Such a straightforward way of replying to a letter was comparable to the concise and to the point Liu family letter with the word “Okay” printed on it. It could be seen that the two were indeed a match made in heaven, and had specially selected the person with the greatest affinity to get close to.

Liu Xian’an asked: “What will happen after the Emperor receives the letter?”

Liang Shu said: “There is an eighty percent chance he will break my legs.”

But broken was broken, ba. It wasn’t a big problem. A broken leg could be healed, and there was even a doctor at the ready. However, Liu Xian’an felt that it was better for them not to be broken. Liang Shu saw that his brow was slightly furrowed, as if he was really thinking about the matter. It was both distressing and cute. He couldn’t help but lean closer to ask: “What, a forty-eight thousand year-old immortal also cares about these worldly affairs? I thought you would disregard it and drag me to the ends of the earth.”

“I didn’t care at first,” Liu Xian’an said, “but the prince is really troublesome.”

The trouble was that the general of the whole country could not resign casually, and someone from the Imperial family could not elope to the mountains and forests to live in seclusion. In any case, there were many free and romantic things that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang could not do now.

Avoiding trouble now would only lead to greater trouble in the future, so it was best to proceed step by step.

Liang Shu didn’t feel that he was trouble at all, and had no sense of guilt. On the contrary, he quite easily exploited the situation to his advantage, sighing deeply. I have neither romance nor freedom, so pitiful, kiss me for a while.

Liu Xian’an said in his arms: “Okay.”

And the kisses of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang had always been dishonest, not like meeting each other in the golden wind and jade dew, but more like collecting a debt with interest. His thumb first slid from the cheek to the knot of his throat, pressing down on the mole the size of a sesame seed. He rubbed it repeatedly, then lowered his head and bit it with his teeth. The two of them were at the table first, and later rolled together on the bed. He wore a lot of clothes in winter, but Liu Xian’an could still feel the hands grasping his waist, so hard that they almost left bruises.

He didn’t dislike being completely controlled by the other party beneath the bed curtains. On the contrary, this kind of good thing that only required cooperation but not initiative was quite in line with his usual lazy style.

Thus, he lay down restfully and was about to embrace the god of dreams, but because he was so restful, Liang Shu had to stop and pinch his nose, calling: “Don’t sleep.”

“Not sleeping.”

“If you’re not sleeping, why aren’t you moving?”

Why do I need to move, Liu Xian’an thought. This person is really difficult to serve! So he turned over cooperatively and opened his arms to him again. I moved, come here.

Liang Shu stopped and lay on the bed with his head pillowed on his arms, no longer in the mood.

Liu Xian’an had no choice but to coax him, okay, ba, then I will do some more research later.

The method of research, of course, was to recruit a few new guests to the Three Thousand Worlds. When A-Ning received this new task, he was stunned. First, he asked in a whisper, you’re just fine, why do you need books on this topic? After asking, he stammered, at present…..the prince…..it’s too early, ba. The Emperor doesn’t know and the Village Master doesn’t know either. Bear with it for a while, Young Master, and we’ll talk about it when we return to Baihe City.

Then he found an excuse and ran away. Fearing that he would be stopped if he ran too late, he said while running: “I’m going to find medicine for Song-xiansheng!”

This was the medicine written down in the servant’s ancient book. There were many trees in the Southwest, and the air was damp. There was no telling how many unique plants and flowers grew in the wild forests. Many of them were similar in appearance and extremely difficult to identify, and it took a lot of effort to find all of them even though they were disciples from Baihe Mountain Village.

Liu Xian’an temporarily halted Song Changsheng’s previous treatment plan. The rest of the doctors in the city were also taking this opportunity to study, and had been accompanying the doctor in the government office these days. Most of them were locals, but they had never heard of Huanxi Toad Venom and couldn’t quite understand the antidote. Thus, they cautiously asked, shouldn’t the miracle doctor think twice?

“I’ll try this for two days first.” Liu Xian’an said, “If he doesn’t improve, then I’ll go back to the previous treatment.”

Seeing that he was so persistent, the doctors could say no more. After all, the blue poisonous ivy on Song-xiansheng’s face really looked horrifying, and the authority of Baihe Mountain Village was indeed unquestionable. More importantly, even Song Changsheng himself had no objection to this, so that night, Liu Xian’an switched the medicine for him.

The first day was fine, and he passed the night without incident. In the early morning of the next day, the group of doctors were still watching him, studying whether the blue lines were getting darker or lighter, and the atmosphere was relaxed.

But in the afternoon, Liu Xian’an was slowly dispensing medicine in the courtyard when he suddenly saw A-Ning rush in, out of breath. He said: “Young Master, Young Master…..Song-xiansheng seems to be dying.”

“Talk slowly, why is he dying?” Liu Xian’an put down the basket in his hand. “Didn’t he look fine when I went to see him just now?”

“He vomited a lot of blood, and the blood was all, all blue.” A-Ning coughed. “While talking, Doctor Li was sprayed all over.”

“Let’s go.” Liu Xian’an wiped his hands. “I’ll have a look.”

There were seven or eight doctors crammed into the room, and Song Changsheng lay on the bed, his face ashen. Seeing that Liu Xian’an had come, the others hurriedly made way for him and shakily told him the situation just now: “It seems that even his heartbeat nearly stopped.”

Liu Xian’an tested Song Changsheng’s pulse, then turned to A-Ning and said: “Give me the medicine.”

A-Ning hurriedly fetched a bottle of pills, hydrated them with water, and fed them to Song Changsheng. A doctor asked curiously, “What kind of medicine is this?”

Liu Xian’an said: “Pills made by Baihe Mountain Village that can save lives in critical situations. A-Ning, where is the prince?”

“The prince already knows about this.” A-Ning notified him in a whisper, “I heard that Lieutenant General Gao immediately arrested Si’er.”

Si’er was that little servant, whose name was Wei Si. When he was arrested, he screamed continuously that he really didn’t know anything, and was currently being locked up in the dungeon. A-Ning asked, do you want to call him in for questioning?

“No need, I can’t look after him.” Liu Xian’an said, “Go get the silver needles, and make the brazier in the room even warmer.”

All the doctors agreed and went to work on their own. Those who had nothing to do still gathered around the bed to watch, inevitably muttering in their hearts, the treatment was very good, but the prescription had to suddenly be changed. He wouldn’t listen to any persuasion. Everything was fine, and now wasn’t there a different problem? Looking at Song-xiansheng’s current state, they really didn’t know how many days…..or how many hours he could live.

Although the government ordered that no news be leaked, there was no impenetrable wall in the world, and there were always maids, servants, doctors, and medicine boys who came and went in and out of the courtyard. So soon, all the common people in the city knew that Song Changsheng’s condition had suddenly worsened, and he probably wouldn’t survive.

“This……didn’t they say he was almost cured?”

“Who knows.”

Liu Xian’an kept him alive for three days in a row, and during these three days, all kinds of rumors arose in the city. Of course, there were people with ulterior motives among them. On behalf of the heretical cult, they only said that Song Changsheng had offended the Holy Maiden and killed the envoy, so how could he survive? Let alone a miracle doctor, even a god would find it difficult to heal him.

Fear could speed up the spread of rumors. For a while, even four or five-year-old dolls were chanting and singing nursery rhymes related to the Baifu Sect.

“What are you singing!” After the adults understood it, they quickly covered the children’s mouths and scolded, “Be careful not to be caught by the officials!”

“We won’t be taken away,” a little girl said naively. “When Xiao Fuzi was teaching me yesterday, that official servant Brother Liu^[1] was standing right across from us.”

“That’s because he didn’t hear it clearly. If he heard it clearly, you would go to prison!” The adult walked back with her in her arms. “Don’t go out to play during this time.”

“……Wu.”

Without the children playing in the streets, it was deserted and dull.

On the fourth day, Song Changsheng died.

The doctors packed up their medicine boxes and slipped out of the manor one by one. None of them dared to say anything. Everyone said that the prince’s expression at that time, ah…..they really felt that the heads on their necks were about to be plucked. And Second Young Master Liu was completely exhausted. He staggered and swayed when he walked, and his vision went dark when he stood up, causing him to knock his head when he passed out.

It was true that he knocked his head. His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was painstakingly applying ointment for him, but the ointment was an unsightly reddish-purple color. A thin line trickled down his forehead, and Liu Xian’an had to remind him: “This medicine was made by my father himself. The quantity is small and precious, don’t waste it.”

Liang Shu said: “I’ll put a little more on, it will heal faster.”

Liu Xian’an: “……Medical blindness.”

“Don’t speak.” Liang Shu said, “I haven’t taught you a lesson yet. You were just pretending, why did you really fall unconscious due to exhaustion?”

“Because there were too many people in the room. Those doctors were with me at all times. I also have to wonder, weren’t they tired?” Liu Xian’an was also very gloomy when this matter was mentioned. “So I could only make do with Song-xiansheng’s bed for a while.”

Liang Shu used the back of his hand to wipe the medicine that had flowed elsewhere, rubbing red and purple across his face.

Liu Xian’an: “…….” You people from the Northwest Military Camp are really not particular, ah!

In the end, he got out of the other party’s arms and applied the medicine himself. Halfway through the application, A-Ning ran in again. He lay on the window and whispered: “Young Master, Lieutenant General Gao and the others are ready to act, so I’ll go join the fun!”

Liu Xian’an waved his hand, go, come back and tell me after you’re done.

As for where to watch the excitement, it was naturally the prison.

The servant boy had already heard the news of Song Changsheng’s death at this time, and there was a strange smile of ecstasy on his face. He wasn’t even bothering to pretend. The jailor leaned against the door of the cell. Seeing this expression of incurable bewitchment, he warned indifferently, you committed such a crime, and I’m afraid you’ll be hacked to pieces by the prince. How can you be happy?

The boy ignored him, and only muttered to himself. The jailer became increasingly disdainful, and spat. He turned around to leave, but was knocked unconscious by somebody’s palm and fell to the ground with a thud.

The maid in white was covered by a light veil. The boy became even happier when he saw her, and rushed to the prison door: “Did the Holy Maiden ask this sister to come and rescue me?”

The maid cut off the iron chains and took his hand: “Let’s go!”

At this time, the sky was completely dark. A-Ning hid in the shadows and watched the two leave the manor all the way through the dim moonlight.

The Imperial guard next to him saw that he seemed to be very interested in this kind of excitement, so he simply lifted him by the collar and flew to follow after them.

A-Ning was caught off guard, and was fed a cold breeze.

He hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with a cloth towel, and the Imperial guard kindly reminded him: “No one will discover us.”

But A-Ning still insisted on covering up, because if he drank too much wind, it would be easy for cold to enter the body.

For the disciples of Baihe Mountain Village, the most important thing was to keep in good health, protect the stomach, and strengthen the spleen at all times.

The Imperial guard: “…….”

The maid led the servant all the way into a dark alley, where they disappeared.

The boy asked: “Are we going to see the Holy Maiden?”

Before the maid could answer, a sword shadow descended from the sky.

“Ah!” the boy exclaimed, and was pushed aside heavily by the maid. Gao Lin swept across with a sword in one hand, almost cutting off his bun. The servant boy felt a chill on the top of his head, and fell to the ground with disheveled hair. He looked on helplessly as Gao Lin and the maid fought. A dog was barking in the distance. Flustered, he turned around and ran away.

It wasn’t until he ran so far away that his figure disappeared that Gao Lin kicked the maid to a government official who had been informed. Then, he jumped to the other side to chase after him.

“Cough, cough!” The maid was escorted all the way to the manor. As soon as she entered the door, she began to tear the white gauze and mask off her face. After a lot of tugging, she finally revealed a man’s face.

The guards of Xiao Wang Manor were joking, I can’t see it, ah. You, boy, you’re still a graceful beauty, but you’re a bit fat. Remember to shave your beard clean next time.

“Scram!”

On the other side, the boy also scrammed very quickly. He couldn’t go home, let alone outside the city gates, so he took advantage of the darkness to run straight toward the house in his memory. Seeing the familiar shadow of the tree looming in front of him, he desperately climbed up the wall and jumped into this “sacred place” that haunted his dreams.

---

[1] This is a different Liu ( 刘 ) than Liu Xian’an’s family. ⮐

---

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Chapter Eighty-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Nine

Early the next morning.

As soon as Pei Yi entered the studio, Li Yuan, who was waiting in the lobby, greeted him, “Pei Yi! You really predicted it correctly!”

Li Yuan handed the tablet in his hand to his friend and indicated, “Look, Xunya Technology’s official Weibo posted a new announcement at 8 o’clock in the morning, saying that Nanchan Games is not a subsidiary of their headquarters. Two and a half years ago—”

“That is, before large-scale plagiarism occurred, the relationship between them changed to a partnership.”

At present, Xunya Technology unilaterally announced the termination of its partnership with Nanchan Games, and apologized to the netizens who felt hurt by online public opinion.

From now on, company headquarters would conduct stricter inspections of its partners in order to keep similar incidents from happening again. Everyone’s supervision, criticism, and corrections were welcome.

Pei Yi clearly read the black and white statement with the official seal, and a glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes. “A major company is indeed a major company. It is necessary to be clean and tidy, and they use this superficial skill well.”

Last night went from Mufeng Games’ stern questioning, to Chanming Studios’ statement, to the revelations about Nanchan Games’ series of plagiarism incidents.

Not only had it become big news in the gaming circle, but it had also made the two parties the target of attention and abuse from ordinary netizens.

Although the officials of the original game design competition had been hiding and pretending to be dead, there was no end to the ability of the vast number of netizens who could pick up and expose information. More and more evidence pointed to their shady behavior of using backdoors.

From Ke Ming and Changming Studios to You Chang and Nanchan Games, they became like street rats almost overnight.

There were waves of hot searches related to entertainment on Weibo, and the two topics about Chanming Studios’ backdoor and Xunya Technology were right there on the list of Weibo’s hot searches.

“There’s a lot more heat than I had imagined.” Li Yuan gave a low sigh, and then asked speculatively, “There must be someone behind this, right? Weiyi?”

Pei Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, which was enough of an answer.

The statement issued this morning was the result of a secret game between two sides regarding capital.

Whether it was Chanming Studios’ manipulation of the award results, or the shameless plagiarism of Nanchan Games in the name of profit, they had undoubtedly stepped on the moral bottom line of public conscience. 

Fueled by public opinion, people’s anger grew stronger and stronger.

For Xunya Technology, Chanming Studios’ “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was just a small subsidiary mobile game. The initial investment could not be counted as their own, and the profits in the later stage had not yet been achieved—

Although the backdoor investment in the competition was a bit of a loss, as a major game company, they could still afford it.

This time, Xunya Technology was forced to be at a disadvantage. If they didn’t cut off the relationship as soon as possible, the anger of the netizens would burn them.

“Don’t worry, the above and below-board fight between Xunay Technologies and Weiyi isn’t just a matter of a day or two. Although I’m the one who organized this counterattack, from Xunya Technology’s perspective, they probably consider our studio to be a move by Weiyi.”

Big companies had their own practices, and small studios had their own ways of living.

YWY had always done the right thing and sat upright. They were not afraid of retaliation by Xunya Technology. If something was said in private, they had the double protection of Bo Group and GM.

Of course, in the long run, their studio would sooner or later occupy a place in the Chinese gaming industry based on its own capabilities!

Li Yuan closed the door to the office. “By the way, Brother Xiang still has old work friends at Chanming Studios. He secretly discovered that Ke Ming got very angry at the company last night.”

“It seems that Nanchan Games suddenly announced an end to their partnership. Their backer pulled out suddenly.”

Pei Yi naturally understood who was responsible for this, and didn’t reveal more.

He imagined Ke Ming’s expression. “It’s normal to get angry. Given his temperament of looking at people with his nostrils turned upward, it would be strange if he could deal with all of this calmly.”

Li Yuan had never had a good impression of Ke Ming, and continued, “After the in-game transaction channel of ‘Destroy the Alien Beasts’ opened, it is said that the total income didn’t exceed 300,000.”

However, tens of millions invested in production and millions of operating expenses would only return an income of less than 300,000 in the end.

If Ke Ming was old and in poor health, he might have been so angry that he had a heart attack.

Pei Yi’s mind returned to reality. “Are the hot searches still up?”

“They are, the top hot search is at 18th place.” Li Yuan nodded and made another guess. “However, I estimate that as soon as Xunya Technology’s statement is released, related hot search topics will follow.”

There was a dark light in Pei Yi’s eyes as he said, “Pear Garden, make the announcement. Everything that needs to be prepared is ready, and it’s our studio’s turn to come out and make our presence felt.”

It would be their own loss if they didn’t take these free hot searches and exposure!

Ke Ming must still plan to make a comeback after a while, but Pei Yi’s intention was to make him fall again and again, never having a chance to get up!

Li Yuan fully understood what his friend was thinking, and nodded firmly. “Don’t worry, leave it to me.”

The studio’s online publicity team was already prepared. It was time to send back all the misunderstandings and malice they had received since Monday!

. . . . . . .

It was Saturday afternoon, the moment Weibo traffic slowly woke up.

A new post landed on the Youtu forum homepage: Take a look! YWY’s latest Weibo. After reading the entire article, I can only shout one sentence: Amazing!

It should be known that although public opinion in the past two days had circled around Chanming Studios and “Destroy the Alien Beasts,” the other end of public opinion was linked to YWY Studios and their similar work, “The Last Fog.”

This straightforward post immediately attracted the attention of many game fans.

Everyone smelled a big melon, and immediately clicked on the link, rushing to the latest statement released by YWY Studios—

[ On the same day, an internet user named Chasing Wind posted false information about our studio’s chief planner, Will (Mr. Pei), and the studio’s “The Last Fog” project on the Youtu forum and Weibo. We are making the following statement:

We took screenshots as evidence and filed a police report as soon as possible. The user (Qin Moumou) has admitted to the police that he paid for tracking and paparazzi, spread malicious rumors, etc. He is currently in the process of legal prosecution!

Several other users (the specific list is attached in Figure 2) have been confirmed to be paid commenters from the same marketing company, which collected money to spread malicious public opinion and rumors. This behavior has also seriously infringed on the reputation and interests of our Mr. Pei Yi and the entire “Last Fog” game team, and those responsible will be held accountable to the end in accordance with the law!

Finally, from its inception to present, the “Last Fog” game team has respected fairness, originality, and ability, and respects their peers and opponents even more!

The entire production team felt deeply powerless and angry about the suspicions they received after winning the “8th Original Game Design Competition” — 

From this moment, YWY Studios and the “Last Fog” team voluntarily give up the winning title of the “8th Original Game Design Competition” and also condemn the organizers’ inaction!

If an award cannot prove our excellence, then let the game itself shine and speak for us! ]

If the first half was a normal clarification, then the second half was the surprising part.

