Chapter 55 Online Dating 22

As the top influencer in Endless Journey, any small thing that happens around Lai Si can spark several hot discussions on the game forum, making him the most influential influencer. The love-hate relationship between the master and his apprentices, which is most loved by the gossip crowd, is always on the homepage. Even though the people of the past are now history, players still enjoy analyzing every word and sentence about the things that Lai Si and his apprentices had to say.

Before the falling petals, the stiff meeting between Feng Tingbu and Lai Si, and the rebellious disciple's uncontrollable concern for his master were the dramas they loved to watch; after the falling petals, the homepage was filled with mourning and condemnation, and digging up dirt and exposing personal details.

Now, when casual observers click into the forum, they find that the homepage has changed its topic for the first time ever.

Li Tao, what is the purpose of mg's recent return to the market?

Where is it? It's meant to be nice!

This guy isn't an A anymore, yet he's doing sit-ups? I look down on him!

Who cares if you look up to him? mg just needs to be nice to him.

I just gave it a light tap, and then mg, you should just get lost. There's no place for you in my life anymore.

This guy is really something else. He tried to run into another player in a high-intensity match in PUBG, and he actually got lucky and ran into one. Dude, you should be careful when you go out.

Before reminiscing about old times, he specifically sniped the British dog.

But that was a great shot! Although I don't like either of those two amazing players, lol.

Why doesn't anyone like the slower pace of the past? In my memory, he was perfectly normal before his madness. Back then, you were even relieved, saying that after all the hardships, you finally found a normal disciple. His later madness is hard to judge, but he managed to stop the damage in time; the impact wasn't as great as Feng Ting or Qingmeijiu's. My biggest impression of him is that he was a very talkative male college student, a complete "Master Bao" type. He went crazy after graduating and couldn't find a job… I totally understand the job market situation.

The most normal one is Xiaoxiong Xiexie. He immediately confessed to Laisi after noticing the change in their feelings, straightforward and honest. Even after being rejected, he didn't pester her. That's the dignity of a grown man. Unlike you, Man, who secretly undermines others and monopolizes his master. How many things have you done behind the scenes? If I hadn't heard he had just graduated and was looking for a job, I would have thought he was still a primary school student.

Normal people vent their emotions in games, at most killing people and getting a red name. Who would be a good person like him, saying one thing to someone's face and another behind their back, bullying his master and good buddies, and ambushing his master's suitors? He said he couldn't find a job at the time, but judging from his attitude of spending all his time in games, he had plenty of time.

He sounds like a sunny person, but his methods are a bit sinister. He seems like the kind of guy who would secretly betray you with a smile. It's pretty creepy.

The most wronged player was Yibeijiu. He wasn't bothering Laisi; he was just expressing his affection normally, and MG chased him down and killed him. He couldn't play the game normally at all and was killed so many times that he almost quit the game.

Did you come back later?

As we chatted, the person involved spoke up: I'm not the one who gossiped behind my back, but things were really strange before. He told Lai Si that he had already apologized to the people who were affected, right? Actually, he just mailed me a gift box with the contents of a pre-made template. He unilaterally forgave me without even asking for my opinion. That's quite interesting.

: Can someone open an account for the first few posts? I seriously suspect that these are paid trolls hired by MG. MG only speaks nicely to Lai Si and the people around Lai Si. When has MG ever been normal? I had the pleasure of teaming up with this person once before. Heh, they treated me like an NPC.

Someone who can't tell the acting is really deserving of a re-enactment. [Disdain]

Hey, don't be fooled, Bao! He's never reformed; he's up to no good!

Actually, I've already been scammed. There was no mg, but there was YG. I've been crying the whole time. Lai Si, you silly little thing! [crying]

Who is actually dating these naive, innocent, rich, and beautiful women?

mg is a pretty shady guy. I seriously suspect that if it weren't for the good protection he received from his family, he would have been taken offline long ago. Maybe this guy was frustrated with his job search and thought of finding a prostitute.

Just say it.

Thank you.

The person upstairs described it in such detail, did they already think about this? Don't try to shift the blame to mg [disdainful].

Um, if we went to meet in person, what would your reaction be? Would he still call my name softly and talk to me? I'm just curious.

You'd better just be curious.

Relax. Lai Si is now protected by Luo Ying, so she's no pushover either. Let's see who wins in this battle.

If you can beat YG, your methods will be miles ahead of MG's. The one who isn't loved is the loser!

What a weird pinyin! But Ying Gou and YG are just as shameless. Wishing you 99 (a lucky number in China), and I'll gladly accept your gift [laughs].

