The thieves’ eting today also ended in a rush.
It wasn’t that they had been on break too long to get back into work mode, but rather because the operation was scheduled for the early hours of the day after tomorrow, at midnight. It was now noon—there was no way to determine the night patrols, evening foot traffic, or lighting and shadow distribution for that future ti. More importantly, they still needed to confirm where Shang Xuanwen would be spending the night. Without the target’s location, how could they make a plan?
They agreed to reconvene at midnight tonight, and everyone returned to their rooms and disappeared. After Yan Qing closed his door, he didn’t remove his mask right away. Instead, he picked up Bingzi Pepper Forest—he had deliberately not worn Bingzi Pepper Forest earlier to avoid dicine Master Wen and the others getting covetous. After a mont of waiting, a knock ca at the door, just as expected.
He opened only a sliver of the door, his right hand still resting on the hilt of Bingzi Pepper Forest. He looked at Shang Xinlei outside without saying a word.
“How is she?” Shang Xinlei asked.
“She’s fine.”
“Can you tell where she went?”
“No.”
Shang Xinlei had anticipated Yan Qing’s refusal and nodded lightly. She glanced at Bingzi Pepper Forest beneath his hand, lost in thought, and fell into a long silence.
“If there’s nothing else, then—”
“Thank you.”
“What are you thanking for?” Yan Qing replied. “I don’t recall doing anything worth your thanks.”
“Thank you for helping my friend,” Shang Xinlei said sincerely. “If you hadn’t given her Bingzi Pepper Forest in advance…”
When she saw Bingzi Pepper Forest, Shang Xinlei already knew that Yellow Dog had figured out her true identity.
Since Yan Qing had lent Bingzi Pepper Forest to Jiang Ten, he would naturally learn from her that Shang Xinlei had advised her to leave Yellow Dog. From there, it wasn’t hard to deduce that Shang Xinlei was one of the thief won of the Thieves’ House. And there were only four mbers in the Thieves’ House—Red Snake from Jiangnan was the only correct answer.
In fact, if Yan Qing had mistaken that tomboy Black Wolf or that hypocrite White Fox for her, Shang Xinlei would’ve been angry.
Yan Qing’s occasional glances during the eting had only confird Shang Xinlei’s suspicion.
“What you choose to believe is your business. I only protect what is mine,” Yan Qing said calmly. “I don’t need your gratitude, just as I won’t accept your resentnt if she ends up with no grave to be buried in one day.”
Shang Xinlei froze, staring blankly at Yan Qing, her voice filled with disbelief. “She’s so young, so beautiful, so incredibly talented, and so loyal to you. If I’m not mistaken, she even gave you all her earnings from Mansu Woodland, didn’t she? Doesn’t that increase her worth in your eyes? You—”
“See you tonight.”
Yan Qing couldn’t be bothered to keep talking to her. He slamd the door shut with a bang, giving Shang Xinlei a solid dose of rejection. He braced himself for the sound of her pounding on the door, but outside remained silent. Only after a long pause did he hear Red Snake’s footsteps returning to her room.
He had finally dealt with it.
Yan Qing had responded to Shang Xinlei so harshly on purpose. Though he could’ve used the opportunity to get closer to her and clean up his image as the cold and ruthless mastermind, after careful thought, he still didn’t want to be seen as a good person by others.
Kindness required strength. Being a good person ca at a cost. He was just a weakling—a coward who didn’t dare leave the Thieves’ House. He couldn’t even protect himself, let alone make promises.
Yan Qing didn’t want others to see his kind side, because once they saw it, they’d always hope he would remain kind.
Besides, Ye Si and Jiang Ten would one day die for his sake—just as they were born for his sake.
In that sense, Shang Xinlei’s impression of him wasn’t wrong at all. He truly was a cold-blooded… ga player.
anwhile, in the Thieves’ House, the door to White Fox’s room quietly closed.
Ying Ru Shi leaned against the door, biting her nails and murmured softly, “Red Snake’s friend is under Yellow Dog? That ans Yellow Dog probably knows Red Snake’s true identity, and Red Snake might know Yellow Dog’s background?”
Though Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei hadn’t exchanged a word during the eting, Ying Ru Shi, as a mber of the royal family who had survived under the Mad Emperor Ying Le, had developed a bone-deep instinct for reading expressions. In less than fifteen minutes, both Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei had secretly glanced at each other four or five tis, and even locked eyes once—it was just like lovesick youths.
Ying Ru Shi had initially thought they were romantically involved, but it turned out to be a different kind of entanglent. She rembered An Wu and An Liu burning like self-immolating monks, and Yan San sacrificing himself for righteousness… Now Red Snake had discovered one of Yellow Dog’s subordinates in Jiangnan. What exactly was Yellow Dog plotting? How vast and hidden was the force under his command?
Even after returning to her residence, Ying Ru Shi remained deep in thought about the implications of Red Snake and Yellow Dog knowing each other—until her maid knocked and entered her room.
