Chapter 245: Delivering a Letter

The Eight Great Families were withdrawing from Ling'an.

This was the biggest news currently circulating in Ling'an, throwing the public into a state of panic.

"Since forming an alliance, the Eight Great Families have worked diligently, faithfully carrying out their duties to maintain public order and morality in Ling'an City for over three hundred years."

"However, while Ling'an boasts pleasant scenery and a beautiful environment—a place of scenic beauty since ancient times—its location is ultimately too remote. It no longer meets the needs of the Eight Great Families' ever-growing scale and economic operations."

"Now, in pursuit of better development, and after careful consideration and joint discussion among the patriarchs of the Eight Great Families, it has been decided that effective immediately, the Eight Great Families will relocate from Ling'an."

"Related industries and subordinate departments have already been handed over to the Public Security Association and the Federal Government. The specific details are as follows..."

This was the front-page headline of today's Ling'an Daily.

Wang Changnian set down the newspaper in his hands and looked toward Zhou Zimo.

"What do you think?"

"Your foresight is excellent, Domain Chief," Zhou Zimo said respectfully.

"I originally thought that the Fourth Tier we deliberately let slip through would be too strong for the one you have your eye on. It seems I was worrying over nothing."

"Mhm."

Wang Changnian nodded.

"That person's strength is in the bottom half among Fourth Tiers. For a Seed, fighting a Fourth Tier while at the Third Tier is a mandatory lesson."

"I just don't know if he ended up wounding the other party, fighting to a draw, or securing a victory."

"But even if he only wounded and scared his opponent off, that would absolutely rank him in the seventies or eighties out of the hundred Seeds in the Fifth Ring Domain."

"Keep a close eye on things over the next few days. Is Secretary-General Ming free lately? Have him watch over that little guy. If anything happens, resolve it immediately."

"However, do not interfere before the final stage of this Super-Large Dungeon concludes."

"The final stage of a Super-Large Dungeon is extremely important."

Hearing this, Zhou Zimo nodded.

"Understood."

Seeing Wang Changnian take a sip of his coffee, she turned to leave, but he called out to stop her.

"If you have any questions, you can ask."

Zhou Zimo felt a little embarrassed, not expecting Wang Changnian to see through her. Thus, she asked, "Domain Chief, is the final stage of a Super-Large Dungeon particularly rewarding?"

"You could say that."

Wang Changnian nodded. "But it's not about experience, nor is it about standard rewards. In fact, the final stage of a Super-Large Dungeon is an extra phase—it won't provide any experience or Inner World currency."

"Then what is it?"

Zhou Zimo asked, her eyes widening.

"There are only two rewards in the final stage of a Super-Large Dungeon."

Holding his coffee in his right hand, Wang Changnian raised two fingers on his left.

"One is the overall evaluation's Inner World Box, and the other is a Personal Title."

"In other words, the final stage of a Super-Large Dungeon is equivalent to an extra Personal Dungeon."

"I shouldn't need to explain how precious Personal Dungeons are. They generally only appear during the breakthroughs from the Second to Third Tier, Fourth to Fifth, and Sixth to Seventh. They determine your Personal Title and the direction of your future dungeons."

"A Super-Large Dungeon essentially grants that same benefit."

"A Personal Title is closely linked to one's performance in the dungeon. At such a critical juncture, we absolutely cannot allow anyone to interfere."

"I understand." Hearing his explanation, Zhou Zimo's curiosity was finally satisfied.

"Mhm. Close the door on your way out."

Wang Changnian drank his coffee while scrolling through his phone.

"Shocking! The Eight Great Families of Ling'an City Collectively Withdraw, and the Reason is Actually Him?!"

Lying in bed, Shen Youran looked at the front-page headline of the Rainbow Daily and felt a bit speechless.

What kind of trash title had Lin Xiaoran come up with?

"So boring—"

Hugging her pillow, she rolled over and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Yan Jing had gone into seclusion first thing this morning, and her pre-ordered new resources hadn't arrived yet. With nothing to do, she could only lie in bed alone and scroll through her phone.

