There was a long queue in the audience passage at this time. Xie Mingzhe followed Tang Muzhou and turned a corner to the backstage passage. There were many reporters squatting here to take pictures. Tang Muzhou did not rush in and asked Xie Mingzhe to hide aside.

A moment later, Xue Linxiang, the agent of Fenghua Club, arrived, followed by Xu Changfeng and Shen An. Reporters rushed forward to interview the two players. Tang Muzhou took advantage of the fact that no one was around, grabbed Xie Mingzhe's wrist, and quickly slipped into the venue.

Xie Mingzhe's face was a little embarrassed, and his wrist, which was held by the man's slender fingers, seemed to be getting hotter and hotter.

Fortunately, Tang Muzhou quickly let him go and took him to the backstage from the side.

Reporters were not allowed to enter the backstage preparation area. Tang Muzhou pushed the door open and saw Xu Changfeng drinking coffee and Shen An playing a very simple elimination game on a computer.

Seeing Tang Muzhou walking in with a young man, they both raised their heads at the same time, their faces full of confusion.

Tang Muzhou introduced with a smile: "This is my junior fellow apprentice, the fat uncle in the game, just call him Xiao Xie."

"Puff!" Xu Changfeng spat out a mouthful of coffee and coughed desperately. Shen An looked at Xie Mingzhe curiously, tilted his head and thought for a while, then walked up to Xie Mingzhe with a smile: "Hello, Junior Master Uncle!"

"...Ahem, hello." Xie Mingzhe was not yet accustomed to the title "Junior Master".

"These are Xu Changfeng and Shen An. Sister Xue, you should have met them before." Tang Muzhou introduced them in a low voice in his junior's ear.

"Hello, God of Wind, hello, Sister Xue." Xie Mingzhe greeted politely.

"Hello, Fatty." Xu Changfeng looked at the handsome boy in front of him with a half-smile, "I didn't expect you to look like this in real life. You are so different from the one in the game."

"Hehe, it's just a random character created in the game." Xie Mingzhe explained awkwardly, touching his nose.

"...I think I've seen you before!" Xue Linxiang walked over in high heels and looked Xie Mingzhe up and down. "Is it the time when Xiao Tang invited the league's greats to dinner, you and Chen Xiao were together, and we also went to that hotel to eat. Have we met in the elevator?"

"Yes, Sister Xue." Xie Mingzhe also remembered the chance encounter in the hotel. Xue Linxiang jogged after Chen Xiao to the elevator, but Brother Chen brushed it off by saying "I recognized the wrong person." At that time, he didn't know Chen Xiao's true identity.

"I didn't expect you to be Fatty!" Xue Linxiang couldn't believe it. It took her a long time to catch her breath. After a while, she turned around and glared at Tang Muzhou, "Xiao Tang, have you been hiding this from us? When did he become your junior fellow apprentice?"

"Not long ago." Tang Muzhou smiled and glanced at Xie Mingzhe, saying, "After all, he made a lot of cards targeting major clubs. If I bring him to see you, I'm afraid you will attack him personally."

"..." Xue Linxiang really wanted to beat up the fat uncle, but when she saw the handsome boy with a smile on his face in front of her, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Okay, you guys go ahead, I'll take him to the stage." Tang Muzhou gently put his arm around his junior's shoulders and turned to leave. Xue Linxiang hurriedly reminded him, "There are a lot of contestants backstage, and Lao Nie and Xiao Lan are both on the refereeing side, be careful not to bump into them."

"I know." Tang Muzhou waved his hand and left with Xie Mingzhe.

After the two men left, Xue Linxiang rubbed her temples with a headache and said, "I never thought that Fatty Uncle would be a handsome young man. He named himself 'Fat Uncle'. Isn't this too misleading?"

Xu Changfeng stroked his chin and said with a half-smile: "When Muzhou told me last night, I didn't quite believe it. But when I saw it today, it was indeed... surprising."

Xue Linxiang frowned with some worry: "Is it my illusion? Xiao Tang seems to be... very protective of this junior brother?"

