Yuxue Feifei was so shocked she could barely speak, “I-I-I can’t beat the Snow God!”
Shen Huai calmly replied, “I know.”
Yiye Bianzhou reminded, “Captain Song’s identity makes it inconvenient for him to solo privately, right…”
Considering tactical confidentiality, many professional teams have rules prohibiting players from participating in private matches or soloing with others. Even if the team doesn’t have such rules, most professional players won’t easily engage in offline PK because, win or lose, there will always be people with ulterior motives making a fuss.
Shen Huai knew this, but he was certain that Yuxue Feifei was Song Xueyang, and he definitely wouldn’t dare to dual-box PK in front of him.
“Help me teach my apprentice,” he said, waiting for Song Xueyang to privately confess his identity.
Song Xueyang smiled slightly, “As you wish.”
In front of the computer, Fengyue Wubian rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he must be blind! His eyes must be blind! Their captain, who could scare the new trainees with just a smile and never backed down, actually said he’d listen to someone else?
Shen Huai didn’t find it strange at all. He and Song Xueyang had a good relationship, and Song Xueyang always tried to meet his requests. He was just surprised that Song Xueyang agreed. Did he have some other plan?
Song Xueyang typed on his main account, “Feifei, you go first.”
Then he switched to his laptop and used Yuxue Feifei’s account to say, “Okay.”
Haixing offered to take over the laptop, “I’ll operate Yuxue Feifei for you!”
Song Xueyang stopped him, “You play a mage and get discovered by Cang Yu in a day. If I let you handle Yuxue Feifei, you’d be exposed before the match is over. Do you think Cang Yu is that easy to fool?”
Haixing blushed but was still unconvinced, “Weren’t you the one who got so excited after being praised by Cang Yu that you used the rolling snipe?”
Song Xueyang: “…”
Alright, he had nothing to say.
Song Xueyang placed one hand on the mechanical keyboard and the other on the laptop keyboard, entering battle mode simultaneously.
He first controlled Suixue to retreat and maintain a distance, standing openly. Yuxue Feifei hesitated for a moment, then tentatively aimed and shot.
A red skill light aimed at Song Xueyang’s head. Song Xueyang simultaneously raised his gun to aim. With a “bang,” their gunshots overlapped, and Yuxue Feifei lost 20% of her health on the spot, while Song Xueyang dodged Yuxue Feifei’s bullet with a quick side roll as he fired!
Once a sniper fires, the bullet speed is so fast it’s almost impossible to dodge. But Song Xueyang not only dodged the skill the moment the bullet left the gun, but he also accurately hit Yuxue Feifei. Even when facing a much weaker opponent, he didn’t let his guard down, executing every move with precision.
Yiye Bianzhou was practically ready to kneel and worship this precise marksmanship!
Shen Huai was stunned. From the moment they entered battle mode, he found it unbelievable. This feeling reached its peak when he saw Song Xueyang’s crisp and clean operation.
There was no unnecessary movement, and he never missed a chance to shoot. This battle style was undoubtedly Song Xueyang. What surprised him even more was Yuxue Feifei on the other side. Her movements were slower, but her skill operation habits, positioning, and even the small mistakes she made were exactly the same as usual!
The PK ended with Song Xueyang reducing Yuxue Feifei’s health to 10% with three shots. Yuxue Feifei was excitedly saying something in the team chat, and Song Xueyang replied leisurely, but Shen Huai couldn’t see what they were saying anymore.
He tried hard to recall every detail of their battle, attempting to think about the possibility of Song Xueyang dual-boxing.
Song Xueyang had indeed held back a lot, considering Yuxue Feifei was just a newbie. It was understandable to let her have some advantage. But Song Xueyang only slowed down the attack intervals twice, and the skill release speed during each shot didn’t slow down at all. He found it hard to believe it was dual-boxing.
As for letting someone else operate Yuxue Feifei, while this method was simple to implement, it also had a higher chance of exposure. Shen Huai was very confident that Yuxue Feifei’s operation was undoubtedly her own, even better than her usual performance.