I'm so worried about coming to Sibao, with wolves in front and tigers behind! [starry-eyed]

Baby, what did you give me to drink? It's so hot! (covers head) (looks uncomfortable) (Baby, stay away from me!) (grabs) (Where do you think you're going?) (dazed and confused) Brother, turn around, it's normal for it to hurt a little. *thump thump thump thump*

:unbelievable

Private message me on WeChat for photos and audio of a famous player from the first server. Come join now!

: 11111

The mouse hovered over the upper right corner of the screen, the webpage closed, and jellyfish swam across the computer desktop. The deep blue screen light reflected in his once light-colored pupils, giving him a cold, bestial appearance.

After a moment of silence, I slowly reopened the forum and searched using "fallen petals" and related terms and abbreviations as keywords. Starting from the first link that popped up, I clicked on each one and checked each post.

The thief who took advantage of the situation had an even worse reputation than him; related posts were either sarcastic or contained negative speculation.

Lai Si's protection was the best catalyst, amplifying the malice hidden in the network into a raging fire—in the game forum, mocking Luo Ying was considered trolling, and even an objective statement without any stance would be attacked as long as it was seen as whitewashing Luo Ying.

But it is precisely because of Lai Si’s unwavering protection and indulgence that the inferior thief disregards the gap and attacks, and flaunts the stolen title all the time.

Long Man had wondered countless times what it was about Luo Ying that made Lai Si so tolerant: his mediocre wealth, his gender hidden behind a voice changer, and his deliberately flamboyant methods. What was it that made Lai Si decide to accept him?

The more I think about it, the less I get an answer.

Now he no longer pondered, because all he needed to do was let Luo Ying slink away from Endless Return like a stray dog, and he wouldn't have to care about the answer.

A smile flickered in her light-colored pupils, but it was a disdainful sneer.

Switching from the previous WeChat account to another one, under the pinned account, a gray rat avatar kept popping up with new messages.

The latest message shows...

Oreo: This is Luoying, right? Boss, don't worry, I'm reliable, you'll be satisfied! I guarantee I'll beat this little bastard to a pulp! [Sunglasses][Sunglasses]

Oreo: Don't you trust me to do things? [smug]

Oreo: The account is all set up here, we'll process it for him right away.

...

Lu Xuejin is currently renovating the shared home that belongs exclusively to Lai Si and Yuan Ying.

[System]: Your Daoist partner was brutally murdered in Dangyun Mountain.

Lu Xuejin paused in dragging the furniture and ornaments, and seeing that Mai Li and Yuan Ying had no reaction, she lowered her head and continued to fiddle with them.

Endless Return just received a new batch of futuristic-style furniture, and Lu Xuejin, after joining all-in, plans to renovate her homestead and change the decor. These past few days, besides her daily dungeon runs, she's been engrossed in modifying her homestead layout, constantly experimenting and making mistakes.

[System]: Your Daoist partner was brutally murdered in Dangyun Mountain.

Another reminder.

Lu Xuejin released the mouse and stared at the system notification bar. Sure enough, a minute later, the kill notification popped up again, and then repeated several times.

In a short period of time, Yuan Ying was killed six times.

This was by no means an accident; someone had come prepared.

"What's wrong?" Lu Xuejin didn't want to close the editor and rush to the crime scene, so she asked.

Yuan Ying calmly replied, "It's nothing."

In the somber scene, the female character in Heavenly Robe lay alone on the ground, surrounded by several low-level characters wearing gifted outfits. They wouldn't give him time to return to town; as soon as the resurrection countdown ended, they would immediately use Resurrection Incense to revive him on the spot, and then kill him. The combo was fluid and perfectly coordinated, clearly a routine operation.

He was familiar with being ambushed and killed. Ever since Lu Xuejin ganged up on him at Tiannv Mountain, Yuan Ying had been frequently on the verge of death. However, after he and Lu Xuejin became Daoist partners, due to the reputation and strength of the number one god, as well as the group of battle maniacs in the heavens, very few people dared to do it openly anymore.

Calmly waiting for the resurrection countdown to end, and taking advantage of the brief moment between their use of the Resurrection Incense, Yuan Ying used lightning-fast reflexes to return to his homestead. His personal homestead was desolate, without any signs of renovation. During the teleportation countdown, Yuan Ying reviewed his actions and pondered the situation.

The alt account that killed him was level 90, a level that could be reached by completing the main quest in a day. Aside from the priceless Wind and Thunder Orb that killed him, its equipment was ordinary; its weapons and costumes were cheap items given away by the system. Coupled with its strict discipline and efficient, meticulous methods, it reminded him of the assassin organization that operated amidst the bloodshed of Endless Chapters.

There was no bounty on his head in the system, and a search on forums and other platforms yielded no results.

Yuan Ying's intuition told her that this sudden ambush might be related to a dead person who had suddenly come back to life from the ground.

