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Took a shot at retranslating this:

Another night of hunting has come to an end. Along the way, Lan Wangji hears again that Jiang Cheng has again captured several possessed individuals for brutal interrogation. All these years, wherever there has been a disturbance, there Hanguang-jun has gone; but in the end none of them were him.

In the Jingshi at the Cloud Recesses: the slow sound of a qin, playing Inquiry.

Lan Wangji takes up a jug of Emperor’s Smile brought back from Caiyizhen. A moment of silence, then he puts it down again. In his heart, a silent sigh: Wei Ying, will you ever return?

The green willows of Yunmeng, the Gusu flowers The slanted reflection of a boat pole in the water With sword and qin he walks the green mountains Eyes full of devotion, lovely as a picture Ah, the fragrance of well-aged wine Through a haze he sees an old friend laughing and tossing loquats The passion of a youthful heart is most unwavering The secret in the song has never been spoken to an end (Have you ever told him?) In the moonlight he gathers up his long hair Whose voice has already gone silent? Green smoke curling upward Whose cheek does it caress? Beneath the long dike the years slip away like sand between the fingers Do the crows call to a ghost, asking when will you come home? Ah, the fragrance of well-aged wine Through a haze he sees an old friend laughing and tossing loquats The passion of a youthful heart is most unwavering The secret in the song has never been spoken to an end (Have you ever told him?) In the moonlight he gathers up his long hair Whose voice has already gone silent? Green smoke curling upward Whose cheek does it caress? Beneath the long dike the years slip away like sand between the fingers Do the crows call to a ghost, asking when will you come home? In the moonlight he gathers up his long hair and plays Inquiry until the last phrase comes to an end The faraway sound of the qin—does anyone answer? In the distant wind each scene from the past is a scar branded over his heart Do the strings speak to him of longing? How much longing have the strings spoken to him?

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QZGS Chapter 353: Desiring Death, Yet Unable to Die

The double agents on both sides stood and watched in silence. They would have loved for one stomp to take out both Lord Grim and Cleansing Mist. But Lord Grim hadn't made his name on the tenth server by accident; if it were that easy to kill him, that would have meant even greater embarrassment for the guilds he'd crushed under his heel.

Furthermore, those like Blue River who already knew Lord Grim's identity had also pretty much guessed that this launcher named Cleansing Mist was Su Mucheng. If the pro Glory Alliance stood at the peak of Glory, their partnership stood at the peak of the Alliance. So while many of the others were still puzzling over their approach, Blue River only felt sorrow. They were just too strong. That was why they could pull off a routine that ordinary players couldn’t even understand, much less carry out.

Sure enough, concern, anticipation, doubt—all were unnecessary.

Amid the wave of dust kicked up by the guardian demon's stomp, the two characters leaped high into the air and fired toward the ground, their guns spitting out tongues of flame as they used a rocket technique to avoid both the guardian demon’s stomp and the shock wave it caused with marvelous precision.

By the time they landed, they were already behind the guardian demon.

Though the guardian demon wasn't slow, it still needed a moment to turn its enormous body. The volume of Lord Grim and Cleansing Mist’s attacks in that moment was enough to amaze all the double agents.

Though not up to a professional standard, at the very least they were all skilled and experienced players with a certain amount of insight. Just from their DPS, they could tell that these two had a grasp of their classes and a control of their skills that far surpassed those of any ordinary player. The watchers finally broke their silence, some of them letting out subconscious gasps of surprise, though Blue River and the others in the know did a better job of maintaining their composure.

Amid the assault, the guardian demon had finally finished turning. This time, instead of raising its foot for a stomp, it waved a hand and sent a gust of wind slashing out. But Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng, prepared as always, easily avoided it and dodged directly behind the guardian demon's back to continue their attack.

By the time they’d seen several rounds of this, everyone had been stunned speechless. The guardian demon was slow to turn, but that was only in relative terms; in truth it was really quite agile. But in the face of these two people's superlative control, what could not originally have been called a weak point had become one, the target of continuous attack. As for the two characters, they never erred at all.

There was again a minor disturbance in the crowd of double agents. Though they didn't all know who was from which guild, they knew who was from their own guild. At this point they were starting to talk again.

"Fuck! Lord Grim is even better than I thought!"

"Who the hell is this launcher? She might be even better than Lord Grim!"

"Are these two human? Are they from this world?” Though some of the comments were becoming somewhat hyperbolic, they were starting to approach the truth.

For an instant, all of them forgot why they'd gone undercover in the first place to marvel over the skill being displayed before them. Only a moment later did they recover themselves, but they were still helpless; there was no possibility of the guardian demon hitting them where they stood right now. They couldn’t die if they wanted to.

