Chapter 32

Opening his eyes, Feng Yan found himself in the familiar inn; he slowly got up, slowly familiarizing himself with everything in the game.

"Yo! You've come." The soul spoke, "Before I disappear, to have such vigor—really not to be underestimated!"

Feng Yan knew that it was the last wisp of Chiyou's residual soul, so he said to the soul: "Your power is too strong and violent; I cannot fully control it, so I had to resort to adventurous methods to leave this wisp of your soul behind. Although these several instances of power have not run amok, I understand in my heart that it is because the red state's gentleness facilitates use and operation, but if it turns black, I won't know what to do—I can only leave you here; this is a no‑choice choice."

"You sure know how to calculate!" the soul said, his words full of contempt.

Chen Hao came over, directly pulled Feng Yan aside, and whispered: "How did you manage to bring out this demon god's soul?"

"Hehe, thanks for the praise." Feng Yan laughed, "Yesterday that scholar chanted the incantation; I tweaked it a bit, and now his soul temporarily remains as a sword spirit in the Black Sword."

"What about the red sword?" Chen Hao asked hurriedly. "It's gone, turned into smoke and entered the Black Sword; it's now inside, you see—just this small piece." Feng Yan said while pointing that small spot to Chen Hao.

After lowering his head to think for a moment, Chen Hao said: "So that means your strength will become stronger in the future?"

"In theory, that's the case." Feng Yan replied, "but…."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Hao interrupted Feng Yan's words, analyzing: "That's a good thing; our current equipment overwhelms other teams—though only temporary, for us it's the best news. The Lilliputian Kingdom's treasure has already fallen into Yang Xin's hands; that arrow could have killed you outright, but thanks to the Adventurers' Book you escaped disaster. However, we no longer have the Adventurers' Book in our hands, while Yang Xin still holds one, plus a crossbow focused on assassination. We remain at a disadvantage; we must hurry to find the next treasure."

"Well, we should be going." Feng Yan said, picking up the Black Sword beside him, preparing to take his leave of the king.

At that moment, the king came to the inn, stood before Feng Yan and the other, and said to the two: "You are now honored guests of our Ju Ren Guo, and you have also freed Chiyou's residual soul; you should stay a few more days, especially since you still bear wounds."

"Right, we'll stay a few more days before leaving; let's heal our wounds first." Wang You said to Feng Yan and Chen Hao.

Feng Yan bowed deeply and said: "First, thank the king for his kindness, but we have important matters to attend to; furthermore, as adventurers of this world, we ought to do something for it—otherwise, how could we call ourselves adventurers? If we make mistakes, that would only bring more shame; we are not people who can idle away. Since the affairs here are settled, we have no reason to stay."

After hearing this, the king knew they could not be kept, so he sighed and said: "You two have made up your minds; no matter how much more I say, it would be pointless. But as a person of Ju Ren Guo, I must observe the proper etiquette. However, considering you two are in a hurry, please accept this gold." Having said that, the Ju Ren Guo guards held up a tray filled with gold, silver, and fine silks. Feng Yan and the two stared wide-eyed at the things before them, astonished speechless. The king continued: "Because the seal of Ju Ren Guo has been broken, the world has begun to slowly become a unified whole. According to the bandits we Ju Ren Guo captured from the river, the next stop is the Li Kingdom, so these things will be useful!"

The two nodded, then indicated to the king that they needed a marching pack. The king understood and had the soldiers directly place the gold and silver into the marching pack, then handed it to Feng Yan and the two. As they were about to leave, they heard a voice say: "I also want to go with you!"

Feng Yan and Chen Hao turned around; Feng Yan slapped his forehead, thinking: "How did I forget her?" He then walked up to Wangyou and asked: "Is that really the case?" "Yes!" Having received an affirmative answer, Feng Yan directly said: "Then let's go, but you need to learn something with us for self-defense, and when necessary you'll need to gather information for us." Upon hearing this, Chen Hao flopped onto Feng Yan's shoulder and whispered: "Are you sure? Such a pretty girl, going?" Feng Yan nodded and softly said: "Do you think I still have a choice? Look at that gaze—do you think I would refuse?"

