Chapter 339: Not That Easy!

“What about you?”

Tian Lie sneered at Nicole and said, “An Awakened? To approach Chen Xiaolian’s guild, what is it you are hatching in your mind?”

After saying that, Tian Lie tossed away the cut off bottle of wine that he was holding. “Chen Xiaolian’s guild is not particularly strong. What could you get by approaching a guild like this? I am curious about this.”

Nicole suddenly took a step back. Narrowing her eyes, she then smiled and said, “It appears that the two of us have secrets that cannot be revealed. What should we do?”

Tian Lie shook his head and said, “It’s very simple actually. Why think too much into it? Killing you off is the best solution for me.”

“Ha ha ha!” Nicole laughed and stared at Tian Lie. “Are you confident that you can kill me?”

“No,” said Tian Lie with a surprisingly rational attitude as he shook his head. “It would appear that you are quite strong.”

“Likewise, you’re no slouch yourself.” Nicole suddenly put down the dagger. “I also do not have enough confidence in killing you.”

“Besides, if the two of us actually did come to blows, I fear that we will end up revealing our identities.” Tian Lie sighed. “If we wreaked havoc here, then when they come here tomorrow morning, they will most certainly become suspicious. It won’t matter if you kill me or if I kill you, the one who remains will have no way of explaining it to them.”

“Oh? So you mean to say… we’ll end it here for tonight?”

“What else?” Tian Lie laughed. “This is not the place for us to start a fight. However… we are both clear on one thing. Once the opportunity arises, we will think of some ways to get rid of each other.”

“I’m not going to let you have any opportunity to do so. And you had better not let me find an opportunity as well.” Nicole laughed and took a few steps back, putting a safe distance between her and Tian Lie. After that, she narrowed her eyes and said, “What a pity, I did not get to drink such a good wine, that wine… I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”

After saying that, she pointed at the broken pieces of the wine bottle that was on the floor and said, “Remember to clean everything up properly. Don’t let them find anything suspicious tomorrow.”

Tian Lie waved his hand and said, “Shoo! Shoo!”

…

A unit with three bedrooms and one living room, the two females stayed in one of the bedrooms, Arslan and Roddy in another while Chen Xiaolian and Xia Xiaolei stayed in the last bedroom.

At night, they all had a happy time drinking. Xia Xiaolei was very intrigued by Qimu Xi whom Chen Xiaolian had brought back with him – Chen Xiaolian and Roddy had gone out for a bit and came back with this little girl. That became a huge surprise for Xia Xiaolei. Naturally, he did not know about Chen Xiaolian and Roddy participating in a punishment instance dungeon.

Deep into the night, Chen Xiaolian looked at Xia Xiaolei who was playing with a mobile phone and smiled. He walked forward, patted the youngster and gestured, “I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“Mm?” Xia Xiaolei quickly jumped up and said, “What is it, Guild Leader?”

Chen Xiaolian regarded the room they were in and suddenly opened up the window. Then, he said, “Let’s go out.”

Seeing Chen Xiaolian crawling out of the window, Xia Xiaolei felt his curiosity piqued and he followed Chen Xiaolian.

The two youngsters crawled out of the window and climbed up the building like two Spidermen. They were able to reach the roof without facing much difficulties.

Chen Xiaolian sat down beside the roof eaves, both his legs dangling in the air. Then, he patted the spot beside him. “Come sit.”

Xia Xiaolei became very curious. He walked over and sat down before looking at Chen Xiaolian. “Guild Leader, what do you want to talk to me about?”

“Mm.” There was a troubled expression on Chen Xiaolian’s face as he regarded Xia Xiaolei. He suddenly pulled out a bottle of wine from his Storage Watch and handed it to Xia Xiaolei. “Want some?”

Xia Xiaolei smiled wryly and replied, “I’m not that good at drinking, you know that, Guild Leader.”

“You are not that young anymore. You’ll have to learn to do so eventually anyways. Come on.”

Xia Xiaolei clenched his teeth and accepted the bottle of wine. After taking in a big mouthful, he coughed violently.

“Ha ha ha! You must not drink so much in the beginning.” There was a complicated look in Chen Xiaolian’s eyes as he whispered, “Start with small sips to slowly familiarize yourself with the sharp and spicy taste. After a few more sips, you will be able to understand the wondrousness of the taste.”

He paused for a moment before continuing in a hushed tone, “Just like this damned life. As terrible as it may be, we will eventually forget about the hardships we faced and get addicted to life.”

“Guild Leader, you live up to your reputation as a writer and can talk about various things. Although I don’t quite get it… I feel that what you say is reasonable.”

After saying that, Xia Xiaolei creased his eyebrows as he sipped a few mouthfuls of the wine before handing the bottle back to Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian casually wiped the mouth of the bottle before taking a mouthful of wine himself. After that, he put down the bottle of wine beside him and said, “Xiaolei, there is this matter that I have been considering for a long time. In the end, I feel that I should still tell you about it. Otherwise, it would not be fair to you.”