Xu Changfeng said: "This is not an illusion."

Xue Linxiang was stunned for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a knock on the door. Someone from the organizer walked in and said, "Master Changfeng, the competition will start in ten minutes. Please get ready as soon as possible."

***

Tang Muzhou took his junior fellow apprentice to the VIP room.

This is an independent private room suspended above the stadium. They are the only two sitting inside, so they don't have to worry about being discovered. There are many such suspended rooms around, which should be provided for club players and local tycoons to watch the game.

The view here is excellent, as you can overlook the entire venue and face the large holographic screen for live broadcast.

In fact, you can also buy tickets in the game to watch the live broadcast in Phoenix Star Domain. The effect of watching the live broadcast with a helmet is almost the same as watching it in person, and the ticket price is cheaper. Those who come to watch it in person should all be die-hard fans. The whole place was packed, and it was obvious that there were many die-hard fans of both players in today's game.

Tang Muzhou leaned close to his junior brother's ear and whispered, "Changfeng's opponent today is Shao Dongyang from the Referee Club."

"One of the four major players in the Judgement, the one who is good at the beast siege strategy?"

"Yes. The most popular judges are Nie Yuandao and Shanlan, but Shao Dongyang is also very strong. He is a low-key person and rarely shows up. His fighting style is different from that of Lao Nie. Lao Nie likes to use beasts and rush, while Shao Dongyang is a beast summoner."

"Beast summoning?" Xie Mingzhe was a little curious, "The wolf king summons the wolves, and the lion king summons the lions?"

"Almost. The pack's fighting style is more brutal and violent."

"Who do you think will win between Xu Changfeng's acceleration flow and Shao Dongyang's beast summoning?"

"The winning rate is 50-50," Tang Muzhou analyzed. "Changfeng has the strength to compete for the championship this season, but the referees Shanlan and Shao Dongyang also have the strength. No top players in the professional league will have an absolute chance of winning when facing each other. It all depends on their performance on the field."

The applause and screams outside almost blew the roof off, and even in the private room one could feel the heated atmosphere.

In order to let his junior fellow apprentice hear clearly, Tang Muzhou would always whisper in his ear. The man's voice was originally deep and pleasant, a timbre that was enough to make one's ears pregnant, and his tone was very gentle. He always whispered in his ear, and the hot breath he exhaled brushed against his ear itchyly...

The ears are Xie Mingzhe's most sensitive part. After a few times, he couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted to turn around and tell his senior brother to stop chatting and concentrate on watching the game. However, as soon as he turned around, Tang Muzhou came over to talk to him.

The man's lips kissed Xie Mingzhe's ear firmly.

Xie Mingzhe: “………………”

Tang Muzhou: “…………”

The room immediately became quiet, and an eerie atmosphere filled the air.

Xie Mingzhe's heart was beating like a drum and the tips of his ears were red. The scorching heat from the other person seemed to be burning his whole body.

Tang Muzhou was also in a bad mood. He leaned over to talk, purely to let his junior fellow hear more clearly. He did not expect Xie Mingzhe to suddenly turn around, and did not expect that he would kiss the boy's ear. The soft touch of the ear was still vaguely lingering on his lips. Tang Muzhou swallowed his saliva, and suddenly a strange impulse arose in his heart.

What would it feel like to kiss him on the lips?

Tang Muzhou's eyes swept over Xie Mingzhe's lips. The boy seemed a little embarrassed, his lips slightly pursed, and the natural light pink color was almost tempting... No, I can't think about it anymore.

Tang Muzhou took a deep breath, quickly gathered his thoughts, and said, "I'm sorry."

Xie Mingzhe blushed and stammered, "No, it's okay, let's watch the game."

Just at this moment the big screen lit up, and the appearance of the official commentary eased the embarrassment of the two.

A man and a woman dressed in formal professional suits came to the commentary booth. The girl with a neat ponytail said with a smile: "Good evening, audience friends. This is the scene of the 10th Professional League Individual Tournament of the Star Card Alliance. I am the commentator Lin Zhi."

