Chapter 83: Friendship Lasts Forever.

The sound of the door opening and closing startled Hua Manlou, who was resting in his room.

"Sikong Zhaixing, is that you back?"

Without the person even needing to speak, Hua Manlou had already guessed the person's identity from their gait and scent.

Before the latter could reply, Lu Yusheng, who had been startled by the sound of their conversation, pushed open the door and came out of the game room.

Seeing the familiar face, she beamed with joy: "Xiao Xing!"

Alright, no need to confirm now. Hua Manlou pursed his lips and didn't say anything, but he politely nodded slightly in the other person's direction as a greeting.

Looking at her warm smile, Sikong Zhaixing awkwardly looked away and said, "Yes, I'm back."

Seeing that his attitude seemed to be no different from usual, Lu Yusheng's smile widened. Looking at the corridor, which seemed a bit crowded because of the three of them standing, he paused before raising his hand and inviting, "Let's go downstairs and play together. I'll go turn on the air conditioning."

He took the lead and started walking towards the stairs, while the two men lagged behind.

"I heard you were injured?"

Sikong Zhaixing glanced at the man who was only half a step behind her and managed to squeeze out a word of concern. Seemingly not expecting that their first words would be like this, Hua Manlou paused for a second or two before politely replying, "It's a minor injury, nothing serious."

Sikong Zhaixing had only asked casually and didn't want to get involved, but he inadvertently noticed that Lu Yusheng's movements had slowed down by a beat, as if he was paying attention to what was happening here.

He felt that his patience had improved a lot after this trip. He grabbed Hua Manlou's arm with a sour face and put his fingertips on his pulse for a while.

Feeling the slight trembling under his hand, as if it were about to break free at any moment, he seemed to be keeping his movements extremely low so as not to let the girl in front of him notice.

His expression grew even more displeased, but he still reluctantly said, "Oh, indeed."

Upon hearing this, the brief stiffness in the bodies of the two people beside and in front of him suddenly eased.

Sikong Zhaixing thought to herself with a cold laugh, "They are truly sincere." Although she had indeed deliberately affirmed Hua Manlou's words to put Lu Yusheng at ease, she was still somewhat displeased to see the two of them in such a state.

So he took two steps forward, widening the distance between himself and the people behind him, and squeezed himself between them.

After the earlier greeting, the slight awkwardness between Hua Manlou and him dissipated considerably. After sitting down, they exchanged a few words from time to time, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Lu Yusheng then took the opportunity to chat with him about other things, and the atmosphere immediately became harmonious. The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the previous unpleasantness.

After the meal, Lu Yusheng urged Hua Manlou to go upstairs to rest. After watching her leave, he was about to tidy up when he saw Sikong Zhaixing still lingering in her seat, seemingly lost in thought. So he silently walked over.

In case he might suddenly decide to leave early and not make it to the New Year, and not wanting his painstaking efforts, painstakingly crafted with the mouse, to go to waste, Lu Yusheng thought for a moment and then asked, "Would you like to see the New Year's gift in advance?"

"Now?"

Sikong Zhaixing didn't have the habit of checking the alarm clock. He looked out the window at the sky and deduced that it was almost 7 PM. He thought to himself, why not wait until tomorrow during the day?

However, he didn't think much of it, as curiosity ultimately prevailed, though his tone still carried a hint of confusion: "If it's a New Year's gift, why didn't you wait until the New Year to give it to me?"

Lu Yusheng, of course, wouldn't directly point out her concerns, but instead said evasively, "The items might not be to your liking. Take a look first, and I can make changes."

Since she wasn't particularly into holiday rituals, Sikong Zhaixing didn't hesitate for long when she heard that she should give it in advance, and readily went along with it.

He was quite surprised when she opened the door to the game room: "You hid it here? What were you thinking?"

“…There’s an even bigger surprise.” Lu Yusheng pushed the man through the door in one go, then took out the equipment, plugged it in, and put it on him.

Although the aesthetics were questionable and the production was rough, it was still something she had put her heart and soul into. After thinking for a moment, to avoid hearing anything hurtful, she added, "Think carefully about your reaction. You probably don't want to know who defeated Ding Chunqiu."

Sikong Zhaixing was stunned for a moment. He really didn't know that. Lu Xiaofeng didn't ask, so he assumed that Hua Manlou was the one who did it. It seemed like there was more to the story.

