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

"So boring..." "Why are you two still drinking tea here?" "When is the system going to add a penalty for negative gameplay?" "We've been through so much already, what are you doing?!" "Hey, you from next door too?"

Fang Yingjie was slowly sipping his drink when, inexplicably, he spotted a familiar ID among the throng of new viewers. He asked, puzzled, "...Boss Qiu? Sister Jiang Hui?"

"Why aren't you two watching Tang Li's live stream? What are you doing here?"

Nan Tan's gaze also lingered on the air, and his treatment in his live stream was similar to that of Fang Yingjie.

"No one's answering, probably because the chat is blocked due to privacy concerns of the streamer." Veteran player Nan Tan chuckled, speaking with an air of nonchalance. "What's this? Such a large influx of viewers, did the streamer block you all, and couldn't stand the loneliness of the black screen, so you decided to check us out?"

The comments section started criticizing him.

Fang Yingjie couldn't help but glance sideways: Why do all the streamers I've met lately seem to love arguing with the chat?

"Alright," Nan Tan stood up and said to Fang Yingjie, "Shall we head out too?"

Fang Yingjie hadn't expected this, but he had already stood up: "Is Tang Li in danger?"

"It's not entirely because of Tang Li." Nan Tan smiled and opened his right hand, which he had been clenching, toward Fang Yingjie. The character "west" was clearly visible in his palm.

"I've been monitoring King Zhou's movements," he said. "Just now, he headed towards the city."

"But... it suddenly stopped again."

Nan Tan turned to look out the window. "Let's go, young master."

"Let's go see what's going on. Who among the four most famous assassins in the martial arts world can stop him?"

"Young Master, please wait!"

A cheerful call.

Han Zhou stopped in his tracks, tilted his head impatiently to one side, and then slowly turned his head back.

Not far behind, a kind-looking old man with a beaming smile stood.

The boy's brows furrowed in impatience, but a mocking smile played on his lips: "Ah, are you calling me?"

He stepped forward, his words landing lightly on the ground, "Elder Zheng, are you blind and have mistaken me for someone else?"

"If you want to find the young sect leader, you'll have to look in that courtyard over there."

"You child," the old man looked at him as if he had been deeply hurt, but the smile on his lips remained unchanged, "Alas, since you were nine years old, I have never heard you say 'Master' again."

"How could Master not recognize his own disciple? Master isn't looking for that Iron Calculation Sect's young master, he's looking for our 'Jie Bailing' young master!"

Han Zhou scoffed, "Looks like you're really getting senile. I'm just an ordinary instructor."

"How can you be so self-deprecating?" The old man stepped forward, his hand trembling as he extended it. "My disciple, you only need to bow your head to the sect leader; the position of young sect leader should rightfully be yours. Alas, why are you so stubborn?"

"No matter what, the sect leader is still your father!"

"Elder Zheng," Han Zhou's voice turned cold as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, "next time, think carefully about what you're going to say before you speak."

After saying that, the boy turned and left without hesitation.

A gust of wind.

If there were other people present, no one could see what had happened. It was as if the old man had appeared out of thin air in front of King Zhou.

Han Zhou was not surprised. He tilted his head slightly and drew his sword.

"I'm saying this one last time," he said, "Get out of here."

"My good disciple," the old man chuckled, his once kind and gentle face now appearing ghostly, "No, Master can't let you into the city."

"You caused trouble as soon as you entered the city. It would be fine to investigate that damn manager in private, but how could you go there? You've caused trouble, and the sect leader will be angry again."

"—Good child, this is your master showing you affection!"

Han Zhou's ears twitched, as if he sensed something, and he looked up.

The rustling sound sounds like insects.

One after another, sword-wielding disciples stepped forward and surrounded him.

Han Zhou... Han Zhou laughed instead.

"Alright," the boy said with a smile, his eyes burning so intensely that no one dared to meet them. "Let me see what new skills you have."

the other side.

"Ugh, a liar," Tang Li muttered.

"Didn't they say they'd come if I wrote a message on the paper crane?" She deftly vaulted over the obstacle in front of her. "Why aren't they here yet?"

Unsurprisingly, this person got lost inside the hidden door.

The sheer size of the space meant she could easily get lost; the hidden door likely led to the underground of Xue Man Lou. Tang Li felt utterly exhausted. She hadn't been wandering around for long, yet she had been terrified, because anything could be found underground.

It was like stepping into the warehouse of a circus that made its selling point of the bizarre and deformed; the corners were littered with props that had been replaced and discarded after being updated. There was a vase-like woman who had become a dried-up corpse, a withered tree trunk with human heads embedded in it, and specimens of twin sisters with two heads…

She recalled the previous instance, where the monsters also had such deformed appearances, but that was just a normal state of being a monster. In this instance, however, these deformities have become collectibles, entertainment tools, training materials, or means of making money.

Tang Li turned around and around until she arrived at a spacious, dark room. The room was covered in dust, and a wine jar was placed against the wall.

Don't tell me there are human organs inside.

Tang Li thought to herself that she didn't intend to get closer to take a look, but in a flash of firelight, she could vaguely see that the wine jars had seals on them, with some writing on them.

This is a clue that cannot be missed.

Tang Li stepped forward, raised the tinderbox in her hand, and the firelight illuminated the nearest wine jar. On the faded colored paper seal, a few words were written in bold calligraphy: Chen Wanqing.

Tang Li tilted her head and thought: This seems to be a person's name.

...Judging from its shape, it shouldn't be an urn, right?

Tang Li held up a tinderbox and shone it along the way. Each wine jar had a seal with a name on it. Tang Li silently recited these unfamiliar names in her mind, thinking: I still have to open a jar and see what's inside.

But just as she freed her hands to move the next jar—

"Huh? What are you doing here?"

A...familiar voice.

It rang out behind her.