Although there was a lot of controversy over the original game design competition this time, its prestige could not be underestimated. It was also one of the few awards recognized by the Chinese gaming circle.

Give up their winning spot?

Did that mean that YWY Studios had voluntarily given up the series of subsequent exposure channels?

Just to protest and denounce the organizers of the competition from the perspective of the general public? The entire YWY Studios was so unyielding!

For a time, the comment area was occupied by netizens who followed the trend and came to enjoy the melons.

“To summarize Big Cat Face’s statement: A certain garbage studio used a backdoor and hired trolls to blacken them, and they asked the police to deal with this pile of trash! Also, their game relies on their own ability to be awesome. Whoever wants the prize can have it, but they don’t want it! Meow~ It’s over!”

“Hahahaha the cat-like summary is perfect!”

“Damn, this small studio has some backbone, ah.”

“The real thing is here. Let’s go try The Last Fog 1.0. It’s definitely the most interesting card game I’ve played in recent years!”

“It’s true, the painting style is so beautiful! And the game experience is also very smooth, without any messy advertisements!”

“YWY, my kitty cat treasure studio, ‘The Last Fog’ is really a domestically produced original. Now I’m looking forward to the 2.0 mobile game version!”

“Come quickly! There’s a big melon, the chief planner Will is a King of Drinking Capacity!”

This comment quickly attracted the attention of melon-eating netizens, and they all moved over.

Just now, Pei Yi’s Weibo had uploaded ten minutes of video content, and the accompanying post was unparalleled in its toughness—

Destroy the alien beasts copied and plagiarized.

Seven simple words, not killing without spilling blood.

The video began with a surveillance video from late August last year.

The fairly spacious conference room was packed with people, but soon, the focus of the video zoomed to the conference stage accompanied by clear subtitles.

It was the scene of the meeting during the first bidding in the capital. The video was accelerated, but it didn’t affect the normal viewing and understanding of the netizens at all.

From Lou Yang coming on stage to accuse Ke Ming of plagiarism, to Ke Ming denying it, then to Lou Yang showing evidence and slapping him harshly in the face, and finally Li Yuan’s warning to Ke Ming—

Everything was truthfully announced to the public.

Perhaps even Ke Ming himself had forgotten that GM’s conference room was monitored!

Everyone was born as a human being.

Everything a person said and did would leave a mark on this world!

In addition, the content of the last five minutes involved the contacts and exchanges between the two parties in the recent competition—

““It wasn’t enough for you to copy the modeling at the beginning, but now you have to copy the character settings?”

“What did I copy? Do you have evidence? I’m the one who finished presenting the game settings just now, and you guys are presenting yours in the afternoon. Who is plagiarizing who in terms of timing?”

“I heard that you plan to customize the attack settings of the game? This is indeed a good idea.”

“How can you say it was copied? We are colleagues, let’s learn from each other and make progress together.”

As early as after meeting Ke Ming in Haishi, Pei Yi had been more cautious, and would use his cell phone to record in real time each instance they met.

Therefore, at present, every item listed by YWY had enough evidence to prove that it was the original work of their studio. On the contrary, it was Ke Ming’s shameless behavior and remarks that aroused strong resentment from the public.

“I’m going to vomit! I’ve never seen anyone more disgusting than Ke Ming.”

“Calling plagiarism learning and progress? No wonder Chinese games have had such a hard time getting ahead these years! They were hurt by worms like Ke Ming!”

“Teacher Will is awesome!”

“If you ask me, no one should question Will. What does the number of years in the industry matter? Last year’s ‘Joyful Spirit’ had the great atmosphere of a Chinese horror story! Recently, ‘Traces’ and ‘The Last Fog’ won at the same time! I’m super looking forward to it!”

“Well, Chanming Studios and Destroy the Alien Beasts will be completely blacklisted by me. Asking when The Last Fog will be released. I’m still looking forward to a doomsday escape game with China as the focus!”

“Chanming Studio has been reported to the relevant departments! Looking forward to The Last Fog.”

Pei Yi looked at the increasing number of comments on his computer, then at Li Yuan opposite, and went on to the next step.

“Pear Garden, get ready. At five o’clock tonight, we’ll officially announce that ‘The Last Fog’ is in closed beta testing.”

Li Yuan had just received the real-time data from the online publicity team and had to admire his friend’s marketing methods. “You’ve eaten up this wave of exposure to death.”

As the saying went, contrast creates beauty.

The more problems Chanming Studios and “Alien Beasts” had, the more it would boost the popularity of “The Last Fog.”

It might sound a bit unfair to the former, but business competition was destined to be cruel. After all, it was Ke Ming, who deliberately caused harm behind the scenes, so what was wrong with them taking advantage of the others’ ability and trying to exploit them?

Pei Yi chuckled. “Little Mr. Li, I’m going to trouble you next. From the beginning of the closed beta to the launch of the public beta, all kinds of publicity and marketing methods must continue on.”

“Now that the mobile game version is on the way, there will be a web-based game in the future. “The Last Fog” will be our core project to establish ourselves in the gaming circle.”

Pei Yi had completed the initial review of the work, and now it was time for Li Yuan to give full play to his abilities.

“I know. I won’t take it lightly.”

Li Yuan thought about the studio’s next path, and he had never felt that the future was so smooth and bright.

He looked at his friend who was still browsing the web, and said without thinking, “En. Pei Yi, thank you.”

Pei Yi was taken aback, and looked over. “Thanks for what?”

Li Yuan also felt that his sincere thanks had come a bit unexpectedly, and coughed in embarrassment. “I just feel like my life has changed since I met you.”

Whether it was his career or his new love—

He left behind struggling in the mud and walked onto the right path step by step.

Pei Yi deliberately put on the airs of a boss and joked, “Stop being pretentious here and get to work quickly.”

Li Yuan completely suppressed his sentiment and retorted, “Stop your lecturing, and don’t be lazy. You still need to keep an eye on the copywriting team yourself!”

Saying so, he paused and shared a smile with his friend.

. . . . . . .

Inside a beautifully decorated private box.

Bo Yueming and Pei Yi sat next to each other, and naturally opposite them were Yan Cen and Li Yuan.

Yan Cen pushed up his glasses and spoke first, “Come, let’s take this glass of wine to celebrate the successful start of YWY’s first mobile game. Thank you for your hard work.”

Pei Yi joked back, “It’s not hard work. Anyway, the money invested at this stage still belongs to Mr. Bo and Mr. Yan.”

Bo Yueming laughed helplessly and raised his glass. “Come, ba.”

— Clink.

The wine glasses tapped each other with a pleasant sound, and even the wine swayed with a moving glimmer.

Bo Yueming asked casually, “Has the matter been resolved? Do you need me to send someone to keep an eye on Ke Ming?”

The “keep an eye on” he spoke of was not only regarding his career, but his private life as well.

Someone as arrogant and conceited as Ke Ming had his career ruined after so many years of hard work, and if his emotions got the better of him, he might do something as extreme as Bo Guancheng did.

Pei Yi took a sip of wine and said, “Pear Garden and I asked my brother to send someone, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.”

Li Yuan nodded in agreement. “Ke Ming can’t protect himself now, so he shouldn’t have the energy to ‘harm’ us.”

Yan Cen didn’t speak. He just silently wiped his hands with a wet towel and began to peel the shrimp.

When Bo Yueming saw this, he remained calm on the surface and quickly accelerated the same movements of hand-peeling shrimp.

Pei Yi thought the champagne tasted good today, so he drank several more sips while his lover wasn’t paying attention. “You two probably don’t know yet, right? ‘Alien Beasts’ will likely be removed from the shelves.”

Yan Cen was taken aback. “Removed?”

Bo Yueming had learned the general situation from Lin Zhong not long ago. “Is it because of the game’s publishing rights?”

Pei Yi nodded. “En.”

This matter had come out this afternoon—

“Alien Beasts” had been blocked by the relevant game departments before and was unable to obtain distribution rights because some of its scenes were too bloody.

Later, they contacted Xunya Technology through Nanchan Games, and the latter obtained the game distribution rights through special means and channels.

There had been a lot of fuss over “Alien Beasts” in the past two days, which caused many netizens to go directly to the official website to complain. The truth was exposed over and over again.

“With the current reputation of Chanming Studios, it will be difficult to obtain the distribution rights for ‘Alien Beasts’ once it is removed from the shelves.”

Li Yuan paused, feeling indescribably complicated. “I heard that Ke Ming invested a lot. I’m afraid his studio will go bankrupt this time.”

Competition was destined to be cruel, but it was likely that many employees would suffer from unemployment.

Pei Yi’s eyes brightened when he heard this. “Then quickly ask Brother Xiang to find out if there are any highly skilled employees willing to come to our studio?”

Anyway, their studio would expand sooner or later, and the more excellent talents they had, the better.

Bo Yueming was long accustomed to his lover’s way of doing things, and simply put a pile of peeled shrimp in his bowl. “You can take the opportunity to ask. Water flows to lower places, and people to higher places.”

Li Yuan nodded, his eyes unconsciously focusing on the pile of shrimp meat.

He was a little greedy.

In the next second, Yan Cen put the same shrimp meat into his bowl and coaxed him in a low voice, “You should also eat more.”

Li Yuan’s ears turned red. “En.”

Pei Yi peeked at the small interaction on the opposite side with great interest, and then glanced at the dining table—

The other dishes weren’t touched at all, but the shrimps on the side were all divided up by Bo Yueming and Yan Cen!

Good fellows, where was the competition here?

. . . . . . .

Dinner ended happily, and both parties returned to their respective homes.

The car parked outside the villa.

Pei Yi drank a little too hard that night, and he felt a drunken softness for the first time in a long time.

He was so drunk that he didn’t even think about getting out of the car. Instead, he sat on Bo Yueming’s lap, face to face with him. “Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming signaled for Lao Fu to get out of the car first, then unbuckled his seatbelt and hugged this person tightly. “I wasn’t watching for a moment tonight, and now you’re a drunken kitten again?”

Pei Yi lay his head on his shoulder and groaned. “A little thirsty.”

There was a thermos cup in the back row. Bo Yueming held his lover with one hand and poured him some warm water with the other. “Slow down and have a drink?”

Pei Yi swallowed it all in one gulp and leaned back onto his lover’s shoulder.

Bo Yueming coaxed him, “If you’re sleepy, how about we go upstairs?”

Pei Yi shook his head, feeling that Bo Yueming’s arms were soft against him.

He raised his head to look at his lover’s superior jawline, and smiled infatuatedly. “Er-ge.”

“En?”

“I can’t seem to get enough of you.”

Bo Yueming pinched his earlobe and said, “It would be bad if you got tired of me.”

Pei Yi straightened up slightly and asked in a low voice, “Have I been neglecting you lately?”

Since being criticized by the public due to Ke Ming’s malicious designs on Monday, Pei Yi had been working hard to prepare for his counterattack for the next five or six days.

Bo Yueming kissed his lips. “No, I know you’ve been busy.”

Unlike the already stable Bo Group, Pei Yi’s career was still in its infancy, so he naturally needed to put more thought into it.

Bo Yueming understood him. Joy spread in Pei Yi’s heart.

He took the initiative to kiss his lover’s lips, somewhere between innocent and sultry. “Er-ge, I won’t be working tomorrow or Sunday.”

Bo Yueming was stirred up by the person in his arms. The hands around his waist tightened and he said knowingly, “Is that so?”

“I’ll give you everything.” Pei Yi was ambiguous and clingy. “I’ll give you whatever you want tonight.”

---

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Chapter Eighty-Six <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Eight

The H6 battleship carrying Luo Ran had been hijacked.

Luo Ran gripped the command station with his hands and did not speak.

He was the only one in the command room. Wang Qiuyang and Rong An had left.

It seemed that someone had used another command room, or had set the timing earlier. At this moment, communication between the battleship and the outside world was completely cut off, and it moved uncontrollable toward the pier where the cargo was located.

The interception of the communications system proved that a distress signal had not been sent out, and Wang Qiuyang and the others had not come.

Luo Ran tapped the command station lightly with his fingers. After a while, Wang Ruicheng came in.

— Armed.

“Secretary Luo, please cooperate.” Wang Ruicheng stood not far away, holding a rifle. He pointed the weapon at Luo Ran and said: “We don’t want to hurt you.”

Everyone knew how capable Luo Ran was, so Wang Ruicheng didn’t dare to step forward at this moment, for fear of Luo Ran’s counterattack.

“Wang Ruicheng, you’ve given your life to the star pirates. Does your cousin know?” Luo Ran raised his eyebrows and said: “Adjutant Wang has worked hard for the Admiral and the Empire, and the Wang family is deeply trusted by the Admiral. When it comes to stabbing the Empire in the back, what is the difference between you and Cyril?”

Wang Ruicheng’s expression froze, and he said sharply: “People seek a way up just as water seeks its way down!”

Luo Ran shook his head and said: “For a soldier, this is truly shameful.”

Soldiers swore an oath and received training. Wasn’t a soldier’s betrayal a slap in the face for Lucas and the Empire?

“Secretary Luo, be at peace!” Wang Ruicheng waved the gun in his hand.

Luo Ran had always been gentle and kind, but for some reason, he still had a subtle vigor and inviolable prestige.

Maybe it was because he had been with Lucas for a long time, maybe it was because he still had pheromones from Lucas, the top Alpha in the Empire, or maybe it was due to his own ability.  Others knew that Luo Ran was kind, but they didn’t dare to be presumptuous in front of him.

At this moment, Wang Ruicheng, as an Alpha, was overwhelmed by Luo Ran’s Omega aura and felt a little unstable.

Swish.

The door was pushed open. Rong An came in, and was stunned at the scene in front of him. 

“Adjutant Rong.” Luo Ran said: “Please inform Adjutant Wang to send reinforcements quickly. Don’t worry about me. He doesn’t dare kill me.”

Rong An stood there unmoving.

“Hahahaha……” Wang Ruicheng said with a laugh: “Secretary Luo! Rong An is my contact!”

— Rong An and Wang Ruicheng were minions of the star pirates.

Luo Ran didn’t speak.

Rong An also didn’t say anything. He was Luo Xingyuan’s adjutant, so he naturally had feelings for Luo Xingyuan and Luo Ran.

Luo Ran sat down and said: “Who are you taking me to?”

The purpose of this hijacking was already very clear — to take him away.

“You’ll know when you get there.”

. . . . . . .

The warship landed in less than ten minutes and established contact with another warship that had been stationed here.

Wang Ruicheng kept Luo Ran in the control room while Rong An went out to greet someone.

Everyone in the ship was brought down, and it could be said that they were on their own without any backup.

“Secretary Luo, please go out.”

Luo Ran was escorted to the deck of the other battleship. When he saw its owner, he paused slightly.

“Secretary Luo.”

First Prince Zhou Mingyu stood to the side and nodded toward Luo Ran.

“Please believe that I have no malicious intentions.” Zhou Mingyu smiled and said: “Secretary Luo, as long as you don’t resist, we will not hurt you.”

Luo Ran observed for a moment and saw that Zhou Mingyu’s battleship was full of his own personal soldiers……and star pirates.

Luo Ran wasn’t in the main control room and didn’t know the structure of the battleship, but there were star pirates on the ship the First Prince escaped in, which proved that Lucas’s guess was correct.

After Zhou Mingyu escaped, he made a deal with the star pirates. Presumably he had given the star pirates what they wanted, whether that be materials for the Meteor Showers or money, and the star pirates gave him a hand and protected him when he left.

Only, Zhou Mingyu had escaped directly, but now he had taken a lot of trouble to return.

“It seems that my value is rather high.” Luo Ran chuckled.

“Secretary Luo, from my point of view, these words have two meanings.” Zhou Mingyu invited Luo Ran to sit down in the ship’s reception room.

Rong An and Wang Ruicheng stood behind Luo Ran, one on the left and one on the right.

“First, you are indeed very valuable because you can control the battle situation — and you are the only one Lucas can be threatened with. Secondly, to me, you are……” Zhou Mingyu paused, and said with a half-smile: “I feel that you are very valuable in my heart.”

Luo Ran lowered his eyes with a smile, but didn’t respond.

“Secretary Luo, I am not here for profit this time. I know you won’t believe me, but I’m mostly here for you.” Sitting opposite Luo Ran, Zhou Mingyu poured wine for him. “I picked you up in order to save you.”

“Did you think I would die under a Meteor Shower if I met up with the Admiral?” Luo Ran raised an eyebrow. “Your Highness, you have too little confidence in the Admiral.”

“It has nothing to do with confidence. No one can escape the Meteor Shower. No one.” Zhou Mingyu said: “The Admiral’s fate will eventually be the same as Admiral Alton’s.”

Luo Ran smiled and said: “That’s right, the Admiral is brave and good at fighting. He is loyal to his country and his comrades. Like Admiral Alton, he will be an admiral who goes down in history. He is straightforward and honest, naturally different from the rats in the gutter.”

Luo Ran’s tone was still gentle and smiling, but when he touched on the topic of Lucas, his tone became sharper.

Zhou Mingyu paused, but didn’t take offense. He just said: “Secretary Luo will understand later.”

“As for why I gambled on returning this time, Secretary Luo will understand in the future.”

“I think I still won’t quite understand.” Luo Ran chuckled. “I’m not capable of understanding.”

“Secretary Luo may have grown accustomed to the Admiral.” Zhou Mingyu held his wine glass and drank slowly. “Lucas has the mind of a soldier. He thinks that the safety of the soldiers and the common people is the top priority, but I am a strategist, and if I have to give something up to gain something, I will consider it more.”

Luo Ran said: “Please don’t compare yourself to the Admiral.”

The implication was that the First Prince couldn’t compare to Lucas at all, and didn’t even deserve to touch his toes.

Zhou Mingyu looked at Luo Ran, and his eyes dimmed.

No matter how good his temper was and how he strove to maintain his smile, it was somewhat difficult.

After Luo Ran bluntly refused that day, Zhou Mingyu truly lost control of his emotions. Therefore, he ignored the monitoring devices and directly attacked Yuan Han, which kickstarted the beginning of his downfall.

Zhou Mingyu thought to himself, just go all in.

In any case, he wanted Luo Ran.

No matter what, he must have him.

Zhou Mingyu thought he must be crazy, but it had already come to this point. Even if he must force himself upon him, he must have him.

Originally, Luo Ran would have been his.

It was he who personally pushed Luo Ran toward Lucas.

He had initially wanted to drug Lucas and let Zhou Mingzhu and a woman deal with Lucas in rut, but he didn’t expect it to be Luo Ran in the end.

He had contributed to this with his own hands.

Zhou Minyu grasped the armrests of his chair tightly.

“Rong An, Ruicheng.” Zhou Mingyu glanced at Luo Ran. “Tie up Secretary Luo.”

“Yes!”

Wang Ruiching took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves. He couldn’t beat Luo Ran, but there were several people here, so he should be fine.

