Edited by: Ciel
After the second day of the competition, the situation of each group also became clear. Among them, Qin Mo and Xiao Han of group F had won two consecutive matches, and had already earned their spot in the next round. On the other hand, Li Muran and Shen He of group E would not be qualifying after having suffered two consecutive defeats. Last but not least, Pei Yu, Liu Hong, Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang all had a record of one win and one defeat, and tomorrow would be the deciding match against their last opponents in the group stage.
After returning to the hotel room in the evening, He Beiguang asked anxiously. “Great god Qingyue, do you think we can win tomorrow?”
“Don't put pressure on yourself, just do your best.” Zhu Qingyue smiled.
After watching all the matches in group A over the past few days, Zhu Qingyue had been able to confirm that Wei Guanghua was indeed his senior brother’s trump card. Although the Whisper team’s most famous players were the black umbrella twin brothers, and everyone had the impression of Whisper team being a team with an auxiliary at its core, the mysterious Wei Guanghua who had not appeared in the previous competitions had performed excellently thus far. With his equipment building style, he had both attack and defense, allowing him to serve as a protective shield in the front row as well as an offensive output player.
Compared with He Beiguang's pure defense route, Wei Guanghua's playstyle was more flexible. Zhu Qingyue judged that Wei Guanghua's personal strength wasn’t comparable to that of Qin Mo, but he could very well compete against Lin Shuangcheng, a swordsman from the same sect. The auxiliary strength of both sides were the same, but the deficiency in the output was difficult to make up. Winning the match would be very difficult.
Zhu Qingyue was thinking about the arrangements for tomorrow's match when his mobile phone suddenly lit up. It was a message from Chu Yan. “How goes your preparations for tomorrow’s match?”
“I'm thinking about it…” Zhu Qingyue replied immediately.
Chu Yan: “Your senior brother has some misunderstandings about you. Don't pay attention to him first. I'll have a good talk with him after the match.”
“You want to talk to him? Are you in Beijing?”
Chu Yan sent a smile: “Of course, my family’s baby is competing, I must go watch the battle in person.”
“...” Unexpectedly, he had come to watch the match for the past two days. Imagining Chu Yan watching the game from the audience seats, Zhu Qingyue felt a gentle warmth suffusing his heart, and replied with a question. “What do you think of my performance?”
Chu Yan: “Excellent.”
Having been affirmed by his master, Zhu Qingyue’s mood immediately brightened. Although he had been a captain for several years and had become a first-class auxiliary with many fans, in front of his master, he would always be the apprentice who needed affirmation and encouragement, no matter how strong he was. He still occasionally felt a little nervous in front of Chu Yan, perhaps because he had been extremely dependent on Chu Yan when he was young.
After chatting a little more, Chu Yan asked Zhu Qingyue to rest early and prepare for the match.
***
The next morning, group A’s first match began punctually at 9:30am.
The first match was Chen Jiang and He Yue against Graceful Beauty’s Swaying Moon Shadow and Gusu Trip. The martial sibling pair won the match 2:0 without any suspense, winning the first quota of the top 16 with three consecutive victories in the group stage. In the second game, the teams with one victory and one loss each, Zhu Qingyue + He Beiguang and Luo Yuan + Wei Guanghua would face each other for the last qualifying quota.
The match between the martial brothers had also drawn widespread concern in the esports circle. It was no secret that Luo Yuan was Chu Yan’s senior apprentice, for as early as the beginning of the league’s establishment, Zhu Qingyue had called him ‘senior brother’. Thus, Luo Yuan had trained in the Pure Cleansing team and worshipped Chu Yan as his master. However, the reason why he suddenly left the Pure Cleansing team was unknown.
“In this competition, both sides have an auxiliary and a defensive output. He Beiguang's defense ability is stronger than Wei Guanghua's, but Wei Guanghua's output ability is far higher than He Beiguang's. On the premise that both sides have auxiliaries of the same level, the outcome will depend on the output,” Ye Chao explained.
