Chapter 31: Leveling Up Again

The boy did not make a sound; instead, he laboriously used his shoulders for support to lift his head, nuzzling Ruan Xing's palm with his mouth like a puppy. He swallowed the pill without the slightest hesitation, then opened his mouth for Ruan Xing to inspect.

Ruan Xing gave a light flick with her Short Sword, slicing through the ropes that bound him, and shoved the hilt into his hand. "Now, kill your half-brother and half-sister, and we shall be accomplices. Can you do it?"

The two innocent children, still too young to understand, seemed to grasp the impending danger; they wailed and begged, tears smearing their faces.

This was the second test Ruan Xing had set for him. She was currently at the closest distance to the boy and had even given him her only weapon; if the boy had not been telling the truth, he would surely have seized this opportunity.

He looked at the Short Sword in his hand, then at his brother and sister struggling on the ground. His trembling hand could barely hold the sword. It took several repeated stabs before the two little lumps of flesh stopped moving.

He walked over and returned the sword to Ruan Xing, his hands and face covered in the blood that had sprayed out.

Ruan Xing took it, feeling a bit like a villain.

But that was fine; villains were popular as protagonists these days.

Clearing her throat, Ruan Xing asked, "What were you shaking for just now? Couldn't bring yourself to do it?"

"It's not that..." The boy shook his head, his voice still trembling. "I... I have never killed anyone..."

"Oh, you'll get used to it." Ruan Xing patted his shoulder. "What is your name?"

"My mother's surname is Xu. She named me Xu Can."

"A good name." Ruan Xing couldn't help but smile, the line coming to her mind at once: "The past is dark and not worth chasing; the road ahead is bright and brilliant." She said, "Go now, go find my brightness. Hu San, clean this place up."

Her brightness was gold and silver. Ruan Xing hummed a little tune in a good mood, following behind Xu Can. Xu Can led her to the study, then tapped and knocked on a spot in the room to trigger a mechanism, causing a large pit about two square meters in size to sink into the floor beside the desk.

Inside were two large wooden chests. Xu Can jumped down and opened them. Ruan Xing took a look and was immediately so captivated by the contents she couldn't look away: one chest was filled with all sorts of gold, silver, jewelry, and silver notes, while the other contained various rare antiques, calligraphy, and paintings.

Like a mouse falling into a rice jar, Ruan Xing jumped down excitedly and gave a wave of her little hand, charging all the gold and silver into the Simulation. Her credit balance reached the astonishing figure of over one hundred thousand.

It was a pity the Simulator didn't accept jewelry or silver notes, otherwise, there would have been even more.

"I'll take the silver notes, too. Leave the rest here; it's too much trouble to carry."

Ruan Xing urged Xu Can to go to his aunt's room—the wife of Hu Ye. She kept her private stash in a small room, secured with a copper lock. Ruan Xing channeled her True Qi and destroyed the door with a single strike of her sword, then walked inside.

The room was mostly filled with bolts of cloth, silk screens, a vanity, expensive wooden furniture, and some head ornaments and Jade, all packed into a box along with silver and silver notes. Ruan Xing picked up the box and strapped it to her back. Upon coming out, she happened to run into Hu San, who had finished disposing of the bodies.

She handed the bundle she had prepared to Hu San to take back. After all, she lived with Shi Shifu, and with so many eyes and ears in the branch hall, it was inconvenient to carry too many things.

"Once you've cleaned everything up, go to the kitchen, find some oil and wine, and splash them on the flammable parts of the building. Be careful; it's best to clear away all traces. After you're done, go straight home; no need to come find me again." After giving her orders to Hu San, Ruan Xing turned to Xu Can and cautioned him: "After the fire starts, find an open space to hide. Wet a cloth to cover your eyes, mouth, and nose. Hold on; someone will come to save you in two quarters of an hour. No matter what they ask you, just say you were too scared and hid, and that you don't know anything and didn't see anything. If someone says they want to take you back to stay temporarily or even raise you, you had best choose a young master surnamed Wang or a woman whose husband is surnamed Wang. Do you understand?"

In many of the Simulations, people from Hu Ye's branch hall and those under Lady Wang would arrive within a quarter of an hour of receiving the news. Counting the time it would take them to put out the fire, two quarters of an hour was plenty.

"Are you not taking me with you?" Xu Can asked, feeling uneasy.

"Kid, taking you with me is a lot of trouble. Not only do I have to find a place for you to live, but I also have to cover up the traces that you're still alive. Staying here is your best option. Don't worry, as long as you do exactly as I say, you will survive. I'll come find you in seven days."

"Alright, I understand, Miss." Xu Can mimicked the way Hu San addressed Ruan Xing, his head lowered in a respectful manner.

