As expected, Fluttering Red Feather immediately spoke to Ye Ci after his remaining members had left, "This way. There's a closer route back to Gale City over here."
Ye Ci of course knew about the "closer route." In her last life, she was very familiar with the Southern Continent. But of course, she couldn't tell Fluttering Red Feather about her identity as a reincarnator. She turned her steed around and followed Fluttering Red Feather.
Fluttering Red Feather did not stop even for a moment along the way. He knew that it was dangerous to ride alone back to the city. If his enemies were to go after his head at that moment, he would be in a dire situation.
Ye Ci understood his thoughts as well. She matched Fluttering Red Feather's speed, keeping silent the whole way.
After going through 2 maps, Fluttering Red Feather slowed down right before entering the Gale City map. He turned around and asked Ye Ci, "Gongzi, how did you know that Isle of Heroes was going to ambush us?"
So that guild was called Isle of Heroes. Ye Ci could not recall any bad blood between the Isle of Heroes and Black Plum Guild in her last life.
"Oh, I happened to have heard about it." Said Ye Ci with a smile.
Fluttering Red Feather could not accept her answer. He pulled the reigns of his horse and stared at Ye Ci, "What do you mean by 'you happened to hear about it'?"
Ye Ci pursed her lips. She had really happened to hear about it. But she was not a person with many words, and was too lazy to explain the whole thing. Ye Ci stopped and looked at Fluttering Red Feather, "Uhh.. Just beware of your subordinates."
"What do you mean?" Fluttering Red Feather's expression darkened. As the leader of such a large guild, it was impossible for him to not understand Ye Ci's words.
Ye Ci knew that he was anxious, but how could she explain herself clearly? She merely heard about the conversation by chance, and had not seen the faces of either party involved. She did not even know the full story, but only part of a conversation. She shook her hand and said, "I've said what needed to be said. I don't know anymore than that. You be careful."
"But..." Fluttering Red Feather seemed to have guessed something, but could still not grasp at the big picture.
Ye Ci spurred her horse and left.
She was quite familiar with the Southern Continent. This land had given her much wealth in her last life. After replenishing her consumables in Gale City and repairing some of her equipment, Ye Ci bought a flying shard and prepared to leave.
She had a sudden change of mind before she left. Since she was here, why not go level up? Ol' Four was good in dealing AOE attacks, and there was a good leveling spot right outside of Gale City, so she could level Ol' Four there.
With her decision made, Ye Ci brought Ol' Four out of Gale City right after replenishing her supplies.
The monsters in the outskirts of Gale City were not high leveled. Ye Ci was able to find a bandit nest at the top of a hill. It was packed full of level 15 humanoid monsters that moved in groups. They would attack any players they came across in droves, and were quick to respawn. This made the place the favorite leveling spot for newbies.
Ye Ci summoned Ol' Four which charged forward and attacked the monsters with its AOE skills. Any monsters that were left out by Ol' Four were picked off by Ye Ci.
Ye Ci did not gain many experience points by killing low level monsters, but for Ol' Four that was only at level 1, it was the ideal spot. After the span of 4 days, Ol' Four was already level 17.
When Ye Ci went offline one day and was having a bowl of instant noodles as her meal, she heard the front door being unlocked. Knowing that it was her parents and Bai Mo, she rushed to the door and pushed it open before the person unlocking the door could turn the doorknob. She shouted with excitement, "Dad! Mom! Welcome back!"
Right after Ye Ci called out her greeting, she was momentarily stunned. The first to enter through the door was a 15 year old boy. His skin was white and his face was pale. The boy appeared moody as well, which was a direct contrast to Ye Ci. He looked up at Ye Ci, and nodded at her lightly as a form of greeting.
Who the hell was this?
As a baffled Ye Ci was still standing at the doorway, Zuo Xiaolan entered the house. She pulled Ye Ci to a side and said, "You're an adult now, for God's sake! Make way! What are you standing here for? You going to collect toll fees from us or something?" Then she said to the boy with a gentle tone, "Polang, this will be your home starting today. Make yourself comfortable."
