Business is booming—who says only those in the spotlight are heroes

"Waiter, your hotpot is so delicious—you didn’t add anything illegal, did you?"

"Another plate of beef over here!"

"Do you do deliveries?"

......

"Coming, coming!"

Xiao Qin was spinning like a top in the shop. He never expected that when Junior Brother Li Mo said he wanted to open a hotpot restaurant, he was dead serious.

While delivering dishes, he silently asked in his mind:

"Master, Junior Brother Li didn’t put anything illegal in the hotpot, did he? Why else would it smell this good?"

"My dear disciple, let’s discuss something."

"Go ahead."

"About your question—I’ll need to borrow your body for a taste test to find out."

The Thousand Forms Martial Venerable could briefly possess Xiao Qin’s body, though it drained his spiritual energy.

Xiao Qin: "......"

He decided he should have a talk with Junior Brother Li Mo when he had the time.

The hotpot really didn’t need to be this delicious.

It had only been three days since opening, and the place was already packed. If this kept up, there’d be lines out the door soon.

He strongly suspected that Li Mo’s real goal in proposing this plan was just to open a hotpot restaurant.

"Madam, the bill, please."

At the counter, the "madam" was a woman with plain features but strikingly beautiful eyes.

Her fingers flew over the abacus with a rapid clatter, and the clay pot beside her was already filled with loose silver.

Ying Bing lowered her gaze, looking at the earnings with a faint glimmer of satisfaction in her clear, bright eyes.

At first, she thought Li Mo’s plan was absurd.

But counting these coins—meaningless to her—somehow gave her an oddly immersive sense of fulfillment.

Is this what an ordinary person’s life feels like?

"Ice Block, you’ve counted that money four times already."

Li Mo, stroking the fake mustache on his lip, sighed.

"I don’t like mistakes." Ying Bing paused briefly before resuming her counting.

"......Fine."

As long as Ice Block stayed out of the kitchen, she could count as much as she wanted.

Turning away, Li Mo observed the customers coming and going.

His Heaven’s Eye was always active, and he jotted down notes on a sheet of paper.

[Name: Luo Feiyan]

[Age: 27]

[Bone Structure: Crane-Wing Arms, Spirit-Cat Feet]

[Cultivation: Inner Breath Condensation Realm]

[Fate: Green with traces of Black]

[Evaluation: Exceptional in lightness skills, a notorious female thief. She enjoys stealing important items from others only to return them secretly. Recently stole a Hall-Swallow Token and decided to join the chaos in Purple Sun Prefecture.]

[Recent Events: Just stole a manual from Flying Sand Blade He Bin and is now being hunted by him.]

......

This was his record of the graceful woman currently enjoying the hotpot.

Earlier, he had also noted:

[Name: Luo Yao]

[Age: 14]

[Bone Structure: Falling-Goose Hands, Purple-Star Eyes]

[Cultivation: Twelve Meridians of the Blood-Qi Realm]

[Fate: Blue with traces of Black]

[Evaluation: A disciple of the Blazing Jade Forest, exceptionally talented but reckless. Stole her family’s heirloom, the Gentleman’s Brush, to wander the martial world in secret.]

[Recent Events: Targeted by Night Ghost Liu Heng, who plans to take her brush and offer it to the Rain Pavilion’s Soul-Reaping Judge.]

Li Mo looked up toward a nearby table.

There sat a fair-skinned, dashing young... "gentleman."

Honestly, this girl must have read too many adventure novels.

She bound her chest, tied up her hair, and thought no one would recognize her as a woman.

Earlier, at the entrance, she had gotten into a fight and shattered several martial artists’ weapons with a single stroke of her brush, drawing plenty of attention.

Now, she slammed her palm on the table and shouted:

"Shopkeeper, bring me wine!"

"The strongest kind! This young master is known as ‘A Thousand Cups Without Drunk, Ten Thousand Without Falling’!"

She was clearly trying to deepen her voice.

"Coming."

Seeing the girl’s flushed cheeks, Li Mo silently diluted the wine with a bit more water.

With that tolerance, and she’s still bragging?

She better hope the brawler from Clear Abyss Sect doesn’t hear her.

"Here, a reward for you."

The girl, eating hotpot and drinking, tossed out a small golden ingot.

"Ah."

Li Mo sighed softly.

Perhaps in the eyes of youth, the martial world was all about wine, swords, horses, and reckless freedom?

Hadn’t he once thought the same?