“Do you think the level of assistance on both sides will be the same?” Liang Ru questioned curiously.
Ye Chao nodded. “After all, they are martial brothers. Many of their tactical ideas were inherited from Chu Yan, and they ought to understand each other well. The gap in their levels should not be large.”
“But the way they have built their equipment is quite different,” Liang Ru pointed out.
Right on cue, the director showed the equipment data of both auxiliary players. Zhu Qingyue's weapon was ‘Elegant Wind’, a white umbrella decorated with trailing orchids, while Luo Yuan's weapon ‘Bamboo Shadow’ had green bamboo stems up its sides. Both umbrellas were simple and elegant, and while their basic data was similar, their additional attributes were extremely different.
Following the topic, Ye Chao continued to explain. “Qingyue’s weapon adds two seconds to the effective time for all arrays, which is powerful in team battles. Luo Yuan’s weapon reduces cast time by 50% and cooldown by 20%, which minimises the risk of being interrupted while casting, and shortens the cooldown of large-scale arrays, allowing them to be used again as soon as possible.”
Luo Yuan's equipment build did indeed continue Chu Yan’s tactics from the past, but Zhu Qingyue had abandoned the practice of using the auxiliary as a core after joining Mojue. Since he was willing to play a supporting role behind the Twin Stars, the appropriate adjustments had been made to his equipment.
***
At the beginning of the game, Zhu Qingyue was lucky and rolled 88 points, giving him the priority to select his home map first.
Once again, he selected the fast-paced map of ‘Nanjiang Poison Swamp’. The automatic blood loss caused by the map environment, coupled with the poisoning of the swamp pool would make up for the deficiency in He Beiguang's output, and Zhu Qingyue's own five-second invincibility barrier could widen the blood volume gap between both sides.
Seeing this map, Luo Yuan frowned. “Is he going to try the same trick again?”
In yesterday's match, Zhu Qingyue slowly poisoned the martial siblings Chen and He with this Nanjiang Poison Swamp map. Today, he chose this map again, which was obviously trying to reuse an old routine.
Thinking for a while, Luo Yan commanded. “You take the defense secret book, I’ll bring healing.”
Wei Guanghua said nothing, and selected a secret book according to Luo Yuan's arrangements.
After the match started, both sides met in the middle of the map. Luo Yuan and Zhu Qingyue cast at the same time—— Silk Umbrella Array!
Silk Umbrella Array could teleport all targets within a specified range to a designated position. Both auxiliaries cast at the same time, but because Luo Yuan’s casting time was shorter, Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang were the first to be teleported into the swamp, and Zhu Qingyue's casting would naturally be interrupted.
Just as Luo Yan praised himself, he saw a gentle veil of rain surround Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang. It was the invincibility barrier Cyan Rain Curtain!
This rain barrier would prevent the players from taking any damage, including damage caused by the terrain. Although Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang were thrown into the swamp, they made use of the protection offered by Zhu Qingyue’s array to fly back ashore with qinggong. Zhu Qingyue then began to cast another skill—— Silk Umbrella Array!
How was that possible?
Hadn’t Silk Umbrella Array been interrupted just now? A skill interrupted by the opponent would enter cooldown, and the cooldown time of this skill was 30 seconds. How could he cast it again so quickly?
After being transferred into the poison swamp, Luo Yuan realised—— Zhu Qingyue had feinted at the beginning. He pretended to cast the Silk Umbrella Array, but withdrew halfway, avoiding the risk of an interrupted cast. Since Luo Yuan’s casting time was 0.5 seconds faster than his, Zhu Qingyue had been prepared to cast Cyan Rain Curtain immediately after the teleport. Thus, the audience saw the rain barrier appear around Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang as soon as they were teleported into the swamp.
The reason why he bluffed Luo Yuan with a fake action was to launch an unexpected counterattack after returning ashore.
The initial Silk Umbrella Array was just a false move, and this was the real deal.
