Chapter 36: Smitten with This Man
Xiao Chi was dumbfounded.
The moment Qingtian Wai joined the party, he started bombarding the chat.
[Party] Qingtian Wai: Get on YY! Everyone to the guild YY!
[Party] Qingtian Wai: You two ladies coming for Ranyi Fish? If so, let's do it together.
[Party] Qingtian Wai: Guild Leader! Guild Leadeeer! How could you get bullied out there without telling this Old Qing?!
[Party] Qingtian Wai: The second Hong-jie messaged me, I immediately started calling people!
[Party] Qingtian Wai: I haven't even eaten dinner yet! Logged on the instant I got home!
[Party] Qing Ning: Let me adjust my keybinds.
[Party] Gou Yao Zao Wo Bu Liu: At an internet café?
[Party] Qing Ning: Yeah.
[Party] Qing Ning: We're still two people short.
[Party] Xiaoxiao: 0.0
[Party] Fan Lu: Going to fight Ranyi Fish? Did your side lose people? If you're short, I can call two people from our guild.
[Party] Wujin Shi: Sure.
[Party] Fan Lu: Any class requirements?
[Party] Wujin Shi: None. It's an easy raid. Anything works.
[Party] Qingzhou Yiguo: Thank you, everyone... but we've already killed the first two bosses. Only Ranyi Fish is left. If you come help me, you'll waste your Lingyang Marsh lockout for the week...
Wendao Qingtian's dungeon system used the party member with the furthest raid progress. As long as even one person in the group had cleared 50% of the raid, everyone entering would automatically be synced to that progress.
Which meant that, because Xiao Chi had already defeated the first two bosses, once everyone entered Lingyang Marsh, those bosses wouldn't respawn. They could only fight the third boss, Ranyi Fish.
People ran raids for loot. Skipping two bosses meant losing two-thirds of the week's chances for equipment drops.
[Party] Gou Yao Zao Wo Bu Liu: Absolutely not. Our Xiao Cai's guild leader isn't allowed to be bullied! We're going to show that trash-talking raid leader who the real noob is!
[Party] Gou Yao Zao Wo Bu Liu: Besides, for your sake, I got home on the first day of summer vacation, threw my luggage aside, turned on my computer immediately, and didn't even have time to eat. Right now my parents are taking turns yelling at me outside my room. Do you understand my sacrifice?
[Party] Qingtian Wai: Huh? Gou-jie, you're younger than me?
[Party] Gou Yao Zao Wo Bu Liu: "Jie" is an attitude, not an age. Besides, is that really the important part right now?
[Party] Qingtian Wai: My bad, Gou-jie.
[Party] Qian Yu: I have a group meeting at eight. Can we start already?
[Party] Wujin Shi: Let's go.
[What's going on?]
[Xiao Cai Guild is so wholesome.]
[This feels like a romance drama. The moment Xiao Chi got bullied, Wujin Shi came charging over. Waaaah.]
[Xiao Cai Guild is so confident.]
[If they don't kill Ranyi Fish before eight o'clock, then...]
[Qian Yu's group meeting is in danger!]
[Wait... has Wujin Shi been secretly camping Xiao Chi's stream this whole time?!]
Only then did Xiao Chi pick up his phone. Xiao Cai Guild’s WeChat group had somehow accumulated 99+ unread messages.
He scrolled through them briefly. Ever since they had gotten stuck on Ranyi Fish, Baobao Hong had been giving a play-by-play in the group chat, and everyone had grown increasingly indignant. Wujin Shi had asked if everyone was free. If they were, they should all log in and run a demonstration raid to show Ji Mo how it was really done.
Qingtian Wai had replied that there was no way he'd miss something this entertaining. He was clocking out immediately—no overtime today.
Qing Ning had said she lived too far away to get home in time, so she'd find an internet café on the way.
Gou-jie had replied that she was almost home.
Qian Yu had said he was writing his thesis, so someone should ping him when everyone was ready.
Xiao Chi slowly put his phone down.
[What's with that expression?]
[What did you secretly message Wujin Shi about?!]
