Chapter 86.1: The Reason
Bai Zhouyun realized that if he couldn't come up with a reason convincing enough for Nan Yu to believe him this time, the two of them might truly have no future together.
Even though the Emperor himself had witnessed the engagement when it was arranged, Nan Ming of the Nan family would probably still seek an audience with the Emperor and do everything possible to dissolve the engagement between them. By then, it would truly be too late.
Even now, the enormous amount of credits he paid those two Mental Power Users was still being covered by the Nan family. And the only reason his grandfather continued to indulge him was because of his engagement to Nan Yu.
But if the engagement were gone, then as a useless person like him, he would no longer have any value worth cultivating. His parents truly loved him, but they held no real decision-making authority within the Bai family. Although they usually handled everyday matters, whenever it came to truly important decisions, everything was ultimately decided by his grandfather.
Thinking of the glory he had enjoyed during the latter part of his previous life, Bai Zhouyun felt that he absolutely had to endure for now, prioritize the bigger picture, and first make sure he married Nan Yu before anything else.
He then glanced at Yun Feiyu.
Looking aggrieved, Yun Feiyu stepped forward two paces.
"I'm sorry, Nan Yu. Actually... this whole matter started because of me."
Nan Yu looked at Yun Feiyu.
Let's see what kind of story you're going to make up.
Seeing that Nan Yu remained silent, Yun Feiyu knew he definitely didn't believe him.
"Actually... I know my own limits. Although staying at the academy lets me continue learning things that aren't taught elsewhere, with my abilities, there's no way I'll meet the graduation standards. So I won't be able to graduate anyway."
"I was thinking that before graduation, I'd use some of my spare time to look for work that suited me. If I found something suitable, I'd gradually start spending part of my time adapting to it in advance."
Nan Yu paused slightly.
"And what does that have to do with those photos and videos of you two?"
Yun Feiyu glanced at him.
Although Nan Yu's tone was cold and his words aggressive, at least he was willing to talk to him. That was already progress.
Taking a deep breath, Yun Feiyu continued.
"The truth is... a talent scout contacted me before. They said I was very suitable for this line of work, so I planned to give it a try. That day... actually..."
Nan Yu twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Don't tell me you're about to say those photos and videos were just a short film you asked Bai Zhouyun to help you shoot, purely so you could get used to acting?"
Who are you trying to fool?
Do I really look that stupid?
Yun Feiyu hurriedly shook his head.
"It wasn't something we did privately. That day I happened to run into Bai Zhouyun at the place where I was auditioning, so I simply asked him to help me for a moment. It wasn't intentional."
Nan Yu asked,
"So you're saying those videos and photos were leaked from the production crew where you auditioned? They're fake—not real—and people at the academy spread them around as if they were genuine?"
Although Yun Feiyu vaguely felt something about that sounded off, he didn't think about it carefully and quickly nodded.
"Yes. If you don't believe me, you can ask the production crew. Bai Zhouyun is already demanding they take responsibility for leaking the footage."
Nan Yu frowned slightly, still looking half-convinced as he turned to Bai Zhouyun.
"If that's the case, then why didn't either of you come out and clarify things?"
"Weren't you bothered by everyone at the academy constantly talking about you?"
It wasn't that they hadn't wanted to clear things up.
Ever since learning the videos had leaked, they had been desperately trying to figure out how to make the lie believable.
The entire purpose was to convince Nan Yu that Bai Zhouyun had never actually cheated on him.
Because they were pressed for time, they simply couldn't spare any attention for the academy forums or the rumors spreading around campus.
Once they had everything arranged and prepared, they rushed straight to find Nan Yu.
There hadn't been even a single extra second in between.
That was how the current situation had come about.
Nan Yu looked at him.
"Go on."
Bai Zhouyun answered,
"I was undergoing special training at home before. After returning to school, I'd been attending classes the whole time. Nobody came to tell me something like this had happened."
"The moment I found out, the first thing I wanted to do was explain everything to you so you wouldn't misunderstand. That's why... I simply didn't have time."
Nan Yu nodded.
That explanation was actually reasonable.
If everything they had said earlier was true, then this part naturally would be true as well.
Nan Yu couldn't help twitching his lips.
Although he had no idea who was secretly trying to mess with Bai Zhouyun—or perhaps preparing to make a move against him—it really was satisfying to see him looking so flustered.
"Hmph. I still don't know whether you're telling the truth or not."
"Yun Feiyu, did you pass the audition?"
"When will I get to see the finished product? Is it a short film, a movie, or a TV drama?"
Yun Feiyu replied,
"It's a short film. If you want to watch it, it'll probably be available in about half a month. It'll be released on a website. After all, I was only testing the waters, so they wouldn't invest much into the production."