Zhu Qingyue's reaction speed and predictive ability shocked Luo Yuan, but the situation did not allow him to think about it. He immediately cast his own Cyan Rain Curtain on reflex, which also blocked the map’s poison. Wei Guanghua's reaction was also quick, flying back ashore easily with qinggong.
In this first exchange, neither side was able to take advantage because both auxiliaries opened their invincibility barriers at the critical moment, preventing both sides from being poisoned after falling into the swamp. Thus, everyone’s blood volume was maintained at a safe level of around 90%. However, the duration of Zhu Qingyue's barrier was 5 seconds, while Luo Yuan’s was the original skill duration of 3 seconds. As a result, Luo Yuan and Wei Guanghua were poisoned 2 seconds earlier than their opponents, and their blood volume was naturally 2% less than Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang’s.
A measly 2% gap was not worthy of being looked at, and Luo Yuan didn’t pay it any heed.
The invincible rain barriers on both sides ended. Luo Yuan immediately began reading another array, but Zhu Qingyue wasn’t idle either—— White Umbrella Array, Umbrella Spin!
Strengthen your own defense and attack, before weakening your opponent.
At this moment, both martial brothers shared this understanding, and ended up performing the same actions. However, Zhu Qingyue targeted Wei Guanghua, while Luo Yuan targeted Zhu Qingyue. Obviously, both sides aimed to set fire to different opponents, and Luo Yuan’s priority was in killing the opposing auxiliary.
Realising this, Zhu Qingyue immediately used qinggong to retreat.
Due to the weakness effect, Wei Guanghua's attack and defense were greatly reduced, but He Beiguang's attack power was greatly increased. He took the opportunity to close in, dealing damage with the skill ‘Splitting Mountain’, before using the offensive secret book ‘Bloody Hand’, instantly reducing Wei Guanghua’s blood volume to half. Zhu Qingyue followed-up with a long-distance single attack ‘Makeup In Autumn’, lowering Wei Guanghua's blood volume to 25%!
In this short moment, Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang used powerful attack secret books to defeat the opposing output!
Luo Yuan was shocked. He hadn’t expected that his opponents would both bring output secret books.
Sensing the danger, Luo Yuan immediately used the team healing secret book ‘Questioning Heart Mantra’, returning some blood to his teammate. Wei Guanghua also used the defense secret book ‘Vajra Sutra’ to resist further damage.
However, He Beiguang and Zhu Qingyue were not greedy, immediately retreating after gaining this advantage.
The negative state of 1% blood loss per second in the poison gas map couldn’t be eliminated, and all four players were constantly losing blood. However, He Beiguang and Zhu Qingyue had a higher blood volume because of the first exchange. In addition, the damage caused by their joint output was very high, and Wei Guanghua could only recover to 50% blood volume after healing.
As time went by, Wei Guanghua's blood volume fell to 40%. He Beiguang and Zhu Qingyue were still shuttling around the map with qinggong, and as a melee, Wei Guanghua was unable to catch up. Luo Yuan was extremely anxious. Fortunately, his weapon had a cooldown reduction bonus, allowing him to use Silk Umbrella Array again!
Luo Yuan immediately cast Silk Umbrella Array, wanting to teleport both his opponents into the poisonous swamp. However, Zhu Qingyue seemed to have predicted it, as he immediately flew back ten metres with qinggong, perfectly avoiding his array’s range of effect. Meanwhile, He Beiguang flew forward instead, launching a two-hit combo of ‘Bloody Scent’!
The skill ‘Bloody Scent’ allowed the tank to take on all damage done to his team. However, using it twice in a row would also attract all hostile targets to the tank. In fact, this was the main T’s most common skill when pulling monsters in dungeons.
Suddenly, the audience witnessed an extremely funny sight—— Zhu Qingyue threw out the white umbrella in his hands, flying off into the distance while He Beiguang was sent to the poisonous swamp by Luo Yuan. Furthermore, because of the skill ‘Bloody Scent’, He Beiguang pulled both Luo Yuan and Wei Guanghua with him, dragging them into the swamp as well!