[With a face this beautiful, I completely understand why Wujin Shi flew into a rage for his pretty boy.]
Fan Lu brought over two guildmates, and everyone joined Xiao Cai Guild’s YY voice channel.
The instant they entered, Qingtian Wai began complaining dramatically.
"Dear viewers, the moment I saw Hong-jie's message, I swiped my card and clocked out immediately! I completely ignored the murderous look my boss gave me! I rushed all the way home, sweating like crazy, just to turn on my computer! I haven't even eaten a single bite! As for that damned Wujin Shi? He leisurely finished his company dinner and logged in using the office computer!"
"Can the company computer run games? Of course it can! Why? Because Wujin Shi is an honest-to-God capitalist! If he wants to play games, he plays games. If he wants to eat the company meal, he eats the company meal. He sits in his air-conditioned office comfortably while ordering all of us to log in!"
"And nobody says a word about my hardship!"
"You're all just talking about Wujin Shi!"
[Got it. Wujin Shi is rich! That makes him an even better match for Xiao Chi!]
[Got it. Even while working overtime, Wujin Shi's heart still belongs to Xiao Chi!]
[Got it. A capitalist who's willing to stop making money just to log in and stand up for someone? He's down bad.]
[Wujin Shi, you're so rich—how have you never showered Xiao Chi with gifts? Does that make any sense?!]
Qingtian Wai was left speechless.
Xiao Chi hurriedly turned on his microphone to stop his viewers from spinning increasingly bizarre shipping theories.
The ten of them entered Lingyang Marsh.
Fan Lu and Xiaoxiao had already arrived inside the dungeon with two guildmates.
One was a melee Sword Cultivator wearing flowing golden robes, sword in hand, looking every bit the valiant heroine. Her ID was Feng Cheng. The other wore a fitted dark-purple academy uniform, light and practical, and was a Ghost Cultivator. Her ID was Lin Feng Nuan.
Above all four girls floated the same guild name: Disqualified の Summer
Xiao Cai Guild—and the stream chat—fell silent.
Qian Yu was the first to break it. "I didn't know Wendao Qingtian allowed symbols other than Chinese characters in guild names."
Xiaoxiao sighed helplessly. "I didn't know either."
Gou-jie burst out laughing. "So... exactly what was your guild's summer disqualified for?"
Lin Feng Nuan turned on her mic as well. Her voice was sweet and cheerful. "We don't know either. You'll have to ask our guild leader."
Fan Lu replied earnestly, "Don't you think our guild leader is a genius when it comes to naming things? We'll introduce you to her next time."
Everyone turned in unison to look at Xiao Chi.
The guild leader of Xiao Cai Guild had absolutely nothing to say.
Wujin Shi turned on his microphone. "Let's finish this quickly. Since some people don't know how to lead a raid, I'll show them how it's done. Think of this as a demonstration run."
The chat immediately flooded with "666666."
Wujin Shi continued, "Ranyi Fish has two key mechanics. First, its ultimate needs to be interrupted. Qingzhou Yiguo, you'll handle that. Qingzhou's really good at interrupts, so I won't go into detail."
The chat instantly switched to: [He's so in love.]
Whether Wujin Shi had really been lurking in Xiao Chi's stream or not, he showed no reaction. The only thing anyone could hear was Qingtian Wai trying—and failing—to suppress his laughter in the background.
"After Qingzhou interrupts, everyone stack on me and use heavy burst damage."
"The second mechanic is the water orbs. First wave: three orbs. I'll handle them. Second wave: six orbs. I'll take the two on the left, Qingzhou takes the middle two, Fan Lu takes the right two, and Qingtian Wai supports Fan Lu. Any questions?"
Destroying the water orbs was much easier for ranged classes than melee ones. Fan Lu was a ranged Talisman Cultivator, so assigning her that role made perfect sense, especially with Qingtian Wai assisting.
Fan Lu replied that there was no problem.
The water orbs released by Ranyi Fish were poisonous and exploded with area-of-effect damage. If even one orb slipped through, everyone caught in the blast would receive various debuffs—poison, damage over time, movement speed reduction, and so on.
