Chapter 195 – Through Thick and Thin
Translated by: Eric, SoloNeko, Deception, GGP
Edited by: Noah, Hendricksen-sama, Zephir, Kaylee
This chapter was sponsored by Hab Hak, Lam Tran and Felix Alexy! Thanks!
General w.a.n.g Jian also walked over and hugged me. Bai Qi looked very st.u.r.dy, his build similar to Old K and he seemed like an expert in martial arts. He laughed and said, “I won’t be hugging you, it’s a little creepy…”
I could not help but laugh. “Let’s go. We can go up and prepare to eat dinner; I’m starving to death! The other people are all upstairs waiting. Oh, and Fan Shu City’s Cang Tong and Cang Yue are also accompanying us for dinner.”
“Oh?” General Li Mu was surprised and excited as he said, “Looks like today we’ll be fortunate enough to have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Fan Shu City’s number one beauty?
I spoke with a rough and meaningful voice and laughed, “Yup, you won’t be disappointed!”
“Let’s go…”
……
Our group of people walked up the stairs and into the room. Wolf was already there and stood up to greet the General Family with enthusiasm. After a while, the room was filled up, and Wan Er, Dong Cheng Yue, and Matcha all stood up, greeting the guests with smiles.
“d.a.m.n…”
Li Mu suddenly froze up and rubbed his eyes, “I…I have lived for 25 years in Yangzhou where beautiful women are abundant but how is it that I feel that the standard of beauty over there is no longer high anymore? All of a sudden, I see 3 beautiful women. Hangzhou is really a paradise to live in…”
w.a.n.g Jian looked at Wan Er, his excitement clearly noticeable. “You are…you are Fan Shu City’s number 1 a.s.sa.s.sin, Cang Tong, aren’t you? I know you. You have another alias, the Heart of Time singer Lin Wan Er, right? I am one of your fans…”
Wan Er laughed, “Nice to meet you!”
Soon after, she gave me a meaningful glance, beckoning for me with her finger. I quickly walked over to her. “What’s up, Wan Er?”
Wan Er leaned towards my neck and whispered into my ear, “Li Mu and w.a.n.g Jian both look pretty handsome, but Bai Qi looks like a construction worker and Lian Po looks too much like an old geezer…”
My face turned purple, “Will you die if you don’t ridicule them?”
Wan Er laughed, “Hehe, I’ll order the food and lots of it. You’re paying for it after all, right?”
I thought back to my credit card; it still had 50,000 RMB. “Go for it. I invited you all, so feel free to eat as much as you want,” I nodded.
“In that case…” Dong Cheng laughed, “It’s rare that Xiao Yao is generous, so let’s eat a lot and maybe order some drinks as well? The high-quality, 500 RMB-a-bottle type of red wine…”
TL: 500 RMB = USD$80.59
I clenched my teeth, “Sure, just order one…”
……
Before long, fragrant dishes came out one by one onto the table. Hunan and Szechuan cuisines are truly the best with exquisite tastes. Hunan Cuisine emphasizes spiciness; originating from the early periods of the Han Dynasty when it became new style of cuisine.
I laughed, “Li Mu, you come from Yangzhou, so you must have eaten a lot of Jiangsu cuisine. Can you eat spicy food?”
TL: Jiangsu/Yangzhou = not so spicy food
Li Mu smiled, “Although I come from Yangzhou, I can stomach spicy food easily!”
“In that case, eat up!”
Pouring the wine, I stood up to give a toast, “I won’t be giving the traditional greeting but I do have to say a few things today! When I just joined Ba Huang City, I met with the General Family quite a few times. The first time was when you guys fought against [Prague] for a boss. If we hadn’t fought, we wouldn’t have become friends! Now, we both fought to protect [Valiant Bravery]- although we were defeated in the end – we still fought until the bitter end. Whether we emerged victorious or suffered defeat, we fought with all of our strength! We are men that fought for a promise, fought for a cause. We will never look back and we will never regret! Come, let us celebrate our lives and deaths together! Ganbei!”
