"Bro! You're amazing! You actually cleared it!"
A familiar voice sounded beside him, and Gu Zhan turned his head in confusion, just in time to see Qin Yue's face.
Familiar surroundings confirmed that he had returned to the Chun Bai Cheng
What a coincidence; they had exited from the same instance entrance.
Gu Zhan rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
Although this newcomer had reminded him of many things in the instance, he was overly talkative. The longer they spent together, the lower Gu Zhan's patience became.
Ignoring Qin Yue, Gu Zhan walked straight ahead.
While Qin Yue looked at his system and the new items he had received, he hurried after Gu Zhan.
"Bro, wait for me... What is this place? I got so many points! Points can be used to, um, rent a house? What the hell? I'm already in the Infinite World, and I still have to rent a house? Can't I just have a house of my own? If not, I can even live under a bridge!"
With the restrictions of the infinite instances gone, Qin Yue’s talkative nature was unleashed to the fullest.
He kept following Gu Zhan, getting on the bus with him and sitting right beside him, incessantly chattering, “What’s this feature for? Oh my god, why did I lose so many points? Help me…”
Gu Zhan: “…”
Seeing Qin Yue rummaging through the shop and about to waste his precious initial points, Gu Zhan finally spoke up: “If you don't have a house, you’ll be treated as a vagrant or forcibly re-enter an instance. Are you sure you want to spend your points?”
Qin Yue paused, a sorrowful expression on his face: “What? I can't even live under a bridge?”
Gu Zhan looked at him, finding this person quite intriguing.
He seemed to have an unseen luck, which might be useful.
Gu Zhan slowly said, “I have a place where you can stay for free for a while.”
“What? There's such a good thing?”
Gu Zhan changed direction and led Qin Yue to their guild.
In the time they spent in the instance, Yu Ye Zhou and the others had decorated the guild quite nicely. When Gu Zhan walked in, many new guild members were coming out. They didn't recognize Gu Zhan and were a bit curious, their eyes lingering on him as he led Qin Yue inside.
However, Gu Zhan ignored them and walked straight to the higher-privileged central area, passing through without obstruction.
“Hey, who is that person? Why haven’t I seen him before?”
“I heard the guild has a total of five founders; we’ve met the other four, so this must be the fifth one, right?”
“It seems like he’s that black screen livestream…”
“Still alive? Didn’t they say he was dead?”
“A big shot like him is actually in our guild? I thought this newly established guild was trash!”
“What are you thinking? Anyone who can establish a guild is a big shot; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have the points to form a guild. Anyway, he’s definitely better than you, you waste! You still call him trash.”
These discussions reached Qin Yue’s ears.
The more he listened, the more surprised he became. He didn’t expect that this brother he met in the new dungeon was actually a big shot!
He leaned closer to Gu Zhan and whispered, “Brother, are you planning to use your privileges to let me directly join your guild?”
Gu Zhan: “…”
He also didn’t expect that in the short time he had entered a dungeon, Yu Yezhou and the others had managed the guild so well. To him, the guild still felt like a small place with just five members that could collapse at any moment.
He had brought Qin Yue back just to help Yu Yezhou fill a spot.
He didn’t expect it to turn into this.
However, since he hadn’t been gone long, the guild should still have space.
He didn’t explain, just nodded lightly.
After entering the core area of the guild, there were no more onlookers; this was a place only core members could enter.
Before Gu Zhan could reach the meeting hall set by Yu Yezhou, Yu Yezhou and Yang Lin came out from inside.
Seeing Gu Zhan, Yang Lin was very happy and said with a smile, “You’re still alive!”
Qin Yue shrank back in confusion; what a peculiar way to greet someone.
“Hey? You actually brought someone back.” Yang Lin was quite surprised, her eyes darting between Qin Yue and Gu Zhan, and she asked curiously, “You… like this type?”
“Eh? What do you mean?” Qin Yue was baffled.
Gu Zhan fell silent.
It seemed that ever since they learned about his preferences, Yang Lin and Sang Yue often teased him.
This was just another one of those teasing remarks.
He replied blandly, “He’s a newbie I met in the dungeon. Does the guild still have vacancies?”
Yang Lin covered her mouth, her eyes wide in surprise. “You actually recruit new members for the guild!”
Yu Yezhou quickly added, “Yes, of course we do!”
He smiled and looked at Qin Yue. “Since you brought back a newbie, he must have something special about him, right?”
Gu Zhan, calm and composed, replied, “He’s just lucky.”
Yu Yezhou and Yang Lin were both taken aback.
When did Gu Zhan start believing in luck?
So how lucky could this newbie really be?
Their gazes turned to Qin Yue.
Qin Yue panicked and quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no, I’m not that lucky… Ah, I mean, I’m just an average person!”
“Pfft.” Yang Lin laughed and said, “Little brother, don’t be nervous. We’re not dungeon monsters; we won’t eat you.”
Gu Zhan said, “Is there still a spot in the guild? Save one for him.”
“Of course! We have a total of 150 positions and have only recruited less than 70 so far.”
As she spoke, Yang Lin extended her hand to Qin Yue and said, “Welcome to join our guild!”
“Ah… Thank you, thank you.” Qin Yue was taken aback.
