The crowd gradually dispersed.
The yamen runners were cleaning up the bloody mess in the streets and collecting the corpses of the dead, which included not only people from the yamen and Green Sword Sect, but also some unfortunate civilians who couldn't withstand the penetrating arrows of the government troops.
Indeed, there was no reason in this world. One never knew when death would come, with no chance to resist or lament before being declared dead. But Zhang San was completely numb to the sight, having long grown accustomed to it.
He had wanted to leave immediately with Wang Xiaoer, but out of caution, Zhang San decided to stay in the alley a bit longer and wait until most of the people outside had left before heading out.
However, the scene that met his eyes upon exiting the alley made Zhang San pause briefly in surprise.
Below the spacious execution grounds, most of the people had already left, with only a few scattered government runners still washing away the bloodstains.
The sky was gloomy.
A woman in white stood below the execution grounds.
The woman looked to be in her thirties, her white robes filled with patches. She stood silently watching for a long time.
Then she turned around.
It was the expression on the woman's face that made Zhang San freeze up for a moment.
It was an expression of utter despair.
What was she despairing over? The execution grounds were clearly empty.
Zhang San wondered about this curiously.
The woman then slowly walked away, her direction coincidentally leading towards where Zhang San was.
As the woman drew nearer, Zhang San realized she was very beautiful, with time seeming to have left little trace on her face. Despite her shabby clothes and lack of makeup, she was still striking.
The woman's peripheral vision caught sight of Zhang San, but she continued on her way slowly without paying him much attention.
...
...
"Master...what are you looking at?" Wang Xiaoer asked.
Zhang San pointed in the direction the woman in white had left and said, "There's something odd about that woman."
Wang Xiaoer squinted into the distance from the cart and vaguely made out the figure of a woman in white robes. He murmured, "Master is indeed at that age now and should consider..."
Thud!
No more needed to be said before Wang Xiaoer was thumped again.
Zhang San said, "I just feel like the direction she was looking before seems to be...where the magistrate left. Or am I imagining things?"
Wang Xiaoer rubbed his head and said, "Don't think about it, Master. It's got nothing to do with us. We've still got our own business to handle."
Zhang San nodded. "You're right. No wonder you're my disciple. By the way...what was our business again?"
Wang Xiaoer looked towards South Avenue, where a peddler was selling candied hawthorns at the end of the street. He had noticed them after the avenue reopened earlier. Wang Xiaoer naturally said, "Master, of course it's to go buy candied hawthorns. I read in medical books that sugar can stimulate the brain. As soon as we eat some, we'll be able to..."
Thud!
Another punch.
Wang Xiaoer cried out in pain but still refused to give up. "Master, how about we get two skewers to share then?"
Zhang San snorted. "Don't joke around. How could your master sit here eating candied fruit on a stick with a brat like you?"
...
...
Not long after, a master and disciple sat in a small alley in the southern part of Tian Ruo City, each eating a candied hawthorn skewer with great enjoyment.
As he bit into a haw, Wang Xiaoer asked while eating, "Master, are we really staying here tonight?"
Zhang San spoke unclearly with his mouth full, "What's wrong with it? A panoramic skylight, carefree and leisurely. We can even watch the stars at night. As righteous disciples, we've got to sleep poetically."
Wang Xiaoer nearly choked on a hawthorn. He looked around at the dilapidated alley full of puddles and said, "Master, can we be honest? Sleeping on the streets is sleeping on the streets. What poetry?"
Zhang San said wistfully, "But this is how your martial uncle spoke to me in the past."
Wang Xiaoer sighed, realizing that the sect's poverty had persisted over three generations now.
"But Master, I'm a bit worried," said Wang Xiaoer, well-read in martial arts novels.
Zhang San asked, "What are you worried about?"
Wang Xiaoer replied, "Master, didn't you say earlier that the jianghu in the central counties has been very chaotic? I read in books that places like these alleys are where murders most often happen. What if we're sleeping and suddenly a fight breaks out, and then a corpse just drops down from the sky and lands on us?"
Zhang San's brows furrowed as he thought to himself that these were some strange ideas indeed.
As expected, one really shouldn't read too many of Mr. Jin's martial arts novels, or else everyone would become obsessed like Wang Xiaoer.
A corpse falling from the sky?
Ridiculous. If that happened, I, Zhang San, would immediately pluck my head off and give it to you as a...
Just as he was thinking this, there was suddenly a loud 'thud' in the small alley!
A corpse dropped down inexplicably from somewhere, landing deep in the alley.
It was a man dressed in black robes, embroidered with the image of a dragon on the collar.
Judging from the clothes, he appeared to be a high-ranking member of the Black Dragon Hall.
However, the master and disciple remained calm.
Wang Xiaoer nodded, then licked his candied fruit skewer with an expression that said 'Just as expected, right on cue.'
Zhang San stared dumbfoundedly at the scene, subconsciously taking a bite of his skewer with an expression that said 'Well I'll be damned.'
They then exchanged glances to confirm their strategy for dealing with this.
Master, what should we do? This guy looks really formidable.
I'm used to being the one killing people in front of others. Now suddenly it's the other way around. How would I know what to do? Let's pretend to be scared first.
Master, what if pretending doesn't work?
Then we'll take him out. I'll attack from the front and you throw poison darts from behind.
Master is as shameless as ever, yet also brilliant!
After this wordless exchange, the master and disciple each began putting on an act, with the theme being 'fear' and the specific performance being terror and panic.
The Killer Hall guard from JinWan Pavilion carefully examined the scholar and boy, deciding it wasn't worth wasting time on two ordinary people. With a leap using qinggong, he departed.
Seeing the emblem of money on the back of the departing man in golden robes, Zhang San murmured doubtfully, "JinWan Pavilion? JinWan's people are chasing and killing members of the local underground gang, Black Dragon Hall?"
Moreover, the man from Black Dragon Hall had a dragon emblem embroidered on his collar, clearly marking him as a high-ranking member. For ordinary conflicts between gangs like turf wars, there was no reason to kill someone of this status.
Yet this man had undoubtedly been chased down and killed in this alley by someone from JinWan Pavilion.
Could JinWan Pavilion and Black Dragon Hall be at war?
Zhang San pulled Wang Xiaoer up and said, "Let's go!"
Having heard the three words "JinWan Pavilion" whispered by his master, Wang Xiaoer also realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly jumped onto the cart.
However, as soon as the cart moved, Wang Xiaoer became worried again. "Master, I'm a bit anxious again."
Zhang San asked listlessly and helplessly, "Now what is it?!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
