Chapter 152 Cloud Tour

Outside the tavern, Yun Zhongmu and the others bid farewell to Jian Gui for a full hour. In fact, the two sides had only known each other for two days, so how much could they really say? All the farewell pleasantries were exhausted in the first five minutes, but Yun Zhongmu just wouldn't leave. He was currently pulling Jian Gui aside to discuss the best stat allocation for thieves.

Han Jia Gongzi sneered from the side, "Stop dawdling here, 27149 isn't coming."

His words exposed Yun Zhongmu's true intentions. The group of more than a dozen people who came to see Jian Gui off were actually all hoping to catch a glimpse of 27149's true face. Gu Fei had shown his face quite a bit in Yueye City these days, wielding his sword and brandishing his blade, but his face was always covered. Countless people had admired his style, but no one knew his true face or name.

The only exception was Liu Xia, who had just seen Gu Fei's true appearance.

Han Jia Gongzi's revelation made several people feel embarrassed. But at least he had held back for an hour before exposing them, which was considerate. Although Yun Zhongmu disliked Han Jia Gongzi, he didn't get angry this time. He could only laugh it off, "It seems we won't have the chance to meet him. Then please thank him on our behalf, Jian Gui. I wanted to thank him personally yesterday outside the Warrior Camp, but he happened to log off before I could."

Jian Gui smiled and nodded, "I will."

"Then we won't disturb you any longer," Yun Zhongmu said.

Then they repeated farewell phrases like "Come visit often," "Be careful on the road," and "Keep in touch" one more time before finally parting ways.

Jian Gui and his group of five entered the tavern, just as Gu Fei was moving the table back to its original spot.

"What are you doing?" Jian Gui asked, puzzled.

"Uh... sitting against the wall makes me feel safer. Now that you're leaving, I'm moving it back," Gu Fei said.

"Eavesdropping on our conversation?" Han Jia Gongzi sneered.

"Haha... nothing to do, just listening," Gu Fei replied, chuckling like Yun Zhongmu.

Han Jia Gongzi noticed Liu Xia sitting with Gu Fei and continued, "Hey, you're really making the most of your time, squeezing it in even during this last hour."

Unexpectedly, Jian Gui had already gone up to greet Liu Xia, "You're here too!"

"Ah, I'm here. I'm going to Yun Duan City with you guys too," Liu Xia said.

Yu Tian Shen Ming was stunned. He tugged on Gu Fei and whispered, "Impressive! You can hook up with a girl to take back home in just two days. How'd you do it? Teach me!"

Gu Fei was annoyed, "What does a little kid like you know? Go play somewhere else." Yu Tian Shen Ming was very depressed.

Gu Fei then introduced the five of them to Liu Xia. Except for Han Jia Gongzi, whose new ID Liu Xia hadn't heard of, the others elicited exclamations of surprise from her. When he finally introduced You Ge, Liu Xia jumped up, "Ah! You Ge, you're my idol, you know?"

Everyone was stunned, even You Ge was a little taken aback, "What's this? Even I have fans these days?"

"Ah, collecting intelligence and analyzing data, those are my hobbies too!" Liu Xia exclaimed.

"Haha, this girl has potential!" You Ge said to the others. In fact, You Ge's way of playing the game was often criticized. To describe it using terms from past online games, he had no skills, no levels, and no equipment. All he had was theory. He knew everything about how to allocate stats, how to play, and what skills each class had. If a new player ran into him, it would be a blessing. But in actual combat, You Ge could contribute very little. Many people didn't understand the point of him being obsessed with these things, but he enjoyed it.

Every day, he analyzed, discussed, and argued with people in the game forums, posting, bumping threads, and chatting. That's how You Ge made a name for himself. Jian Gui and the others were famous within their own server, but their fame would be cut in half in other districts. You Ge was different; his fame from the forums was universal throughout the entire game. His fame was distributed very evenly.

But fame didn't equal strength, and those who looked down on You Ge always outnumbered those who admired him, let alone those who shared his passion. No wonder Liu Xia regarded You Ge as an idol; everyone was surprised.

After everyone laughed, Liu Xia continued, "You guys are a mercenary group, right? Can I join?"

Everyone looked at Han Jia Gongzi.

According to the definition of the Gongzi Elite Group, Liu Xia was certainly not qualified. But in fact, those rules were set by Han Jia Gongzi. The others didn't care, so if he nodded, it would be settled.

Gu Fei focused his attention on Yu Tian Shen Ming. When Jian Gui had asked him to join, You Ge and Zhan Wu Shang hadn't reacted much, but Yu Tian Shen Ming had been quite vocal. But now, this little thief who was only level 24 wanted to join, and this guy didn't have any objections at all. He was just grinning stupidly, drool practically dripping from his mouth.

