523 Blind Date

The dilemma Xu Man was in was fairly simple. It was the New Year and her family, being traditional, did not like the fact that she was a celebrity who was always in the public's eye, hence they arranged a blind date for her.

Who would have thought a major celebrity would go on a blind date? If it did not come from Xu Man, the horse's mouth, who would believe it?

The help Xu Man sought from Li Yi was pretty straightforward. It was for him to accompany her back home and pretend to be her boyfriend in order to put a stop to the blind date fiasco.

If word were to get out about Xu Man going on a blind date, her fans would go ballistic. She sought help from Li Yi because she was at her wit's end. She did have many male friends, apart from Li Yi but there were only a handful whom she could trust.

Li Yi was put in an awkward position, "I don't think it'll work out. It's best you find someone else."

"But who else can I look for? If I found someone, would I be begging you? So are you going to help me or not?"

...

Three hours later, a fancy luxury racing motorcar turned up at Li Yi's building. Xu Man personally came to fetch him.

Although Li Yi was unwilling to participate in such a matter, he could not just say no at this point. To keep up the appearance with Xu Man, he specially bought gifts for the visit to Xu Man's place.

Fortunately, the whole ordeal went well. Li Yi did not meet with Xu Man's parents but he did get a meeting with her grandfather. He was a venerable-looking old folk dressed in a veteran army uniform.

The person who arranged the blind date for Xu Man was him.

"So it's this guy here? Can he compare with my old comrade's grandson? Look at his skinny frame, I don't think he can even pick up a gun."

This old folk was blunt with his words. The moment Li Yi entered the residence, he was frothing in the mouth and glaring with rage.

"Not just guns, I can also handle cannons," Li Yi flippantly answered back. This was a fake date anyway so he was not afraid to bungle the whole thing.

The old folk's face turned sour while Xu Man's eyes reddened in anxiety. Li Yi was not clear about the situation of her family, not knowing that whatever her grandfather says, goes in the household. The whole family trembled in fear before the glare of the old man.

The old man slammed the table before standing, turning to climb upstairs.

"Why did you say such a thing to my grandfather? Oh no, I'm going to be doomed," Xu Man was completely devastated.

"What's wrong? This old man's your grandfather? Is he that scary? You're a major celebrity, you know that?"

Xu Man jumped, "Shh, quiet down. What major celebrity? If my grandfather were to overhear this, I won't be able to leave the house for at least ten days. He can't stand celebrities, idols, and whatnots."

"Wow, who would have thought your family situation to be this complicated."

Li Yi gave Xu Man the thumbs up. He got to give it to her.

Xu Man's grandfather then made his way back downstairs, lugging a shiny heavy machine gun over his shoulder while parading down with such grandeur.

"Grandfather, what... what are you doing? Don't, grandfather," Xu Man used her body to shield Li Yi while shaking her head violently. Li Yi may not be familiar with this man's temperament but she was. He was not kidding if he said he was going to blow someone up.

Li Yi was gobsmacked. It was his first time meeting someone who actually kept a weapon like a heavy machine gun at home in this day and age.

The old folk flung the heavy machine gun onto the couch, panting as he glared hard at Li Yi, "I don't have a cannon so why don't you carry this gun."

Li Yi was about to head over when he was stopped by Xu Man.

"No..., please... don't."

Li Yi broke free from Xu Man's grasp and walked towards the heavy machine gun. With a snatch of his hand, he held the gun upwards.

Li Yi looked as though he knew his stuff, supporting the barrel while keeping the stock above his elbow. His daily jogs aided him in supporting the weight of the heavy machine gun.

"Mm, you have some strength in you," The old man nodded.

Li Yi bared his teeth and placed the heavy machine gun back onto the couch.

"Good gun."

"So you know guns?" The old man seemed to be in impressed.

Li Yi shook his head, "No."

"Then how do you know that this is a good gun?"

"Li Yi pointed at the heavy machine gun, "It's loaded."

The old man paused before bursting into laughter.

Xu Man who was standing beside in pins and needles finally let out a long sigh of relief after witnessing this sight.

"You're quite honest. Do you know how to wrestle?"

"Yes."

"Let's go, follow me upstairs."

The old man threw these words and turned to head upstairs.

Seeing Li Yi follow him up, Xu Man grabbed ahold of Li Yi's hand, refusing to loosen her grip, "Don't go. Thank you, it's my fault. I shouldn't have asked you to come."

"Don't worry, your grandfather wouldn't hurt me."

"What do you know? My grandfather used to..."

Li Yi cut Xu Man off, "That's before, not the present."

Li Yi headed upstairs.

Ten minutes passed, Li Yi has not yet come down...

Twenty minutes passed, Li Yi still has not come down...

Thirty minutes passed, Li Yi has yet to come down...

Xu Man was in a panic as she ran upstairs.

"Come come come, let's toast!"

"Let's toast!"

Cling!

The sound of clinking glasses were heard coming from the room. Xu Man pushed open the door and found Li Yi and the old man sitting by a table and drinking.

The old man waggled his head, "We are men, so we must drink strong liquors like Shaodaozi"

Li Yi nodded in response and tilted his glass, downing the drink in one shot.

"You can really hold your liquor!"

