Chapter 38: It’s My Turn to Pretend… Ahem, Make an Entrance

A guaranteed monthly salary of fifty thousand, plus a fifty-thousand commission bonus.

Every Guild War victory earns a ten-thousand commission; a loss deducts twenty thousand.

Fifty thousand—is that a lot?

For Chen Xiaoyan right now, it’s not exactly much.

But this fifty thousand is a stable salary.

Unlike running dungeons with random parties, which is completely unstable and depends entirely on whether others want to play.

If they don’t want to play, you don’t get a single cent.

At best, it’s just a part-time gig.

Managing Rige for Xueyan Pavilion is different.

That’s a full-time job, and even if there are no events or guild wars that month, the fifty-thousand salary won’t be cut by a single penny.

But Chen Xiaoyan had already made up his mind—he would do both full-time and part-time jobs, so even if nobody wanted to team up for dungeons, he’d still have a fixed income to fall back on.

[Mu Qingxue: So you agreed then?]

[Chen Xiaoyan: With a salary this high, how could I not agree?]

[Mu Qingxue: Thank you, Xiaoyan.]

[Chen Xiaoyan: No need to be so polite, after all, I’m just getting paid too, hehe.]

[Mu Qingxue: Actually, you might not realize your value right now. Let me put it this way: if other guilds try to recruit you later, no matter the offer, I’ll double it all.]

[Chen Xiaoyan: I’ve been getting flamed hard lately. It’s not as exaggerated as you say. I’m even afraid that joining Xueyan Pavilion might interfere with your recruitment.]

[Mu Qingxue: I’ve seen such things many times in real life. Don’t worry, time will prove everything.]

[Chen Xiaoyan: Hopefully so.]

[Mu Qingxue: Stop overthinking it. Here, I’m adding you to the guild group.]

[Mu Qingxue invites you to join Xueyan Pavilion. Do you accept?]

Chen Xiaoyan clicked “Accept.”

The guild chat had over three hundred members, with around fifty active users.

That was already a considerable number.

After all, unlike traditional online games, Xianyun can connect to mobile networks but only shows call notifications; you can’t chat in the guild while playing.

Rige – Tianyu: The Wushuang Lou has been way too arrogant lately, constantly dissing us in the world chat.

Rige – Yizhi Qingshu: Why bother with them? Let’s just focus on ourselves.

Yuege – Qiuball: @Mu Qingxue, when you were grinding Monster Village today, someone from our Yuege’s Tianxiang Yihua was deliberately tanked by Wushuang Lou, who pulled the monsters right in front of her to die.

Chen Xiaoyan’s eyes narrowed as he rubbed his jaw, deep in thought.

Sometimes, he had to admit, these players were impressive.

Just a few days had passed, and they were already farming Monster Village?

Yuege – Mu Qingxue: I’ve taken note of this. Let me introduce someone—@Chen Xiaoyan. I’m sure everyone is familiar with this ID. From now on, Xiaoyan will be the head of Rige, responsible for managing it.

Yuege – Xianyun: Our big sister is coming to Xueyan Pavilion? Welcome, welcome! (throws flowers)

Rige – Yizhi Qingshu: Whoa, a boss, a pure gold-level boss.

Rige – Zhenwu Xiaoshimei: Hey hey, isn’t she the one who paid 100,000 yuan for a Monster Village run a few days ago?

Yuege – Qiuball: I’m not happy about this. Why put the boss in Rige? Wouldn’t Yuege be better?

Rige – Yutian: Yuege’s got plenty of Tianxiang Yihua, look at Rige—what do we have?

Rige – Mei Xin Mei Fei: Exactly.

Rige – Zhenwu Xiaoshimei:

Yuege – Mu Qingxue: Xiaoyan will bring some Heavenly Fragrance players to Rige, so don’t worry about that.

Rige – Yutian: Now Rige is comfortable. (does the Ge You recline)

Yuege – Xianyun: Guild Leader, can I transfer to Rige?

Yuege – Qiuball: Xianyun, what are you doing? I thought our sisterhood meant never separating?