Not long after, they had another realization: however astoundingly well Lord Grim and this Cleansing Mist fought, it was impossible for the two of them alone to bring down the guardian demon. Even if they never made a single mistake, in the end they'd run out of mana. At that point, characters who couldn't use skills would be unable to continue their back-and-forth.

This guardian demon was designed for twenty players to kill together, so of course it had to be far stronger than a hidden boss in a five-person dungeon. No matter how good their endurance, two people couldn't hold out through the entire battle. And furthermore, with the pace of their attack, they were using up mana even faster than most players, making it even harder for them to last. In the end, this battle would require everyone's contribution.

After coming to this conclusion, all the double agents felt a little calmer. These two were indeed very impressive, but they would still be able to accomplish their mission here. No matter what, as long as they could enter the fight, how could they not be able to find a chance to die?

Everyone, having made more or less the same calculation, was chatting with the others from their own guild. But now Lord Grim and Cleansing Mist finally did something different—both of them suddenly executed a rocket skill and flew back toward the left row of double agents.

The guardian demon came hard on their heels. Rather than feeling panic, the double agents were full of anticipation—a rare experience in a gaming, for death to bring such pleasure.

Their characters were all quivering, ready to move. As long as the guardian demon made an attack, even if they couldn't throw themselves directly into it, they could at least pretend they'd reacted half a beat too slow!

Closer...closer...

A few more steps brought the guardian demon to the left row. And then, just when it seemed he was about to swing at them, he suddenly did an about-face.

"Attack!" Lord Grim yelled.

They were briefly stupefied.

The guardian demon had turned his back to them, exposing an enormous opening. One after another, they attacked almost involuntarily. And yet the guardian demon ignored them to rush forward instead. All the double agents followed after him, attacking, hoping for him to turn around and make a counterattack.

But they knew it wasn’t going to happen.

By now they had realized that at some point Lord Grim and Cleansing Mist had split up to operate separately. Now Lord Grim was positioned with them on the left side, while Cleansing Mist was standing with the other row on the right. At the moment, the target the guardian demon was charging at was Cleansing Mist.

Only now did they realize that this whole time they'd never quite determined which of them had drawn the guardian demon's aggro. At the beginning Cleansing Mist had provoked it, and then Lord Grim had taken the lead; after that the two of them had stayed together, going back and forth with the guardian demon. The double agents had only the impression of it chasing the two of them; as to exactly which one? Unclear! They hadn't been able to tell.

But now that the two of them had separated, it was crystal clear: at this point in time, the guardian demon's aggro was absolutely directed at Cleansing Mist.

But what about before?

Before, they’d drawn the guardian demon to charge toward the left; at that point they'd still been together. After that, the double agents on this side hadn't noticed when Cleansing Mist had extricated herself and gone to the other side. The guardian demon just took up too much space and attention, and they’d been too eager for it to kill them.

Now the aggro wasn't pointed in their direction. They followed behind the guardian demon, attacking furiously, but they were completely unable to make it turn around. Collectively, they’d turned into pure DPS. All at once, screen after screen reflected dejected expressions.

Someone suddenly got the bright idea to advance a little further ahead in hope of finding a better opportunity. But to their surprise, they’d only gone half a position forward before Lord Grim appeared in his path and delivered an order: "Don't go past where I am."

A very simple order indeed. Being a newbie wouldn't be enough to explain away being unable to follow it. That would being an idiot; more likely he'd simply realize it was deliberate sabotage.

So there was nothing they could do. They all obediently stayed behind Lord Grim and meekly continued their attack and pursuit.

“Stop!” Until Lord Grim suddenly gave another shout. Everyone paused.

Another order so simple it couldn't be disobeyed. Though there were a few who pretended they hadn't heard and continued to attack, after Lord Grim repeated his order twice more with individual names attached, and went so far as to send messages, it was impossible to pretend any longer. Nor had the few who had tried succeeded in creating any real issues.

"Go back to where you were before," said Lord Grim.

So they could only retreat. Some of them tried to pretend that they didn't remember where they'd been and stand in the wrong place, but they soon found they couldn't get away with it.

Because their ranks weren't entirely pure. On the left side they had Soft Mist, Lord Grim’s own battle mage, who’d gone back to precisely her original position. Those who took the wrong place were immediately instructed by Lord Grim to take their places relative to her.

Oh, their reluctance! Not long after their retreat, the guardian demon executed an earthshaking strike, an area damage move that could have hit the players chasing behind it. But now, regrettably, they’d missed it.

The left row, having fallen back, stared pitifully across. What they saw was the demon starting a ferocious charge toward them while the right row quivered with anticipation, just as they had before. Suddenly someone's heart gave a thump, as if dimly they'd realized something.

Boom!

Just as they were considering their sudden revelation, cannon fire exploded over the guardian demon. Lord Grim hadn't retreated with the left row; after several more attacks, ending with that burst of cannon fire, the guardian demon suddenly turned.

