Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 862 An Encounter with Qi Jinguang

"What??"

Wang Bin froze for a second, then his eyes flashed with bloodshot veins: "Damn it, 5000!" As he cursed, he pulled out his short knife and swung it at the young man's head, but before the knife could even land on the young man's head...

"Certainly!"

The young shopkeeper's voice was not loud, and even carried a hint of impatience in dealing with trivial matters.

However, the moment those words were uttered, time seemed to be abruptly cut off for Wang Bin.

His sword-wielding motion, the rage and ferocity on his face, the bloodshot in his eyes, even the taut muscle lines from exerting force—everything froze in mid-air.

Everyone was taken aback.

Wang Bin, this bandit, isn't particularly strong, but he's not weak either; he's probably only at the level of an E-level beginner.

But this agile and ruthless bandit was... frozen in place?
Xiao Ran frowned; he didn't sense any special power fluctuations emanating from the young man.

Whether it's a cursed object or a class skill.

This ability to make one's words come true is somewhat baffling.

Xiao Ran turned her gaze to Jin Chanzi and Wu Man standing to the side.

The two shook their heads, completely unable to discern what technique the young man was using.

The hall was equally deathly silent.

Even the bald man stood frozen in place, looking at Wang Bin with a puzzled expression. The strong smell of blood and the intense atmosphere of the fight had not yet dissipated when the young man's shout drowned it out.

The blind man in the corner maintained his stiff expression without changing, but his withered hand, which had been resting on the table and holding the scabbard, had quietly moved to the hilt of the sword.

The young man didn't even glance at Wang Bin, who was frozen in place. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and calmly turned his gaze to the bald man in the corner, whose breathing was fluctuating.

"3000"

The young man's voice remained flat.

"Wh...what? What 3000!" The bald man almost thought he had misheard, his eyes widening as he looked at the young man with a completely bewildered expression.

"A table, a bench, and a kettle cost 2700, plus a bucket of instant noodles, that's 3000."

The young man pointed to the mess of tables, chairs, and benches scattered on the ground in front of the bald man.

The bald man's lips twitched a few times, his eyes fixed on the young man, unable to see through the boy's methods for a moment.

With a glint in his eyes, he suddenly tapped his toes, sending the hidden weapon that had been lying at his feet flying straight toward the young man.

The hidden weapon merely grazed the young man's clothes before embedding itself heavily in the door panel beside him.

Seeing this, the young man simply glanced at it and said, "Add 200 to this door panel."

The bald man's heart sank, but then he became furious: "Add your grandma's leg!"

The dark red runes on the bald man's arm suddenly lit up, and a scorching aura spread once again.

But before he could make a move, the young man impatiently raised his hand: "Quiet!"

Instantly, the bald man's face turned purplish-red, and the red light on his arm, which was covered with cursed patterns, flickered violently, but it was gradually suppressed by an invisible force.

That feeling...

It's like trying to urinate and then having to force yourself to hold it back halfway through – that's incredibly uncomfortable.

The bald man could only open his mouth in vain, like a fish out of water, making hoarse gasping sounds, unable to utter a single complete syllable.

He was also frozen in place. Although he wasn't completely immobilized like Wang Bin, his ability to make his words lawful finally frightened the bald man.

His scarlet eyes were filled with horror.

Upstairs, in Xiao Ran's room.

The three people holding the bowls of broth froze in mid-air, their faces filled with confusion. Wu Man pondered under her breath, "Words become law?? That's not right, could it be an A-level professional 'Sincere Speaker'?"

Legend has it that the A-level professional truth-telling master can decide life and death with a single word, and that his words carry the weight of law, astonishing even ghosts and gods.

But then, Wu Man thought about it carefully and realized that something was wrong.

Even a master of truthful words wouldn't be this supernatural, would they?
Jin Chanzi, who was sitting cross-legged on the tiger demon's back, had his eyes, which had been half-closed, now fully open. His eyes were gleaming, and his whisk moved on its own without wind. His fingers were rapidly calculating something on the whisk's strands, and his expression grew increasingly solemn.

"Something's not right... Even if he were a terrestrial deity, he certainly wouldn't have such abilities? Strange! Strange!"

Both of them couldn't figure out what kind of ability the young man possessed.

Xiao Ran suddenly relaxed her brows: "Stop guessing, I think I've figured it out."

"what?"

The two of them turned to look at Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran didn't mince words and directly pointed out one possibility: "This place is probably someone else's territory."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself more clearly." Wu Man seemed to have thought of something, but still pressed for an answer.

Xiao Ran couldn't explain it too clearly, but the young man's abilities made her think about it and then she thought of her property on Bone Spirit Street.

This young man's permissions seem similar to mine when I was in room 121; if anyone attacks me inside the house, I immediately enter a frozen state. However, the young man's permissions are clearly higher and stronger than mine in room 121.

But no matter what, this was the only answer Xiao Ran could think of.

