Chapter 424: The Challenge

In-game, Wandering Circus Guild.

Wang Shun sat in the conference room waiting with bated breath, his eyes on the door, and when Bai Liu pushed in, he finally smiled as if relieved, "Welcome back, President."

"You and Charles are really messing around with that plan." Wang Shun couldn't hold his tongue at the sight of Bai Liu, "It's a great way to undermine our guild's trust, and the Russell guild is getting the lion's share of the bargain, so it's more than worth it ......"

Bai Liu turned to his side, giving way to Yuan Guang, who was a bit nervous behind him, and looked at Wang Shun with a smile, "This is a new member of our guild, so please explain the rules of our guild to him."

"By the way, Russell Cemetery is supposed to be merged into our guild."

Wang Shun looked at the tense Yuan Guang and froze for a moment, then cried and laughed, "Yes, President, I understand."

This is really ......

Wang Shun looks at Yuan Guang, who greets him nervously, and sighs helplessly inwardly.

Expect their guild's President Bai to suffer, in another life.

A mortal like him should just follow the lead of a god like President Bai.

Before Wang Shun was about to take Yuan Guang to familiarise himself with the guild, he turned his head to Bai Liu: "Chairman, Team Tang and the others have gone to the game pool to train."

"Do you see you taking a break or ......"

Before Wang Shun could finish his sentence, Bai Liu rose with a natural gesture: "I will come and train with you."

"When is the challenge?"

Wang Shun hesitated for a moment: "President, if you are not feeling well, you can rest for a few more days. It seems that there is a change in the provisional rules for this year's challenge, and the exact schedule has not yet come down."

Bai Liu looked up: "Rule change?"

Wang Shun nodded: "Yes, the system sent down a notice last night."

"But every year there are slight adjustments to the rules for the challenge and playoffs, sort of a normal process, so don't worry too much."

"I got it." Bai Liu turned and pushed open the door to the conference room and headed precisely to the game pool.

Wang Shun hesitated for a moment, "President ...... There is something else, not related to the competition, but I think I should talk to you about it."

Bai Liu turned his head: "What is it?"

Wang Shun looked away in embarrassment, his eyes wandering, not daring to look at Bai Liu: " Spades has been coming over to see you every day for the past few days, and I didn't know whether to let him in or not, so I stopped him outside the door."

"Then he said he dreamed he slept with you, not too loudly, when a lot of our members came out to watch Spades, the killer sequence ace, probably heard it."

"A lot of people are now privately rumouring that Spades is your lover ......"

Wang Shun coughed with feigned composure, "Personally, I think it's not a big scandal, it shouldn't affect our ability to go about our normal schedule, so you shouldn't have to worry about it, President."

Yuan Guang, next to him, heard the pupil quake and he darted a glance at Bai Liu before quickly lowering his head in a cold sweat.

...... Shit, hearing this kind of gossip on his first day at work, will he get screwed by Old Bai Board straight away!

The number one ranked player and his new Old Ren board slept through the second day of their competition ......

Serious injury ward play?

Yuan Guang feels a little dizzy - this is too damn exciting!

You high panel players are too top heavy! Do you play so wildly!

Bai Liu paused for a few seconds, he leaned against the door and lowered his eyes, "Don't mind him, next time he comes ......"

Wang Shun tries, "Shall I just drive him away?"

"No." Bai Liu turned and gently closed the door with a very slight chuckle in his tone, "Let him come back next time, and if he doesn't leave, let him come in and wait for me."

The door clicked shut.

Wang Shun and Yuan Guang remained motionless in place for a few minutes.

"Just ......" Wang Shun's pupils quaked and his tone trembled as he held Yuan Guang's shoulders, "Is the chairman saying to just let Spades in? "

Yuan Guang waved her hands and shook her head rapidly in horror, "What sleep, what let the serious injury ward play, I didn't hear anything, I don't know anything!"

Wang Shun: "......"

Yuan Guang knows a little too much.

Game pool.

By the time Bai Liu arrived at the pool, Tang Erda and the others were already in the pool training on their own.

The entire play pool was empty and Bai Liu sat next to the colourful play pool, not jumping in, but simply sitting there with his back against the wall of the play pool.

The water in the play pool reflects colourful waves of light, bobbing back and forth on the ground, reflecting on Bai Liu's drooping eyelids and long, slender eyelashes, reflecting his dark eyes in a dazzling array of colours.

Bai Liu, in a rare moment of laziness, doesn't want to jump off the wet pool to play a game of horror, but instead leans back against the pool with his eyes half closed and his jaw propped up on one hand as if he is sleeping lightly or waiting for someone.

Steady footsteps came from not far away and a man stepped in front of Bai Liu.

The shadow cast by this person obscures the light diffusing from the pool and completely envelops Bai Liu, who is leaning back against the pool.

Bai Liu tilted his head, distancing himself from Spades who was standing in front of him bent over ready to come closer to look at him, and spoke in a light tone, "I remember putting signs outside the game pool prohibiting the Slayer sequence players from entering the pool."

"Oh." Spades knelt down and looked straight at Bai Liu, "I can't read very well."

Bai Liu: "......"

Forgotten about that one.

Spades This guy can only recognize some of the basic characters on the game system panel, but not many of them beyond that.

"The killer sequence and the game pool are seven words you know." Bai Liu looked straight at Spades.