"No fun at all. Not as fun as Xiao Yanzi—"

She pursed her lips. According to her estimates, her Xiao Yanzi had definitely entered the sights of the higher-ups by now.

She just didn't know how high up they were.

Thinking of this, she turned on the Computer beside her and opened a document.

The document was titled: 'Details Regarding Xiao Yanzi's (Hypothetical) Meeting with the Higher-Ups and Maximizing Interests.'

Yes, she had long prepared for this day to arrive.

It was just that Yan Jing's talent had accelerated its arrival by a great deal.

Yan Jing had been busy since early that morning.

"Don't move."

He looked at the photo of Tiger in his hand, his Paintbrush flying across the drawing board.

"Understood."

Tiger maintained a perfectly straight posture, not daring to move an inch.

In truth, a black curtain separated the two of them. He knew that Young Master Luo behind the drapery was painting based on the photo provided by Mr. Yi Ji.

But he still didn't dare move, because a pair of phoenix eyes were watching him from behind.

Over half an hour passed.

Yan Jing pulled his Paintbrush back, and the tiger on the canvas began to move.

The figure painted in gouache shifted on the paper, ultimately transforming into the appearance of a true tiger. No, it should be called a divine tiger; it had a pair of wings on its back, and the 'King' character on its forehead flashed with golden light.

Based on his deduction, this was likely what Tiger had looked like a long time ago.

After all, the Paintbrush in his hand was far from simple; it could trace a person's past.

However, unlike when he traced Luo Sheng's past earlier, Tiger's figure had only just started to move when the Weird Energy in Yan Jing's body began draining rapidly, forcing him to abort the tracing.

"Tiger's background is far from simple..." he muttered.

"Ahem! Ahem! Ahem!"

He coughed lightly three times. This was the secret signal he had agreed upon with Tiger.

Outside the curtain, Tiger, feeling the stare on his back, hastily coughed three times as well.

"Are you finished painting, Young Master?"

"Not yet."

Hearing Tiger's three coughs, Yan Jing quickly said, "Don't move."

"Understood." Tiger nodded repeatedly.

Right at that moment, Fei Yu's voice drifted in from outside the door.

"That's not right!"

Both of their hearts skipped a beat simultaneously.

"Young Master, you usually have a habit of finishing off a painting by tapping the paper with your brush. Xiao Yu just heard it."

Fei Yu poked her head in from the door and blinked.

"Is it because you don't want to help me test my new Herbal Tea, Mr. Huzi, that you asked the Young Master to paint for you?"

Fei Yu's voice was as crisp as a bamboo forest after the rain.

"No, no, no, how could that be!" "Yeah... impossible, impossible."

The two men spoke up in unison.

Yan Jing started coughing again, but only twice this time.

According to their agreed-upon signals, two coughs from Tiger meant Xiao Yu had already left, while two coughs from Yan Jing meant—

Sacrificing the rook to save the king.

"Alright, the painting is done. Since Xiao Yu is looking for you, Huzi, you should go. Don't refuse her."

"Xiao Yu, I'm going to rest for a bit. Don't disturb me before lunch is ready."

Yan Jing rattled this all off in one breath, giving Fei Yu no chance to interject.

"Alrighty then."

Fei Yu wasn't greedy; as long as someone came with her, it was fine.

Soon, Fei Yu dragged a miserable-looking Tiger out the door.

Yan Jing switched his identity to Yi Ji, who was far away in Tranquil Valley. He took out paper and pen, jotted down a few lines, and then Weird Energy surged at his fingertips. A bare-bottomed Little Messenger, carrying an olive-green satchel, appeared in the palm of his hand.

Seeing that Yan Jing had changed his appearance, it wasn't surprised in the slightest, seemingly viewing this as perfectly normal.

After all, it was a little guy who had delivered letters for Deities; it had seen its fair share of great storms.

Yan Jing looked at it and smiled.

"Deliver a letter for me."