Bam—

However, in the next moment, something unexpected happened.

Wang Ruicheng likely never expected it. Before he could make a move, Rong An beside him suddenly knocked him down with one punch. Then his hands were wrenched behind his back, and he was subdued to his knees by Rong An.

Wang Ruicheng cursed, and was knocked unconscious by Rong An when he tried to resist, falling to the floor.

At the same time, Luo Ran also jumped up and took the gun thrown to him by Rong An. He rushed toward Zhou Mingyu, who was unprepared, and wrapped his arm around his neck, pointing the muzzle of the gun to his temple.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Mingyu only sensed the scene in front of him flicker before coming back to his senses — Wang Ruicheng was held down by Rong An, and he was being threatened by Luo Ran.

Zhou Mingyu hesitated for a long moment, then looked at Rong An and said: “You hid…..very deeply.”

Rong An’s habitually indifferent expression changed for a rare moment. He smiled: “Good game.”

Rong An was an undercover agent placed by the star pirates into the Empire.

And Rong An’s real identity was someone whom the Empire arranged to work with the star pirates, a spy who won their trust. He cooperated with other undercover agents in order to capture the real traitor — Wang Ruicheng.

He was deep undercover.

Rong An and Luo Xingyuan were originally the same rank, but the latter was promoted because of Luo Ran, so Rong An became his adjutant.

Rong An’s temperament was overly cold, and he didn’t seem to be close to Luo Xingyuan, so the outside world thought he had a grudge like many others back then, looking down on Luo Xingyuan, a commander who relied on connections.

But Rong An was also a person who grew up with Luo Xingyuan, who fought alongside him, just like Lu Cheng and Wang Qiuyang were adjutants who grew up alongside Lucas.

Even at such a time, Zhou Mingyu didn’t panic. He just smiled bitterly and said: “I……seem to have been tricked?”

Luo Ran said with a smile: “Why else would the Admiral have arranged Rong An for me?”

Zhou Mingyu understood.

Pulling the snake from its hole, catching the turtle in a jar…..killing two birds with one stone.

Not only was the undercover agent caught before the battle, but Zhou Mingyu was also drawn out.

He had miscalculated again with Luo Ran.

It was Yuan Han before, but now……

He returned to the capital for Luo Ran, but fell into Luo Ran’s net.

Zhou Mingyu thought to himself, no wonder Luo Ran’s location was leaked so easily.

It turned out that he was waiting for him.

Zhou Mingyu raised his eyebrows and said: “The Admiral was actually willing to let you use yourself as bait like this.”

Luo Ran smiled and said nothing.

It was because Lucas trusted him.

Lucas not only regarded him as a partner, but as a comrade-in-arms.

Lucas didn’t see him as a delicate Omega, and trusted him from before until now.

This made Luo Ran proud and confident.

After a few more minutes of being at a stalemate, they heard a commotion outside.

“Enemy attack! There’s an enemy attack!”

“Everyone get ready! Protect His Highness!”

The alarms sounded.

Wang Qiuyang came with reinforcements.

Held by Luo Ran, Zhou Mingyu sighed and said in a low voice: “It’s a pity. Since Rong An is one of yours, it is likely that the Admiral will be fine.”

Zhou Mingyu closed his eyes slightly.

He was already aware of his fate.

No matter how hard he tried to escape, he would eventually be taken back by the reinforcements. This time, he would likely be thrown directly into prison.

He was so tired.

Zhou Mingyu carefully put his hand into his pocket, where there was a small controller inside.

…….

Boom—

Soon after, the entire battleship detonated.

The moment the flames hit, Luo Ran reacted swiftly and knocked Zhou Mingyu unconscious with the gun in his hand, then went to find cover.

He saw Rong An rush forward to protect him.

Boom—

Boom—

. . . . . . .

Bombing was also taking place in Luobing thousands of miles away.

The Meteor Shower landed.

The sky was filled with flames, fireballs falling one after another.

Huntsman’s aircraft landed on top of a tall hill. He was standing at the window at this moment, and chuckled as he watched the mechas and aircraft being blasted to pieces below.

Their Meteor Shower had been modified to be stronger over many years, and now the flat ground was burning up like volcanic magma.

Huntsman turned and went to the deck.

“Have you taken stock?”

“Eh…..” Huntsman’s subordinate hesitated slightly.

Huntsman frowned. He looked at the expressions of the people around him, and his smile faded away. “What is it?”

“There is nobody.”

“What?”

The subordinate bit the bullet and said: “Reporting, there is nobody in the Empire’s aircraft and mechas. They are empty, and the material of the mechas and aircraft are all inferior iron.”

“…….”

Huntsman’s eyes narrowed.

How could this be?

These were obviously the coordinates given by Rong An, and the location of the Empire’s forces. They had an excellent ambush position!

Could it be……

Boom—

Another explosion sounded. Huntsman’s heart sank. When he turned his head, he saw the Empire attacking from the rear.

Fuck.

Lucas’s Lion One was in the lead.

“Kill! Don’t leave a single one alive!” Lucas’s eyes were red.

The same Meteor Shower, the same descent.

But this time, at last, there was a different ending.

Seeing the densely-packed Empire forces rushing forward like a tide, Huntsman clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.

“Retreat……!”

---

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Chapter Eighty-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Nine

After the two left, the girl in the yellow dress also came to the stall to pick and choose. The other two women who had come with her seemed anxious, and kept urging her to hurry up, saying: “If the Master finds out we’ve sneaked out again, he’ll be furious.”

The girl in the yellow dress picked up a silver hairpin with a butterfly embedded on it and twirled it in her hand. “Let’s go back.”

The female companions were relieved. They paid the money at once and quickly led her away from the market.

The footsteps of the three of them became faster and faster, and in the end, they were almost jogging. When it was confirmed that nobody was following them, they turned inside a house. The girl in the yellow dress removed the mask from her face. It was Wumeng Yunle. Just now the maid said again: “Miss, let me put away the hairpin for you. The Master’s people are coming soon, and we still need to change your clothes quickly.”

While speaking, and without waiting for her to agree, they had already stepped forward to surround her, taking down her hair and removing her clothes.The division of labor was methodical, as if they were dressing up a delicate puppet that could not speak. Seeing that she was looking at the hairpin, the maid said: “Those frivolous and common gems are nothing but cheap ones that can be bought anywhere. Is the Holy Maiden lacking in jewelry?”

Wumeng Yunle said happily: “I’ve seen them twice, plus this time. This is the third time.”

The maids didn’t understand: “What twice?”

“They’re different every time, but their backs are the same. Or to put it another way, although their backs were disguised and their shoulders were hunched, they were still them.” Wumeng Yunle was thoughtful. “It’s always them.”

The maids looked at each other in blank dismay, not understanding the meaning of these words. At this time, footsteps came from outside in the courtyard, and a voice said: “Sisters, the person has been brought.”

“Bring them in,” a maid ordered softly.

They both helped Wumeng Yunle sit in a chair. She was dressed in white again, like a pure and holy cloud.

With a squeak, the wooden door was pushed open and a man immediately walked inside. The man who was similar to tens of thousands of Baifu Sect believers, with fanaticism and panic in his eyes, knelt down in front of the Holy Maiden with a plop.

It was dark all around, and the light was also blocked from outside the house.

. . . . . . .

Liu Xian’an said: “Look, I said everyone would avoid the prince.”

Liang Shu felt aggrieved. I didn’t offend them, so why can’t we go shopping during the New Year?

Liu Xian’an smiled and held his cuff: “The shopping is almost done, let’s go back to the government office.”

Liang Shu didn’t listen, and continued to stride around. Not going back, I just came out.

Liu Xian’an trotted along for a while at first, but then he couldn’t keep up, mainly because he was too lazy to follow. So tired, ah. Liang Shu walked two steps and didn’t hear movement behind him. Turning around, he saw that the man had gone to queue up at a shop to buy snacks. He promptly laughed with anger and turned back to grab his snow-white hairband: “Ridiculous!”

According to folk rumors, if His Royal Highness Xiao Wang said something like “ridiculous,” almost everyone at the scene would lose their heads. It was rather frightening, but the atmosphere this time was not the same. Liu Xian’an was clearly prepared. Being dragged back two steps, he didn’t panic, but laughed instead. Liang Shu supported his lower back to keep him from falling down the steps: “Be careful.”

“Do you want to eat?” Liu Xian’an handed over the oiled paper bag in his hands. “Glutinous rice sticks.”

Liang Shu said: “They’re sweet and greasy, hard enough to pry up stones.”

Liu Xian’an still forcefully gave him one. Liang Shu bit it in his mouth with a frown, seeing that the people around him wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to. It wasn’t until the prince and the miracle doctor walked away that a bold young man said: “The prince doesn’t seem to be as unkind as the rumors say, ah.”

Everyone agreed. Not only was he not cruel, but he was easy to approach, and the Second Young Master was not as lazy as in the stories. Look at him, he can still walk by himself. It is amazing that he can walk through the streets for so long.

Just as they were boasting, Dayan’s number one lazy fellow didn’t want to go any farther, and looked around as he stood on the steps. Liang Shu asked: “Do you intend to sleep here?”

Liu Xian’an replied, it is not impossible.

Liang Shu turned his back to him: “Come here.”

Liu Xian’an lay on the ground with peace of mind, and the people around him were shocked. But the Sleeping Immortal didn’t care if others were shocked or not, so he picked up the glutinous rice sticks and entered his dreams, and invited His Royal Highness Xiao Wang who was soaking in the hot springs to eat as well.

After waking up and telling this person about it, Liang Shu said with a toothache: “Why can’t I escape this thing?”

Liu Xian’an stood by the table and poured tea for himself. As for “escaping,” the prince in the Three Thousand Worlds ate a lot without his persuasion.

Liang Shu wrapped one of his arms around his sweetheart’s waist and drew him close, ordering, next time you dream of me, let me educate you. Don’t lose face by not eating good things.

Gao Lin stopped at the door. Look, just as I said, jumping up and down.

But despite the jumping up and down, he still had to do what should be done. He was mainly here to report to the government that an article had been drawn up and would be posted the following morning.

The content of the article was to give a more detailed explanation about the explosion on the top of White Crown. It also mentioned Song Changsheng, and how his originally happy family, under the temptation of the Baifu Sect, encountered tragedy step by step. The local governments in the Southwest were very familiar with writing this kind of story, and the big article was eloquent and sensational.

After reading it, all the common people in the city were incited to discuss the same thing. Coupled with the deliberate guidance of Xiao Wang Palace, Song Changsheng soon became the number one loyal warrior in everyone’s hearts who sacrificed his life to blow up the cult. Everyone sent cured fish, eggs, flowers, and pastries to the government office one after another, and so much was piled up in the courtyard that there was almost no room for it all. Chang Xiaoqiu had to walk around these things, and asked again: “Why is it so noisy outside?”

“It’s all the neighbors. They wouldn’t leave after delivering things, and they’re inquiring about Song-xiansheng’s poisoning and injuries, whether they are serious or not.”

They were serious. Several bones were broken by the explosion, how could it not be serious? The official government gatekeeper stood on the steps with his hands folded and told everyone vividly. But having said that, no matter how serious it was, with the presence of people from Baihe Mountain Village, he would definitely be healed, so there was no need to worry at all.

The common people had reservations about this, because although Baihe Mountain Village was capable, Second Young Master Liu of Baihe Mountain Village was just……but after thinking about it, it was said previously that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was ferocious-looking, a born demon who spent his days killing people for fun. Comparing this ghastly image with the handsome prince eating glutinous rice sticks in the market, one had to admit that the rumors were indeed outrageous.

“What about the poison?”

“The poison is a little troublesome, but it can be dealt with. In short, don’t worry, Song-xiansheng will be fine. Because of his meritorious service in eradicating the Baifu Sect, the prince also rewarded him with a box of gold and silver, and promised that he can make a living making weapons for the entire Northwest military camp. Good days are yet to come.”

Rewards of money and trade. Such good things made the common people envious, and they even began to look forward to meeting a few minions of the Baifu Sect, so that they could arrest them and go to the prince to receive a reward. All of a sudden, the winds of purging the evil cult were blowing mightily in the city, and every family no longer asked, “have you eaten?” Instead, it changed to “have you gotten one?” Those in the know were aware that they were asking about the cult, and those not in the know were still asking about stomachs.

In the government office, Liu Xian’an was administering acupuncture for Song Changsheng. The blue veins on the other’s face were still thriving a few days ago, but now they had become much lighter. The aunt in charge of cleaning couldn’t help but praise when she saw it, Second Young Master Liu is truly amazing.

“It’s not as strong as the rumors outside say.” Liu Xian’an said, “I really don’t know what this poison is, so I can only slowly remove it bit by bit according to the method taught by my elder brother. Fortunately, it is effective. If I persist for three to five months, or a little slower and persist for another year, he will definitely be cured.

The maid interjected from the side: “It takes as long as a year?”

“I want to hurry too, but I can’t.” Liu Xian’an retrieved the silver needle. “How does Song-xiansheng feel today?”

“Much better,” Song Changsheng said. “Thank you, Second Young Master Liu.”

He seemed to be in good spirits, and his complexion was not bad. Although he was still unable to move, the rest of his body was indeed not affected by the poison much. A-Ning was decocting medicine in the kitchen. A servant saw that he seemed sleepy, so he stepped forward and said: “Let me do it, Young Master. You’re tired these days, you should go back and rest for a while.”

“That won’t work, my young master said that no one can get close to Song-xiansheng’s medicine.” A-Ning yawned and shook his head. “I must guard it myself, lest the people from the Baifu Sect bribe someone to sneak poison into it.”

The servant hesitated upon hearing this, and A-Ning took notice. He said: “What, the Baifu Sect really found you?”

“That’s not true!” The boy waved his hands again and again in shock, and said nervously, “This is nonsense, if someone else overheard, I wouldn’t be able to come back from it. What is this atmosphere in the city now, ah……I, I have serious business.”

“I haven’t gone out for several days, how can I know what the atmosphere in the city is like?” A-Ning smiled and put down the cattail fan. “Okay, don’t be nervous, there’s no one else here. What business do you have?”

“I have an old book at home that is dedicated to recording various poisons.” The boy took it out of his sleeve. “I don’t usually read this stuff, and if not for the strange poison in Song-xiansheng’s body, I wouldn’t have remembered it.”

A-Ning took the booklet with curled and yellowed edges in his hand. The paper was so rotten that it would not be surprising if a nest of cockroaches came out in the next moment. Seeing him frown, the boy hurriedly explained: “There is a type of poison in this book that is similar to the poison in Song-xiansheng. It also causes blue lines on the face, and it lists the medicinal materials needed for detoxification. It should be useful, right?”

A-Ning flipped through a couple of pages and found that this was indeed the case, so he said happily: “It’s possible, ah. My young master is still working hard, worried that he won’t be able to find an antidote. Unexpectedly, it came without any effort!”

“Hehe, that’s great.” The boy was also happy, and stammered, if it’s really useful, will there be a reward……

“There’s no question that there will be reward money, but first let my young master see it.” A-Ning stuffed the book into his sleeve. “Let’s go, you come with me!”

Liu Xian’an was still in Song Changsheng’s room at this time, along with Liang Shu. A-Ning repeated the boy’s words and handed the book to his young master. Song Changsheng sat up and asked: “Is it exactly the same poison as mine?”

“It does look like there’s no difference.” Liu Xian’an said, “Huanxi Toad Venom. I didn’t know that there was such a poison in the world, but I have heard of the medicinal materials for detoxification. En…..they’re not too difficult to find.”

“I didn’t know either, but I happened to have the book at home, so I asked the miracle doctor about it.” The boy asked, “Is it useful?”

“It is.” Liu Xian’an nodded. “I can give it a try.”

The boy looked happy and glanced at A-Ning, hinting at the reward. A-Ning was cautious, and reminded his young master again that sometimes a hundred different poisons may show the same symptoms. Song-xiansheng’s poison was only similar in appearance to the one depicted in the book, was he sure that he should use this Huanxi Toad Venom for diagnosis and treatment?

“Although the poison is uncertain, the medicinal materials used for detoxification are all non-toxic.” Liu Xian’an said, “If it’s a mistake, one or two doses will not make too much of an impact on the body. But if it is correct, the time for detoxification can be greatly shortened. With such a balance, it is better to try.”

A-Ning said: “Then I will go find all the supplies immediately.”

Liu Xian’an personally thanked the boy once more and sent him to the treasurer to collect the reward. After everyone left, Liang Shu also took Liu Xian’an back to the bedroom and wrung out a wet handkerchief to wipe his hands clean: “Don’t touch that kind of dirty, rotten book in the future.”

“It can’t be considered a rotten book.” Liu Xia’nan didn’t care. “I even……wu.”

“All right, I know you are very capable. You have scalped people and cut out intestinal ulcers.” Liang Shu let go of him. “Emperor Brother sent a secret letter this morning.”

“What did it say?”

“It talked about you.”

“What about me?”

“It said that you’re not just an ignorant layabout.”

Liang Shu carried him to the table and sat down, leaning over slightly so they were face to face.

They were so close that their breaths mingled, and Liu Xian’an shrank back. I’m lazy, it’s not that I’m ignorant.

On this journey, Second Young Master Liu treated diseases east and west and ran errands north and south. The Imperial guards saw this, and naturally wanted to send the whole truth back to the palace.

Liang Yu was amazed, and also full of regret. If he had known that those rumors about laziness were false, he would have agreed to the marriage between Baihe Mountain Village and the princess. So he personally wrote a long letter to criticize his vexing brother. Since you and Second Young Master Liu get along well and cooperate tacitly, you should have seen that he is suitable for marriage. Why didn’t you report such a big matter to me earlier?

He wrote again, does he have a lover at this time?

With a wave of Liang Shu’s brush, he wrote with handwriting that was as large as the mouth of a bowl—

Yes, his signature is below.

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Chapter Eighty-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Eight

The winter sun shone on the small courtyard. After Liu Hengchang finished drying herbs, he sat on the steps and took out a bag of fried tofu from his sleeve, dipping them in salt and pepper to eat them. While eating, he paid attention to the movement behind him. After a while, there were indeed footsteps, and the moment the door opened, he hastily stuffed what was in his hand into his mouth. Quickly rolling up the paper bag, he stood up and greeted: “Young Master Feng.”

As soon as he opened his mouth, there was the strong odor of salter, pepper, and tofu. Liu Hengchang looked a little embarrassed, and Feng Xiaojin sat on a stone bench: “Don’t be nervous, I just don’t eat it myself, I don’t prevent others from eating it.”

“Yes, yes.” Liu Hengchang placed the remaining fried tofu aside. “Earlier, Young Master Yunyou said that the stone-milled tofu from this store was delicious. I happened to be buying medicine today, so I bought a package when I passed by the store.”

