Chen Xiaoyan: “Alright, alright, this isn’t your fault. If anything, blame it on my bad luck.”
Liu Yue: “Xiaoyan, I… I…”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Yueyue, don’t panic. I’ll be fine.”
Liu Yue: “Mm. If only I could use Zhen Wu’s Sword Flight Art in real life, I’d fly over right now and save you.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “The modern female sword immortal—Fairy Liu Yue.”
Liu Yue: “You’re still in the mood to joke? Take care of yourself, you idiot.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Idiot? The hell did you just…”
Liu Yue: “Got a problem? You’re an idiot.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Hehe, keep scolding me. Preferably with voice messages, thanks. I lie down.“
Liu Yue: “Per-vert!”
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Xianjie, atop Shushan.
Mu Qingxue led the Xueyan Pavilion players across the steep cliffs, tirelessly searching for Wind Shadow Grass, Fire Mist Flower, Cold Water Lotus, Enlightenment Wood, Spirit Returning Grass, and various other enhancement materials.
Aside from Wind Shadow Grass, all the other materials were also used for enhancement.
Though the materials required for each Equipment enhancement differed, these five types made up the majority, so there was no worry about being unable to sell them.
“Great Guild Leader.”
Mu Qingxue climbed up a cliff and plucked a Wind Shadow Grass when she heard someone calling her from below.
“Coming.”
She pulled the Flowing Wind Sword out of the stone where it was embedded and leaped down. From a height of several dozen meters, she landed safely without a scratch.
Dusting off her clothes, she tossed the Wind Shadow Grass into her bag and looked toward the person who had called her.
Zhenwu Xiaoshimei.
“Xiao Shimei, it’s you. If you need something, just message me privately. No need to run all the way here.”
“Guild Leader, it’s the people from Wushuang Lou. They came to me and said Tianxia Wushuang has a message for you.”
The moment she heard “Tianxia Wushuang,” Mu Qingxue’s face soured. “Tch. Another threat? Let’s hear it.”
“He said you should send Qi Yun back, or else face the consequences.”
“That’s it?” Mu Qingxue scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. “Same old, same old. Ignore them. Collecting materials is what matters now. What’s the current gather progress?”
“Nine percent.”
“That’s a bit low.”
“Great Guild Leader, this is one day’s progress. It’s already a lot,” Zhenwu Xiaoshimei quickly explained.
“At this rate, it’ll take twelve days to finish. Has everyone in the guild gone to gather? Anyone slacking off?”
Twelve days was enough time for most players to catch on. Once that happened, monopolizing the market wouldn’t be so easy.
“No one’s slacking. Everyone’s mobilized.”
“How’s Jian Ge doing?”
“Jian Ge? Guild Leader Liu Yue hasn’t been online since yesterday. Asking the Red Dust is running the guild. Their progress is even lower than ours—only five percent.”
Mu Qingxue’s lips twitched slightly.
Jian Ge only had about a hundred fewer members than Xueyan Pavilion, yet their progress was nearly half of theirs.
They clearly hadn’t taken her words seriously.
“Forget it. Let’s not worry about Jian Ge. We’ll just focus on ourselves. Tell everyone: if we complete the progress within a week, their wages for June and July will double.”
“Got it, Great Guild Leader.”
“Oh, and Xiao Shimei, keep an eye on the World Channel. Buy any Heavenly Fragrance pieces, good or bad. The more, the better. I’ll have Qiu Xue coordinate the funds with you.”
Zhenwu Xiaoshimei’s mouth immediately formed a perfect “O” in surprise. She hadn’t expected Mu Qingxue to be so extravagant.
With the new Death Cliff instance opening, it had spurred many slacker players into grinding for levels—including those who had never bothered with level 20 instances before.
Today’s World Channel had practically become an Equipment trading channel, with hundreds of posts selling gear. Unfortunately, Heavenly Fragrance pieces were few and far between—only a handful.
But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t appear later.
“Hehe, got it. Don’t worry, Great Guild Leader. I promise I’ll camp out a full set of top-tier Heavenly Fragrance gear for Sister Xiaoyan.”
Watching Zhenwu Xiaoshimei wink and make a knowing face, Mu Qingxue felt the urge to draw her sword and send her straight back to the Sect Spring to cool off.
“Are you going to get to work, or do I need to dock your pay—”
Suddenly, Mu Qingxue’s expression shifted. She immediately logged out of the game, leaving a bewildered Zhenwu Xiaoshimei behind.
San Yue Bu Xia Xue: Missy, log out now! Xiaoyan Dalao is in trouble. Urgent!
Zhongzhou City, the Mu family home.
Mu Qingxue took off her game helmet, threw on some clothes, and rushed straight to the living room on the first floor.
At the same time, San Yue Bu Xia Xue had just come downstairs, holding a laptop.
“What happened to her?”
She grabbed San Yue’s hand, her expression tense.
That single word “urgent” made Mu Qingxue realize the severity of the situation. Xiaoyan was definitely in danger. Otherwise, Qianqian wouldn’t have used that word.
“Missy, take a look.” San Yue handed her the laptop.
Mu Qingxue quickly took it and read.
It was a transcript of a voice call. Judging by the codename “Dong Me,” these were two of the people she had sent to protect her.
After reading through it, she finally understood what had happened.
In an instant, her face was filled with despair. The laptop slipped from her hands and clattered to the floor.
Hijacking!
A terrorist act that should have been impossible in Huaguo had actually occurred. And worst of all, she was on that plane.
San Yue Bu Xia Xue picked up the laptop and asked gravely, “Missy, what should we do next?”
“Xiaoyan… Yan Bao… Can she still be reached?”
“Yes.”
Mu Qingxue closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
Even if the future was uncertain, at least for now, she was still safe.
She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze sharp as she stared into the distance.
“Qianqian, send a message to Dong Me. Tell them: even if they must die, protect the target at all costs. I, Mu Qingxue, swear by the Mu family that I will support their families until the day I die.”
“Understood.”
San Yue Bu Xia Xue nodded solemnly.
Then she sat down on the sofa and began typing on the laptop to relay the Missy’s orders to Lao Dong.
Mu Qingxue walked out of the living room and looked up at the blazing sun in the sky. She felt utterly helpless.
If this had happened on the ground, there would be options. But she was on a plane—in the sky. No matter how strong her influence was, she couldn’t change the situation.
She regretted it.
She should have stopped her from going last night. If she hadn’t gone to Kyo City today, she wouldn’t have run into this hijacking—a rare event that hadn’t happened in a decade.
And she wouldn’t be in danger now.
But saying all that now was useless. The thing had already happened. She needed to think about how to solve the problem, not dwell on “if onlys.”
“Missy, Sister Ling sent a message back.”
San Yue Bu Xia Xue ran out quickly, clutching the laptop.
“What does it say?” Mu Qingxue didn’t turn around. She didn’t care about anything else right now—only whether that person was safe.
San Yue Bu Xia Xue looked at the laptop screen and read the message aloud: “Sister Ling says the flight Xiaoyan Dalao was on has been hijacked. However, the hijackers don’t seem to intend to kill anyone. They’re just circling in the sky, as if waiting for something. Sister Ling guesses they’re waiting for someone to negotiate.”
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