Chen Hao looked over from there and thought: "What if it's a guy?" Afterwards he reluctantly agreed.

The Princess and the Warring States Prince looked at Feng Yan and the two; after a moment, the Warring States Prince walked over to Feng Yan and Chen Hao, performing a salute and saying: "Thank you two for giving me this opportunity, allowing me to marry the beautiful Ju Ren Guo princess as my consort."

Feng Yan stepped forward and said: "We don't have much time at the teleportation point—hurry up!" "Right, right, we'll get up right away." After saying that, they hurriedly ran to reach the teleportation point.

When the two had more or less finished their discussion, Feng Yan walked up to the king and said: "During this trip to Ju Ren Guo, I have seen a lot, truly many things; this place can be considered humanity's ideal land, so thank you, Your Majesty."

After saying that, Feng Yan, Chen Hao, and Wangyou set out on the road. After walking far out of the city gate, Feng Yan looked back and said: "You say, is that place really that good? No discrimination, no lies, no comparison." "Don't you feel something is missing?" Chen Hao, after hearing Feng Yan's words, replied: "Precisely because there is no comparison, no struggle, the people there have no competition—do you really think that's good?"

"Everyone can live the life they want—why wouldn't that be good?" Feng Yan replied.

After saying that, the Warring States Prince and the Princess left directly. Chen Hao and the others followed behind, gradually distancing themselves from the Lilliputian Kingdom, slowly walking out of Ju Ren Guo, about to arrive at a new country—a place where profit is supreme, and the measure of worth is nothing but money. That country, or rather the Li Kingdom, merely turned the means of controlling civilians from people into money, while most wealth gathered in the hands of a few. The poor watched them on stage giving speeches about the concentration of wealth, the accumulation of capital, and the crowd below shouted frenziedly, believing they had received the true teaching, convinced they could achieve the same as them, even surpass them, and striving for it, hoping that in this grand spectacle attended by all, this one time would fulfill their lifelong wish.

"Um, are we going to the Li Kingdom?" Wangyou asked, speaking calmly. Not long ago, she had just been invited into the palace and almost lost her purity, yet her expression remained so calm, which made Feng Yan find it somewhat strange.

Feng Yan and Chen Hao walked on, chatting along the way. Nearby, the fiery red maple woods slowly turned into golden paulownia trees; as the wind blew, the paulownia leaves drifted down from the trees, those golden leaves floating in midair like golden butterflies dancing in the sky. Golden sunlight slowly showered onto the paulownia grove, the leaves gleaming brightly, dazzling to the eye, and also resembling the things people pursue, the things people pursue, and also something everyone needs—money, which is the foundation of human survival and also the source of sin.

"Looks like we're almost there." Chen Hao opened the map and said: "The golden paulownia forest—just ahead lies the gate of the Li Kingdom's city, but why is this country called the Li Kingdom? Why not some other name, like those really handsome names?"

"Huh? We've arrived!" Feng Yan stopped his steps and saw the Li Kingdom's city before him.

That city gate was extremely luxurious; the originally strongest wall was actually cast from gold! The golden sunlight shone on the gold-cast wall, reflecting a blinding glare, which then bounced straight into Feng Yan and the two's eyes. They hurriedly shielded their eyes and shouted: "What the heck! Is this a tycoon nation? Even the walls are gold? This is too much." Having said that, they slowly walked forward, each step making them feel closer to that golden land.

Finally, they reached beneath the city gate; the guard soldiers held spears aimed at the three of them, then looked at Wangyou with ill intent. Wangyou felt something wrong and hid behind Feng Yan and Chen Hao. Feng Yan and Chen Hao looked at the soldiers and directly threw out a lump of gold the size of a brick, saying: "We are adventurers from Ju Ren Guo; please do us a favor and let us in."