"Shopkeeper, how did you come up with this hotpot recipe?"

"Interested in opening a branch at my Blazing Jade Forest? My brother’s loaded."

Luo Yao asked drunkenly.

"And your brother is...?"

"The Blazing Jade Forest’s top disciple—Luo Yu!"

Ah.

No wonder you looked familiar.

At the end of the Nine Meridians Tournament, Li Mo had met Luo Yu, who offered ten rare treasures, six famed weapons, and ten thousand taels of gold for his Crimson Sky Sword.

As everyone knew, Young Master Li was already quite wealthy, so he politely declined.

Guess what Luo Yu said?

"Good. You’ve caught my attention."

No surprise they were siblings.

After Luo Yao revealed her background, fewer eyes lingered on her.

"Little girl, are you trying to take the handsome shopkeeper home with you?"

A teasing voice came from the side—Luo Feiyan.

"I challenge you!"

Luo Yao glared at her, her already flushed face turning redder.

Luo Feiyan ignored her and instead looked at Li Mo.

"The shopkeeper must have been quite the dashing young man in his day."

"I’m quite interested in your..."

Hm.

Li Mo had used the Faceless Glazed Veil to age his appearance slightly.

At the counter, the sound of the abacus stopped. The "madam" lifted her head, silently staring at Luo Feiyan.

"...hotpot recipe." Luo Feiyan finished her sentence.

The abacus resumed its clattering.

"Shopkeeper, running one shop is already exhausting enough!"

Xiao Qin set down a plate of lamb.

Seriously, Junior Brother Li, are you actually considering this?

We’re not here to expand the hotpot empire!

"Ah, we’re not planning to open branches for now."

"Nor will we sell the recipe."

Li Mo politely declined both Luo Yao and Luo Feiyan.

"Tsk, your chef’s knife skills are impressive."

Luo Feiyan narrowed her eyes, picking up a slice of lamb so thin it was almost translucent.

"He’s had some practice."

Li Mo chuckled.

Yes, a few years of the Life-Severing Blade Technique.

The lamb wasn’t just paper-thin—it was cut so precisely it retained maximum freshness.

Returning to the counter with the gold ingot, he handed it to Ying Bing, who promptly tossed it into the money jar and resumed counting.

As night fell, the bustling hotpot shop finally closed its doors.

"I’ve gathered some intel today."

"Two of the stronger ones are Flying Sand Blade He Bin and Night Ghost Liu Heng—one at the Jade Liquid Realm, the other at the Mystic Core Realm."

"The rest are small fry, mostly at the Condensation Realm, but they’re no pushovers. All of them have blood on their hands."

Li Mo reviewed his notes.

Xiao Qin and Zuo Qiuyang exchanged glances.

That many participants in the Endless Trial had come today?

They hadn’t even noticed.

Li Mo continued:

"We aim for quick kills. The faster the fight ends, the better."

"Senior Brother Xiao, Brother Zuo, you handle the small fry. Your techniques are better suited for crowd control."

Xiao Qin’s expression turned complicated.

Is that supposed to be a compliment?

But even the so-called "small fry" Li Mo mentioned weren’t weak—they were all at the Inner Breath Condensation realm.

Silently, he put on his black night-clothes and fastened the bull-headed mask he’d bought from the market.

The two slipped out under the cover of darkness.

"Are you coming along to uphold justice, or will you wait for me at the inn?"

Li Mo turned back and asked.

"Uphold justice?"

Ying Bing was puzzled.

They were hiding their identities, sneaking out in the dead of night.

How could this possibly align with the word "hero"?

Li Mo said earnestly:

"Who says heroes only stand in the light?"

"I should tell you about the story of Gotham City. There was a righteous man there too."

"Every night, he’d don a mask and go out to fight crime..."

Ten minutes later.

Another figure left the hotpot restaurant.

Watching Li Mo’s silhouette vanish into the night,

Ying Bing fell silent for a few seconds.

That story just now was so childish.

And yet, perhaps because she’d never experienced anything like it before, a faint thrill stirred deep inside her.

For her, this was highly unusual.

"Someone will use the Endless Trial to target Chu Long."

"And the fall of the Clear Abyss Sect—the Fine Rain Tower had a hand in that too."

"I still haven’t unraveled the truth behind these two incidents."

Yes, that’s right.

Rustle—

Outside, a single leaf trembled lightly—someone had just stepped on it before disappearing into the distance.