The First District was located to the north of Huaxia City. Since each district was responsible for expanding its own territory outward, the First District wasn't an old one. Like the Eighteenth District, it lay at the northern border of Huaxia's domain.
However, unlike the Eighteenth District, many of the forces within the First District were those who had followed the Huaxia military during the earliest days of pioneering Ghost Star.
It was said that within the First District, there were many ancient martial families and sects from Huaxia who had formed their own guilds.
Back when the Huaxia military first began exploring Ghost Star, after they understood just how difficult that planet was, it was only natural that the first ones they thought of were these martial artists.
Even now, though those guilds that had once contributed to Huaxia's expansion weren't as grand as the Ten Great Guilds—didn't open branches or recruit members en masse—some guilds only had a few dozen members, they still remained a force that could not be ignored.
There was a particularly interesting phenomenon in the First District.
In every other district, the Ten Great Guilds were always the strongest ones around. Yet in the First District, not a single guild dared to call itself the strongest.
When Jiang Kai arrived at the First District's main city, he saw from afar that its scale was more than twice that of the Eighteenth's main city.
After entering the city, Jiang Kai headed straight for the Guild Zone.
Looking at the map of the Guild Zone, he saw that the Kunlun Guild occupied a huge area—on par with the Ten Great Guilds of the Eighteenth District. However, Kunlun was only rated as a Class B guild.
"It's only a Class B guild… just one rank higher than Lord God," Jiang Kai said, a bit surprised.
After all, the Kunlun Guild had existed for decades, and yet it was still only Class B. That was rather unexpected.
Following the map, Jiang Kai soon arrived at the Kunlun Guild's gates.
At the center of the grand entrance hall hung a wooden plaque, upon which the two characters "Kunlun" were written in bold, flowing calligraphy.
On both sides of the entrance hung a couplet:
Starlight and bright moon shine for a thousand years.
Kunlun's sheer cliffs stand for eternity.
"There's even a couplet? Looks pretty good. We should probably get one too later," Jiang Kai said to the little creature perched on his shoulder.
While admiring the plaque and the calligraphy, Jiang Kai suddenly noticed something—the Kunlun Guild's state was rather similar to that of the Lord God Guild earlier.
In broad daylight, the gates were tightly shut, and there wasn't a single person in sight!
Though Kunlun wasn't a high-ranking guild, it still had a huge territory. Yet not a soul could be seen. Jiang Kai couldn't help but frown.
Beside the wooden door, he found a small wooden sign.
On it were the words:
This guild does not recruit new members. Please seek employment elsewhere.
Sure enough, this Kunlun Guild was unusual.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Kai grabbed the metal knocker and gave it a few raps.
"Excuse me, is anyone there?"
After waiting for quite a while, the heavy doors creaked open a crack. A head popped out from within, the man frowning as he sized up Jiang Kai.
"What do you want? Didn't you see the sign?"
Jiang Kai politely replied, "Brother, I'm not here to apply for the guild. I'm looking for someone."
"Looking for someone? Who?"
"For… Chang Siyao."
"Yao Yao?" The man leaned out a bit further, then pulled the door shut again before giving Jiang Kai another thorough look. "What do you want with her?"
Jiang Kai frowned slightly. Of course, he wanted to ask her whether she agreed or not—but how could he tell a stranger something like that?
"I've got some business with her… Could you please call her for me? Tell her that Jiang Kai's here."
The man snorted coldly. "Man, the excuses are getting worse and worse. The last few at least came up with something. You can't even bother making one up?"
"I'll tell you this—people looking for Yao Yao show up every single day. If I went to call her for each one of you, I'd go crazy."
Jiang Kai suddenly felt an enormous pressure.
Did Chang Siyao have that many admirers? Had none of them actually spoken to her before?
"Go on, get lost. Don't be a toad dreaming of eating swan meat. Take a look at yourself—you don't even have a War God emblem, and you're still trying to get funny ideas."
"Wait—no, I… Brother, I really am Chang Siyao's friend. Please, just tell her I'm here. If she says I'm not, I'll leave right away!" Jiang Kai pleaded.
The man frowned, looking at Jiang Kai's sincere expression. He seemed slightly hesitant.
"You really aren't here to chase after Yao Yao?"
"I…" Jiang Kai was tongue-tied for a moment, then evasively replied, "Brother, you could've already told her by now. I really am her friend."
"Fine, wait here then."
The man turned and went back inside, closing the gate tightly behind him. Jiang Kai couldn't see a thing.
Left alone outside, Jiang Kai paced back and forth, feeling extremely nervous.
What if Chang Siyao rejected him? This was his first time confessing—what if it failed?
"Failure's not scary. What's scary is if Yuan Zhu finds out…" Jiang Kai squinted slightly.
That big-mouthed Yuan Zhu—if he knew about this, the whole world would know!
The worst part was that guy had actually started dating Su Nuannuan. He'd laugh himself to death over this.
After a while, the gatekeeper returned.
Seeing Jiang Kai still standing there, his expression was filled with disdain.
"You're still here?"
"Of course, I'm waiting to go in."
The man shook his head repeatedly. "I asked Yao Yao. She said she doesn't know you."
"Huh?" Jiang Kai's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You're kidding… What exactly did she say?"
"Kidding you for money, maybe? She said, 'I don't know any Jiang Kai!'" The man even imitated Chang Siyao's tone.
At that, Jiang Kai froze. That tone, those words—there was no doubt about it. It really was her.
"Hurry up and leave. If you don't, I'll have to throw you out!" the man said irritably.
Jiang Kai felt utterly dejected.
They said confessing was a dangerous thing. If it succeeded, fine—but if it failed, there was a high chance you couldn't even stay friends.
Was that really what had happened between him and Chang Siyao?
Thinking more deeply, Jiang Kai felt even colder inside.
Last time on the snowy mountain, he'd nearly gotten her killed in-game, even stolen a kiss from her, and later used her as ammo for his Pursuit Shot, flinging her hundreds of meters away…
"You're really thick-skinned, you know that? Still not leaving?" the man urged.
Jiang Kai looked once more at the tightly shut gates, thought for a moment, and finally turned to leave.
Wandering aimlessly through the First District's main city, Jiang Kai felt utterly disheartened.
Ever since logging out, he'd realized he'd gained quite a bit of fame in Huaxia, even picked up a number of fans.
Yet the girl he liked didn't like him back.
That long-lost feeling—it had happened before. Out of nine crushes, five had ended the same way.
Back then, his family had been poor, so he'd never dared confess. Now that he finally had, it turned out to be the worst possible result—not even friends anymore.
Holding the little creature in his arms, Jiang Kai sat alone on the edge of the login plaza's steps.
"Little one, Yinzi was right. Looks like I'm destined to die single…"
The little one tilted its head thoughtfully, then began shaking it vigorously.
"What? You think I'm wrong?"
It nodded rapidly.
"Thanks for trying to comfort me."
The little one shook its head again.
"Not comforting me?"
It nodded.
"Then you mean… you think Chang Siyao likes me?"
It nodded again.
Jiang Kai's eyes widened.
This little thing was practically human. It had spent half a year with Chang Siyao—he had every reason to believe it.
If Chang Siyao did have feelings for him, then why would she say she didn't know him, and refuse to let him into the Kunlun Guild?
Just what was going on inside the Kunlun Guild?
Thinking this, Jiang Kai suddenly stood up. "No! I have to go ask her myself!"
With that, he once again set off toward the Kunlun Guild.
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