In the Martial World, it was common for disciples to study under a master's tutelage for three years at the shortest and ten years at the longest.
Before Wang Xiaoer's mother came to find Zhang San, she had agreed with him that he was not allowed to go back home if he did not learn proper skills.
However, due to various reasons, Wang Xiaoer had not received a letter from his mother for half a year, and he himself had not written to his mother for a long six months.
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...
At the city gates of Tian Ruo City, the prosperous city remained as bustling as ever.
After Lu Gaosheng died, Tian Ruo City and even the entire Tian Ge Prefecture was left without a leader. JinWan Pavilion's previous agreement with Lu Gaosheng was naturally rendered void. Over the past half year, Black Heaven Gate had been working to seize back Tian Ge Prefecture while JinWan Pavilion was unwilling to back down either. In the meantime, many gangsters from the south had also taken the opportunity to encroach.
In short, while the prosperity and liveliness were real, raging undercurrents brewed beneath the surface calm.
The two master and disciple who had changed into disguises were talking.
Zhang San said to Wang Xiaoer, "None of the six missions in the last two months succeeded. I need to explain to the people of Five Directions Sect. I'll also buy some medicinal herbs. You wait for me outside the city and gather some intelligence at the Post Station in the meantime."
Other than inns and brothels, the areas surrounding Post Stations in every big city were apparently where information flowed the fastest.
Wang Xiaoer's eyes lit up as he readily agreed.
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...
After entering the city, Zhang San felt extremely delighted in his heart.
Hehe. No matter how cunning you think you are, little bunny, how can you ever compare with your master's craftiness and foresight?
Failed missions can just fail, why would I need to explain anything to the Five Directions Sect? Other than being steady, what's the most important thing when travelling the Martial World?
Of course it's having many aliases!
Aside from Zhang San's most famous title, the number one killer 'Black Eagle' on the killer leaderboard, he actually had over a dozen other lesser-known aliases, collectively referred to as his 'aliases'.
Each alias corresponded to different disguises and voices.
When one's worn out, just switch to another.
The main purpose of this trip to Tian Ruo City was still to visit Bai Fang at the Ming Mansion, but to prevent Wang Xiaoer's soul from being bewitched by little jade again, Zhang San made him stay outside the city, which also allowed him to gather intelligence on the Martial World - killing two birds with one stone!
With no money, there's no way he could have paid the entrance tax to get into the city! I'll quietly get things done while he's kept busy for at least half a hour negotiating with those gangsters! Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Cackle cackle cackle.
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As Wang Xiaoer watched his master enter the city, he felt extremely delighted in his heart as well.
Hehe. No matter how cunning you think you are, Master, how can you ever compare with Wang Xiaoer's natural intelligence and foresight?
You think I'm penniless? That was half a year ago!
During the two months when Master Zhang was in a coma, in order to stock up on enough medication and food to evade searches, although Master's savings had long been depleted, Wang Xiaoer still managed to exchange the banknote for one thousand taels of silver that Lu Gaosheng left behind for the Clean Slate painting for three hundred taels of silver bullion through the black market.
The reason was that a banknote was not actual silver, but a form of 'note' - you could withdraw money from a money house anytime by presenting the note, or use it for business transactions or gifting.
But it must be clear that a note represented a sum of money deposited by someone in a money house. Money had to be deposited first before a note could be issued. Under such circumstances, even if the note was later used by its original owner for transactions or gifting, the money house still had the capability to trace back to find out who was the first holder of that banknote.
As such, when Lu Gaosheng previously wanted to give Zhang San a gift of thirty thousand taels in banknotes, he once said, "Given Brother Zhang's prudence, he probably wouldn't want commonly traceable banknotes with record codes. I have prepared notes from Bai's Money House that will be ready in a few days."
The banknote that Lu Gaosheng gave for purchasing the Clean Slate painting did not originate from Bai's Money House, and had clear serial numbers on it. For normal business dealings or gifting, this would not have been an issue.
But now that Lu Gaosheng had died, and he had originally been slated to become the next prefect of the prefecture, the authorities naturally treated it as a major case. If the banknote appeared in legitimate market circulation, it would surely draw investigations. Although not completely foolproof, exchanging it on the black market was still the best option then.
It had to be said that when Wang Xiaoer steadied down, he truly resembled Zhang San in his younger days.
What's more, regardless of whether Wang Xiaoer was steady or not, his greediness was completely a younger version of Zhang San.
Exchanging one thousand taels for three hundred taels on the black market was not considered an inappropriate price, given that it was the black market after all. But... this was actually just the version Zhang San knew about.
Master! Did you really think that leaving me outside the city would work? Did you think I wouldn't know why you wanted me to stay outside?
The moment you stepped into the city, I went looking for Little Jade!
Given you need to negotiate with those gangsters, it'll take at least half an hour! I'll quietly get things done while you're kept busy, wouldn't that be wonderful?
Cackle cackle cackle.
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...
In the recent months, there had been endless rumors swirling around the Ming Mansion in the city.
Just three months ago, the young master of the Ming family had gotten married in the mansion, but it could hardly be called a grand wedding - some red paper was put up around the mansion gates and firecrackers set off for less than half a day before the wedding concluded.
None of the city's prominent figures attended, although most of them were already dead at the authorities' hands. Still, those remaining did not receive any invitations from the Ming family at all.
For a prestigious family like the Mings, this was clearly abnormal. But that was not the only strange happening - every single famous doctor in Tian Ruo City and even the entire Tian Ge Prefecture that the Ming family could invite had visited at least once in the past three months.
In one of the rooms in an annex compound of the Ming Mansion, fits of violent coughs rang out intermittently.
The time happened to be noon when the sun blazed furiously like fire. Cicadas in the trees in the yard were chirping loudly and incessantly.
Under Ming Qing's directives, the guards outside were getting rid of the insects in the trees so as not to disturb Bai Fang's rest. After Zhang San gave each of them a silver needle though, they could happily take a break.
Still, summer insects could be very annoying for sick people, hence Zhang San sent out several more needles as a precaution.
The quiet summer day was accompanied by a gentle breeze.
Pushing the door open, the beauty within remained breathtaking, wearing simple white clothes yet possessing the most exquisite countenance.
Even with her extremely pallid complexion.
"Do you have to make him pass out every time? He's my husband," Bai Fang asked irritably.
Zhang San shrugged and said, "Although I'm in disguise, it's still better if he doesn't see me."
Bai Fang did not disagree with that.
Zhang San then added, "And if you saw how haggard he looks, you'd probably thank me for letting him have some undisturbed sleep."
Ming Qing's haggardness did not come from catching cicadas, but rather months of not being able to swallow food, peaceful sleep evading him. No matter how Bai Fang tried to console him, the middle-aged man simply could not get past the torment.
But sometimes this was how things were.
You seeing things for what they were was not enough - those upset over you would still feel upset.
At his words, Bai Fang did heave a sigh of relief, saying, "I know he's grieving, but I don't know how to say sorry to him."
But Zhang San disagreed, stating, "You're not him, so how do you know that apart from grief, there isn't also happiness? Just like the last time we met, which happened to be your wedding day, that day I saw Ming Qing beaming as if..."
After a thoughtful pause, Zhang San continued, "...beaming as if my Master had eaten twenty chicken legs at a wineshop all at one go."
"..."
Bai Fang couldn't help but laugh out loud, her complexion looking rosier.
Turning to a cabinet by the bed, she took out a wooden box and opened it. Inside were several dozen letters. Bai Fang said, "The things I promised are all in here. I don't know if what I mimicked looks authentic, so check them first."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
