My lord, spare his life!

In order to disguise himself as a human player, Zhang Yang maintained a perfect attendance record in the game.

So, she plays PVP, PVE, and casual games, but she personally prefers PVP. The reason is simple: PVE involves running dungeons, and while the bosses are powerful, their skills are too rigid, consisting of only a few, a dozen, or even dozens of attacks over and over. These bosses rely on numerical values ​​and mechanics to suppress players, making them suffer terribly.

Once players equip themselves and figure out the BOSS's skill cycle mechanism, it will be the BOSS's turn to be easily defeated by the players.

Every time the entire player group was wiped out by the boss, Zhang Yang, who was mixed in with the others, would also let out a scream and pretend to be seriously injured. With a reliable raid leader, the number of wipes could be greatly reduced, but if they encountered a novice raid leader and inexperienced members, it was truly a nightmare. Zhang Yang had to endure and play along, lying on the ground watching the boss stand there swaggering around…

Ugh, this is annoying!

In comparison, PVP is much simpler.

No need for acting or nonsense, just grab the gold bricks and start shooting.

Whether a player faces her head-on or is unlucky enough to be ambushed, they all meet their demise. Honestly, Zhang Yang prefers to stand and admire the red-named players lying on the ground. Only in rare cases, such as when a player she repeatedly kills has a large guild backing them, a sizable group of friends and relatives, or a well-known figure in their faction, will Zhang Yang temporarily refrain from attacking.

after all--

A player being able to take on ten opponents is skill, taking on a hundred opponents can be done by taking on the terrain, but taking on hundreds or thousands opponents is definitely cheating.

However, ever since entering the homestead, she has been forced into casual PVE.

No one let her stretch her limbs. She felt like a garment from the rainy season, never truly dry, dampness filling every nook and cranny, growing more sore the more she covered herself. If it weren't for the fact that her health would plummet after being beheaded, she would have even had the urge to chop off her head and limbs, clip them up with clothespins, and hang them out to dry in the courtyard to get rid of the moisture.

He got excited as soon as he heard that someone wanted to assassinate him.

When are they arriving?

"My lord, do not be hasty."

Yuan Xie leaned slightly forward and raised his hand to press down on Zhang Yang's hand.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the veins on his arms, hidden beneath his sleeves, were bulging and knotted, like angry dragons throbbing beneath his flesh. If Zhang Yang were to look down, she would see that her newly recruited employee's knuckles were taut and white, even the bones on the back of his hand were visibly arched. At this moment, Yuan Xie heard the sound of his blood surging and boiling within him, sending shivers of pleasure through his entire body.

This emotion, however, did not originate from within himself.

It originated from the ruler Zhang Yang.

His ghostly ears could not only hear ghostly language, but also keenly perceive the true emotions of the living. Zhang Yang's excitement was not a feigned composure, but genuine exhilaration. This emotion was so infectious that it nearly caused the muscles and nerves beneath his skin to lose control.

Yuan Xie forced himself to remain calm.

But her slightly reddened eyes betrayed only the tip of the iceberg.

He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.

His voice was slightly unsteady: "My lord, please don't be hasty."

Zhang Yang: "I know, you can't rush things."

As Zhang Yang calmed down, the initial excitement subsided like a receding tide, leaving only a trace. Yuan Xie let out a soft sigh, and upon regaining his senses, he felt an unbearable heat emanating from beneath his clothes.

Because Yuan Xie's skills were so exceptional, the new spinning wheel model only needed minor adjustments before it could be put into production. Zhang Yang then instructed the woodworking workshop to fully cooperate with Yuan Xie. Consequently, Yuan Xie was kept in the prefectural government and given the title of Clerk in the Ministry of Works.

Zhang Yang's move was to place his own people in the new Tianyue County government. The original subordinates dared not complain, and upon hearing of Yuan Xie's abilities, they admired him even more, even feeling that he was wasting his talents. They reluctantly accepted a lowly position as a minor official.

the most important is--

With the sevenfold wrath of the stars, who dares to provoke them?