“My lady, these are letters sent from Pingcheng.”
“Just place them on the desk.”
Since the next mission would take place in Jiangnan City, Yan Qing naturally had to send an alternate character there in advance to investigate.
Considering the relatively decent public security in the Jiangnan region, Yan Qing felt he could be bolder this ti and invest more resources into the alternate character.
First, he had to decide on the appearance. Though the view of a beautiful girl’s back and bottom was indeed pleasing to both body and mind and could prolong life, this ti the primary task was investigation. If he created a stunning beauty, Yan Qing felt he might start a killing spree even before entering Jiangnan City.
Yan Qing listed his requirents for this alternate character: soone who wouldn’t be bothered while traveling, wouldn’t attract attention while wandering Jiangnan City, ideally had a valid reason to enter various places, wouldn’t be harassed under normal circumstances, and could commit mass slaughter without implicating innocent people…
Almost instinctively, the only identity that t all these conditions appeared in Yan Qing’s mind—
A monk!
He had just seen many temples in Jiangnan City, and monks were undeniably one of the most common humanoid entities in the region. Since monks could beg for alms and perform weddings and funerals, they were involved in people’s lives from birth to death—whether for the poor or the powerful. Thus, no one found it strange for monks to enter or exit any place. Even better, if a monk committed a cri, no one dared take it out on other monks.
It’s you then, baldy!
Since it was already bald, appearance didn’t matter. He simply used the default face to create a brawny man, which gave an extra 2 points in Vital Energy and Blood. For stat distribution, he went with the standard 3-3-4. The final character panel showed: 6 points Vital Energy and Blood, 1 point Spirit, 4 points Dexterity, 4 points Comprehension. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on N0v3l.Fiɾe
There were more options in Talent Inheritance now. Besides Basic Martial Techniques, one could choose Advanced Blade Technique, Advanced Footwork, Advanced Dual Blade Technique, or even select “Secret Technique Talent: Shadow-Split Blade” and “Secret Technique Talent: Left Curve, Right Sweep”!
Yan Qing clicked to inspect and found that Secret Technique Talents didn’t grant imdiate mastery of the technique. Instead, they allowed the alternate character to comprehend the technique directly as long as the specific conditions were t.
For instance, the condition to comprehend Shadow-Split Blade was to max out either Advanced Blade Technique or Advanced Dual Blade Technique. No need for a Secret Technique Book, no reliance on luck, and the conditions weren’t harsh. As long as one progressed steadily, the requirent could be fulfilled.
Don’t be fooled by how casually Yan Qing earned Secret Technique Books by clearing instances—authentic Secret Technique Books only dropped from Third-Stage Secret Realms and a few Second-Stage Secret Realm bosses, and even then, they weren’t necessarily suitable for the player. In contrast, this new system let one preselect a secret technique right from character creation. Combined with basic and advanced talents, the new alternate character could ascend to Third-Stage smoothly with no bottleneck!
This was just too…
Much fun!
The growing number of available talents reminded Yan Qing of his two favorite single-player genres: RogueLike and CRPG. The hallmark of these gas was letting players freely build a skill system. With the right combinations, the character’s power would skyrocket like stepping on one’s own foot to launch into the sky. This character-building process was what players referred to as a “build.”
The Job Change system in The ssenger already hinted at a build-like feel, and now the Talent Inheritance system in Real Mode significantly lowered the difficulty of building. At this mont, Yan Qing could already create a blade-specialist alternate character who would ascend directly to Third-Stage. When his main character gained more levels and resources, he couldn’t even imagine what kind of monstrous alternate characters he’d be able to create.
Let’s not forget, milestones were shared across the entire account!
Normally, Yan Qing disliked grind-heavy gas, but at this mont, he really felt the urge to grind The ssenger intensely. No wonder The ssenger could attract over a million online players—truly addictive.
But the price for playing this way wasn’t small either.
"Basic Footwork Talent: 12 hours of gaplay ti"
"Basic Blade Technique Talent: 12 hours of gaplay ti"
"Advanced Blade Technique Talent: 36 hours of gaplay ti"
"Secret Technique Talent: Shadow-Split Blade: 108 hours of gaplay ti"
Even though Yan Qing kept the ga online constantly, purchasing these four talents still made his heart ache. Unlike other resources, gaplay ti couldn’t be obtained any other way—it could only be earned by grinding, slowly increasing with every hour of play.
If this alternate character died, Yan Qing probably wouldn’t dare invest in high-level talents again for a long ti.
As for the na, since Shang Xinlei had already guessed his identity from Jiang Ten’s na, Yan Qing decided to use a different encoding system—sothing not easily recognized by others.
The Chinese Zodiac it is.
And to help recognize the character’s background, Yan Qing decided that all future alternate characters would be given preset background identities, with nas to match.
So, monk, your Dharma na is—“Rat Monk”!
“Jiangnan Affiliated Newbie Village,” begin ga!
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