Gu Zhan said, “He’s still a newbie and doesn’t have a place to stay yet. Can you arrange something for him?”
Yang Lin smiled, suddenly understanding why Gu Zhan had brought him back.
She nodded. “Don’t worry; we’ll take care of him.”
Gu Zhan nodded and turned to leave.
Qin Yue looked a bit anxious, standing there watching Gu Zhan walk away.
Yang Lin stood beside him with a smile. “Don’t worry, we won’t eat you. Gu Zhan has a calm personality and doesn’t like the trivialities of life outside the dungeon. If you have any questions, just ask us.”
Yang Lin’s gentle demeanor helped Qin Yue relax. He nodded, somewhat understanding, and said, “Okay, sister.”
---
According to the management, Gu Zhan returned home, washed up, and rested.
After waking up, he came to the space of the star dial watch.
This time, he hadn’t encountered Mo Tuo in the dungeon, and unsurprisingly, the sculpture in the space hadn’t changed.
However, the sunshade he had built for the sculpture before he left was gone.
Gu Zhan found Sun Jingqiu to inquire, and she seemed quite troubled.
“He didn’t want it anymore.”
Sun Jingqiu gestured and said, “The night after you left, that sculpture suddenly walked off the fountain. It looked at the shade and pulled it off itself.”
Gu Zhan stood with Sun Jingqiu in front of the sculpture. The sculpture in the pool looked the same as it did when he left, but the expression on its face seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
The sculpture had its eyes closed, and the corners of its lips slightly curled up, but the smile contained an air of dissatisfaction.
Gu Zhan faintly curled his lips and spoke in a calm tone. “If he doesn’t want it, then so be it.”
Sun Jingqiu looked at Gu Zhan with curiosity, wanting to know why a player like him had developed such a connection with a monster.
With plenty of time this round, Gu Zhan didn’t leave right away after looking at the sculpture.
Instead, he wandered around the space of the watch for a while longer.
He recalled everything he had experienced in the dungeon and felt that he should have some attacking skills as well.
Sun Jingqiu didn’t offer much hope. Ever since she arrived in this space, she had been busy farming and raising her daughter. Forget about attacking skills; she probably had forgotten how to attack someone altogether.
Gu Zhan went to find Xiao Xiu, who was soaking in the water again. After hearing Gu Zhan’s explanation, Xiao Xiu was quite surprised.
“You’ve already put No. 2’s sculpture in the space, yet you don’t have any means of attacking?” She tilted her head, her lower body submerged in the water, and her red dress, dampened, clung more vividly to her fair skin.
With her slender fingers tapping on her dark hair bun, Xiao Xiu’s eyes lit up. “What if you release No. 2’s sculpture while you’re fighting? That person is so proud; he might just step in to help you fight.”
Gu Zhan was not shaken at all by her "humorous" remarks. He said, "If he really shows up, he might team up with the one across from me to attack."
Xiao Xiu smiled and said, "How could that be? Knowing someone's name is very important; he wouldn’t easily kill you."
Gu Zhan just quietly looked at Xiao Xiu, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Okay then." Xiao Xiu spread her hands helplessly. "No more jokes; maybe you could let me out."
"You?" Gu Zhan was a bit surprised.
Xiao Xiu explained, "Logically speaking, since I came into your space, I’m part of your props. You can try to let me out. But if I kill someone, I have to follow two rules: there has to be water, and the target must have wronged a girl."
Gu Zhan replied, "No need to go that far."
Xiao Xiu thought for a moment and said, "If we’re not killing, then just scaring them, right? In that case, having water is enough."
She waved her hand at the river behind her and smiled, "You can release this river's water; it's not a problem for you at all."
"Okay." Gu Zhan looked at the river, which was identical to the one they encountered in Huangquan Village, showing no changes despite the shift in location.
It seemed he could consciously use the starlight watch to gather more monsters; the more monsters he collected, the more skills he would have.
"I think I understand now; thank you." After bidding farewell to Xiao Xiu, Gu Zhan left the starlight space.
---
After finishing this instance, Gu Zhan didn’t rush to take on other dungeons.
Mainly because the guild had suddenly become busy.
He had no idea what means Yu Yezhou and Yang Lin used, but the number of guild members surged dramatically. Gu Zhan initially planned to leave Qin Yue in their care, but unexpectedly, they handed him a new team instead.
Yang Lin even sincerely pleaded with Gu Zhan, "You have to help us! Other guilds have veterans to guide the newcomers; we need one too."
Gu Zhan was not good at such activities. "You can let Xu Yu or Sang Yue handle it."
Yang Lin replied, "Sang Yue is in a dungeon, and Xu Yu isn't suitable..."
Her expression was hard to describe.
Gu Zhan asked, "Why isn’t he suitable?"
Yang Lin sighed, "Last time he brought a bunch of people, and after they came out, they all quit the guild! His methods are too brutal; he actually made the newcomers face the BOSS by themselves. Although they all survived..."
Gu Zhan said, "My methods might not be any gentler than Xu Yu's."
Yang Lin looked at Gu Zhan and shook her head. "I think you lack a clear understanding of yourself. You’re definitely gentler than him; believe in yourself! Anyway, this time it’s up to you!"
Gu Zhan: "…"
With no other choice, Gu Zhan had to take on this task.
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