Feng Xiaojin took the smelling salts out of his sleeve. It seemed that he truly disliked the smell of tofu. Liu Hengcheng tactfully tidied up the table, and rinsed his mouth two or three times before returning to the courtyard. He was intentionally trying to set the mood for a chat, and now that the atmosphere was almost set, he beat around the bush on the way to the subject, saying tentatively: “If Young Master Feng has any old sore spots, he might as well speak out. I may be able to cure them, and it’s better than keeping them in your heart all the time.”

“It’s not a sore spot, it’s just pure disgust.” Feng Xiaojin closed the smelling salts and frowned slightly. “I grew up in a tofu workshop. As long as I could remember, this strong and persistent smell of tofu had been everywhere in my life. My mother…..” He paused for a while at this point, and Liu Hengchang’s heart jumped nervously, for fear that the other party would cut the conversation off again.

Fortunately, Feng Xiaojin continued: “Everyone in town said that my mother was a great beauty, but I never understood. She covered her hair with a cloth towel all day long and dragged her sick body to wash and dry beans. Her body was so thin that there was no flesh left, and her face and lips were white, so how could she be called a beauty? In my eyes back then, any woman in my neighborhood could dress brighter and live a more glorious life than her.”

Liu Hengchang said: “In that case, no wonder Young Master Feng hates the scent of tofu so much. A young child and a widowed mother…..this kind of livelihood requires strength, and should be done by men.”

“It wasn’t her who chose this job, but her man. She took me and married a tofu maker.” Feng Xiaojin said lightly, “I killed that man later on.”

Liu Hengchang was startled: “Ah?”

Feng Xiaojin said that he deserved to die.

“I was only eight years old when I killed him.”

But he had been abused for five full years. That tofu man was ugly and useless. His family was poor, but he drank heavily and gambled. He lost money outside, and when he returned, he asked his wife for it and beat her if she didn’t give it to him. The mother and son embraced each other and cried bitterly in the cold winter months.

“That messy tofu shop originally had no business, but there were many men who were willing to buy ‘tofu’ at my house, and the annual income could be considered good. The women in town hated my mother because of this, and scolded her when they met. The funny thing was that the tofu man scolded her too.”

The content of the scolding was nothing more than what was between the legs. He said all kinds of ugly and dirty things all over the place, and life was so bitter that no sweetness could be seen. Feng Xiaojin said: “When I was eight years old, my mother contracted a serious illness and passed away. On her deathbed, she cried miserably and worried about my future, but I wasn’t sad. I was happy for her, glad that she didn’t have to continue to live a life worse than pigs and dogs. I buried my mother with a smile.”

On the second day after the burial, he used knockout drugs he had saved up and added it to the tofu man’s wine.

“When he woke up, he found himself tied to a tree in a remote mountain forest. He cursed at first, and then begged me like a dog.”

“It was no use begging. I remembered every lash he gave my mother.”

“I killed him.”

He blocked the man’s mouth tightly and used the same whip to return to him one lash after another, but it was a pity that the person was already dead before he finished. He was dead, bloody and filthy like a pile of rotten bean dregs soaked in red yeast rice.

Feng Xiaojin finished talking about his past and said: “Tell me, do you have the ability to solve this sore spot for me?”

Liu Hengchang was ashamed: “…..I thought my childhood was already hard enough. I even once envied Young Master Feng, thinking that like the two young masters Yunyou and Yunle, you were brought up by the Master who raised you meticulously. I never thought that there would be eight years of hard work living outside.”

Feng Xiaojin said: “It was more than eight years.”

Liu Hengchang took the opportunity to continue: “Could it be that after killing the tofu man, Young Master Feng still hadn’t met the Master?”

Feng Xiaojin looked at him: “You seem to be very interested in my past today?”

Liu Hengchang generously admitted: “Not just today, this is just the only opportunity I had to ask. Young Master Feng was finally willing to say a few words to me.”

Feng Xiaojin gave a rare smile. When he smiled, his eyes were more like a fox’s, charming and slanted upwards. They indeed had a beautiful shape. Even Liu Hengchang, who was accustomed to the beauties in Baihe Mountain Village, was unavoidably surprised.

“Go and see Yunyou, those witch doctors are not half as capable as you.” Feng Xiaojin had enough of the sun, and stood up with support.

Liu Hengchang revealed a look of embarrassment: “But the Master said that except for him and the witch doctor, no one is allowed to approach on pain of death.”

Feng Xiaojin shook his head: “Don’t worry, I’ll take you there.”

. . . . . . .

In Raven City, there was no festival of lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and there was no eating of sesame dumplings, but it was still lively and bustling with noise.

Liu Xian’an took A-Ning for a walk around the streets, and didn’t change his face. A-Ning bought a mask from a small stall and held it up, saying: “It looks a bit like the prince.”

“It doesn’t look like the prince.” Liu Xian’an completely disagreed. The prince was ninety thousand times more good-looking than this mask.

A-Ning was already used to the mindless flattery of his young master, and put the mask on his face: “Ninety-thousand is ninety thousand.”

Liu Xian’an tried to avoid it: “I won’t wear it. I can’t see the way clearly.”

“There is a big market ahead and there are many people. If you don’t cover your face, you will attract a group of people to chase after you,” A-Ning insisted.

Liu Xian’an had no choice but to obediently wear it.

The two had come out to buy gifts for Liu Nanyuan. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was Third Young Lady Liu’s birthday. Although they couldn’t congratulate her in person, they still had to prepare the gifts on time. There were a lot of colorful things in the market, but Liu Xian’an went around without finding anything particularly good-looking or particularly interesting. In the end, A-Ning tugged at his sleeve and said with sharp eyes: “There is a jewelry stall over there, and the business seems to be pretty good!”

The store owner was surrounded by a group of girls and aunts, bargaining and haggling. His head was dizzy from the noise, and it was hard to tell whether he was selling at a loss or making a profit: “Is this inlaid with red bone jade?”

“Yes, ah, you have a good eye!” The stall owner said, “This is the best jade from the Southwest mines. Are you buying it for your wife?”

“No, for my sister.” Liu Xian’an took the mask off his face, wanting to see it more clearly, and the wind blew a few strands of hair down. His features were handsome, and the stall owner was dumbfounded, saying happily: “It turns out to be Young Master Liu, ah!”

The news that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang and his party were living in the city these days had spread all over the streets and alleys, and was not a secret. Liu Xian’an compared the hairpins in his hands and said: “I want all three of these. They are really finely made.”

The owner was in no hurry to negotiate the price, but asked: “Young Master Liu’s sister, is she Third Young Lady Liu?”

“Right, I only have this younger sister.” Liu Xian’an smiled. “How much?”

The guards of Xiao Wang Palace had already pulled out their purses, ready to contribute their prince’s salary at any time, but the boss insisted on not accepting it, and instead gave them away for nothing.

Liu Xian’an said: “These things are not cheap.”

“Yes, they aren’t cheap. Only if they aren’t cheap can they be worthy of Third Young Lady Liu.” The owner waved his hands again and again. “My wife has been in poor health for the last few years, and couldn’t invite a famous doctor. Later, the disciples of Baihe Mountain Village treated her, and she used Third Young Lady Liu’s prescription. Now she’s as strong as a cow…..aiya!”

Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped by the wife beside him. The people around laughed along with the stall owner and his wife, and Liu Xian’an laughed too. Amidst the noisy laughter, they haggled for a long time and ended with buying two and getting one for free.

The proprietress picked the most beautiful box to put them in, and put it in a cloth bag with flowers on it. Liu Xian’an was watching her bustle around when he suddenly heard a person beside him ask: “But I’ve always heard that Third Young Lady Liu doesn’t usually wear makeup. She wears cloth skirts and wooden hairpins. Why would she use such a gorgeous hairpin?”

Liu Xian’an followed the sound and saw that the person speaking was a teenage girl in a yellow dress, neither ugly nor pretty, but with bright eyes.

A-Ning explained: “My family’s Third Young lady only wears that dusty apron when she’s working, it’s not that she never wears makeup. She has many beautiful hairpins, especially those with butterflies. In Baihe Mountain Village, everyone remembers to give her a hairpin when they go out.”

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

“There is no one more beautiful.” Before A-Ning could speak, the people around him rushed to answer, it was Third Young Lady Liu, how could she not be beautiful?

The girl in the yellow didn’t listen, but looked to Liu Xian’an and asked the same question.

Liu Xian’an nodded: “She’s my younger sister. In my heart, she is naturally the most beautiful in the world.”

Just as he was speaking, the proprietress had already packed away the hairpins, and Liang Shu also came to find him. The noise of the common people suddenly became quieter. After all, even if the prince had commanded that there was no need to salute, it was not appropriate to be noisy in front of him.

It was precisely for this reason that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was forced by his sweetheart to stay in the manor today. The reason was that, “If you go out, the common people will feel uncomfortable.” He was not unwilling, and complied honestly, fidgeting about in the study. Gao Lin was amazed at what he saw, and ran to Cheng Suyue’s bedside to tell his little sister, adding fuel and vinegar, making gestures and dancing around.

Cheng Suyue’s neck was wrapped in snow-white bandages, and she couldn’t speak a word. First she was almost strangled to death, and then after lying in bed for two days, she was told the shocking truth by Gao Lin about the secret between her prince and Young Master Liu…..not a secret, but a shocking love. Her eyes were wide in astonishment like a dried up fish, and she struggled to make a gasp with a gaping mouth.

“Really?”

“Of course it’s true, but please don’t talk.” Gao Lin said, “Listen to me talk.”

Saying this, he talked endlessly.

And Lieutenant General Gao’s literary level was very worrying. He repeated these few words back and forth.

Cheng-guniang on her sickbed listened and went back and forth between entertained and bored, sometimes energized and sometimes dozing off, and being unable to speak made it even more painful.

Her interest was with the flirting between the prince and Second Young Master Liu.

Her boredom had to do with the boring rhetoric inserted between the flirting. Although she didn’t know much about poetry, this cacophony of words couldn’t be used to describe their prince.

If he hears this, you’re dead.

Gao Lin didn’t appreciate his sister’s painstaking efforts, so he sat by the bedside and said: “You didn’t see, Second Young Master Liu just went shopping without him today, and our prince was so anxious that he jumped up and down, just short of jumping up a tree or the house.”

Cheng Suyue: “…….”

Shut up, I don’t believe you.

But in fact, it was close to the truth. In any case, the prince didn’t stay in the government office for long before finding the door himself. Liu Xian’an asked: “Didn’t you say you would wait for me?”

“I came out to see how the common people are doing this year,” Liang Shu said in an official tone.

Liu Xian’an: “…….”

The common people were very moved, and all replied that they were having a good year, very good, and now that the prince and Young Master Liu were here, it would be even better.

“That’s good.” Liang Shu grabbed Liu Xian’an’s shoulders, gentle and elegant, without a change of expression. “Let’s go, accompany me to look elsewhere.”

---

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Chapter Eighty-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Seven

Ke Ming frowned when he heard this. “Why do you look like you’re in a panic? What happened?”

“The technical department called and said there’s another problem with the servers!” The secretary took a quick breath and quickly handed Ke Ming a cell phone that was still on a call. Team Leader Zheng is on the line.”

Ke Ming took the phone and spoke in an unhappy tone, “Tell me clearly! What happened!”

The technical team leader on the other line braced himself and explained, “Mr. Ke, listen to me, we just received news—”

“The two A4 and A5 cabinet servers in the old computer room have experienced operational failures again. Based on past experience, the conservative estimate is that they will take nearly an hour to repair.”

“If it weren’t for the opening of the in-game transaction channel, I wouldn’t be so anxious to call you and report it.”

The two sets of cabinet servers in the old computer room retained the most basic login data and user information. It was conservatively estimated that nearly one million users were unable to log into the “Destroy the Alien Beasts” app interface during this short time.

Ke Ming gritted his teeth. “Why didn’t you move such important data to a new server! Your technical team doesn’t know that the old servers have problems, and dared to make such a low-level mistake?!”

Team Leader Zheng complained without end, “M-Mr. Ke, you can’t blame us for this, ah.”

Once the servers in the new computer room were put into use, they were all used for game creation and core operations.

Three new units were originally to be put into operation next, reserved just for backing up the basic user data of “Destroy the Alien Beasts” —

But before the equipment was in place, Ke Ming announced that it would be released for public beta in advance!

It wasn’t as if Team Leader Zheng didn’t object to the proposal at first, but what was the use? Who could resist the boss’s wishes?

With no choice but to think on the bright side, he prayed that their old servers would be powerful enough, and that they could wait until “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was stabilized before transferring the data to new machines.

But what a pity!

The game “went on strike” less than four days after it launched, and was stuck at the point before the game fully released new props and stimulated players to spend money.

Naturally, Ke Ming would not admit to his mistakes. He pressed his throbbing temples, “If this problem cannot be solved within an hour, you can send your resignation letter directly to my inbox tonight!”

After saying this, he hung up the phone abruptly.

Ke Ming tossed the phone back into his assistant’s hands. Gritting his teeth, he made concessions, “Announce immediately that the event time will be changed from six to seven o’clock, and game coins for all game props will be discounted by 10%.”

They would make money later, so it didn’t matter if less money came in now. The key was to stabilize the enthusiasm of the participating gamers.

He must win this difficult battle to seize the market!

Knock knock.

There was another knock on the door.

The team leader in charge of online publicity came in and said, “Mr. Ke, this is bad!”

The exact same opening sentence made Ke Ming’s temples beat even harder.

“What do I need you for? What else can you do except say this?”

The online publicity team leader did not expect to receive a heap of criticism, and a hint of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.

It was the secretary who smoothed things over. “What is it?”

The team leader put the tablet he had brought on Ke Ming’s desk, his tone much calmer. “The boss of Mufeng Games just posted a long Weibo, and the official Weibo and original game design competition of our studio was featured.”

“He openly questioned the organizers of this competition for their shady activities and for giving our game a back door.”

“……”

Ke Ming’s expression tightened, and he quickly picked up his tablet to check the news. “Why are they suddenly suspicious of us?”

Deng Mufeng’s questioning Weibo was very long, and the main content could be summarized as—

He had a friend outside the industry who was responsible for advertising channel exposure. About a month ago, he was invited by the organizers to cooperate.

While negotiating, the person in charge of the organizers singled out “Destroy the Alien Beasts” as an example of a subsequent game that should win an award, and also specifically named the other party as a valued project of the game giant Xunya Technology, which was a guaranteed profit.

It was the first time for that friend to participate in an investment invitation for this type of game. He didn’t think it was strange at first, until he saw what Deng Mufeng said on the internet three or four days ago—

That friend belatedly realized that something was fishy!

The award results had not yet been released at that time, and the organizers had already begun to look for exposure channels for “Destroy the Alien Beasts?” Wasn’t this a clear indication of the default allocation of capital?

After some thought, he told his friend Deng Mufeng about it.

When Deng Mufeng was the chief game planner of “Exquisite Struggle,” he chose to leave alone because he couldn’t stand the prevalence of capital. 

Unexpectedly, the first game he restarted encountered this kind of capital manipulation again?

Deng Mufeng had real talent and knowledge, and he was also prideful in his conduct.

He was very confident that his “Dark Blue Sea” would win the award. After losing, he was passive and had suspicions, but because of the lack of evidence, he couldn’t speak out.

But now, the truth was coming out.

The game with the real possible backdoor and shady secrets was “Alien Beasts,” not the similar “Last Fog!”

Deng Mufeng took the initiative to not only question Chanming Studios and the competition officials in a long Weibo post, but also sincerely apologized to “The Last Fog” and YWY Studios—

He said that his preconceptions had caused a negative impact, and he was unable to come forward to explain immediately. He hoped that all game fans and netizens could discern for themselves.

“Don’t let the pure be obscured, and don’t let the impure steal the light.”

Deng Mufeng had a very good writing style, and all his comments were very inflammatory. It had only been ten minutes since he posted on Weibo, and the comments below had already been filled with support and outward criticism—

“Damn it! Did they actually go through a back door? Chanming Studios is too shameless!”

“I say, there’s no need for the official competition. The reputation gained in the first seven years has been ruined! Will it still have value in the future?”

“Support Teacher Deng! ‘Dark Blue Sea,’ a Chinese-style mobile game!”

“I’m speechless! Am I the only one who can’t log on to ‘Destroy the Alien Beasts?’ I originally wanted to go to Weibo to search for relevant news, but then I saw Teacher Deng’s post and it made me sick.”

“I can’t log in either! Why should such a low-quality mobile game win an award when it crashes even when logging in, ah? Did the officials of this garbage contest have money in their eyes?”

“Check it out! The boss of Chanming Studios is Ke Ming! This is a bedbug that hides in the gutters and sucks people’s blood! Get out of the Chinese gaming circle!”

. . . . .

More and more discussions occurred, and there were also boycotts of “Alien Beasts” and personal attacks on Ke Ming himself!

The curses came from all directions, turning into a loud slap that hit Ke Ming’s face hard.

The online publicity team leader became a little more cautious when he saw his boss’s increasingly stinky expression. “Mr. Ke, do you want me to contact Mufeng Games and Deng Mufeng privately to have him withdraw the post? Or use paid commenters to correct public opinion?”

“……”

The original plan to earn money through props had been postponed, and now such unfavorable remarks were being made at this juncture?

Ke Ming leaned back in the office chair, feeling that the worst was yet to come. He picked up the half bottle of red wine left on the table and drank two sips to calm himself down.

“No, you shouldn’t seek out Deng Mufeng privately.”

Deng Mufeng was obviously a person who was obsessed with fairness and honesty. To negotiate with him at this juncture to withdraw the post would undoubtedly put their handle in the hands of the other party.

“Then hire internet commenters?” The secretary at his side repeated the suggestion. “Right now, it’s just a few screenshots of chats and a long paragraph of Weibo text, which can’t be considered solid evidence.”

When the online publicity team leader heard this, a hint of indifference flashed through his heart.

Although he had just come up with this idea in passing, it was obviously futile in this situation.

Deng Mufeng’s Weibo post had spread very quickly once it was posted. There must be paid commenters stirring up public opinion, and they were completely aimed at Chanming Studios and “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

If the studio followed suit and used paid comments to turn public opinion in their own favor, the agitated game netizens may uncover more clues and stir up greater controversy.

Ke Ming’s mind was still clear, and he knew that using commenters to redirect this wave of public opinion was just a useless waste of money.

He stroked the wine bottle and squeezed out the only solution he could. “Listen, make an announcement on the official website, Weibo, and the game — just say that our server has been maliciously attacked.”

When the secretary heard this casually composed remark, he was stunned, and said, “M-Maliciously attacked?”

“Yes! Say there has been a malicious attack, which caused the login bug to appear!” Ke Ming seemed to have thought of a way to kill two birds with one stone, and immediately became energetic. “Aside from the server problem, we will not admit to using any back doors or the like!”

