Scourge Messenger

Chapter 76 Foundation Building Begins (First Update)
As darkness fell completely, the campfires were lit, turning the night into a chaotic ash.

The assassination of Lu Wangji, the killing of Zhou Ye, the beheading of Chen Linchuan, and the severed arm of Qun Yushu—any one of these events could cause a tremor in the Liang Kingdom's court and the country, upheaving countless lives and requiring a redistribution of many interests. Yet, these events have occurred one after another, as if they were perfectly natural, and no one cares.

The servants, soldiers, and sons of various families in the camp were so stingy that they didn't even glance at the losers of the fight. Everyone held their breath and watched the sole victor, waiting for her to announce her decree.

The aristocratic families were defeated, and the third-level messenger fell.

The commoner with the black belt won, and the second-tier messenger stood tall in the woodland.

When the unbelievable scene unfolded before their eyes, everyone quickly accepted the reality. Some ran away, some were filled with fear, but most showed heartfelt approval on their faces. When the weak improve, you praise them; when the weak are equal to you, you feel uncomfortable; when the weak surpass you, you feel jealous or even disgusted; when the weak trample on those you perceive as strong, you begin to admire them.

Dignity is merely a product of circumstances. One second, dignity requires you to despise it, but the next second, it demands your respect. Rank, class, lineage—these social norms, instilled in the mind over countless years, vanish in this moment, leaving only an instinctive yearning for the strong… Humans are not as rational as they imagine.

The person with the most complicated feelings at the scene was probably Jie Yuanshao.

At first, she felt sympathy and indignation for Jiang Shi's plight. However, after Jiang Shi rejected everyone's good intentions and defied public opinion to assassinate Lu Wangji, she also felt that Jiang Shi had gone beyond redemption. Killing Lu Wangji and offending the court and powerful families was not just foolishness, but a self-destructive madness.

Until Jiang Shi took out the legendary token, Bingzi Jiaolin.

Unlike the excited Shang Xinlei and Qian Gongyu, Jie Yuanshao, after being shocked, wanted to be happy for Jiang Shi, but no matter how she tried to comfort herself, she could not alleviate the pain in her heart that felt like it was being gnawed by a thousand ants.

This feeling reached its peak after Jiang Shi killed Zhou Ye and Chen Linchuan. When Jie Yuanshao saw her passing by Jie Zilong, a dark thought suddenly popped into her mind that she couldn't believe—she was hoping that Jiang Shi would kill her third uncle.

If Jiang Shi kills her third uncle, Jie Yuanshao can hate her without any worries and sever all ties with her from then on.

But Jiang Shi did not.

Shang Yue and Jie Zilong were almost unharmed, and everyone knew that Jiang Shi had done this out of consideration for them. But precisely because of this, Jie Yuanshao felt so uncomfortable that she couldn't breathe, as if she were drowning, with tangible pressure from all sides making it hard for her to catch her breath.

What's wrong with me? I should be grateful to her, but why do I feel so bad, even...hate?

Suddenly, her right hand was grabbed by something furry, a comforting sensation that relieved her from the pressure of drowning, bringing her back to the clear, sunny camp. Jie Yuanshao turned her head and saw that it was Qian Gongyu's hand. Because of her transformation, her hand had become a furry ball of flesh, and being grabbed by her hand felt like being tightly hugged by a raccoon dog.

So gentle it melts your heart.

"Are you alright?" Qian Gongyu asked, her eyes filled with worry. "Yuan Shao, you look like you're in a lot of pain."

Shang Xinlei glanced at them; with her naturally keen insight, she could easily see through Jie Yuanshao's emotional shift. However, this was not something she could interfere with; emotions often defy rationality.

She meant no harm and genuinely hoped you would improve, but when you improved beyond her expectations, she became unhappy.

Shang Xinlei herself wasn't exactly a magnanimous person, but she came from a family of thieves, had many opportunities, and more importantly, she knew Yan Qing. In her mind, Jiang Shi was Huang Quan's subordinate, while she, Chi She, was of the same status as Huang Quan. Therefore, no matter how high Jiang Shi jumped, he would never be higher than her, which is why she could calmly accept the fact that Jiang Shi had risen to prominence.

That's how friends are; when things are going well, it's a mess, and when they hate each other, it's a mess too.

Shang Xinlei reached out and ruffled Qian Gongyu's tiger ears, thinking that it would be great if everyone were like her. Qian Gongyu shook her head impatiently, but Shang Xinlei insisted on touching them, so she had no choice but to give in.

Suddenly, the camp erupted in noise. They looked up and saw Jiang Shi 'looting the corpse'. She didn't care at all that so many people were watching her. She squatted down and looted Zhou Ye and Chen Linchuan's keepsakes.

The Zhou and Chen families were immediately agitated upon seeing this. They dared not utter any harsh words to Jiang Shi, so they called out to Qun Yushu, Shang Yue, and Jie Zilong. However, these three were either missing arms or had been beaten into a dejected state. When they realized that Jiang Shi was not mutilating the corpse, they let her go.

After touching the corpse, Jiang Shi walked towards the personal score leaderboard, passing in front of Shang Xinlei and the others without turning his head or lingering for a moment.

