Chapter 30: Xiao Cai Guild's First Team-Building Event
The Xiao Cai Guild's first team-building activity turned out to be… Chopping trees.
The six guild members buried themselves in logging. As they chopped away, Qingtian Wai essentially took over Xiao Chi's role as streamer and chatted nonstop with the audience.
"Add WeChat? Sure. Xiao Chi-ge can add me after he ends the stream. We absolutely have to protect Xiao Chi-ge's WeChat."
"Wujin Shi? Added him ages ago. He's my classmate. We know each other in real life."
"Wujin Shi is exactly the same in real life as he is in-game. Family, he's so ridiculously awesome that it's annoying."
"Handsome? Not at all. Wujin Shi isn't handsome in the slightest. Trust me, family."
"Single. Yep, he's single. I mean, if he were dating, would he have time to play games every day?"
"He doesn't care about shipping. I'll answer for him. Other than showing off in games, there's basically nothing he cares about. Look, I've been talking all this time—has he said a single word?"
Sure enough, Wujin Shi didn't say a word. He just kept chopping trees.
Xiao Chi found himself torn. Part of him wanted Qingtian Wai to keep talking about Wujin Shi. Another part desperately wanted him to shut up and stop bringing up embarrassing shipping topics.
But even whenever the conversation drifted toward shipping, Wujin Shi acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.
The black-clad blade cultivator swung his axe with the same seriousness he brought to battlefields, every movement precise and disciplined.
Then Qian Yu, who had also been diligently chopping trees, suddenly stopped and asked a question that silenced Qingtian Wai.
"Why are all the chat's questions about Wujin Shi? Isn't this Guild Leader Xiao Chi's stream?"
Xiao Chi fell silent as well.
Gou-jie burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha! That's a direct hit!"
Qingtian Wai quickly accepted reality. "Because Xiao Chi-ge and I only just met. I don't know anything about his real-life situation, so I can't answer questions about him. As for me, I'm not one half of the ship everyone talks about, so naturally nobody cares."
Qian Yu continued, "What does 'shipping' mean?"
Qingtian Wai looked puzzled. "You're a gamer. Do you not use the internet?"
"I do. I read game guides."
Qingtian Wai immediately understood. "Never mind then. It has nothing to do with us straight guys."
Xiao Chi nearly spat blood.
The chat was losing its mind with laughter, flooding the screen with flowers and dried-fruit gifts.
Qingtian Wai even started thanking viewers professionally. "Thanks to Boss 'A Salted Fish' for the dried fruit gift. Thanks to Boss 'q123happy' for the dried fruit gift. Thanks to—"
[I love listening to Qingtian Wai and Qian Yu perform comedy routines together. Please keep going.]
[Xiao Chi can't even get a word in anymore. I'm dying.]
[Qingtian Wai has to be part of a professional streamer team. This guy is too experienced.]
[Why are there always people saying things that kill the mood?]
[Seriously though, they were doing perfectly fine in a top guild. Then suddenly they all quit because of one small player. Why?]
[Only explanation is that it's a scripted plot. Good content.]
[Have some people seriously never met online friends they genuinely clicked with?]
"Quit the guild? I left because Shi-ge left. Ever since high school, whenever I play games, I've been hanging onto Shi-ge's coattails. If he didn't lead me around, I wouldn't even know which direction to walk in on the Wendao Qingtian continent. So my reason for leaving is very simple." Qingtian Wai once again began praising Wujin Shi. "So if you want to know why we left, you should ask Shi-ge."
The moment he said that, everyone's chopping slowed.
To be honest, among the people who had joined Xiao Cai Guild, Qian Yu and Qingtian Wai had followed Wujin Shi out of Way of Heaven. Gou-jie and her friend were close to Qingtian Wai. They didn't have any closer friends remaining in Way of Heaven, so they left as well.
But what about Wujin Shi?
Within Way of Heaven, he was a celebrated expert. Whether it was dungeon raids or battlefields, he was always part of the first-string teams. The guild's elite squads had been carefully assembled from countless candidates. They were nearly unstoppable, placing fourth server-wide in last year's Wendao Tournament. If Wujin Shi had stayed, breaking into the top three next season would have been almost guaranteed.
Wendao Tournament was an annual player competition organized by Wendao Qingtian Skybound. Players formed five-person teams and battled on randomly selected maps in best-of-three matches. Winners advanced to the next round.
Anyone who reached the top ten was a famous server-wide expert, and several were well-known gaming streamers.
No gamer disliked winning.
With the new season about to begin, leaving the number-one guild on the server simply didn't make sense.
If CZ Xiao Chi had been a longtime friend, then quitting out of loyalty and brotherhood would have been understandable.
But Wujin Shi had only known him for a few days.
When viewers joked that "he's totally in love," they were only having fun. Deep down, everyone was curious.
Qingtian Wai's question echoed the thoughts of everyone watching. Gou-jie. Qing Ning. Qian Yu. Even Xiao Chi himself. All of them wanted to hear Wujin Shi's answer.
"Ask me?" Wujin Shi finally turned on his microphone. His voice remained as calm and unhurried as ever. "Didn't I already say why?"
Everyone looked confused.
"When I left the guild, didn't I post the reason? It wasn't fun anymore." He paused. "That's the reason."
Not fun anymore?
Everyone became even more confused.
[The number-one guild on the server isn't fun? They worship you, give you the best materials, pair you with the strongest teammates for battlefields, and that's not fun?]
[The guy above has to be from Way of Heaven.]
[Honestly, I'm kind of confused too. Xiao Chi's tiny guild has absolutely nothing. How is that more fun...?]
Qingtian Wai rolled his eyes. "Shi-ge, quit acting cool and explain properly."
Wujin Shi finally stopped chopping for a moment. It seemed as though he actually thought about it. Then he said, "Well, staying in Way of Heaven wasn't fun. As for exactly what wasn't fun about it… There were a lot of things. I can't explain them all at once."
[Han Jian Ying: F* you.]
[Way of Heaven Management: F* you. You already quit the guild, can you stop talking?!]
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