Shen Jingbin felt extremely unhappy after All Smiles left. She turned around to look at Shen Jingchen and the people from Jade Sea Pavilion, and asked, "Do you guys think that I left the guild because of Pure Crane as well?"
Never in her wildest imagination had she thought that people would be able to come up with such a fanciful story. All sheâd said was a single sentence, but it somehow turned into a rumour about her two-timing.
No one spoke; almost as if their silence was their tacit agreement. Shen Jingbin felt her anger reach its boiling point.
Seeing the atmosphere turning a little awkward, Lingering White Clouds attempted to change the topic to lessen the tension. "Uh, Nutty, whatâs up with these NPCs?"
Shen Jingbin took a few deep breaths to calm herself; her anger wasnât directed at the people in front of her. "I donât know either, they just appeared all of a sudden."
"I gathered them," Said a person who walked out from within the crowd of NPCs. Shen Jingbin took a good look at them and found that the person turned out to be the person whom sheâd gone to Underworld City with in the past â Mistress Of Lost Splendor.
"Some of the women from the group just now were from my guild, and they were gathering other people within the guild to go after you. I just happened to be turning in a quest to the Sect Leader, so I let him know about it in passing. Thatâs when he told me to lead these NPCs over to you."
Everyone: F*ck, your sectâs this cool?
This revelation had also given Shen Jingbin a fright. She took several steps forward and stood before the NPCs. She wasnât sure of herself, but she tried saying it anyway, "Thank you for your assistance fellow sect brothers and sisters."
An elegant youth stepped out from the crowd of NPC and spoke in a gentle and polite tone, "Youâre too kind, sect Senior. Putting aside the fact that the Six Great Sects havenât been able to come together as one for the battle of good against evil, itâd be far too much of a shame if we even suffered from internal strife. As such, the Sect Leader instructed us to come out and right this wrong."
Realisation then dawned on everyone. No wonder there were so many of them here.
Seeing as there was nothing left for them to do, the NPCs bid Shen Jingbin farewell and left. The members of Jade Sea Pavilion were planning to leave as well when they suddenly heard a ding. Quiet And Steadfast had logged in.
[Guild] Guild Leader Quiet And Steadfast has logged on.
"Nutty Nutty, our Leaderâs online!" Syrup Time excitedly announced as she looked at Shen Jingbin.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Mm?" Shen Jingbin immediately opened her friend list and saw that Quiet And Steadfastâs name was lit up.
Before she could do anything else, she received mail from him.
"Where are you?"
"Iâm at the outskirts of Xiling City. Thereâs something I need to tell you," Shen Jingbin replied.
Shen Jingchen noticed what she was doing and said, "Weâll leave first so that we donât bother you guys. Sort out your misunderstanding and talk things out between the two of you."
It was rare to see him act so seriously and Shen Jingbin nodded back at him. Following that, Shen Jingchen half coaxed and half tricked the rest of them away. A short while after everyone had left, Quiet And Steadfast appeared.
The first thing Quiet And Steadfast did was apologize. "I heard what happened, Iâm sorry."
Shen Jingbin gazed at him meaningfully. "Itâs not your fault."
Both of them fell silent.
Quiet And Steadfast was deliberating over how heâd reveal his identity, while Shen Jingbin mulled over how she was going to broach the subject of drawing the line between them.
A long while later, Shen Jingbin finally spoke up, "Iâm just friends with Pure Crane, and I only went over to help with their quests."
She didnât know why she chose to explain herself first, but it was probably because she wanted to set the record straight.
"I know, youâve mentioned it before. Theyâre just rumours. Donât worry, Iâll take care of them for you."
Shen Jingbin waved her hands. "Thereâs no need... and, I have something I need to tell you."
"Mm?"
"I want a divorce."
Her words were like a bolt from the blue. Quiet And Steadfast stood there in stunned silence. Whatâs happening?
"Why?"
"I have a boyfriend in real life, so..." She wanted to finish her sentence, but she felt that he should know what she was trying to say.
Quiet And Steadfastâs expression suddenly turned a little strange. "I think... that you having a boyfriend doesnât conflict with our current arrangement..."
"There isnât any conflict, but I canât accept it. You might think that Iâm doing this for attention, but I donât want to get involved with anyone since I have a boyfriend now... And, youâre very popular, so being with you is a little troubling too."
"So the last part was the main reason why, huh?" Quiet And Steadfast silently remarked.
"Will you break up with your real life boyfriend if heâs so troublesome as well?" Asked Quiet And Steadfast who suddenly went off topic.
Shen Jingbin silently frowned at him.
Quiet And Steadfast coughed uncomfortably.
Shen Jingbin said, "Quiet And Steadfast, you should be able to tell that Iâm trying to distance myself from you, right? Thereâs no other reason why Iâm doing it. Our marriage wasnât built on love, so letâs part ways amicably. Thereâs no reason to hesitate, and we can still be friends even after our divorce..."
A long while passed with Quiet And Steadfast remaining silent. Shen Jingbin thought that he wasnât willing to get a divorce, so she resolved to persuade him. In truth, she felt that apart from her high Luck stat, nothing else about her was anything to write home about. She saw no need for him to be so reluctant.
Little did she expect Quiet And Steadfast to suddenly cut her off halfway.
"Jingjing, Iâm Zhao Chengning."
"I think the two of us... What did you just say?" Shen Jingbin thought that sheâd misheard him and froze for a moment before she turned to look at him with widened eyes.
Quiet And Steadfast pulled off his veil â the very first time heâd ever done so in game. "I said: Iâm Zhao Chengning."
What stared back at her was the most familiar of faces that hadnât seen even a single modification. Her brain instantly crashed.
Sheâd imagined countless ways this conversation might have played out, such as Quiet And Steadfast getting mad and rejecting their divorce, or him nonchalantly agreeing, or him dropping a huge confession on her and urging her to stay.
But, the thought of him turning out to be Zhao Chengning had never crossed her mind, much less him using that as a way to reject her request for a divorce!
"You... you knew who I was from the very beginning?"
Quiet And Steadfast... no, Zhao Chengning, nodded.
Shen Jingbinâs temper flared.
Itâs no wonder that a Great God like him chose to ignore tens of thousands of beauties and instead chose to marry her. Her being âluckyâ or whatever other nonsense was all bullshit. This was the real reason!
She suddenly felt like sheâd been deceived.
Shen Jingbin glared daggers at him before logging off right there and then.
F*ck, she needed some time to calm down! Sheâd spouted all sorts of nonsense to him, only to have him turn out to be the very reason why she was doing all this; how embarrassing!