After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

gazebo.

Tang Li still couldn't fully understand the meaning of Nan Tan's words.

She simply nodded to indicate that she had received the message. The girl's gaze was calm and resolute, and just by looking at her eyes, Nan Tan knew that his attempt to persuade her would be in vain.

"That's true," he thought to himself, speechless. If she were the kind of person who would back down when things got tough and would choose to protect herself, she wouldn't have risked her life for these complete strangers in the previous instance.

Nan Tan then stopped trying to persuade him and simply said, "If you need help, please contact me anytime."

"I was assigned to the Iron Calculation Sect in the dungeon, and I am currently the young sect master's... study companion."

Isn't this tutor a bit too old? Tang Li looked shocked, while Fang Yingjie raised his hand, silently implying that this was the result of his insistence.

Tang Li was puzzled and asked Nan Tan a question: "Why do you have the body of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old? I've shrunk to the size of a five-year-old child."

This is not fair. Fang Yingjie looks like he is nine or ten years old. Some of the other servants have turned into children, and some are teenagers or young girls, but no matter how Tang Li looks, none of them have turned as small as her!

Nan Tan was taken aback, as if he had heard a question that only a child would worry about, and smiled kindly: "This... actually, it is related to the physical condition and combat strength when entering the dungeon."

Tang Li: "Huh?"

Fang Yingjie couldn't help but chuckle: "In short, the stronger a person's combat power, the closer their body will be to their original age when they enter the dungeon."

He glanced reassuringly at Tang Li, who was half a head shorter than him, and said, "It's okay, there are no age restrictions for becoming an assassin."

Tang Li: What? My body is weaker than a corporate slave who looks like he's been wasting his life at his desk for years?

"But you'd better not stay in the menial job for too long," Fang Yingjie continued, unaware that Tang Li was subtly criticizing him. "Generally, within three days of the dungeon opening, most players have already secured their assassin reserve positions."

Nan Tan further explained, "Sects also periodically select and train potential assassins. If you miss this batch, it will greatly slow down the progress of the dungeon."

"I understand," Tang Li said.

She pondered to herself: Since time is tight—

So she had no choice but to speed up, make full use of her role as a menial "spy," and achieve something that would earn Han Zhou's approval.

Since that's the case... then she has to seize the opportunity that's presented to her.

Tang Li was silently carried back to the shore by the water monkey. This time, she found that her status had indeed risen sharply.

The young boy and girl players' eyes lit up when they saw her. They smiled and took her hand, inviting her to carry the wooden basin back with them.

She hadn't walked two steps when the local laborers hurried up to her, their faces beaming with congratulations. They told her they had a good job for her, that she could go out of the city with the manager and see the world.

Excellent, the competition mechanism has been successfully introduced.

Suddenly, Tang Li became a hot commodity again. Yet, she acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world, like anyone blinded by sudden preferential treatment, readily accepting the enthusiastic invitations from both players and native inhabitants.

"So, who do you want to work with?"

Seven or eight pairs of eyes were fixed on her intently, as if they were looking at a piece of high-quality pork belly on a cutting board.

That depends on how both of you perform.

Tang Li tilted her head and suddenly said, "Ah, my hands are so sore."

"Hey, how can you carry something so heavy at such a young age?" "Come on, let me handle it. I'll make sure it's safely carried back for the little girl!"

The two sides began to scramble for the wooden basin in her hands, and everyone was happy to help her carry it back.

Tang Li patted her stomach again: "Ah, I'm hungry."

She glanced timidly at the people around her, "...How about we go eat first?"

As servants, even if they had money, they couldn't get a full meal at mealtimes. Although they could go into the canteen, they had to serve the assassins who were eating at the tables there first. Only after the assassins had finished eating and left could they, the lowly servants, collect some leftovers.

But of course, this does not include Tangli at noon today.

Tang Li gave an innocent smile as she waited, waiting for the players and natives to swallow their pride, put on the most fawning smiles, and rush to offer her hot food.

After a while.

—Tang Li went to prison.

Tang Li was imprisoned before she had even had her fill of food.

Han Zhou, the most detestable person in the world, suddenly remembered his promise to Tang Li at an inopportune moment and efficiently helped her complete the job transfer.

Even at noon, the prison was still cold and eerie.

Tang Li pushed the cart with some difficulty, weaving through the cells to distribute food to all the prisoners. The piles of food on the cart could hardly be called food; Tang Li couldn't tell whether this was to save money or if it was actually a form of punishment.

But that doesn't mean she would sympathize with the prisoners because of it.

They're no good either.

"Hmm? It's a little girl?" "Hahahaha, let uncle take a look!" "Her delicate skin and tender flesh look so fresh and tender. Come on, come on, I haven't eaten meat in so long, meat, meat..."

Tang Li: ...

She casually pulled a stick from the bottom of the cart, recalling the power generation and swinging techniques Lian Sheng and Jiang Hui had taught her, and swung it down hard at the iron railing—

"clang--"

The internal energy surging through her meridians surged up her arm like waves, passing through Tang Li's slender wrist and fiercely injecting into the wooden stick. With a whistling sound, the wooden stick swung out in afterimages and slammed heavily against the railing, producing an extremely intimidating and violent resounding clang.

The prisoner, who was laughing loudly while leaning on the iron bars, suddenly dodged backward, lost his balance, and fell to the ground. He stared in astonishment at Tang Li's expressionless face, and genuine fear finally appeared on his disheveled face.

"If you dare utter any more foul language," Tang Li looked down at him coldly, her overly clear black and white eyes now appearing particularly sinister, "I will not feed you."

The others, having caught their breath, almost burst out laughing upon hearing this: What is this? No profanity, no bloodshed, and this is considered a threat?

Tang Li tilted her head slightly and spoke almost softly: "When you're so hungry that you have to dig food scraps out of the cracks in the bricks, so hungry that you have torn off your bedding and stuffed cloths into your mouth to eat pebbles, so hungry that you can't even stand up and can only watch helplessly as rats gnaw on the flesh of your legs..."

"—You know whether I'm threatening you or not."

The prisoner shuddered, his body drenched in cold sweat. Her words were so real that for a fleeting moment he felt as if he were experiencing the same thing.

No one inside dared to look Tang Li in the eye anymore. If you suppress one troublemaker, the others will follow suit and fear you. A temporary silence fell over the cell. Then, the little girl tapped the bars with her stick, signaling the people inside to listen carefully to her question.

"Alright, now tell me, where did that female prisoner who was brought in last night go?"

Guided by prisoners who traded information for food, Tang Li successfully found the girl who had been accused of murdering Steward Li the previous night.

When she appeared pushing the cart, the girl was sitting in the corner furthest from the railing, her once gentle and simple face filled with fear and despair.