Not only would they not admit it, but they would also openly and covertly attribute this wave of public opinion to malicious competition and manipulation by their peers.

The secretary and team leader looked at each other, both understanding the real situation in their studio.

Although they had to take orders from their boss in order to work and make money, they still felt a bit of aversion.

“Mr. Ke, are you sure it’s okay to clarify like this? Will the organizers of the competition be forced to come forward to explain this matter?”

“Are you the boss or am I the boss?”

Ke Ming looked over coldly. “I told you, just do it! Go out and do your work!”

The investor behind this competition was Xunya Technology, the owner of Nanchan Games. How could the organizers admit fault and offend a major game company just because of the suspicions of netizens?

What’s more, if they admitted to the “backdoor” incident, the competition would lose its credibility. Could it still be held in the future? Could it obtain money and fame?

Confirming this answer, Ke Ming picked up his cell phone on the table and dialed the number of his partner You Chang again.

On the surface, he had established a relationship with Xunya Technology through Nanchan Games, and had a big company as his backer. But in fact, since the partnership, You Chang had been responsible for communicating with the senior executives of the major manufacturers. 

In order to avoid unnecessary complications at this critical moment, he must communicate with You Chang about this matter.

. . . . . .

At YWY Studios, there was still a faint sweetness floating in the air.

Pei Yi took out the last two egg tarts and divided them. “Pear Garden, here.”

Li Yuan glanced at Yan Cen, but before he could act reserved and serious, his friend directly stuffed the egg tart into his hand.

“Eat, ah! What are you doing standing there?”

With that said, he took half a bite of egg tart.

Bo Yueming took out a wet wipe and wiped the hands of his lover before him. “How can you have one stomach and eat another stomach full of dessert?”

Yan Cen’s eyes were still on Li Yuan, and he asked, “Didn’t you say you had something serious to do tonight? Why are you so relaxed?”

They had originally thought they would have dinner on Friday night, but Pei Yi and Li Yuan both said they had business to take care of and must stay in the office to work overtime.

Bo Yueming and Yan Cen feared that the two business-minded people would forget to eat, so they could only come to the door with food.

Li Yuan took a bite of egg tart core, and signaled toward Pei Yi with his eyes. “The commander-in-chief is over there.”

Pei Yi glanced at the time and finally cut back to the situation. “Lin Zhong, how are things going now?”

“Little Sir, don’t worry. After Deng Mufeng published that long Weibo, the high-level commenters were arranged in advance infiltrated the ordinary netizens to guide public opinion, and the news has also penetrated into major social forums such as Youtu.”

Ke Ming’s guess was correct. There was indeed someone behind Deng Mufeng’s incident—

Except for Pei Yi, who had a grudge and was using the same troll tactics to fight back, the leader on the other side was actually a senior executive at Weiyi headquarters.

Ever since he learned that “Alien Beasts” would be released in advance, Pei Yi and Li Yuan not only contacted Deng Mufeng, but also Gu Jianshen far away in Haishi, and asked him to help them make contact.

Weiyi and Xunya Technology had been tit-for-tat for a long time, and even their subsidiaries were fiercely competing with each other. On the surface, the situation was like fire and water.

Now that there was an opportunity to defeat the opponent, how could Weiyi’s senior management be willing to let it go?

The reason Deng Mufeng and his people were willing to stand up and voice their suspicions was not only for fairness and to vent their anger, but also to reach a game-and-business-related cooperation with Weiyi.

Lin Zhong continued, “Also, I just confirmed the latest news.”

“What is it?” Li Yuan asked.

“There is a problem with the servers of ‘Alien Beasts,” and many game players say they cannot log in. In addition, some players who logged in reported feedback—”

“There is a bug in the in-game dungeons. The NPC monsters in the dungeons can resurrect themselves even if their health bars are drained.”

Lin Zhong listed several complaints taken from the official website.

Pei Yi shook his head with a smile. “The reason a game must go through one, two, or even three rounds of internal testing is to fix minor programming loopholes.”

Ke Ming was so eager for a quick success this time that he ignored the importance of internal testing.

These might seem like minor issues, but would add up to an amount that would dampen the enthusiasm of game players, which was very fatal for a newly released mobile game.

Pei Yi looked at his friend. “Pear Garden, do you remember what I told you before in Haishi?”

Li Yuan replied tacitly, “I remember.”

How could Ke Ming lose all his wealth?

Of course it was if he spent all his money on a game, but when it was about to be recovered, the funding channels suddenly collapsed—

Therefore, they discussed with Deng Mufeng and others to counterattack today when “Alien Beasts” launched the in-game transaction channel.

Originally, judging from the time difference between things fermenting, “Alien Beasts” could still be recovered to some extent. But unexpectedly, so many players were unable to log in at the critical moment?

Eight or nine chances out of ten, there was something wrong with the servers. It seemed that even the heavens had chosen to side with them.

“Pear Garden, go downstairs and have the internet publicity team leader keep an eye on this. He’ll get double pay for any overtime worked today.”

Pei Yi’s mind was running very fast. “I bet that with Ke Ming’s temperament, he will have to throw the dirty water of the ‘login’ issues on us.”

“En, I understand.”

After explaining to his friend, Pei Yi remembered something else and looked at his off-field aid. “Er-ge, what I told you last time, you…..”

Bo Yueming grasped his fingertips and said, “Don’t worry, Director You will speak for me over there.”

Pei Yi chuckled. “That’s good. I’ll have another phone call with Gu Jianshen.”

The first round of traps had been laid. Once Ke Ming issued his clarification statement, the next wave of real face-slaps would follow!

“Pear Garden, let’s go downstairs.”

“Okay.”

Pei Yi and Li Yuan exchanged glances, feeling a long-suppressed excitement toward slapping that person in the face. They left their lovers behind at once.

The office door shut unceremoniously.

Yan Cen and Bo Yueming, who were left behind, looked at each other. They had always been busy, and at this moment, they actually felt the sort of boredom of having “nothing to do.”

“Mr. Bo, you look very idle.”

“Right back at you.”

. . . . . . .

Night fell again, and in the brightly lit office building, the staff of the Chanming Studios internet publicity team complained with downtrodden expressions.

Ever since Ke Ming announced that the game would be released in advance, the internet publicity department had been caught off guard. They worked overtime until midnight almost every day, and there was still no compensation.

They finally made it to Friday. They had initially thought they could happily get off work at 6 o’clock and go home to rest, but unexpectedly, bad news suddenly fell from the sky, and they had to work overtime to write statements and catch up on notifications.

“I really want to resign!”

“I’m also thinking about it, ah. Day in and day out, there are no breaks and no overtime pay.”

“Stop talking! Mr. Ke is here!”

Within three seconds, Ke Ming strode in with an angry look on his face. “Have you written the announcement? What kind of work efficiency do you think this is?”

The team leader suppressed his dissatisfaction and responded, “Mr. Ke, it has been written and was about to be sent to you for review.”

Ke Ming approached. “Bring it here, I’ll look at it now.”

“Okay.”

The team leader handed over the tablet. The announcement was quite concise—

First, it said that the servers were malfunctioning due to a malicious attack, and were expected to be repaired before seven o’clock. There would also be an in-game money bonus for that night’s “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

Secondly, it justly explained that the production and operation teams of “Destroy the Alien Beasts” had made absolutely no violations of the moral bottom line!

They believed that ability was the foundation of expression, and originality was the source of confidence. They had been contributing their share to the future of the Chinese gaming industry.

The team leader looked at this “false” statement and asked doubtfully, “Mr. Ke, shouldn’t we discuss this with Nanchan Games?”

After all, the game “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was produced by their studio, but it was also jointly produced with Nanchan Games.

Ke Ming took a quick look and said, “It’s too late! Just send it!”

After ending the video call, he had been unable to contact You Chang. The calls he made just rang and rang, and then the phone turned off directly.

How could he find that person to discuss this?

Since You Chang had asked him to pay more attention to the game before the video call ended, he still had the right whether or not to post this harmless statement.

“In addition to Weibo, other social media accounts must keep up. Also, the paid commenters behind this statement should still be bought, so remember to maintain the popularity!”

Blackish red was also red!

As long and the competition officials didn’t come forward to speak the truth, and as long as Nanchan and Xunya Technology were still his backers, then after this crisis, their “Destroy the Alien Beasts” could still go on!

When the team leader heard Ke Ming’s order, he could only suppress the doubts in his heart and obey.

Five minutes later, this statement was sent out simultaneously on all platforms, and the team of paid commenters that had been negotiated quickly took their deposit and started to work.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Ke Ming sat in front of the computer screen, clutching his cell phone and dialing the numbers of You Chang and Nanchan Games again and again, but no one answered.

His inner uneasiness did not diminish after the statement. On the contrary, he had a strong sense of impending crisis.

—Zizi

His cell phone suddenly vibrated with a message.

Ke Ming quickly picked up his phone to take a look, only to find a WeChat profile picture in the message that was a bit unexpected.

It was Xiang Nansheng, his former friend and partner.

Ke Ming took a breath and clicked on the WeChat comment.

— Ke Ming, it was agreed that I would tell you that your great gift to him has been received, and in reciprocity, he also has a return gift for you.

— [Weibo link]

— In addition, I would like to add a personal statement: I am glad that I saw through you and left the studio. If you behave badly, you will inevitably spin a web around yourself. Take care!

“……”

Ke Ming looked at the three WeChat messages, gritted his teeth, and clicked on the other party’s link!

Three minutes ago, a well-known blogger with more than five million fans in the gaming community had published a long piece of news!

— Relying on plagiarism to make a comeback, and now relying on a backdoor to win awards, Nanchan Games is a huge pile of rat shit in the Chinese gaming circle!

Just reading the Weibo title, he felt a surge of fury.

Ke Ming clicked on the long article with pictures and text, browsing through it. The blogger concluded that there was plagiarism in the stand-alone games produced by Nanchan Games in the past three years.

It involved eight games, large and small, and three of them had become popular stand-alone games after overwhelming marketing!

The total number of players had reached 600 million, and the revenue generated through advertising and other activities was conservatively estimated to exceed 250 million!

With such huge profits, the production and promotion costs of Nanchan Games only cost a few million, and the copyright fees cost nothing at all!

The creators of the original works had toiled hard, but their efforts had benefited a shameless thief, and because Nanchan was backed by a large company and was far overseas, they had no way to complain!

Especially in the past two years, Nanchan Games had made a lot of money. After encountering suspicions, they either directly removed the games or refused to admit it and waited for the storm to end!

The boss behind the scenes was so thick-skinned as to wall himself away!

It should be known that many people could only save up a few tens of thousands in savings every year. 

In the face of data that directly represented money, the anger of gamers, but also ordinary netizens, was rising—

“Holy shit! I admit it, I’m jealous!”

“Keep this in mind, friends! Support genuine games! Stop encouraging this shitty company!”

“Did some research. Nanchan Games is one of the subsidiaries of Xunya Technology, and Chanming Studios, which recently launched the mobile game “Destroy the Alien Beasts,” just issued a statement not long ago. The two companies have a partnership agreement together.”

“Ugh. These are all plagiarism veterans. Have the new mobile games also been plagiarized?”

“Don’t doubt it. It must be there, but just hasn’t been revealed yet. Dogs will definitely not change their habit of eating shit!”

“Ability is the foundation of expression, and originality is the source of confidence? Nanchan Games and Chanming Studios, let me ask you whether this statement is a slap in the face!”

“Let’s unite and complain to the relevant departments! This kind of game developer should not exist!”

. . . . .

Ke Ming read these angry comments and felt his face burning with pain. The suffocating anger in his heart was like a headless fly, flying around but unable to find a way out!

They were stuck before the opening of their in-game transaction channel, and Deng Mufeng’s suspicions and the alliance with paid commenters attracted the attention of the netizens, forcing them to come forward to issue a clarification statement.

This statement happened to be a self-created trap.

Since Nanchan Games and Chanming Studios were in a partnership, how could netizens distinguish so clearly?

Using the former’s past plagiarism scandals to stir up anger on the web, this successfully triggered everyone’s rejection of “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

Each move of a chess piece was timed just right!

Was it Pei Yi?

— It must be Pei Yi!

The eyes beneath Pei Yi’s peaked cap reappeared in Ke Ming’s mind, and he finally realized that he had underestimated this person!

He had originally thought that the other party was just a kitten being raised in a greenhouse, and with the identity of Will, he might just be spending money to have some fun.

But now it turned out that the other party had strength and ambition, and even wanted to destroy his Chanming Studios!

The phone in his hand suddenly vibrated, causing Ke Ming’s hands to inexplicably shake.

He saw the name on the caller ID clearly, and with nowhere to vent the fire in his heart, it immediately rushed to his mouth. “Hey! You Chang!”

“Let me ask you, what’s going on with the online revelations about Nanchan Games? Do you know how this is likely to affect me…..”

Before this preemptive question could be finished, the other party responded with even stronger anger, “Ke Ming! Stop putting on airs! I ask you! When did you offend Bo Group?”

Ke Ming was stunned. “What?”

You Chang cursed again. “I’m going to be fucking killed because of you!”

We was from Wencheng. In order to avoid becoming a victim in the family disputes, he had decided to stay away and establish his own business. 

As for his cousin You Qinian, who now controlled the family, he hid far away from the man and didn’t dare to provoke him.

Not long ago, You Chang suddenly received a strange and frightening phone call—

Before he knew it, Ke Ming had already offended Bo Group, and the current chairman of Bo Group had a cooperative relationship with You Qinian.

A seemingly simple sentence sounded like a real threat to You Chang.

No matter how well-behaved he had been and how much money he had made in the past two years, compared to You Qinian, it was like an ant meeting an elephant!

“I’m telling you, the partnership between us up to now ends immediately! In two days, I will have my people terminate the contract with your studio!”

He didn’t want to get himself involved in trouble because of Ke Ming!

The phone hung up abruptly.

Ke Ming sat there blankly, his face turning blue and white, unable to understand You Chang’s inexplicable change of attitude.

There was currently turmoil on the internet, and Nanchan’s studio had been stigmatized because of past plagiarism. This situation was getting chaotic!

Now he had just gotten a phone call about ending their partnership? Was this like playing house?

You Chang and Nanchan could freely choose not to spend the money they invested in “Destroy the Alien Beats,” or even hide amidst the scorn like they had done in the past!

Then who would consider the crisis he was facing?

In order to release “Destroy the Alien Beasts” and to have more say, Ke Ming had proactively invested nearly 30 million in the early stages.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was all the wealth he and his studio had accumulated over the years!

Ke Ming’s eyes were about to burst out, his entire bodied overcome by an unprecedented panic—

If “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was really brought down by public opinion, wouldn’t he lose all his capital?!

---

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Chapter Eighty-Five <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Seven

As the largest social forum in the Chinese gaming community, Youtu naturally had a forum area for players to communicate, in addition to commercial copyright transactions and daily game sharing.

There were more than one million people online every day, and almost all first-hand news in the circle came from it.

After the original game design tournament ended last Thursday, the list of winners attracted many gamers. However, the comments on the posts were within the normal range. There were some questions, but not many.

After all, the three award-winning games had not been officially launched, and it was impossible to distinguish absolute advantages and disadvantages based on concept alone.

Then late Friday night, Deng Mufeng, the chief producer of “Dark Blue Sea,” posted a message on his personal page—

“It is a pity that I couldn’t lead Dark Blue Sea and the production team to achieve better results, but I still don’t think that a single ranking can determine whether a game is good or bad.”

“The fact that Mufeng Games has grown from scratch to what it is today is already a success that surpasses others. I hope to stick to the original intention of the game, and hope that my deep love for it will never change.”

“Starting tomorrow, Dark Blue Sea will officially launch! Welcome, everyone, to playing the game with me!”

This update was actually to promote the official public beta of the game. There was nothing wrong with it in essence, but the bad thing was—

Game fans who had been following the internal beta testing firmly believed that there was “something in his remarks,” so they couldn’t help but post questions again on the forum.

“Why are the types of games that won awards this year so similar? How were the organizers and selection team determined? The game categories that were promised should be like a hundred flowers blooming!”

“That’s right, ah! It’s rare to have an ancient style game like Dark Blue Sea in recent years. The praise rate of the two rounds of internal testing are so high. Was this selection team blind?”

“Destroy the Alien Beasts and the Last Fog are both doomsday games. I also think it would have been best to choose one of the two.”

“Is there any inside story, ah?”

“I feel like there’s a shady background. I heard that the two major game companies invested a lot behind the scenes this time. I feel like they’re tainted by the stench of money.”

It was the weekend, and these questioning comments increased even more after “Dark Blue Sea” was officially launched for public beta.

After two nights of fermentation, some game netizens even rushed to the official account of the original game design competition and started to condemn it—

However, the official account pretended to be dead.

The more silent they were, the shadier it seemed.

Just when netizens were convinced of this, another explosive post hit the forum homepage—

“I’m just asking, who doesn’t know that the game architect Will is hooked up to a wealthy boss and has always been a habitual offender who uses back doors to gild his own games!”

The user who posted the message was a forum account named Chasing the Wind. He had been registered for more than five years and had a high reputation in the forum.

After publishing this extremely harsh title, he also added detailed content and graphics on the main page—

“There may be some people who don’t know that the award-winning ‘Traces’ and ‘The Last Fog’ were both written by Will. This has never happened in the previous seven competitions. Is it because of his ability or because of his financial resources?”

“‘Traces’ was sold to Nebula Fun Tour, a subsidiary of Weiyi, and ‘The Last Fog’ is from Will’s own studio.”

“I got the original group list, and in the first and second rounds of screening, the latter was placed in groups where it was easy to break through. Other award winning or highly-popular game projects such as ‘Traces,’ ‘Alien Beasts,’ and ‘Dark Blue Sea’ were all assigned to highly competitive ‘death groups.’

“Was this arrangement really not deliberate favoritism by the organizers and the capital behind them? Wasn’t this just to give a certain game the green light?”

“And I also heard that both ‘Alien Beasts’ and ‘The Last Fog’ participated in the commercial bidding of a certain investment company. It was also because of Will’s improper relationship with the company’s senior management that he went through a back door to squeeze out his opponents and obtain funds.”

In addition, the other party even released a video of the two kissing in the car. It seemed to be a candid shot with specially processed angles and lighting. Two points were particularly obvious—

The luxury car worth nearly ten million, and the exclusive customized beige jacket that Pei Yi wore on the day of the opening ceremony live broadcast.

This post appeared during the evening peak traffic on Sunday, and the number of comments exceeded 100 in just five minutes.

“Holy shit! Is this real?”

“If nothing else, winning awards for two original games at once is really a bit too much.”

“+1! It originally would not be in line with the past award-winning rules for games of the same type to win the award. And if I remember correctly, The Last Fog was the game that won the final award? Reserve the spot for another game!”