After hearing Xiao Ran's explanation, Wu Man and Jin Chanzi suddenly understood.

Wu Man breathed a sigh of relief: "Wow, I didn't know it had such an ability."

After saying that, Wu Man suddenly realized something, turned around and stared at Xiao Ran with eyes like a dog seeing a cat, and moved closer to Xiao Ran in a sinister manner: "So, the reason you didn't tell me you were the landlord back then wasn't just to cheat me out of money, right?"

Xiao Ran stiffened, not expecting Wu Man to think so quickly. Her lips twitched a few times, and she forced a smile, saying, "You're overthinking it. As long as you don't attack me, this ability can't be activated on its own."

"Humph!"

Wu Man didn't dwell on the matter any longer. Now that she understood the reason, she felt much more at ease.

Jin Chanzi pondered for a moment; "So, the reason this kid's special ability was activated is either because someone attacked him or because someone damaged the property here."

After saying that, Jin Chanzi slapped his thigh and said, "Hey, this scoundrel is really good at this."

Why did Jin Chanzi say that? This kid deliberately set the price so high by taking advantage of this privilege, just waiting for someone to get angry and make a move against him.

In fact, this kid deliberately didn't become a beginner, maintaining his identity as an ordinary person, using himself as bait to lure these fools into taking the bait.

But thinking about it, this kid is quite talented. As the saying goes, "Jiang Taigong fishes, and those who are willing will take the bait."

As long as they don't damage these things carelessly or have any malicious intentions, the young man can't really do anything to others.

Having figured out the key points, the three of them stopped paying attention to the commotion downstairs and even felt more at ease.

After a delicious and satisfying meal, I lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, when the three of them came downstairs, they found that the living room table and chairs had already been repaired.

Early in the morning, only a few people, both men and women, were sitting sparsely in the lobby.

Freshly baked meat buns were laid out on the table.

Xiao Ran looked around, but apart from the blind man and the woman, she didn't see the bald man or the two bandits' informants.

"The steamed buns taste good. How much are they?" Wu Man asked with a smile, rubbing her nose.

"Cheap, 3 ghost coins for ten baskets, all fresh pork, big buns with thin skin and thick meat," the young man yawned and replied, "How many baskets do you want?"

"No need, we'll check out."

Wu Man waved her hand.

The three of them found a corner spot and sat down.
Xiao Ran stretched, feeling quite refreshed. She glanced at the heavy snow outside and noticed that the treetops were already covered with a thick layer of snow.

The young man came over carrying a kettle of hot water: "Please have a seat for a moment. I'll check the room and then we can check out."

After saying this, the young man put down the kettle, got up, and went upstairs to check the room.

The three of them took a sip of hot water and were chatting about whether they should get a sled and have the tiger demon pull it while the snow outside was falling heavier and heavier.

A group of people outside pushed open the curtain and came in.

As soon as I entered, I heard a girl's voice: "It smells so good, it's meat buns."

Everyone looked up and saw that the girl was not tall, only about 1.3 or 1.4 meters, and she was wrapped up tightly, looking exactly like a small potato from the south.

Two men, also dressed in thick cotton-padded coats, followed behind.

The man following behind walked in, glanced around, and suddenly stared intently at Xiao Ran. His eyes lit up, he shook off his companion, strode to Xiao Ran's table, and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Martial Uncle."

Xiao Ran was stunned.

Looking up at the person who approached, I asked, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Qi Jinguang." As he spoke, the boy took off his hat and scarf, revealing a youthful face.

Xiao Ran looked closely and, seeing the youthful face in front of her, exclaimed in surprise, "It really is you!"

As he spoke, he stood up and carefully looked the young man over. Three years had passed since they last met, and the boy who had been a naive kid was now a young man.

He looked about twelve or thirteen years old, and at first glance, he was the same age as Jin Chanzi.

"It's been three years since we last met, and you've grown so tall." Xiao Ran looked at Qi Jinguang with a smile.

"Reporting to my uncle, it has been more than four years since we parted, and I spent two and a half of those years in another labyrinthine city." Qi Jinguang had a bright red mouth and white teeth, and when he smiled, a pair of dimples appeared on his face, making him look very cute.

"Old Xiao, what's this...?"

Jin Chanzi scrutinized Qi Jinguang, his eyes shining, and he became increasingly alarmed as he looked at him. So he inquired about the origins of the child, Xiao Ran.

"He is the last disciple of Master Zhang of Longhu Mountain. I met him once at Longhu Mountain and he called me 'Uncle-Master'."

Xiao Ran introduced Qi Jinguang's background to Jin Chanzi and Wu Man.

"So you're a rising star in my Daoist sect." Upon hearing Xiao Ran's introduction, Jin Chanzi immediately straightened his back, stood up, and said to Qi Jinguang, "Good grand-disciple, in terms of seniority, you should call me Grandmaster Uncle."

(End of this chapter)