As Feng Yan spoke, he completely failed to notice that the soldiers had already tangled together over that lump of gold, dropping their weapons and scrambling for the large gold brick Feng Yan had just produced. Feng Yan and Chen Hao looked on helplessly and sighed: "It seems these soldiers are also a bunch of money-crazed lunatics." The officer over there came over, saw the soldiers tangled, drew his horsewhip, and lashed at them. After a sound, the soldiers slowly rose, about to flare up, but upon seeing the officer before them, they instantly deflated, standing silently in await of his orders.

"Sorry, adventurers, for letting you two see this." The officer said to Feng Yan and Chen Hao while performing a salute.

"It's fine; it just let me witness your nation's true nature." Feng Yan replied, his tone laced with mockery.

The officer was speechless, and invited the two and the girl behind them to enter the Li Kingdom together; the gate slowly opened, and the three walked while observing the scenery around them—people came and went without cease, among them not lacking merchant ships and other foreigners, each ship having a few dwarves responsible for loading, docking, and a series of activities; they gradually entered the Li Kingdom's territory and discovered a scenery unlike that of other countries.

Here the houses are basically made of gold and silver; for this reason, under the sun's illumination, the roofs reflect light, and everyone covers their eyes to block the reflected sunlight. Because the houses vary in height, they appear uneven, yet one feels that this place is not merely as it seems on the surface.

Suddenly, Feng Yan sensed something amiss; turning back, he saw a masked figure directly draw a knife and slash at him. Feng Yan was first startled, then stepped back; the masked figure swung at air. Seeing Feng Yan prepared, the masked figure turned to thrust at Chen Hao—only to see Chen Hao spin around, then leap straight up into midair. "Chen Hao, catch!" Feng Yan shouted at Chen Hao, then directly drew his black sword from its sheath and threw it toward Chen Hao. Chen Hao caught the sword, and using the hilt struck the masked figure's rear, causing the masked figure to collapse with a cry.

"Are you okay, Feng Yan?" Chen Hao said to Feng Yan.

"Chen Hao, quick, ask him why he attacked us!" Feng Yan shouted.

By the time Chen Hao turned back, the masked figure had vanished without a trace; Chen Hao, feeling some regret, said: "If I had known, I would have gone for the kill and struck him down directly."

"It's fine, it's fine as long as nothing happened." Feng Yan said.

Feng Yan and Chen Hao continued forward and arrived at an inn. The inn's decoration was extremely luxurious: between vermilion doors and painted pillars, vermilion feathers and the flowing gold colors complemented each other; within the three markets and six streets, crowds of officials and scholars gathered. Phoenix pavilions displayed nine layers of gold and jade; sparrow terraces showed off glass beads. Phoenix pipes and flutes boiled the singing stage; elephant planks and silver zithers sang in the dance pavilion. Everywhere were wealthy merchants coming and going, chatting about their incomes over the years; within the flower-lined alleys, many gorgeous courtesans; the Chu palaces and Qin towers held endless charming singers. Noble mansions and rich households called out for dice, princes and nobles bought smiles. The scenery was extravagantly luxurious beyond compare, making one suspect it was a fairyland on earth.

"Waiter, bring a pot of good wine!" a nearby customer called.

"Here you go, sir!" the waiter said while greeting guests entering the inn and bustling about. Sweat kept pouring from his head, and he muttered to himself: "Damn it, what's going on today? Why so many people?"

Feng Yan and Chen Hao walked straight to the counter and said to the proprietor: "Give us the largest guest room!"

The proprietor didn't even look up, saying: "Top-tier rooms are expensive; at least this amount." Having said that, he extended three fingers to indicate.

"Silver? Three taels?" Feng Yan made a sound; the proprietor shook his head and continued extending his fingers. At that moment, Chen Hao directly took out a large lump of gold, slapped it down onto the proprietor's seat with a bang. The proprietor raised his head—about to flare up—when he saw the large lump of gold before him; the speed of his change of expression was such that his angry face instantly turned into a fawning smile. The proprietor courteously said: "Gentlemen, please go upstairs to the elegant rooms; waiter, attend to the two upstairs with good food and drink."

"Are you blind! There's still a girl with us behind!" Feng Yan scolded the shopkeeper.

