Read Novel Full Chapter 80 - Not Logging Out
Chapter 80 - Not Logging Out
Ye Zhou had an unusually delightful night. Despite being allergic to pet fur in real life, he was able to pet the little white tiger from head to tail in the game and even gently squeeze its ears!
Previously, Ye Zhou vaguely sensed that Dugu Zhuo might not like him playing with the tiger. Though Dugu Zhuo didn’t say much, Ye Zhou could catch glimpses of it from his expressions.
Ye Zhou never imagined that not only would Dugu Zhuo agree to him playing with the tiger, but he would also look at him with a gaze full of comfort, encouragement, and a “since you like it, what can I do” kind of expression. It gave Ye Zhou the feeling that no matter what he enjoyed doing, Dugu Zhuo would always be by his side. Ye Zhou was ecstatic!
At first, the little white tiger was a bit awkward, but as Ye Zhou used techniques he learned online to scratch the tiger’s chin, stroke the top of its head, and gently scratch its back, the white tiger went from being on guard to purring comfortably.
Ye Zhou even wanted to snuggle up to the tiger, but then he remembered that the white tiger could transform into a human-like tiger demon. Doing that might trigger the game’s censorship mechanism, so he stopped himself just in time.
Seeing that Ye Zhou seemed eager to get close to the white tiger, Dugu Zhuo said, “Shouldn’t the mountain guardian beast take us around to inspect our new sect?”
The white tiger, flattered by Dugu Zhuo’s praise, transformed into a huge tiger. Ye Zhou lay on its back, sinking into the soft fur, feeling a sense of bliss as if a lifelong wish had finally been fulfilled.
Dugu Zhuo also sat on the tiger’s back. His long hair was blown by the wind, and Ye Zhou’s gaze followed the strands from his neck down to the collarbone.
Dugu Zhuo propped one hand against his face, looking at Ye Zhou with gentle eyes, and behind him, a crescent moon emitted a soft glow.
Ye Zhou was momentarily captivated.
“What are you looking at?” Dugu Zhuo turned his face toward Ye Zhou, the curve of his lips showing he was in a good mood.
Ye Zhou snapped back to reality and asked softly, “Do you really look like this in real life?”
Players in the game usually make slight adjustments to their more prominent features to avoid looking too much like their real selves. When Ye Zhou logged in, he made himself look like he was around fourteen or fifteen years old. As he leveled up, he could have adjusted his appearance to be the opposite of his real look, but he had a desire for Dugu Zhuo to see his true self, so his appearance gradually became more like his real self as he leveled up.
“I’ve always looked like this, not much has changed,” Dugu Zhuo replied calmly.
“Oh,” Ye Zhou felt a bit of joy in his heart. Not sure why, he added, “I haven’t changed much either.”
“I know,” Dugu Zhuo said.
Ye Zhou’s heart skipped a beat. He stared blankly at Dugu Zhuo. The two of them were sitting on a giant tiger flying through the clouds, surrounded by countless stars.
Ye Zhou quietly moved a little closer to Dugu Zhuo, who didn’t move, as if he had always been there waiting for Ye Zhou. It seemed like if Ye Zhou made even the smallest gesture, Dugu Zhuo would gladly draw nearer.
“You…”
Just as Ye Zhou was about to say something, a pair of wings suddenly appeared beside him. The white tiger had grown a pair of pure white wings.
“Roar!” The white tiger roared proudly.
White Tiger: Did you see that? All those mountain peaks below are part of our sect!
Ye Zhou collected his thoughts and looked down, seeing many mountain peaks. He heard Dugu Zhuo say, “Which peak do you like? You can use it as your Daoist training ground.”
“Just mine?” Ye Zhou looked at Dugu Zhuo. “Aren’t we… going to be together?”
Dugu Zhuo suppressed the urge to lightly kiss Ye Zhou’s hair and whispered, “Of course, we’ll be together.”
Ye Zhou smiled and earnestly observed the terrain below. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Hmm… The first peak at the front is a dungeon, so it can’t be used. Behind it is a small peak, and this small peak is surrounded by five others that form a circle. It could be a place for disciples to gather around the main peak. The highest peak in the middle of these five would be suitable as the main peak, where we can place the sect’s main hall. There’s a peak behind the main one that looks like it has good sunlight. I’d like to live there.”