However, after only two days, everyone realized that Yuan Xie was nothing like a newcomer.

His familiarity with the Prefect even surpassed that with Fan You.

At least, they had never seen Chief Secretary Fan and the Prefect chat so amiably. Yuan Xie would not let Zhang Yang utter a single word, and even if the Prefect suddenly did something inhuman and bizarre, he would greet her with a smile and ask if she had gained anything.

Once she asks that question, Yuan Xie will receive from Zhang Yang the strange little things she found in the nooks and crannies.

Sometimes it was a small piece of silver, sometimes a few rusted coins, and sometimes an object left behind by an unknown owner. The prefect was also very keen on finding the stories behind these old objects. This provided his subordinates with plenty of gossip.

"They'll die without a clean reputation." They clicked their tongues and shook their heads at the thought that the temporary prefectural government was actually a wealthy family's villa.

Upon hearing the rumors, Fan You remained silent.

wrong!

That eerie feeling became more and more obvious.

Today it has reached its peak.

This all started when Zhang Yang discovered that his clothes were torn.

Her clothes were torn!

Zhang Yang opened her clothes and held them high above her head, sunlight filtering through the holes and casting dappled shadows on her face. Her face was taut, her brows furrowed, as if she were contemplating a grave national matter. It wasn't until Shi Xu carefully called to her that she understood.

"Your Excellency, the Chief Clerk is looking after you."

Zhang Yang was attending a tutoring class in the afternoon. She was feeling sleepy, but suddenly took off her outer garment, opened it with a look of horror, and ran to the latticed window as if no one else was around.

Zhang Yang ignored Shi Xu's reminder.

Fan You, standing to the side, was ashen-faced. The system logs kept refreshing erratically, but even that couldn't bring Zhang Yang to his senses, until Yuan Xie entered to deliver the good news. Yuan Xie asked, "What is my lord looking at?"

"The exterior has a hole in it."

"There's a hole in it?"

Yuan Xie read her lips, but didn't know what it looked like until he followed Zhang Yang's gaze and saw a hole the size of a fingernail.

"If Your Excellency is reluctant, then have the tailor make another one using the same material." After all, he is a prefect, and the face of Tianyue; it would be undignified for his clothes to have too many patches. Yuan Xie thought that Zhang Yang liked the garment and felt it was a pity to find the hole.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yang asked, "But how could the exterior be damaged?"

She murmured as she put down the clothes and sat back down at her desk, lost in thought.

The same sentence kept lingering in my mind—

How could the exterior be damaged?

Player appearances are more durable than reinforced concrete. The game locks durability, so no matter if players go to the sky or the ground, explore wasteland ruins or prehistoric tombs, wrestle with zombies, whip each other with alien plants, or roll around on the ground with alien beasts, their appearance will only get dirty, not broken. A one-click refresh will give them a brand new appearance.

And now, the exterior is actually broken?

Zhang Yang's appearance items are mostly obtained from free eggs earned through in-game event sign-ins; they're commonplace and outdated in style, but they still possess the basic features a character should have. After entering the Homestead side quest, she also completes tasks to obtain free appearance items from the tailor.

And now, the exterior is actually broken?

This had a huge impact on Zhang Yang.

Yuan Xie and Fan You exchanged a glance.

Fan You's detailed analysis of Zhang Yang's information was something Yuan Xie had learned from the lustful ghost during their first reunion. Now it seems another rule needs to be added to Zhang Yang's understanding of things—

She believed that clothes wouldn't get damaged.

Damage is against the rules!

A ripple of emotion stirred within Yuan Xie. He wondered what kind of bizarre world it was that could contain such strange and grotesque things.

He smiled and said, "Perhaps it's fate."

Zhang Yang asked, puzzled, "The will of Heaven?"