"Yiya, yiya—"

The Little Messenger opened its olive-green satchel, gesturing for Yan Jing to put the letter inside.

Looking at the letter in his hand, which was clearly several sizes larger than the satchel, Yan Jing tried moving it closer. With a flash of spiritual light, the letter vanished.

Yan Jing could feel that the symbol on the back of his left hand was now one-third occupied by some kind of energy.

Interesting. The space inside was larger than he had imagined.

Could it carry other things besides letters?

This was crucial. He took out a photo and held it up to the satchel. Soon, the photo also vanished.

Another third of the symbol was occupied, and his left hand became noticeably heavier.

He looked at the Little Messenger. He could clearly sense that the tiny creature, which had seemed so relaxed just a moment ago, was now struggling a little, its chubby arms gripping the satchel's strap.

Could it take something even heavier?

He picked up a stone the size of his palm from the ground and held it out to the satchel.

"Yiya, yiya!"

The Little Messenger puffed out its cheeks, seemingly very dissatisfied with Yan Jing's behavior, and glared at him angrily.

"Ahem, this stone is also a part of the letter. Come on, don't be afraid—"

Yan Jing half-coaxed, half-tricked it in an amiable tone.

The Little Messenger seemed to think of something. Its eyes darted around slyly, and it opened the satchel to accept it. The very instant the stone vanished, Yan Jing's left hand suddenly plummeted, dragging his entire body down toward the ground.

He had to exert an immense amount of strength just to barely steady his footing.

Seeing that Yan Jing had fallen for its trick, the Little Messenger, sitting sprawled on the ground, flashed a cunning smile and beamed with joy.

So that was how it worked.

Yan Jing understood the messenger's logic now. That satchel would multiply the weight of an object several times over and apply it directly to his left hand. A piece of letter paper and a stone were obviously not on the same level of weight.

If it transported this stone, his left hand would essentially be too heavy to even lift, and the messenger's speed would also become incredibly slow.

Consequently, he retrieved the stone, only then feeling his body grow lighter.

Even so, the fact that the messenger could transport things other than letters was an exciting enough piece of information in itself.

"Alright, off you go."

Yan Jing pictured the scenery of Old Sin City in his mind. The Little Messenger babbled as it flew up, grabbed Yan Jing's head, and pressed its forehead tightly against his. A few seconds later, it let go, then reached out and drew a circle.

A small vortex appeared. The Little Messenger waved goodbye to Yan Jing before diving headfirst into it.

Having done all this, Yan Jing switched back to his Luo Sheng identity.

Truthfully, there weren't many preparations needed before Phase C of this dungeon.

This was also the reason he had taken a day off to deal with trivial matters in the Surface World.

If one were to ask what preparations could actually be made, it was naturally just a matter of killing off all the players in the Surface World who might choose to oppose him in Phase C.

However, apart from the members of the Eight Great Families, the others weren't very easy to find, nor were they very easy to kill.

Therefore, he had only signed a death contract with the people from the Eight Great Families.

The clauses within included their dungeon choices for Phase C.

This at least reduced a portion of his workload.

Other than that, he could only rope in as many other people as possible.

He had scheduled lunch today with Bi Jie, Liu Ye, and the West Street Artisans.

Calculating the time, they should be arriving soon.

He narrowed his eyes, resting them as he waited.

About half an hour later.

In the courtyard, Fei Yu was boredly playing with the fallen leaves on the ground. Her new batch of Herbal Tea had not been very well received. Tiger had taken just one tiny sip and grimaced from the bitterness. Meanwhile, Old Master Liu had stayed in his room these past few days; in her opinion, he was probably preparing to break through to the Fourth Tier.

Those few bottles of medicine her Young Master had brought back last time were not simple. She only needed one glance to know that the medicine could cure Master Liu's illness.

Thinking of this, she sighed again.

She had originally told her Young Master about Master Liu's old ailments in hopes that he would let Master Liu rest for a while, but she hadn't expected her Young Master to actually find a cure.

"The Young Master is becoming harder and harder to read..." she murmured, narrowing her eyes.