The old folk gave a huge thumbs up to show his approval. He then did something that left Xu Man in disbelief. He picked up the wine bottle and poured a drink for Li Yi...

OMG, her grandfather is actually pouring a drink for someone else?

Xu Man's jaw dropped beyond the point of no return. Her sight swiveled to the table where she spotted seven empty wine bottles.

It only has been a while yet both of them have already consumed seven bottles?

"I'm drinking!"

Li Yi downed his drink in a gargle and once again his glass was empty.

The old man praised his gumption and quickly refilled Li Yi's glass again.

"You really can drink, hahahahaha. You're just like me when I was young. Men should drink like this."

Xu Man quietly exited the room and gently closed the door.

Xu Man could not wrap her head around how Li Yi and the old man went from wrestling to drinking. However, if there was one thing she was certain, it was that her grandfather was currently happy.

Judging by grandfather's appreciation towards Li Yi, Xu Man knew that the blind date ordeal has finally blown over.

Li Yi called home this very night because he had to stay overnight in Xu Man's residence.

It was not that he did not want to return but Xu Man's grandfather was insistent in proving who was the better drinker between them. He did not have a choice and could not reject this old man. Nevertheless, there was no winner in this battle of alcohol as Li Yi passed out and so did Xu Man's grandfather.

They both were no different from each other. It was a draw!

...

Li Yi was the first to wake up the next day. The old man may be good at drinking but his old age could not compare to a young man in recovering.

Celebrity Xu Man personally drove Li Yi home.

Li Yi was still feeling the alcohol upon his return so he lay in bed to recover.

Once Li Yi was awake, Jiaojiao's bedroom door was still shut. He went to tug at it but found it was locked. He took out a key to unlock the door.

It was almost dark yet Jiaojiao was not up and this got Li Yi worried.

There were two separate blankets on the bed. Jiaojiao and Fire Ice were deep in slumber left and right.

These two girls must have been up all night playing following his overnight rendezvous.

Li Yi shook his head and closed the door tight. He went out for a jog.

When came back, he logged into the game to arrive at the fifth stage entryway of Tuhr Altar. The place was barren. Sister Windcloud Nine and Akna were missing in action.

He took out Divine Looking Glass and found Sister Windcloud Nine offline. As for Akna, she was still in Tuhr Altar and her actual coordinates were in Tuhr Altar's fifth stage 53322: 421131!

Akna was still alive. Did she manage to stay alive in the fifth stage?

Li Yi summoned Violent Bear King's Possession and ran into the fifth stage.

Tst tst tst—

The elements in the fifth stage field were wildly surging towards him, prompting Li Yi to retreat. In a mere three seconds, his 110,000 HP was reduced to about 10,000.

The impact in the fifth stage field was no different than before. How strange. How did Akna enter the place?

Could there be a secret passage here?

Li Yi took a look around and picked up Purple Broadsword to tap the walls in an attempt to find a switch.

After a day of testing, he still did not uncover any switch. There was only one pathway before him and that was the fifth stage entryway. Apart from this pathway, there was no other road.

Akna's information was still available in Divine Looking Glass. This meant that she was still alive...

It has already been this long, yet she has not died. She must have found a way to survive in the fifth stage field.

If only Sister Nine were here.

Li Yi frowned.

It was then a dark shadow emerged from the fifth stage entryway. Sister Windcloud Nine was online!

The moment Sister Windcloud Nine saw Li Yi, she cheerfully cried out, "Mr. Ulumuchi, you're online!"

Luckily, Li Yi was quick enough to equip his Cursing Sect Outfit.

Li Yi was straightforward in his question, "How did your teacher enter the entryway?"

"I'm not sure myself," Sister Windcloud Nine shook her head. "Teacher entered in there once she awakened but never made it out. I only know this much."

Li Yi shook his head and sighed. He thought he could gather more information from Sister Windcloud Nine, yet...

Sister Windcloud Nine hesitated for a bit before adding, "Mr. Ulumuchi, I have something to ask you."

Li Yi nodded, "Speak."

"You... You... You..." Sister Windcloud Nine hummed and hawed.

"What's wrong?" Li Yi was curious.

"Nothing," Sister Windcloud Nine seemed to gather up her courage to speak but quickly swallowed her words.

How secretive. She was the same the last time. What was she trying to say?

The more Sister Windcloud Nine hemmed and hawed, the more Li Yi's curiosity was piqued.

"Right, are you able to communicate with Akna?"

In King of Pantheon, players could add NPCs as friends and the condition of the friend request was simple — as long as the NPC agreed to it.

Sister Windcloud Nine nodded.

"Can you ask your teacher how did she enter? Also, if she needs our help."

"Alright."

Sister Windcloud Nine obeyed Li Yi's instruction and sent a private message to Akna.

It did not take long for Akna to reply, "Don't come in here. I'm about to leave."

"Teacher told us to wait for her here," Sister Windcloud Nine conveyed the same to Li Yi.

"I guess we'll have to wait then," Li Yi was helpless.

Li Yi and Sister Windcloud Nine waited for about five minutes when Akna walked out of the fifth stage altar. In her hands, was a Tuhr Sacred Sword!

...A traditional clear distilled wine that has history tracing back to Zhou and Qin Dynasty. It contains high alcohol and has a burning effect on the throat upon consumption.