Yuan Xie changed the subject: "The carpentry workshop has already set up the new spinning wheel; all that's left is to test its performance with water. If it works well, then I, Xie, will have rendered a great service to my lord, won't I?"

Zhang Yang's mind was still reeling from the hole in the exterior, and she was processing external information rather slowly. To outsiders, it appeared as if she was blankly nodding: "Merit must be rewarded, and crimes must be punished; it's only natural."

Yuan Xie smiled calmly and said, "I am quite confident in my abilities and would like to shamelessly ask my lord for a reward in advance."

Zhang Yang heard the call to duty: "What do you want?"

Yuan Xie pointed to the old clothes with holes in her hand.

"The Xie has no demands, so it takes it."

Before Zhang Yang could react, Shi Xu saw that Fan You's expression had completely gone blank, as if his soul had been shattered and his mind was filled with Yuan Xie's words.

"Oh, you want this?"

A garment with a hole in it?

"Yes, that's it."

"Alright then—"

"No way! What do you mean, 'yes'!"

At this moment, Fan You was frantic and furious, his feet moving like raindrops on a ground covered in burning embers, closing in on Zhang Yang in a flash. To be precise, he closed in on Yuan Xie, who was near Zhang Yang, grabbed the latter's shoulder, and ripped him in the opposite direction!

Zhang Yang: "???"

She stared blankly at Fan You, who looked like he was about to explode with anger.

"Uncle Yan, what's wrong?"

Fan You's throat tightened, and he gasped for breath: "He—"

Yuan Xie calmly brushed Fan You's hand off his shoulder, bowed to thank Zhang Yang for the gift, and accepted her old clothes. Who could blame him when Zhang Yang agreed faster than Fan You? As for Fan You's negative emotions—so much so that even lustful ghosts were screaming—Yuan Xie simply ignored them.

Zhang Yang: "???"

She and Shi Xu looked at each other in bewilderment.

She felt both relieved and confused, not understanding what triggered Fan You's emotional outburst, while also relieved that school had ended early. Shi Xu, on the other hand, was distressed that he had missed another hour of study, sighing as he held his textbooks.

Zhang Yang shook his head, pushing the things he couldn't understand to the back of his mind.

Let's call Zhang Dami and go for a stroll outside.

Zhang Dami's ears were already sore from the noise of the chicks and ducklings, but hearing this whistle, she perked up as if she had been released from prison early, and the whistle carried her away. The scenery rushed past, and the cold wind slapped against her face, snapping Zhang Yang out of her daze.

Suddenly—

What did you catch in your peripheral vision?

Her hands reacted faster than her brain.

At 70 miles per hour, Zhang Dami, feeling carefree and exhilarated, hadn't even had a chance to take a couple of deep breaths of the free wind when Zhang Yang grabbed it by the neck. It yelped, its legs buckled, and it nearly fell to the ground. Ignoring Zhang Dami's disheveled state, Zhang Yang forcefully applied the handbrake.

She nimbly jumped off the tiger's back and darted into a corner.

Peeking out, his gaze fixed on the top of someone's head.

Zhang Dami: "..."

Angry and aggrieved, yet forced to limp along to keep up.

Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes: "Red name."

Finally, red-named monsters have appeared!

And there's more than one person with a red name!

However, she didn't immediately jump out and kill the red-named monsters, because she had learned from Fan You's forced tutoring to play the long game. The red-named monsters that appeared at this time were most likely the opposition's forces. They would silently infiltrate the city, and once the assassins succeeded in their assassination attempt or severely injured Zhang Yang, these red-named monsters could immediately launch a coup within the city and control all the officials and subordinates of the prefectural government.

To avoid arousing suspicion, the elite troops disguised themselves as merchants, refugees seeking refuge, and laborers performing corvée labor, entering the city in batches. They dispersed to various locations to gather intelligence. However, Yin County had been forcibly promoted to the status of a prefecture seat, and its infrastructure and personnel were far inferior to those of a proper old prefecture seat. Furthermore, Zhang Yang's demand to accept all refugees inevitably led to negligence in management, giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit the situation.