“Alright, we’ll make that peak your home,” Dugu Zhuo agreed.
“Roar!”
White Tiger: I like that one too!
Ye Zhou quickly said, “Then I’ll pick another. The one to the side looks good too; it’s covered in lush trees.”
“Roar!”
White Tiger: I like that one too!
Ye Zhou: “…”
Dugu Zhuo patted the white tiger’s back. “Didn’t we agree that you’d have your own peak? What, you still want to stay with us? No way!”
“Roar~”
White Tiger: I’ll have my own, but I’ll also be with you.
Ye Zhou said, “Then the one behind will be yours, and the one to the side will be ours. The two peaks are close to each other. As the guardian beast of the sect, you can naturally go wherever you want.”
“Roar, good!” The white tiger nodded contentedly.
Hu Xiao Mountain didn’t have many structures yet, so Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou would need to build them up bit by bit. It wasn’t just the cost of buying the land; the buildings and sculptures would also require a significant investment. Ye Zhou began to wonder how much money they had left.
Just then, he remembered his ever-resourceful cousin. Opening the chat window with his cousin, he saw that he had sent over a dozen messages throughout the night.
“It’s 7 PM. Long Aotian asked us to join him for a dungeon run. Where are you?”
“Yi Meng Xiaoyao is dueling someone in the arena and wants someone skilled in the ‘Mysterious Tracing Formation’ to help. Where are you?”
“I just messaged Dugu Zhuo, and he didn’t reply. What task are you two working on together?”
“I just had a chat with Yi Meng Xiaoyao. We both suspect that Dugu Zhuo might be some sort of ascetic monk. How else would he know so much about Daoist and Buddhist teachings? Is he a monk?”
“Reply when you see this. I see you’re online.”
When Ye Zhou and Dugu Zhuo were climbing the mountain earlier, Ye Zhou heard a notification sound from his cousin. At the time, he was preparing for a potential fight with the White Tiger and worried that hearing the voice message might distract him, so he put his phone on silent mode. Only now did he turn the sound back on and see that his cousin had sent so many messages.
Seeing so many unread messages, Ye Zhou was momentarily unsure of what to do. He scratched the back of the White Tiger’s neck and replied, “Dugu Zhuo and I were just doing the task to establish a sect. We’ve already obtained the mountain gate. Now we need ten million taels of silver. Do we have that much money in our account?”
Ye Jian quickly responded, “I thought you guys were just joking about establishing a sect and had given up on the idea. But you’ve really found a mountain gate? Where is it? I’ll come over right now.”
Ye Zhou replied, “It’s at Tiger Roar Mountain, but you probably can’t get up here. We…”
He knew that Dugu Zhuo could access the mountain because he understood the formation, but it seemed odd that they could just casually enter a dungeon map. Ye Zhou kept this detail to himself and only said, “We could only enter because of the sect-establishment task.”
Ye Jian asked, “So what do we do next?”
Ye Zhou replied, “It seems that we need to first check which major city governs this mountain range and then buy the land from the local officials.”
Ye Jian suggested, “Go ask around at Tingyu Pavilion. They claim to have the most comprehensive information, don’t they?”
Ye Jian was always slacking off during dungeon fights, but he was like a walking encyclopedia when it came to in-game matters. No one knew when he had gathered so much information.
Ye Zhou relayed Ye Jian’s suggestion to Dugu Zhuo, feeling a bit downhearted. He knew this meant that this magical experience was coming to an end.
Dugu Zhuo noticed Ye Zhou’s reluctance and messaged Ye Jian, “Even if we find out where to buy the land tonight, the officials won’t be working until tomorrow. Let’s discuss it tomorrow morning.”
After sending the message, Dugu Zhuo descended from the White Tiger’s back, landing on the mountain peak that Ye Zhou had chosen as their dojo. With a single sword strike, he cleared the peak of trees and weeds, creating a flat area.
He waved his hand towards the sky, and the White Tiger landed on the flat rock.
Casually, Dugu Zhuo set up a small formation around them to block the wind and insects, then used dry branches to start a fire.
The flames made the White Tiger’s fur warm. Dugu Zhuo patted its warm fur and asked, “Do you want to try taking a nap on the White Tiger’s back?”
White Tiger: “…”
Ye Zhou lay down near the fire, feeling the warmth spread through his whole body, making him drowsy.
