During the Qin Dynasty, he was in charge of the net.

A cold glint grazed Wen Lin's face, but the expected excruciating pain did not materialize.

Immediately following was a crisp click, the sound of a longsword being sheathed.

Wen Lin was stunned and completely unaware of what had just happened.

Could it be that Duan Shui spared him out of respect for the Sect Leader?

In fact, even if Li Ji killed Wen Lin, Lü Buwei wouldn't say anything.

In Li Ji's eyes, Wen Lin was like an insect. Similarly, in Lü Buwei's eyes, Wen Lin was a dispensable pawn.

For people like them, Wen Lin's life is insignificant.

What Li Ji did was, in some ways, more terrifying than death.

Wen Lin left; it was Li Ji who made him leave.

He didn't know how he got out of that terrible place.

The words Duan Shui left him before he left kept echoing in his mind:

People always have to pay the price for their actions, sometimes with money, sometimes with their lives.

What you give up is the ability to see clearly.

Wen Lin walked numbly through the cold underground palace of Luo Wang, like a walking corpse.

Is it really possible for someone to take away another person's ability to close their eyes?

Closing your eyes is such a simple thing, just like breathing. Isn't this an innate ability of humans?

But at this moment, Wen Lin tried hard to close his eyelids, but he couldn't do it no matter what.

He could no longer feel his eyelids; he couldn't even blink.

The eyelids protect and lubricate the eyes, but what would it feel like if a person couldn't feel their eyelids?

Perhaps it's like a window that has lost its original paper cover and become a bare, empty opening.

Wen Lin felt this way at that moment. Although he could still see the scene with his eyes, he seemed to have lost control of them.

Could it be that when a person loses the concept of eyelids, the eyeball becomes such a bizarre thing?

He felt as if there were two slippery, wet, and strange lumps of flesh in his eye sockets, which made him feel nauseous.

It was as if someone had stuffed two slimy toads into his mouth, making him feel nauseous.

The next moment, Wen Lin suddenly extended his right index and middle fingers and stabbed straight towards his eyes.

These disgusting eyes are not his at all, and he doesn't want such strange eyes.

Just as Wen Lin's two fingers were about to pierce his eyeballs, a hoarse, cold shout came from the shadows:

"Wen Lin, what were you doing just now? Did you deliver the secret letter entrusted to you by the sect leader?"

Wen Lin shuddered violently, as if waking from a dream, his body covered in a cold sweat.

He looked up into the shadows, where a burly figure wearing a leather mask was hidden in the thick darkness.

The leather mask had a prominent, raised forehead, fangs that protruded outwards from the sides of the mouth, and long, deep-set eye sockets that revealed only two cold, desolate eyes.

Wen Lin trembled slightly. This was none other than Lord Taotie, one of the Four Fiends, a terrifying being whose strength was infinitely close to that of a first-class Heavenly Being.

Wen Lin wanted to tell everyone about his physical abnormalities and his spying on Duan Shui, but the words that came out were:

"Reporting to Lord Taotie, I have delivered the letter safely."

Wearing a leather mask, Taotie gave Wen Lin a deep look before turning and leaving.

Seeing Taotie leave, Wen Lin let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know why he had kept those things a secret.

Perhaps it was out of fear of Lord Taotie's reprimand. Or perhaps it was out of fear of that terrifying sword and that terrifying person. Or perhaps he felt that even if he told Lord Taotie about it, it would be of no use.

Neither of these approaches will solve his current problem; on the contrary, they could potentially lead to even more serious consequences.

What he needs to do now is think about how to relieve, or rather, conceal, his current abnormality.

Perhaps he could try sewing someone else's eyelid onto his own eye to see if it would work.

Unbeknownst to Wen Lin, his eyeballs were strangely moving around.

He walked into the darkness, and his figure quickly disappeared.

From then on, the Luo Wang organization gained a pervert who liked to cut off other people's eyelids, and the martial arts world gained a demon who liked to cut out eyes.

......

At the same time, Li Ji was also preparing to set off for Xianyang, the capital of Qin.

He did not bring any subordinates with him, only keeping Wu Nian by his side.

With several hunting team leaders and Tian Yi present, there are no immediate concerns regarding the affairs of the Dark Execution Platform.

Li Ji stepped out of the underground palace of the Net, which was buried deep underground. He traveled swiftly by day and night, abandoning the pipes and traversing desolate paths. Relying on his ability to neutralize poison, he did not eat or drink along the way and arrived in Xianyang City from the hidden underground palace of the Net in just one day.