Zhang Yang watched for a while.

She looked away before the red-named person's attention fell on her.

He jumped onto the tiger's back and commanded, "Big Meow, let's go."

Zhang Yang had a penchant for riding his Zhang Dami horse around the city, which initially startled the common people, but they've grown accustomed to it. Zhang Yang would eat a little here, grab a bite there, and leisurely add all the red names to his little notebook. His final stop was the Puyang Kui army camp.

"Jundu, we have work to do!"

She glanced around the military camp and was pleased to see that everyone there was a green-named soldier.

Good, no one with a red name has managed to sneak in.

"Why has my lord come?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a notebook flew towards him.

She instinctively reached out and caught it.

Although it wasn't her first time encountering such paper, she still couldn't help but exclaim that such thick, white, smooth paper was truly a rare gem. Looking down, she saw that the notebook was filled with half-body portraits.

She asked, puzzled, "What is this?"

Zhang Yang: "They are enemies who have infiltrated."

Puyang Kui exclaimed in shock, "What?!"

One page is filled with twenty busts.

I quickly glanced through it, and there are about a hundred people here!

Zhang Yang changed his wording to something more precise: "Most of them are probably suspects. Regardless of whether they are or not, keep an eye on them for now. I don't know their code words yet. Once I figure them out, hehe."

She then gave the signal to the operation, waiting for the fish to fall into the net on their own.

Puyang Kui flipped through the notebook several times with a solemn expression.

Zhang Yang's half-length portraits all highlighted individual characteristics, with hastily written notes indicating where suspicious persons were found. Finding the target and monitoring them shouldn't be difficult. She felt slightly relieved. Not long after, she heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the camp. Du Fang was requesting an audience with Zhang Yang.

He has important news to report.

Du Fang discovered the suspicious target was still before Zhang Yang. Instead of alerting him, he reported to Magistrate Xu Jin and immediately went to find Zhang Yang. However, Zhang Yang was riding his motorcycle, Zhang Dami, recklessly around the city, and Du Fang had to chase after him the whole way. When he informed Zhang Yang and the Prefect of Puyang that a spy had infiltrated the city, neither Zhang Yang nor the Prefect of Puyang showed any surprise.

He asked, "Did Your Excellency already know this?"

"I knew it wouldn't be long."

"How does Your Excellency intend to handle this?"

"Let's ask Uncle Yan and Yuan Yi first. These are just small fry. The real big fish are still hiding somewhere we don't know about."

These are all red-named monsters with extremely short health bars.

It's not even a boss.

She slowly returned to the county government office, where the main hall was in a mess.

Yuan Yi and several subordinates were tidying up.

Zhang Yang: "What's going on? Has a typhoon passed through?"

"My junior and his best friend just started fighting with their swords."

"A fight broke out? Why are they fighting? What did I miss?"

Du Guan: "..."

How should I put it?

She wasn't really sure either.

But combining the details she had observed over the past few days with Yuan Xie's explosive words, "Fan Shuyan, what right do you have to stop me from offering myself as your bedmate?" and "As an official, isn't it only natural to serve him with my body?", she understood something. Her new colleague had an extremely ambitious heart, and she had laid it bare.

??(?_?)

Xiang Gu has been honest and law-abiding all her life. Except for the first time she applied for her ID card and the subsequent replacement, when she went to the local police station, she never stepped inside.

This time, because of a disgusting clicker-like jump, I was mistakenly identified by big data as a victim of telecom fraud and had to go for questioning. Unbelievable! And the police station is so far away…

PS: I don't know what's wrong with Sogou Input Method on my computer. It suddenly froze and I couldn't see the characters I was typing. I couldn't see them no matter what I did. Then I forced a restart, and the character file no longer had the vocabulary records that I often use for typing. Waaah, I can't even type "Zhang Yang". I can only type "Zhang Yang" instead. I have to record it all again. When it rains, it pours.