Zhu Qingyue stood alone on the shore, watching the other three fall into the poisonous swamp.
At this moment, ‘Cyan Rain Curtain’ was still in cooldown. Luo Yuan had no way of protecting his teammate, and their blood volumes began rapidly falling.
Both of them immediately flew up with their qinggong skills, but He Beiguang suddenly jumped, knocking them down with ‘Sweeping Eight Wastelands’. Luo Yuan immediately used his purification skills, but unfortunately, the short delay caused them to have three layers of poisoning stacked on them.
When they were just about to emerge from the poisonous swamp, Zhu Qingyue, who was standing on the shore, cast ‘Silk Umbrella Array’ once again!
Once again sent back into the poisonous swamp, the number of poison layers stacked on them reached the maximum of five. Luo Yuan was about to cough up blood!
The blood volume gap between both sides was getting larger. Although Wei Guanghua managed to break out a wave of damage and kill He Beiguang, Wei Guang was also poisoned to death, leaving Luo Yuan and Zhu Qingyue to fight one-on-one. Luo Yuan had five layers of poisoning stacked on him, while Zhu Qingyue had none. Luo Yuan's rate of blood loss was much higher than that of his junior brother...
Luo Yuan grit his teeth. At this time, the sensible thing to do would be to voluntarily surrender the match, but he was not reconciled. How could he take the initiative to surrender to his junior brother?!
The more impatient, the more likely mistakes would be made.
Just as Luo Yuan made a mistake in his positioning, the white umbrella in Zhu Qingyue’s hands struck him head-on. The was the most basic skill of the white umbrella flow, which inflicted weakness states on the opponent.
The weakened Luo Yuan lost blood at a faster rate, and his blood volume bottomed out in an instant.
Looking at the grey screen of death, Luo Yuan clenched his fists in annoyance. He hadn’t expected that he would walk into a trap set by his junior brother at the very beginning of the match.
Zhu Qingyue had predicted everything from the start. From the fake casting, to inflicting Wei Guanghua with the weakness effect, before joining hands with He Beiguang to release a strong wave of damage. The moment the blood volume gap grew, Zhu Qingyue switched to defensive and consumption tactics, ready to snowball his advantage. He calculated the cooldown time of Luo Yuan’s umbrella array, before arranging for He Beiguang to drag them both into the swamp in a suicidal move…
The 2% gap in blood that Luo Yuan had originally ignored gradually snowballed over time, and in the end, it had become an insurmountable difference.
Zhu Qingyue’s careful and calm play made Luo Yuan feel even more ashamed and resentment. This loss was simply too shameful. His combination with Wei Guanghua was stronger than that of He Beiguang and Zhu Qingyue, but his judgment at the critical moment was not accurate enough, and the operation of teleporting the opponent into the poisonous swamp turned into the negative action of ‘hurting the enemy 800 times while hurting oneself 1000 times’.
Sighing, Luo Yuan whispered. “Fight well in the second game.”
Wei Guanghua, who had not spoken a single word all this time, finally spoke up. “Captain Luo, don’t constantly stare at your junior brother. Is there only him in your eyes?” he joked.
Luo Yuan’s heart froze. “What do you mean? Speak properly!”
Wei Guanghua shrugged. “Our lineup is already dominant. Why don’t we use a faster way to win?”
Luo Yuan’s frown tightened. “Then, can you suggest something?”
Wei Guanghua smiled. “With the meat shield’s protection, it will not be easy to kill Zhu Qingyue. I suggest that we not play tactics with Zhu Qingyue, and simply kill He Beiguang brutally and efficiently. In the next game, inflict the weakness state on He Beiguang. Zhu Qingyue will definitely target me, but under the premise that we are both weakened, my attack power will still be higher than He Beiguang’s.”
Luo Yuan came back to his senses in an instant—— indeed, he had been too obsessed with fighting his junior brother in terms of tactics, and had let himself been dragged around by the horns.