“I really don’t believe that a new architect who has been in the industry for less than a year can be so great.”

“Please don’t bring ‘Traces’ into this. The copyright is already in the hands of Nebula Fun Tour, and with Will’s signature, the copyright belongs to them. In fact, the images and creative work have had nothing to do with him for a long time, okay!”

“As a former employee of a certain commercial investment company who has resigned, I can say this quietly — the funding for ‘The Last Fog’ was indeed pre-determined at the time! Will deliberately did not come in that day in order to avoid suspicion. The early setting of ‘Alien Beasts’ was very exciting. It was a pity before, but fortunately, gold shines no matter what.”

“As a pure stranger, I have played ‘The Last Fog 1.0’ and I feel that the overall setting is very diligent, ah. 2.0 will only do better on that basis, right? There is insufficient evidence in this post, everyone, please don’t be led astray.”

“What kind of righteous commenter is upstairs? The producer of ‘Alien Beasts’ has produced good work before, ba. What has YWY done, ah?”

“If you have an ass, then just sell your ass.”

. . . . . . .

Pei Yi read these comments, and the chill in his eyes condensed another degree.

It was a patchwork of revelations, illegally filmed videos, and deliberately vague key points. Even so, the trend of the post had completely changed under the leadership of trolls.

It was clear that someone was maliciously leading public opinion!

After making a call, Bo Yueming gently grasped his lover’s wrist. “Pei Yi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, this verbal criticism can’t beat me down.” Pei Yi’s career mentality remained strong. “Er-ge.”

“En?”

“Just wait and see! I can turn a crisis into an opportunity and find a solution.”

Bo Yueming gently held his hand, devoid of doubts.

When the two arrived at YWY, Li Yuan, who had arrived a step ahead, had already summoned the relevant employees and was waiting in the conference room.

Everyone looked a little surprised when they saw Bo Yueming appear.

Bo Yueming said succinctly, “This matter involves me, so I can’t just sit idly by. Just assume that I’m here to negotiate a solution on behalf of GM.”

Li Yuan and Pei Yi exchanged glances and sat down.

Xiang Nansheng took the initiative to say, “I’ve done some investigation. Many of them are troll comments, but the IP addresses are different, and even the registration dates are different.”

It should be known that the doubts in the forum came first, and the revelations came later.

Even the subsequent posts and revelations contained certain falsehoods, but under the leadership of “netizens” with accounts that had almost no loopholes—

Those actual ordinary game netizens could easily fall into ideological misunderstandings, or in other words, be brainwashed.

“Now, not only the game players of ‘Dark Blue Sea,’ but also the fans of games such as ‘Alien Beasts,’ as well as other games from the production side have all determined that we are the ones who used the back door.”

Since the night before, players had been passionately criticizing YWY Studios.

The staff member in charge of online publicity asked, “Boss Yi, what should we do now? How about we issue a clarification as soon as possible?”

Pei Yi asked in return, “We didn’t do anything wrong, what do we need to clarify?”

Such unfocused clarification would only make players think that they were evading the facts with a guilty conscience.

Another employee said hesitantly, “Can you please…..clarify your relationship with Mr. Bo?”

Bo Yueming shook his head. “My relationship with Pei Yi is not the point. The point is that most netizens now believe that—”

Pe Yi responded, “That me and my studio’s games have gone through a backdoor to win an award and prestige.”

That there was a shady backdoor was the focus of the players’ indignation in the gaming circle.

Of course, the serious nature of their relationship must be made clear to the outside world, but there was no need to worry about it for the time being.

In case the netizens followed the clues to find out Bo Yueming’s identity, just relying on Bo Yueming’s influence in the Imperial Capital circle, it was possible that some misunderstandings might be deepened.

Li Yuan believed in his friend’s ability. “Pei Yi, do you have a plan?”

Pei Yi looked at him. “Pear Garden, who do you think is behind this?”

Li Yuan reported the most obvious answer, “Ke Ming, and Nanchan Games standing behind his studio.”

This public opinion attempt “confirmed” that they used a back door for “The Last Fog.” As a doomsday escape game that was destined to be competitive after its launch—

If they stumbled, then the ones who would benefit the most would be the ones behind “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

Pei Yi raised his eyebrows. “Yes, but I want to remind you of something.”

Some employees were confused. “What?”

“Today’s netizens are not fools. Even if they are misled for a moment, sooner or later, they will take notice of the subtleties.”

“Destroy the Alien Beasts” seems to be using “Dark Blue Sea” and netizens who are dissatisfied with the award results to suppress me. But in fact, this also puts me on a higher level of exposure and scrutiny.”

“A rising tide lifts all boats, but if the water rises too high, the boat will capsize.”

The ones currently at a disadvantage were YWY and “The Last Fog,” but this was not necessarily a bad thing.

If you climb high, you will surely fall; if you hit the bottom, you will rebound.

—Zizi.

Bo Yueming’s WeChat message vibrated. He clicked on his phone and looked at it, then finally launched the first counterattack for his lover.

“When nothing wrong has been done, a low-profile clarification is far inferior to a high-profile prosecution.”

“I asked my assistant, Lin Zhong, to take screenshots of the user who posted the message, as well as the users on the so-called false news threads. They have now been handed over to the legal team, who will contact your studio later.”

Pei Yi continued to speak of his plan. “Pear Garden, you help me contact Mufeng Games.”

“It would be better to have a video chat with Teacher Deng in person to explain the actual situation. It might not be long before our two families open up to the outside world in unison.”

Mufeng Games was indeed the most innocent victim in this competition, but the the “injurer” wasn’t them.

Li Yuan understood his friend’s meaning. “Okay.”

Lou Yang, who had been listening in, cut to another key point. “Mr. Yi, netizens are currently obsessed with the “Original Game Design Competition” coming forward to explain the situation. What if the officials really dump the blame on us?”

Pei Yi shook his head. “It’s unlikely. At most, they will likely just insist on saying that the results of the competition are fair and just.”

Which official would be willing to give up his or her reputation? How about admitting to their mistakes?

Lou Yang was still worried. “Even if it is as you say, that doesn’t mean that Ke Ming won’t continue to unscrupulously blame us.”

“Sister Yang, don’t worry, I will find a way.”

Pei Yi understood Lou Yang’s concerns, but he already had a plan in mind—

Ke Ming dared to be so blatant because he had the backing of Nanchan Games and the even more powerful Xunya Technology.

What if his two backers were gone? Perhaps they would give up on him for profit?

In the silence, Li Yuan spoke again, “Pei Yi! Look!”

He handed the phone over. “The official account of Chanming Studios suddenly announced that ‘Destroy the Alien Beasts’ will be released tomorrow!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Xiang Nansheng and the others sitting around were startled, and they all took out their cell phones to check on the situation—

“They’re going directly to the public beta?”

“If I remember correctly, they seem to have only gone through the first round of internal testing and confirmed that there are no problems with the game? Aren’t they a little too confident?”

“Confident? Why do I think they are rushing forward too prematurely?”

Pei Yi listened to them discuss, and a subtle gleam appeared in his eyes.

He did not express his own thoughts, but left the evaluation to Xiang Nansheng, who had worked with Ke Ming before. “Director Xiang, what do you think?”

Xiang Nansheng shook his head slightly. “Ke Ming is gambling.”

He still knew some things about his former friend. “Ke Ming is betting on this wave of traffic, hoping to take advantage of the players’ current aversion to ‘The Last Fog’ and establish the favorability and presence of ‘Alien Beasts’ in contrast.”

“If he can win the bet, he will seize the audience in this wave of marketing ahead of us, and the plagiarism involved in the past will become a disadvantage to us due to the time difference of the launches.”

Pei Yi tapped the table twice and said loudly, “In that case, he must lose this bet.”

Pei Yi had long expected that the other party would release the game in advance, and that was why he was willing to hold back the evidence in hand.

But he didn’t foresee that Ke Ming would be in more of a hurry than expected, and move forward a full two months earlier than the scheduled public beta.

He wanted to become fat in one bite? No! He gave them the opportunity to counterattack early!

Pei Yi’s expression turned serious. “All departments, listen. The first round of internal testing originally scheduled in half a month will be brought forward!”

“I request that the number and age groups of the players in the internal beta be expanded. The servers used in the first round must be able to handle the load without any problems.”

“The preheat copywriting and CG animation must be confirmed to be correct, and the media promotion side must also follow closely.”

In order to ensure the playability of the game, Pei Yi would not go online like Ke Ming and ignore the closed beta, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use the closed beta to seize and attract as many gamers as possible in this wave of exposure.

Let Ke Ming and “Destroy the Alien Beasts” open the way for them in the market first, then step on their shoulders to reach the top. This was called—

The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind!

“Everything must be in place before this Friday. The meeting is adjourned, each department must immediately do its own work.”

Pei Yi’s mentality was completely unaffected by the online public opinion, and there was no trace of panic on his face.

Everyone was infected by his leadership, and responded in unison, “Yes!”

. . . . . . .

The door of the conference room closed again, and in an instant, Pei Yi and Bo Yueming were left.

When their eyes met, Bo Yueming smiled first.

“What are you smiling about?”

Pei Yi handed the nearly cold coffee to his lover. “Er-ge, I feel like you’ve been smiling more and more.”

Bo Yueming took it with one hand and pulled the other person in front of him. “I just didn’t expect that my little husband would have this kind of work style.”

It was different from the cute appearance he showed in private, and also different from the cunning way he faced outsiders in daily life.

Pei Yi at work was mature, courageous, and charming, which also fascinated him.

Pei Yi shook his hand and joked, “Big boss, I really have something serious that I need your help with.”

Hearing this unfamiliar address, Bo Yueming felt helpless. “Okay, okay, don’t imitate those who post explosive news and shout nonsense.”

When this wave of public opinion was over, he must find that shameful person who took the photos and let them receive the legal sanctions they deserved!

Pei Yi came closer and changed his words. “Husband, have you ever heard the theory called six degrees of separation?”

Bo Yueming was pleased by the way he called him. “I have.”

A simple explanation was that there would be no more than six people between one’s self and a stranger, and there would be a chain of relationships.

He saw through his lover’s thoughts and said, “Tell me, who is blocking your way?”

“You Chang.”

Facing Bo Yueming, Pei Yi didn’t hide anything. If he wanted Ke Ming to be completely defeated, he had to completely cut off the backing that the other party thought was so amazing.

Xunya Technology had always been hampered by the competition of Weiyi, and it might not be able to truly spend its efforts to protect the copyright of Chanming Studios and “Destroy the Alien Beasts,” a small game.

What Pei Yi really needed to be wary of was Nanchan Games, which was cooperating with Ke Ming, along with the person in charge of it, You Chang, whom he had never met.

Pei Yi looked at Bo Yueming and gave a clear prompt, “Er-ge, don’t you think the surname ‘You’ sounds familiar? I heard that You Chang is also from Wencheng. What a coincidence.”

Bo Yueming understood his meaning. “En, it’s quite a coincidence.”

By chance, there was someone who could help them solve this troublesome person they had never met.

. . . . . . . 

In an office decorated with a technological theme, Ke Ming reclined leisurely in a custom-made office chair, a video call on the bright computer screen in front of him.

On the other side of the screen was a young man with a soft appearance, but cold eyes.

“Mr. You, thank you for your support.” Ke Ming raised the wine glass in his hand, his expression full of self-confidence. “As I said, there’s nothing wrong with going online early.”

Long before participating in the original game design competition, “Destroy the Alien Beasts” had gone through a round of internal testing, and through the special relationship with Xunya Technology, it had obtained the qualifications for official release.

Later, when he met Li Yuan and the other person at the hotel in Haishi, he felt that Will looked inexplicably familiar.

After sending someone to investigate secretly, he discovered a truth that was no longer a secret—

Will was Pei Yi! This was the person who participated in the GM bidding competition and pretended to be a fool! This man had been laughing at him since the beginning!

Ke Ming was shocked and furious upon learning this, and even started a gambling plan.

He must release this long-prepared game early, seize the opportunity at all costs, and defeat Pei Yi and Li Yuan!

Release without further internal testing? How could this be done?

This mad and aggressive idea roused protests from many employees, and even made the team at Nanchan Games dissatisfied. Only You Chang gave absolute support.

After they joined together, they first used “Dark Blue Sea’s” failure in the competition to arouse criticism, then used fabricated materials that were one point true and nine points false to pour dirty water on Pei Yi!

Not only that, but they took advantage of players’ regrets and praise for “Dark Blue Sea” and used professional trolls to gain a wave of popularity and secretly boast about their own game.

Finally, when emotions were at their most passionate in the gaming circle and it was the easiest moment to get ahead, they announced that “Destroy the Alien Beasts” would be released in advance!

One step after another, they walked on their road to gambling, and current facts proved that—

They had made the right bet!

From its launch on Tuesday to Friday today, the number of registered users exceeded 1.2 million, and the number of people online simultaneously exceeded 800,000!

For a mobile game that had only been online for three days, this was definitely a good start worth celebrating!

You Chang on the other side of the screen raised his glass in response. “Mr. Ke, you still must not take it lightly. Don’t forget the initial investment from our two companies, as well as the additional expenses that have been added in recent days.”

In the past, there were trolls to frame Pei Yi and “The Last Fog,” and later, there were paid commenters to build publicity for “Destroy the Alien Beasts.” They had spent a lot of money on publicity.

“Mr. You, don’t worry! We will open a range of in-game transactions for props at eight o’clock tonight.”

Ke Ming raised his eyebrows, estimating the results of his upcoming victory with great satisfaction. “According to this increase in the number of users, we will be able to pay back millions of funds in just two days over the weekend.”

Although compared to the initial investment, it could only be compared to a drop in the bucket, for mobile games, what mattered was long-term investment and market shares.

There were not many apocalyptic survival games of the same type in China. The only one that could compete was “The Last Fog.” Even if it could alleviate public opinion, it had already missed its market opportunity.

Even if they used malicious means, what could possibly happen if someone discovered it later?

Which game on the market today didn’t get involved in right and wrong? Popularity came at a price, and the same was true for games. That was the type of treatment only hot-selling products deserved!

You Chang on the other side started to say something, but the phone on the table suddenly vibrated. He glanced at the caller ID, and his eyes shifted nervously for a moment.

“Mr. Ke, let’s stop here today and talk later when we have time. Please pay more attention to the release of the game.”

“Certainly.”

The video call ended.

Ke Ming glanced at the time in the lower right corner. It was 5:30, only half an hour before the in-game purchase channel was finally opened.

He drank the red wine in the glass in one gulp, and before he could completely let loose the carefreeness in his heart, he was stopped by the sudden sound of the door opening. 

The secretary rushed in with an anxious expression and blurted without thinking—

“Mr. Ke, it’s bad! Something big has happened!”

---

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Chapter Eighty-Four <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Six

Luo Ran returned to the office after having dinner at Xia Zhi’s house.

Upon reaching the top floor, he saw that the lights were not on.

Luo Ran frowned slightly. He pushed open the office door and saw Lucas sitting on the side of the bed and looking at his terminal. There was no telling what was on his mind.

“Admiral?”

Luo Ran stepped forward with a smile: “What’s the matter?”

Only then did Luo Ran see that Lucas’s terminal contained satellite images of the wisteria flower villa.

A sea of purple flowers surrounded the wood cabin. It was sunny in the satellite images.

Luo Ran paused.

Lucas didn’t speak.

Luo Ran said with a smile: “Why are you suddenly looking at these? I remember that this villa is one of the Aldor family’s assets, right?”

Lucas said hoarsely: “Do you know everything?”

Luo Ran paused again.

Lucas lowered his head and said: “I’m sorry.”

He was the one who had caused Luo Ran’s spiritual injury.

Luo Ran had always had spiritual problems, and was injured badly by the UNK because of that fragility, which was caused by him.

Luo Ran bent down at once to hug Lucas, putting his head on Lucas’s shoulder.

“Admiral……” Luo Ran pressed his face to Lucas’s neck and said: “It had nothing to do with you.”

Lucas reached out to hug Luo Ran’s waist, but his hands froze unmoving in mid-air.

Lucas hated touching others, not only because of the aftereffects of the ravine before, but also because he knew he couldn’t control his strength.

The mechanical hand was one thing, and his own estimation of his strength was different from others.

—Thud!

In the next moment, Lucas was thrown down by Luo Ran.

Lucas’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Luo Ran to be so proactive.

Luo Ran embraced Lucas and lay down on the bed with him, smiling as he said: “Admiral, don’t think about it. It’s a thing of the past.”

Luo Ran lay on top of Lucas with his cheek against the other’s chest.

Lucas said nothing.

He could see the red marks on Luo Ran’s neck, and the bruises on his collarbones and wrists that hadn’t faded.

Luo Ran raised his head and said: “I remember. At that time, you accidentally injured me while protecting me, but you were in a very severe state of spiritual breakdown. However, it was because you wanted us both to live that you performed a spiritual resonance with me, and your spiritual power exploded.”

“If the Admiral hadn’t done so at that time, let alone being spiritually injured, I might have lost my life.”

Luo Ran smiled and said meaningfully: “So I must thank the Admiral.”

“The reasoning is sound.”

Lucas scoffed coldly. He embraced Luo Ran gently and said: “I will control myself in the future. I can learn.”

“An Alpha’s instincts cannot be controlled. The Admiral doesn’t have to force it.” Luo Ran closed his eyes slightly, saying: “This is good. It’s late, you need more rest, Admiral.”

“En.”

Luo Ran knew that Lucas was concerned, but it was illogical.

“Good night, Admiral.”

Raising his head, Luo Ran kissed Lucas on the cheek.

Lucas looked at Luo Ran for a moment, and finally grasped his chin and kissed him back.

Silly Ranran.

“Good night.”

The next day, Lucas went to military headquarters early, and only Rong Duo and Luo Ran were left in the office. Rong Duo happily typed at her computer as she replied to emails, saying: “I heard that my brother and Major-General Luo will be sent to join the army in the upcoming battle.

“Yes.” Luo Ran was also quite happy.

Luo Xingyuan and his adjutant Rong An would be temporarily stationed in the capital, which meant that Luo Xingyuan could live at home. He had brought his team back a few days ago.

“I hope they can stay after the battle……huh?” Seeing a new encrypted email, Rong Duo frowned: “Secretary Luo, this needs your permission to open it. I’ll forward it to you.”

“Okay.”

After Luo Ran opened it and read for a moment, his complexion became a bit bad.

“What’s that matter?” Duo Rong also became nervous.

“The First Prince was originally detained in court, but he used his connections to escape and left the capital.” Luo Ran said with a slight frown: “He left from a port exclusive to the royal family, and there are not many military troops stationed there.”

“Ah…..? Hasn’t he not even been convicted yet? Why is he in such a hurry!” Rong Duo was a little surprised. 