In a daze, he felt Dugu Zhuo sit down beside him, lift his head, and place it on Dugu Zhuo’s lap.
Ye Zhou wanted to open his eyes to see Dugu Zhuo’s expression, but he was too sleepy. The White Tiger’s fur was so soft and warm that he couldn’t keep his eyes open.
Half-asleep, he thought he heard Dugu Zhuo say softly in his ear, “It’s time to log off and go to sleep.”
In his drowsy state, Ye Zhou felt like he clicked the log-off button, and after that, he knew nothing until he woke up the next morning.
In the morning, he opened his eyes and pressed a button by his bed, causing the curtains to automatically open. A ray of sunlight streamed through the window and onto the bed.
Last night… he slept so well!
Ye Zhou recalled the night and surprisingly found a faint sweetness in the memory of his sleep.
While having breakfast, he asked the housekeeper about it and learned that he had fallen asleep right after taking off his helmet, and it was the caregiver who had helped him put away the helmet and tucked him in.
This morning, the birds were chirping, and the flowers were fragrant. Even the air seemed filled with warmth.
Ye Zhou picked up his phone and saw a message from Ye Jian: “Do you want me to look into Dugu Zhuo’s real-life identity? I can find someone to trace his IP address and then locate his actual address.”
Ye Zhou replied without hesitation: “No need, I can ask him myself.”
Ye Jian didn’t insist. He noticed that Ye Zhou really liked Dugu Zhuo and thought it wouldn’t hurt to know more about him. But if Ye Zhou didn’t want to interact with Dugu Zhuo in real life, then it didn’t matter. After all, in Ye Jian’s view, it was unlikely that his cousin would get involved with anyone in person.
Ye Jian: “By the way, don’t you think Dugu Zhuo’s online time is a bit too long? Whenever I’m online, he’s always online.”
Ye Jian had been playing the game for nearly two months. Unlike Ye Zhou, his schedule was irregular. Sometimes he would log in to train early in the morning, around five or six o’clock, and sometimes after a late-night international meeting at three or four o’clock, he would log in just to do some routine training.
He checked his login times over the past month, made a chart, and sent it to Ye Zhou: “During these times, Dugu Zhuo was online the entire time. Is he online 24 hours a day?”
Ye Zhou compared his own login times with the chart Ye Jian sent and found that Dugu Zhuo was almost never offline.
“Maybe he’s just AFK?” Ye Zhou offered a reason for Dugu Zhuo.
Ye Jian replied, “That could be possible since you can still gain experience while AFK. But even if he’s AFK, the amount of time is too long. Isn’t he worried that his gaming helmet might overheat from running so much?”
Ye Zhou: “That’s his habit. We don’t have the right to interfere. I’m eating now.”
After brushing off Ye Jian’s concerns, Ye Zhou casually finished his breakfast and checked the time. It was 7 a.m.
Ever since his father relented, Ye Zhou no longer had his gaming helmet confiscated, giving him more freedom with his time.
So he decided to log into the game two hours earlier than usual. There were usually very few players online at this time.
As soon as he logged in, Ye Zhou found himself lying on the White Tiger’s back, just as he had been last night, with his head resting on Dugu Zhuo’s lap.
Dugu Zhuo, who seemed as though he hadn’t closed his eyes all night, greeted him as usual and asked, “You’re logging in early today?”
Ye Zhou asked, “You’re up early too?”
Dugu Zhuo replied, “I just logged in.”
“Roar~”
White Tiger: He clearly stayed online all night…
Dugu Zhuo firmly stepped on the White Tiger’s back, silencing it immediately.
Ye Zhou sat up, stretched as usual, then jumped off the White Tiger’s back and walked to the east to watch the sunrise.
He quickly reviewed his memories of meeting Dugu Zhuo and suddenly asked himself: Did Dugu Zhuo ever log off?
The answer was no.
Ye Zhou then thought: When he’s online, he’s always with Dugu Zhuo. Has he ever seen Dugu Zhuo AFK?
The answer was also no.
This wasn’t just a matter of being addicted to the game; no normal human could stay online continuously without logging off.
Ye Zhou turned to look at Dugu Zhuo, and for some reason, a thought flashed through his mind: When they first met, he had mistakenly thought that Dugu Zhuo was not a player, but an NPC.