Chapter 55

Jiangnan had always been a place of stunning natural beauty, where everyone spoke in that soft, melodious Wu dialect. It might not have been as bustling and glamorous as Golden Mound or the Capital City, but it was always teeming with people and packed with merchants, making it an ideal spot for ordinary folk to settle down and live peaceful lives.

Even the emperor, when exiling officials, never sent them to Jiangnan. He banished them to barren mountains and desolate wastelands instead—otherwise, it wouldn’t be exile; it would be a vacation.

Countless wanderers from the rivers and lakes arrived here and instinctively set aside their swords and spears, losing themselves in this land of gentle comforts. Many martial arts masters chose to retire in Jiangnan, buying up estates, mountain retreats, or simple villas to mark their withdrawal from the world.

In short, it wasn’t a place suited for violence and bloodshed. Even if some arrogant villain from the martial world appeared out of nowhere, they usually had no ties to the locals. Yet lately, something truly horrifying had happened right here.

After the incident at the Qian residence exploded into the open, countless local merchants sent people to the Heart Washing Escort Agency or the authorities for help. They all worried that their own beautiful wives and daughters might become targets. The thought of a man emerging from underground while their daughter slept, snatching her away—it left wealthy families unable to sit still.

Ordinary folk were on high alert too. Those who couldn’t afford bodyguards simply stopped going out.

In just a few nights, Jiangnan City had grown noticeably desolate.

Lord Jiang’s hair was turning white from worry.

Over the past few days, he had sent people into the tunnels beneath the Qian residence. They found a labyrinth that stretched in every direction, but every path dead-ended. It seemed there was some profound mystery at play. A group including players had groped around for half a day without a clue. Even tapping the floor tiles required a specific technique—blind luck wasn’t going to cut it.

A promising scholar from Jiangnan Academy, who was favored to top the imperial exams, flipped through his books and declared, “This student once studied the I Ching. These tunnels conceal the profound principles of the Eight Trigrams and the Gates of Life and Death. Ordinary people can’t unravel them.”

What the scholar meant was that opening the dead-end paths or activating the Gate of Life required knowledge only the underground palace’s builder or the craftsmen possessed.

That left just one burning question: Who had built these tunnels? The fresh stone bricks suggested they were newly constructed, yet no one had noticed them right under everyone’s noses. What sinister plot was the builder hatching?

The players sighed in frustration. “Anything that takes human lives to brute-force is the worst—it demands real brainpower.”

After thanking Heart Washing Manor for their help, Old Qian candidly admitted he felt deeply uneasy. Then he packed up his daughter and moved to a new house. Once a person amassed enough wealth, every house under heaven was theirs to claim—save perhaps the Imperial Palace.

Ruan Xuezong was in a foul mood too. Sure enough, a tunnel snaked beneath Clearwater Pavilion, uncovered by yet another player stumbling upon it by sheer dumb luck.

As the floor tiles slowly parted to reveal the passage, everyone at Clearwater Pavilion saw it.

The realization that an assassin had once lurked there, eavesdropping on guests and Peony’s conversations before slitting her throat with deadly precision—it terrified the brothel’s top songstress and Flower Mama. Their minds raced to dark conclusions, and tears streaked their faces.

Sobbing, they said, “Tangli was so beautiful, White Zhi was beautiful, and Su Hexiang was beautiful too. All three were stunning beauties—they must have been targeted. Looks like only that guy Jing Mo ran off with a lover.”

Flower Mama fainted from crying. She had originally thought her three daughters had betrayed her, fueling her resentment enough to curse them. But now the truth flipped everything: they hadn’t eloped; they had likely been murdered. The blow crushed her.

Clearwater Pavilion shut its doors for the time being.

Ruan Xuezong furrowed his brow, pondering solutions.

“Young Master, don’t worry—I have reinforcements,” Linghu Xiao said. He had contacted his cousin, a civil engineering major. “He’s not top-tier, but he knows a bit about architecture. Might come in handy.”

Ruan Xuezong’s gaze softened instantly. He patted Linghu Xiao’s shoulder and said warmly, “You’ve gone to great trouble.”

