Chapter 27: Deterrence, Apology

Qin Yumuo was quite surprised to hear the name "Skyscreen."

Especially after hearing Zero Point describe the method he used to steal their kills. It was exactly the same technique Fu Chen had faced when Skyscreen tried to steal his kills earlier. The only difference was that while Fu Chen had used it for defense, Skyscreen was now using it for offense.

Qin Yumuo raised an eyebrow, looked at Fu Chen, who was walking toward the teleportation master, and remarked with a hidden meaning: "This 'Skyscreen' is quite the fast learner, isn't he? He took the lesson you gave him and immediately turned around to use it on Zero Point and the others."

At the Hero's Hidden Village teleportation point, after Fu Chen and Qin Yumuo arrived, they headed straight toward the location of Zero Point and her companion without delay.

Zero Point asked in confusion: "Yumuo, what did you mean by what you just said? Do you two know this Skyscreen as well?"

Taking advantage of the time spent traveling, Qin Yumuo briefly explained the process of their previous confrontation with Skyscreen.

Zero Point indignantly said: "So this annoying guy learned his kill-stealing method from you, Big Brother? You have to take responsibility for this!"

"Isn't that why I came right away as soon as I heard it was him?" Fu Chen replied with a dry laugh.

At the same time, he felt puzzled: With so many people in the Perfect World, how could he keep running into this guy? It wasn't like this in his past life.

It was now the third day, and most of the newcomers who had arrived over the past two days had come to Hero's Hidden Village to complete quests and level up. As a result, the outskirts of Hero's Hidden Village were far more crowded than those around Sword Immortal City.

Due to the intense competition nearby, Zero Point and Yu Meiren had chosen a more remote spot to complete their quests and hunt monsters.

Over forty minutes later, Fu Chen and Qin Yumuo finally arrived at their location. Nearby, a four-man team was grinding monsters, and one of them was the familiar old rival, Skyscreen. On the other side, Zero Point and Yu Meiren were lying side-by-side in an open area, leisurely admiring the moon and chatting.

Qin Yumuo walked over first and frowned: "You two, have you just been lying here leisurely watching the scenery this whole time?"

Yu Meiren immediately jumped up from the ground, smiling and acting coquettishly: "Sister Yumuo, you're here! Every time we start fighting a monster, that group comes to steal the kill. Sister Su Yao said we might as well just lie down and rest."

Zero Point stood up and playfully pinched Yu Meiren’s cheek in embarrassment: "You sell me out the moment something happens, don't you? You little ingrate."

At this point, having observed Skyscreen and his group for a moment, Fu Chen turned to his teammates and said: "Zero Point, you two continue with your quests. Huang, you help them fight as well."

"Big Brother, you aren't planning on standing by and doing nothing, are you?" Zero Point immediately protested.

Fu Chen calmly swapped the dual axes on his back for a bow and arrow, watching Skyscreen with cold eyes: "I'll keep watch from the side. If Skyscreen dares to come and steal any more kills, I don't mind teaching him another lesson today."

"Alright, then I'll take them to hunt," Qin Yumuo nodded and led the two of them toward the monsters.

***

Nearby, although the four members of Skyscreen's team were focused on fighting, it was clear that someone was keeping an eye on Zero Point's group at all times.

As soon as Qin Yumuo led Zero Point and Yu Meiren to the monsters, Skyscreen received a tip from his teammate and turned to look. He laughed as he spoke a few words to his team, killed the monster in front of him, and collected the coins and items that dropped.

Afterward, Skyscreen took the lead, heading toward the three women with his teammates in tow.

As the distance between the two parties closed, they could clearly see each other's faces. Skyscreen froze for a moment when he saw Qin Yumuo, then laughed dryly: "Miss Qin, I didn't expect Zero Point and Yu Meiren to be your friends."

Qin Yumuo gave him a contemptuous glance and replied coldly: "Just because they aren't my friends doesn't mean you can maliciously steal kills. You hit on them, got rejected, and now you're retaliating? You're still as annoying as ever."

Having his shortcomings exposed so bluntly by Qin Yumuo in front of everyone, Skyscreen's face turned livid. Only then did he notice that she had switched to close-quarters combat. He sneered: "Miss Qin has changed her weapon, but we have four magic users and you only have two. The advantage is on our side."

The implication was for Qin Yumuo to recognize the current situation and adopt a more polite attitude.

