My lord, spare his life!

Zhang Yang closed the door behind him before leaving.

The room returned to darkness, mirroring everyone's current mood.

Zeng Sheng followed closely behind Zhang Yang. He noticed that as Zhang Yang closed the door, she tossed a round, cloth-wrapped object inside. The object made a strange, muffled thud when it hit the ground. Zeng Sheng didn't get a clear look, but a sense of curiosity arose within him.

He tentatively asked, "What did the lord send inside?"

Zhang Yang said, "They should be... friends?"

Zeng Sheng paused, and coincidentally, a short, piercing scream of extreme terror suddenly came from the house behind him.

"Ah—a head, it's a human head—"

In the darkness, someone impulsively picked up a package that had rolled onto the ground.

A strong, pungent smell of blood assaulted my nostrils, and my palm touched a patch of cold, sticky blood. Looking at the shape of the thing, I was immediately terrified and instinctively threw the head package away.

Zeng Sheng quickly withdrew his gaze from Zhang Yang.

At this moment, all that remains in my heart is the emptiness that follows fear.

He never expected that the "friend" his new master spoke of would actually be "the head of a friend"? Just thinking about the scene that had happened in the room sent a chill down his spine—for the owner of that head, and for Zhang Yang's cold-blooded cruelty.

You should know that Zhang Yang's appearance just now was covered in blood, dragging a golden spear, with someone's flesh and blood still hanging on his armor plates. He threatened several people who had been trembling with fear all night, saying they should either pay to avoid trouble or be sent out horizontally. Now he's even throwing human heads into the house.

Fortunately, none of those people had heart disease.

If he had a heart condition, he'd probably be dead by now.

He nervously swallowed, subconsciously slowing his pace, trying to create some distance between himself and Zhang Yang. However, Zhang Yang was a considerate person; as soon as Zeng Sheng took two steps away, Zhang Yang considerately shortened his steps, bringing the distance between them back to normal.

Zeng Sheng's subconscious continued to decrease.

Zhang Yang's side stopped abruptly without warning.

Zeng Sheng: "..."

He almost bumped into Zhang Yang, but luckily he stopped at the last moment and hurriedly bowed to apologize, wishing he could bow to the very end.

"Is it because of some leg discomfort, Sansheng?" Whether it's a local custom or a global trend, people seem to prefer kneeling, and high-legged tables and chairs are rarely seen. Even with heel supports to reduce the burden on the calves and knees, maintaining the same posture for a long time still causes soreness. Zhang Yang mistakenly thought that Zeng Sheng was also suffering from this problem.

Zeng Sheng shook his head and asked the question with some difficulty.

"...Whose head was that just now?"

Zhang Yang said, "I don't know."

Zeng Sheng: "..."

"When I came down from the battlefield, Egg Bro... oh, I mean Guan Siyin, tossed this to me. He said it was his military merit. I was busy with something at the time, so I just noted it down for him and casually put it in my pocket..." What player would take things for themselves? A proper player, no matter what they get, as long as it's something, they put it in their game inventory, pick it up, and then slowly sort through it—either discard it or sell it to a game merchant. There are no game merchants here, so only the option of discarding it remains.

When Zhang Yang was about to leave, she remembered that there was still this thing in her game backpack, so she took it out and threw it on the ground.

"...I picked up a lot of trash yesterday."

Players usually enable the system to automatically pick up items.

Zhang Yang developed a habit of picking up items and stuffing them into her game backpack anytime, anywhere, which eventually became muscle memory. Last night's battle left her game backpack completely full. If Zeng Sheng hadn't been there, she would have already started throwing out the useless trash.

Zeng Sheng: "...Huh?"

Zhang Yang searched through the system logs.

The system log records everything, from character dialogues to quest logs, from picking up items to dropping items—nothing is too small. The dropped head incident just happened, so the record was easy to find.

"The owner of the severed head seems to be named..."

Just as he was about to utter the answer, a deafening, piercing wail erupted from the house behind him: "Ahhh—Shiro—"

Zeng Sheng knew the identity of the head owner just by hearing the voice.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow, but Zhang Yang remained expressionless: "I didn't expect it to be an acquaintance. It's fate."

A seemingly ordinary sentence sent chills down Zeng Sheng's spine.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel worried for the people who were being held captive.

Zhang Boyuan possessed none of the malevolent aura of a demon descending from the heavens, yet her words and actions were more chilling than those of ghosts from the underworld. If the group knew what was good for them, they would accept the loss and consider it a better outcome than losing their entire family for no reason, or even worse, suffering a fate worse than death.

"Is it... a matter of fate?"

"Isn't that right?"

It just so happens that what she added to her game inventory, what she just happened to throw out, and what happened to be a relative of some of those people—that's truly a remarkable coincidence. Zhang Yang stated that the probability of this happening is definitely much lower than a player winning a lottery. From this perspective, it's certainly fate.

