translator: Ciel
Over the next few days, Mojue’s team members trained in pairs according to Qin Mo’s arrangements. In the morning, they would form teams to fight against Qin Mo and Xiao Han. In the afternoon, they would go to the online game arena to familiarise themselves with the competition rules.
According to the timetable set by the league, the partner competition would be held from March 10th to April 15th, and each team could only register up to four groups. All of Mojue’s team members had signed up, while the other teams had at least two pairs registering. After the registration deadline on March 1st, the league announced all participating teams—— there were exactly 32 groups who had signed up for the competition. Thus, everyone would be divided into eight groups, A to H, and the tournament would follow a round-robin format.
On March 2nd, the list of groups was posted on the official website.
Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang were in Group A. Coincidentally, Zhu Qingyue’s senior brother, Luo Yuan, was also in this group. His partner was Wei Guanghua, a melee swordsman.
Liu Hong and Pei Yu were in Group B, along with the double summoners of Qiu Zongping and Yuan Xi.
Shen He and Li Muran were in Group E. This group also included Li Dongqing and Zhou Xuewei of Sky, Sang Jun and Chu Jianxin of Dynasty, as well as Xu Sizhe and Tan Xi of Graceful Beauty.
Last but not least, Xiao Han and Qin Mo were in Group F. Two of the four pairs in this group were unknown to them, and ought to be newcomers from the other teams. However, the last pair were old acquaintances of Qin Mo—— Lin Shuangcheng and Song Changdong.
Coincidentally, Sword Song’s captain and vice-captain happened to meet Xiao Han and Qin Mo in the group stage.
After the group lists were revealed, Qin Mo summoned everyone for a short briefing to briefly analyse the situation of each group.
He did not put pressure on everyone to qualify, but instead, asked everyone to relax and gain more experience. Their priorities for this partner competition was to dig up information about the other major teams, especially because there were newcomers whom no one had ever heard of. For example, the combination of Luo Yuan and Wei Guanghua of the Whisper team hadn’t participated in the individual competition.
As for the Whisper team, their knowledge was limited to the umbrella array playstyle used in team battles for now. However, Whisper had eight registered players this season. In addition to the black umbrella-wielding twin brothers, the origins and skill levels of the other players were not clear. Even Zhu Qingyue couldn’t understand what his senior brother was thinking.
***
The group list happened to be released over the weekend. According to their usual schedule, the team did not train on Saturday and Sunday nights; Qin Mo’s arrangements allowed all the team members to work and rest in equal measure. After all, the formal team battles had not yet begun, and intensifying training wasn’t necessary for small projects. If not, people might be unable to bear the stress later.
Since it was a rare weekend night, Liu Xiang and Liu Hong were watching TV dramas in their dormitory, while Pei Yu and He Beiguang went to the nearby billiards club to play. Shen He had once again run out of toothpaste, and Li Muran accompanied him to the nearby supermarket. Qin Mo and Xiao Han were in the dormitory doing god knows what, leaving Zhu Qingyue alone to suffer from boredom. After returning to his room, he turned on his computer, once again carefully studying the group list.
Both Xiao He and himself were in group A. The other players in this group included two long-ranged players from Graceful Beauty, Luo Yuan and Wei Guanghua from Whisper, as well as Chen Jiang and He Yue of Frost Moon.
Objectively speaking, the combined power of the double long whip from Xuanbing Palace was likely far greater than that of a single long whip, due to the obvious effect of ‘one plus one is greater than two’. The martial siblings Chen Jiang and He Yue were apprenticed to the same master from Seven Star Grass club, and definitely shared a tacit cooperation. In addition, Chen Jiang had the strength to reach the top four in the previous individual competition, and He Yue’s personal ability was also very strong. Thus, there should be no doubts, and this pair ought to qualify for the next round.
The two long-distance players of the Graceful Beauty team were ‘Gusu Trip’ and ‘Swaying Moon Shadow’. One was an auxiliary from Tingyu Tower’s white umbrella flow, and the other was a swordsman from Kuangdao Gate, which happened to be the same professions of Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang. Naturally, Zhu Qingyue was confident in defeating this combination.
If he wanted to qualify, the key would be to defeat his senior brother.
Back then, when Zhu Qingyue went to Chu Yan’s door, Luo Yuan had already followed Chu Yan for almost a year. If not for his family member suddenly falling ill, requiring him to return home to look after them, the person debuting that year as their master’s assistant would have been Luo Yuan, and not the 16-year-old Zhu Qingyue.
Zhu Qingyue had replaced his senior brother at the last minute. Due to his weak psychological endurance, he ran off to cry in secret after losing the game, and was given the moniker of ‘little crying bag’.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Perhaps it was because Luo Yuan had never played competitively. After all, memories of a person were always more beautiful than the real thing. To Chu Yan, the older apprentice was a young man with vigour, faith and ideals who flourished in the training camp, but the younger apprentice was a little crying bag who secretly ran off to cry after losing a match. Thus, it was reasonable for Chu Yan to believe that Luo Yuan was stronger than Zhu Qingyue.