Shen Huai’s mind was in chaos. Could it be that Yuxue Feifei really wasn’t Song Xueyang? Were the ultra-long-range snipe on Luoyun Peak and the rolling snipe in Luozhiyuan just misoperations?
Shen Huai vaguely felt something was off, but he couldn’t figure out how it was all done.
Little did he know, Haixing, who witnessed the entire operation, was already stunned. He looked like he was about to swallow the monitor.
He saw clearly that Song Xueyang, because both hands were on the keyboard, couldn’t use the mouse. So Suixue was always moving on the same horizontal line. The reason the distance between them seemed to change was entirely because he briefly controlled Yuxue Feifei’s forward and backward movement using the laptop’s touchpad!
Dual-boxing requires extremely high reaction ability, and any slight inconsistency in skills could easily arouse Cang Yu’s suspicion. So Suixue’s attacks were slow, and Song Xueyang focused almost entirely on controlling Yuxue Feifei. When Suixue needed to react, he would quickly tap the keyboard.
Haixing, watching Song Xueyang’s operation, naturally noticed some flaws. But to those unaware, Song Xueyang’s slow attacks and Yuxue Feifei’s erratic positioning each had reasonable explanations.
Realizing so directly that Song Xueyang’s strength was far above his own, Haixing felt his self-esteem severely hit and quietly left the training room.
The others in the game tactfully left the team. Shen Huai stared at Song Xueyang in the team, full of questions but unable to ask.
Song Xueyang said, “Let’s find a quiet place.”
“Okay.”
The two teleported to a nearby main city and then ran to the outskirts. The map was large, and Shen Huai followed behind, watching Song Xueyang’s swift figure, already convinced in his heart that he had wrongly accused Song Xueyang.
Song Xueyang led him into the Temple of Luo Shen instance, a low-level instance with a simple boss but a beautiful map.
In the serene and spacious temple stood the elegant and noble statue of Luo Shen. This temple, built by ancient elves, exuded a mysterious aura. The water surrounding the temple was a deep blue interwoven with stars and moonlight. The stone pillars on either side of the steps were covered with blue flowers, making the central hall even more solemn and majestic.
The two silently cleared the monsters along the way, standing under the magnificent statue of Luo Shen, with an endless starry sky above.
Shen Huai received a trade request from Song Xueyang, who traded him 500,000 gold coins.
Shen Huai: “??”
“The bounty for killing you.”
“……”
Only then did Shen Huai realize that the gold ingot that had been hanging over his head for days was gone. Song Xueyang’s shot not only killed him but was also recognized by the system as completing the bounty task.
“Change your name?”
“No need.” Actually, Shen Huai hadn’t decided yet, and after tonight, more people would surely notice him. Changing to “Cang Yu” would be too high-profile, while the female assassin’s image was easier to blend in.
Song Xueyang also thought this was just right, saving other team members from seeing the name and pestering Cang Yu.
“Did you see my Weibo on my birthday a few days ago?”
Shen Huai pondered the meaning behind his words, “I saw it, happy birthday.”
“And?”
“……”
Shen Huai didn’t expect Song Xueyang to start giving him a hard time too.
“I haven’t received your birthday gift yet.” Song Xueyang’s character circled around Shen Huai, looking pitiful.
This was truly an injustice to Shen Huai. He had settled the bill on Song Xueyang’s birthday, but he hadn’t expressed anything under the name “Cang Yu.” Realizing this misunderstanding was all due to his hidden identity, Shen Huai didn’t know how to explain.
He awkwardly said, “I don’t know what you like.”
After saying it, he felt this explanation wasn’t good because the response seemed to have only one answer:
—As long as it’s from you, I like it.
Shen Huai’s previous interactions with Song Xueyang were limited to the game. Behind the screen and the internet, he always managed to handle things smoothly. But after meeting Song Xueyang, the remaining sense of unfamiliarity disappeared, and he couldn’t help but picture Song Xueyang’s image in his mind, even hearing his slightly rising voice.
