Chen Xin usually has a mild manner, but once his face darkens, it’s a whole different story. He appears gentle but acts decisively, saying no when he means no. If anything were to happen to Xie Shuangxue, he would be capable of anything. 

Older than Ling Luo, Chen Xin is the prime disciple of Elder Chen and holds a higher status in the Feather Clan than Ling Luo, who failed to become a Golden Feather Envoy. He personally handled the incident where Xie Shuangxue was tainted with demonic qi at Lu Yun Platform, keeping it tightly under wraps; at that time, Ling Luo mostly followed his lead.

Despite all precautions, Ah Xue was still captured by the city lord, an extreme provocation that touched a raw nerve. Now, he wasn’t just making threats; he was putting his words into action. 

Qin Feiluan seemed to want to say something but found no opportunity to interject, as she noticed members of the Feather Clan already blowing the signal horn. This was a special signal only they could hear, typically unused, now summoning everyone to return immediately for a briefing.

The Feather Clan members who received the message all looked indignant. They had been enduring too much lately, feeling suppressed while providing help here. Previously, who would have dared treat the Feather Clan like this? Not to mention those deeply attached to Chen Xin, Ling Luo, and Ling Xuan, even ordinary Feather Clan members who hadn’t interacted much with Xie Shuangxue couldn’t tolerate their envoy being inexplicably taken away. They felt compelled to teach a lesson for the honor of the Feather Clan.

Qin Feiluan knew this was escalating.

Ling Xuan, who had been silent, was just taking action, not words. His expression, darker than ever as he counted the Feather Clan members, passed by her and paused to say, “He helped you once, how will you choose?”

Qin Feiluan didn’t respond immediately; her mind was a mess, filled with regret, worry, and anger. But when it came time to actually take a step, she hesitated. “Forget it, let it be. Ah Xue has us to protect him.”

Ling Xuan’s face remained unchanged, showing not even a hint of disappointment: “He once told me that with you in Linan, there was hope. Now, it seems I was mistaken.”

Qin Feiluan felt as if struck by his words. She recalled what Yun Qiang had said and knew she couldn’t hesitate any longer. Stepping forward, she realized that if something were to happen to Xie Shuangxue and she didn’t cooperate with the Feather Clan, it would be too late. Anything Chen Xin said about flattening Linan might just be talk.

She stood there for a moment, watching Ling Xuan’s retreating back, then called over her subordinates. “Gather everyone,” Qin Feiluan inhaled deeply, “I’ve devoted myself to Linan, repaid all debts of gratitude. Now, it’s time to follow my heart.”

“We’re turning against Linan, aren’t we? It’s not the Linan it used to be.”

When she said this, she expected her subordinates to advise caution or express surprise, but instead, they seemed relieved, as if they had been waiting for her to say this. “It’s about time.”

“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!”

Their spirit was much better than when they were just broodingly defending Linan, like releasing pent-up emotions.

However, amidst this explosive situation, the cause of it all, Xie Shuangxue, was unaware of the turmoil outside. Engrossed in stealth, the City Lord’s Mansion was too perilous for him to afford distractions by checking forums or messages.

He had ventured here with some plans, exploiting his enemy’s lustful weakness with a fake avatar to lure the powerful city lord away, then following earlier clues to sneak in. Carrying demonic qi himself, ironically from the same source, Xie Shuangxue had a vague sense of where to find and preserve the evidence, as long as the avatar kept the city lord occupied long enough for him to succeed.

With so much at stake, Xie Shuangxue couldn’t afford to pay attention to the outside world. The City Lord’s Mansion was large, and luring the city lord far from his own position, he focused more as he approached his goal, fearing any mishaps and naturally unable to hear any external noise.

Previously, he had mostly relied on himself to alter the story, and now was no exception.

But Xie Shuangxue had yet to realize that feelings were mutual; as much as he cared for many people, many were also willing to fight for him, even if the plot didn’t originally arrange for them to do so.

The NPCs were making a significant uproar, and the players quickly received the news. The first to react were Xie Shuangxue’s fans.

“Darn it, my baby’s been kidnapped? I’ll slaughter Linan!”

“The Feather Clan is panicking, could it be something serious? Damn, Endless Sea, can’t you leave my child alone for one day without targeting him?”

“Help! Someone’s stealing my wife! Ahhh, I’m fighting you!”

As the news spread, players from Linbei’s camp sensed an opportunity and moved. Since the Feather Clan’s arrival, more players had sided against Linan, including some defectors. Although the factions were initially evenly matched, the balance had increasingly tipped towards Linbei, with Linbei winning most of the smaller skirmishes. Many players were eager to press their advantage and take down Linan completely.

