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

Uncle Zhao and the young man, who were squatting on the ground, ultimately did not live to see the door open.

The two exchanged a glance and could only slink away from the area along the same route.

Inside the rented room on the third floor, Gu Qingxin stood in the bedroom, her gentle and approachable demeanor long gone, replaced by calmness and solemnity.

She bent down and pulled a heavy, long wooden box from deep under the bed.

The wooden box has a deep dark red surface with few carvings and only a few mottled scratches left by time.

She secured the wooden box firmly with a strong, wide leather belt and carried it on her back with her hands behind her back.

The heavy weight pressed down on her shoulders, but it didn't cause her back to bend in the slightest.

After tidying up, Gu Qingxin pushed open the door, just as the door opposite hers opened at that moment.

Lin was wearing a simple coat and had just finished washing up, seemingly ready to go out.

Upon seeing Lin Ye, the sharp solemnity in Gu Qingxin's eyes vanished instantly.

Her smile was as gentle and natural as it had been at the dinner table yesterday, and her gaze swept over the book in Lin Ye's hand.

"Good morning, going to school?" she greeted softly, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze.

Lin nodded: "Yeah, I have class this morning. Are you going out to run errands?"

He glanced at the somewhat incongruous huge wooden box on Gu Qingxin's back, but didn't ask any further questions.

"I have some personal matters to attend to," Gu Qingxin replied with a smile.

The two walked down the stairs one after the other. When they reached the intersection downstairs, Gu Qingxin went to the bus stop, while Lin Ye turned and walked towards Ningchuan University.

On that somewhat deserted street by the river, the withered branches of the old locust tree swayed slightly in the wind.

A Taoist nun dressed in a blue robe was sitting in front of her fortune-telling stall, holding a thermos in her hand. She had just managed to seduce an old man who was listening in a daze.

She took a leisurely sip of goji berry tea and was about to gather the few copper coins on the table.

A shadow suddenly blocked out the light on the stall. The Taoist nun slowly raised her head, and a young woman stood in front of her table.

The woman carried a conspicuous, deep red wooden box on her back. Her fair and gentle face was expressionless as she quietly looked down at her.

The air was still; even the wind seemed to have stopped blowing.

"What brings you here so early in the morning, layperson?" The nun put down her cup.

Gu Qingxin said, "Fortune telling."

The Taoist nun chuckled dryly, tapping her finger lightly on the yellow cloth on the table: "What would you like to divine, sir? Marriage, wealth, or future prospects?"

"Let's see if my trip will be successful."

The Taoist nun chuckled lightly: "That is naturally...extremely difficult."

Before she finished speaking, the Taoist nun vanished into thin air, leaving only a rough yellow paper figure that floated lightly to the ground.

Suburbs of Ningchuan City.

In a desolate place, the Taoist nun's figure appeared. In battles between Chen-level beings, teleportation is often impossible due to magnetic field interference.

But her paper doll can withstand one instance of interference from the surrounding magnetic field for her.

This was not her first time teleporting; aside from the first time she used a paper doll to withstand interference, all subsequent teleportations were normal.

She managed to escape from the city center all the way here by using extremely high-frequency, continuous teleportation.

Even so, the woman carrying the deep red wooden box was like a ghost that she couldn't shake off, clinging tightly to her back.

"Is it really necessary? I just took on a job and earned some hard-earned money. Is it really necessary to chase after me like this?" the Taoist nun complained.

The Taoist nun disappeared from her spot, and the next instant, Gu Qingxin appeared where she had just been standing.

Then, Gu Qingxin disappeared again.

On a barren land, the figure of the Taoist nun appeared from the void, and this time two people stood in front of her.

Kamiya and Choi Ho-jin set off from the Tianjie Canglu branch, intending to travel to Ningchuan City using teleportation, when they unexpectedly saw the Daoist nun appear before them.

Completely ignoring the coldness in the other person's eyes, she walked towards the two of them without hesitation, her face once again plastered with that seasoned, dry smile.

"My two bosses, what a coincidence! The transaction is over, so please do me a favor by going all the way. There's a female benefactor chasing after me right behind me. Could you please help me stop her? I'll be going now."

Kamiya let out a mocking sneer. He had never been in awe of the official players on Xia Shang's side, thinking they were nothing more than a group of watchdogs bound by rules.

He was about to mock the profiteering Taoist nun when his expression suddenly changed drastically in the next second.

Centered on the three of them, the weeds within a two-kilometer radius all pressed tightly against the ground at the same time, as if an invisible giant hand had pressed this wasteland down hard.

The air became as thick and heavy as the deep sea filled with lead, and a terrifying magnetic field carrying an absolute sense of killing intent suddenly crashed down on their heads.

Gu Qingxin's figure slowly emerged from the open space dozens of meters away.

She was still wearing that elegant gray-brown long coat, with that heavy, dark red wooden box strapped to her back.

That fair and gentle face showed no trace of its usual friendliness, only a chilling indifference.

She stood there quietly, her gaze sweeping over the Taoist nun before finally settling on Kamiya and Choi Ho-jin.

"Hold on, gentlemen! I have a few more rituals to perform, so I'll have to take my leave now!"

A paper figure slipped from the Taoist nun's sleeve. Taking advantage of the moment when the paper figure absorbed the magnetic field interference, she activated her ability again and disappeared from the spot, escaping without a trace.

"People from the Tianjie Canglu branch."

"Now that you've found out the cause of Luo Xiao's death, you can all stay here."

Her voice was filled with icy killing intent.

……

……

The midday sun shone through the thin clouds onto the street. Lin took a walk in the afternoon and went back to her rented room to pick up some things.

As I walked towards the old buildings in the neighborhood, a green bus came to a stop at the bus stop across the street.

With a hissing sound as the pneumatic doors opened, several passengers disembarked one after another.

Lin Ye's gaze swept casually across the area and landed on Gu Qingxin, who was walking at the very back.

She carried a long wooden box on her back and looked no different than she had a few hours ago.

Only his face was as pale as the first snow, exuding a bloodless weakness.

Lin stopped and watched her cross the road and walk towards the entrance of the building.

Just as she reached the entrance of the building, she felt as if all her strength had been drained away. Her legs gave way, she lost her balance, and she fell straight forward.

Lin Ye moved extremely quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her back from the brink of falling.

"Thank you." Gu Qingxin's voice was very weak, and even her breathing became fragmented.

Lin also took Gu Qingxin back to her room. As soon as she sat down, a stinging red stain seeped out from her clothes.

The red color spread at a visible speed, quickly staining the fabric.