The handsome man in a suit next to him said, "I am the commentator Tan Shaoning."

"Tonight is the final round of the individual competition, the knockout match of 16 to 8. The two players are Xu Changfeng from Fenghua Club and Shao Dongyang from the Judge Club!"

"Both great players have the potential to win the championship. It's unlucky that they met in the round of 16. However, the round of 16 is a double-elimination match. The players who lose today can still participate in the loser's resurrection match, so it's not completely hopeless."

"We can see that during the audience voting stage before the game, Xu Changfeng and Shao Dongyang both had 50% support, which shows that the two players are equally matched. This game should be very exciting, and it can be said to be at the level of the finals!"

After hearing this, Xie Mingzhe finally understood why his senior brother suddenly asked him to watch the game.

A match between two equally matched masters who have the potential to win the championship will definitely be more interesting than a match between some unknown players, and it will also allow him to carefully find the gap in consciousness between himself and the masters.

He had been busy making cards for some time, and before he knew it, he had reached the final round of the 10th season's individual competition.

He remembered that when the new season started on August 10, he was still a rookie who had just entered the game and had never paid attention to the competition. Later, he occasionally saw people discussing on the Internet that there were hundreds of professional players who signed up for this year's individual competition. After layers of screening, only 64 entered the final round, less than one-tenth of the total, and the competition was quite fierce.

Now is the third round of the finals, the top 8 from 16. The players who have reached this stage are already at the top of the league.

After a brief analysis, the commentator invited the contestants to come out.

Xu Changfeng and Shao Dongyang shook hands in a friendly manner, then sat on the swivel chairs and put on helmets.

The characters of the two were projected on the screen, exactly like real people - the league stipulated that players could not modify their character images at will during the competition, so as to avoid the appearance of a bunch of strange grandfathers and children that would bring psychological shadows to their opponents.

In official competitions, players participate using their own images and names. Players' characters will not be harmed during the competition. Instead, they observe their own cards from a bird's eye view, taking in the overall situation and manipulating the cards to fight.

Listening to the enthusiastic applause from the audience, Xie Mingzhe's blood was aroused. He couldn't help but get excited when he thought that one day in the future he would be able to come to this large venue and compete with masters.

He was so excited that he couldn't help but look back at Tang Muzhou, but happened to meet Tang Muzhou's gentle gaze.

Brother, have you been looking at him all this time?

Xie Mingzhe was stunned for a moment, thinking of the scene where he was kissed on the ear just now, his face was burning with anger again, so he had to find a topic to break the awkward silence: "Did you make Xu Changfeng's plant card for him, senior brother?"

Tang Muzhou smiled and said, "He did it himself, and I gave him some guidance."

Xie Mingzhe said, "You have won the doubles championship, so you must have a good rapport, right?"

It was just an unintentional compliment, but to Tang Muzhou, it sounded like he was bothered by the fact that "the two of them are too compatible." Tang Muzhou looked at him tenderly and explained in a low voice: "We are just friends and partners, nothing else."

"..." What does this explanation mean? Is it necessary to explain to me what your relationship with him is?

"Xu Changfeng is a talent I discovered, and I was the one who brought him into the Professional Alliance." Tang Muzhou continued to explain, "My relationship with him is like your relationship with Xiao Ke. You and Yu Ke are just friends, right?"

"Well, yes." Xie Mingzhe smiled dryly and touched his nose.

The conversation between the two of them was getting weirder and weirder. If I had known, I would have watched the game at home wearing a helmet. They were just watching the game together, but it turned out to be like a date. Not only did I end up in the arms of my senior, but he even kissed me on the ear. It was simply...

Xie Mingzhe was feeling uneasy, as he felt the temperature in the private room was getting higher and higher.

He wants to run away, but is it too late?

The author has something to say:

They are both very innocent and are each other's first love. Do you smell a hint of sweetness? :)