At this moment, Fu Chen walked up from behind, drew his bow, and fired an arrow at a monster nearly 20 meters away. At the same time, he asked in return: "Oh, is that so? And what if you have four magic users?"

Skyscreen spun around, gritting his teeth as he looked at Fu Chen: "Half-Love Red Dust? It’s you again!"

"I was going to say the same thing, Skyscreen—it's you again," Fu Chen smiled calmly, his tone sharp and mocking: "Didn't you learn your lesson last time? You love bullying the weak and stealing kills so much? Come on, keep stealing!"

Skyscreen’s eyes blazed with rage; he looked at Fu Chen as if he wanted to tear him to pieces, but in the end, he dared not act.

His teammate, [Wave Addiction to the Bone], felt unconvinced and asked indignantly: "Half-Love Red Dust, right? Why don't you ask your friends why they were hurling insults? We came over with good intentions to say hello and offer to help them fight, but she started cursing at us..."

"Cut the crap!" Fu Chen interrupted coldly, looking at him with utter mockery: "Wave Addiction to the Bone—your name alone tells me you're not a decent person. Good intentions? How could anything involving you and Skyscreen be well-intentioned?"

Nearby, Zero Point and Yu Meiren were stunned by the scene. How exactly had this Skyscreen been handled by Red Dust before that he looked like a mouse seeing a cat? Red Dust was so fierce and unyielding, berating the two of them until they acted like cowards. Was he not at all afraid of the four people on the other side?

The two women were in disbelief. While they joined in to fight the monsters, they kept messaging Qin Yumuo in the team channel to gossip.

On the other side, after being berated by Fu Chen, Wave Addiction to the Bone grew angry as well. He turned to Skyscreen and said: "Captain, it's four against four now. Let's steal their kills; it's not certain who will win. Why are we taking this abuse?"

***

Fu Chen waved the bow in his hand and sneered: "Sure, I'm waiting for you to try."

Skyscreen said with a sour face: "Didn't you see the bow he's using? His attack range is 20 meters and his level is higher than ours—how are you going to steal the kills?" He turned back with a vicious glare: "Half-Love Red Dust, you’re only leading for the moment. I don't believe you can stay ahead forever. Just you wait!"

After delivering his threats, Skyscreen turned to his teammates and said: "Forget it, let's go back to grinding monsters."

"Wait a second!" Fu Chen called out from behind, staring at him with a sinister look: "You think you can just bully people and walk away like that?"

Fu Chen spoke with a matter-of-fact tone, his voice casual: "You came over to harass these women—you're at fault first. Apologize to my friends. Furthermore, your malicious kill-stealing cost my friends an hour's worth of cultivation. Since you can't restore their cultivation, just compensate them with 10,000 gold coins each."

Before Skyscreen could speak, Wave Addiction to the Bone exploded in rage: "We shouldn't have harassed them, so an apology is fine; but paying money is impossible. I don't even have 10,000 gold coins!"

Skyscreen and the other two teammates expressed their agreement.

"The rest of you were accomplices as well, so come over and apologize to my friends too," Fu Chen thought for a moment and agreed.

Wave Addiction to the Bone and Skyscreen took the lead, bringing the other two teammates over. Standing before Zero Point and Qin Yumuo, they offered their apologies with clear reluctance: "Sorry, harassing you was my mistake, and I shouldn't have stolen your kills."

"Sorry, we shouldn't have maliciously stolen your kills."

After apologizing, the four of them didn't look back and fled the scene, returning to their original spot to continue fighting.

Zero Point’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled at Fu Chen: "Thank you, Big Brother, for standing up for us."

"Thank you, Big Brother Red Dust! You're so cool! Tee-hee!" Yu Meiren also cheered and thanked him.

Fu Chen didn't take credit, laughing lightly: "It was the right thing to do. You are good friends of Huang, so don't mention it."

He turned to look at Qin Yumuo: "With two level 10s here, the cultivation your friends are getting is too low. I'm going to leave the group."

"We aren't afraid of low cultivation, Big Brother! Stay and help us with our quests!" Zero Point urged him to stay.

Qin Yumuo asked with a puzzled look: "Are you leaving the group to go back to Four Corners Village for quests?"

Fu Chen’s gaze turned icy as he looked toward Skyscreen's direction, replying softly: "I traveled too long to get here to just turn around and leave. I'm going to get a bit more revenge for Zero Point and the others."

With that, Fu Chen charged directly toward the four members of Skyscreen's team, firing an arrow at a monster right next to them.