Shi Zhi Jian and the other guild leaders from Cloud Piercer City had already arrived, waiting for Feichang Nitian's people to celebrate together. For an average guild, obtaining so many top-quality equipment in a single day was a very happy thing. Without such an opportunity, it might take a month or two to get such a haul.

The two sides met, introductions were made, and it was naturally lively again. Although they were all big guild leaders, the beauty of it was that they were not from the same area. They had no competition or conflicts of interest with each other, so they got along naturally. They drank, chatted, and bragged, with the big reporters interviewing them, and the celebration was extremely pleasant. The only moment of tension was when Qianli Yizui followed everyone and, seeing the scene, asked in confusion, "What, we don't have to fight anymore?" which made the experts present break out in a cold sweat.

Learning that they really didn't have to fight anymore, Gu Fei seemed a bit disappointed. Everyone else thought this was the biggest victory since entering the game, but Gu Fei felt it was the smallest. He hadn't even gained a single point of PK value. Compared to the past, when he had to run all over the world to wash off his PK value, this battle had been far too uneventful.

Fortunately, he had discovered that kid Chen Qiyi. He could find him again for a sparring session. Thinking of this, Gu Fei felt a surge of excitement. This was a game! He didn't have to hold back at all, he could fight to the death. The contest would definitely be very fulfilling. But… Gu Fei clenched his fist. In the game, he had never been able to regain the power he should have had, which greatly limited his use of his kung fu. This had always been a regret for Gu Fei.

He had once imagined regaining his strength after leveling up, but after exploring the game for so long, Gu Fei realized that it was probably unlikely to happen. The inherent strength modifier of the mage class meant that even if Gu Fei put his attributes into strength, he wouldn't gain much. Qianli Yizui could never become the real Gu Fei. Moreover, the game was so difficult to level up in, Gu Fei couldn't spend all his time in the game trying to find himself. Even without his job as a gym teacher, he would spend more time practicing martial arts.

Perhaps, this was all there was…

Looking at the laughing and talking players in the tavern, Gu Fei felt for the first time that he was very far away from them, very far away.

"I'm leaving first." After greeting his acquaintances, Gu Fei left ahead of everyone else. No one paid much attention. Gu Fei had always been uninterested in anything other than fighting. They said goodbye to Gu Fei, joking about "calling you again if there's a fight" and the like. Eager for battle, invincible in battle. Even Jian Gui and the others, who were closest to Gu Fei, only understood him to this extent. They couldn't understand Gu Fei's helplessness in the game, whether it was the helplessness in the game, or coming to the game out of helplessness.

"Oh, what are you doing here? Isn't there a gathering at the tavern?" Gu Fei left the tavern and walked silently toward the resurrection point. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting and looked up to see Xiyao Wu and many girls from Rebirth Purple Crystals, as well as Xi Xiaotian.

"Oh, they're gathering over there, you guys go!" Gu Fei said. He guessed that someone from the gathering had invited the girls, probably not Jian Gui, but most likely Zhan Wushang or Yutian Shenming.

"Where are you going?" Xiyao Wu asked.

"Logging off," Gu Fei said.

"Pathetic, that's all you're good for," Xiyao Wu said with contempt.

"Hehe, go have fun!" Gu Fei said, silently walking past the girls.

"Something's not right," the girls looked at each other. Women were more sensitive, after all.

"Didn't get to kill anyone today, did you?" Xiyao Wu guessed, and then shouted to Gu Fei, "How many people did you kill today?"

Gu Fei turned around and shook his head.

"Haha, see, I told you so!" Xiyao Wu said triumphantly.

The girls laughed and said goodbye to Gu Fei, continuing toward the tavern.

Only Xi Xiaotian stood there, stunned. Only she could truly understand Gu Fei's expression. Since when had the joy of success brought about by racking her brains to complete a scam become so fleeting for Xi Xiaotian? Now, running away and logging off after it was all over, Xi Xiaotian mostly saw such a desolate expression in the mirror.

Xi Xiaotian wanted to go forward, wanted to confide in this guy whose state of mind was so similar to hers. But she didn't dare. This shared feeling was clearly seen as a venomous snake by the other party. He would only feel that it was a defilement of his kung fu, right?

What was so different, really? Tricks weren't necessarily used to do bad things! Xi Xiaotian thought silently, she wanted to tell this to Gu Fei, but heard someone calling from behind, "Xiaotian, what are you doing? Come on!!"

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Without a computer or internet, I can only update automatically, right? Right, right?

This chapter isn't very cheerful, but, everyone must have a happy new year! To everyone who has followed and supported Hu Die Lan's novels all the way, Happy New Year!