Sometimes, Li Ji wondered why, since Luo Wang had chosen to build its headquarters in Qin, it didn't just build its underground palace under the Qin capital.

Wouldn't that allow for better control over the most powerful of the seven kingdoms?

Whether it's that he can't or doesn't want to, probably no one but the leader of the Luo Wang organization can answer that question.

Perhaps, when the underground palace was being built, the power of the Luo Net was not yet strong enough on the surface.

Perhaps the true purpose of Luo Wang is not to control a country; perhaps Luo Wang has some deeper purpose.

These are perhaps the deepest secrets known only to the leaders of the Luo Wang organization throughout history, and even Li Ji at this moment cannot access them.

With the special travel permit from the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), Li Ji easily entered Xianyang City with Wu Nian.

Stepping into this most prosperous city of the Qin state, one walks on a tightly packed bluestone pavement, where merchants from various states, wandering scholars in strange attire, and all sorts of pedestrians come and go in an endless stream.

The roadside was lined with pavilions and taverns with fluttering banners, and the cries of street vendors rose and fell. Qin soldiers patrolled the streets, and the houses were very orderly. Looking into the distance, one could vaguely see the eaves of the Qin palaces in the distance.

This bustling scene made Li Ji feel slightly dazed.

Is the Luo Wang underground palace too dark, or is the current prosperity too fake?

Perhaps darkness and light are two sides of the same coin.

Where there is light, there will always be darkness.

Li Ji pressed his straw hat down and then disappeared into the crowd.

According to the secret letter, he needed to visit Lü Buwei first.

However, during the day, Lü Buwei's residence would be bustling with activity, making it inconvenient for him to visit.

Therefore, he decided to first go to Luo Wang's stronghold in Xianyang to gather information and also to meet someone else.

That person was the King of Poisons.

After returning from Korea, he did not have the Hundred Poison King accompany him. Instead, he had him take his token, settle Ling Ji's sister in first, and then wait for his orders at the Luo Wang stronghold.

The Luo Wang strongholds in Xianyang number about a dozen, ranging from dozens or even hundreds of people to fewer than ten.

One of the small strongholds, with a dozen or so people, was set up by Li Ji in his early years.

The reason Li Ji set up such a stronghold might be because in his early years, he had no loyalty to the Luo Wang organization whatsoever.

Bypassing the bustling crowds through a quiet alley, Li Ji followed a mottled stone wall to a seemingly ordinary herbal medicine shop facing the street.

Dried herbs were laid out outside the shop. The shopkeeper was an elderly man in plain clothes, his face full of wrinkles, looking to be over seventy years old.

Li Ji ignored him and did not enter the shop. He simply raised his hand and knocked on the door frame five times.

The first strike is heavy, the middle three strikes are light, and the last strike is heavy.

Clearly, this is a code.

The shopkeeper, who had seemed to be dozing off, suddenly woke up. He glanced at Li Ji and saw only a black-robed man whose face was covered by a bamboo hat.

The old man in plain clothes quickly called out to the house, and then a waiter came to Li Ji and bowed to invite him inside.

As Li Ji followed the shop assistant toward the backyard, he glanced at the old man in plain clothes through his eyes hidden under his straw hat.

This old man probably doesn't have many days left to live.

This person is considered an unofficial member of the Luo Wang organization; he has no rank, no martial arts skills, and no children.

There are many people like this in the net, who spend their lives in solitude and often receive only vague instructions.

Sometimes, due to a vague instruction, they may have to disguise themselves as an ordinary person or wait in a certain location for years or even decades.

Such a life cannot be described as either fortunate or unfortunate.

At least, this old man is over seventy years old, which is not easy in this turbulent world.

Just as Li Ji brushed past the old man, the old man suddenly turned around and looked at Li Ji's figure, a hint of doubt flashing in his cloudy eyes:

"Please wait a moment, sir. Did I meet you many years ago?"

The old man was hunted down after his identity was exposed in his younger days. Fortunately, a young man helped him and he survived. Unfortunately, he was unable to see his benefactor's face clearly at the time, and he didn't even have time to thank him.

Upon hearing this, Li Ji paused, and then a detached voice came from the bamboo hat:

You've mistaken me for someone else.

Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed in the old man's eyes. Perhaps he really was getting old, and he could even mistake the figure of his benefactor.

For some reason, even though the person in front of him was quite different in build from his benefactor, he actually mistook them for the same person.

Perhaps the older people get, the more they tend to overthink.

Lately, he keeps seeing his wife and daughter, whom he killed, coming to him.

Perhaps it's time for him to go see them.