Chapter 74

After noticing that the two seemed intent on raising their stakes after the cheating measures, Jiang Feng had no choice but to call a halt. Lin Tianyao nodded, and so they all began to eat. After a long while, they finished.

“I think Yan Xiaoxiao is rather cute. Have you considered her?” Lin Mo ventured, his heart suddenly leaping into his throat.

Realizing he hadn’t done it on purpose, Yan Xiaoxiao was caught between tears and laughter, and could only patiently instruct him. “Relax. Just make the eggplant gesture with your hand, like this.”

The cultivation of these two was formidable, but nowadays, the panda could easily overpower Master of the Burning Lamp and the Elder of the Southern Pole. After all, the panda’s seniority was truly unmatched.

When faced with such an extraordinary being, most people instinctively understood what needed to be done.

Only today did he learn that there existed creatures in the world even mightier than Tianqi, for whom killing others was as simple as breathing.

“Of course. The specialties here take a lot of effort to prepare—they’re already working on them,” Mu Feng replied, pride written all over his face.

Changmen was unable to make an appearance. But ever since the panda had acquired human luck, its cultivation had soared, and it was gradually developing the rudiments of shapeshifting.

Shi Qingfeng turned to look, just in time to see a streak of golden light flash across the sky, slicing through the wind and snow, leaving a long tail behind it as it sped in their direction.

“We can’t destroy it. You saw what that Zhu fellow is capable of—he even killed a sterilized beast. With him there, Qingdu City is safe,” Old Qu said, tugging his sleeve back.

But when she reached the docks, chaos reigned. A crowd had gathered, and she saw the owner of the Chengzhou Cloth Shop sitting at the edge, wailing and sobbing.

Fang Hui noticed Xu Shenghe didn’t so much as glance at her. He merely patted her head, then wiped his hands with a handkerchief—once wasn’t enough. He did it again and again, as if she were covered in something infectious.

“What, am I not allowed to come? Do I have to report my whereabouts to you in advance?” Meng Junran shot back.

Gu Qingshan carried the inkstone back into the house, rummaged around for anything suspicious, but found nothing out of the ordinary. It was as if the faceless person had never entered at all.

Ji Xunyang understood as well. There was definitely something suspicious about the partnership between the Ye and Song families. They wanted to break the contract, but Ye Wen kept stalling, so she had no choice but to send a lawyer’s letter under Song’s name.

A look of annoyance flickered in Yue Weilan’s eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. With a cold smile and a silent sigh, she went to greet Wen Di.

“I don’t know how pure these gold bracelets are, but I recall that gold was extremely rare during the Fuling Dynasty. Even if it’s only medium purity, these bracelets would be worth a thousand taels,” Si Wan said slowly, as everyone stared in astonishment.

A chilling sense of dread crept in, as if something terrifying was about to happen. The consciousness drifting in the data stream frantically searched for a place to hide.

“Lujia, you!” Aetius cried out, his right hand tightening around the hilt of his sword, ready to draw.

It had to be said: though Officer Luo was initially afraid of the spirit, once he got used to it he worked efficiently, never shirking.

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She gazed longingly at the jade seal one last time, unwilling to part with it. But as previously agreed, no matter how much she wanted it, there was nothing she could do.

Passing through the corridor, she caught sight of Xizi, immersed in work in a room with the door open, and paused to look in.

We slowly approached him, none of us making a sound. In situations like this, when no one knew what was going on, waking him abruptly could be dangerous. As colleagues, we all understood these unspoken things.

“I was just giving it a try. If he won’t let us in, then we won’t go in,” Xu Wen said with a smile.

Li Yue sensed trouble, quickly changed her clothes, and dashed back to the private room. Sure enough, the atmosphere inside was noticeably colder.

With a thunderous crash, the once-flat ground suddenly gave way, forming a massive pit.

The village chief led the brothers Du Yun and Du Qing back home, while Yun Chu shared her plan with Yun Mei.

The original owner had been sold into the Ling family at age four, more than a decade ago. Because she was timid and inarticulate, she had always worked in the kitchen, tending fires and washing vegetables—doing odd jobs.

Three evenly spaced knocks sounded at this moment, soft as if not to wake anyone, yet distinctly audible.

Watching him toss aside the candlestick, both Wei Minghongtu and Wei Mingheche grinned wickedly.

Zhao Chen nodded at once, then gave a detailed account of how the Southern Jin people laid carpets by the main road to the poetry gathering, set up a challenge, and used provocative words to incite passing scholars to compete with them—then tried to indoctrinate them with the idea that Southern Jin represented the true Confucian orthodoxy.

As she stomped her foot, it tugged at her wound, and her brows drew together in pain.

Just as Xu Que’s thought formed, a white light appeared above his head, instantly tearing open the fabric of space.

The other had medium-length wolf-tail hair half tied up, sharp features, upturned phoenix eyes, a prominent nose, a lower lip fuller than the upper, and skin so pale it seemed almost translucent—a sickly splendor. He wore a white, Chinese-style casual suit with black bamboo leaves embroidered at the cuffs. Elegant and aloof, he seemed like a classic beauty stepping out from a magazine.

As a great family, they were not short on money. Having joined the three guards and four armies, there was no need to take further risks.

She sensed someone watching her from the roof, gently tapped Yuer’s shoulder, and flew up. The person was just about to escape, but Shen Rong landed right in front of him.

A hint of delight flickered in Yuer’s eyes, only to fade again. For if Kangqiao stopped his actions, it meant she had betrayed the secret, and she knew she would not escape punishment.

He found himself troubled by questions. He’d asked them on that night before, but never with such intensity. Still, he knew she would not answer. Some secrets, shrouded in mist, were better left unspoken.

After hanging up the phone, he suddenly felt a weight lift from his shoulders, the gloom of the past few days swept away.

Shen Chengren opened his eyes, darkness settling over them once more. Everything just now felt so unreal, like a fleeting dream—yet his heart twisted with inexplicable unease.