Chapter 89: Plan

The three of them were silent, standing by the lake, with twinkling stars across the night sky, accompanied by the croaking of frogs in the lake, Wang You answered Lin Xiyan's question.

Lin Xiyan seemed to have received the answer she hoped for, she smiled and then said to Wang You: 'Then may you remain happy forever; the story here has already begun, and we cannot leave.'

Feng Yan couldn't understand what the two girls were saying, looking at them with a somewhat dazed gaze, but just as Feng Yan was about to speak and ask, Lin Xiyan had already turned and returned to her wooden hut. Feng Yan's question, naturally, could not be answered; Feng Yan glanced at Wang You before him, recalled the scene of their first meeting, and couldn't help sighing: 'Ah, it turns out that since then, a long time has already passed.'

The night had grown deep; only those who, while the dwarves slept soundly, still could not fall asleep, busied and worried over various matters, directly facing hardship. The king could not sleep, fearing the box in his hand would fly away; Feng Yan could not sleep, he took Wang You for a leisurely stroll by the lake, which would ease his thoughts a little, no longer troubled by the dwarves' affairs and their oath.

Feng Yan and Wang You continued walking slowly by the lake, a faint glow appeared on the lake surface, and as the frogs croaked, the glow flickered bright and dim; seen from afar, it was truly a rare sight.

Feng Yan was attracted by the scene before him, he stopped his steps, recalling from memory a swarm of fireflies circling in the rice fields, while he himself, lying on his own roof, blankly watched the dancing fireflies.

At that time Feng Yan was lonely; he closed his eyes and recalled that memory—lonely, sorrowful, lacking parental affection, traits shared by all rural children, while the children also desperately hoped for their parents' return during that snowy New Year.

Feng Yan closed his eyes, recalled that scene, then opened his eyes and saw Wang You looking at him with a worried expression.

'What's wrong?' Feng Yan, being looked at in that way for the first time, felt somewhat unnatural, and consciously asked.

'No, it's fine.' Wang You shook his head, then spoke.

Feng Yan walked slowly, with Wang You following behind; Feng Yan stopped, turned his head to look at Wang You, wanting to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he could not produce any sound.

Wang You's eyes were full of expectation as he looked at Feng Yan, also anticipating his words; after several back-and-forth attempts, Feng Yan still said nothing, merely seeing his throat move, yet unable to utter a sound.

Thus, Feng Yan and Wang You continued their lakeside stroll; the night wind blew, not boisterous, and Wang You's hair was loosened by the breeze, swaying with it.

Feng Yan stopped again, walked toward Wang You, and said: 'I hope you can accompany me all the way to the end of this journey!'

Feng Yan finally spoke! He panted heavily, his right hand pressed against his chest, as if he had made some major decision.

'Mm,' Wang You nodded.

Feng Yan dared not lift his head to look at Wang You's expression, which was so joyful; at the moment Feng Yan spoke those words, everything seemed already destined.

'I have been betrayed by friends before, but I still believe in friendship; seeing you, I feel that perhaps love is no longer important either.' Feng Yan's heartbeat gradually calmed, yet his face flushed.

Lin Xiyan watched the two through the window, feeling somewhat happy, yet also a little envious of Wang You, but then she thought, 'Isn't she exactly my own creation?' Upon that thought, she smiled again.

Lin Xiyan gazed at the scene outside the window, smiling, and said: 'This story, after all, has gradually begun to acquire color.'

Feng Yan and Wang You walked slowly back to Chen Hao's side.

'Yo, you've come, I've been waiting for you!' Chen Hao looked as Feng Yan approached, then greeted him, holding a chicken wing skewered on a branch and roasting it.

Feng Yan sniffed with his nose, then sat beside Chen Hao, smiling and said: 'Mm, it's pretty fragrant.'

'That's right!' Chen Hao replied with a laugh, at the same time handing the chicken wing to Feng Yan.

Feng Yan took the chicken wing, bit into it, and immediately a meaty fishy taste filled his mouth; Feng Yan endured the flavor and forced himself to swallow it down.

'It's not cooked yet, never mind that for now; the most important thing is, there's no salt!' Feng Yan frowned and complained to Chen Hao.

'Did I say there was salt?' Chen Hao teased, meanwhile giving Feng Yan a wink.

Feng Yan realized something, he turned his head and saw that Wang You had already fallen asleep; he wanted to find something to cover her, fearing she would catch cold, but discovered his own clothing was only a single layer, his earlier coat having already been given to Wang Tingwan.

Just as Feng Yan felt embarrassed, Jin Meng threw him a blanket.

Feng Yan walked over carefully, covered her with it, then slowly approached Chen Hao and softly said: 'Then, can we discuss our plan now?'

Chen Hao first gave no reply, merely glancing toward Wang You, then gave Feng Yan an extremely cunning look, followed by a mischievous grin as he said: 'No, I'm just puzzled—how can you be so kind to a virtual girl from a game console? You've never been this attentive to other girls.'

Feng Yan sighed, then replied: 'Perhaps reality has disappointed me, so I've taken a liking to virtual girls; this could be considered a kind of solace.'

These words spoken from Feng Yan's mouth carried sorrow and helplessness; Chen Hao thought he had said something wrong and fell silent.

'That's right, Adventurer Sir, we need to devise a plan, a plan to deal with our own—no, the Benefit Country soldiers.' Jin Meng broke the deadlock and simultaneously put forward the request.

Feng Yan rested his chin on his hand and asked Chen Hao: 'This is a problem; the enemy's soldiers vastly outnumber the dwarves, even if I have my weapons, the other side also has Yang Xin, whose crossbow we must guard against, unless we can win over the bounty hunters so they do not launch an attack.'

Chen Hao laughed and replied: 'I have a plan, called the Money‑scattering Plan.'

'Money‑scattering?' Feng Yan looked puzzled, then continued looking at Chen Hao and said, 'What kind of plan is this?'

'It means scattering money among the crowd when the great army attacks, and it's gold coins!' Chen Hao explained.

……

Feng Yan was speechless, looking at Chen Hao's expression as if he were looking at an idiot.

'No, believe me, I think it's feasible!' Seeing Feng Yan's expression, Chen Hao became a little anxious.

'Do you think the soldiers will stop attacking and just hand over their heads?' Feng Yan stared at Chen Hao and began to complain.

'I also think it won't work, too risky!' Jin Meng agreed with Feng Yan's view.

'This is a backup plan; of course there are other options.' Seeing the plan rejected, Chen Hao took out the adventurer's map, opened it, and the full layout of the Golden Paulownia Forest appeared on it.

'From the map one can see that there is a lake in the middle of the forest, the lake located at the exact center of the map, then the forest spreads outward gradually around the lake, the surroundings are not overly complex, and while the woods are extremely fearful of fire, why, when they began the encirclement, did they not set fire?' Chen Hao opened the map and analyzed it.

'Could it be some kind of restriction?' Feng Yan asked.

'That's possible!' Chen Hao replied.

'Finally it's about to begin!' The Red‑clothed Devil observed the king's sorry state through the crystal ball, smirked, and said.

'Report! The troops heading for the Golden Paulownia Forest have returned!' A soldier said to the Red‑clothed Devil.

'Go down.' The Red‑clothed Devil waved his hand.

The soldiers retreated in droves; at this moment the Red‑clothed Devil drew a six‑pointed star array on the ground.

After the array was completed, the Red‑clothed Devil dripped his own blood onto it; the array emitted a faint red light, then flickered on and off, and the Red‑clothed Devil, looking at the situation on the ground, pondered and said: 'It seems the situation is not optimistic—could it be that he has arrived?'