TL: Ganbei is the chinese way to toast. Like Kanpai in j.a.panese.
Li Mu and w.a.n.g Jian stood up. Their eyes shone with excitement as they drank!
Wan Er, Dong Cheng, and Matcha only took a small sip–these little girls couldn’t drink like we could.
……
After Li Mu sat down, he said, “Xiao Yao, what do you plan to do in the future? Have you planned that out yet?”
I nodded, “I have! I will quickly try to get my hands on a Guild Creation Tablet, though I won’t pay for one since it’s too expensive. I’ve also already asked Yue Qing Qian to join once Zhan Long is established. She will immediately quit [Prague] to join Zhan Long. She is Ba Huang City’s number 1 a.s.sa.s.sin. With her in Zhan Long, recruitment won’t be hard at all, it’s just that…”
“It’s just what?” w.a.n.g Jian asked.
I pondered out loud, “It’s just that Zhan Long has a shortage of manpower; it’s just me and the rest of the studio at the moment. Including some others, we have a little over 20 people and we can’t create a guild with so few people. We need more in order to have a solid guild.”
w.a.n.g Jian pressed his hands to his mouth, thinking a bit before speaking.
“Ahem…” Bai Qi coughed, “Xiao Yao, what type of team are you looking for?”
I replied seriously, “Cohesion. I don’t care for those players who put profit over everything. What I want is a group of players with a dream. A dream to conquer the three cities but unfortunately there aren’t many people like that.”
Li Mu was stunned, “Ah yes, there aren’t many like that…”
I filled my gla.s.s with wine and stood up, smiling slightly, “I am not a person that likes to be subtle. I prefer to be straightforward with my words. Once Zhan Long is created, I sincerely hope that the General Family will join us since our enemies in Ba Huang City are numerous. Together we stand, divided we fall. If the General Family joins Zhan Long, then we can become a one big family with a common purpose. We will be inseparable!”
Lian Po’s eyes bulged, “That…:”
I coughed a little, then continued, “Of course, I will preserve the General Family’s group. If Li Mu wishes for it, I can give you the t.i.tle of Deputy Leader. Not the Guild Master–that position is mine.”
Li Mu couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m not that greedy, being a Guild Master is just a fleeting fancy. I just can’t bear the fact that [Valiant Bravery] was decimated by [Flying Dragon]. Our revenge must be exacted!”
I nodded, “Yes, if my guild is established, [Flying Dragon] and [Vanguard] will be our first two mortal enemies!”
Lian Po smiled lightly and said, “Xiao Yao, how do you plan to allocate your guild’s strength?”
I replied earnestly, “Supposing my guild is established, first, I will divide it into 2 camps. The first camp will be called “Zhan Long Camp”, which will be managed by me. The second camp will be called “Valiant Bravery Camp”, which will be managed by Li Mu and all of you. This way, [Valiant Bravery] will not disappear but instead be transformed into a new group. You can also account for those people who stayed behind and decided to follow you, right?”
Li Mu held fast his fist and thought for a long while. Finally he knocked lightly on the table, stood up and said, “Okay, we’ll follow what you said. We, the General Family, will join Zhan Long today. From today onwards, we are one family and will share everything. We’ll rise and fall together and we’ll stick together through thick and thin!”
I nodded too and said, “Yes, from today onwards, we are brothers! Everyone at this table is a member of Zhan Long and together, we’ll make Zhan Long, these two words– be known all over the world!”
w.a.n.g Jian and Wolf laughed at the same time, “Yes, known all over the world!”
Li Mu coughed a little as he glanced at Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue and said, “ Are Fan Shu City’s number one and two most beautiful ladies also members of Zhan Long?”
I chuckled.
Lin Wan Er straightened her body, full of pride, and smiled lightly, “Yes, Dong Cheng and I will join Zhan Long sooner or later. But in the meantime, we are still hired by [Hero’s Mound].”