Thinking of this, Zhu Qingyue suddenly felt a little stifled and uncomfortable.
His senior brother had left not long after he joined Pure Cleansing, but his senior brother’s shadow had long since been buried in Zhu Qingyue’s heart.
Just as Zhu Qingyue’s thoughts were running wild, the screen of his mobile phone suddenly lit up. Chu Yan had sent a message: “Mojue shouldn’t have training tonight, correct?”
Zhu Qingyue immediately sent a reply: “Yes.”
“Come downstairs in ten minutes, I’ll bring you somewhere.” was Chu Yan’s response.
Was Chu Yan not going to ask for his opinion before coming here? Zhu Qingyue was somewhat puzzled. Still, he hadn’t seen Chu Yan in a while, and it was this longing that convinced him to get up and change, going downstairs exactly ten minutes later.
A familiar car was waiting at the gates. Opening the door, Zhu Qingyue entered the front passenger seat, before finally asking. “Where are we going?”
Chu Yan smiled. “Isn’t it a little too late to ask now? Why, not afraid that I’m going to sell you off?”
Zhu Qingyue rubbed his nose in embarrassment. Just now, he had only wanted to meet Chu Yan, and hadn’t thought of asking where his master wanted to bring him.
Looking at the embarrassed expression on the youth’s face, Chu Yan temporarily set aside all thoughts of teasing him. After helping Zhu Qingyue fasten his seat belt, Chu Yan started the car.
***
Because it was late at night, the lights outside the car window briefly shone on Zhu Qingyue’s face as they drove by, forming a mottled pattern of light and shadow.
Chu Yan realised that the person beside him was completely silent on their journey. Obviously, Zhu Qingyue had something on his mind.
The scenery was gradually becoming familiar. Still, Zhu Qingyue was only sure when the car drove into the garage—— Chu Yan was bringing him ‘home’.
The new home that Zhu Qingyue designed had already been completely renovated, and Chu Yan had moved in long ago. However, since Zhu Qingyue usually lived in the team dormitories, he rarely had an opportunity to come back here.
Upon entering the house, Chu Yan very naturally fetched him a pair of slippers. As he changed out of his shoes, Zhu Qingyue realised that his slippers were of the same design as Chu Yan’s; one blue pair and one grey pair, almost like a couple item. They weren’t here last time, and Chu Yan ought to have bought them recently.
At a glance, the house was neat and tidy, with no trace of debris. The flowers on the balcony were also blooming, a clear sign that Chu Yan was taking care of them.
The warm yellow lighting allowed Zhu Qingyue to temporarily relax. “Why did you bring me here?” he questioned.
Turning around to face him, Chu Yan smiled. “Master has been alone for so long. This time, I wanted to invite my apprentice back, and wait upon me for a night.”
Zhu Qingyue immediately blushed. “Can you be serious!”
His smile widening, Chu Yan hugged Zhu Qingyue, carrying him into the bedroom.
Having been picked up, Zhu Qingyue immediately tensed up, as if facing an enemy. “Put me down!”
Chu Yan felt that the scene before him was quite funny, but gently booped Zhu Qingyue on the nose. “Don’t be scared. I brought you back so that you could rest well for tonight. Training ought to have been very busy recently, right?”
Placing Zhu Qingyue on the bed, Chu Yan sat down beside him, gently pulling him into a hug.
Seeing that Chu Yan had no plans to move any further, Zhu Qingyue was a little more relieved. “Still okay,” he replied, “it’s not particularly busy.”
As far as I know, the partner competition is about to start?” Chu Yan questioned.
Zhu Qingyue nodded. “It will officially start on March 10th. We leave for Beijing on the 9th.”
“Have the group lists been revealed?” Chu Yan continued to ask.
Immediately, Zhu Qingyue fell silent.
Chu Yan sighed. “Do you have nothing to ask me regarding your martial brother Luo Yuan? You’ve held back on the whole journey here, do you still intend to hold back until tomorrow?”
—— In the end, he already knew about the groupings, and had long discovered Zhu Qingyue’s worries.
Zhu Qingyue hesitated for a moment, but finally asked his question. “Master, do you… do you constantly feel that senior brother is better than me?
Chu Yan was startled for a few moments, before a smile curved his lips. “Strangely enough, this sentence seems to smell like vinegar.”
Zhu Qingyue flushed. “Can’t you give me a proper reply?”
Chu Yan’s smile finally faded away, but his reply was calm. “What answer do you want to hear?”
This question that had been thrown back at him caused Zhu Qingyue to fall silent—— indeed, what did he want to hear? Did he want to hear Chu Yan say that he was more outstanding than his senior brother? Or was it to hear Chu Yan admit that there was no mistake, and that he felt that Luo Yuan was stronger than he was?
Zhu Qingyue felt extremely conflicted.
