Gu Ya's mecha shot out like a rusty red beam of light.
With a crisp, resounding collision,
Gu Ya was already behind Amber.
As their beam swords met, the inner edge of both cracked simultaneously.
"How did you do that?!" Fang Fei shouted.
Both mechs landed steadily, their beam swords immediately extinguished. The slender inner edges, scorched red by the beam, shattered into pieces and clattered to the ground.
"This is my mecha's signature move," Gu Ya stated calmly.
Fang Fei couldn't believe her eyes. This Zhan Yan didn't seem like much, always using clumsy mecha movements, so why had he suddenly displayed such an advanced and astonishing technique? And the move was familiar; only that person used a similar disappearing flash technique. Could it be...
"Do you know Wang Shangmeng?" Fang Fei asked.
Gu Ya sighed inwardly. No way, what rotten luck. Xian Xia was so vast, 24 cities, and here in Xian Xia City, he met someone who knew Wang Shangmeng.
"Yes, I have some history with him..." Gu Ya said calmly. He wasn't Gu Ya's master anymore; after all, Gu Ya had taught him some moves. Most importantly, Wang Shangmeng had scammed Gu Ya out of a mecha. They were at best good friends.
Gu Ya asked, "You know him too?"
"Heh, if you're his friend, then I won't hold back!" Fang Fei's tone suddenly turned cold and hateful.
Amber dropped the broken beam sword, drew two close-combat daggers, and charged forward.
"Hey! Let's talk properly!" Gu Ya shouted. He had run out of weapons and hadn't found a suitable backup tactical dagger.
He could only fight barehanded!
Timing was never on Gu Ya's side.
But he could always turn danger into safety with his own abilities.
Even barehanded, he could deliver a fatal blow!
"Mind Heart..."
No, I promised myself I wouldn't use system skills.
Because of using [Flash Burst], the mecha's performance dropped to 67%. It was fine; improvising in the face of crisis was my strength!
Gu Ya calmly and quickly brought up the mecha's controls, pressing a few buttons.
The moment Amber charged, Gu Ya swiftly bent down and zipped underneath.
His back thrusters fired, and with a flip, he stood up again behind Amber.
He spread his arms and charged forward, directly embracing Amber.
Amber's body arched left and right, forcing Gu Ya's restraint open.
At the same time, Amber tossed the two daggers in the air, immediately caught them with the reverse grip,
And stabbed backward!
Gu Ya hadn't expected the opponent to have such a move and quickly arched his body.
But it was too late.
The two daggers pierced squarely into Gu Ya's mecha's waist.
Amber's mecha quickly lifted upwards, and the daggers ripped two gashes in Gu Ya's mecha armor!
"You lost!" Fang Fei said coldly. "Friend of a faithless man."
Gu Ya removed his hands from the controls. He had indeed lost. The mecha's various data were rapidly declining, reaching a state where it could no longer fight.
"What do you say? Are you convinced?" Fang Fei asked coldly.
Gu Ya was silent for a moment and said, "Not convinced. I'll beat you sooner or later."
"You talk too much. Without strength, just lie down obediently," Fang Fei said with no regard for politeness.
Gu Ya regained control of the joystick and made a slight adjustment. It could still move, enough to return to the junkyard to repair the mecha.
"Lying down isn't my style. Only pursuing goals will bring me peace. That's all for tonight!" Gu Ya said coldly.
"Wait!" Fang Fei said. "Talk to me."
...
On the empty training ground, two mechas stood side by side.
Gu Ya and Fang Fei leaned against the outer guardrail of the training ground, gazing out at the beautiful Xian Xia nightscape beyond the transparent protective shield.
They remained silent for a long time.
"How is he now?" Fang Fei broke the silence.
Gu Ya said lightly, "Wang Shangmeng? He's full of life." After a pause, Gu Ya continued, "Are you from Wu He City?"
Fang Fei shook her head and said, "Bai Bi Fang City."
"How did you meet him?" Gu Ya asked.
Fang Fei chuckled softly, as if recalling a distant memory. Her voice was low as she said, "I was about your age back then. After graduating from the mecha master academy in Bai Bi Fang City, I went to Fa Ao City for further studies. That's where I met him."
"Then, I fell in love with him."
Gu Ya nodded gently.
