Chapter 80 Part 1

The newly met players were two young men, one of whom came from a guild called Wujian.

Shuang Ye had told him that this Wujian Guild was a newly emerged organization from the past three months. It recruited members very inclusively without solely focusing on strength, taking in many newcomers and training them in teams. It had grown larger and larger, and recently, its momentum had been unstoppable, its fame even faintly overshadowing some veteran guilds with deep roots.

When Yu Jingshan brought Zhong Nian into the room, that person was persuading Jin Yi and the Three Siblings, along with Ruan Zhuqing, to join their Wujian Guild together. His attitude was extremely enthusiastic, his words flying out so fast that no one else had a chance to interject and refuse.

When someone entered, he finally paused. He turned his head to look at the newcomers.

At that glance, his eyes could not move away. They stuck tightly to the young man who had followed Yu Jingshan inside.

“Good… good…”

So beautiful.

He stammered the word “good” for a long time without finishing it, as if enchanted. His mouth hung open and could not close, his expression utterly bewitched.

Yu Jingshan swept him a glance that did not reach his eyes, then unobtrusively used his body to block the line of sight, seating Zhong Nian in the innermost spot on the sofa.

“I prepared this for you in advance.” Yu Jingshan handed over a cup of warm Milky Foam Cocoa and moved a plate of Dried Fruit Snacks from the coffee table closer.

“Thank you.” Zhong Nian scooted along the armrest, putting a bit more distance between himself and the overly close Yu Jingshan. Then, he leaned forward, craning his neck toward the two new players who were mostly blocked by Yu Jingshan, and nodded in greeting. “Hello.”

The other player sat beside the Wujian Guild member, always keeping his head down. He was rather silent, hugging his arms together insecurely and constantly checking the time.

When he heard Zhong Nian’s greeting, he only responded very softly.

In stark contrast, the Wujian Guild member’s personality was outgoing. In the next second, he bounded to the sofa opposite Zhong Nian, stretching his arm across the coffee table. “Hello, hello! I’m Wu Hao.”

Before Zhong Nian could introduce himself, Wu Hao could not contain his excitement and blurted out, “You’re Zhong Nian, right? I know you! You’re famous on the forum!”

Zhong Nian suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, his outstretched hand freezing in mid-air.

“It’s such an honor. I never thought I’d end up in the same instance as you—” As Wu Hao leaned forward to shake his hand, just about to touch it, Yu Jingshan pressed Zhong Nian’s hand down first.

“That’s enough.” Yu Jingshan looked at him with smiling eyes. “Let’s get to business.”

“Uh… okay.” The very familiar guy met Yu Jingshan’s gaze, and his excited state instantly cooled. He sheepishly withdrew his hand, scratched the back of his head, and sat down.

But his eyes were still restless, occasionally seeking angles to peek at the person blocked by Yu Jingshan.

Since most people had limited time and could not stay away too long, the entire “meeting” was wrapped up quickly.

Zhong Nian shared the new rules he had learned from Jiang Jingyun, as well as the information he had seen on the Access Pass.

Every player jotted it down as if it were a priceless treasure.

The channels for obtaining clues in this instance were far too limited. Under the constraints of the Apartment Rules and their character settings, it was hard to extract information from the NPCs, so their progress had been extremely slow. Any new clue was especially precious.

The upside was that this instance’s task had no time limit, and there were currently no other life-threatening entities. They did not need to rush for the time being.

Now that they had explored the environment fairly well, if they truly could not find a breakthrough, they would have no choice but to take risks with their own bodies.

The other players had few new discoveries, but Yu Jingshan mentioned one thing.

His “Maternal Grandmother’s” disappearance seemed only temporary. Though he did not know where she had gone or if she was still being punished for violating the Apartment Rules, that morning, when Yu Jingshan went to the store to buy food with money from the pried-open cabinet, he encountered the woman living next door, who lived alone.

The woman sized up Yu Jingshan from head to toe, then shook her head and sighed with utmost regret, saying to the person beside her, “What a pity. If that old lady doesn’t come back, I’ll take him.”

The other person sneered, “You think it’s definitely you? He looks young and sturdy—pretty valuable. He’ll probably be in high demand… But the best is still the one from Mr. Mo’s family. Oh man, he really looks likable.”

“Old Li even went specifically to ask about it… and the result was…”

“Heh, he must’ve grown a bear’s heart and leopard’s guts to dare ask about that.”

Yu Jingshan had not heard more. The two noticed him and immediately shut up, merely smiling at him while continuing to eye him like merchandise.

Jin Yi rubbed her arms. “Why does that sound so creepy… What do they mean?”

Wu Hao said, “I hate riddle people the most. Such a headache.”

“You should be careful.” Ruan Zhuqing said to Yu Jingshan.

Yu Jingshan chuckled lightly. “I wish they’d come. Progress is so slow; I’m bored of staying here too.”

His gaze landed playfully on Zhong Nian again. “You should be even more careful. In their eyes, you’re probably like a sweet pastry.”

Zhong Nian: “…”

They settled on a time for the next gathering, and the group dispersed.

The first to stand was the one who had been the most silent and inconspicuous throughout. If not for his movements being so hasty and obvious, Zhong Nian might have almost forgotten about him.

He was in a great rush, as if a ferocious beast were chasing him from behind. He hurriedly said goodbye and left.