Song Xueyang knew Cang Yu was thin-skinned. Normally, he wouldn’t make things difficult for him. Perhaps it was because he missed him too much after not seeing him for a few days, or for some other reason, he felt like teasing him, “If I could see you, that would be the best birthday gift.”
Shen Huai was touched in the softest part of his heart by these words.
They had known each other for three years, and Song Xueyang always maintained a friendly distance, never infringing on his privacy or being curious about his personal affairs. And he, afraid of trouble, never mentioned anything about his real life, not even giving Song Xueyang his contact information, which wasn’t what a sincere friend should do.
His hand on the keyboard felt stiff, and every time he touched a key, it felt like it was burning, bouncing back. He mulled over his words repeatedly in his mind, unsure how to express them.
The night sky was quiet, the shadows of the trees dense, and the occasional sound of the ancient elves’ language echoed in his ears.
Song Xueyang knew Cang Yu wasn’t good with words. Those who just met him might think he was cold and hard to approach, but over time, they’d realize he was actually gentle, just not good at expressing himself.
He smoothly changed the topic, “When’s your birthday?”
Shen Huai breathed a sigh of relief and replied without thinking, “March 14.”
The topic didn’t continue because both received a private message from Guan He—”Check Xiao Zhang’s Weibo.”
Shen Huai’s eyes darkened. Xiao Zhang was the ace player of the War God Team, an excellent Qi Master in terms of technical operation, but it seemed he held a grudge against him due to the last live broadcast incident. Shen Huai didn’t have a good impression of him.
Xiao Zhang’s Weibo only had two words, “Impressive,” with a picture attached.
The picture was a screenshot of the battle statistics interface from “City of Despair”—
15:31.15 Cang Yu used the skill Death Mark on you
15:31.27 Cang Yu used the skill Assassinate on you
15:31.34 Cang Yu used the skill Blood Blade on you
15:31.46 Cang Yu used the skill Heart Stab on you
15:31.57 Cang Yu used the skill Blade Dance on you
This was a backstage statistics screenshot from his previous duel with Xiao Zhang. The picture didn’t show any highlights, but the comments were overwhelmingly one-sided, clearly hired trolls causing trouble.
[0.7 seconds to use 5 skills? Do you know why everyone can’t learn Cang Yu’s playstyle? Because he’s cheating!]
[6666 I was wondering why he doesn’t speak or show his face. Is he afraid his expression is too relaxed, making it obvious he’s cheating?]
[Cang Yu, cheater, trash.]
[Is the cost of being a streamer so low now? Just buy a cheat and you can attract fans? Cang Yu, do you know profiting from cheating is illegal?]
The topic #CangYuCheating# even made it to the trending list, with a game streamer causing the most fuss, having posted five consecutive Weibo posts condemning him for cheating and affecting the live streaming environment. Who knows how much benefit he received from Xiao Zhang.
Shen Huai frowned as he scrolled down, and a new Weibo post refreshed on the screen, this time from Song Xueyang.
V Fengyue-Suixue: True strength is fearless of words.
The short words seemed to soothe the soul. Shen Huai looked at them, and his heart suddenly calmed down.
All along, he had been called trash, a vase, a daddy’s boy, and had even become somewhat resigned to such insults. This was the first time someone affirmed his strength, even standing by him without hesitation, despite him never having done a video live stream.
True strength.
Those calm eyes suddenly shone with a different light.
He made a decision in his heart and sent a private message to Song Xueyang in the game, “Help me post a live stream announcement. Tomorrow night at 9, I’ll turn on the camera.”
Song Xueyang’s fingers trembled, staring blankly at the words.
He had known Cang Yu for three years and had imagined Cang Yu’s appearance countless times, the reason he didn’t turn on the camera, and all of this would be revealed tomorrow.
Suppressing the joy in his heart, Song Xueyang typed a line, “Looks like I’m going to receive the best birthday gift.”
Shen Huai’s face suddenly turned red, feeling a rare sense of shame.