Aha!

Countless people cried out silently.

In the moments that followed, the right row of double agents went through the same experience as the left row. They chased behind the guardian demon, frantically attacking, with Cleansing Mist to mark the line they couldn't cross. Just that simple. Having made it to level 30, as long as they were human, there was no way even a player totally new to Glory could fail to do it.

The double agents all felt a moment of terror. They'd realized that they'd somehow become nothing more than free labor in this battle. Under the current circumstances, it was impossible for them to die unless Lord Grim or Cleansing Mist made a mistake.

But those two had begun by displaying their skill for all to see, and now they were demonstrating flawless aggro control as they took turns. Unbelievably, they were forcing the guardian demon to run back and forth between the two rows without the slightest misstep. If the battle continued like this, they might not even need a cleric's healing...

Shock and awe!

It was only now that everyone truly felt shock and awe.

On the surface everything was still the same, but in private chat they'd already lost their minds.

They couldn't die if they tried. Who in the world were these two, to be able to control the situation to such an incredible degree? At long last, the suspicions of those who didn't know the truth forcibly leveled up.

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QZGS Chapter 313: Press Conference

When the last match ended, the applause from the audience was rather mechanical, clearly the product of politeness rather than any kind of heartfelt appreciation.

Lunhui star Zhou Zekai didn’t seem to find it a problem. As soon as he realized the match was over, he waved to the audience, said a quick thank you, and swiftly left the stage.

Lunhui was all sighs from top to bottom. From the very beginning they’d striven to make him to look good. They’d planned to make him the brightest star of the evening, but in the end he’d come off no better than the throwaway programs in the graveyard slot after midnight on the Lunar New Year. It was only more depressing that this year’s Rising Star Challenge had been more exciting and successful than ever, and yet their own players hadn’t gotten a chance to shine.

After the Rising Star Challenge, the first day of All-Star Weekend was essentially over. Though none of the one-on-one matches had lasted very long, with the addition of various talking segments, plus the opening show, at this point the event had already gone on for almost two hours.

Up next was yet another holographic show, and a few prize drawings and such. In previous years, much of the audience would have already left early during this garbage time. But today, they hadn’t yet gotten enough of the novelty of the hologram technology, and mostly stayed to enjoy it a little longer.

The closing acts continued for almost another half hour, the arena security guards taking their places in preparation for maintaining order, before the first day of All-Star Weekend festivities came to an official end. The lights in the arena gradually went up; the people in the audience stood up and started to leave.

Nonetheless, a few particularly enthusiastic fans remained, peering in every direction. Having come this far, they certainly couldn’t leave without at least trying to meet their idols.

But of course the hosts had taken precautions: the players’ section had its own private exit. By the time the lights had come all the way up and people looked over, the players had already disappeared.

The crowd’s slow exodus took nearly another half hour, everyone squeezed together and sweating. It was easier to breathe outside, each breath turning into a puff of white steam under the lights.

Local attendees clearly had the advantage of experience—once they’d made it outside they rushed straight to the curb. Though a few taxi drivers with a head for business had already shown up to wait for the event to end, on the whole there wasn’t nearly enough supply to meet demand. The side of the road was pandemonium, the competition to get a taxi ferocious; apparently a shared love for Glory wasn’t enough to make people charitable to each other.

All three of them were quite familiar with this sort of scene. Ye Xiu went without saying; as for Chen Guo and Tang Rou, the netcafe stood directly across from Jiashi’s arena, so it followed that they’d seen the audience pouring out after a match before. But when it came down to it this was the first time that any of them had been personally involved. In the end it took another half hour of struggle before they finally managed to get a taxi.

The three of them arrived back at the hotel both tired and hungry. Dinner had been on the plane; after landing in S— City they’d gone directly to the hotel and then hurried off to the arena without taking any time to rest or freshen up, nor had they brought anything to eat while they watched. While focused first on watching, then on lining up to leave the arena, then on waiting for a taxi they hadn’t really felt it, but now they found themselves so famished it felt like their backs were sticking to the fronts.

At the hotel they made straight for the restaurant. After ordering, the three of them turned their eyes toward the big screen on the wall.

By this point professional e-sports in general and the Glory League in particular were thriving, plus Glory had an enormous player base to work with, all of which added up to mean that Glory All-Star Weekend was a major event for the host city. At the moment, all screens were showing highlights from the first day of All-Star Weekend.

First the opening show, and then one challenge match after another.

They’d all just seen the event live, but it was different to see it as a collection of highlights on TV. Every time it got to a particularly good bit Chen Guo, still excited, would tell the other two to watch. Only when Han Wenqing defeated Sun Xiang did she remain silent—the climax of the night, but clearly not a happy one for her.

Up next was the press conference following the end of the day’s festivities.

