Chapter 83

"You’re exaggerating. I’ve only heard of it, that’s all. Like I said before, don’t overestimate me. I’m just a sailor.” Changshan casually tossed the gauze back to Li Xin.

“Kill him!” Seeing this, Chen Wusong felt reassured. The humiliation he’d just suffered fanned his murderous intent.

By the dim firelight, they gradually made out the shapes of the courtyard and the buildings in the darkness. The houses were scattered in an orderly fashion; their scale and layout were no different from those found on an ordinary estate.

Heizi’s body lay parallel to the ground, already nearly covered by the green substance. I saw him struggling in agony, and as I pulled at his hand, I could feel his whole body trembling uncontrollably. Suppressing my own fear, I summoned all my strength and yanked Heizi out of the seaweed heap.

“Jie is here? There’s only one private room left. Just the two of you?” A man with graying hair and a prominent belly came over to greet them.

Chen Yun exchanged a few more words with the others, then with some easy laughter, everyone went to their rooms to get ready.

“Damn, look at him! Even in this, he’s got the bearing of a little king!” A customer who’d just settled his bill whispered to his companion by the bar.

After finishing his cigarette in the early morning, he turned to look at the approaching car, holding Chen Wusong with one hand. He narrowed his eyes—this one must be a real expert.

“Ahem, Dad, don’t get the wrong idea. I earned all this money with my own skills!” Ling Chen finished, muttering to himself—wasn’t blackmailing Wild Ox also a skill of sorts?

But as for what connection there actually was, I really couldn’t say. Everything had become so muddled in my mind. I pressed my temples, my head throbbing. If there’d been a corpse, things would be easier to explain, but without one, something just wasn’t right.

At a critical moment, six fighter jets flew overhead, launching missiles to provide air support. The barrage interrupted Godzilla’s attack on Optimus Prime, and the jets continued to engage from all sides, drawing the monster’s attention to buy Optimus time.

Hu Jiahui knew their team was finished. He fought on alone, a lone wolf, barely holding out until fifth place, before the game ended.

There was a reason why Chen Ziding became famous. Her singing was deeply moving—calm and unhurried, telling her stories like a warbler emerging from the valley or a clear stream flowing over stones. In an instant, her voice could bring peace to the listener’s heart and invite them to savor the myriad nuances of life.

Chen Xi fired a shot, then ducked, leaving the teams from Lion City completely baffled. They heard gunfire, but saw no one.

Guo Niankou was sobbing uncontrollably. Chen Gan, moved and filled with guilt, pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back to comfort her.

As soon as the words were spoken, Ye Yunyi vanished. Yet in the span of a breath, he reappeared before them, and behind him were all sorts of wild game—tigers, elephants, crocodiles—massive beasts, bound with ropes.

As a human who was given a false “first embrace,” Maxwell could not truly merge a vampire’s abilities with his own.

That’s the truth, but when it comes down to it, the embarrassment isn’t for Xiao Jinmo or Chen Gan to bear, but for Chu Xi.

On the lake’s surface, Lü Weiwei was nowhere to be seen. She must have fainted from the cold and sunk to the bottom.

Perhaps it was all the hardships Hua Jianshou had endured over the past month that had weakened her memory.

For Song Jianfan, the hardest part was that he couldn’t talk to Zhang Ying about this issue. If he did, she would feel as though he resented her—even though she worked so hard for their family, in the end, her husband only found fault.

Although Emperor Wanli had little tolerance for eunuchs meddling in state affairs and imposed strict controls on them, reducing bribery among eunuchs in recent years, that was only a recent development. Back in Zhang Juzheng’s time, the eunuchs were far more rampant.

Yang Zheng was silently lamenting his situation here, while Old Wu was quite pleased. After all, it was an honor for his old friends to attend the ceremony.

Qin Aiguo had no choice. If he didn’t understand Zhang Pingze’s character, he would have snapped long ago. The way Zhang Pingze spoke made it clear he had a plan, which was why he said what he did.

Though there were examples like Wei Baoyu and Yi Bai, where wolves turned on their masters, Tong Guan knew well that the court would only use the Dangxiang people while always keeping a wary eye on them.

After gaining the benefits, she had simply abandoned the newly created human race in the wilds and left. Was this really appropriate? In this wilderness filled with monstrous beasts, how could these frail humans who couldn’t even kill a chicken hope to survive? The answer was obvious—they couldn’t.

“All right, see you in Europe!” Once in Europe, with fewer familiar faces around, who knows what opportunities might arise?

“How dare you! To try to assassinate a general of our dynasty right here in the Celestial Palace—today, you will not leave alive!” The man who had roared just moments before arrived in an instant. He wore a chainmail ghost armor, his face fierce, his entire being exuding a savage, murderous aura, as if he had emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

“Very well, it’s settled. I’ll go home tonight and scrape the money together!” It seemed Bai Yanni really didn’t have that much cash on hand. She’d probably have to ask her family for help or borrow from colleagues. Seeing her so stubborn, Shen Yibin refrained from saying more and let her handle it herself.

“That’s only the map of the southern war zone and the area around the castle. The war zone part is a spoil of war. The castle section was drawn by a wind mage, but it turned out to be too costly, so we stopped there,” Bing Lian explained.

Mao Leyan was genuinely touched. She knew the prime minister was always steady and rarely said such things. Clearly, he felt something for her as well. Yet ever since she acknowledged the prime minister as her guardian, she’d only kept the title, never really forging an emotional connection. A hint of guilt rose in her heart.

“Very well, Huaizhen, do as you please. I’ll go see Mother.” Gan Ran, unchanged in expression, smiled, brushed the dust from his sleeve, and strode away.

“No. You mustn’t say such things again.” Suddenly, Huo Ting spun around and grasped Zhuang Qingqing’s hands tightly. Then he lowered his head, his lips pressing against her cheek, then slowly moving down, finally finding the lips he had longed for.

The fierce battle did not last long. After less than fifteen minutes, Black Fiend fell in the Myriad Ghosts Asura Formation, dying with deep resentment and unwillingness.

Tong Dabiao raised his hand, about to land a fierce slap. Seeing this, Da Fei rushed forward and grabbed his wrist.

At that thought, Zhuang Qingqing snapped out of her daydreams, looking at everything before her—this was no illusion.

In that instant, he felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen; he was utterly incapable of moving a muscle.