As Wei Guanghua said, his attack power was higher than that of He Beiguang, and both of them were paired with auxiliaries. Thus, the quickest way to win was for Wei Guanghua to use his advantage of a greater output to kill He Beiguang directly. As a blood cow, although He Beiguang had a lot of health and a high amount of defense, his attack power was very weak, and his only attack skill was ‘Splitting Mountain’. In contrast, Wei Guanghua's blood volume was just a little more than 100,000, but as a short sword flow swordsman, he had Traceless Sword, Wisdom Sword, Wind Destroying Sword, and Blood Feast Sword—— all of which were attack skills.
He Beiguang was a purely defensive player. Wei Guanghua’s defensive ability was slightly weaker, but his offense was much stronger. If they fought each other, there would definitely come a moment where He Beiguang would be unable to hold on.
Luo Yuan was embarrassed. To think that he needed his teammate’s reminder to realise this. “A-Hua, how about you make the arrangements for the next game.”
Wei Guanghua wasn’t polite. “We can’t compete with Zhu Qingyue in terms of meticulous planning,” he replied calmly. “Let’s just force a simple and crude confrontation. Captain Luo, ignore your junior brother and stare at He Beiguang all the time. Throw all the weakness states on him; I will try to kill He Beiguang first.”
Luo Yuan had long known that Wei Guanghua was a player with great consciousness. However, when he proposed to give Wei Guanghua the post of vice-captain, the offer was declined, because Wei Guanghua didn’t like the limelight and hated reporters even more.
Wei Guanghua was someone who always put forth his own opinions during the team's tactical discussions. Although most of the matches were arranged by Luo Yuan, he was already aware that he could not stop focusing on Zhu Qingyue. He couldn’t help but want to kill his junior brother, constantly paying attention to him…
In the last game, Luo Yuan’s mistake in judgement gave Zhu Qingyue the chance he needed to win. Thus, he could no longer let his personal emotions affect the next game.
Thinking of this, Luo Yuan immediately nodded. “I understand. Next round, kill He Beiguang immediately!”
***
For the second round, Luo Yuan followed Wei Guanghua’s arrangements to select Mingzhou Arena as the game map. Their intent to push for a head-on confrontation was obvious.
Watching from the backstage lounge, Li Muran couldn't help worrying—— He Beiguang's insufficient output was a big problem. Without the help of the terrain, he couldn't beat the opponent. Even if his defense was strong, there was no way to win without defeating the opponent. He could only gamble on offensive or reflective secret books.
At the beginning of the game, the two sides directly entered a confrontation. Wei Guanghua rushed to the front row, throwing all his moves at He Beiguang, while Luo Yuan remained in the back row to boost Wei Guanghua’s attack and weaken He Beiguang. In the blink of an eye, He Beiguang already lost a third of his blood volume, showing how fierce Wei Guanghua's firepower was.
Although He Beiguang brought an offensive secret book, a secret book could only be used once, while sect skills could be used repeatedly. In addition, the short sword flow’s combo rhythm was extremely fast, and had short cooldowns. Because of this, Wei Guanghua was able to chain his attacks consecutively. Even if Zhu Qingyue used the invincible barrier to prolong the war, helping to boost He Beiguang’s attack, He Beiguang could not kill the opposing swordsman, while Wei Guanghua’s fierce attack widened the blood volume gap between the two sides.
Luo Yuan stopped fighting with Zhu Qingyue. He stood at a distance, casting arrays to assist Wei Guanghua's output. As Wei Guanghua had said, He Beiguang failed to survive his continuous attacks. The moment He Beiguang fell, Zhu Qingyue simply surrendered.
Seeing this, Luo Yuan was in a complicated mood. “Perhaps you ought to arrange things for the third game too?”
Wei Guanghua smiled. “You can arrange it, captain Luo.”
This young man had a high EQ. He wasn’t proud after winning the match, but instead took a step back and let Luo Yuan retain some face. However, Luo Yuan was very clear; if he wanted to win the third match, he had to continue with Wei Guanghua's strategy of using violent suppression, ignoring Zhu Qingyue and killing He Beiguang as quickly as possible.
