The night was growing late, and the open-air food stall was steeped in the hot, savory aroma of wok hei mixed with the scent of charcoal stoves.
The sizzling grease on the iron griddles and the clamor of drinking games from the next table painted a vivid picture of lively street life.
In front of Liu Zheng and Old Bai sat two plates of stir-fried beef noodles. Lin Mo, however, looked like an outsider. He was unhurriedly rinsing his cup and bowl with freshly boiled water, his movements steady and full of a sense of ritual.
"What? You called me out late at night just to watch me wash my dishes?" Lin Mo didn't even look up, his voice flat.
Liu Zheng's hand, holding a teacup, froze mid-air before he awkwardly set it down.
"Just catching up. You're heading to Tianjing soon. That place isn't like Yangcheng; it's a dragon's den, and too many eyes will be on you."
Lin Mo casually set down his washed teacup and finally poured himself some tea.
"It doesn't matter. You know I have principles. If people don't mess with me, I don't mess with them. If they do, I'll send them to the afterlife. Don't worry about me. Instead, what about the Hidden Sects? Aren't you going to put them in their place? At least beat one to death as a warning, like the Gongsun family."
Hearing this, Liu Zheng felt his temples throbbing. This kid was as fierce as ever.
Old Bai, on the other hand, slapped his thigh, so excited he nearly flipped the table. "Exactly! That's how it should be! Those bastards from the Hidden Sects all walk around with their noses in the air. If our Yanhuang Awakening wasn't here to keep things in check, they would have been riding roughshod over ordinary people a long time ago!"
At the mention of this, the slight awkwardness Liu Zheng had felt dissipated, turning into a long sigh.
"The Hidden Sects are indeed a huge problem. Director Chen said that we've been wanting to teach them a lesson internally for a while. But these people are all connected. If we strike too lightly, it won't hurt them. If we strike too hard, we're afraid they'll band together and retaliate, which would cause massive chaos."
Lin Mo finally shifted his gaze from his teacup, looking straight at Liu Zheng.
"What's wrong? You want me to be your hired thug?"
With one sentence, he pierced right through the delicate facade Liu Zheng had spent so long building.
Liu Zheng's old face reddened, and he gave a dry chuckle. "How could we? This is just reasonable mutual assistance, isn't it? The main thing is, in a little while, it'll be time for the Hidden Sect disciples to come down the mountain for their experiential training again. None of those little brats are easy to deal with."
Actually, that afternoon, Liu Zheng and Chen Lai had reported the relevant matters directly to Director Long.
Director Long only replied with one sentence: Don't interfere with Lin Mo. As long as his actions are legally justifiable, let him do as he pleases.
Liu Zheng had pondered the deep meaning behind these words all afternoon, and now, naturally, he intended to reveal a bit of it to Lin Mo.
Murder with a borrowed knife.
The knife was Lin Mo.
The ones to be killed were those arrogant Hidden Sect disciples who were about to come down the mountain.
Lin Mo naturally understood. He could even guess the calculations of Director Long behind Liu Zheng.
Using his uncontrollable sharp blade to fix those troublemakers that Yanhuang Awakening found inconvenient to deal with. This would serve as a warning to the others, and if anything went wrong, they could wash their hands of it completely.
They were calculating things very shrewdly.
But why should he play the father figure and wipe Yanhuang Awakening's mess for them?
Lin Mo just smiled, casually picked up a chopstick-full of beef noodles, and slowly put it into his mouth.
"Mmm, the heat control on this is pretty good."
Liu Zheng and Old Bai both watched him nervously, waiting for him to continue.
So Lin Mo just smiled and then asked a question.
"Do you know where the entrance to the Hidden Sect's Gongsun family is?"
Lin Mo asked this so lightly, as if he were merely asking for the address of a roadside restaurant.
"Pfft!"
Liu Zheng had just picked up his teacup and taken a sip. Hearing this, he nearly spat it all out. He managed to force it down with great difficulty, his face turning bright red.