Indeed, Ding Chunqiu has wreaked havoc on the martial arts world for decades, yet no one has ever heard of him having any rivals under his Huagong Dafa (Dissolving Power Technique).

"If it wasn't Hua Manlou, who else came that day?"

He subconsciously assumed that someone else was helping him and voiced his doubts. Then he saw Lu Yusheng slowly extend his right hand and point it at him.

"……you?"

You can't blame him for being suspicious.

“You don’t need to be so vain in front of me.” After thinking for a moment, Sikong Zhaixing encouraged her again: “Of course, the fact that you survived Ding Chunqiu unscathed is already much better than those who were poisoned and injured.”

"One sentence managed to discredit two people at the same time, Hagistar, you really are..."

Having said that, Lu Yusheng was afraid that if he didn't clarify things, this rare moment of glory would slip away, so he casually recounted the events of that day to him.

The security camera footage at the entrance could still be played back, but to avoid making it unclear what supernatural forces were involved, she only gave a simple verbal explanation.

Remembering that she had mentioned a secret weapon sent from her family when she advised them to focus on investigating the case, Lu Yusheng tried to describe it in that direction during the explanation.

"Your family's unique mechanical skills are truly amazing..."

When Sikong Zhaixing heard that the deep pit at the entrance was actually created by a mechanism, his shock was palpable, and he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

Of course, it was because the soil froze in winter. Lu Yusheng tried to fill it in after two shovelfuls, but found it too difficult to dig, so he didn't let her see it. Otherwise, she would have cleaned it up so that there wouldn't be any trace of her struggle.

Sikong Zhaixing seemed to have thought of this as well, and suddenly sighed and said, "Never mind, I'll find a way to fill that hole for you tomorrow."

Unexpectedly, his tone changed so quickly. Lu Yusheng had just opened his mouth to thank him when he was stopped by him waving his hand: "Master Lu, don't be so polite with me. I will have to rely on you a lot in the future. There is no other mechanism in the entire Central Plains martial arts world that can seriously injure Ding Chunqiu."

Even firearms that have been introduced from the West in recent years are difficult to load, have slow bullet velocity, and are extremely prone to barrel explosions, so even second- or third-rate experts are rarely injured by them.

"So, where is the gift? My ears are killing me."

Because he had already put on the device, and Lu Yusheng was talking to him, he had to shift the earphones a little to hear clearly. His ears were pinched for a long time and it was really uncomfortable.

"Ahem—" Lu Yusheng covered his mouth with one hand, turned his head and coughed lightly. His eyes darted around and he suddenly seemed a little embarrassed to look at him, but he still said, "The gift is already in your hands. Wear it and I'll tell you how to look at it."

Sikong Zhaixing initially thought she was going to give him these gaming devices. Although he was quite interested in them, he couldn't charge them if he took them out, so he would have to leave them here to use them.

Just as I was pondering this, I vaguely heard a voice in my ear: "Turn on the sensor on your hand, and reach out to tap the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner of your vision."

After identifying the source of the sound, he subconsciously did as instructed: "I clicked it, and then what?"

"Click on the word 'Define Self' in the second line, and then click on the first icon inside."

After completing this step, Sikong Zhaixing, with her considerable gaming experience, was ready to answer: "Then 'enter the game,' right?"

"Yes...you know how to read from the left, right?"

Sikong Zhaixing suddenly felt that her intelligence had been subtly insulted. After all, they had watched so many plays made up of comic strips together. If she still couldn't get used to the reading order, then she was truly hopeless.

But the words of rebuttal lingered in his throat and ultimately remained unspoken.

Because the very next second after the new map successfully loaded, the pure white initial interface he was on suddenly changed.

He had visited this game room many times, and played all the games downloaded on his device many times. During the period when he was most obsessed with it, he not only played them himself, but also dragged Lu Yusheng to play with him and compete with her.

But of all the games he's played, none of them have given Sikong Zhaixing such a special feeling as this.

What he saw in his field of vision was the room he was currently in. The first-person perspective allowed him to clearly see that all the facilities in the room had been replicated one-to-one.

The only flaw is probably the game's modeling style, which is not realistic enough and still looks slightly different from reality.

Without being prompted, he took the initiative to try moving and exploring.

Stepping out of the room, one enters a corridor, just like in reality. With a thought, Sikong Zhaixing went to his most familiar room, his own.