"Ah yes yes yes, I'm blind, blind, waiter, two nice rooms." The shopkeeper said again.

"Well, forget it, just bring some small dishes first, we'll eat something here, don't let your waiter get too busy, look," Feng Yan pointed at the busy waiter, "business is good here today."

Just as his words fell, the three of them found a table and sat down. Feng Yan placed the sword on his back onto the table. The diners at the neighboring table were discussing something, about the Prince of Li Kingdom. Only hearing one diner at that table say: "Do you know? A few days ago, the Prince went to Ju Ren Guo!" The other diners with him found it strange and asked: "How do you know that?" The person who spoke up said: "That day I was just returning from a merchant ship, I only saw the sky change color, not long after it cleared up, but I heard the soldiers changing guard at the city wall say that two adventurers had appeared in the Wanggong! Without a word, they directly dragged the Prince to Ju Ren Guo! When he came back, he still looked quite a sight, his nose bruised and face swollen. Look, as soon as the Prince returned to his country, he immediately summoned bounty hunters to prepare to kill the adventurers, but the adventurers aren't that easy to kill, I heard the adventurers also rescued the most beautiful dancer from the Wanggong."

Another customer said: "I also know, I have a friend who is a guard in the imperial palace. That day, they dealt with two adventurers; it was just about to kill one of them when another person's hand somehow flew a red long sword from somewhere, what a fine fellow, the uninjured adventurer directly swung the long sword, emitting a red sword qi, directly knocking all their guards to the ground!"

"That was them holding back, otherwise they'd all be dead!" another customer said.

Chen Hao and Feng Yan listened, not saying a word. Wang You said to the two people in front of him: "What they said couldn't be that day, you two, right?" The two nodded. "The dishes are coming!" the servant shouted while slowly putting the dishes on the table; once the dishes were all there, they started eating.

Then they went up to the guest room, closed the door; the two understood that the Prince of Li Kingdom had spent a lot of money to come kill them both.

On the other side, Yang Xin and the Prince of Li Kingdom, the Prince looked at the defeated bounty hunter, slapped him directly, then harshly scolded: "That waste, still calling himself a bounty hunter who never misses, I think his misses are more frequent than his wet shoes!" The bounty hunter lowered his head, not uttering a sound.

The Prince of Li Kingdom was in the palace, sitting on his throne sighing: "Ah, how can I kill these two hateful, itchy scoundrels? Last time they made me lose face in the palace, rescued the dancer, dragged me to Ju Ren Guo to have the Princess choose a consort, they insulted me twice!"

"How? The Prince looks quite troubled!" A figure slowly walked out of the darkness.

"Who are you? What's it to you?" the Prince replied disdainfully.

"Let me put it this way, I'm also an adventurer; your people outside have already been taken care of by me, it's really simple, just a bit of gold can actually shake the will of your noble country's soldiers; it seems, regarding this country, I'm finding it more and more interesting." The person spoke while stepping out of the darkness, revealing his face—it was Yang Xin!

"You... you, what are you doing?" The Prince understood that his soldiers had been completely crushed by Yang Xin's money offensive; now they should be wrestling over picking up gold nuggets, perhaps among them there are brothers, friends, even father and son.

No rush, just come with something practical—let's cooperate. Yang Xin said with a smile, "I killed the swordsman adventurer; you just need to interfere with him. It's that simple."

Why?" the Prince asked.

There's no reason; if there were, it would be that we're friends—but that was in the past; now we're enemies." Yang Xin said. Wang Tingwan looked at Yang Xin, unable to hide her worried expression, then glanced at the Prince beside her, scared half to death, her face full of contempt.

So that means Yang Xin has also come here?" Feng Yan said.

Mm, yes, I expect they will take action." Chen Hao analyzed.

Since arriving in Li State, that soul has been as if asleep, showing no movement at all. Feng Yan glanced at the sword on his person, recalling that there was another soul within him; his heart couldn't help but worry, while thinking: "We, are we really enemies now?"

Their bodies slowly began to dissipate; it seems dawn has come.