Chapter 16

The city was a labyrinth of narrow, winding alleys. Manager Cao twisted and turned through nearly a dozen of them; the players, unfamiliar with the terrain, only managed to keep pace by desperately channeling their lightness skills.

They didn’t dare follow too closely for fear of alerting him.

“Quick, quick—the NPC is heading out of the city! Everyone, stay on him!”
“Captain, I’m lost. Can someone come get me? I’m at an arched bridge.”
“You again! How many times are you going to get lost in one mission?”

Manager Cao’s face was etched with anxiety. Once clear of the city gates, he mounted a horse and galloped straight toward Hanging Spring Waterfall, over ten miles beyond the docks. To the players’ surprise, he simply shook a bell twice upon arrival. In response, a lift secured by heavy iron chains descended from the mist of the waterfall.

The players exchanged glances, realizing they had lost their window to follow him. They had no choice but to return and report to the young manor lord.

Ruan Xuezong was not surprised in the least. He knew the players’ skills were little more than amateurish flailing at this stage.

At that moment, he had just risen from bed, clad only in a white undergarment. His ink-black hair cascaded loosely down his back like flowing water, unbound by pin or clasp. He stretched his arms lazily as a maid stepped forward to drape an outer robe over his shoulders. Another maid, nimble-fingered and silent, began to comb and tie his hair with practiced precision.

From behind a screen, the players could see only his vague silhouette. Once Ruan Xuezong was fully dressed, he picked up the mask resting on the table and secured it over his face.

When he finally stepped around the screen, the young manor lord had returned to his usual form: white robes, black hair, and an impassive mask—an ethereal figure far removed from the mortal realm. Yet, a stretch of his neck, pale as snow, gleamed with a lustrous sheen under the lamplight, looking dangerously tempting in its exposure.

Sichuan Pepper Little Bunny couldn’t restrain herself. “Hubby! You’re finally out!”

Ruan Xuezong: “?”

“Young hero, what did you just call me?”

Sichuan Pepper Little Bunny panicked, inwardly cursing her lack of self-control for blabbing a private nickname in front of the NPC. “It was… my accent! I meant… Old Zong! Yes, Old Zong—it’s a term of respect!”

Ruan Xuezong accepted the explanation after a brief silence. “I may wear a mask year-round, but my age is roughly the same as yours. There is no need for such formality—you’re making me sound ancient.”

The game’s character models placed female heroes at sixteen or seventeen and males around twenty. Ruan Xuezong’s assessment was close enough to the truth, though for a moment, the girl’s slip of the tongue had convinced him he was eighty years old.

“G-Good!” Under the scorching stares of her teammates, Sichuan Pepper Little Bunny flushed crimson and ducked her head.

Later, she endured a torrent of condemnation from the other players.
“Hubby? You think you can just call him that? Show some restraint!”
“Your excuse was even worse. ‘Old Zong’? The poor guy must have been crushed!”
“I’m sorry, QAQ!”

…

Under the players’ guidance, Ruan Xuezong reached the mouth of the waterfall. One glance was enough for him to piece the story together.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the treacherous heights, and sneered. “Granny Liu was right after all. Jiangnan Dock does have a ‘River God.’ With him watching over the waters, cargo ships pass smoothly—but it seems he took a fancy to the merchant caravan’s goods and unleashed his ‘magic’ to capsize the fleet in a single stroke.”

He knew nothing would happen to him personally. From one life to the next, he possessed far too many things that others coveted.

The players let out a collective “Ah?”

It wasn’t a genuine question; they were simply trying to trigger Ruan Xuezong’s passive trait of explaining the plot. This time, however, he offered no further elaboration.

“The Flood Dragon Gang Water Stronghold lies behind this waterfall,” he instructed. “Hanging Spring Waterfall is merely a smokescreen. I know the way in. Knock out a few underlings, don their clothes, and infiltrate the base with me.”

A quarter-hour later, dozens of skilled players had swapped their gear for rough short tunics and pants. In a flash, the dashing young heroes had been transformed into dockside fishermen, though the keen daggers hidden at their waists betrayed their deadly purpose.

At Ruan Xuezong’s command, the first team slipped inside and lowered the iron-chain lift to ferry the rest of the group up.