Unable to fully grasp the situation, Ye Ci stared at Zuo Xiaolan. Ye Nantian entered the house right after. He sniffed, looked at Ye Ci and said, "Little Ci, you're not eating proper meals again? Don't we still have some food? Go and cook something up for Polang."
Ye Ci was even more confused. What the hell was going on?
Bai Mo was the last one to enter, with the luggage in tow. He grumbled at Ye Ci, "Don't just stand there, give me a hand! There're still more outside."
When Bai Mo settled the stuff that he was carrying upstairs, Ye Ci pulled Bai Mo downstairs with the pretense of going outside and carrying in the remaining luggage. The entire situation was too confusing, and she just had to find out what was going on.
Bai Mo was a generous person. He did not keep Ye Ci in suspense. When he dragged all the stuff upstairs, he told Ye Ci the full story. The boy was the grandson of Zuo Xiolan's former teacher, Tan Polang.
Both his parents and grandparents had died in the plane crash. Zuo Xiaolan and Ye Nantian were there because of that. Mr.Tan did not have many relatives around, which meant that there was nobody around to make funeral arrangements. It was decided that his former students would handle the matter. But Tan Polang was an underaged boy with no legal guardians and he had refused to go to an orphanage. Hence, the decision was made to adopt the boy.
Because of her close relationship with Mr.Tan, Zuo Xiaolan had volunteered to bring Tan Polang home.
"I see." Said Ye Ci as she was panting while carrying a huge box upstairs, "This stuff belongs to that brat then."
"You don't say." Although Bai Mo was a guy with a strong body, he was also gasping for air after taking a few trips outside.
"So the brat's sharing a room with you?"
"No shit. You wanna share a room with him?" Bai Mo rolled his eyes at Ye Ci, having felt that her level of IQ had dropped after he had not seen her for a few days.
"Of course I know! What I meant was.. Don't we have no more extra beds in the house? If he's sharing the room with you, you'll be sleeping on the floor!" Ye Ci made fun of Bai Mo's misfortune.
It was Bai Mo's turn to be depressed, "Why had I not thought of that!? It's winter..."
Although the two were grumbling about it, Ye Ci still treated Tan Polang warmly when they were having dinner. For a 15 years old to lose his parents, it was indeed a very sad event...
Tan Polang had not recovered from the incident at all. He was dispirited and had no appetite for food. He had not even finished one third of the rice in his bowl. Zuo Xiaolan felt sorry for the boy. She sent him to bathe and then to sleep.
At that night, Bai Mo still got to sleep on the bed. It was a queen sized bed, which was enough for the both of them, but Bai Mo felt awkward. Tan Polang was very quiet throughout the night. He was so quiet that Bai Mo felt something was wrong.
When Bai Mo woke up the next morning, Tan Polang was sitting on the bed, silently staring at the gaming cabin placed in the corner of the room. Thinking that the kid was daydreaming, Bai Mo patted his head and left the room.
The moment Bai Mo left the room, Tan Polang climbed down from the bed and followed him out. When he saw Ye Ci's gaming cabin through her open door, he stared at it in a daze as well, until he was called by Zuo Xiaolan to the dining table.
"Polang, here, eat this. This is auntie's best dish. It's your brother and sister's favorite!" Zuo Xiaolan placed a piece of fried eggplant into Tan Polang's bowl.
"Thanks." Tan Polang kept his head lowered as he thanked Zuo Xiaolan.
"Oh, there's no need to thank me. How about going out for a walk with auntie and uncle later? Big brother Bai Mo and sister Ye Ci will be coming as well. The scenery around here is nice!" Ye Nantian said with a happy smile.
"I don't feel like going." Tan Polang's reply was soft.
Tan Polang's words were like a bucket of cold water that was poured onto Zuo Xiaolan's and Ye Nantian's good mood. Everybody was lost for words, and the atmosphere immediately became awkward.
Ye Ci looked at Tan Polang who was eating with his head lowered and narrowed her eyes. She then said slowly, "You still have a long way to go, why do you have to act so goddamn sorrowful? You going to star in a tragedy film when you grow up?"
A 15 year old kid is quite intelligent. Kids around that age could be counted as half an adult. They understood a lot of stuff, but sometimes they just liked to sort things out by themselves, and pamper themselves.