As the hosts, Lunhui, whatever their discontents, couldn’t express them directly. All they could do was praise the success of the new hologram technology and the quality of the Rising Star Challenge.

Afterward, those of the star players who’d been invited to appear at the press conference mostly stuck to the official line, complimenting the event. But how could the reporters be so easily dismissed? Of course they fired off a long series of questions about the blatant battle between veterans and newcomers.

But clearly the league had already prepared for this. The players present were all particularly skilled at sparring with the media; faced with pointed questions, they just laughed them off and underscored the professionalism of all the players, suggesting that the fierce competition was a manifestation of the league’s healthy growth.

There wasn’t anything interesting to be gotten out of the mouths of players who had clearly come to provide only perfunctory answers. The mass of reporters waited; they knew at least some of the players from the Rising Star Challenge had to appear.

In the end, only four of them appeared at the press conference. Of the rising stars there were Dai Yanqi from the first match and the Lunhui rookie from the sixth round; the veterans were represented by Wang Jiexi and Zhou Zekai.

Devious! None of them were the players the reporters had hoped to see. What was there to ask Dai Yanqi or the Lunhui player? The only one with any relevance was Wang Jiexi.

So the reporters crowded in around him, throwing out question after question, all centered on the match he’d lost to Gao Yingjie.

But Wang Jiexi had many years of experience under his belt, and just as that match had gone exactly as he had planned, so was this situation exactly as he had predicted. He’d volunteered to appear at this presser. Why would he panic?

Confronted with their questions, Wang Jiexi deliberately, methodically answered them one by one.

Though they didn’t get any of the fiery rhetoric they were hoping for, the reporters still appreciated Wang Jiexi making the effort to answer them. Dealing with stars was no easy task; they’d all gotten their fair share of dirty looks and then some for asking tough questions. Nor was there any dearth of such questions directed at Wang Jiexi now—some of them even unknowingly stumbled onto the truth and asked whether he’d lost the match on purpose. But nonetheless he continued to respond with patience.

In contrast Zhou Zekai and the other two were largely being ignored, with only the few reporters who had failed to win a spot close to Wang Jiexi asking them questions.

But there was nothing unusual about that. Even the rookies didn’t take offense. Not many people enjoyed being interviewed very often; if anything, they were entirely happy to be overlooked.

Zhou Zekai, for one, seemed quite pleased about it.

But relative to the two rookies, Zhou Zekai still received a little more attention. After all, the opinions of a god were inevitably more of a draw than a newbie’s. Of those who couldn’t squeeze into the crush around Wang Jiexi, the majority clustered around Zhou Zekai.

”Right now you’re a mid-career player, maybe at your peak. Do you feel that the young players’ swagger at the Rising Star Challenge was a kind of disrespect toward the veterans?”

Silence…a silence ten full seconds long. Zhou Zekai, after what appeared to be serious thought, looked up and said, very earnestly, “It was okay?”

And then nothing. Having delivered three words, he looked toward the reporters as if to say, next question, please.

The reporters were left quite speechless. Of course, they’d already known that interviewing Zhou Zekai was an arduous task at the best of times. Hailed as the most handsome man in Glory, he was capable of putting on a good show, but when it came to conversation he never had much to say, especially when facing the media. Sometimes his sole response to a whole long string of questions was a mere mmhm or oh or ah! or that’s fine, or, like this time, It was okay? Technically it counted as an answer to the question, but what point was there in printing it?

“Hahahaha!” Chen Guo, on the other hand, was quite amused. She pointed at the screen. “I like his interviews.”

It was Tang Rou’s first time seeing one of Zhou Zekai’s interviews, but she’d already picked up on his unique qualities. She asked, with some surprise, “Is that all he’s going to say?”

“Yup.” Ye Xiu nodded.

But the reporters weren’t ready to give up yet. Given the rare chance to interview Zhou Zekai without having to fight too many others for the opportunity, all of them were determined to persevere.

“Now that Tang Hao has defeated Lin Jingyan, do you think he should be called the best rogue in the league?” A very direct question indeed.

Another ten seconds of careful consideration ensued before Zhou Zekai opened his mouth and said, “Everyone’s really good.”

“Everyone? Who do you mean by everyone?”

“Um…” A moment for thought. “Everybody!”

“Everybody? Do you really think Yu Nian is just about as good as you are?” Yu Nian was the rookie who had put on a show with Zhou Zekai earlier today.

“Um…he works really hard!” Zhou Zekai said.

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s good, right?“ someone asked.

"As long as he does his best, that’s good,” Zhou Zekai said after a moment.

The reporters had fallen into mass despair. Meanwhile, Chen Guo had long ago started pounding the table with laughter.

Tang Rou couldn’t keep a straight face either. She asked Ye Xiu, “Is he really like this, or is he just messing with the reporters?”

“Believe me, he really is like this,” Ye Xiu said.