Chu Yan’s reply was quiet. “Qingyue, I already knew that this had become your heart knot. It’s better to make things clear today—— back then, I really did think that Luo Yuan was more outstanding than you. Luo Yuan joined Pure Cleansing when he was 16. He was talented, willing to work hard, had a good personality, and was confident in himself. In just one month, he had learnt the auxiliary playstyle, and was very innovative. At that time, I believed that Luo Yuan would be my right-hand man, and could continue the auxiliary-based playstyle of Pure Cleansing. Luo Yuan’s departure made me very upset.”
Zhu Qingyue nodded his head slowly. Their master’s evaluation of Luo Yuan had not changed over so many years; thus, his senior brother was definitely an outstanding player.
Chu Yan paused for a few moments, before continuing to speak. “You were not mature back then, but I forced you to debut in his stead. I often compared you to him, and said that you were inferior. It must have caused you a lot of stress, correct?”
Zhu Qingyue kept silent, but this silence was equivalent to his acquiescence.
Chu Yan sighed, gently patting his little apprentice’s head. “In fact, I did that to motivate you to grow up as soon as possible. The 16-year-old you could not be compared to your senior brother, but I wanted to use him as an example, and encourage you to work hard and improve your own skills. That’s why I said all that. However, it was you who captained Pure Cleansing for so long. It is him who cannot compare to the you of today. You are a world-class assistant, and no matter how talented Luo Yuan is, he is years behind, and cannot compare to you in terms of experience.”
Zhu Qingyue’s heart trembled slightly. This was the first time that he had heard ‘you are better than your senior brother’ from Chu Yan.
It was also at this moment that he finally understood: the heart knot that he could not untie was not ‘he could not compare to senior brother’, but that ‘to their master, he could not compare to senior brother’—— what he cared about was what their master thought of him, and not whether his own level was comparable to Luo Yuan’s.
It turned out that what he cared about the most was Chu Yan’s impression of himself. To think that he actually put so much weight on Chu Yan’s opinion, and struggled with it for so many years?
Thinking of this, Zhu Qingyue felt his cheeks grow hot, and felt that he was really quite an unreasonable person.
Seeing through Zhu Qingyue’s thoughts, Chu Yan smiled. “Now that both you and Luo Yuan are in different teams, as your master, I will not be biased to either one of you. But… you don’t need to fight Luo Yuan, because in my heart, you will forever be my only treasure, while Luo Yuan is just my apprentice.”
Listening to that gentle voice speaking in his ears, Zhu Qingyue’s cheeks burned.
A few simple words from Chu Yan had untied his heart knot. He had no reason to fight against his senior brother. Their master’s words from that year telling him ‘your senior brother is better’ was just a means to encourage him to grow, and to learn from his senior brother, just like how parents often talked about how ‘other people’s children were better’.
Their master did not like Luo Yuan more than him, and in fact… liked him far more than Luo Yuan.
Today, this martial brother pair were in different teams, and the matters between them both should not involve their long-retired master.
Thinking of this, Zhu Qingyue raised his head to look at Chu Yan. “From your standpoint, it’s not appropriate to help anyone. I won’t ask you about the Whisper team’s tactics, so you can’t tell senior brother about our Mojue team… just stay neutral forever, okay?”
Chu Yan nodded. “Good. I will not help either side.”
Only with this did Zhu Qingyue relax, finally showing a tiny smile.
Looking at his gentle smile, Chu Yan couldn’t resist, and pecked him on the lips. “Your senior brother doesn’t know about our relationship,” he whispered. “Should I tell him?”
“… No need!” Zhu Qingyue hurriedly denied.
If Luo Yuan knew that his junior apprentice brother had gotten together with his master, his mentality ought to immediately collapse.
Plus, Zhu Qingyue would have no face to meet Luo Yuan. So, keeping it secret was still the better option!
Haha Zhu Qingyue must have liked Chu Yan since he was young~ It’s just that he didn’t realize it… These two are so sweet~! 😍 I’m looking forward to see more with the side couples~ ✨
I wonder what Xiao Han and Qin Mo are doing though lol~ Thank you for the chapter! 💕
Maybe~ he jealous of his senior brother since young 🤣 All the CPs are sweet~ ❤
You’re welcome~ 💕
Eeeee!!! I was hoping this side couple would get some screen time 😁
Thanks for the chapter!!
I think they will have more screen time in the future chapter 🤔
You’re welcome~ 💕
okay but we’re just going to ignore the fact that the only reason zqy had a heart knot was because chun yan purposely compared him to the senior and purposely judged him inferior? This shouldn’t be boiled down to zhu qingyue being jealous. The shadow was put there to motivate him but it was still purposely put there to make him feel like he didn’t value him as much as his senior.
Ohh?? Did I forget that Chu Yan ever said that? 😱
If there really is, it’s Chu Yan’s fault that ZQY felt the heart knot 😟
yeah, like that change my opinion a bit on chu yan. though with good intentions, the end does not justify the means…
I think the author forgot the pairs that had been mentioned before, because I’m almost sure that when they were discussing the pairs for the first time, before the individual competition began, Quingyue would go with Pei Yu and Liu Hong would go with Beiguang. I’m too lazy to go back and check, tho 😂😂😂