Goodbye, Azeroth

"Actually, if I were you, besides all that, I'd build ships like mad and do everything I could to get more. The more, the better. The moment the undead showed signs of invading, I'd move all the civilians somewhere safe. If you really can't stop their assault, don't fight to the bitter end. Take your troops straight to the Sunwell. Never mind what the councilors or the royal family think—you have to take most of its waters away, so the high elves won't be crippled by their Arcane Addiction later. Once the undead army leaves, come back and reclaim Quel'Thalas. After that, the high elves can stay out of it and sit back to watch the humans fight the undead. Anyone interested can go watch Dalaran's destruction." Lin Yu chuckled, clicking his tongue. "I doubt anyone can stop the undead army, so why not let them have some of the Sunwell's energy? As long as most of the people survive, and most of the Sunwell's energy remains, there's nothing to fear. You can't go wrong preparing for the worst."

"What if the king and the councilors won't let us near the Sunwell?" Sylvanas asked.

"What's there to discuss? Surround the council with troops and stage a coup if that's what it takes." Lin Yu was every inch a troublemaker, seemingly happier the more chaos he stirred up.

"How could the opinions of a bunch of old fossils matter more than the high elves' future? Secretly take away most of the Sunwell's waters. Once everyone thinks the Sunwell has been destroyed, Quel'Thalas will truly be safe." Lin Yu smiled. "Then it'll be the humans' problem. Don't be stupid and march out to fight for them. Announce that Quel'Thalas has been devastated, that fewer than one in a hundred inhabitants survived, and that you can't raise an army. The humans don't help when we fight, but we're supposed to help when they fight? What a joke. If it were me, not only would I refuse to help, I'd take a bunch of my boys to watch from a safe distance and learn how they fight. Once they're done, we'd dust ourselves off and leave, telling them, 'Softly I came, just as softly I departed, taking not a speck of dust with me.' I'd drive them mad."

Sylvanas burst into peals of laughter. "You're so funny. You can even joke about something this serious."

Seeing Sylvanas laugh, Lin Yu grinned too. "Let me tell you something embarrassing about that idiot, Prince Kael'thas."

"His Highness? How is he an idiot too?" Sylvanas asked. "Prince Kael'thas is a genius of Quel'Thalas, and the man of many girls' dreams."

"Is he in Dalaran right now?" Lin Yu asked.

"Yes!" Sylvanas replied. It was no secret.

"Heh, let me tell you something. He'll fall for a human girl named Jaina someday. Isn't that stupid? Besides, that dumbass will do plenty of other stupid things. Heh." Lin Yu laughed. "He's even stupider than your sister Alleria!"

"My sister? What about her? She's not stupid!" Sylvanas said.

"How is she not stupid? She'll actually fall in love with a human named Turalyon and elope with him. She'll disappear without even knowing her homeland and family have been destroyed. How is that not stupid?" Lin Yu asked.

"My sister will fall for a human?" Sylvanas asked in astonishment.

"Of course. Why would I lie to you? Think about it. Humans only live a few decades, a hundred years at most, while elves live for three hundred. Your sister will spend a long, long time as a widow. What a shame. Such a beautiful woman, too! Who knows how she'll satisfy her urges then?" Lin Yu sighed.

Sylvanas flushed crimson and scolded him. "How can you say something like that?"

"Like what? It's reality, all right? Forget about her being a widow. What will she do when Turalyon is white-haired and decrepit? Do you really think a white-haired old grandpa and a girl in her prime make a harmonious pair in bed? Luckily, things won't work out for the prince. If they did, just imagining a handsome young man in bed with an old hag would make me want to throw up," Lin Yu said solemnly.

"How did two perfectly good love stories turn into something utterly wicked the moment you told them? Say what you like about anyone else, but don't talk about my sister!" Sylvanas snapped. But inwardly, she thought, I absolutely must stop my sister from falling for that Turalyon fellow.

"As you command, Your Majesty! Wherever your will reaches shall be the land I defend, and wherever your sword points shall be the goal I strive for!" Lin Yu made a mock Western knight's salute and grinned.

"I told you not to call me Your Majesty!" Sylvanas said irritably.

"Oh, then what should I call you? Syl? Vana? Nana?" Lin Yu deliberately cocked his head.

"Stop making up names! Just call me Sylvanas, or Captain Syl!" Sylvanas snapped.

"That sounds so distant. Then can I call you Syl?" Lin Yu asked. He thought Sylvanas was rather cute when she was a little angry.

This time, Sylvanas neither objected nor agreed, tacitly accepting it. That alone meant she was ready to regard Lin Yu as a friend.

