Chapter 156: Past Events Like Smoke

An hour later, the power came back on, and I slipped under the covers. Xinyu, Lu Xuehan, and the others went back to playing their games, while Murong Shanshan picked up a novel and sat down by the bedside.

"It's fine, you go ahead and sleep. I'll read for a bit and then head back."

Murong Shanshan gave me a sweet smile, her long hair brushing gently across my face. I felt as though I had been struck by lightning, inhaling the faint, delicate fragrance coming off the young beauty, and my heart overflowed with an incomparable sense of happiness.

I didn't fall asleep until past eight o'clock. Perhaps I was simply too exhausted, for it turned out to be a night filled with vivid dreams—

...

Xiaoyu's poignant face was streaked with tears as she repeated herself endlessly. Scenes of the past unfolded like a dream: Ye Qiu's resolute gaze left me with almost nowhere to hide, and his bleeding left hand remained so startling and vivid that I could not bear to face it. The training room of the TOT gaming club was in utter disarray; most of the monitors had been smashed into fragments, desks and chairs were piled haphazardly together, and even that enlarged photograph of AR3 Princess Ningxin'er, which Ye Qiu had treasured above all else, had been discarded on the floor, marred by chaotic footprints. All of this had started simply because of Xiaoyu and me...

I desperately wanted to cry, yet no tears would come. Echoing in my ears once more were the ruthless words of my parents: "If you play that game again, don't ever bother coming back to this house!"

In the blink of an eye, the scene shifted back to the night I left TOT. The street was bitterly cold, and in the freezing depths of winter, not a single pedestrian was in sight. Clutching my blue handbag, I stood all alone by the bus stop, having no idea where to go. The few dozen bills in my pocket weren't even enough to afford a cheap motel.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Like the sound of celestial music, I turned to look at the girl standing behind me. She was dressed in a dark gray skirt uniform and wore a pair of black leather boots.

I blankly shook my head, but the girl continued, "My name is Xu Lin. Are you lost? If you don't mind, come sit at my place for a while..."

After that, the scenes dissolved into a blur. I heard the sound of Xinyu crying; in the quiet night, only her low, muffled sobs remained.

"Why can't I see anything..."

I reached out my hands, groping in front of my eyes. Suddenly, a pair of warm, soft little hands grabbed mine, followed by a soft sigh in my ear: "You really don't sleep quietly at all, guy. I can't possibly stand guard over you the whole time..."

...

Nightmares tormented me relentlessly; guilt, yearning, and helplessness choked me until I could barely breathe.

...

"Ah!"

I bolted awake, the room pitch black. Reaching for my cell phone, I saw it was three o'clock in the morning. Murong Shanshan had already gone home, leaving behind only the lingering, comforting fragrance by the bedside.

Throwing on a coat and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I walked out into the living room, poured a glass of warm water, and sat alone on the sofa in a daze. By the time I snapped back to reality, the water had already gone cold.

For over a year, I had lived in guilt. Fortunately, I had met Xinyu, Lu Xuehan, and Murong Shanshan and the other girls; otherwise, life truly would have lost all meaning. Ever since entering *Yueheng*, I had finally found a spark of passion for living once again.

After finishing the water, my head was still throbbing terribly. Back to sleep!

...

When I woke up in the morning, it was already past nine o'clock. Having slept since seven o'clock last night, I had clocked nearly twelve hours of rest, which should have completely made up for yesterday's sleep deficit.

I went out to grab a bite to eat, and upon returning, I saw a text message on my phone from Murong Shanshan. It read: "You were calling out my name while you were sleeping, and you even drooled..."

I laughed in spite of myself, wondering if it was actually true.

Logging into the game, I first checked the level rankings. Compared to yesterday, there were new changes once again. Taking first place was still the Level 47 Blood Red, but second place had now been claimed by Level 46 Lu Xuehan. Murong Shanshan had finally broken into the top ten at Level 44. Romantic Young Master had lost a level because I killed him yesterday, so he dropped out of the top ten. Meanwhile, Xu Lin and Xinyu had surged forward unstoppably, breaking into the top five. With that, the Green Vegetable family now had three players among the top ten of the main city.

...

I let out a soft sigh, but right at that moment, I received a voice call request from Murong Shanshan—

"Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"You slept very restlessly last night."

"I know."

"You kissed my hand."

"It was just a hand..."

"Isn't my hand part of me?"

"Uh... yes."

"Don't tell me you aren't planning to take responsibility?"

"I... I'll take responsibility..."

"Then from now on, any equipment you drop can only be given to me. You aren't allowed to look at other girls, and you have to carry me through leveling..."

"What the hell, that's going too far!" I finally blurted out.

Murong Shanshan giggled, then said with a straight face, "Where are you right now? Do you want me to carry you through leveling?"

"No need, you're only two levels higher than me anyway..." I politely declined, then asked, "Where are you right now? Come back to Silver Moon City for a second, I want to show you something good!"

"I'll be right back!"

Within seconds, Murong Shanshan appeared at the nearby return point. I hurriedly waved and called out, "Over here, by the warehouse!"

Murong Shanshan immediately ran over, her beautiful figure drawing sideways glances from several nearby players.

"What good thing? Don't tell me it's chocolate or Oreos?"