Luo Ran didn’t speak.

Since the First Prince escaped, it must be that he knew the result in advance.

But this was also to be expected. If it wasn’t obvious enough when the star pirates blew up J5, he would be found out through the pharmaceutical company accounts, not to mention that there was still Cyril’s confession.

Collusion between the First Prince and the star pirates was already a certainty.

Therefore, the First Prince cleverly used his relationships with the council to flee before the trial was held, and before he could be transferred to a heavily-guarded prison.

“But the First Prince running away……what is the use, ah?” Rong Duo didn’t understand. “If he runs, won’t he be wanted by the Empire? And he will lose the chance to turn things around.”

Luo Ran said: “The Empire will not arrest him, but will let the military department do it privately. It would be too ugly if this spread. The First Prince had no chance of turning the tables, so he ran away……”

After fleeing, he probably went to humbly beg the star pirates. The First Prince had been in power for so many years, so he must have some bottom line. This should be the last thing he had to trade to the star pirates in exchange for asylum.

If Lucas was killed in battle and the Empire was in chaos, then the First Prince could come back and fight.

And pull the carpet out from under them.

“Let’s leave this matter to the Second Prince. The military department will just follow orders.” Luo Ran rubbed his temples and said: “It isn’t easy for us to intervene.”

It shouldn’t look like the military was oppressing the royal family.

“Yes!” Rong Duo looked over curiously at Luo Ran.

Luo Ran was drawing on white paper with a pencil. This was a very rare scene.

“What is Secretary Luo doing, ah?”

“I’m preparing a surprise.” Luo Ran put his index finger to his lips and said with a smile: “You can’t tell the Admiral.”

“…….!”

“Oh!!”

. . . . . . . .

When Lucas returned in the evening, he opened the door and saw that Luo Ran had taken a shower and was sitting on the side of the bed wiping his hair.

Long blue-silver hair hung over his shoulders. Lucas gazed at his back and stood by the desk without speaking.

“The Admiral is back.” Luo Ran got up and handed Lucas some documents. “This is the court report. The Second Prince has already taken over. We may need to mobilize our people, and I plan to have Adjutant Lu negotiate. He is the husband of His Highness Andika, and he has enough status to negotiate on behalf of the military.”

“En, you can arrange it.”

Lucas took the official documents and frowned slightly. 

There was a book underneath them.

Lucas looked at it, and was a little surprised.

The cover featured two cute chibi characters, one of them fierce and wearing a military uniform and cap, and one of them smiling with a ponytail.

It was a small book made with beautiful paper stapled together.

“What is this?”

Luo Ran smiled: “It’s a birthday gift. Happy birthday, Admiral.”

Saying this, Luo Ran opened a small box to the side, and Lucas saw a cake.

The small cake was different from those sold outside, without excess cream and decorations. It looked very filling.

It was the kind of food Lucas liked.

Luo Ran also thoughtfully put the cream bottle beside it, instead of pouring it on the cake himself first.

“…..Ah.” Lucas remembered that it was his birthday today.

Looking at the birthday cake, Lucas smiled. Luo Ran would remember it every year and make him a “birthday cake.”

There seemed to be an extra gift this year though.

Lucas opened the book. On the first page was a character with short hair reading official documents, and a character in military uniform was scolding him.

Lucas: “……..”

This was the first time I saw you.

When they met for the first time, Lucas had angrily told him not to go into his office without permission. Still reading documents at that time, Luo Ran was dumbfounded when he saw his boss come back suddenly.

Next to it was a date.

Further on, there was a character with shoulder-length hair crying in front of an aircraft while holding a jacket. The character in military uniform was still fierce, but held the other party’s hand in clumsy comfort.

There were many more.

For example, the wisteria flower cabin, with two people sitting and gazing at the stars together, watching the fireworks festival together, Lucas’s first susceptible period after returning to the capital…..

Turning through it, every page contained bits and pieces of their lives and relationship. Luo Ran went from short hair to long, and Lucas always had that fierce look. Although he was fierce, Lucas knew how to hold Luo Ran’s hand from the beginning, and now he knew how to treat his lover tenderly.

Each page had a date.

They had been together for many, many years.

The gift they gave each other was time.

Lucas flipped through the pages without saying a word.

It was clear that Luo Ran had prepared it very carefully. The book was thick, and although the drawings were simple, it still would have taken time. It was even colored.

Every page had a date, thanks to Luo Ran’s memory.

It could be seen that Luo Ran truly cherished their time together, and recalled many scenes that Lucas had forgotten.

Lucas thought to himself, there is nothing this secretary can’t do, even drawing.

“So……” Luo Ran lowered his head with a smile. “I really don’t care about the Admiral accidentally injuring me with his spiritual power. Although it really can’t be called an accidental injury……it was a compromise for protection.”

“You said you would like me no matter what. I……”

Lucas said in a low voice: “Of course I do.”

“Silly Ranran.”

Lucas treasured it very much, and put it away. Then, breathing a little quickly, he grabbed Luo Ran’s collar and kissed him.

Luo Ran wrapped his arms around Lucas’s neck and tilted his head upward to cooperate.

This kiss was very passionate, and Luo Ran could feel Lucas’s tongue break in to outline every inch of the back of his teeth. The two exchanged breaths and pheromones, and perhaps because the kiss was so enthusiastic, the pheromones gradually got a little out of control, which……filled the two of them with desire again.

Lucas pressed Luo Ran onto the glass desk. Laying on his stomach, Luo Ran said nervously: “Here…..?”

“En.” Lucas said with red eyes: “I won’t be like I was the last two times. I’ll learn.”

“No, not……here.” Looking at the pens and documents beside him, Luo Ran felt too embarrassed. This was where Lucas worked.

Besides, there were still people outside who hadn’t left work. If they came in……

“Right here.” Lucas bowed his head and bit Luo Ran’s ear. Purposely malicious, he didn’t tell Luo Ran that he had already locked the door.

“Admiral……the cake……you haven’t eaten it yet.” Luo Ran struggled: “You eat the cake, I’ll make the bed, and we……”

Before he finished speaking, he couldn’t speak anymore.

Lucas said with a smile: “I want to eat a more delicious cake. I don’t want to eat that hard flour.”

Lucas thought to himself, this year’s birthday benefits were really good.

. . . . . . . 

Two days later, the battle finally began.

The star pirates attacked eastern Luobing, entering from the wasteland, and occupied several small cities. Mu Yuan was already prepared to lead the army to meet the enemy.

This also meant that Lucas was going to fight.

After two days of tenderness, Lucas was about to leave the capital again. But this time was different. This time, Luo Ran would see Lucas again soon.

Having bid farewell to Lucas, Luo Ran headed to the pier. 

This battle was very important, especially since the star pirates had prepared a Meteor Shower.

Because of this, Luo Ran personally escorted the logistics supplies. Lucas gave Luo Ran Wang Qiuyuang, and put Luo Xingyuan with him, who had just transferred back.

When Luo Ran went to the pier, Luo Xingyuan stood up straight and gave a military salute.

“Commander Luo!”

The two stood on the edge of the dock where everyone could see. Luo Ran understood Luo Xingyuan’s intentions.

The commander in charge of logistics this time was Luo Ran, so Luo Xingyuan and Wang Qiuyang straightforwardly expressed their obedience to Luo Ran. This stabilized the morale of the soldiers, and simultaneously, Luo Xingyuan also conveyed that there was no special relationship between relatives on the battlefield.

“En.” Luo Ran nodded. He looked at the battleships that had docked around the pier, and took a report from Luo Xingyuan.

According to plan, they would set off the next morning and meet Lucas on the battlefield.

The two brothers stood facing each other, one tall and stalwart in military uniform, and the other elegant and capable. Just looking at them gave people a sense of trust.

“We’re almost ready.” Luo Xingyuan said: “We will be able to leave on time.”

“Good.”

Luo Ran patrolled around with the report, and Luo Xingyuan had his adjutant Rong An follow along.

When Luo Ran came to the western side of the pier, he saw a soldier rushing over, who said: “Commander Luo! Six boxes of gunpowder are missing from the H6 battleship!”

Luo Ran recognized him as Wang Qiuyang’s cousin, Wang Ruicheng.

Both Wang Qiuyang’s younger brother and cousin had joined the military, and their positions were quite high. Wang Ruicheng was the commander of H6, and had also gone to the snowy mountain with Luo Ran before.

“What?” Luo Ran frowned slightly.

Luo Ran boarded H6 and took the inventory records. It really was missing.

“Turn on the trackers.” Luo Ran frowned and said: “There are trackers under the supplies.”

“Yes!”

After Wang Ruicheng left, Luo Ran and Rong An went to the main control room and saw a red dot appear on the screen.

The cargo had been hijacked to another pier.

This pier was located in a very tricky place. Although it was still within the scope of the Empire, it was adjacent to the border of the Desolate Star.

Rong An asked: “Commander Luo, should we pursue them?”

“Yes.” Luo Ran said: “Have Adjutant Wang bring the whole team over.”

The opponents were likely star pirates. This situation was not surprising. Although this was called logistics, because it was where the supplies were, it would directly affect the front line and was just as dangerous. That was why Lucas left behind his most capable Wang Qiuyang, and even Luo Xingyuan.

“Yes!”

Rang An also went.

The battleship started up and chased in the direction of the red dot.

Then the alarm sounded.

Luo Ran looked at the main control screen — The battleship he was on had been hijacked.

Luo Ran raised his eyebrows slightly.

---

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Chapter Eighty-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Eight

These words sounded like a taunt, but in fact, Second Young Master Liu really hadn’t studied poisonous insects much, and was able to prepare such bait in advance all thanks to the Southwest Garrison’s good collection of intelligence.

There were many garrison troops who had fought against Wumeng Yunyou, and they all had deep memories of the poisonous blue whip that could break apart and reconnect. Liu Xian’an had read through a thick pile of dictations, combined it with everyone’s descriptions, and deduced: “It must be some kind of insect rope.”

“It does make sense.” Liang Shu asked, “But what kind of insects are they?”

“A blue poisonous insect that has a hard shell and flies extremely fast in the air.” Liu Xian’an said, “I’ll have to think about it.”

He sat on a chair and began to concentrate on thinking. A guard didn’t understand, and asked in a whisper: “What is Second Young Master Liu doing?”

“Looking for books,” A-Ning replied. “Some books that are not commonly used are placed relatively deep, so he must look for them later.”

The guard: “…….”

He didn’t understand, and was greatly shaken.

A-Ning thought this was normal, because his young master had read so many books, a mountain of them, and they couldn’t all be piled up in one place. It was reasonable to build a library in the Three Thousand Worlds…..anyway, it must be more reasonable than building the prince’s hot spring pool that could fit giant birds.

The blue elytra was the answer that Second Young Master Liu found in his books. This type of poisonous insect was extremely rare, and also extremely difficult to train. It really took a lot of energy to train them into a steel whip that could shrink freely, so one could imagine Wumeng Yunyou’s mood at this time. He became angry with embarrassment and threw himself forward to take the bag back, but how could Liang Shu allow him to come closer? He raised his sword and sliced through the wind. The Imperial guard led Liu Xian’an and A-Ning to quickly withdraw to the other side, saying: “Young Master, don’t worry, he is not the prince’s opponent.”

The last time Wumeng Yunyou was outside Baihe City, he only exchanged a dozen quick moves with Liang Shu, and with Feng Xiaojin protecting him, so he didn’t have a deep understanding of his martial arts. He only knew that the other was truly tricky, but he had no personal experience until this time to know just how tricky he was. All of the previous plans and preparations were in vain. He didn’t even have time to release the rest of the poisonous insects, and was beaten to the point that he couldn’t fight back. In his frantic resistance, he staggered and almost fell down a cliff.

Facing the black longsword approaching in front of him, Wumeng Yunyou felt the rare emotion called “fear.” He covered his ribs that had been pierced by the sword and gritted his teeth, rushing down the cliff, but was grabbed by the back of the collar!

Ka-ching! There was a sharp collision of metal, and large sparks flashed in the cold winter night. Liang Shu restrained Wumeng Yunyou with one hand, and swung his sword with the other to block the hidden weapon in front of him. Under the moonlight, the man with a silver-white mask and a thin figure had a long, bright sword lying against the thin neck of the hostage in his hands.

Cheng Suyue was forced to tilt her head slightly. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she looked a little embarrassed.

Liang Shu’s pupils shrank slightly.

A-Ning said anxiously: “It’s Cheng-guniang!”

Liu Xian’an couldn’t hide his worry. Earlier, everyone was counting the days and wondering why Cheng Suyue didn’t meet up with the large army after so long. Gao Lin sent people to look for her, but they never thought that she had fallen into the Baifu Sect’s hands.

Wumeng Yunyou exclaimed happily: “Uncle!”

Feng Xiaojin negotiated terms with Liang Shu: “One for one.”

With a ball of cloth stuck in her mouth, Cheng Suyue struggled, “Mm-mm,” and seemed to be saying for Liang Shu not to care about her.

“All right.” Liang Shu took two steps forward with Wumeng Yunyou in his arms. “One for one.”

Cheng Suyue was also pushed to the front, and Feng Xiaojin held onto the rope behind her: “On the count of three, let go at the same time.”

He actually knew that Liang Shu didn’t care about this so-called “morality,” and if they let go at the same time, he might attack like a beast immediately, but this was the only way to save Wumeng Yunyou. He looked at Liang Shu, and Liang Shu looked at him. Both of them were calculating the final timing and distance in their minds.

“One, two—”

The moment “three” came out, Feng Xiaojin pushed the hostage forward violently, and at the same time, pulled at a knot with his left hand. The steel cable around Cheng Suyue’s neck tightened instantly, almost breaking bone! Her eyes widened at once and blood spilled from the corners of her mouth. Liang Shu was forced to release Wumeng Yunyou and cut the wire behind Cheng Suyue.

“Cheng-guniang!” Liu Xian’an hurried over with A-Ning. Liang Shu handed her over to them and looked to the other side. Feng Xiaojin had already disappeared into the night in a dark cloud.

“Your Highness.” A guard asked, “Do you want us to chase him?”

“You can’t catch up with him.” Liang Shu put his sword back into its sheath.

This was the truth, but it made everyone feel ashamed. One of them boldly said: “But both Wumeng Yunyou and Feng Xiaojin were injured by the prince. So they should……lay low for a while.” His voice became smaller and smaller, and in the end, there was no sound at all.

When Wumeng Yunyou was rescued, his body was covered in blood, and Feng Xiaojin also received a hit from Liang Shu in order to bring him to his side smoothly. From the perspective of ordinary people, the outcome of this battle was actually very obvious, but Liang Shu still looked gloomy, and the guards were so frightened that no one dared to speak on the way back.

Although it couldn’t be considered quiet, because New Year’s Eve was a good time to set off fireworks. The crackling caused Cheng Suyue to wake up. She opened her eyes and tried to talk, but her throat hurt like fire, and she couldn’t make a sound.

“Don’t push yourself!” A-Ning hurriedly stood beside her and held her down. “Cheng-guniang, your throat is seriously injured. You must take it easy for a while.”

Cheng Suyue tried to move her limbs. She still had strength, which instantly relieved her. The moment her spine tightened, she had thought that even if she kept the rest of her life, she would have to spend it lying down.

She turned her head to look at Liang Shu beside the bed.

“If you don’t have any information to report immediately, then just lie down and rest.” Liang Shu slowed down his voice. “Don’t think too much.”

Cheng Suyue nodded, opened her mouth, and let Liu Xian’an continue to apply medicine for her. Fighting, killing, wounding, fleeing, this New Year’s Eve was really not very good. It wasn’t until dawn that Liu Xian’an exited the room. He stood in the courtyard to exercise his sore muscles, and after exercising, he went straight to Liang Shu’s residence.

A-Ning: “…….”

I knew it.

Liang Shu wasn’t resting. He stretched out his hands and caught the person who was walking toward him, holding him in his arms for a while before asking: “How is A-Yue?”

“The neck injury is a bit serious, but her life has been saved, and she will recover slowly over time.” Liu Xian’an said, “Your Highness, don’t worry too much.”

A-Ning quickly boiled hot water and lit sleeping incense. This time, it was the scent of tea mixed with jasmine, and Liang Shu said: “It smells good.”

“I made it according to an ancient method,” Liu Xian’an said. “It is said that the court beauties of all dynasties favor it.”

He reached out and massaged Liang Shu’s temples: “Go to sleep.”

Liang Shu held his wrists: “I can’t sleep.”

You can’t sleep, but you must sleep. Liu Xian’an leaned up and took the other’s head into his arms, patting him.

Liang Shu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Are you picking melons?”

“Shh, don’t talk.”

“…….”

The bed curtain swayed gently with the breeze. Liang Shu listened to his words and forced himself to relax. He closed his eyes in exhaustion and immediately fell into the austere fragrance.

Feng Xiaojin also dragged Wumeng Yunyou back to his residence.

Liu Hengchang was dispensing medicine in his room, and when he heard the movement, he went out to look and was truly surprised. Wumeng Yunyou was mortally wounded. The other witch doctors didn’t dare to slack off, and quickly carried him to the bed. Liu Hengchang helped Feng Xiaojin back to the room. After testing his pulse, he frowned and said: “The old injury hasn’t healed, so……lie down first, ba.”

While removing his bloody clothes for him, Liu Hengchang asked tentatively: “Was it Liang Shu who did it?”

“Yes.” Feng Xiaojin removed his mask, revealing a pale and bloodless face, and said hoarsely, “He’s really an eye for an eye, and took his revenge on the spot. I wounded one of his men and he nearly broke my throat at the same time.”

“The throat injury is not serious.” Liu Hengchang said, “In the next few days, you will need to eat soft meat paste, tofu, and porridge.”

“Tofu.” Feng Xiaojin laughed suddenly, with a somewhat unsettling bitter smile.

Liu Hengchang was puzzled. What was so ridiculous about tofu? He continued cautiously: “Young Master Feng doesn’t like to eat it?”

“It smells disgusting.” Feng Xiaojin leaned against the head of the bed. “Aren’t you disgusted by the fishy smell of tofu? That viscous liquid that flows to the ground, drawing flies to fly upwards.”

After that one sentence, Liu Hengchang also lost his appetite. Feng Xiaojin seemed to be drawn in by this memory. “I ate a lot of tofu, the unsellable stuff that was rotten, and also made a lot of it. In the winter months, I pushed the huge stone mill along with the animals.”

Liu Hengchang was a little excited to hear this, not about grinding tofu, but because the most mysterious master of the Baifu Sect was finally willing to talk about his past. He held his breath and didn’t dare say a word. But Feng Xiaojin didn’t want to say any more. He suppressed the discomfort in his stomach, opened a bottle of smelling salts, and tried his utmost to get himself away from the strong and persistent stench.