Zeng Sheng accompanied Zhang Yang back to the prefectural government.

Stepping into the prefectural government building and seeing the familiar architecture, Zeng Sheng numbly realized that he was bathed in sunlight. Perhaps it was because he had absorbed some yang energy, but he mustered the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him.

"...Doesn't my lord think this is too cruel?"

Zhang Yang is having some trouble dealing with this problem.

The attempt to empathize failed.

She pointed to herself, looking quite puzzled, and said, "But I didn't kill the person, so why should I feel cruel?"

The question should be asked of Guan Si. Zhang Yang didn't think that stuffing things into her game backpack was cruel at all; she even let the head see its family one last time.

Zeng Sheng: "..."

He opened his mouth, but remained speechless for a long time.

For some reason, I found Zhang Yang more terrifying than any vengeful ghost!

That was an intuition that couldn't be described in words.

He felt that the person standing in front of him was neither human nor ghost, but a clumsy, strange creature trying to imitate a human... something he had no idea what it was.

Zeng Sheng closed his eyes briefly.

Despite the cold sweat and fear in my heart, I left under the pretext of having business to attend to.

He turned around, his face completely pale.

Zeng Sheng suppressed his negative emotions, keeping his steps consistent in size and rhythm, afraid of revealing his true feelings. He knew that the indescribable monster behind him was staring at his back. The more he restrained himself, the more terrified he became, wishing his legs could spin like wheels of fire. His figure was hurried and flustered…

Zhang Yang: "...What happened to him?"

His fleeing figure looked as if he were being chased by a ghost.

Zhang Yang shook his head and put the matter out of his mind.

Yesterday, she captured quite a few spoils, including one she personally robbed. Perhaps due to her rough handling, the victim's legs were broken. Besides the leg injury, he also suffered internal injuries. After treatment by the military doctor, he should be waking up by now.

"Why bring him back?" Zhang Yang had just arrived at the place where the spoils of war were being held and recuperated, and before he even pushed open the door, he heard Guan Si's question. His tone was unreadable, revealing more confusion and disdain than joy or anger.

"Because his stars are descending upon him."

Guan Si seemed not to have expected this answer.

"A horde of stars descending in fury?"

The spoils initially concealed their aura very well, but as their injuries worsened and they lost control of their emotions, the aura of a lustful demon began to leak out. Guan Si could easily find out their true nature with a simple investigation.

Guan Si scoffed, "Just a lustful devil."

He then asked, "Didn't you already keep a lustful ghost as a pet?"

Zhang Yang said, "He's rather special."

"What's so special about a lustful ghost? It's nothing more than..." Guan Si's voice turned cold. Perhaps out of consideration for something, he ultimately held back and didn't say anything too harsh, "One Fan Shuyan is enough. A lustful ghost is just like that..."

Why collect two of the same item?

Guan Si didn't understand, Guan Si was puzzled.

Zhang Yang's expression was strange: "Do you know what it's like to be a lustful ghost?"

"...That's just a casual remark. The desires of men and women in this world are actually quite similar, nothing special. At your age, you should prioritize your career. As for lustful demons, they drag people down into the mire. Keeping one for relaxation is fine." Guan Si's words came from the bottom of his heart. He had seen too many ugly faces in brothels, whether they were men or women seeking pleasure, or prostitutes forced into prostitution. Sinking into desire dissipates one's vitality and spirit.

Zhang Yang: "He descended from the stars in three layers of calamity."

"...But then again, it's no wonder you're interested in something so special." Ordinary lustful ghosts aren't very interesting, but who wouldn't want to see a lustful ghost at the third level of the Star-Descending Calamity Realm? As everyone knows, a lustful ghost who can survive to the third level is considered a god.

This bastard—

triple.

Guan Si was intrigued by just two simple words.

He followed Zhang Yang into the house without her permission.

A handsome young man lay on the bed. Guan Si secretly sniffed the lingering yin energy and frowned slightly. Zhang Yang said this person was a lustful ghost at the third level of the Lie Xing Jiang Li level, but this person's aura was not turbid, nor did it show any signs of being corrupted by anyone, which was truly puzzling.

Zhang Yang leaned over to take a look.

"I'm just curious how he did it. I'll teach Uncle Yan later." Although Fan You always liked to tutor her and give her a ton of homework, she knew he meant well. Even if it was an NPC, Zhang Yang could sense who was genuinely good to her.

What was that saying again?

"You gave me a papaya, I returned a precious jade. Uncle Yan treats me well, so naturally I want him to be free of worries, rather than being forced to be tied to someone and deprived of his freedom. Wake up, stop pretending to be asleep—"

The young man, his words exposed, opened his eyes in anger.