"You only ever think about eating; this isn't edible!" I said with a smile as I retrieved the Level 45 Orange-grade weapon, the Hanguang Sword, from the warehouse.

When I placed the Hanguang Sword, radiating a sacred glow, into the trade window, Murong Shanshan froze abruptly. She stared blankly at it for a long while before speaking, her voice unable to conceal her excitement: "Is this... when did you manage to drop this piece of equipment?"

"Right when I died 9 levels on that quest. How is it? Worth the trouble, right?"

As I spoke, I firmly pressed the confirmation button.

Murong Shanshan's beautiful eyes flashed with a captivating brilliance, but a few seconds later, she canceled the trade.

"What's wrong, Shanshan? That's not like you at all," I asked in surprise.

Murong Shanshan bit her lower lip and murmured, "But I don't have enough money to buy this sword right now. I know the price of this sword could easily be bid up to over a hundred million..."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not trying to sell it to you, I'm giving it to you. For free."

Murong Shanshan looked at me in astonishment. "What did you say? You're giving this Orange-grade weapon to me?"

I nodded and answered with certainty, "That's right, completely free of charge. In English, entirely *free*!"

Murong Shanshan suddenly broke into a sweet smile and asked, "Why are you giving it to me? Give me a reason I can accept."

I thought for a moment and replied with a deadpan expression, "I like you. Does that count as a valid reason?"

"Barely..." Murong Shanshan accepted the sword with a beaming smile, then suddenly looked troubled again as she said, "You gave this sword to me, but what about yourself? You should need it much more..."

"It's fine, I have another Level 50 sword!"

I showed the Blood Red Sword to Murong Shanshan, and only then did she finally agree to keep the Hanguang Sword. She said solemnly, "Lin Fan, thank you. If I get the chance, I'll pay you back the market price for this sword."

I smiled. "Don't wait until everyone is Level 100 before you swap out the sword and hand it back to me, claiming you're returning it to its rightful owner in pristine condition."

Murong Shanshan immediately cast a shy, reproachful glare at me and chided, "What do you want, then? Don't tell me you expect this single sword to make this lady offer herself to you in return?"

I was secretly startled: *Good grief, she even guessed what I was thinking!*

"Shanshan, didn't you still have to go level up? Hurry on then, don't let me slow down your leveling pace."

"Are you really not coming with us to level? Members of the same guild get an experience bonus reward when leveling together, you know~"

I smiled. "I'll pass. I'd rather find a spot to level on my own!"

...

After Murong Shanshan left, I began organizing my own gear. My current equipment set was missing just one bracer; the Level 26 Blue-grade gauntlets, Struggle of Justice, had broken due to running out of durability. Consequently, I spent 500 gold coins on the exchange market to pick up a pair of Level 38 Green-grade gauntlets. Their stats weren't much worse than the original ones.

When I opened my skill panel, a bizarre thing happened—both my gathering and mining skills had somehow broken through to Level 4!

What was going on? Gathering had been just a sliver of experience away from reaching Level 5, but I didn't remember ever practicing either of these skills!

After thinking about it for a long time, the realization suddenly dawned on me. Back in the alternate space, it seemed I had gathered herbs and mined ores where every single plant had rewarded 300 experience points! So that was it. Although my skill levels had rolled back, the accumulated skill experience had not decreased, and the experience gained inside that cave was already enough to bump my profession skills up to Level 4!

Overflowing with happiness, I stepped out of Silver Moon City and returned to that zone of Level 50 monsters. This place not only featured Level 50 Prairie monsters that gave low health and high experience, but it also offered high-level herbs to gather, such as Butterfly Blossoms and Pearfruits. The nearly 500 stalks of Agave and 5 valuable ores across 10 stacks that I had previously gathered in the spatial cave were all stored in the warehouse; perhaps those materials would come in handy once my alchemy level increased.

There were far more players in the Silver Moon Valley than there had been a few days prior. It remained the territory of Swords and Roses, but other players were still free to enter and level here—the only ones barred from passing through the valley exit were the members of Romantic Dynasty and Berserk. This was one of Murong Shanshan's strategies to restrict Romantic Dynasty. By now, everyone knew Silver Moon Valley was an excellent spot for leveling, but Murong Shanshan guarded the entrance fiercely, refusing to let anyone from Romantic Dynasty in. Unable to fight their way through, Romantic Dynasty had no choice but to relocate to other leveling spots, which put them at an even greater disadvantage in overall levels compared to Swords and Roses.

The most fatal blow had been the battle last night, where more than a hundred players above Level 40 had been completely wiped out by a single player. Setting aside the losses in levels and equipment, the blow to their morale alone was enough to give Romantic Young Master a massive headache for quite some time.

The guild chat was buzzing with discussions about last night's events. According to intelligence from Young and Reckless, Romantic Dynasty had been battered so badly by Swords and Roses lately that they couldn't catch a break, and having suffered another heavy blow last night, quite a few players had already quit the guild. Most of them had joined Blood Red's "Bloody Firmament," while others requested to join Swords and Roses, only to be rejected flat out by Murong Shanshan without a second thought.

As I was pondering this, a system announcement suddenly flashed across the screen: *Congratulations to the player Berserk for establishing the guild "Loyalty and Brotherhood." The system rewards him with +1 Level!*