Li Mu made a fist and laughed loudly, “Then there’s no problem. As long as Zhan Long has Cang Tong and Cang Yue to help us, our top tier power won’t lose to [Vanguard] and [Hero’s Mound]. With the powerful attraction of Lin Wan Er’s beauty, inviting new players will definitely not be a problem. With them, Zhan Long will gain popularity even if we don’t want it to!”
“Ahem…” Matcha smiled lightly, “Don’t be too excited. For the time being, we have no Guild Creation Tablet. This is a big problem. Without a Guild Creation Tablet, it’s all empty words no matter what we say…”
Lin Wan Er squinted her eyes and laughed, “Actually, I have a Guild Creation Tablet in my inventory. I planned to give it to Xiao Yao but this idiot doesn’t want it, so I can’t do much. He insists on getting a hold of a Guild Creation Tablet himself; it really worries this big sister…”
I was the picture of helplessness, “I can’t just take your Guild Creation Tablet without offering anything in return. This is a matter of personal principle.”
Li Mu nodded, “Yes, then we shall get one ourselves!”
Wolf said, “Unfortunately, even though Xiao Yao has a high drop rate, getting Purple and Emperor Tier equipment drops, a Guild Creation tablet has only dropped once…”
I laughed, “It’s okay, we’ll think of another method…”
“Okay!”
Looking towards Li Mu and the others, I asked, “Are you guys going back tonight?”
“Yes, we still need to level. We’ll need to maintain our lead in levels so as to keep our advantage.”
“Alright…”
……
We kept drinking till late at night. At around 8+, Li Mu and the others took the bus and left Hangzhou, returning back to Yangzhou. They didn’t bring their helmets here, otherwise we’d have definitely asked them to stay for the night at Hangzhou. Since we had all become one family, we’ll need to be courteous to them.
After seeing Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue back to the girls’ dorm, it already was a little after 9 PM and I immediately went online and continued to level at Dragon City. I wanted to reach Lv 60 as soon as possible to receive the third job advancement. That was another big division. The third job advancement skills were not yet released yet so I wasn’t really sure what they were but the skills must be extremely strong!
I leveled until around 11+ PM and then prepared to log out and sleep!
At that moment, suddenly a “di” sounded, and a chat message notification from the beautiful a.s.sa.s.sin Yue Qing Qian came up, “Brother Xiao Yao, are you still online and not asleep?”
“Yeah. Qing Qian, why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“I can’t sleep…”
“Why can’t you sleep?”
“I was just thinking of the events earlier in the day. Brother Xiao Yao and [Valiant Bravery] lost so tragically…”
“Aih, don’t talk about it.”
Yue Qing Qian laughed softly, “Oh by the way, Brother Xiao Yao wants to establish a guild, right?”
“Yes, what’s wrong?”
“Do you have a Guild Creation Tablet?”
“Not right now…:”
“I have a method to get a Guild Creation Tablet quickly…”
“Ohh? What method?” my heart jumped.
Yue Qing Qian smiled lightly and said, “The third team leader from [Prague], “Luo Mu”, gained a Guild Creation Tablet during a guild event this morning. But he doesn’t want to share the spoils with the guild and would like to quietly take all of the profits. A spy I secretly placed informed me that at 12 noon sharp, Luo Mu will bring a few people to sell the Guild Creation Tablet. He will be at the Ba Huang City Forest with the coordinates of (10000,10000)!”
I was speechless, “That won’t do, Luo Mu is a member of [Prague], I can’t fight over it…”
“Big brother, don’t be anxious and listen to me!” Yue Qing Qian giggled, “The buyer is a player from [Flying Dragon] called Mu Tian, a Swordsman. You should wait until the transaction ends, and then attack him. The drop rate for an item that was just transacted is extremely high, so as long as you can kill Mu Tian, you can get the Guild Creation Tablet. Moreover, I will help you!!”
Me: “…”