Lu Yusheng personally wiped every tile here and personally mopped every floorboard. To replicate it one-to-one in the game was not difficult for her, except for being a bit tedious.

It's hard to describe the feeling; it's as if two worlds have merged at this moment.

He went into several rooms in a row, and after seeing all the new things, he went downstairs.

The view outside was no longer the forest I had walked through so many times; instead, a sky full of stars and a beach with waves filled the scene before my eyes.

Following the floating arrow forward and ascending the heavenly ladder, as you gradually approach the starry sky and look down, the familiar building appears much smaller compared to its surroundings.

Sikong Zhaixing held out his palm and compared it; well, it was only about the size of his fist.

The program wasn't over yet when suddenly a spark flashed past his eyes. He instinctively followed it, and then countless bright lights rose into the sky and exploded in the night sky not far away.

It's fireworks.

It bursts into a dazzling display against the backdrop of a starry night before fading away, creating a sky full of special effects and the crackling sound of fireworks.

Sikong Zhaixing wondered if he could get a closer look, so he tried to move a couple of steps, but unfortunately, his position was the best viewing angle that Lu Yusheng had preset, and once he got there, he no longer had the right to operate.

Once he realized he couldn't change his position, he stopped struggling and simply stayed put, watching quietly. He even slowed down the frequency of his blinking.

The final burst of fireworks didn't dissipate with the end of the sound; instead, it pieced together the characters she had painstakingly painstakingly extracted using a mouse over five or six days.

【Sikong Zhaixing, let's make up.】

This time, Lu Yusheng didn't peek at the progress on his phone in the background; he waited nervously for the other party's reaction.

To be honest, she experienced the map herself when it was finished.

—It's really rustic.

She even felt that her behavior was a bit old-fashioned, and it even had the feel of a programmer proposing marriage.

Then, to prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings, she replaced all the flowers that had been placed on the map with coconut trees, which fortunately didn't look too out of place against the beach background.

What was originally written as a few words of blessing was changed to a plea for reconciliation after he left without saying goodbye.

Finally, the other person covered their face and quit the game.

He really didn't say it was corny, and Lu Yusheng was initially a little happy, but the next second he heard—

"Aren't you childish?"

Her face darkened, but before she could speak, she saw the other person's serious expression suddenly soften: "I'm not angry anymore."

"real?!"

So the slight anger and embarrassment in his heart quickly dissipated, and he asked again, "So are you still leaving for the New Year?"

Judging by the length of his stay, this place had almost become his second home. Sikong Zhaixing was reluctant to leave, but at the exit, he still said fiercely, "I had nowhere else to go anyway, so you have to take me in."

Lu Yusheng naturally agreed. He wanted to ask something more, but then he remembered the unpleasantness from before and kept quiet.

Judging from how calm he is now, he must have figured it out by now, right?

Thinking this, she held back her words and happily prepared to leave.

Only Sikong Zhaixing, reluctantly clutching the headphones she had just taken off, couldn't resist putting them back on in the end.

Lu Yusheng felt relieved and, feeling sleepy, yawned and headed out. When he turned back, he saw that Lu Yusheng seemed to be preparing to play another game, so he didn't stop him. He just raised his voice a little to remind him, "Don't forget to turn off the lights when you leave."

The sound was barely audible through the headphones, but he still responded with a low "Mm".

But when I returned to that scene, my heart, which had returned to calm, couldn't help but ripple.

Although she didn't know how this game, which was clearly tailor-made for him, was created... she wished she could devote all her attention to him like this in the future.

——————

Lu Xiaofeng arrived six days later than Sikong Zhaixing, and he was accompanied by two other people.

Once he could clearly see the figure of the young man in white, Lu Yusheng belatedly scrolled back through the messages on the communicator one by one.

During this time, Chu Liuxiang and the others also inquired about the situation here. The conversations had been accumulating for several days, which made it quite difficult for her to translate them.

When he saw the message from Lu Xiaofeng informing him that he had already set off and returned, his current location was clearly marked as "Wanmei Manor".

Cool Guy hadn't been here in so long that she was already desensitized to the place name. At the time, she was only concerned about Hua Manlou's health and didn't ask any more questions.

Now, seeing this aloof swordsman whom she had boasted about so much, she vaguely recalled those slightly hazy memories and smiled again as she went to greet him.