Fearing that Qian Gongyu would act impulsively, Shang Xinlei quickly grabbed her arm: "Don't speak. Jiang Shi is ignoring us for our own good. Now she has nowhere to stand in Liang Kingdom. The Qun family, Zhou family, Chen family... even the Shang family and Jie family will not let her go. Her friendship with us will only harm us."

“I know.” Qian Gongyu was surprisingly calm. “I’ll coordinate our statements to show that Jiang Shi doesn’t get along with us well—in fact, she doesn’t like talking to us, and we don’t know her at all.” As she spoke, her mood darkened again, and her round ears drooped. “Although I really want to comfort you by saying it’s just her personality, to be honest, I think Jiang Shi really only wanted to participate in the Forest of Endless Sleep from the beginning, planning to leave as soon as it ended,” Shang Xinlei said. “She’s so cold because she has no interest in making friends.”

"I feel so too……"

"So you should be proud." Shang Xinlei rubbed Qian Gongyu's head: "Such an ice queen who is so cold and aloof, she was eventually won over by you, and is even willing to stay for you."

"Huh? Me?" Qian Gongyu pointed at herself blankly: "No way—she didn't join my family, she joined your family or the Jie family!"

"What difference does the Shang family, the Jie family, the Qun family, or the Chen family make to her? Do you think we have a good relationship with her? But why did she accept our offer in the end?" Shang Xinlei put her arm around Qian Gongyu's shoulder: "It's because we have a good relationship with you. She joined our two families for you, and she stayed for you, you silly tiger."

"I don't believe you. Xinlei, you're always just trying to fool me." Qian Gongyu looked at Jie Yuanshao with disbelief. "Yuanshao, you tell me."

Jie Yuanshao rubbed Qian Gongyu's fluffy little balls of flesh and nodded: "Jiang Shi probably agreed 70% because of you, and the other 30% is due to our good relationship with her and the generous conditions offered by our families. Speaking of which, when did you ever call me by my first name? You have quite the nerve, but..."

"If you're willing to turn into a tiger every time you see me, I'll allow you to call me by my name."

"So you understand now?" Shang Xinlei grabbed Qian Gongyu's shoulders, revealing a sinister smile: "As long as we win you over, it's the same as winning over Jiang Shi. Hehehe, little patriarch of the Qian family, you won't be able to escape our grasp from now on!"

Qian Gongyu shivered, hugged herself and took two steps back, her expression one of terror as if she were surrounded by two female perverts.

Suddenly, a rainbow appeared in the distance.

The words "Jiang Shi: 11200 points" transformed into rainbow light, weaving into a dazzling crystal treasure chest in front of Jiang Shi. Just from the appearance of the treasure chest, it was clear that her reward far surpassed that of others. Although she only had 2,000 more points than Shang Xinlei, who came in second, her total score exceeded the 10,000 mark, so it was only natural that the quality of her reward would be upgraded by one level.

Three orbs of light emerged from the crystal treasure chest, from left to right: a grimoire, a token, and an unknown object shaped like a talisman. Due to the distance, they couldn't see what was inside the orbs. Before they could get closer to observe, Jiang Shi had already made her choice—she took the grimoire on the far left.

"Hey?"

Many were surprised by this, because Jiang Shi had already mastered the secret technique, Shadow Splitting Blade, in the previous battle. For her, the secret technique was no longer urgently needed; a suitable token would likely be more valuable. More importantly, Jiang Shi came from a humble background and lacked experience; could she truly judge which reward was more valuable?

Only Shang Xinlei vaguely guessed the reason why Jiang Shi chose the secret manual.

Just then, a symphony of thunder and fire suddenly resounded outside, followed by a thunderous roar that grew louder as it approached—

"You beast, give me your life!"

The night seemed to be torn apart as a lightning bolt formed an arc that spanned hundreds of steps, its power undiminished, like divine punishment slashing towards Jiang Shi!
Even from a considerable distance, the hairs on the heads of Qian Gongyu and the others stood on end. They felt as if they had brushed past death. The terrifying power compressed to the extreme left their minds blank. When they came to their senses, they only saw a deep chasm appear in the grass.

—A rift valley carved out by the arc of the blade!
With a single stroke, he cleaved the heavens and the earth, manipulated celestial phenomena, and altered the terrain!
"Surprisingly not dead."

At this moment, everyone noticed a man standing on the tent in the camp. He had a long, flowing beard, arched eyebrows, and wore armor. In his hand, he held a simple broadsword, looking like both a bandit and a fierce general. He looked at Jiang Shi, who had escaped death, and said coldly, "You missed your best ending—what follows is only a fate worse than death."

"Greetings, Thunder King of the Prison." Jie Zilong and the others immediately put down their weapons and knelt on one knee.

"Greetings, Thunder King of the Prison!" Everyone still alive inside and outside the camp did their utmost to show their reverence.

"Chen Liexia, the Thunder King of Prison Suppression." Shang Xinlei uttered his strength with great difficulty:
"A fourth-tier messenger, a Foundation Establishment expert!"

　There is more to come.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)