The stronghold occupied a perilous perch—easy to defend and hell to assault—with staircases snaking endlessly upward. Perhaps due to a VIP guest visiting that night, torches blazed throughout the camp, turning the mountain into a sea of light and pinpointing the main hall’s location.

The group lurked in the shadows. Overhearing the NPCs’ chatter soon clarified what Ruan Xuezong meant by the “River God.”

Jiangnan teemed with bandits and river pirates. The mightiest factions were the Smoky Water Stronghold and the Flood Dragon Gang. These local tyrants extorted “passage fees” from merchant ships; those who paid faced fewer “mishaps.”

Since the players had previously crushed Smoky Water Stronghold’s core, the survivors had fled to the Flood Dragon Gang. Their leader, Li Sheng, was a shrewd operator who welcomed his rivals’ remnants to swell his own ranks. He now claimed Jiangnan’s waterways unchallenged.

Flying the flag of “avenging his brothers,” Li Sheng dispatched men to scuttle the Heart Washing Merchant Guild ships even after they had paid tribute. In the treacherous currents of Jiangnan, it was child’s play to disguise these hits as accidents.

“This is chilling… over a dozen NPC lives were lost. These pirates are insane!” The players who played as former coroners balled their fists in righteous fury, itching to charge in.

“The plot chains together like this?” those who had participated in the raid on Smoky Water gaped.

“It’s not just chaining; it’s world-line convergence!” The incident proved that the Jianghu factions were not static. Every player’s move rippled through the entire game world.

Posing as tray-bearing servants, the first team shuffled toward the main hall with their heads bowed, but they were quickly halted. “Hey, kid—you look new.”

Sichuan Pepper Little Bunny froze. Clutching her wine jar, she rasped in a gravelly tone, “I-I’m from Smoky Water Stronghold. I came to join up.”

The pirate grunt eyed her dubiously. “We took in sixty or seventy refugees, but I don’t recognize you. And that voice… you sound like a girl…”

As he raised his torch to get a closer look, a blow from behind felled him instantly. Linghu Xiao lowered a heavy stone with a wicked grin. “Move! That was way too close!”

The others recovered quickly, dragging the unconscious grunt into a corner.

Disguised as servants, they finally entered the main hall and spotted Manager Cao conversing with a bushy-bearded man. The players’ ears perked up—this was a major plot dialogue.

“Manager Cao is an honored guest. Serve the wine, lads!”

The players poured the wine and withdrew obsequiously, staying in the corners with their ears straining. Some slyly activated their screen recorders.

Manager Cao spoke, his voice trembling. “Leader Li, the young manor lord sent those odd young fellows to demand the flower register today. He has been shrewd since he was a boy; he must suspect I’ve colluded with you for embezzlement…”

In truth, Cao had mostly aided the Flood Dragon Gang by engineering “accidents” and dosing the escort’s food to make them miss their window. He claimed he was blameless, having been “strong-armed” into the deal.

“It doesn’t matter,” Li Sheng lounged in the head seat, slamming his meaty palm onto the armrest. “Heart Washing Manor is a husk—it hasn’t a tenth of its former glory. That orphan, that scarred wreck Ruan Xuezong, can’t even touch Peacock Manor. What splash can he make?”

He continued, “This world is eat-or-be-eaten. The timid starve while the bold gorge themselves! Once the manor is hollowed out, the guilds, the escorts, and the capital trades will all be ours. You’ll be the Vice Manor Lord! My stronghold is hidden behind the waterfall—a sanctuary for life. There is no need for jitters, Manager Cao.”

Li Sheng’s eyes gleamed with greed as he listed the prizes: the elixir-rich back mountain and the legendary hot spring that could preserve youth and boost internal power. He even coveted the manor’s loyal retainers, like the imperial-chef scion Chef Shao, the miracle healer Elder Shen Qionghua, and the ace escort Chen He.

The players’ blood boiled. This river scum was slandering their “hubby” and eyeing their home?

“But…” Manager Cao wavered, his guilt gnawing at him until Li Sheng signaled for his men to bring out the loot.

Lids flew open to reveal Tianshan ginseng, exotic pelts, and treasure pearls. The radiance was dazzling. Manager Cao gasped, scrutinizing a pearl, while the players—acting as hall grunts—pretended to be equally awestruck.

