Chapter 83 p2
Chi Lin, dressed in white, had the name “Jin Yi” floating above her head.
Her weapon had changed; it was now a long sword.
“I just happened to be passing by. I acted rashly because I didn’t realize it was you.”
“Don’t mention it. If it weren’t for you, that Blood Crane would have pecked a hole in my head. I would have been the laughingstock of the server, not to mention my merciless colleagues at the club.” Lou Mi drew her flame spear and held it behind her. “We had good synergy last time we met, shouldn’t we take it a step further today? By the way, Jin Yi sounds like a real name, doesn’t it?”
Lou Mi looked at Chi Lin, her voice trailing off, hoping she would answer her question.
Chi Lin carefully observed Lou Mi, afraid of missing any subtle expressions:
“It’s the name of an old friend.”
“Mm.” Lou Mi’s expression didn’t change. “It sounds nice.”
Deep in the forest, the rustling of bamboo leaves drew their attention back to the match.
Chi Lin cast her skills, giving them both a protective shield and attack buffs.
The flames of Lou Mi’s spear burned brighter. She wasn’t worried about revealing her position.
“I was going to ask you to use your fire skills to warm my hands, but you already did it without me asking.” Lou Mi smiled at her. “We really do have good synergy. Tell me, could I also be an old friend of yours?”
Chi Lin’s mind wandered for a moment at her words.
Lou Mi also cast a skill. A small golden flower bloomed above Chi Lin’s head, reducing her skill cooldowns while it bloomed.
“We’ll talk later.” Lou Mi planted her flame spear in the ground. “They’re coming.”
The trainees had spotted the glow of the flames in the fog from afar.
It was Lou Mi’s signature weapon, everyone knew it.
The flame spear was powerful, and in Lou Mi’s hands, it was invincible.
But the flame spear had a fatal flaw in the Wind and Cloud Forest: it easily revealed one’s position.
The nine trainees split into three groups, planning to approach the flames stealthily from three directions.
They had agreed on a signal to initiate the attack and quickly disappeared into the fog.
The flames grew closer. Two tanks attacked from the sides, and another support player cast their ultimate skill. The attack began!
They unleashed a barrage of attacks towards the flames, their rhythm well-coordinated.
They clearly saw a figure amidst the flames, but there was no kill notification.
“Oh no!” A damage dealer in the back realized something was wrong. Before he could warn his teammates, a bamboo stalk, bent at an extreme angle, shot out from Lou Mi’s hand, hitting him squarely on the back with a “smack” and sending him flying backwards, knocking over his teammates in the front row.
“Too close together.” Lou Mi released another bamboo stalk, sweeping it across the area, knocking down two more trainees.
They finally realized that what they had been attacking was just a flame spear stuck in the ground, there was no one there.
Sensing Lou Mi’s sneak attack from behind, they turned to face her, trying to catch her.
Lou Mi’s movements were unpredictable; catching her was never easy.
They failed to catch her, but managed to decimate the surrounding bamboo forest.
Lou Mi picked up a bamboo stalk and attacked trainee 99, the closest one. Trainee 99, under Lou Mi’s intense gaze, froze, her legs weak, not daring to retaliate, and was forced to retreat.
“Don’t be afraid! It’s just a bamboo stalk! Fight back!”
Trainee 817 shouted from the side.
That’s right, just a bamboo stalk!
Trainee 99 rallied her spirits and faced Lou Mi head-on.
Trainee 817, who had just shouted encouragement, felt a sharp pain in his back and immediately knew he had been hit. He tried to escape but found his movements slowed, unable to move.
Chi Lin appeared out of nowhere and killed 817 with a single sword strike.
“Not paying attention.” Lou Mi thrust the bamboo stalk forward. 99 fired a bolt of lightning from her staff, shattering the bamboo stalk, its tip splintering into sharp fibers.
The explosion blinded 99 momentarily. When her vision cleared, she found her staff entangled by the bamboo fibers, being pulled away from her.
As she struggled to retrieve her staff, the fog between them dispersed, revealing the attacker.
“Huh?” 99 realized it wasn’t HighTowerMiyuki, but Jin Yi.
Chi Lin saw the relaxation in her expression. Imitating Lou Mi’s previous move, she bent the bamboo stalk downwards, then released it.
The bamboo stalk flew upwards, then swung down, hitting 99 squarely in the forehead, stunning her for one second. Chi Lin seized the opportunity and killed her.
Lou Mi, who had seamlessly switched positions with Chi Lin, also killed two trainees, even finding time to exchange a glance with Chi Lin.
Lou Mi moved and strategized as if she were playing with a long-time teammate, their coordination requiring only a look.
Sometimes, not even a look was needed. She just had to do what she wanted, and someone would always cover her and fill in the gaps.
They finished the battle in 8 minutes and 21 seconds. When all nine trainees were eliminated, neither Lou Mi nor Chi Lin had lost even half their health.
Huhu and Slay, having watched the entire match, realized they were still holding the same potato chips they had at the beginning.
The match was so captivating that they had almost forgotten to breathe, let alone eat.
When Lou Mi removed her access crystal, her headache was completely gone.
This was a good sign.
With a reliable partner, she didn’t have to overthink; she could just enjoy the game.
The trainees, groaning, removed their access crystals one after another.