"At first, he was quite reliable, but later he became elusive. I couldn't reach him by communication, and he left without even saying goodbye, gone for more than half a year."
"When he returned, he was covered in injuries. I took care of him for a week, and then he disappeared again."
"I don't blame him. I know the War Gods of Xian Xia are not their own masters."
"A year later, he came back to see me. I saw a photo of another woman on his wristband."
"I asked him who that woman was. He said he met her abroad."
Fang Fei lowered her head and smiled faintly.
Gu Ya knew that the deeper the affection, the harder it was to let go. Her smile was just to hide the pain in her heart.
"Later, he never appeared again."
"I gave myself to him, and this is the end result."
Gu Ya asked, "When did this happen?"
"Four or five years ago, I'm 23 this year," Fang Fei said calmly.
Gu Ya slapped the railing, making a resonant "bang bang" sound, and said with a smile, "What's past is past! You're so young, beautiful, and capable, there will surely be someone more outstanding waiting for you."
"Him? A libertine wanderer, he doesn't deserve you! Haha!"
"Wang Shangmeng, oh Wang Shangmeng, you'll suffer the consequences sooner or later! Pay back what you owe!"
Gu Ya didn't know that his casual remark would be transmitted into the indescribable night sky.
Perhaps it was fate, perhaps retribution, Wang Shangmeng's destiny would undergo a drastic change at some point in the future.
"Alright, alright, I need to go repair my mecha. I have training tomorrow," Gu Ya said, turning towards his mecha.
He left Fang Fei alone, gazing at the brilliant night sky in contemplation.
...
"Wow!!!"
Liu Feng grinned widely and exclaimed, "Zeng Lang, your wine cellar is truly a wine cellar!"
The two of them arrived at Zeng Lang's underground wine cellar in the lower city.
In the vast, high-ceilinged cellar, one side was stacked with barrels of wine, separated by airtight partitions.
On the shelves on the other side were various types of baijiu, all of them expensive.
A fresh, non-pungent aroma of wine filled the air. Liu Feng's face began to flush as he smelled it.
Zeng Lang smiled faintly and said, "You haven't been to my former home in the upper city. That wine cellar was even bigger. But I can never go back."
"I sold all my assets in the upper city. From now on, I'll be a down-to-earth resident of the lower city."
"But the wine, heh heh, I managed to transport it all here."
Liu Feng rushed into the cellar like a madman, his mouth agape, looking up at the high shelves, recognizing the bottles one by one.
"Which is the wine you mentioned that can make blood and qi explode?"
Zeng Lang smiled heartily and followed Liu Feng to a sealed room. He opened the metal gate, revealing a room full of homemade wines.
There were snake and insect wines, mulberry and dangui wines, flower and branch wines—everything imaginable.
Zeng Lang slowly picked up a small barrel, tapped it, producing a clear "dong dong" sound, and said with a smile, "See here, 82-year-old mulberry and dangui wolfberry wine. One bottle for vitality, two bottles for four nights, three bottles for ascension! Let's take two bottles for Gu Ya, hehe."
Liu Feng treated it like a treasure, taking the wine barrel from Zeng Lang's hand, drooling with desire, and smiling from ear to ear, "Wow, with this, I can make Fu Yafang completely obedient! Save one bottle for me, no, two!"
Zeng Lang smiled and patted Liu Feng's shoulder, saying, "Plenty! There are still hundreds of bottles from over forty years ago."
"I have to pack an extra bottle for this trip to Xian Xia, haha!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Feng's face fell. "Stay away from me. Don't let me hear your singing again, it makes me restless!"
Zeng Lang took Liu Feng's wine, placed it safely, and then took two bottles of packed wine from the shelf, saying, "Just teasing you. We finally get to go out and have some fun for a couple of days, why bring women!"
"Let's go find Gu Ya!"
"Hahaha! Now that's what a good brother is!"
As they were leaving, they were intercepted by Wei Ping and Jiang Tingyue.
"Where are you going?" Wei Ping asked Zeng Lang with a cold expression.
Jiang Tingyue, with her haughty demeanor, looked at Zeng Lang. "Going out for fun again? You! And you've brought wine!"
Zeng Lang looked at Liu Feng and said with disappointment, "Brother, I'll have to trouble you for a few more days."
"Let's go, my beautiful wives, we're going to bring warmth to Gu Ya."