The world’s conflicts weren’t limited to Linan and Linbei; there were always more territories to conquer. Now was a great opportunity.

Faction wars meant heaps of points, gold, and equipment, and the players were enthusiastic. “Charge!” “We’re getting rich!”

In such a frenzied situation, Yu Haiqing, although not always monitoring the backend, received the news. He wasn’t concerned about the faction wars in the game; he was only worried about Xie Shuangxue’s safety.

He sent messages, but there were no replies!

Could something really have happened?

Even outside the game, his concern made his mind go blank, forgetting even the props he had given.

Xie Shuangxue, now very capable and with highly unusual data, was using stealth skills, making him hard to trace even from the backend. Yu Haiqing only saw sporadic data records, as if something had indeed gone wrong.

His mind buzzed, and he immediately went into the game to search for Xie Shuangxue.

The Feather Clan had already assembled under Qin Feiluan’s direction to search for Xie Shuangxue. Enthusiastic players cleared the way, and enough people held off those still deluded in Linan City.

The vanguard heading to rescue Xie Shuangxue moved very fast, and soon they found the place. But when they opened the door, Chen Xin, Ling Luo, and Ling Xuan all paused as if in disbelief.

For them, it was a nightmarish scene.

They saw Ah Xue as if he had fainted, his black hair spread out, lying on the ground with disheveled clothes. His clothes from the shoulder to the chest had been pulled down, revealing a long, narrow wound, and he was tied up with ropes, firmly restraining him, unable to resist, unaware of what had just transpired.

The City Lord of Linan had no idea they would arrive so quickly, interrupting his actions and standing up, unaware of the impending disaster.

He saw only a few Feather Clan members at the forefront and was not at all flustered, saying, “You think you can touch me? You think the Feather Clan is still the same as before? I tell you, Xie Shuangxue himself might not be clean, I see…”

He seemed to have some arrogant confidence, not believing that this small number of Feather Clan members could do anything to him, but the next second, Qin Feiluan also led her team forward, causing his face to change. “You betrayed Linan!” he exclaimed incredulously. “Qin Feiluan, have you gone mad?!”

The response was Chen Xin’s sword to his chest. “Flattening Linan is actually too mild,” he said. “I want to crush you into dust.”

The highly capable players who broke through the encirclement arrived a bit later, and by the time they did, the city lord was retreating under Chen Xin’s sword, and then a health bar lit up above his head.

Once the health bar appeared, what else was there to say?

The players saw the scene and charged forward, but the most ruthless were still the Feather Clan members; it seemed they had never seen them this furious before.

In the chaos, Yu Haiqing, who had run here with his mind in turmoil, regained a bit of rationality. Indeed, it was he who had triggered the health bar, but at the same time, Yu Haiqing finally realized that the “Xie Shuangxue” lying on the ground wasn’t quite right, probably not the real one.

He had previously given a duplication prop, which must have been used here.

Xie Shuangxue used it to contend with the City Lord of Linan, but such an avatar would soon be discovered to be off, and it wouldn’t last long. By now, the fake body was already fading.

Xie Shuangxue wasn’t here.

At this moment, he had already sneaked into a sealed area of the City Lord’s Mansion.

Practicing dark magic always leaves traces, like the repeated appearances of skeleton ghosts, but what Xie Shuangxue ultimately found was very familiar.

Ah, isn’t this a fragment of the Book of Floating Dream?

It looked like what he had seen at Lu Yun Platform, even the engraving on it was somewhat similar.

The pieces lost in Penglai City had all been retrieved, but it wasn’t strange for Linan, following for many years, to receive a few rewarded fragments of the Book of Floating Dream.

The clan leader should be able to recognize that these were the fragments obtained by Linan. Now, these fragments, each about the size of a fingertip, were filled with demonic qi, enough to serve as evidence.

Xie Shuangxue immediately found a way to break the barrier, but as he held the fragments in his hand, his mind suddenly became dizzy, seemingly hearing a “chuckle” sound, and then the demonic qi hidden within began to stir, as if trying to absorb him completely.

He knew it wouldn’t be so simple before coming, and immediately exerted tremendous effort, unwilling to let go, feeling his entire body start to boil. After a standoff for a while, he suddenly felt someone pull him from behind, releasing many of the forces restraining him.

The person was naturally Yu Haiqing.

He saw Xie Shuangxue’s forehead covered in sweat, still clutching the fragments tightly, breaking free from the grip to first check that the demonic qi on the fragments hadn’t dissipated, then he finally relaxed and looked up at Yu Haiqing, smiling, “Thank you, brother, for helping me once again.”

Then, a bit puzzled, “Ah, how did you have time to come over?”