Ruan Xing left Xu Can there and exited the residence alone. Standing at a street corner not far away, she looked back. Hu San's efficiency was high; in just a moment, the wisps of blue smoke had turned into a raging inferno, the dancing flames reflecting on her face.

Ruan Xing flicked the Short Sword in her hand, her True Qi vibrating slightly, and the blood on the blade fell away in a flurry, restoring it to its gleaming state.

With her mind stirred, her True Qi circulated throughout her body, and she felt as if a shackle had suddenly been lifted from her. Ruan Xing sensed something, and before she could even check, she heard a familiar voice in her mind.

【Congratulations on reaching a new martial arts realm. The Simulator is about to enter a system upgrade. The time required is twelve hours.】

Hmm, looks like the price is going up again.

The Simulator hadn't raised its price when she learned Internal Strength before, and she had been lucky enough to think she'd encountered a bug. Now it seemed that since Internal and External Strength could be cultivated together, and Transformation Strength was merely a transition, the Simulator didn't consider those new martial arts realms at all.

Only when she reached the Acquired Realm would the Simulator change.

Once the Simulator finished upgrading, she could start considering how to deal with the old man in the cave.

But for now, she could return to the branch hall refreshed and get a good night's sleep, completely ignoring how chaotic Jiangning City would be in the second half of the night.

The next day, the weather was fine and the sky was clear for ten thousand miles.

Ruan Xing had just gone out for a stroll when she saw people in every street and alley discussing the big event from last night.

Passerby A: "Did you hear? It was incredible last night! A Red Head Gang boss had his whole family wiped out, leaving only a clueless little brat behind!"

Passerby B: "Everyone is talking about it. Tsk tsk, Hu Ye's glory is coming to an end. I wonder who will take over this territory next."

Passerby C: "Bah, is that something you should be worried about? Just pay your protection fees. I'm curious, though—who has the ability to provoke the Red Head Gang and wipe out their entire family in one night?" Passerby A: "Exactly! My house is right nearby. Before the fire started, I didn't even hear a single scream. It was all quiet, and then there were no living people left. I'm terrified just staying in my own house now."

Passerby C: "That powerful? When did such a capable figure appear in Jiangning City?"

Passerby B: "We finally had a few years of peace. Don't tell me a new faction is coming in? I don't want to go back to the miserable life we had seven or eight years ago."

Passerby A: "That's not necessarily true. Maybe there was internal conflict within the Red Head Gang. It's just a pity for that clueless little brat, losing all his family in one night. Truly tragic!"

Ruan Xing listened with interest for a long time, then sighed along with them as if she felt the same: "Truly tragic."

Passerby A only then noticed a little girl standing to the side and frowned, shooing her away: "Go on, go on! If a child hears this, they'll have nightmares. Whose child is this? Hurry home!"

Although she was chased away, Ruan Xing wasn't angry. She wandered around for a while longer before heading back.

The atmosphere at Qiye's branch hall was inexplicably tense. Everyone was rushing about, and no one cared where Ruan Xing had gone or what she was doing.

No one could possibly guess that she was the mastermind behind this whole affair.

The Gang Leader of the Red Head Gang called an emergency meeting. Qiye and his personal guards hadn't been seen at the branch hall all day. Presumably, Young Master Liu and Young Master Wang were also busy and had no time to spare. Ruan Xing could only amuse herself in her room by counting down the time.

It wasn't until evening that things finally settled down, and she received word from Hu San that Young Master Wang wanted to invite her for a drink.

Had he lost his mind from joy, inviting a child to drink?

Although she found it a bit absurd, Ruan Xing wanted to know early on if the results were as she had expected, so she got into the carriage Hu San had sent for her.

She specifically put on the yellow dress Young Master Wang had given her, tying her shoulder-length hair into double buns with flower ribbons, looking quite playful and cute.

The carriage drove to a restaurant she had never been to before, with "Yingkeju" written on the sign. It was decorated in a grand and luxurious style, looking festive and auspicious—it probably suited Young Master Wang's tastes perfectly.

Young Master Wang's cheeks were already flushed with two spots of red, but he hadn't lost his reason. Seeing Ruan Xing, he said excitedly, "Little Sister Ruan, today is a victory banquet that belongs only to the three of us!"

"Don't mind him, he's had too much to drink." Young Master Liu fanned himself with a folding fan, a smile on his face.

"Who's had too much? I haven't." Young Master Wang retorted. "I dealt with my mother for a few words at dinner tonight and then ran out. Hey, she didn't scold me or stop me. Isn't that miraculous?"