He leaned in abruptly, lowering his voice like a thief.
"No, I was just talking earlier. You really want to go after a Hidden Sect? Don't do it. The reason Yanhuang Awakening hasn't moved against the Hidden Sects is actually because these sects all have certain trump cards. If they pool them together, it would be very troublesome."
Trump cards?
Lin Mo thought of that Sky-Splitting Arrow.
That trump card was useless now. A spiritual weapon without spiritual energy to drive it couldn't even unleash a third of its power.
Lin Mo tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
Lin Mo's long, slender fingers tapped unhurriedly on the mahogany tabletop, every beat striking right on Liu Zheng's anxious heart.
"It's not that I'm looking for trouble; it's that trouble will definitely find me."
He looked up, his gaze calm and placid.
"The Gongsun family wants an arranged marriage with Yunlu. If this isn't resolved, it's like a thorn stuck in the flesh. Even if I resolve the Situ family's matters, this thorn will still be there. When those guys come down the mountain, they might just come straight for me."
Hearing this, Liu Zheng was left somewhat speechless.
Indeed, the root of this matter was basically provoked by the Gongsun family. There was nothing wrong with what Lin Mo was doing.
Old Bai, on the other hand, was more concerned about Lin Mo.
"Lin Mo, this matter isn't that simple. The Gongsun family's main base isn't in eastern Guangdong. They're over in Bamin, where they've been entrenched for years with deep roots."
Old Bai paused, his voice dropping even lower.
"Moreover, the Yanhuang Awakening branch over in Bamin has a very close relationship with the Gongsun family. To put it bluntly, they have deep cooperation and turn a blind eye to things. After all, when manpower is tight, the Gongsun family has indeed helped handle quite a few tricky situations."
Yanhuang Awakening was not a monolith internally. There were radicals, and naturally, there were pragmatists who chose to cooperate with the Hidden Sects for the sake of local stability.
After all, in situations of personnel shortages, the Gongsun family provided a lot of help to Bamin.
Lin Mo currently held the title of Yanhuang Awakening consultant. If he went straight to Bamin and slapped down the Gongsun family, it would be tantamount to slapping the face of the Bamin branch.
It would definitely incur the displeasure of the Bamin Yanhuang Awakening.
Lin Mo was now a consultant for Yanhuang Awakening, so his identity was somewhat connected.
"Then it's simple."
"Give me the number of the Gongsun family's external liaison. I'll personally call to provoke them. When they get too angry to bear it and voluntarily stick their faces out to Yangcheng, I'll carry out justice on behalf of heaven and give them a vicious slap. That way, I'll be completely justified."
You can play it like that?
Liu Zheng's brain buzzed as a thought exploded in his mind.
Damn! You're a freaking genius!
Tricking people out of their lair and then killing them—this maneuver was absolutely brilliant!
It had to be said, what Lin Mo suggested wasn't actually impossible.
Liu Zheng and Old Bai exchanged a glance, both seeing two words in the other's eyes: It's feasible!
"Alright, I knew I couldn't control a great deity like you."
Liu Zheng leaned back against his chair as if deflated, though a flush of excitement colored his face.
"Alright then, I knew I definitely couldn't control you, but I can give you intel. Right now, we're somewhat short-handed here in Yangcheng, so you'll have to rely on yourself for a lot of things."
From beginning to end, Liu Zheng and Old Bai were on Lin Mo's side.
It was just that their positions limited them, and they couldn't do anything too out of line.
"It's just a number. A small matter."
Liu Zheng took out his phone and started pressing the keys.
"I've asked around. The person in charge of the Gongsun family's secular affairs is named Gongsun Ang. He's a notorious smiling tiger, extremely arrogant. If you provoke him even a little, he's guaranteed to take the bait."
"I'll send you his private number right now."

with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!

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...

【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)

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.”