"Huh?" Xu Yue was taken aback by his request but then she looked at the details of the duel and nodded in understanding. "Alright."
[Ding! Player Queen of Chess has accepted the Bending Duel. You are free to duel now.]
Xu Yue created two daggers out of fire and gazed at Zhenzhen, "Please close your eyes for a moment. We will meet with your brother later."
Zhenzhen only looked at Liu Ye worriedly and listened as she closed her eyes. She didn't last long as they snapped open right after Liu Ye cried out in pain.
"Big Bro!"
-37
-37
Xu Yue ignored Zhenzhen's worries and stabbed her daggers into his chest once again which immediately burned like hell. The Daggers applied burn but she didn't let him suffer for too long. After a few more swings, his body turned into pixels and he returned back to the lobby with multiple screens in front of him.
"Ouch," Liu Ye muttered as he rubbed his chest.
He didn't expect it would hurt this much during his second death but the pain was already over. Any leftover sensation was just his confused brain who still thought something happened with his body.
[You have lost the Bending Duel and died. No penalties were issued.]
Thankfully, he didn't receive a time penalty for his death and was able to respawn right away. He wore his Red Dragon Outfit and soon appeared at the nearest Respawn to his death. His secret hopes of the Respawn being isolated ended up in a failure as he immediately noticed two Station Officials overseeing the area.
Just as in the Emerald City, the Respawn was present in the Teleportation Station but at the very least, it wasn't located out in the open. Based on his previous experience with the Station Officials, they didn't seem to cause problems as long as the right methods were used.
"Excuse me, can I ask you for a favor?" Liu Ye asked as he approached the officials. "I'm a Bandit Hunter and I just happened to have a lead on four criminals. I hope you can assist me."
He took off his bandana and lowered his hood to prove his identity and the NPCs immediately changed his attitude. They went from indifferent to interested which showed that Fame mattered.
"How can we help?" Station Officials questioned politely but one could tell they had a somewhat lazy approach. Anyone would be the same if they were asked to do more than they were paid for.
"In a moment, four criminals will appear on this Teleport Platform. I know it is illegal to kill in the city but I wish to capture the criminals and bring them to the Emerald City to be judged," Liu Ye explained as he withdrew two poaches with 50 gold each. "I hope that Sirs can pretend you don't see anything while I finish my business."
The two official's eyes brightened at the sound of gold coins bouncing off each other and caught the bags skillfully. They checked if anyone was looking at them and quickly pocketed the bags without even checking its contents. "As the Station Officials, it is our duty to catch criminals. Don't worry, you are free to bring them justice."
They then turned around and ignored him as if they didn't see him. He didn't know how much he should offer for it to work so he probably gave them too much but it was still worth it.
He spilled water all over the platform in preparation for the Black Coffins to arrive and they didn't make him wait that long. As soon as someone began to materialize, Liu Ye attacked and froze their legs on the spot. If it was anyone else he would let them go but it turned out to be Lust who was too eager to get back in the game.
"What the fuck!" Lust cursed while glaring at Liu Ye. "How did you get here so fast?!"
"Disgusting criminal! You will get punished for the people you killed!" Liu Ye called out loud enough for the Station Officials to hear him. "Save your words for the judge!"
He knew the NPCs had permanent memories so it was best to stay in the character in case he repeated a similar stunt in the future. Lust didn't have the chance to defend himself as his lips were sealed by a ball of water.
A moment later, three more Black Coffins joined the pack, all frozen into statues. They didn't even know how to comment on his actions as they stared at him speechlessly.
"You are going to regret this. You don't know who you mess with," Pride finally replied and turned to the Station Officials who continued to ignore them. "Guards! This guy is attacking us in the city! Help us!"
To their shock, one Station Official only glanced at them in contempt and countered, "Who are you calling a dog? Criminals like you have no rights in this City."
He then glanced at Liu Ye and added, "Take them away before they alarm others. There is an emergency exit to your left."
Liu Ye acknowledged with a nod, "Right away, Sir."
He didn't wait and dragged them out one by one while chugging a Mana potion. He has been drinking a lot of them since Water Manipulation drained his Mana too fast.
"I don't know what you did but if you kill us once again, I will find you in real life and—"
Pride tried to threaten him on the way but Liu Ye cut him off short. "I already lost count of how many people have tried to kill me. There are many who are still after me so you have to queue up."
"You are too confident for some small-time Triad member," Pride replied annoyed. "The world is much bigger than you think. If you think that the Triad can protect you from us then you are mistaken."
"I hope you will come back in the game once again after I kill you. I want to drop you down to level 8 before the day ends," Liu Ye commented fearlessly. "Each time you enter the game, I will put effort into finding you and killing all the effort you put in the game."
"..."
His tone silenced them completely. It was useless to threaten a man who didn't fear you.
Liu Ye finally freed lust from his water prison and informed coldly, "If you think that you can have revenge on me by killing back our Guild Members, just know I have more than one hundred thousand followers who will be willing to report your location everywhere in the Mainland. There is no place you can hide."
"Just because we tried to kill your girl in-game, you will make us your mortal enemies?" Pride questioned. "You are insane."
"Don't flatter yourself. You are only a mere inconvenience," Liu Ye replied unbothered. "Why would I let you recover and potentially bother me in the future? Right now I can kill you easily and I will continue to do so until you stop playing."
"Do what you want," Pride muttered as he laid his head flat, no longer paying him attention. Even Lust stayed silent this time, probably tired of being drowned repeatedly.
One thing Liu Ye didn't understand but he knew they wouldn't tell him anything. They clearly knew who they were and they still challenged them. It could only mean they had a backing in real life that allowed them to be this cocky.
Were they also part of them?
The name Master Yang popped up in his mind. He didn't really have any proof and it could all be a pure coincidence but so many people wanted to kill him recently that he couldn't help but get suspicious.
Liu Ye didn't care who came his way. If they tried to hurt people he cared about, they were in for some true pain.
———
"Bastards! Stop playing around! You can't kill me!"
As soon as Lust died again at the hands of Grind God, he quickly logged out but he couldn't escape in time. His three buddies already blocked the door to their apartment and aimed their guns at him.
"This is all your fault. Because of you, our mission given by Master Yang failed," Pride replied coldly. "We were simply aiming to test his strength in case he arrived and you fucked it up. We would get away yet you had to lust over his girl."
"Come on, he is so petty that he would still kill us," Lust argued, trying to calm them down. "Also, he will probably be dead by tomorrow so why do you care? Master Yang already told us that he is being taken care of."
"And what if he doesn't?" Pride questioned sternly and finally put down his gun. "You will go to Master Yang yourself and explain what happened. We won't take the blame for you this time."
"Fine, fine, whatever you say," Lust agreed eagerly and the situation finally calmed down.
At least that's what the other three thought.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As soon as they busied themselves, Lust took out his own gun and fired three bullets straight in their heads.
"Bitches… That's what you get for messing with me."