The most troublesome part was that each wave contained more orbs than the last. The first wave had three. The second had six. The third had twelve. The numbers kept doubling until the arena was completely covered.
Xiao Chi's previous group had spent two miserable hours repeatedly wiping to those two mechanics.
Ji Mo had simply kept yelling that everyone's DPS was too low, they were bad at the game, and their mechanics sucked.
Xiaoxiao hesitated. "What if the third orb wave comes out?"
Wujin Shi answered calmly, "It won't. None of us have eaten dinner yet, so let's end this quickly. You can order takeout now. By the time we're done, your food should have arrived."
[That damned confidence...]
[Wujin Shi really knows how to act cool. I believe everything Qingtian Wai said now.]
[Why does Ranyi Fish suddenly sound so easy when Wujin Shi explains it? What on earth was Ji Mo even talking about earlier? The more he explained, the more confused I got.]
[Seriously, even if this boss isn't hard, twenty minutes? Two hours was ridiculous, sure, but shouldn't it still take at least half an hour?]
[The fight hasn't even started yet! You're believing everything Wujin Shi says?]
[Damn it! It's all Xiao Chi's fault! I've become addicted to this man too!]
The fight began.
Qingtian Wai pulled the boss and secured aggro. Everyone started attacking.
Soon, Ranyi Fish began casting its first ultimate. Xiao Chi interrupted it perfectly.
Wujin Shi said, "Stack up. Full burst."
Everyone obeyed.
The first wave of water orbs appeared. "Spread!"
Before the viewers had even realized what had happened—Wujin Shi swung the Kunwu Blade. Slash. Slash. Slash. All three water orbs vanished.
The viewers: ???
Ranyi Fish began casting its second ultimate. Qingzhou Yiguo leaped gracefully into the air, formed a hand seal midair, and interrupted it once again.
The normally concise Wujin Shi spoke again over voice. There was the faintest trace of amusement in his tone. "Xiao Chi-ge's really sharp."
Qingzhou Yiguo almost stumbled when he landed.
They had spent two whole hours with Ji Mo earlier. Not once had that man praised him.
Everyone grouped up again. Full burst.
The second wave of water orbs appeared. All six were dealt with flawlessly. Fan Lu flicked out two Ice Talismans in rapid succession, freezing her assigned orbs instantly.
"Nice job, Fan Lu."
Everyone resumed attacking.
Wujin Shi continued issuing commands. "Xiao Chi, cast Cold Qi Condensation and Wind and Rain Halt on the boss. Use them every time they're off cooldown. Everyone else, save your big damage cooldowns. As soon as the boss gets the Weakened debuff, when I call for it, unleash everything."
Everyone acknowledged.
Wujin Shi continued. "Qing Ning, use your ultimate on Qingtian Wai. That's it. Good. Xiao Chi's root landed perfectly. Nice. Xiaoxiao, restore Feng Cheng's mana. Good."
A few more exchanges. Then Wujin Shi finished the fight with Hundred Ghosts Slaughter. The Divine Weapon's signature finishing move split the heavens themselves. Ranyi Fish collapsed.
Wujin Shi stood before the enormous boss—its serpent body and fish head sprawled across the marsh. The Kunwu Blade in his hand still radiated the lingering killing intent left behind by Hundred Ghosts Slaughter. Black blade. Black-clad man. Standing beside the sinister monstrous fish. The entire scene radiated an icy, murderous elegance.
Qian Yu turned on his microphone. "Twenty-one minutes. Pretty fast. I'm heading off. Later."
Wujin Shi laughed softly. "See? Wasn't that pretty simple? A demonstration run. A gift for that Ji Mo from earlier. He can learn how raid leading is actually done."
The stream chat exploded once more.
[Xiao Chi! You took another screenshot! Don't think I didn't notice!]
[Damn it! Wujin Shi really pulled off that cool act!]
[This man is criminally handsome!]
[He keeps praising Xiao Chi! Everyone, take notes! Learn from him!]
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