Luo Yuan coughed. “Then, we’ll follow the same plan from the second round,” he replied, embarrassed.
“En.” Wei Guanghua laughed.
It only took Zhu Qingyue a glance to recognise that the straightforward tactics from the second round were not his senior brother’s. However, it was precisely this sort of play that was the best method for dealing with his combination with He Beiguang.
It was not easy to make up for the disadvantage of the lineup. If Zhu Qingyue was a healer, he might be able to add blood and forcibly drag the time to win the war by consumption; otherwise, if Xiao He was replaced with an output, Zhu Qingyue could also assist his teammate to get rid of the opponent’s advantage as soon as possible. However, He Beiguang was a meat shield, and the damage from the secret book was not enough. Without environmental damage from the terrain, the chances of winning were close to none.
Zhu Qingyue judged the situation sensibly. In the third round, he used his arrays to prolong the battle, catching the opponent's mistakes and looking for opportunities to counterattack.
However, Luo Yuan had calmed down in time and did not make any obvious mistakes. Wei Guanghua's offense was still going strong. The third game lasted a total of 15 minutes, with both sides consuming each other’s blood and blue. In the end, He Beiguang died first, so Zhu Qingyue simply surrendered.
Walking to the centre of the stage, Zhu Qingyue gracefully stretched out his hand with a smile. “Congratulations, senior brother.”
Luo Yuan: “...”
Hearing this, Luo Yuan's mood was very complicated. He had assumed that as long as he won the match, he could prove that he was better than his junior brother. However, he was very clear in his heart that despite the win, he had not won against Zhu Qingyue—— they had only won against He Beiguang, relying on the advantage of their professions.
Luo Yuan shook hands with his junior brother, before turning around and leaving the stage. Throughout this entire process, not a single word was spoken, and the expression on his face was extremely gloomy.
“Captain Luo, since we’ve already won the match, why do you still look so unhappy?” Wei Guanghua joked.
Luo Yuan frowned. “I don’t know either.”
Luo Yuan walked ahead, and staring at his retreating back gave rise to an odd feeling of loneliness. Wei Guanghua was amused; he constantly had the impression that Luo Yuan was at odds with Zhu Qingyue, taking his junior brother as an enemy that had to be defeated. Unfortunately, Zhu Qingyue didn’t take it seriously at all. Obviously, Luo Yuan was the senior brother, but he was more naive than his junior brother.
Of course, Wei Guanghua wasn’t qualified to meddle in other people’s affairs, much less when they were other people’s martial brothers.
Upon returning backstage, Luo Yuan paused in the hallway. A tall man leaned against the wall, a lit cigarette between his lips. His handsome visage was faintly visible through the smoke.
Stiffening, Luo Yuan immediately offered his greetings. “Master…”
“Captain Luo, you guys chat first, I’ll go to the bathroom.” Wei Guanghua immediately made his excuses and left.
Only after Wei Guanghua had left did Chu Yan finally speak. “Follow me.”
Luo Yuan followed his master into the small meeting room. Extinguishing his cigarette, Chu Yan tossed the butt into the trash can. “What are your thoughts about winning against your junior brother today?” he asked quietly.
“...” Luo Yuan didn't know how to reply. According to his previous thoughts, after winning the game, he ought to taunt Zhu Qingyue to his face, proclaiming that he was their master’s best apprentice, but somehow, Luo Yuan was unable to reply when faced with Chu Yan’s question.
“The reason you dare not say it, is because you know very well that you did not win against him,” Chu Yan chuckled humourlessly. “In this match, it was Wei Guanghua’s victory against He Beiguang, and not your victory against Qingyue. On the contrary, you lost to Qingyue, be it in mentality, reaction, overall vision, prediction of skills… and even demeanour.”
Luo Yuan: “...”