Liu Henchang added a few drops of head-cooling oil to the smelling salts for him: “I thought Young Master Feng had followed the Master since he was a child.”

Feng Xiaojin closed his eyes as if he hadn’t heard his words at all: “The Master should come soon. He will not allow Yunyou to be injured at this time, and will certainly try his best to treat him.”

“Ge!” As soon as he finished speaking, a young girl’s crisp voice sounded in the courtyard. Liu Hengchang turned his head and looked out the window. Following behind Wumeng Yunle was a middle-aged man in black. He was the Imperial court’s most wanted criminal, the leader of the Baifu Sect.

. . . . . . .

After New Year’s Eve, relatives were visited without end for the first, second, and third day, and in the blink of an eye, the year slipped to its end. 

Liang Shu and his party had already returned to Raven City. Song Changsheng took the concoctions prescribed by Liu Xian’an on time, and his physical condition was just barely stable, but the half-inch scar clawed by Wumeng Yunle’s nails never healed. Faint blue lines spread under the skin like a budding flower.

Gao Lin frowned: “What the hell is this?”

Liu Xian’an shook his head: “I don’t know. I asked Da-ge before, and he didn’t know either.”

Gao Lin thought to himself, isn’t this swordsmith doomed?

Liang Shu asked lightly: “You don’t know anything?”

Liu Xian’an replied, I don’t know at all.

The unknown poison was more frightening than a poison that killed people, because there was no guarantee if he would go crazy at any time or simply have his brain gnawed by Gu worms.

Liang Shu grabbed his shoulders: “Can you think of a way?”

Liu Xian’an said without thinking, I can.

Gao Lin listened in awe.

If you don’t know, you can find a way. Isn’t this the so-called miracle doctor?

---

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Chapter Eighty-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Six

Pei Yi was secretly happy all the way to the car.

Bo Yueming closed the car door, helpless and doting. “Is it worth being so happy?”

“Of course. Although I feel a little bad for Pear Garden and Yan Cen, my brother is finally no longer thinking only about the two of us.”

Pei Yi put on his seatbelt, still respecting and appreciating Qin Yishun in his heart. “My brother’s eyes, ah, they’re really sharp.”

The saying that an older brother was like a father was really true.

Qin Yishun knew that he and Li Yuan had not had an easy time growing up, and was also aware of the true chaos within the wealthy families of the Imperial Capital—

Therefore, he always treated his two little brothers wholeheartedly, and did not want them to be hurt in any way, even emotionally.

Bo Yueming gave a heartfelt sigh. “Truly sharp. Sometimes I’m frightened when I see him.”

The pressure from his brother-in-law was truly something that ordinary people couldn’t bear.

Pei Yi couldn’t help but laugh, teasing, “I think my brother should go be the dean of a school. If there are any students in puppy love, he will catch them right away.”

Bo Yueming smiled and shook his hand gently. “Sit down, I’ll drive you to dinner.”

“En.”

The car slowly left the hospital parking lot.

In the already dark night, the illuminated signboard with the words “Inpatient Department” on the top floor looked even more cold and empty.

Pei Yi recalled everything he had seen in the ward. “Er-ge, I’m not trying to curse him, but the old man probably won’t be able to survive this.”

“A person who used to be so impressive is now covered in tubes and so thin that he’s lost his shape.”

Pei Ruzhang and Deng Xiuya, the only two people left in the ward, were probably only there for “face” and “property.”

This person had lived a lifetime, and no one cared about him in the end, so what was the point?

Pei Yi thought of another thing. “But it’s strange, was Pei Huan really kicked out of the Pei family? Then where is he now?”

“I saw Pei Ruzhang’s attitude in the ward just now. Have you been putting pressure on the Pei family behind the scenes?”

Bo Yueming said, “Pei Huan left the Pei family at that moment a year ago. Do you still remember how Bo Guancheng knew about my eyes?”

Pei Yi was gently nudged by his lover’s words, and reacted.

At first, Pei Huan didn’t want to lose the protective umbrella of the Pei family, and was also afraid that Bo Yueming would be unfavorable to him, so he tried to get rid of him using the hands of Bo Guancheng and others.

But in the end, he was completely annihilated and failed to succeed.

“I’ve already reported this to Grandma. At the time I took sides, I dealt with everyone in the main branch, whether heavily or lightly.”

In that fight with the Bo family’s main branch, the innocent Pei Yi was implicated and even injured. Bo Yueming had secretly dealt with all the relevant people severely, including the Pei family and Pei Huan.

He hit the Pei family’s property hard about a year ago. As for Pei Huan, he tried to use the contacts accumulated from being a rich young master, but it was a pity—

No one dared to help him any longer.

The cold looks and ridicule that Li Yuan received in the past all fell on Pei Huan today.

“Pei Huan has a proud and arrogant character. Won’t he be less able to withstand such a blow than Li Yuan back then?”

“That should be the case.”

Bo Yueming worried that Pei Huan would hold a grudge and take revenge on Pei Yi, so he continued to send people to watch his every move.

“I heard that he asked An Yang to transfer all the shares of Dawn Games to him last year, but not long after he got it, he transferred it to someone else and cashed out.”

“……”

When Pei Yi heard this, he scoffed speechlessly. “He ran away? He was so disdainful of Dawn Games before, but then he turned around and took all the benefits?”

“What about An Yang? How did she react?”

‘The wrong child’ Li Yuan had worked hard for so many years, but the ‘biological son’ Pei Huan was able to turn around and sell the company.

Comparing the before and after, wasn’t it kind of ironic?

Fortunately, they separated YWY Studios early on, otherwise they would still be in turmoil.

“Xiao Li didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Pei Huan took the money and ran away without a trace. An Yang was mentally stimulated and taken back to the mental hospital for treatment. Yan Cen came forward to help with the matter over the New Year.”

“……”

Pei Yi responded with silence for a while. Instead of blaming his friend for hiding it, he completely understood.

Li Yuan likely hid it deliberately in order to not trouble his friend. He had suffered a foot injury during that period and was unable to get around, so naturally, Yan Cen took advantage of this opportunity to show off his performance.

It was likely that the relationship between the two began to gradually develop at that time.

Pei Yi asked, “Have the verdicts of Bo Guancheng and the others come out?”

“The first trial will be at the end of the month, but according to what the lawyers said, Bo Lihong will get upwards of five years.”

“In addition to Bo Guancheng’s two intentional injuries to both me and you, the police also discovered that Li Gui intentionally caused serious injury and death to someone last year, and Bo Guancheng was the mastermind behind it.”

Pei Yi’s eyes filled with shock. “What?”

Bo Yueming had only heard the news when his lover was on the business trip to Haishi. “Do you remember that the Bo family originally had a servant named Zeng A-Kai?”

Pei Yi frowned and gave it some thought. “Is that the person who deliberately poured hot tea on your hand before?”

He still remembered that when he crouched in the woods and beat Bo Guancheng wildly that night, the other party was talking secretly with this Zeng A-Kai.

“En.”

Bo Yueming told him the general news he had learned. “Because he was afraid that the matter would be exposed, he drove A-Kai out of the Bo family, but the other party in turn extorted hush money and compensation fees.”

“Bo Guancheng refused, and asked Li Gui to take care of him.”

According to Li Gui’s confession, he and his two younger brothers just wanted to give Zeng A-Kai a beating and make him suffer, but they didn’t expect the latter to fight back!

In the back and forth, they caused his death.

“Bo Guancheng’s case has not yet reached the first trial, but the sentence is expected to be very severe.”

Old Mrs. Bo was completely disappointed in her eldest grandson. In the end, if he did something wrong, he should be punished.

Pei Yi shook his head slightly, and thought of another person. “What about Cheng Yangshan? How is he?”

Bo Yueming drove the car into the exclusive parking lot of the shopping mall restaurant. “He’s reached an age where he can’t be judged, but Grandma is determined to divorce him and kick him out of the house.”

Pei Yi thought of what Cheng Yangshan had done to the old lady. “That’s going too cheap for him!”

Bo Yueming replied, “I also thought it was too cheap for him at first, but Grandma said that not letting him stay in jail and die of old age was the real suffering.”

Pei Yi was taken aback. “Huh?”

“In prison, he would have three meals a day and be under the supervision of the prison guards. The most that could happen was that he would be cursed at by the other inmates. Even if he got sick, he would have to be treated on a humanitarian basis.”

Bo Yueming told his lover Old Mrs. Bo’s original words. “He won’t be subject to excessive sentencing due to age restrictions, but after getting divorced and leaving the house—”

“The Cheng family who once relied on him will probably shun and avoid him, and the well-known figures in the Imperial Capital will have to give the Old Madam face.”

In other words, Cheng Yangshan had no support at all.

He had relied on the Bo family for decades to make a living, and in his later years, he had no money and no place to go.

In the future, if he got sick as he grew older, he would not necessarily have anyone to take care of him. It would likely be a thousand times worse than prison, and he would eventually have to accept the fact that he would grow old and die alone.

Pei Yi imagined this scene and sighed. “Sure enough, the Old Madam saw the situation clearly and dealt with him ruthlessly.”

Bo Yueming added, “Grandma’s soft side is reserved only for those who are worthy. Cheng Yangshan is not worthy, and the same goes for Old Mr. Pei. They both deserve their fates.”

Pei Yi nodded, and responded out of nowhere, “Er-ge, we will definitely not be like them when we grow old. When the time comes, we’ll either find a nursing home where we can live with peace of mind, or find someone we can trust…..”

Pei Yi’s train of thought was interrupted, and he couldn’t help but look sideways. “Why are you smiling?”

Bo Yueming took his hand and said, “Kitten.”

Their eyes met.

Pei Yi saw deep affection and a hint of incomprehensible joy in Bo Yueming’s eyes. “Huh? What is it?”

Bo Yueming kissed the back of his lover’s hand and said with a smile, “This is the first time you’ve mentioned the future to me since the two of us got together.”

“…….”

Pei Yi was stunned for a moment, and reacted belatedly. He was full of uncertainty about relationships, and almost never thought too far ahead about a relationship. 

Bo Yueming knew of his concerns and agreed to accompany him. ‘One more day, one more month, and one more year’ had passed by, so he just thought that ‘one more day, one more month, and one more year’ would be good.

Since when did he actually subconsciously think about and imagine the future?

“When we both grow old—”

How many days, months, and years would it take to pave the way for this casual statement?

“I-I just said it casually, that situation is really too far away.” Pei Yi inexplicably turned tail. “I can’t think about it…..”

“You can think about it.” Bo Yueming interrupted his self-doubt. “Why can’t you think about it?”

Pei Yi didn’t know how to answer this question, and dropped his gaze uncertainly.

Bo Yueming unbuckled his seatbelt and moved closer to him. “You still don’t have confidence in me?”

Pei Yi shook his head. “That’s not it, I have confidence in you.” It was due to this confidence that he subconsciously said those words.

Bo Yueming continued to inquire, and the joy in his tone was gradually replaced by seriousness. “Then are you afraid I will change my mind? Or are you afraid that you will change your mind?”

Pei Yi was anxious. “I couldn’t! Could you?”

Bo Yueming answered swiftly, “Neither could I.”

Pei Yi’s breath trembled, and he couldn’t help but embrace Bo Yueming. “I, I don’t like this kind of hypothetical question. Can you please not ask things like this in the future?”

Bo Yueming sensed his lover’s suddenly tense body and emotions. Regret immediately covered his features, and he comforted him in an apologetic voice, “Okay, it’s my fault.”

“I’m sorry, I was too anxious and said the wrong thing.”

“……”

Pei Yi didn’t answer, and couldn’t explain why he was in a low mood.

Bo Yueming continued to coax him, “Pei Yi, I’m just telling you that we can imagine what will happen in the future, and you can also have expectations for our relationship.”

Pei Yi replied very quietly, “If you have too many expectations, you will be disappointed, and you can’t predict what will happen in the future.”

He could be greedy in his career, but he couldn’t be greedy emotionally. Once people’s greed crossed the line, they would lose their sense of proportion and even lose themselves. That was what happened to Father Rong.

Pei Yi knew Bo Yueming loved him, but he was afraid that no matter how strong his feelings and love were, they would burn out one day, just like Father Yan’s.

“Pei Yi, I won’t fail your expectations. Do you believe me?”

“I do.”

The instinctive response came with a hint of unspeakable grievance at the end.

Bo Yueming grabbed the tail of his thoughts and said, “Kitten, I understand your concerns. Expectations that are too far in the future will take time to be proven.”

“In that case, let’s change the angle.” Bo Yueming spoke more and more gently. “Do you want to be a little closer to your ‘expectations?’”

Pei Yi repeated, “Closer to my expectations?”

Bo Yueming kissed his earlobe and said, “For example, how do you expect to spend the weekend with me the next two days?”

Hearing this, Pei Yi thought about it seriously.

He raised his eyes to look at his lover in front of him and replied, “If I said I just wanted to stay in bed with you, wouldn’t that be pitiful?”

On a winter weekend, when he didn’t have to go to work, what could be more comfortable than a warm bed?

Bo Yueming laughed in spite of himself. “Surely you must be a kitten? Thinking about staying in bed? You’re just like Inspector.”

Pei Yi scoffed. “Wasn’t it you who asked me? I can’t even tell the truth?”

“All right.” Bo Yueming kissed his forehead. “We’ll go home after dinner, and I’ll stay in bed with you for the next two days, okay?”

Pei Yi’s tense nerves relaxed, and he asked with a smile, “Don’t you Bo’s work on Saturdays?”

Bo Yueming noticed his lover relaxing, and continued to tease him, “I’m the chairman, and can occasionally escape from headquarters. If necessary, I can just stay in bed and work on the computer.”

Pei Yi was happy. “Grandma can’t hear about this.”

Bo Yueming took the opportunity to kiss his lover’s lips. “Pei Yi.”

“En?”

“I said that the two of us would live day by day, month by month, and year by year, so let me add another sentence—”

“You can expect things from our relationship, even if just a little bit.”

It may be too far away to talk about ‘getting old’ now, so they would look forward to closer things.

“This weekend we can stay in bed together, next weekend we can go to the hot springs together, and when the next holiday comes, we can also go out to play or stay at home together.”

“You can expect anything, you can tell me anything, from near to far, from now to the future.”

“As long as you say it, as long as you want it, I will do it. You have to believe in me, okay?”

Pei Yi tried his best to suppress his stinging eyes and smiled, leaning forward for a kiss. “Okay.”

He already believed in him. Even in his most pessimistic thoughts—

In a relationship with limited time, Bo Yueming’s love for him was infinite.

Pei Yi put his gloomy mood behind him and said, “Er-ge.”

“En?”

“I’m a little hungry.” Pei Yi said seriously, “I’m looking forward to eating with you now, is that okay?”

Bo Yueming grasped the back of his neck and said, “Of course, Little Sir.”

. . . . . . .

In the heated master bedroom, Pei Yi leaned back in Bo Yueming’s arms, the quilt blocking an indescribable scene.

The skin of his arms exposed outside the covers was red, and his fingertips gripped the pillow tightly.

Bo Yueming kissed his cheek and said, “Relax.”

Pei Yi’s breath trembled and he begged for mercy, on the verge of losing control. “Don’t…..stop making trouble…..”

The moment the words fell, he suddenly lost his strength. 

Pei Yi was like a fish that had landed on the beach and was about to die of thirst, letting Bo Yueming use his other hand to turn him over.

Bo Yueming kissed his burning face and said, “Little Sir, have you recovered?”

Pei Yi’s Adam’s apple rolled. He retracted his head into the quilt, then poked it out again within two seconds, his face turning even redder from the smell.

“It’s all your fault.”

When Bo Yueming heard his new catchphrase, he laughed out loud. “Why are you blaming me again? Who is the energetic one so early in the morning? Who was it so early in the morning who…..”

Pei Yi stretched out a hand to block his question, and admitted defeat. “I-I was so confused by your good looks that I couldn’t help it, okay?”

Although he stayed in bed for two days over the weekend, Bo Yueming didn’t want to  “squeeze” him dry.

The two of them fell asleep watching a movie the night before.

Pei Yi accidentally woke up early today and couldn’t go back to sleep, so he started fooling around with his lover, who was still dreaming. Then he was caught by Bo Yueming and “executed on the spot,” which had ended just now.

The alarm clock on the bedside table finally rang.

Pei Yi seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw. “You, you can find a way to deal with it yourself! Today is Monday, I can’t waste time with you.”

Bo Yueming took a deep breath to suppress his impulses, and cursed lovingly, “You’re so heartless,” before patting his lover’s arm. “Get up and wash. I’ll take a shower and change the sheets later.”

“The big bathroom is reserved for you, you’re welcome!”

Pei Yi wrapped his bathrobe tightly around his body and rushed to the bathroom in the room next door, where he also abducted Inspector, who was sleeping in the cat’s nest.

Bo Yueming allowed the “culprit” to leave, and reluctantly got up and entered the bathroom.

When Pei Yi returned to the master bedroom after washing, he was still thinking about the gurgling water in the bathroom.

He imagined the scene inside and snickered, then poured himself a glass of warm water and sat on the bed in high spirits.

—Zizizizi

His phone vibrated and lit up, and the caller ID was Li Yuan.

Pei Yi picked up the phone. “Hey, Pear Garden.”

Li Yuan’s voice was filled with a rare trace of anxiety. “Pei Yi, ah, you finally answered the phone! I just called you four or five times, but you didn’t answer, and you didn’t reply to the WeChat messages I sent you.”

When Pei Yi heard this, he quickly glanced at the display on his phone, and his eyes changed slightly. “I just woke up and went to wash. What happened?”

Li Yuan made a long story short. “There have been several revelations on the Youtu Netizen Exchange Forum, pointing out that there is something wrong with the list of winners of the original game design competition.”

“…….”

A problem with the winners list? Someone did use a back door.

They had also expected that this matter would cause a disturbance, but if this revelation had come out directly about Ke Ming and Chanming Studios, Li Yuan probably wouldn’t be so anxious. 

Pei Yi quickly figured out the difference and asked seriously, “What did the news say?”

Li Yuan felt for a moment that he couldn’t explain clearly through the phone. “Let’s do it this way. I’ll send you all the posts directly in chronological order. It will be more intuitive for you to see for yourself.”

“Then come to the studio as soon as possible, and we’ll talk in person when you get here.”

Pei Yi nodded. “Okay.”

The two quickly hung up, and the bathroom door opened at the same time.

Bo Yueming walked out and noticed at a glance that his lover’s expression wasn’t right. “Pei Yi, what’s wrong?”

As soon as his lingering voice faded, Pei Yi’s phone vibrated several times with forum posts forwarded from his friend.

Pei Yi scanned the titles of these posts from top to bottom, and the grim coldness in his eyes condensed little by little.

“Er-ge, something happened.”

---

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Chapter Eighty-Three <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Five