Spades thought for a moment, "But there are two words in the middle that I don't know."

Those two words in the middle are [forbidden].

Bai Liu hooked his mouth, "And what do you think those two words mean?"

Spades looked at Bai Liu and replied bluntly, "I don't know, I didn't think, I saw you in there and came in."

"Does that mean I'm not allowed in?" Spades asked Bai Liu seriously, leaning in close, his eyes reflecting the whole of Bai Liu in full.

Bai Liu was quiet for a few seconds, he looked away, averted his eyes from Spades' and said very softly, "...... Not anymore."

So Spades naturally leaned against the wall of the gaming pool with Bai Liu, shoulder to shoulder, "I did go to your guild to look for you, but they wouldn't let me in."

"With your powers, you can force your way in, right?" Bai Liu moved slightly to the side, putting distance between him and Spades.

Spades posted up very naturally, "Yes, it's easy to beat them away."

"But they said you weren't there, so I left."

Bai Liu paused and he moved a little further away, "What do you want with me?"

Spades sidled right up to him this time, his left hand outstretched against the wall of the pool by Bai Liu's right ear, his right hand gripping the black bone whip and bending his knee forward as he looked into Bai Liu's pure black eyes in concentration, the tone of his tail rising slightly.

"I've learned to dream, Bai Liu."

"Only people dream, don't they? The people you like are people too, aren't they?"

With a misty-eyed look, Spades said, "Am I now more human, more of a passable souvenir of what you want?"

Bai Liu's breathing stopped as he tried to move to the side to move away again.

"Can I take the reward?" Spades inquired in a low voice while his eyes dropped, "The same reward as last time."

His eyes fell on Bai Liu's pale lips, his left hand bent over Bai Liu's ear and he leaned down naturally, pressing his whole body against Bai Liu's, covering him completely in his arms, Spades' eyes slightly closed.

Bai Liu closes his eyes.

Spades touched his lower lip, a cold touch, then kissed down the side of his neck and then the centre of his collarbone, his tone becoming a little misty, "You didn't wash the cross I drew for you."

Bai Liu lifted his hand to cover his reddened eyes, his breathing became labored as he raised his hand to grip Spades' shoulder and tried to push him away, "...... is fine."

But the next moment Spades bites Bai Liu's heart where the cross has been drawn, and Bai Liu shudders a little as the bite lifts his waist, pushing away and letting go as Spades holds his wrist against his heart and continues to hug him tightly.

Spades whispered, "No."

"You told me to wake up and see you, but I woke up for ages and you didn't come to see me."

"You lied."

Bai Liu felt the hem of his shirt spread and then burrowed in by Spades' cold hands, which pressed against his waist and tightened around him.

This was a little over the line and Bai Liu's flank flushed as he inclined his head and chest rose and fell twice as hard as he could to order Spades to stop when he heard Spades say in a very calm voice.

"I dreamt that I held you like this and was shot and turned into a pile of ashes and died next to you."

"And then you're crying for me."

Bai Liu's stopping motion lurched as he touched a scar in the centre of Spades' back, in the taut muscles of his waist - a wound from the bullet that had struck Spades earlier when he stood in front of him.

"I spoke to Bai Yi and they told me about the dream and they said I didn't have a soul and wouldn't die by that gun."

Spades paused, "I've actually always felt that the soul was something I didn't need."

"But if I learn to be a human being properly and have a soul of my own, will you cry for me when my soul is broken?"

"I want you to cry for me."

Bai Liu closed his eyes and he let out a soft laugh, "Then you'd better dream faster."

As Spades frowned, ready to find out what it would take for Bai Liu to cry for him, Bai Liu braced himself, wrapped his arms around Spades' neck and closed his eyes to kiss Spades back.

So Spades forgot for a moment what he was going to ask, and he lowered his head to concentrate on embracing and kissing Bai Liu.

The other side of the wall of the game pool.

Tang Erda got out of the play pool to finish her training and propped herself up against the wall to get out, only to see ...... holding Bai Liu tightly in her arms, covering up the Spades almost completely.

If Tang Erda is correct, these two are kissing, and Bai Liu is not resisting.

Spades lifted his eyelids and gave Tang Erda a provocative look.

Tang Erda: "......"

Tang Erda sat back in the play pool with her mind blank.

Five minutes apart.

Muke emerged from the play pool, glancing suspiciously at Tang Erda, who was sitting motionless, and was just about to take a step out when ......

Three seconds later.

Muke sat back with an expression as if the world was falling apart, clenching his fists and muttering under his breath, "I must get stronger and kill Spades ......"

Another three minutes passed.

Mu Sicheng curses as soon as he exits the pool, but Muke and Tang Erda cover his mouth as soon as he opens his mouth, and Mu Sicheng glares at the two suddenly insane people as he stomps around trying to get out of the pool.

As a result, in the middle of the struggle, Mu Sicheng's eyes flickered to the other side of the pool.

Mu Sicheng dropped back into the play pool with lax pupils and sat with the same blank expression as Tang Erda.

After another minute.

As soon as Liu Jiayi emerged from the play pool, three pairs of hands covered his eyes and ears with death.

Liu Jiayi remained expressionlessly silent for almost ten seconds before speaking, "Your kind of formation ......"

"Bai Liu isn't doing anything with Spades, is he?"