These past few days, she couldn't shake the feeling that something else had entered Luo Sheng's body.

She glanced around and, seeing no one else, began acting out a little one-woman show she only performed when entirely alone:

"Dammit! You loathsome evil spirit! Leave my Young Master's body this instant—" Creak—

The door was pushed open at that exact moment. Bi Jie stood in the doorway, witnessing this entire scene, and the two of them just stared at each other, wide-eyed.

"Miss Fei! What eloquence!"

Bi Jie gave her a thumbs-up.

Fei Yu remained expressionless, but inside, she wanted to die.

"Truly excellent eloquence!"

Behind him, Yan Jing, who had opened the door, gave her a thumbs-up as well.

Fei Yu's face was still devoid of expression, but inside, she wanted to die immediately.

"I'll let you two chat."

Fei Yu walked away, her steps growing faster and faster until she was practically flying.

Bi Jie and Yan Jing exchanged a smile, knowing they wouldn't have to drink Herbal Tea with lunch today.

"I trust you've been well, County Magistrate Luo!"

Bi Jie laughed heartily.

He had been very happy these past few days.

So happy he could fly.

The only reason he had managed to preserve himself during the game's Second Stage was because he, Bi Jie, possessed an excellent eye for talent and supreme boldness. He had chosen to form an alliance with Yan Jing early on. Otherwise, relying solely on that bunch of useless grunts under him, let alone placing in the top five, even cracking the top ten would have been difficult.

What was the most joyful thing for a person? Doing absolutely nothing and winning while lying down.

Especially when he learned that those bankrupt fools ended up falling below the Third Tier, Bi Jie felt absolutely fantastic!

"I have indeed been well, Inspector Bi!"

Yan Jing smiled, cupping his fists in greeting.

"I assume County Magistrate Luo called me here this time to discuss the next phase?"

Bi Jie asked.

"Inspector Bi is a smart man, as expected!"

Yan Jing smiled.

"I wonder what Inspector Bi's task is for the next phase?"

Due to his unique identity, his own task was definitely different from theirs, so he wanted to hear what Bi Jie's group had been assigned.

"The task is—"

Bi Jie reached out his right hand, palm facing upward.

"To hunt down Advisor Yan."

Then, he flipped his palm downward.

"Or, to help Advisor Yan."

"No matter which I choose, my restrictions will be lifted."

Saying this, Bi Jie looked at Yan Jing.

"County Magistrate Luo, you invited me here to convince me to help Advisor Yan, right?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"Why do you say that, Inspector Bi?"

"If you wanted me to hunt down Advisor Yan, you wouldn't need to approach me at all."

Bi Jie chuckled.

"Anyone can see that choosing to kill Advisor Yan is the easier path. The task details stated that those who were demoted to the Third Tier will also temporarily gain new powers to hunt down Advisor Yan!"

"If we choose to hunt down Advisor Yan, then our only enemy is Advisor Yan himself. But if we choose to help him, it's hard to say who our enemies might be."

He flashed a smug smile.

"However, County Magistrate Luo, you and I formed an alliance long ago. You helped me during the Second Stage, so naturally, it's my turn to help you now. I, Bi Jie, have always been a fiercely loyal man!"

Bi Jie chuckled, feeling that the day when Luo Sheng finally had to come to him for help had arrived.

Unexpectedly, Yan Jing just smiled faintly.

"I think you haven't quite figured out how this game is played, Inspector Bi."

"Hmm?"

Bi Jie froze and looked at Yan Jing.

He couldn't figure out where he had misspoken.

"Inspector Bi, if you were one of the people reduced to the Third Tier, would your first thought upon being told you temporarily regained your powers be to end this game as soon as possible?"

Yan Jing asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Bi Jie frowned slightly before his eyes snapped wide open, and he drew a sharp breath.

"This is a massacre, Inspector Bi."

Yan Jing started laughing.

"This so-called Prohibited Item wasn't activated because of us. The people of Bianliu County are nothing more than sacrificial lambs."