Tan Polang relayed the news to Ye Ci during dinner, but she merely responded with a smile. Zuo Xiaolan and Ye Nantian did not share their daughter’s calm attitude. “I’ll only die if I’m weaker than them. I’ll be careful.” was what Ye Ci said to her parents.
They were not entirely convinced, but her words were able to calm them down.
After the long time they spent in the game, the couple was slowly getting used to things happening in the game.
They were able to fully immerse themselves in the game even as life players. And nothing else would cause them alarm unless it had something to do with Ye Ci.
But Bai Mo was still worried for Ye Ci, “They went after Lethal Poison first. But he’s the top player of the Northern Continent. They have severely underestimated him. Thanks to their numbers, however, Lethal Poison had a hard time fighting against them.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s hard. What matters is he won.” replied Ye Ci, “Spotless Autumn is hiding in a place where even Green Hill’s Moon could not find. I’m sure the entire Golden Era is looking for him.”
“Is he strong?” Bai Mo was not familiar with Spotless Autumn, but Ye Ci knew him well.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t fought against Lethal Poison before, but I know that he’s fat.” Ye Ci shook her head, “That man is quite agile despite his size. Spotless Autumn is definitely going to be more agile, and he’s a Master Potionmaker. It won’t be that easy to kill him.”
“Then…” Bai Mo did not like the name that he was about to speak. But he knew that it was important to have a clear idea in the greater scale of things so that he could make the best judgement of the situation. The major guilds in Fate were starting to go on the offensive, but a small guild like Upwards Ho! might find it hard in a confrontation against Golden Era. He needed the information to keep his guild safe.
“Hmm?” Ye Ci raised her head to look at Bai Mo when he fell silent, “What is it?”
“What about Fleeting Time? As fair as I know, he’s on the list as well. Do you know how well he’s doing?”
The name did not provoke much of a response from Ye Ci, but the same could not be said for Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan.
“What? That bastard Fleeting Time was assassinated as well? Well serves him right! Even God is not on his side this time! They did a good job! It’d be better if they zero him completely! Then he’ll have no choice but to stay away from our Little Ci!” Ye Nantian was overjoyed at the news, but he was quickly silenced by a glare from Zuo Xiaolan.
“Is he okay? How bad was it? It’s a shame that we’re not on the same continent. We could’ve paid him a visit.” Zuo Xiaolan was worried. She looked at Ye Ci while casting meaningful glances at Tan Polang, hinting at what must be done.
Zuo Xiaolan was definitely the best actor in the entire family.
Ye Ci’s expression became awkward at that question. She placed her chopsticks down and looked at her mother with a grave expression, “Mom, I really do not have that sort of relationship with him. You’re not close with him as well, why are you acting as if you’ve been best friends for a long time?”
Zuo Xiaolan snorted at Ye Ci’s words, “My familiarity with him depends on how your relationship ends.”
“Mom…” Ye Ci could feel tears welling in her eyes. She had never thought that her mother was someone who loved gossipping.
“I know right? Our daughter is not close with him at all! Why must you push the lamb into the tiger’s jaw? I do not like that punk! He’s good looking, and he’s always smiling! I can tell from just one look that he’s up to no good! Our daughter will definitely suffer if she’s with him!”
“He never talked back to you even once! Where are you going to find a second one like him?” Zuo Xiaolan apparently had a very good first impression of Fleeting Time.
Ye Ci sighed at her parents, and turned around to speak to Bai Mo instead, “I’ve received information from Green Hill’s Moon. He’s probably going to be assassinated today. But we do not know how it will end yet.”
“Do you think he’ll win?”
Ye Ci gave her answer after some moment of thought, “If they send only 10, then they will lose. But if they increase their numbers to 20… Then I do not know.”
Golden Era had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Lethal Poison. They would not trip on the same rock twice. Fleeting Time was a Hunter, which was an agile class just like the Rogue class, and was known for his impressive skills. He would also definitely be hiding in a map that was hard to reach. This meant that Golden Era would be under a lot of pressure to make the assassination a success. Fleeting Time could easily take care of 10 opponents by using the terrain, but if the number of assailants was increased to 20…
The outcome of the battle was unpredictable.
“Who do you think has a higher chance of winning?” asked Bai Mo.
“He’s slightly better than me in terms of our mechanical skills, but there are abilities that I have that he does not. We’re equals when it comes to our positioning. I’ll be at a slight disadvantage if we’re fighting in open ground, but if it’s in jungle terrain, we both have an equal chance of winning.”
Ye Ci had analysed her capabilities along with Fleeting Time’s. Her objective view of the situation was able to give Bai Mo an accurate insight of the situation.
He took in a deep breath, and set his bowl on the table after wolfing down the last few mouthfuls of rice, “Uncle, Auntie, there are things I have to take care of. Sorry I won’t be able to help with cleaning up.” Zuo Xiaolan and Ye Nantian knew what was going on in the last few days. They were worried, but they did not let it show on their faces, and put up smiles instead.
With Bai Mo back in his room and Tan Polang scurrying off to talk to Fleeting Time with the guise of studying, only three members of the family remained by the dining table.
Zuo Xiaolan and Yenantian had stopped their bickering. They were more worried for the guild than their daughter’s relationship with Fleeting Time.
Bai Mo, Ye Ci, and Tan Polang had never once told them the difficulties that Upwards Ho! faced since they started playing the game, but they knew that the guild was a pillar to them, and even the family. They must not allow it to collapse, but they were always worried that they would bring trouble by trying to help.
“Little Ci… About the guild…” Zuo Xiaolan was very worried.
“Don’t worry, mom. Bai Mo and I will take care of things. Just keep the shop running and don’t leave Red Lake City if there’s nothing important. The city is a safe zone.”
Ye Ci offered a parents a smile.
“Is Golden Era really that scary?” Ye Nantian could not understand the fear of the player base towards a new guild.
“Scary?” Ye Ci pondered for a short while. Golden Era itself was not scary. The thing that was truly scary was the human heart, “We’re just standing on different sides.” she shook her head.
“Are they bad people?” Zuo Xiaolan could not understand what was going on in the game. She was purely looking at things as good or bad.
“There’s no good people or bad people in the game, mom. We simply have different goals.” Ye Ci set down her chopsticks and stood up to head back into the game to continue leveling up Ol’ Six.
“How can we help, Little Ci?” Ye Nantian knew there was nothing much he could do to help his daughter, but as a parent, he could not allow his daughter to face the danger ahead alone, “Your mom and I are both life players. We’re not very great yet, but we’d like to help.”
Ye Ci could feel emotion welling in her heart as she stared at her parents’ determined faces. She brought her parents into the game so that the family could be closer. She had never expected help from her parents. But she discovered that she had been wrong all this while. Her parents might be old, but they were still trying their best to do what they thought was right.
And as a daughter, she could not bring herself to refuse their good intentions.
“Of course!” Ye Ci smiled at her parents, “You can help by making food that helps boost stats!”
