Chapter 2: Ash Knight
The melodious tune of the flute awakened the bamboo forest. Standing amidst the soaring stalks of bamboo was a youth blowing into his silver flute. The wind began to howl and his dark, long hair swayed along, concealing his handsome features. He stood still, undeterred. His eyes sparkled with determination.
A dark figure emerged from the forest.
"Only fools walk into this forest. You won't live to see the sunrise tomorrow." the figure revealed himself from the shadows. He was a burly man almost twice the size of the youth. His name was Gongsun Yu, wielder of the Vengeance saber, a weapon that had claimed the lives of many who tried to cross his path.
The youth smirked. Those words did not threaten him. He had stopped playing the flute and drew out his sword. His blade glistened under the sun.
"Are you referring to yourself?." the youth muttered. With those words, he leaped into mid-air and made the first move. Gongsun Yu was swift and dodged the attack. The clashing of metal blades echoed through the forest.
They had a fierce exchange. Gongsun Yu seemed to know his every move and fended them off. But the youth persisted. He was waiting for one chance.
"That's all you've got, boy? Jianghu isn't a playground for kids like you!" Gongsun Yu jeered and let his defenses down. "You're just another weakling…"
The youth saw the chance and he was waiting for. Swiftly, he fired multiple sleeve arrows at Gongsun Yu who was caught off guard. The first blood was spilled. Seizing the chance, the youth continued to launch a series of consecutive attacks. Gongsun Yu could barely counter his blows. These moves were entirely different from what he displayed at the beginning.
"Who the heck are you!" Gongsun Yu shouted. He never asked for his opponent's name, none of them were worthy. But this kid was exhausting him. He sensed defeat for the first time.
"You're not worthy enough to know." the youth remarked coldly and without warning, he delivered a lethal attack with his sword, sending Gongsun Yu to his death.
"Seems like Jianghu is where kids like me define my own rules." that was the last thing Gongsun Yu heard before he died. The legendary wielder of the Vengeance saber was slain by a kid whose name he did not know.
But everyone else inside Dreams of Jianghu knew who did it.
"Congratulations to Ash Knight for being the first player to defeat Master of the Vengeance Sabre!"
After the game system made the announcement, the public chat channel was bombarded with comments:
xRoyalWarriorx: WTF! Tell us how you did it!
<3 Ash <3: Omg, my idol! You never fail to amaze me!
BlueMelody: He's the top player, even the bosses are afraid of him.
SolaRise: Bro, that was insane. This was a solo mission and you killed him in what, 15 minutes?
DonutBoy: 15 minutes? I was on it for half an hour and stupid Gongsun Yu still had 80% HP left.
LoveMyAsh: My bb is always the best! - your number #16426 fan.
RandomLoner: Why are you people worshipping him? He's got money to pump into the game, that's all.
SuperBario63: Hahaha, yeah. If you have money, anything's possible.
KoolGuy: Excuse me, if you've seen how Ash Knight plays, you know he's a real pro. You guys are just jealous that you don't have the skills or the money. Oops."
And the sea of comments continued, mostly debating over Ash Knight's skills, with fangirls expressing their admiration once in a while. However, the top player in Dreams of Jianghu, the hottest Wuxia MMO game in the market even after three years, remained silent all along.
SolaRise: Ash, say something. Don't let those people tarnish your reputation.
Windy236: My clan master, Ash, challenge these idiots to a fight.
Hahaha235: He's just a coward who doesn't even dare to reply.
Slayer75: Hahaha235 show your true self. Don't hide behind a newbie account.
Windy236: Guys, I just checked…Ash went offline 5 minutes ago.
Slayer75: What!!! Ash!!
Hahaha235: So this is how Ass Knight escapes, hahaha!
Only the real Ash Knight knew why he went offline in the middle of a commotion. He would have loved to prove those annoying players wrong if his nosy butler had not snatched away his laptop and shut it down without warning.
"Third Master, this would be fine if you were at home. But we're in the middle of a very important event and you just disappeared…to play a game." a middle-aged man in a butler suit directed his disappointment at a young man sitting on the armchair. "The press might have some very interesting things to say if they found out that the youngest son of the prestigious Yang family was hiding in the resting room, buried in his game while his family attends to the guests."
The young man stood up. He was very much taller than the butler. The tuxedo he was wearing seemed a little too tight. The butler shook his head and sighed, "I reminded you to get a new tuxedo."
"Maison, remind me again how often do we hold these charity balls? Thrice a year? Or a month?" he replied sarcastically. The so-called "important event" was none other than the 1068th sickening charity ball which his family has held. He dreaded this event. In fact, he disliked anything that put him in the limelight. However, being Lucas Yang, the third son of the tech tycoon, he wasn't always able to run away from it.
"Tonight is different if you remember. Your father will be presented with a philanthropy award."
"Yeah, and that's why I don't think I'm needed." Lucas found it ironic that his father is receiving an award at a charity event organized by himself. It didn't make sense to him. Whatever. Being part of the Yang family, he learned to accept lots of things that made no sense.
"At least, you should be present when your father receives the award." Maison sounded like a teacher who just kept nagging. He had served the Yangs for decades and knew everyone in the family well. The Yangs treated him as more than just a butler and trusted him to run the household. He helped to look after Lucas and his brothers when they were young, hence he need not observe the usual formalities with them.
Lucas was the one he was most worried about. The cheerful boy who was once full of determination seemed to have changed throughout the years. He drifted further apart from his family as he grew older and became obsessed with gaming.
"Lucas, sometimes, I think I don't understand you anymore. You have a good life but you don't appreciate it. Not everyone gets to enjoy this privilege. You were born into it but you…"
"Guess I wasn't born to fit into a tuxedo." Lucas interrupted. He adjusted the unfitting tuxedo and left the room. He has had enough of Maison's preachings.