Night Tour

The people from [Burger Workshop] arrived quickly.

After all, it was just in the parking lot near the association—before [Butler] died from blood loss, he was found and given emergency treatment.

Despite his three severed limbs, what was actually more fatal was the unstoppable bleeding.

The three severed limbs were all intact, with no corrosive curses or other forces on the wounds. With [Mystic] means and a long period of recuperation, they could be reattached.

President Shepherd of [Burger Workshop] had just been cured of seafood poisoning when he heard the dreadful news and rushed over.

[Butler]'s life was saved, but he had fallen into a deep coma.

A group of internal members from the association stared at the lonely rear seat sitting in the parking spot, all a bit baffled.

"So, all that's left of [Butler]'s car is this?" [Knot] muttered quietly.

President Shepherd looked grim:

"The rest of the vehicle has completely vanished, as if it never existed. That kind of power is not to be underestimated.

The surrounding area is spotless—it's clear [Butler] used every bit of his strength, and even then, he couldn't send out a distress signal. The opponent's strength is likely far above his."

Yi Xian couldn't see and stayed silent for now.

Yi Zhu raised a question: "When the teacher puts on his gloves, his lethality can reach [Mystic] level 5. To defeat the teacher without leaving a single trace—as far as I know, the teacher hasn't offended any expert of that caliber in his daily life."

President Shepherd shook his head: "Seal this area off for now. Don't disturb the scene. Wait until [Butler] wakes up, then ask him directly."

Seal Library, outside the city.

That night, Chen Miemie had a packed schedule. Rarely, a guest had come to Hengyue's shop, and the commission was resolved smoothly, leaving him free to step out.

Based on his experience so far, it seemed only one guest would come into the shop per night.

Walking along a side path off the main road.

Chen Miemie was also muttering to himself:

"I don't get it—why do these villains, after being beaten until they can't fight back and are lying on the ground, still insist on throwing out threats?

They're not dumb. Can't they read the situation? They're already meat on the cutting board—the smart move is to cave and beg for mercy to cut their losses.

What if the big name they drop scares the other person, and what was just a beating turns into a murderous intent?"

Chen Miemie genuinely couldn't wrap his head around that logic.

Beaten to that state and still refusing to back down, insisting on being tough—that practically guarantees they'll be even more arrogant afterward and will definitely come for revenge. If it were him, he'd most likely finish the job then and there.

Tonight, Chen Miemie's goal was not to kill [Butler].

Strictly speaking, [Butler] bore him no grudge and hadn't provoked him.

The reason he didn't resort to harsh interrogation was that Chen Miemie felt it might not work on someone like him—and if [Butler] had someone behind him, it could tip them off.

"Good result, at least I dug out that [Butler] has the [Logic Pledgor] behind him."

Chen Miemie's impression of the [Logic Pledgor] had been fairly decent until now.

The [Logic Pledgor] was a senior scholar in charge of finance. Last time Chen Miemie brought Chenpi's note, the Pledgor firmly refused the funding request, but the reasoning was reasonable and not off-putting.

"Next, it's time to look for a monster. It's been a while since we've had a new member at home. Tonight's the night to open up a slot."

Monsters really did tend to appear near Seal Library.

He hadn't walked long before he encountered one.

He was in his [Yellow Robe] state, utterly fearless—whenever he saw something strange, he'd just march right up to it.

This was a leafless tree, its bare branches covered with little paper tags.

At first, he thought it was a "wishing tree" type of monster.

He walked up to the tree and tilted his head up: "I want to make a wish."

The little tags on the tree rustled without any wind: "Please leave. This is not a place for wishes."

The voice was crisp, like a child's.

Chen Miemie was curious: "Then what are you?"

"We are [Discount Tag]."

"Discount? How does that work?"

"Heh heh, we're pretty powerful. Once we attach ourselves to the price tag on a product, the discount is ours to decide. The product owner's perception gets warped—they genuinely believe in the new discounted price."

Chen Miemie: ......

Such an overbearing ability.

"Oh, impressive. Bye."

Chen Miemie found it amusing, but he didn't really need that ability.

He wasn't short on resources or wealth. If he truly wanted something, he'd rather just take it outright—this forced price-changing felt a bit too much like "trickery."

Besides, he knew Daidai probably wouldn't like [Discount Tag] and things might get unpleasant at home.

He flew on.

This time, he flew for a good while before encountering a second one.

This one was a floating object hovering midair.

White, plump, foursquare, with rounded edges.

Chen Miemie deliberately flew over and collided with it, staging an accident.

"Ouch! You hurt me!" Chen Miemie struck first, playing the victim.

"You're lying. I'm soft—how could I hurt anyone?"

Chen Miemie touched the spot where they collided—it didn't hurt at all, but he was stubborn: "I say it hurts, so it hurts. You're not me—how do you know I'm not in pain?"

"Hmph, ridiculous. I'm a pillow. People use me in pillow fights indoors and never cry about pain. You're hurt from this? Are you even up for it?"

Chen Miemie was shocked. Today, his attempted scam had met its match.

When his "forced extortion" ran into "are you even up for it," he found himself at a loss for words.

"Fine, forget it. I just wanted to be friends." Chen Miemie changed his tune quickly, very abruptly, with no transition at all.

As long as he wasn't embarrassed, it was the other party who would be.

The pillow monster had a good personality: "Sure, it's rare to run into a monster who isn't harmed by my passive and wants to be friends. No problem."

Chen Miemie was confused: "Then what about your passive? I can't feel it at all."

"I'm called [Stiff Neck]. When you stay with me, all your pillows will, while you're in your deepest sleep, slowly push your cervical spine toward the perfect 44.4-degree stiff-neck angle. In the morning, you'll wake up with your head locked in place, unable to turn."

Chen Miemie was horrified: "That ability of yours is vicious. I can't be losing sleep."

"That's just the beginning. The stiff-neck angle will then increase by 1 degree each day, until—'crack'—your neck snaps completely."

Chen Miemie poked hard at [Stiff Neck]'s soft belly: "Why are you so evil!"

"Of course it's revenge. As a pillow, I get pressed on for nearly 8 hours every day—even longer if someone loves sleeping in. Of course I'm upset."

"But isn't that a pillow's job?"

"I don't care. Unless you sincerely apologize and promise to flip me over for air every four hours, I'll give people stiff necks."

Chen Miemie declined [Stiff Neck]'s proposal to become sworn brothers and fled in a panic.

Even without the passive, [Stiff Neck] was probably set in his ways. He might randomly hit a lazy sleeper like him with a "stiff neck" now and then.

As for dealing with enemies, killing them via stiff neck was too slow and not all that effective anyway.

Chen Miemie continued flying further away.

She had barely left Stiff Neck behind when she encountered a new anomaly.

This time, the anomaly was a black ripple the size of a watermelon, twisting in the air like a vortex.

The anomaly approached Chen Miemie on its own, rolling over slowly, yet it spoke with no small amount of arrogance:

"Stop right there. I am the great anomaly who commands the power of time—Lord Black Hole."