“Jun Jun, did you plan this with Sister Mi beforehand? That was terrifying.”
“Yeah, you two were like you shared a brain, your synergy was incredible…”
Chi Lin smiled at them, also finding their coordination excessively good.
But actually, she had felt this connection with Lou Mi from their first time playing together.
It was clear that Lou Mi had also noticed this, and was even starting to enjoy it.
The trainees, having lost a 9v2 match, were dejected.
The person who had just crushed them with a stick now offered them a carrot.
Lou Mi said, “It’s okay, you have to lose to learn how to win. Don’t be discouraged. I’ve been playing professionally for years, you have plenty of time to surpass me. Lunch is still on me, and the red envelopes too. Tell me what you want to eat, let’s go.”
The trainees cheered, their voices echoing with “We love Sister Mi forever!”
“But no alcohol. You still have training and classes after lunch. Can you focus? Don’t make Sister Lan come after me.”
The trainees promised, “We won’t betray you!”
They decided to have grilled fish. Lou Mi was pleased; they were such good kids, saving her money.
The club had a minibus that could carry 12 people, enough for all ten trainees and two more.
Huhu and Slay planned to join them on the minibus. Lou Mi looked inside and thought it was too crowded:
“Isn’t the back row too crowded? One person should get off.”
Everyone looked at each other. It wasn’t crowded, the back row was designed for four people.
But since Sister Mi insisted, it must be crowded.
“Here.” Lou Mi said to Chi Lin. “You get off and come with me. I have something to talk to you about.”
Lou Mi’s close cooperation with Jun Jun during the match, followed by her singling out Jun Jun to ride with her, created an air of ambiguity.
But Lou Mi’s furrowed brow and slightly impatient tone made it seem as if Jun Jun would be in trouble once she got in the car.
When did Jun Jun offend the big boss?
No way, Jun Jun was always so low-key…
Everyone held their breath, not daring to speak, not even daring to look at Jun Jun.
Huhu even whispered to Lou Mi:
“Sister Mi, maybe Sister Lan should handle this. She’s still young and doesn’t know better, you…”
Lou Mi, a master of the cold stare, looked straight ahead and said indifferently, “I know what I’m doing.”
Huhu shuddered and didn’t dare to say anything more.
Chi Lin obediently got off the minibus and sat in Lou Mi’s car.
Jun Jun was wearing a light gray hoodie and an army green trench coat. When she looked at Lou Mi quietly, her intelligent eyes seemed to hold many unspoken things.
Her aura felt familiar and comforting to Lou Mi, but facing this unfamiliar face, she couldn’t bring herself to say certain things, feeling like it would be a betrayal of Chi Lin.
Lou Mi handed Chi Lin a Return to Jianghu access crystal: “Shall we talk in the game?”
Chi Lin took it, and they both closed their eyes, entering the game.
They teleported to Emerald Lake, outside the Wind and Cloud Forest. The clear, blue water reflected the sunlight, its surface always calm and undisturbed, like a jewel embedded in the lush forest, hence its name.
There was an inn by the lake, and they were the only two customers.
The waiter brought them a pot of tea. They sat facing each other, a wisp of steam rising between them.
This face, so similar to Chi Lin’s, made Lou Mi feel more at ease, more willing to speak:
“You designed this face well. It doesn’t look exactly like you, where did you get the inspiration?”
Chi Lin took a sip of tea. The fragrance was surprisingly realistic, filling her mouth as if she were drinking real tea.
She didn’t answer Lou Mi’s question directly: “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Lou Mi rested her chin on her fist, which was placed beside her teacup.
“I have a lot to say, but I’m afraid I’ll sound crazy. If I’m wrong, you’ll think I’m a lunatic.”
Chi Lin smiled: “What about the fortune I told you last time, what happened after that?”
“I followed your advice and looked within my heart.”
“What did you see?”
“Many… incredible things.”
“I also looked at this world with my heart,” Chi Lin said. “And I also saw many incredible things. So, you can tell me what you want to say, I won’t think you’re abnormal in any way.”
Lou Mi paused for a second, and Chi Lin added:
“Perhaps what you’re thinking and what I’m thinking are the same thing.”
After a moment of surprise, Lou Mi’s gaze became even more determined.
Finally reaching this moment, Chi Lin’s heart pounded.
This effect couldn’t be achieved by force; she needed Lou Mi to believe willingly.
Lou Mi, feeling encouraged by Chi Lin’s words, said:
“I think, you’re not Jun Jun. You’re also an… old friend of mine.”
Chi Lin’s fists clenched in her lap.
She had waited for this moment for too long…
Just as Lou Mi was about to speak again, the stone benches they were sitting on suddenly shook violently, almost throwing them off.
They instinctively grabbed the tea table to steady themselves and looked at each other in surprise.
“What…”
Before Chi Lin could finish her sentence, they were thrown off again by an even stronger tremor. A sharp pain shot through their chests, the sensation of being restrained by seatbelts.
“Remove the access crystals!” Lou Mi shouted. They didn’t even have time to log out of the game, pulling out the crystals and returning to reality.
The moment they returned, they saw the back of a large truck right in front of them. They were about to crash!
Almost instinctively, Lou Mi grabbed the steering wheel, wrestling with the autopilot, and swerved sharply.
The car screeched, sparks flying as it grazed the truck’s rear and spun out of control.
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