“Eh?”

Chen Xiaolian looked at Xia Xiaolei, at his child like face and suddenly broke into a smile. “It’s good to be young.”

“Don’t say that, brother Xiaolian.” Xiaolian smiled. “You are just a few years older than me. Don’t talk like you are an old man.”

Chen Xiaolian gestured with his hand and said, “When you keep too many things inside your heart, your heart will grow older. All right, then, let’s not go off topic. I will be talking about something serious with you. Don’t say anything until I am done talking.”

“All right.” Xia Xiaolei was a little surprised.

“Truth be told, this trip that Roddy and I went on involved something special…”

Next, Chen Xiaolian used nearly one hour on the roof to tell Xia Xiaolei about his and Roddy’s adventure in America, their participation in the punishment instance dungeon and some of the matters regarding ‘Irregularities’.

Xia Xiaolei listened to what Chen Xiaolian had to say for one hour, during which he gaped as his heart roiled about in turmoil.

After Chen Xiaolian was done, Xia Xiaolei was unable to help himself from exclaiming, “In other words, you two managed to get a base of operations? Something like that Zero City? In the future, our guild will also have our own Zero City?!”

Chen Xiaolian revealed a wry smile and said, “Why are you getting so excited… is the base what you are concerned about? I am talking about the Irregularities here…”

“Sigh,” Xia Xiaolei sighed and looked at Chen Xiaolian. He whispered, “Guild leader, this is quite an unfortunate circumstance. When you put it that way, doesn’t that mean that you all only have one life? I mean, if a person like me dies inside the game, I have the chance to be resurrected to live again as an ordinary human. But you all…”

Chen Xiaolian whispered, “This is one of the main issues… the so-called resurrection of Awakened ones, from the way I see it, it might not necessarily be a real ‘resurrection’. Additionally, this is not the only difference between Awakened ones and Irregularities.”

Xia Xiaolei nodded his head. “Mm, there is the Exchange System. Ah, now that I think about it, no wonder each time you wanted to purchase something from the system, you would come to me to check on what is suitable. You actually do not have it.”

“Do you have no other thoughts on it?” Chen Xiaolian frowned and continued, “In essence, the existence of Irregularities is like… viruses. By killing either Awakened ones or Players, they can acquire the metal spheres and create more Irregularities.”

“Hey, what about it?” Xia Xiaolei was quite open-minded about it. “Even if you are not Irregularities, we Awakened ones will still have to kill other Awakened ones and Players. It has always been about killing each other.”

“You are quite an open-minded person.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. Then, his face turned serious. “However, there is one thing that you need to consider in detail.”

“What is it?”

“We are the partners selected by GM,” Chen Xiaolian said in a hushed tone. “This status may end up giving us some help as GM might give us some additional benefits. However… at the end of the day, it will lead us down a more dangerous path!”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian continued in a whisper, “Just like what I told you earlier… about Mr San and Bai Qi, our seniors, and also Kaiser and his Conqueror Guild members. These people must all have some sort of relation with GM back then… however, you can clearly see that their ending was not exactly satisfactory.

“The more we acquire, then we may also need to pay a higher price. The things we have to go through will also be more dangerous and the choices we have to make will be more difficult.”

Chen Xiaolian continued, “That is why I wanted to tell you about all these. So that you can make a choice.”

“Choice?” Xia Xiaolei was flustered.

“Do you still want to follow me?” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Perhaps by following me, the future will be one of no return. I fear that you will face even greater danger and will…”

“Sigh!” Xia Xiaolei suddenly laughed out and gestured with his hand. “Brother Xiaolian, you really do think too much.”

“Mm?”

There was a serious expression on Xia Xiaolei’s face as he said in a low tone, “I was originally a useless fellow…”

Seeing that Chen Xiaolian was about to say something, he quickly interjected, “Please listen to what I have to say first.”

Xia Xiaolei picked up the bottle of wine, took a gulp and ended up coughing out twice. Then, he continued in a whisper, “My skill can indeed be somewhat useful. However, if we are to look at it from a combat perspective, I am as weak as any other rookie. To be frank, I am too weak. Regardless of which guild I am in, someone like me would not be of much help in a fight. Take that Japan instance dungeon for example; if I was not together with you fellows, I would have died a hundred times over.

“The future would be harder? How much harder could it get?

“And that road of no return that you mentioned…”

Xia Xiaolei suddenly let out a sigh before continuing, “After getting sucked into this game, is there anyone of us who are not trapped in a road of no return? This road… is there an end? There is simply… none to begin with!”

A flicker flashed across Chen Xiaolian’s face.

“We are simply getting swept along the waves of this game. Depending on how the game progresses, we will have to enter one instance dungeon after another and risk our lives inside them… no one can know which way is the best. Or rather, there is simply no way! In the end, it is all about luck. Those with better luck will get to survive through more instance dungeons while those with inferior luck will die sooner.