Pathetic, truly pathetic, Gu Fei thought. They all claim to be experts, but as soon as they meet a girl, their true colors are revealed. No wonder the girls from Rebirth Amethyst reacted so strongly when a male player joined the guild. It's because of guys like these that male players have such a bad reputation.

Liu Xia also sensed who the important figure was from the looks on everyone's faces. She looked at Han Jia Gongzi with a smile and said, "So this sister is the leader! Please, let me join the group!"

Sister! The harmonious atmosphere instantly froze. Everyone nervously watched Han Jia Gongzi. His expressionless face gradually turned into a gentle smile.

"You want to join the group!" Han Jia Gongzi patted Liu Xia's shoulder and said gently, "Never gonna happen."

The contrast between the words and the tone was too great, and Liu Xia didn't react for a moment. Han Jia Gongzi had already turned around and was calling out to everyone, "Let's go."

"What's wrong?" Liu Xia was still confused.

Jian Gui sighed deeply and went out.

Zhan Wu Shang chuckled stupidly twice and also went out.

"You still have a long way to go on the road of intelligence gathering," You Ge said earnestly to Liu Xia.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Do you have QQ? We can..."

"Little kid, go play somewhere else!" Yu Tian Shen Ming was interrupted by Gu Fei before he could finish.

Gu Fei also looked worried, "Didn't you realize he's a guy? I admit he doesn't look like it, but you can tell from his voice, right! He's been talking a lot since he came in."

"Ah? Yeah, I didn't really notice..." Liu Xia said.

Gu Fei was speechless. If Xiao Yu had made that mistake, it would have been understandable, but Liu Xia didn't seem like such a clueless person!

"I'm going to apologize to him," Liu Xia said, wanting to chase after him.

"Forget it." Gu Fei wanted to stop her, but he was a step too slow. Liu Xia had already rushed out.

Gu Fei followed her out and saw Liu Xia bowing and pleading to Han Jia Gongzi, while Han Jia Gongzi continued to wear his gentle smile.

"I'm not that petty," Han Jia Gongzi said gently, "This kind of thing happens to me all the time. I'm used to it. The reason you can't join the group is because you're not strong enough. In our group..." Han Jia Gongzi looked around and finally pointed at Gu Fei, "You know him pretty well, right? He's the worst one in our group. If you want to join, you at least need to have his level of skill."

Liu Xia was dumbfounded, "I guess I really can forget about it forever."

Han Jia Gongzi nodded, "That's why I said that."

Yu Tian Shen Ming and the others who were eavesdropping on the side whispered.

"Is he serious or not? Does he really not care?" Zhan Wu Shang said.

"He's faking it, definitely faking it. Look at that smile," You Ge said with certainty.

"Jian Gui, you know him best, what do you say?" Yu Tian Shen Ming asked.

"Half true, half false!" Jian Gui said.

"What do you mean?" Yu Tian Shen Ming asked.

"With Liu Xia's level, he wouldn't accept her no matter what. But since Liu Xia happened to step on that landmine, he's acting like that's the reason, using the opportunity to vent a little. That's probably his mentality," Gu Fei also floated over.

Jian Gui looked at Gu Fei in surprise, "I didn't realize you understood him so well."

"No choice," Gu Fei sighed, "His personality is too obvious."

"Why can't I see it?" Yu Tian Shen Ming scratched his head.

"What does a little kid like you know? I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice," Gu Fei said.

Yu Tian Shen Ming was extremely depressed.

"Alright, let's go!" Seeing that Liu Xia and Han Jia Gongzi had finished talking, the group finally set off.

"I'm definitely going to join your mercenary group," Liu Xia said softly, walking next to Gu Fei.

"So you haven't given up yet," Gu Fei said.

"Of course."

"Keep it up!" Gu Fei said.

"Uh, you're so strong, how did you do it?" Liu Xia asked.

"Twenty years of hard work, and I still haven't stopped," Gu Fei said.

"What?" Liu Xia didn't understand.

"Kung fu," Gu Fei said.

"You're saying, you're so good at PK because you've practiced kung fu?" During the battle with Mang Mang, Liu Xia had watched Gu Fei's entire battle from the sidelines. That battle wasn't like Gu Fei's usual duels, which ended in two or three moves. Liu Xia had watched for so long as a bystander and had already noticed many differences between Gu Fei and ordinary people.

Gu Fei nodded.

"Uh? Can I learn?" Liu Xia asked.

"If you're truly passionate about it, I can teach you some things. But if your goal is just to learn it so you can be like me in the game, then don't bother. You don't have that much time," Gu Fei said frankly.

Gu Fei had been practicing martial arts for 20 years, but the value of those 20 years was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

Learning martial arts was his study, his career, and the focus of his entire life. Moreover, there was also the indescribable element of talent.

If an ordinary person really used their spare time to practice martial arts and wanted to reach Gu Fei's current level of achievement...

Forty years? Sixty years? What's truly possible is that they would never reach it in their entire life.