After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

The expected deafening impact did not occur at the moment the net made contact with the shuttlecock.

Immediately afterwards, an even more brutal and violent force than the uncle's previous strike poured out wildly from that fragile racket handle.

The shuttlecock flew back at a speed that exceeded the limits of what the naked eye could perceive, and the surrounding air was compressed into rings of transparent ripples.

Once this terrifying potential energy is fully unleashed, this riverside square will likely be razed to the ground in a fraction of a second.

"Holy crap, this is going to kill me!"

The middle-aged man's eyes widened, and he blurted out a curse word without any regard for his image.

He suddenly disappeared from the spot and hid behind a large green flower bed more than ten meters away.

pat.

The shuttlecock crossed the midcourt, lost its target, and quietly fell to the ground.

The middle-aged man peeked out from behind a clump of neatly trimmed holly bushes in the flower bed. After confirming that there was no danger, he patted his chest and walked out.

"Not bad, young man." The uncle glanced at the badminton shuttlecock lying on the ground, coughed twice, and gave a reluctant compliment.

Lin didn't talk to him much, tossed the racket back to the young man, walked up to Shen Yi, and led her directly out of the square.

The commotion was quite loud; even Shen Yi could tell something was wrong. She asked softly, "Lin Ye, was that uncle very powerful?"

"A little," Lin replied.

The young man who had been slumped on the bench, panting heavily as if he might faint at any moment, had now stopped looking so exhausted.

He held the racket, tapped it with his other hand, walked over to the uncle, his breathing steady, showing no sign of exhaustion.

"Uncle Zhao, how are you feeling?" The young man asked in a low voice, looking in the direction where Lin Ye had disappeared.

The uncle's carefree and nonchalant expression vanished as he bent down to pick up the badminton shuttlecock: "Very strong. Luo Xiao, a Heaven-ranked player, must have been killed by him."

"The Heavenly Rank shouldn't come looking for revenge, right? Losing just one Chen-level member is a significant loss. Besides, I heard that the Heavenly Rank Canglu branch has a seed member named Shigu, who supposedly has a chance to break through to the Chen-level. He infiltrated Ningchuan University, where Shigu is located, some time ago and ended up dying nearby, the cause of death unknown. Now it seems that Shigu was probably responsible. With both old and new grudges, I wonder if the Heavenly Rank can swallow this?" the young man said after thinking for a moment.

The uncle tossed the badminton shuttlecock into the trash can beside him: "We were able to find him thanks to that girl Qingxin. If Tianjie wants to find someone, they'd have to pay a high price to ask those charlatans in Weiming for help."

MicroMing is the world's largest and most advanced intelligence organization, independent of any country.

This organization is home to a group of players with exceptionally unique abilities. They possess extraordinary methods of information gathering and investigation, and some of the most core members have even touched upon the mystical realms of prophecy and causality.

Lin Ye and Shen Yi walked along the riverbank. Occasionally, there were a few stalls selling roasted chestnuts by the roadside, and the aroma of cooking filled the cold air.

A little further on, under an old locust tree by the roadside that had lost all its leaves, there was a fortune-telling stall.

The stall owner was a Taoist nun in her forties, wearing a slightly faded blue Taoist robe. Her hair was casually tied up on top of her head with a wooden hairpin. In front of her was a yellow cloth with Bagua and Taiji patterns, on which were placed a divination stick container and a few copper coins.

She sat upright, calculating with her fingers in front of a middle-aged woman with a worried face.

"Master, please take a look at my situation. I've been losing at mahjong for the past two weeks, and I've also lost a lot of money in the stock market. Is someone trying to sabotage me?" The middle-aged woman said in a low voice, her brows furrowed.

The Taoist nun closed her eyes slightly, her fingers flying across the paper as she quickly performed some calculations. She sighed, her voice rising and falling with emotion: "Wealth flows like water; it only returns when it goes out. If you don't give away your old wealth, how will your destiny's treasury make room for new wealth? What you've lost isn't just money; it's averting disaster for you."

The woman was taken aback, her initial distress softening slightly: "Averted disaster? Has the disaster been averted yet?"

The Taoist nun's eyes sharpened, her expression becoming solemn and dignified: "Yin and Yang intertwine, profit and loss share the same origin. As long as you don't win money, you will never experience the pain of winning and then losing it all back. As long as you don't cut your losses, your stocks will always just be paper losses on paper."

"Then... then how exactly should I break this deadlock?" The woman was a little confused, feeling that something was wrong, but at the same time, she felt that what the master said made a lot of sense.

The Taoist nun pulled a yellow paper talisman from her wide sleeve and pushed it in front of the woman: "To break this deadlock, you must 'not listen, not look, and not buy.' With this wealth-protecting and peace-preserving talisman of mine, costing only nine hundred and ninety-eight, you can plug the leaky wealth hole in your destiny chart."

The woman quickly scanned the QR code to transfer the money, carefully put away the talisman, and then leaned closer anxiously: "Master, could you please take a look at my husband? Lately, he says he's going fishing every weekend and doesn't come back until midnight, and he hasn't caught a single fish. Could it be that he's having an affair?"

The Taoist nun's expression suddenly turned serious, her fingers flying across the paper as she calculated. Then she abruptly opened her eyes: "Water is associated with Yin, and fish are Yin spirits of the water. Your husband went fishing at night and didn't return empty-handed—this is a very auspicious sign!"

The middle-aged woman looked utterly astonished: "Coming back empty-handed and considered auspicious?"

"Foolish!" The Taoist nun scoffed, flicking her sleeve. "If he actually caught a fish, that would be attracting a deadly peach blossom curse from the water! He's casting mortal bait now, fishing for his own karmic burdens. The fish not biting means he's single-minded, using his own yang energy to sit by the water's edge, suppressing the evil winds from all directions for your family. This is the ancient secret method of 'Taigong Gazing at Water, Dispersing Wealth to Avert Disaster'—a method to break the curse!"

The woman listened, stunned, her eyes welling up with tears: "So that's how hard he works... He can't even catch a fish, all to protect this family?"

"Exactly." The Daoist nun nodded solemnly. "When you get back, be sure not to use the words 'air force' to disturb his Daoist mind. It would be best to buy him an expensive fishing rod to reinforce the formation with the principle of metal and water generating each other. A generous fee of two hundred for answering his questions."

The woman felt as if she had been granted a pardon; she readily scanned the code and left, expressing her gratitude profusely.

Just as the middle-aged woman left, Lin Ye and Shen Yi happened to pass by the stall.

The Taoist nun was tidying up the scattered copper coins on the table when her elbow accidentally bumped into the old divination stick container on the edge of the table.

A yellowed bamboo skewer fell, bounced twice on the bluestone slab, and rolled right to Shen Yi's feet.

The Taoist nun stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the bamboo stick. Her expression became extremely solemn: "Flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water are ultimately illusions; withered trees rarely see spring again. Seeking fate leads to its dissipation; seeking life leads to its demise."

"Young lady, this is an extremely ominous and unlucky divination. If you insist on pursuing something that is not destined for you, you will surely suffer utter ruin."