With the alcohol going to his head, Young Master Wang rambled on with a great desire to show off, as if he were reporting his work to Ruan Xing. Ruan Xing wanted to understand the situation, so she listened quietly.

"I was tossing and turning all last night, unable to sleep. When I heard movement outside, I woke up instantly and hurried to get up and follow my mother out. When we got there, ho! The dragon bone on the beam had been burned through! But there wasn't a single corpse in the whole residence; instead, it was covered in foul-smelling slime mixed with the smell of burning. I almost threw up!"

"Later, we found a kid—the nephew of Hu Ye I told you about last time. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed me and wouldn't let go, calling me 'brother' and saying I was kind. He was scared of everyone else. Hey, I never noticed he liked me that much when I saw him before? It must be because I, your brother, am so handsome and dashing that people are drawn to me at first sight!"

As he spoke, Young Master Wang swayed as he stood up and gave his head a narcissistic toss, "Then I took that child and, with lightning speed, took over most of Uncle Hu's territory. Hehe, I even wanted to occupy a few taverns and restaurants I'd had my eye on for a long time, but unfortunately, my mother stopped me; she wouldn't let me take them."

Ruan Xing listened and nodded silently; Lady Wang held the grain shops and manors of the entire city in her hands, and if she were to also manage the profitable shops within the city, her power would likely exceed that of the Gang Leader, so naturally, she dared not take them.

Young Master Wang continued, "At daybreak, the Gang Leader called a meeting. I didn't go, but out of consideration for our family adopting that child, the Gang Leader reasonably allocated the territory I occupied to our family. Then I heard that in order to fight for the management rights of the gang's industries, several Guan actually started fighting at the meeting, haha!"

Young Master Wang's description was much like what she had imagined; when she told him yesterday, she had guessed that Lady Wang and Qiye, whose management areas bordered those of Hu Ye, would be the biggest winners. She didn't want Qiye to take too much, so she could only let Lady Wang take more. Leaving Xu Can alive last night was also done with this consideration in mind. Under the management of the Red Head Gang in recent years, the gang had already trended toward being scaled and civilized, and most people valued a sense of brotherhood; whoever held the only orphan of Hu Ye would gain the greatest benefits.

She was not the type of person to soften her heart just because someone casually threw out a reason and begged; it was simply because Xu Can's usefulness alive was greater than dead.

However, Ruan Xing's sources of information were limited, and she did not understand the Guan of other areas, so she could not determine who would end up with these industries, and thus asked, "What was the result? Who got them?"

"That you would have to ask Brother Liu." Young Master Wang winked at him mischievously.

Young Master Liu shook his head with a helpless smile and took over the conversation, "After I went back yesterday, I also made some preparations. Once I received the news, I used my brother-in-law's name to lead a few squads of Spirit Guards from the Patrol Security Division to intervene. The Patrol Security Division used the excuse of gang infighting disturbing the public livelihood to temporarily seize and manage them. During the standoff, my brother-in-law came over to back me up. Instead of saying I was acting recklessly, he praised me for doing well this time. After discussions, the result was quite good: the Patrol Security Division will manage them temporarily for three months, and they will be returned once the internal affairs of the Red Head Gang are settled. The annual tribute was also increased from half a percent to one percent."

Ruan Xing was surprised; the Red Head Gang Leader could actually agree to such terms? Once these three months passed, it was uncertain how much of the industries would be left to be returned.

She felt there was something fishy about this, but seeing that both Young Master Liu and Young Master Wang were overflowing with joy, she couldn't bring herself to pour cold water on them, so she could only offer congratulations while urging them: "Take advantage of this opportunity; for the two of you to each find your position and stand firm is what is most important."

"That goes without saying. For me, Wang Dongxing, to have what I have today, Ruan Meimei, your contribution is the greatest. Come, let's drink!" Young Master Wang poured two cups of wine to toast Ruan Xing.

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Ruan Xing took a sip from the wine cup; it tasted sweet and sour with a hint of spice, and only then did she realize it was fruit wine.

Young Master Wang said with some pride, "How could I let Ruan Meimei drink spicy wine?"

As thoughtful as ever, a smile rose to Ruan Xing's lips; if this thoughtfulness were applied to his career, what could he not accomplish?

After three rounds of drinks, Young Master Wang slurred his words as he said to Ruan Xing, "Ruan Meimei, you... are really beautiful today. If I had a younger brother... I would definitely arrange a betrothal for you two, but unfortunately..."

"Right, I, I still have a gift for you. Where did I put it..." Young Master Wang shook his head and looked around in search.

Thanks to Le Guoguo for the tip~ Thanks to Someone Who Has Heard of It for the monthly ticket~(End of chapter)