Volume One, Chapter 58: The Magistrate's Visit by Night

Bai Ye wiped the sweat from his brow, glancing back at the starlit sky and the woman in red behind him. He felt rather speechless, as if he were nothing more than a glaring gas lamp, a third wheel in their company.

I didn’t linger on the subject with Zhang Ruiran, but I dutifully helped him select a massage chair as a gift for President Zhang. Zhang Ruiran was thoroughly pleased with the choice, and then insisted—persistently—that I must also pick a gift for my mother. No matter how I argued that I planned to simply give her a red envelope, he would not hear of it.

When his lips touched mine, I opened my eyes wide in surprise. This was the first time Su Fan had ever kissed me so directly—before, he always avoided my lips. But this time, for reasons unknown, he did not.

“Are you in a hurry to return to school?” He Hongyi vaguely recalled that she was attending some university in America. He hadn’t paid much attention to his mother’s introduction that day, and now he could remember little else about her.

But there would be no more. She had exhausted all the mercy she could spare for her. From this day forward, she would treat her as nothing but a stranger.

Gu Xixi could never have imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, that something she had only seen in the news could happen to her.

Following her gaze, Bai Ye saw a burly, scowling elder striding swiftly toward them. In the blink of an eye, the man had reached their side.

“I told you, it’s nothing…” He Hongyi smiled dismissively. After parking the car and unfastening his seatbelt, he turned to help her with her own.

There was simply no cover here. If the demon god noticed him, he would surely be attacked, with no chance to rescue Xue Yue.

Madam Gu’s heart ached terribly, but with Gu Sifan to deal with, she had no choice but to avert her gaze and glare at him with all her might.

Shen Xingchui once thought this was a saving method she’d learned among the demons in her previous life. Only years later did she realize the truth was far more complicated than she had imagined.

The fiery broth engulfed the meat and vegetables, staining them a beautiful red within moments—a sight that promised immense flavor.

In truth, Ning City had no particularly outstanding tea. It wasn’t that the region didn’t produce tea, but rather that all the famous varieties surrounded it: Huangshan Maofeng, Suzhou Biluochun, Hangzhou Longjing, Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue, Tianmu Lake White Tea… By comparison, Ning’s own tea seemed mediocre, and so it never fetched a high price.

Jiang Xuan’s gaze landed on the burly man’s conspicuous bald head. The flush that slowly crept beneath his dark face gave him a very bad feeling.

Zhang Chu pondered quietly to herself when Sun Qinglan knocked suddenly at her bedroom door.

“Come along with me! Let’s both head to the docks—two brothers can look after each other,” Qin Dahu suggested at that moment.

This time, two heads of the Immortal Martial Sect remained behind to keep an eye on their every move. If necessary, once the cultivators had finished their preparations, they could capture them at once.

She casually fabricated a reason, pushed Gu Sifan out, picked up her phone, and logged into the hacker forum, hoping to catch a trace of Jin Fan.

Chen Hegao had long since prepared the car and waited. She carried her suitcase in briskly, just as Chen Hegao was about to close the door.

“All right then, you rest on the bed. I’ll tidy up in a moment,” Luo Meiling said with a smile.

“You’re the best, brother!” Liang Cuicui was overjoyed. She looked up on impulse and pecked him on the cheek. Only afterward did she realize what she’d done, and her pretty face flushed deep red.

Thinking of Huang Jing’s safety, Yang Feng didn’t hesitate—he thrust out his left arm, meeting the dagger head-on.

After the show, he still insisted on riding with her back home himself. In the past, he was always huddled in his cloak, sickly and frail, even when the weather was warm. But lately, he was surprisingly well, and so they shared a horse for once—a rare moment of peace.

“Yes!” the upgraded Yin Spirit Warrior replied, immediately raising his longsword and approaching Qi Wankai at a measured pace.

“What a joke—an expert at the late Golden Core stage, their soul isn’t just a wandering spirit you can cut down at will. You’d need true skill for that,” Master Withered Wood sneered, tilting his chin high as he drifted toward the northeast corner, his face full of pride.

Training began. Facing the plaster anatomy model, Li Le drew a breath to his core, channeling energy to his fingertips, and struck the model’s acupoints in a rapid flurry. With each movement, his force shifted from light to heavy, his focus sharpening until he nearly lost himself in the practice.

Now, with Eva collapsing into Yang Feng’s arms right in front of her father, things took quite a turn. Yang Feng hadn’t expected things to play out this way.

Jiu Ji’s gaze wandered for a moment, then she noticed something shadowy beneath Yun Moxian’s bed, as if something had slipped from his arms and fallen there. Curiosity drew her closer. By the pale moonlight streaming through the window, she saw—it was a red-faced sachet of incense.

Li Jianmin was displeased. He’d come because he’d heard a rich fool wanted to invest in WCG. In his eyes, it was just another wealthy eccentric looking to throw money around, and he was ready to catch whatever was tossed his way. But the moment Xiao Zhu opened his mouth, Li Jianmin realized things were far from what he’d imagined.

“You’re a newbie?” The simple question left Liu Li speechless. After a long pause, he nodded, albeit reluctantly.

There were too many people here, too many ears and mouths—a place where secrets could easily slip out. It was far from suitable; they needed somewhere private to talk at length.

After several minutes, the two groups on stage finally settled into their seats. The Baoxian family had brought more people—twenty or thirty, though only three could sit at the table. The Snow Mountain Sect had fewer, just seven, but each was young, strong, and strikingly handsome, making quite the impression.

At the word “disperse,” the deadly, crushing beam of light instantly shattered, vanishing without a trace, as though it had never existed.

Yan Nan maintained the length of his laser blade, twisting his waist as he prepared to strike viciously at Hongxin, now completely wrapped in tender branches at the pool’s edge. Suddenly, five yellow spheres of light shot into the ground by the water, causing countless rocks to jut upward, layering themselves into a protective barrier over the pool.

That last kick—Du Bixing had unleashed the full power of his Shadow Chain Kicks, amplified by the force of a Martial Lord. Its strength had caught her completely off guard.

As Yu Zhentian’s anger flared, Gu Yousheng grew fearful. He was indeed a valued guest of the Yu family, but if he truly angered them, they could ruin him with ease.

Out of concern for the water wheel, Lin Sen went over to check on it. Apart from the broken main axle and support, only two water-fetching bamboo tubes had fallen off—the very same two that the Lucky Duo had climbed earlier. As for the overturned wheel, it had only crushed the Chief of the Chrysanthemum Tribe, and no one else.