"Thief, you won't get away with this!"

"I don't want to hear those words." Zhang Yang interrupted him, clearly annoyed. "I'm being patient with you now because you still have some use to me. If you make me unhappy and exhaust my patience, you'll be worthless to me."

Enraged, the young man abruptly stood up despite his internal injuries.

He glared at Zhang Yang: "You thief!"

Zhang Yang said, "A lustful devil."

The young man's expression changed drastically, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "You despicable scoundrel, do you think I'll submit just because you threaten me like this?"

"You're a strange person. I didn't hit you, I didn't scold you, and I even let you lie here to recover instead of throwing you into a POW camp to smell foot odor... You were the one who cursed me the moment you opened your eyes, and now you're turning around and acting all wronged. I just wanted to ask you how you can maintain such a good condition at the third level of the Star-Ranking and Descending-to-the-Wrath realm..."

youth:"……"

Zhang Yang said, "I have a friend who is also a lustful man."

Fan You was only at the second level when he was tortured to the point of near death.

Although Zhang Yang didn't feel any desire emanating from his body, seeing Fan You's terrified expression, which didn't seem fake, she remained skeptical. Later, after discovering she had transmigrated to the real world, Zhang Yang realized the crux of the problem during her review—she was essentially just an NPC composed of data, and the desires of living people were incompatible with her. This was perhaps the main reason for the several instances of "mismatched goods."

Zhang Yang was unable to cure Fan You's problem.

But there is a triple-layered demon in front of us, and it is a triple-layered demon with five kinds of desires and lusts that is close to a normal person. That is worth studying.

Although it's only at the third level, it can't compare to the seventh level of the Yuan Xie's "Hear-Man" cultivation, but the drawbacks of the "Hear-Man" aren't as severe as those of the "Lustful Ghost." In terms of value, this third level is probably rarer than the ordinary sixth or seventh level.

Youth: "If you're going to keep me as your own, then keep me as your own. Why are you calling me a friend?"

"Your words are too biased." Zhang Yang still had the same expression, but his mood was clearly not so friendly. "You, a triple lustful ghost, can keep yourself pure, so why can't my strategist Fan You, a double lustful ghost, remain untainted by the mud? Are you special?"

If he could take a punch from himself, he would have really wanted to hit someone.

The young man was taken aback: "Your strategist?"

Zhang Yang: "Yes."

Fan You could be considered his own strategist.

Although Zhang Yang had a large following and no shortage of clerical staff, Fan You stood out from the crowd when looking at the favorability ratings on his friend list and the stats on their character panels. Even if he harbored his own ulterior motives, he couldn't escape the contrast created by the others.

Therefore, this mastermind truly deserves the title.

The young man sneered: "Is the strategist's relationship with his lord completely innocent?"

Zhang Yang retorted, "So you're having an affair with your boss?"

"you--"

Zhang Yang looked at him calmly: "Actually, it doesn't matter if you don't cooperate. I'll find out your identity sooner or later. Whether you have parents still alive or both parents are deceased, as long as you're a distant relative, I can dig them up for you."

He didn't utter a single word about killing, but every word he spoke was filled with murderous intent.

Zhang Yang: "You're from Bodu County, aren't you?"

"Yes, a person from Bodu."

"Take good care of your injury; only when you're fully recovered will you have the strength to see your loved ones."

People who are emotionally vulnerable are more likely to open up when they meet their relatives.

But that's not what the young people meant.

"I have no parents, only a godfather in my family."

After saying that, he paused, looking at Zhang Yang.

"Then I'll bring your godfather here?"

A notification popped up in the system log.

Hanwo's favorability towards you increases by two.

Zhang Yang: "...To reunite you and your son?"

Hanwo's favorability towards you has decreased by three.

Zhang Yang: "So you and your son can be reunited in the afterlife?"

Hanwo's favorability towards you increases by three.

Zhang Yang: "..."

Does this person have a grudge against his godfather?

Zhang Yang, unusually quick-witted, said, "If you're willing to tell me the secret—how to control the lustful demon—I'll capture your godfather, cripple him, and then hand him over to you to deal with as you see fit. What do you say?"

The young man remained silent for a few moments.

After a long silence, he said, "Send your strategist to see me. Once you've seen him and confirmed that what you said is true, I won't hesitate to help you."

It's less about helping the thief and more about pitying one's fellow human. As long as the thief keeps his word and doesn't lie or deceive him.

Zhang Yang and he made a vow by high-fiving.

It's a deal.

? ?(σ???)σ..:*☆

Guess if the Korean woman is male or female _(:3」∠)_

P.S.: There's not much gender distinction in the characters' names because the story is set in a world where the strong always prevail and social class is paramount. Therefore, parents choose names for their children based on profound meaning and blessings.