Nan Yu narrowed his eyes as he examined them.
"Fine then."
"I'll wait and see."
After saying that, he snorted coldly, turned around, and left the rooftop.
Yang Zhou followed him.
Before leaving, he shot Bai Zhouyun and the others a mocking sneer.
In his opinion, Nan Yu had believed them—at least halfway.
But [N O V E L I G H T] he himself didn't believe a single word.
Some crappy short film?
Was producing a low-budget web short really difficult for the Bai family?
Half a month was more than enough time for them to casually film something themselves.
Such a clumsy lie would only fool an innocent kid like Nan Yu.
Yang Zhou withdrew his gaze and looked at Nan Yu's back, his eyes full of distress.
How could he still be so clueless?
Even now, he still held onto hope for Bai Zhouyun?
Was this some kind of joke?
Nan Yu: I didn't! I don't! Don't slander me!
Naturally, Nan Yu had no idea what Yang Zhou was thinking.
Yang Zhou walked forward, intending to ask him directly, but suddenly received a flood of private messages.
While following Nan Yu, he checked them.
Every message was about the gossip surrounding Bai Zhouyun and Yun Feiyu.
The contents were almost identical to what Yun Feiyu had just said.
They were all clarifications.
Apparently, they didn't want to spend the rest of their time at the academy dealing with endless rumors.
Clarifying things was necessary.
Most people would believe it.
Only a small number of clear-eyed individuals wouldn't let this pile of crap blind them.
Yang Zhou considered himself one of those people.
The others were Nan Yu's three brothers, who cared about him more than anyone.
Nan Yun and Nan Zhen had been following the entire situation closely.
Bai Zhouyun's clarification had actually been handled rather well.
Neither of the two main people had personally stepped forward.
Instead, they had someone else present the so-called truth from the perspective of an uninvolved bystander.
The effect...
It was surprisingly effective.
Nan Yun snorted.
"Hmph. Bai Zhouyun's got a few tricks after all. He actually managed to come up with a story like that."
"But what's going on with this Yun Feiyu? We've ignored him for so long, and now he finally did something useful."
Nan Zhen replied,
"I really hope Yun Feiyu keeps getting tangled up with Bai Zhouyun and continues exposing more flaws..."
"Hm?"
Fu Yu'ang and Nan Yun both looked at him.
Nan Zhen slowly said,
"Maybe... we can help Yun Feiyu a little."
As long as Bai Zhouyun got together with someone else while still engaged...
Really got together.
Had a physical relationship.
Or even...
Though that probably wasn't very likely.
Although one was an Ability User and the other a Mental Power User, having a child still required going to a specialized hospital for genetic testing before using both of their genes to create one.
Bai Zhouyun and Yun Feiyu definitely couldn't openly do something like that.
If that was impossible...
Then they'd simply have to find another way.
When Nan Yu brought Yang Zhou home, Uncle Nan informed him that his three older brothers still hadn't returned.
That was rather unexpected.
Didn't they usually come home very early?
Forget it.
If they weren't back, they probably still had something to deal with at the academy.
He placed a call to Nan Yun.
The communication connected almost immediately.
Nan Zhen and Fu Yu'ang were also visible on the screen.
"Brother, when are you coming home?"
Nan Yun answered,
"We'll probably be back very late tonight. Go ahead and eat first. Don't wait for us."
"Alright."
"Then don't stay out too late. I'll ask Uncle Nan to save dinner for you."
"No problem. We'll head back as soon as we're finished."
After ending the call, Nan Yu said,
"Uncle Nan, let's eat first."
The obedient youngest brother, Nan Yu, had absolutely no idea what underhanded plan his three older brothers were secretly cooking up against Bai Zhouyun.
Meanwhile, he simply enjoyed a delicious dinner together with Yang Zhou.
After eating, they both went upstairs to play the game.
Logging in once again, Nan Yu first checked his guild.
He discovered that the guild still needed another third of its contribution points before it could level up.
So he posted a guild announcement.
"Only one-third left before we level up. Once we do, you're all welcome to invite people you know to join. I guarantee this guild is stable."
Yang Zhou exclaimed,
"Wow... you're really spending money like flowing water."
Nan Yu didn't care.
"I've made more money recently."
Yang Zhou immediately thought of the five commissions Nan Yu had accepted for his sake.
Although the slots had been opened, the treatment fees were still charged as normal.
The only failed commission...
Yang Zhou wisely chose not to mention it.
Instead, he looked at the guild chat.
From South to North (Guild Leader): "After we reach Guild Level 2, we'll be able to set a second guild mission. I'm planning to make it a weekly mission."
Big Brother: "No problem, Guild Leader!"
From South to North (Guild Leader): "I'll explain it in advance so everyone can prepare. If anyone isn't online, just tell them later."