His master’s words hit the nail on the head perfectly. Feeling his face burning with shame, Luo Yuan lowered his head.
Only, his master’s words were unable to be refuted.
Chu Yan eyed him for several long moments. “Last time, I told you that I didn’t mind Qingyue not continuing my auxiliary style of play. Do you know why?”
At this, Luo Yuan raised his head. “Why?” he whispered.
“Because Qingyue is tired,” Chu Yan replied.
Luo Yuan stared at his master with wide eyes, unable to believe his ears.
"I know he's tired." Chu Yan suppressed his heartache, continuing to speak in a low whisper. “When you left us unexpectedly six years ago, I asked him, who was less than 16 years old, to take your place on stage. When faced with all kinds of questioning voices, he only knew how to hide away and cry. At such a young age, I forced him to become the captain, subjecting him to so much cynicism. Over time, he ended up like this; constantly smiling regardless of whatever happens.”
Luo Yuan: “...”
Chu Yan paused for a moment. “Three years ago, I left the Pure Cleansing, and completely handed the team to him. Since then, he brought Pure Cleansing along with him, even with their poor performance, insisting on continuing the auxiliary core tactics that I passed on. In the Miracle alliance, he struggled so hard, only to lose continuously—— can you understand his feelings? Can you comprehend how it feels to have to smile even in the face of hungry reporters after continuously being beaten by stronger teams over and over?”
Luo Yuan: “...”
Chu Yan finally turned away to stare out the window. “Qingyue has suffered more than you know, and he respects me much more than you can see. After I left, he persisted with the Pure Cleansing team for three years.”
“You can’t imagine the hellish environment he was in for the past three years, trying his hardest but only having a less than 10% chance of winning.”
“He is the Pure Cleansing’s captain, and all the pressure and responsibility lie with him. As his master, what have I been doing these past three years? I was busy with my business. As his senior brother, what were you doing? You were busy taking care of your family—— neither of us helped him in his most difficult time. Now, which of us has the right to blame him?”
Luo Yuan: “...”
Turning around, Chu Yan stared at Luo Yuan, his gaze sharp as he enunciated every word. “Luo Yuan, if you really want to settle this account, I can tell you right now that Zhu Qingyue has not let me down, let alone let you down—— instead, it’s the both of us who should be apologising to him.”
Luo Yuan’s eyes turned red. His master’s words were like a slap to the face, waking him up from a dream.
Luo Yuan had felt uncomfortable about losing to Chen Jiang and He Yue on the first day of the group stage. However, how many matches had Zhu Qingyue lost in these years? He alone led the poorly-performing Pure Cleansing team for three years. In the past three years, through countless days and nights, he repeatedly faced failure, then rose once again in search of a chance to win. The reason Pure Cleansing was able to secure a place in the first division without being downgraded was because of Zhu Qingyue's powerful tactical accomplishments and tough psychological quality.
If it were someone else, how many people could have accomplished as much as he did?
Was Pure Cleansing’s disbandment his fault?
He had already tried his best!
As Chu Yan had said, he was very tired. So tired that he couldn't hold on any longer, couldn't continue to play in Miracle, so he chose to give up.
As a senior brother, Luo Yuan left the club at a critical moment, forcing Zhu Qingyue, who had been less than 16 years old at that time, to replace him on stage. Luo Yuan had not contributed to Pure Cleansing. What qualifications did he have to blame Zhu Qingyue? What position did he sit in, to question Zhu Qingyue's choice?
The more Luo Yuan thought, the more ashamed he was. Compared with Zhu Qingyue's demeanor when facing him, he looked like a clown, blindly running to provoke his junior brother.
Looking at the guilty look on his apprentice's face, Chu Yan sighed, patting Luo Yuan on the shoulder. “I know you are obsessed with this master’s inheritance. However, there are not many apprentices who can fully inherit this master's playstyle in the esports circle. Qingyue has done his best for me. Master doesn’t mind, so as a senior brother, you don’t need to mind this either, understand?”