However, there's no need to worry about these things now. The old man wasn't a threat; he was just annoying because he always flaunted his title and constantly referred to himself as "Master Lai Si." Aside from being annoying and hiring someone to commit murder, he had no means to shake his relationship with Lai Si.

If you are worried and anxious about this, and go crazy trying to find the mastermind behind it, you will be playing right into his hands—he has just taken office and is too busy to deal with these trivial matters to have time to settle down with Lai Si.

He wouldn't be so stupid as to pass on his negative emotions to Lai Si.

You should know that his relationship with Lai Si wasn't a normal romantic one...

One day, the old man will realize how ridiculous these actions were.

As soon as the teleportation CD finished, Yuan Ying teleported to Lu Xuejin's side.

"You're back just in time! Come and see where this cycad would be more suitable to be placed?" Lu Xuejin dragged the cycad left and then right, and Yuan Ying carefully distinguished the difference between the two positions before saying, "The right side will look more harmonious."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuejin placed the iron tree on the left.

Yuan Ying immediately changed her tune: "It does look better on the left. Sigh, my judgment is terrible, I can only rely on you, baby."

On several occasions afterward, whenever Yuan Ying was alone, different alt accounts would appear and swarm him to kill him. He didn't care at all, continuing to act as if he were in a romantic relationship, and even typing after being knocked down, "That's too much, I'll call my romantic partner to beat you up," aiming to seize every opportunity to show off his affection and provoke his opponents.

Several people around the world, envious of the immense wealth from hiring a hitman, knelt down and begged desperately: "Which young master or young lady is so powerful? I'll help you kill Luo Ying! Please put up a bounty. Hiring hitmen is too expensive. I'm the cheapest. I'll kill Luo Ying until she quits the game for two hundred jade!"

Still no one claimed it, and no one offered a reward. No one dared to openly oppose Lai Si.

Seeing the discussions in the world chat, Lu Xuejin asked with a curious smile, "Who did you offend?"

Yuan Ying: "He's a boring person. Ignore him."

The endless stream of assassins is really disgusting. It's not easy to deal with them openly, so Yuan Ying decided to annoy them instead. She posted a message in the guild chat and asked weakly, "I've been targeted for assassination these past few days. I don't know who it is. They're really sick. Should I switch to a stronger character? I feel so bad for always having to trouble my baby to protect me."

Gou Si Che Hua chuckled dryly and said, "Alright, as a healer, all you need to do is play defensively and keep healing yourself. If you can't beat others, can't you at least protect yourself?"

“I used the Wind and Thunder Spear, but I can’t dodge it,” Yuan Ying said quietly, looking at the gray screen. “I’m dead again.”

"Change your cultivation method, but all Heavenly Garments must remain ruthless!"

Gou Si casually said, "Let's call Lai Si to pick you up."

Yuan Ying smiled and said in an affectionate tone, "He went to eat, let's not disturb him."

Slowly in the past: "..."

"Heh." Gou Si chuckled awkwardly, "Then we can only wait to die."

...

When Lu Xuejin came downstairs, the dining table was already full of hot and cold dishes. The usually quiet table was unusually quiet, but Gu Zeyu sat down early. He had apparently returned from the company sometime earlier than usual. He had taken off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt to his collarbone. Gu Zeyu was relaxed, but his eyes were fixed on Lu Xuejin.

"Come quickly. Zhang Ma specially made squirrel-shaped mandarin fish today." Gu Zeyu smiled.

Lu Xuejin: "Brother, aren't you working overtime today?"

Gu Zeyu is busy almost every day. When Lu Xuejin gets up in the morning, he has already finished the morning meeting at the company; at night, he doesn't hear the sound of returning vehicles entering the basement until almost midnight.

Gu Zeyu placed a large piece of fish into his bowl: "That's about right."

Actually, when he left, there was still a stack of documents waiting for his review on his desk, and dozens of emails waiting for him to communicate. Gu Zeyu pushed aside his heavy workload and went home, not for anything else, but because of his assistant's report from a few days ago—his younger brother had actually gotten married in the game and had a partner.

Gu Zeyi wasn't an old-fashioned person; he paid close attention to the trends of young people. He had played quite a few games and naturally understood what the marriage system in MMOs was like. Perhaps it was for the reward of finding a partner, or perhaps it was just a momentary whim... In short, fake marriages were the least valuable, prone to breakups and reconciliations, and not very serious.

There's absolutely no need to pay too much attention to it.

Even the assistant thought it was nothing, except that the person was a bit special. But could Luo Ying really go on a date with the young master in person? There was a cold-faced big boss at home watching over him. Even if Luo Ying was out of his mind and didn't realize the difference between him and the young master, the boss would bring him back to his senses.