Second Brother: "Got it, Guild Leader!"
From South to North (Guild Leader): "I'm planning to make the weekly mission revolve around the Arena Rankings. Since those reset every week, it's perfect. Let me explain the details."
From South to North (Guild Leader): "There will be three reward tiers. The first tier is for the Top 10. There's no point separating first place and second place because the range is too small."
From South to North (Guild Leader): "The Top 10 will receive 20,000 gold every week. The second tier is the Top 50, receiving 10,000 gold each week. The third tier is the Top 100, receiving 5,000 gold. What do you think?"
Sixth Brother: "I think it's great. Let's do exactly that."
Fifth Brother: "No objections here. Sounds perfect. Whatever the boss says is right! Starting today I'm grinding Arena!"
Third Brother: "It really is a good idea. It'll help increase our guild's reputation."
More importantly, it would attract many powerful solo players who didn't want to join massive guilds and wanted to test whether this guild suited them.
From South to North (Guild Leader): "Since everyone agrees, we'll stick with it. Right now the guild only has one daily mission. You can all finish it every day, right?"
As he spoke, he opened the guild management page to check everyone's weekly contributions.
Every member had exactly the same contribution value.
Clearly, everyone completed the mission every day.
Big Brother: "Of course! It's only three dungeon runs. That's nothing! Takes us an hour or two at most."
Third Brother: "Even if Arena gets added later... as long as your strength is there, it'll only take another hour or two each day."
Fifth Brother: "I really wish the guild would level up already..."
Nan Yu suddenly felt a little guilty.
He didn't think he'd ever actually completed the guild missions himself.
But he had been recharging the guild with gold.
Those were genuine credits.
One credit equaled one contribution point.
His contribution score was so high that no one else could ever catch up.
There was, however, one guild member whose contribution remained a glaring zero.
Turning to Yang Zhou, Nan Yu said,
"Yang Zhou, why don't you start logging in every day and run dungeons with everyone? Your guild contribution is still zero."
Yang Zhou blinked.
"Ah!"
"That's right! I'd completely forgotten about that. No problem. I can go right now—I just wonder if they'll be willing to carry me."
Nan Yu mentioned it in guild chat.
Soon afterward, both Nan Yu and Yang Zhou were coaxed into running dungeons together with everyone.
After all, the contribution points Nan Yu gained from recharging gold didn't count toward the contribution required for leveling up the guild.
Otherwise, any guild could simply find one rich player to endlessly spend money and keep leveling forever.
The three dungeon runs were basically effortless carries.
Nan Yu suddenly felt that perhaps he should train his own combat skills as well.
Otherwise, one day the entire guild would consist of powerful experts...
And only the guild leader himself would be weak.
Then again...
He remembered that he had created this guild to recruit talented people for his future legion, not because he actually wanted to play games forever.
After finishing the dungeons, Nan Yu was preparing to log off when Big Brother stopped him.
Big Brother: "Guild Leader, we've still been hunting those five people every day. Every time we kill one and send you a screenshot, we still receive credits."
From South to North (Guild Leader): "Of course. The public bounty has been canceled, but the internal guild bounty is still active."
"So from now on, whenever you see any of those five people, kill them and earn some extra money. If you have free time, you can even search for their locations specifically. The bounty will always remain valid for our own guild members."
Nan Yu had already announced publicly that the bounty was canceled.
He had also configured the automatic refund system so that only members of his own guild who privately sent him screenshots of successful kills would receive payment.
Everyone else who claimed rewards after the bounty had been canceled would receive credits only once, along with a mail explaining that the bounty had ended.
If they submitted another screenshot afterward, they would receive nothing.
Big Brother: "Understood, Guild Leader!"
"But... are you really okay spending money like this?"
From South to North (Guild Leader): "Of course I am. I've got plenty of money."
"Just focus on completing the guild missions. Don't worry about the money."
"Oh, by the way... your younger brother is alright now, isn't he?"
Big Brother paused slightly before replying,
"He's fine now. Thank you, Guild Leader."
Nan Yu waved a hand.
"Alright, no need to thank me."
"Just remember to stay in my guild and keep developing with us. Level up as quickly as possible."
"I've already reserved a spot here for your younger brother."
Every guild level only added two new member slots.
Those places were extremely valuable.
The real reason Big Brother had stopped him was precisely to ask about that.
They had gone off-topic halfway through the conversation.
He never expected Nan Yu to bring it up himself.
Hearing those words, he was genuinely moved.
"Thank you, Guild Leader..."
"Thank you... truly..."
All of the brothers knew that everything they had now was thanks to his help.
Whether it was saving their youngest brother's illness before...
Or allowing them to maintain a normal life now...
Or even giving them enough income to move into a much better place to rent.