Awkwardly, Luo Yuan lowered his head. “I understand…”
Chu Yan was stern. “If you still wish to acknowledge me as your master, then set aside your hatred for him. He owes you nothing.”
Luo Yuan’s eyes were red. “I understand, I won’t bring up this matter any more. I’ve disappointed master…”
He had let down his master, but had let down his junior brother even more.
If not for his mother falling ill, he would have remained in Pure Cleansing as his master’s partner, and upon Chu Yan’s retirement, fought side-by-side with his junior brother. However, he had no choice but to become a deserter, leaving Zhu Qingyue to shoulder all the burden and the responsibility, but when the team was forced to disband, he came back to complain about how his junior brother didn’t do a good job…
On what basis? Just because he was his ‘senior brother’?
What a joke.
Thinking of the way he went to provoke Zhu Qingyue before the game, Luo Yuan wanted to turn back time and slap his past self several times.
***
By the time he exited the meeting room, Luo Yuan’s face was blotchy. Coincidentally, Zhu Qingyue was passing by. Seeing Luo Yuan’s downcast expression, he questioned, “What’s wrong, senior brother?”
“Nothing much,” Luo Yuan replied awkwardly. “Master is inside.”
Zhu Qingyue smiled. “Why, did he scold you?”
Luo Yuan: “...”
“Don’t take it to heart,” Zhu Qingyue comforted. “Although master is strict, he still cares about you. Otherwise, he would not have helped you to form a team.”
Luo Yuan flushed in embarrassment. “En, I know. Qingyue… I’m- I’m sorry.”
Faced with his junior brother’s gentle gaze, Luo Yuan felt dejected and turned away.
Looking at the way his senior brother awkwardly left, Zhu Qingyue was amused, instantly guessing that Chu Yan must have scolded him harshly. He pushed the door open, and sure enough, he found Chu Yan standing by the window.
"Master." Smiling, Zhu Qingyue walked over. “You scolded senior brother, right? He looks like he’s about to cry.”
“Should I not have scolded him?” Chu Yan's stern gaze softened as soon as he saw Zhu Qingyue. Reaching out, he held Zhu Qingyue in his arms, before lowering his head to kiss Zhu Qingyue on the lips.
Zhu Qingyue immediately avoided the attempt. “Did you smoke again?”
Chu Yan smiled. “Just now, I was unable to resist the temptation to smoke two mouthfuls. In the future, I will definitely smoke less. Otherwise, my family’s baby won’t let me kiss him.”
Zhu Qingyue blushed. “Can you be more serious?”
Saying this, he began to struggle, Chu Yan didn’t let him go, but instead held Zhu Qingyue tighter. “Let me hug you.”
Relenting, Zhu Qingyue gave up the struggle.
Chu Yan hugged him tightly. After a moment, he gently rubbed his little apprentice's hair. “Qingyue, these few years… you’ve worked hard.”
Realising what Chu Yan had meant, Zhu Qingyue’s eyes turned red. “It wasn’t hard.”
Sighing, Chu Yan ran his fingers through Zhu Qingyue’s hair. At that time, I was aware of my feelings for you and dared not contact you for three years after leaving the team, which was a terrible mistake. In the future, I will never leave you alone again. No matter what choice you make, I will fully support you as both your master and your lover. I will always be by your side, loving you, protecting you, and being your most reliable backing, okay?”
Zhu Qingyue buried his face in Chu Yan’s arms, nodding gently, before taking the initiative to hug him back.
He wasn’t thick-skinned enough, unlike Chu Yan, who was able to say all sorts of sweet things. He only knew that his dependence on this man had never weakened even with age.
As long as there was Chu Yan around, no matter what he did, he would be full of confidence.
Looking at his soft apprentice taking the initiative to hug him with flushed cheeks, Chu Yan was really happy.
He had let Qingyue down, but that was a matter of the past. In the future, he would double his efforts to spoil Qingyue, to not let anyone hurt Qingyue, because Qingyue was his heart’s most precious treasure.
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