On the contrary, if they were to jump out and break up the couple, the more opposition they faced, the deeper their feelings would become. Luo Ying would then take the opportunity to ensnare the young master, leaving his boss helpless.

Gu Zeyu thought the same thing, but when he was working and listening to his subordinates' reports, his thoughts would always involuntarily wander to his younger brother, wondering what kind of relationship he had with his partner, the voice changer guy, how they got along in the game, and whether the other party would flirt with his younger brother using vulgar language.

This seriously affected work efficiency. Gu Zeyu endured it for a few days, but he couldn't help but abandon everything and return home. Sitting across from the other person at the dinner table, he casually mentioned the game that the project team was developing.

“Recently, when we worked on the marriage system, the copywriter and the person in charge argued in my office for several days. One said that in order to create a differentiated competitive advantage, we should raise the threshold; the other said that you are talking nonsense, everyone does it this way.” Gu Zeyu lied clumsily, and looked into Lu Xuejin’s eyes with feigned helplessness, “Xiaobao, you play more games, help your brother give some advice.”

Then, with a nonchalant air, he said, "I heard you also got married in the game, so you should have some experience with that."

The hand gripping the chopsticks tightened silently, the veins on the back of the hand bulging. Gu Zeyu earnestly reminded her, "If you're dating someone, treat her well and don't play with her feelings."

Lu Xuejin bit her chopsticks, the lingering sweet and sour sauce flavor in her mouth.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she glanced at him and said, "Ultimately, it's just a game. Some people don't take it seriously, while others do. As officials, we shouldn't be so complacent. My suggestion is to improve the monitoring system to prevent criminals from committing fraud. I don't want to see our family's name on legal news one day."

As for Yuan Ying, he didn't mention her at all.

Gu Zeyu's hand, hidden under the table, clenched tightly: "Baby, if you want to date, remember to communicate properly with Shen Fangzhi. You must remember that you are still engaged."

"Brother, didn't you say it would be lifted?" Lu Xuejin muttered casually as she focused on picking out fish. "He's still studying abroad. Let's wait for him to come back to China."

After finishing his meal, he went back upstairs to continue the renovation of the manor, while keeping in touch with Yuan Ying via voice chat.

After saving the barely satisfactory first draft, Lu Xuejin checked her phone and found several messages from someone she hadn't saved as a contact.

Upon clicking through, Lu Xuejin's eyes welled up with emotion, and she clicked her tongue in a very bad mood.

"What's wrong, baby?" Yuan Ying asked immediately.

Lu Xuejin sent him screenshots of these messages and said calmly, "This guy surnamed Fang is the third young master of the construction tycoon family. You should have heard of him. I don't know what's gotten into him, but he keeps harassing me. He's constantly having affairs at the clubs near your school, and on the other hand, he comes to me to express his true feelings. Don't you find it ridiculous?"

Lu Xuejin sighed, her voice tinged with distress and a vague, pointed tone: "I've deleted him several times, and rejected him both openly and subtly many times, but this person seems not to understand human language. He's like a leech, clinging to me like a piece of pesky plaster. It's disgusting."

"How disgusting."

Lu Xuejin repeated it, her disgust for this person evident in her words, followed by soft, uncomfortable breathing. His body was weak after all, and he was easily affected by his emotions.

Yuan Ying stood up and hurriedly asked, "Baby, are you alright?"

Lu Xuejin calmed down after a while.

He replied softly, "It's alright, don't get agitated."

Yuan Yingcai sat down again.

"If only someone could sweep away this garbage from the Fang family," Lu Xuejin complained.

Specific names of people, and almost certain locations.

Yuan Ying's Adam's apple bobbed, her mind unable to find peace. Lu Xuejin's complaints and distress were like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples that spread outwards.

It was clearly an ordinary complaint, yet Yuan Ying, as if guided by a divine will, discerned an instruction between the lines.

A tingling sensation ran through my ears, as if someone were leaning on my shoulder, their warm breath brushing against my earlobe. A blurry figure was reflected on the computer screen—a young man with snow-white skin, brilliant blond hair, and bright blue eyes.

His smile resembled that of an angel, yet it revealed the sharp fangs that only a demon possesses.

No words were needed; just a faint smile possessed a magical power that seduced and compelled him. This feeling was captivating, and Yuan Ying relished it, yet it also felt familiar, as if long ago, he too had discerned hidden instructions in Lu Xuejin's words and then cleared away everything for him.

Yuan Ying's Adam's apple bobbed, and she involuntarily said, "How awful. Leave it to me."

Lu Xuejin's eyes curved into a joyful smile, her clear pupils sparkling with a pure, childlike light: "What can you do?"

"You don't need to worry about it, I've already deleted him."