“In the end, all of us are but powerless ants forced to live inside this ‘box’.

“To be talking about a road of no return is simply a joke.

“It doesn’t matter if you are an Awakened or an Irregularity, all of us have to walk down the same road, in the end… in the end, we would likely face the same future as well.

“Guild Leader, although I am still young, I am not a fool. I have already realized it long ago… my future will depend on my luck. I am at ease following you because I know that you are a good Guild Leader.

“By following a good Guild Leader, I might be able to live longer and better days.

“The future… the end… it’s simply to die off in an instance dungeon someday.

“In the end, death comes for everyone, no?”

Those words were a flat out fact. After hearing that, Chen Xiaolian felt his heart skip a beat. He looked at Xia Xiaolei and smiled wryly. “I did not expect that you would have thought so far into it.”

“That is simply how things are to begin with.” There was a faraway look in Xia Xiaolei’s eyes as he said, “Since getting sucked into this game and becoming an Awakened, I had secretly cried a few times. I would always wake up in the middle of the night with tears flowing out from my eyes.

“But… what could I do about it? In the end, it’s all about trying to last longer. If I can live longer, then I’ll live longer. It’s all up to luck. No matter how powerful of a master someone becomes, there will still come a time when death comes for them. The only difference between us is which instance dungeon gets to take our lives.

“What other end could we hope for?

“This ending had been set in stone long ago.”

After saying that, Xia Xiaolei looked at Chen Xiaolian and said solemnly, “Guild Leader, I’m thankful to you for telling me all these… for you to be telling me these shows your sincerity toward someone like me. You are a good Guild Leader! To be able to follow someone like you is a good fortune!

“As for the rest, I will not think on it. I will not change my mind and I will follow you until the end.”

Chen Xiaolian felt himself becoming moved and he said, “All right, since that is what you think, I am not going to spout any other nonsensical stuff. To say anything else would be hypocritical.

“Don’t worry, since you are willing to follow me, then I will certainly be a good Guild Leader. We will work hard together and while going through this damned game, survive!”

“That’s the right way of thinking!” Xia Xiaolei slapped his thigh and laughed. “Besides, we now have our own base! Our own Zero City! With that, we would have a life-saving refuge. We would become just like those guilds in Zero City and can avoid being selected by the system for instance dungeons! That is a huge advantage for us!

“I don’t want to leave such a good guild! Guild Leader! Even if you kick me away, I still won’t leave!”

The two of them exchanged glances and broke out laughing.

Xia Xiaolei drank a bit more of the wine and felt a little tipsy. Chen Xiaolian then patted him and said, “You go back first. I want to stay here alone for a bit to enjoy the wind.”

Xia Xiaolei giggled with inebriation for a bit before leaving.

After Xia Xiaolei had left, Chen Xiaolian sighed and whispered at the space beside him, “Heard enough?”

Roddy snickered as he stepped into view from a certain corner of the rooftop. “When I got up to go to the bathroom, I saw that there was no one in the living room but the window was open. I knew then that your habit of going to the rooftop to enjoy the wind is acting up.”

Roddy walked over and sat down beside Chen Xiaolian. Picking up the bottle of wine, he gulped down two mouthfuls before speaking in a low tone, “Feel better now? There won’t be any issue with Xiaolei… I think, there won’t be any issue with Lun Tai and Bei Tai as well. Everyone would be willing to stick together and continue forward. The thoughts you had before this… I had always thought that you are simply overthinking things.”

“Even so, we will still need to tell them.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head.

Roddy looked Chen Xiaolian in the eye and suddenly spoke out in a very serious tone, “Xiaolian, trust me, I believe… you really are a good Guild Leader!”

“… thanks,” Chen Xiaolian replied with a whisper.

He took the bottle of wine, drank two mouthfuls before tossing the bottle away. He exhaled and suddenly stood up; standing at the edge of the rooftop, he spread open both his arms and shouted loudly, “I refuse to believe it! Could it be that everyone will be unable to escape this game? Everyone is trapped within that road of no return? Everyone is destined to die in some instance dungeon in the end?

“I refuse to believe that!

“Since you all believe in me, then we will do our best together! Let’s see if we can't pierce a hole through this Heavens!”

Chen Xiaolian turned around to look at Roddy. “Roddy! We will not die! Not a single one of us will die! You will not die! Xia Xiaolei will not die! Lun Tai and Bei Tai will not die! Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo will not die! Qimu Xi as well, she will not die! And I most certainly will not die!

“I will not let that kind of ending happen to our guild!

“Although I still do not know how... I will certainly, certainly bring everyone into a path that solely belongs to us!”

He clenched his fists tightly and shouted loudly at the sky. “Bring it! You want our lives? Not that easy! Not that easy!”