Once the pearl was verified, Cao’s tone soured. “That ship carried over twenty chests. You’ve only brought four, Leader Li. Where is the rest?”

Li Sheng sneered. “Four is plenty. You don’t have a crew to feed; my silver drain is massive, so the lion’s share is mine. A third went to the Linglong Treasure Ship in exchange for scentless poison incense… Wait! Who roughed you up?”

A battered pirate burst into the hall mid-sentence. Li Sheng trailed off, aghast, as the pirate jabbed a finger at the disguised players. “Them!”

Manager Cao and Li Sheng blanched. There were spies in their midst!

Li Sheng roared, “Men!”

The players realized their cover was blown.
“Who botched that stun? He woke up too fast! Rookies, stay on the bench next time!”
“Wait, the plot stopped right at the good part!”

The player commanders barked out orders: “Array up! Plan A! Team A, sever the walkways. Team B, guard the gates—no escapes! Four teams stall the minions; we save the BOSSes for last!”

“Zongzong hubby! Help!”

Ruan Xuezong materialized from the shadows. His lightness skills were godlike as he seemed to saunter through the air. The bronze mask on his face looked fiendish in the fireglow.

Horror gripped the traitors. Ruan Xuezong’s voice was cold behind the mask: “Pin down the rabble. The leaders are mine.”

The 007 System had not been bragging: the lore-cast version of Ruan Xuezong’s Pushing Heart Palm was supreme. Of the ten stances, the first three—[Separate Mountain Hit Cow], [Vast Rivers and Seas], and [Angry Dragon Emerges from Water]—were devastating long-range strikes. The fourth, [Peach Grove Phantom], used nine phantoms to deliver one true, devastating AoE strike.

Li Sheng’s twin mauls were useless. Ruan Xuezong’s power dwarfed the pirate’s decades of experience.

Manager Cao watched the ghostly figure crush the crowd as he approached Li Sheng. Cold sweat iced his spine. His only thought was: Flee!

The players howled with excitement. “The young lord is here! Charge!”

Chaos reigned as the players clashed with the pirate grunts. One player, brandishing a “microphone” while dodging attacks, narrated the scene for his recording: “Behold, the first post-update team war at Flood Dragon Gang Water Stronghold! Command by Linghu Xiao and Salty Fish King. This is a bloodbath!”

Five-Colored Mottled Black, having just respawned from the docks, grazed the camera. “Are you shading me?”
The recorder replied: “Never! We’d never shade the Luck King!”

With two palms, Ruan Xuezong sent Li Sheng crashing to the floor. The pirate leader’s hammers hit the ground with a heavy clang, his chest caved in.

Manager Cao turned deathly pale. Ruan Xuezong’s gaze was like an arctic gale. “Mercy, young lord! I have reasons—I only helped with the poisoning, I…”

His voice was severed. With a disbelieving stare and blood on his lips, he slumped over. Ruan Xuezong withdrew his hand, his expression icy. The traitor was the first to fall.

By dawn, the Flood Dragon Gang had been dismantled. The players celebrated as dual level-up gold misted around them. However, the task “Recover Goods” stalled at 16/24.

“The last eight chests are missing,” a player noted. “Li Sheng mentioned something about ‘Linglong’ before we fought. Did anyone catch the full name?”

Ruan Xuezong approached. “Linglong Treasure Ship.”

He held up a red mask and a floral note. “A Jiangnan legend: a phantom ship that appears on the river at night. Scholars, magnates, and warriors only board if they receive an invite. It is a place of masked anonymity where secrets are sealed ‘beyond common ken.'”

“Veiled identities… an inconceivable venue… Is it a brothel?” the players whispered.

【Ding! Plot task “Night Exploration of Linglong Treasure Ship” triggered!】
【Task Intro: Ruan Xuezong found an invite to the Linglong Treasure Ship in Li Sheng’s study. The last eight chests are there. Tomorrow at moon-rise, investigate the ship!】
【Slots: Unlimited】
【Rewards: 10,000 exp, 50 silver, 100 Heart Washing Manor contribution, +10 Ruan Xuezong favor】

The players’ vigor surged. With rewards this plush, who cared about a little sleep deprivation? This was pure bliss.