Yuege – Xianyun: Aba aba~

Yuege – Mu Qingxue: Rige has enough people. Yuege’s little ones don’t have to go. Rige has Xiaoyan. I’ve personally experienced her healing.

Rige – Yutian: Guild Leader, can you reveal Xiaoyan’s healing output?

Rige – Mei Xin Mei Fei: +1, I want to know too. To solo carry Monster Village means she’s definitely strong.

Mu Qingxue: @Chen Xiaoyan

At this point, Chen Xiaoyan knew it was his time to pretend… ahem, make an entrance.

He still had to manage Rige; his authority had to be established.

Chen Xiaoyan: Single-target instant heal is four thousand per second, with a five-second skill cooldown. Group heals are confidential for now.

He had already used the single-target skill, so it was fine to reveal that.

The group heal, like Hui Feng San, a massive party heal, had yet to be shown to everyone and would remain a trump card.

***

The chat was suddenly flooded with question marks, all shocked by Chen Xiaoyan’s instant healing output.

Four thousand?

What does four thousand even mean?

Many players’ HP hovered around four thousand—does that mean full HP recovery in just one second?

How the hell could anyone else keep up?

Yuege – Mu Qingxue: cough cough Xiaoyan, your healing is even stronger.

Rige – Mei Xin Mei Fei: Uh… quietly asking, is the boss part of the game staff?

Yuege – Xianyun: Four thousand? How am I supposed to survive with my pathetic four or five hundred? Big sister, did you mistake total heal for instant heal?

Rige – Yutian: Haha, I’m dying laughing. That healing is godlike.

Chen Xiaoyan: Pure player. And no, that’s not total heal, but instant heal. I do know the difference.

Rige – Yutian: 666

Zhongzhou, a villa.

On the sofa, Mu Qingxue set down her phone blankly, grabbing a nearby pillow and squeezing it.

Could she have misread it?

Unconvinced, she picked up her phone to check again.

The two big characters “Four Thousand” kept flashing in her mind, insisting this was no illusion.

“How does she even do it?”

Mu Qingxue murmured to herself, her eyes flickering with an unusual gleam.

I have to get her on my side!!!

***

The next morning, Chen Xiaoyan woke up, washed up, and after breakfast immediately put on his headset and logged into the game.

Opening his friends list, he noticed Chong Chong was still offline.

What was up with her?

It was already nine o’clock.

Chen Xiaoyan muttered and got up to find Shen Qingqing to claim the sect’s daily quest.

[Mu Qingxue: Are you online? Come to the Monster Village dungeon.]

[Chen Xiaoyan: Is it urgent? If not, I’ll come after finishing my quests.]

[Mu Qingxue: No rush. Many in the guild haven’t cleared Monster Village yet. I want you to lead to strengthen the guild’s overall power. Don’t worry about the price—it’s the same as before.]

[Chen Xiaoyan: No need. I’m already part of Xueyan Pavilion. Charging members for dungeon runs wouldn’t be right. I’ll come after finishing quests, for free.]

[Mu Qingxue: Mua~ Xiaoyan, you’re too kind.]

Mua?

Chen Xiaoyan was momentarily stunned, finding it incredible.

Is this still the cold and aloof Mu Qingxue?

Could she have been hacked?

No, no, Xianyun game accounts can’t be hacked.

So why was she acting like a completely different person?

Chen Xiaoyan was thoroughly puzzled, shaking his head as he entered Tianxin Pavilion.

Backyard.

Shen Qingqing sat on a stone bench beside the water pool, holding peach blossoms and weaving a flower wreath one by one.

“Sister Shen.”

She looked up at Chen Xiaoyan and smiled gently.

“You’re here.”

“I came to claim the sect quest. Hey, Sister Shen, what are you weaving?”

“Just something to do when bored,” she said, lowering her head to continue weaving.

“I see. So, the sect quest?”

“Wait a moment.”

“Okay.”

Chen Xiaoyan stood quietly nearby, not disturbing her, watching the wreath gradually take shape in her hands.

Shen Qingqing worked carefully, attaching flower after flower.

But why was she making a flower wreath?

To wear herself?

About twenty minutes later, the peach blossom wreath was finally finished.