Hearing this, Shouzhen furrowed his brows in thought.
He was a cultivator of the Dao; the idea of leaving someone to die was simply not in his nature.
However, before Layman Liu and Old Bai left, they had repeatedly warned him that Yangcheng was a chaotic place where fish and dragons intermingled. Every step they took now was like walking on the edge of a blade; any unexpected accident could lead to a catastrophic disaster.
If something came up, they had to discuss it first.
"Layman Xia, I understand the principle that your teammate is our teammate."
Shouzhen pondered for a moment, then raised his head. "But regarding this matter, I must inform Layman Liu and the others first. After all, only with caution can one sail the ship for ten thousand years."
Layman Xia had long anticipated this concern.
If she were an impulsive person, she would have rushed out the moment she got the address, rather than returning here first.
"That is how it should be," Layman Xia nodded, expressing her understanding.
Shouzhen picked up his phone, typed a text message, and sent it.
Meanwhile, an off-road vehicle was driving smoothly through the city center.
Buzz...
The other phone in the pocket vibrated.
Liu Zheng picked it up and saw it was a text from Shouzhen, concisely explaining the situation.
His brows instantly knotted into a tight lump.
"The teammate Layman Xia left behind to cover their retreat is still alive and is currently in Yangcheng." Liu Zheng turned his head to look at Old Bai in the driver's seat. "What do you think?"
"Think? Think my ass," Old Bai said succinctly. "If it were me, that person would already be in the car by now. That's a comrade who risked their life to cover your retreat."
Liu Zheng choked on his words for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "The logic holds up, but we've already arrived in Pengcheng. We're too far away to help. What if it's a trap..."
"A trap?"
Old Bai looked as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. He glanced at Liu Zheng, his eyes full of a "you're overthinking this" sentiment.
"What are you afraid of? When it comes to actual combat, either Layman Xia or Shouzhen is stronger than the two of us put together."
Liu Zheng awkwardly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Now that you mention it, that seems to be the case."
So, Liu Zheng worried no more and agreed with Layman Xia's plan.
Back at the rental apartment, Layman Xia visibly sighed in relief after learning that Liu Zheng had agreed.
"Then let's have lunch first, and then go over to take a look. A little time won't make a difference."
Shouzhen thought for a moment and said:
"However, Layman Liu said that one of us must stay here to keep watch. You have the Invisibility Talisman, so take this Rejuvenation Talisman with you as well."
As he spoke, Shouzhen handed over the Rejuvenation Talisman.
"This..." Layman Xia paused. This Rejuvenation Talisman was considered one of their trump cards.
"If your teammate is truly seriously injured, then the Rejuvenation Talisman will be able to play its role perfectly."
Seeing Shouzhen's earnest expression, Layman Xia didn't stand on ceremony. She accepted the Rejuvenation Talisman and took the groceries into the kitchen.
Watching Layman Xia busy in the kitchen, Shouzhen felt a sense of unease in his heart.
After all, with Liu Zheng and Old Bai absent, the young Daoist was a little panicked.
He thought about it and finally composed a text message about the situation and sent it to Lin Mo.
--System: To be honest, the Daoists of the Quanzhen Sect can't tell fortunes; they are absolute scrubs.--
"Ult popped! Ding! Turn back and strike! Yo, Ghostblade active, you can't see me! Juke, juke, take him out!"
On the screen, Zed, the Master of Shadows, with only a sliver of health left, appeared like a phantom under the cover of the brush.
The mark of his R skill, Death Mark, was precisely placed on the enemy's full-health ADC. In an instant, countless shadow clones crisscrossed, shurikens and shadow slashes scraping bone and stripping flesh.
The ADC's health bar vanished instantly, turning into a corpse before they could even press Heal.
Beside them, the support Lux panicked and threw out her Final Spark. The scorching pillar of light purified the ground where Zed had just stood, but it hit nothing but air.
Lin Mo tapped his fingers lightly on the keyboard. His W skill shadow clone was already waiting in a safe position. He reactivated R to return to his original location, then took the W for extreme displacement. While dodging Lux's fatal crowd control, he backhanded a basic attack plus his passive, taking away the equally bewildered support.
Double Kill!
The entire operation was smooth and flowing, so fast it left only afterimages.
"Holy crap! Old Mo, are you scripting?!"
Beside him, Fang Jun slammed the table, so excited he almost knocked his chair over. "That positioning... our teammates' question mark pings almost broke the mini-map telling you to retreat!"
At this moment, the public chat was filled with question marks from the opposing ADC and support.
As well as various praises of "badass" from his teammates.
Ten minutes later, accompanied by a loud boom, the opponent's Nexus crystal exploded.
"Victory!"
A bottle of ice-cold Coke was twisted open, a straw inserted, and respectfully handed to Lin Mo.
"You're still the boss, Old Mo," Fang Jun said with a face full of admiration. "I really can't figure out this hero, Zed. It's too flashy and complicated."
"If you don't understand it, don't play it. Stats are king; if you have complaints, just go talk to the designers."
"Every patch has its god, but every patch you can pick Darius. The Top Lane Gatekeeper—you deserve to have him."
Lin Mo took the soda and vacated his seat, letting Fang Jun play a few rounds of Darius himself. In these recent versions, Darius was a tyrant of the top lane.
Especially with the refresh mechanic on his Noxian Guillotine, it was purely about the thrill.
Fang Jun chuckled, sat down immediately, and enthusiastically started a new round of ranked play.
Only then did Lin Mo unhurriedly take out his phone.
After reading the message from Shouzhen, he put the phone directly back into his pocket.
Anyway, they had the jade amulets for protection; he would deal with it if something actually happened.
Lin Mo wasn't a nanny; they could do whatever they wanted.
Drinking his ice-cold Coke, Lin Mo returned to his own computer and opened the movie "Secret" to watch.
It was his favorite movie.
The camera returns to Layman Xia, who had set out alone once again.
Old Bai had left the "Emperor of Bathing" Cadillac for Layman Xia as a means of transport.
So, Layman Xia drove the car toward another urban village in Yangcheng.
Kangle Village.
This area bordered the Sun Yat-sen University textile business district, surrounded by a large number of garment factories and fabric markets.
The flow of people was dense and complex.
In a place like this, whether it was the migrant population or the locals, the numbers were extremely high.
A place where fish and dragons mixed was also convenient for fishing in troubled waters.
After parking the car, Layman Xia followed the address through the streets and alleys, finally standing in front of a youth hostel.
Perhaps because it was daytime, there weren't many people going in or out of this youth hostel.
Walking into the hostel, the girl sitting at the counter spoke directly: "A bed is thirty-five a night, a single room is ninety a night."
She then repeated it in English.
It seemed she was a student from the nearby university working part-time here.
Layman Xia spoke up, "I'm here to pick up a friend. He's staying in single room 307."
"Then call him to come down and get you. You can't go up."
There was a turnstile at the entrance of the youth hostel; only guests who had rented a space could enter.
Even friends of guests had to be escorted in.
Layman Xia sent out a text message saying she had arrived.
Before long, she saw a stumbling figure leaning on a crutch, walking down the stairs step by step.
Although he couldn't be described as unkempt and dirty, he sported an authentic, overgrown beard.
Layman Xia suppressed the urge and heartache within her, standing in place, gazing at him.

Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"

lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...