They talked for a while longer, until darkness fell, and Lin Yu returned to his room. Lying in bed, he considered how to kill himself. He didn't dare stab himself, friendly NPCs wouldn't kill him, he had no chance to encounter hostile NPCs, and he had no idea how to get poison. After thinking it over, jumping off a cliff seemed to be his only option. It wasn't that he didn't want to jump off a nearby building, but the buildings in Tranquillien weren't very tall. He was afraid the fall wouldn't kill him and would leave him unable to care for himself instead. That would be a fine mess.

Tranquillien stood at the foot of Morning Mist Mountain. With his agile elven body, climbing it shouldn't be a problem. Jumping from somewhere high shouldn't hurt too much, and when he opened his eyes tomorrow, he would be full of life again.

Having made up his mind, he slipped out of the barracks at midnight and headed for Morning Mist Mountain. He kept climbing toward the summit and, after about half an hour, found a fairly high cliff.

He looked down. It had to be over a hundred meters high. Surely I'll die quickly enough from this height! My body outside must be starving. I've spent a day and two nights sleeping without eating. I'd better not become the first Chinese person to sleep himself to death! What if he really did die that way? He suddenly imagined his friends talking about him.

"Hey, did you hear? That idiot so-and-so died."

"How?"

"Slept himself to death! The first person in Chinese history to do it. He even made the papers."

At the thought, he immediately spat on the ground several times and stomped hard on the spit. No way am I that unlucky.

He took a deep breath, then suddenly shouted, "Goodbye, Azeroth! Goodbye, Sylvanas!" With that, he closed his eyes and leaped out, cutting quite the ****** figure. Unfortunately, what he had shouted could only make people cover their faces.

"Ah!" A startled cry rang out from the woods behind the cliff, and a figure darted out.

She reached for Lin Yu's airborne body. Unfortunately, he had jumped hard and far, and her arm couldn't reach him.

Sylvanas stared blankly at her empty hand, then at the dark figure plunging downward. A sudden sense of bewilderment and loss filled her heart. "Suicide... why did he still want to kill himself?" Sylvanas murmured. A mountain breeze swept past, lifting her golden hair. Suddenly, she snapped out of her daze and raced down the mountain.

In fact, Sylvanas had known the moment Lin Yu left the barracks. She hadn't shown herself because she wanted to find out who belonged to the mysterious organization she imagined existed, so she had followed him all the way to the cliff. But what happened next was beyond both her expectations and her control.

After leaping out with all his strength, Lin Yu kept his eyes tightly shut. All he heard was the wind roaring past his ears. Then his body suddenly jerked to a stop, as though something had caught him. Before he could open his eyes, he was plunging again. The force of his fall was too great and had torn through whatever had caught him. Next, he felt himself strike something soft, but the tremendous impact knocked him unconscious.

After jumping off the cliff, Lin Yu had first hit a web spun by a Spinner Spider. After breaking through it, he had crashed into the large abdomen of a giant Spinner Spider crouching on the ground. Half his body was embedded in its abdomen, while the other half remained outside. There was no helping it—the spider's abdomen was smaller than his body.

Although the giant Spinner Spider's abdomen had been almost completely crushed open, it didn't die immediately. The immense pain sent it scurrying around in panic. When Lin Yu's body fell out, it angrily turned and sank its fangs into him before reluctantly dying beside him.

Sylvanas reached the foot of the cliff and searched for some time without finding a body. Seeing a huge hole in the giant spiderweb, then the spider's green slime on the ground, she followed the trail. Finally, beneath a large tree, she found Lin Yu and the giant Spinner Spider's corpse.

She stepped forward and held a finger beneath Lin Yu's nose. He was still breathing, but his bluish face told her he was in serious trouble: he had been poisoned by the spindleweb spider's venom. Without hesitation, she hoisted his slime-covered body onto her back and hurried toward the barracks.

The barracks guards were puzzled to see Sylvanas rush in carrying someone on her back. Before they could make out who it was, she ordered them to fetch the apothecary immediately.

The apothecary soon arrived, examined Lin Yu, and quickly mixed a potion for him to drink. After administering it, he told Sylvanas that Lin Yu was in very bad shape. Not only had he broken several bones, but the venom in his body wasn't from an ordinary Spinner Spider. It was a large dose of potent King Spider venom, and he had been poisoned for quite some time. Whether he would survive was still uncertain. The broken bones were easy enough to handle: set them and cast a few healing spells. The spider venom, however, was troublesome. Whether he woke up would also depend on whether he himself wished to remain in this world.