[Esports] Team Leader Xie, your mid laner is causing trouble again.

After they were cleaned up, they were packed into a van and set off for a temple about an hour's drive from the base.

Their team hasn't been officially announced yet, so everything has to be kept secret. Therefore, the group wasn't wearing team uniforms and were all dressed in their own clothes.

Five trendy young men stood at the entrance of the ticket booth, startling the ticket seller. He squinted at them for a while, almost thinking they were there to collect protection money.

Song Bo quickly stepped forward, bought tickets, and led the group inside.

After entering the main gate, you still have to walk a bit further to reach the incense burning area.

The air in the mountains and forests was fresh, the leaves on the trees along the road were beginning to turn yellow, and occasionally birds would flit overhead.

The group chatted as they walked, and they walked quite quickly.

As we approached, we passed a lake.

The lake water was emerald green, reflecting the shadows of the trees on the shore and the distant mountains; the scenery was quite beautiful.

Song Bo suddenly exclaimed "Oops!" and slapped his head.

Then he squatted down, took out a half-empty bottle of Nongfu Spring water from his bag, and walked towards the lake in a daze.

Jiang Xingle stopped in her tracks, puzzled. "What's wrong with him?"

Curious onlookers gathered around to watch.

Liang Shoucheng seemed to know what Song Bo was going to do. His lips twitched, but he didn't follow. He stood there pretending to admire the scenery.

Song Bo walked to the lakeside, unscrewed the cap of a mineral water bottle, bent down, and slowly poured the remaining half-bottle of water into the lake.

While lying down, he kept chanting, "Amitabha, good, good, releasing life, the merit is immeasurable..."

RAK members: "..."

Jiang Xingle couldn't hold back any longer: "Brother Bo, what are you doing?"

Song Bo poured out the half-empty bottle of water, stood up with a solemn expression, and waved towards the lake, as if saying goodbye to something.

Then he leaned closer with a mysterious look on his face, lowered his voice, and adopted a solemn expression:

"Have you heard that UUC won the championship last season because they found an injured wild rabbit during their pre-match prayer, and then they treated it and released it back into the wild?"

RAK members: "...So?"

Song Bo smiled slightly, his eyes gleaming with an almost devout light:

"So I just released a bottle of Nongfu Spring water into the wild. Our championship this season should be a sure thing."

A gust of wind blew by, bringing a few fallen leaves.

Li Zhi seemed to hallucinate a crow flying by, leaving behind a string of ellipses.

Although it was absurd, he still rigorously questioned it:

"But isn't it even crueler to only release half a bottle, considering the other half still in your stomach?"

Song Bo was shocked. "It seems so. Won't that backfire and eliminate us in the first round?"

Jiang Xingle also became alert.

He quickly pulled out half a bottle of Nongfu Spring water from his bag, walked to the lakeside, and poured it out while trying to salvage the situation:

"Another half bottle, and it'll be like releasing the whole bottle back into the wild. I hope you two halves will reunite in the lake, and please don't curse us to be eliminated in one round."

Although Ling Wang didn't understand, he joined in and muttered "Good, good" a few times.

As he spoke, he glanced accusingly at Xie Jichuan, who seemed unconcerned about the matter.

It was as if they were questioning why he, as the team leader, was so unsociable.

Xie Jichuan was forced to speak: "...Well done."

He now understood why Coach Liang preferred to be left alone on the road rather than come over.

And they began to worry: with such team members, wouldn't they be eliminated in the first round?

He gave this question serious thought.

Ten minutes later, the worry intensified.

There were very few people in the temple on a weekday. They were the only ones in the entire hall, and it was so quiet that only the wind chimes on the eaves occasionally rang.

Xie Jichuan lit the incense, inserted it into the incense burner, clapped his hands, turned around, and then stared in disbelief.

Five mice were placed in front of the prayer cushion.

They were lined up in a row, with a prayer cushion in front of each mouse, arranged even more neatly than the offerings.

Song Bo stood to the side, hands on his hips, a proud expression on his face that seemed to say, "I'm a fucking genius!" He explained in a serious tone:

"What temple doesn't have its items blessed? Asking for talismans is useless. For professional gamers, it's better to have the mouse blessed so it won't lag, drop frames, or double-click during matches."

Xie Jichuan opened his mouth, about to voice his doubts, when he saw that the other four teammates had already been deeply influenced by Song Bo and were kneeling properly on the prayer mats.

Even Kurichi had already started praying with incense in hand, looking very devout.

Four people, each guarding a mouse, all neatly arranged, except for him.

Xie Jichuan remained silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and then walked over with a look of resignation, kneeling down on the last prayer mat.

In front of him was the mouse that had accompanied him in countless matches; he didn't know when Song Bo had brought it from the training room.

Lying quietly on the ground in front of the prayer mat, it looked exceptionally innocent amidst the swirling smoke of incense.

Xie Jichuan looked at it, and it looked at Xie Jichuan.

For some reason, Xie Jichuan could see a mocking expression on the face of a mouse.

After bowing three times, the group placed incense sticks into the incense burner, each donated some money for incense, and then left the main hall satisfied.

The incense smoke from the temple gradually faded, replaced by the crisp, clean air of the mountains.

Xie Jichuan looked at Li Zhi walking in front of him; the back of the Omega's neck was dazzlingly white in the sunlight.

The image of me kneeling on the prayer mat with my hands clasped in prayer just now still lingers in my mind.

He quickened his pace, leaning closer: "What were you making a wish to Buddha for, all that seriousness just now?"

There's no need to ask; it's simply about winning the competition. He was just making conversation to talk to Li Zhi a bit more.

But Li Zhi suddenly felt uncomfortable and tried to cover it up: "It's nothing, just what Brother Bo said."

Xie Jichuan narrowed his eyes: "Is that so? If you're lying, your wish won't come true."

Li Zhi paused in his steps.

He felt completely dominated by metaphysics today.

He went to temples, made wishes, burned incense, and even released bottled water into the wild with a straight face. Maybe lying really does bring a curse?

What if Buddha is very free?

He hesitated for a moment, looked around to make sure the others were ahead and couldn't hear him, before whispering:

"My wish is... I hope to win the championship with you, and that we can always be teammates."

The voice was soft, tinged with a hint of embarrassment and mumble.

Xie Jichuan slowed his pace.

He looked at Li Zhi's slightly flushed face and felt a soft sensation in his heart, as if something was about to overflow from his chest.

"Zhizhi," he said, "if that's your wish, then you don't need to ask for anything else."

Xie Jichuan paused for a moment, his gaze falling into Li Zhi's eyes:

"I can help you achieve that."