But as he spoke, looking at Yu Haiqing’s face, he suddenly felt something was off. It was very serious and somber, different from before, and the hand on his waist was stronger than usual.

“Xie, Shuang, Xue.”

Listening to Yu Haiqing articulate each word as if grinding his teeth, “You might as well just kill me with frustration.”

What’s going on? Why would I frustrate you?

Xie Shuangxue was completely at a loss, thinking maybe Yu Haiqing was angry because he was meddling with the plot again, and then explained his reasons for coming, which were necessary.

In the original plot, the shenanigans in Linan were exposed long after Ling Xuan’s death, and at that time, the Feather Clan was counter-blamed, accused of incompetence for not handling even this small number of people, leading to increasing malice towards the Feather Clan in the grand world.

It was a situation that couldn’t be reversed, leading to the eventual downfall of the Floating Dreams Cloud Realm.

And Linan’s collusion with the Demon Clan was hidden too deeply; the Feather Clan was heavily guarded, and players couldn’t get close. Yun Ruwei’s earlier discoveries were also not strong enough, only corroborated by the facts Xie Shuangxue already knew.

He had tried many methods, but none worked. If he didn’t take this risk, even killing the City Lord of Linan would be useless. The big villain behind the scenes would always be ready to act, definitely destroying the body to eliminate evidence.

To speak broadly, even Sea would strive to maintain the original plot’s course, and it was wishful thinking to use the city lord’s demonic bones as evidence; in the end, it would be the Feather Clan that would suffer.

So, for the Northlands, for the people of the Feather Clan, for Qin Feiluan, and for himself, he couldn’t wait any longer.

“…I was fully prepared, and isn’t it going smoothly now? Actually, you didn’t need to come; I wouldn’t have gotten into trouble,” Xie Shuangxue said. “Or are you upset because I didn’t tell you in advance? But you’ve been busy lately, and I thought this small matter didn’t need to disturb you.”

Compared to that, the technological bottleneck at Endless Sea was more urgent; he was just slightly altering the plot.

He felt he had explained himself very clearly, but Yu Haiqing’s expression did not improve, only grew worse.

What else is wrong?

Then, Xie Shuangxue heard what had happened outside while he had secretly left.

Everyone was in disarray because of his disappearance. He paused, surprised and a bit anxious, but before he could ask anything, Yu Haiqing had already answered what was in his heart.

“Don’t worry, with so many players around, those Feather Clan members won’t be in trouble. As for that city lord, since you’ve obtained the key evidence here, Linan City Lord can’t even summon his puppets anymore; he’ll probably be chopped to death soon.”

Yu Haiqing stared at him, saying these words while tightening his arms. Xie Shuangxue was pressed closely against him, and as he raised his hand, their eyes met, very close.

He instinctively felt something was off, hearing Yu Haiqing speak again, “Xie Shuangxue, is there anything else you want to ask?”

Xie Shuangxue hesitated for a moment, then obediently shook his head.

“Good,” Yu Haiqing said, “then it’s my turn to ask you, what are you thinking?”

Xie Shuangxue felt the other hand reach out and pinch his ear, looking up at Yu Haiqing, a bit frightened by the emotions in his eyes.

“You’re no longer alone. Ah Xue, they all have you in their hearts, and I even more so. Can’t you put a bit of real heart into me?

“Things are clearly different now; I just hope what happened with the fireflies won’t happen again, otherwise, I really will go mad.”

“I really will be driven mad by you eventually.”

Xie Shuangxue didn’t know what to say; he didn’t quite understand. Wasn’t solving these issues correct?

He was somewhat flustered facing this side of Yu Haiqing, a first for him. His instinct was to escape, to break free and find Ling Xuan and the others, as if just getting away would make this situation go away, but Yu Haiqing was using a GM account, and he couldn’t leave.

“You can’t bully NPCs!” Xie Shuangxue tried to stay calm, “I haven’t done anything wrong, it’s, it’s you who suddenly got upset, and I still have to go and explain to my brothers…”

As he mentioned “brothers,” Yu Haiqing’s anger flared even more.

Xie Shuangxue couldn’t leave, and instead, Yu Haiqing pressed him against a wall, then leaned in and bit his lip corner.

Yu Haiqing had previously watched him; although Xie Shuangxue flirted around, he really didn’t understand deeper matters. He was bewildered in that moment.

What was he doing to a small AI? Weren’t we cooperating nicely?

…Why is he biting me?

At that moment, with his mind spinning, Xie Shuangxue’s eyes widened, his wrist warmed, and then the system warning sounds he hadn’t heard for a long time went “ding dong ding dong” again, as if something had changed.