Linghu Xiao blushed at the sight of that face so close. He immediately blurted out, “No trouble at all! None whatsoever! It’s what I should do!” He would gladly exhaust himself for a beauty like this—even die for it! Besides, it was his cousin doing the grunt work!

The cousin had no idea he was being used as a tool. Thrilled at the chance to log in, he skipped reviewing for finals altogether.

The moment he came online, he unleashed a torrent of chatter. “Whoa whoa whoa, I’ve wanted to play this game forever! Damn cousin wouldn’t let me—curse those Jianghu devs for not releasing more beta slots! Oh, I know you guys: Sichuan Pepper Little Bunny, Salty Fish King, Five-Colored Mottled Black, Bloody Baron… You’re all Jianghu high-rollers! I’ve seen your IDs—you’re legends in our server! Come on, handshakes all around! Lemme snap some pics.” And so he shook hands with each player in turn, like a massive celebrity meet-and-greet.

His eyes then drifted, saliva practically dripping as his gaze lit up with lecherous glee. “Aaaahhh, it’s Ruan Xuezong! The real Ruan Xuezong! He’s even more gorgeous in person than in screenshots—an absolute stunner! Let me hug you!”

With that, he lunged forward in excitement!

Ruan Xuezong had never encountered such a brazen, shameless player. He frowned slightly and was about to act when Linghu Xiao’s cousin got one-shot by a barrage of players turning hostile. The air filled with golden effects from Push Heart Palms.

A minute later, the cousin respawned and came running back. Before he could utter a word, he was killed again.

The third time he respawned and returned, he hadn’t even opened his mouth before dying once more… After so many rounds, he got scared and begged for mercy. “Please, no more, great heroes!!! My gear durability’s toast! I was wrong!!! Ruan Xuezong is an untouchable flower on a high peak, a human treasure, something sacred in Jianghu that can’t be defiled—I shouldn’t have been so crude! I was wrong!!”

The players grudgingly relented at the flattery, but Ruan Xuezong did not.

【Due to your improper thoughts and actions, Ruan Xuezong’s favorability toward you has dropped by 200 points. Your ranking on Ruan Xuezong’s favorability leaderboard has fallen 1000 places.】

“!!!” The cousin’s eyes bulged in horror.

He was doomed. How could he explain this to his cousin? In just ten minutes online, he’d died countless times and plummeted from top-three whale status on the hyper-competitive Ruan Xuezong favorability leaderboard to outside the top thousand.

Imagining his cousin’s murderous glare, the cousin suddenly felt a chill on his neck. Logging off might mean facing domestic violence—and that was worse than not getting New Year’s money this year!

Argh, what to do… Whatever, deal with it after logging out!

The thrill of playing soon overrode his fear. Remembering why he’d been summoned, he started probing the tunnel. “Whoa, this tunnel’s structure is wild. It’s probably not just one level—more like multiple layers. Not a simple passage, but a full underground palace… Jiangnan’s so humid and watery; a submerged palace would be incredible.”

Ruan Xuezong immediately thought better of him.

After inspecting, Linghu Xiao’s cousin declared confidently, “My classmates and prof are experts too. Give me a sec—I’ll drag them in!”

As ever, many hands made light work.

He snapped photos of the tunnel and shared his analysis in the group chat. Hundreds of architecture students jumped in, and even the professor who had once advised on Heart Washing Manor’s pavilion was roused again.

Finals? Forgotten. They logged on one by one.

As the architecture students put it, for some reason, being on-site felt way more engaging than poring over brick-thick textbooks. They wanted to stay in-game researching forever, skipping the books. Little did they know their professor felt the same: What a hyper-realistic ancient Earth sim! What masterful subterranean architecture! It ignited his passion—he wanted to live in the game, not grade exams.

Linghu Xiao, meanwhile, was thinking: Have you figured it out yet?!

Fueled by enthusiasm, they quickly delivered a blueprint to Ruan Xuezong.

He examined it and was impressed. These reinforcements were sharp—they’d mapped at least three levels, not from thin air but by tracing the tunnels’ paths. They deduced where downward stairs should lead, where hidden doors might lurk behind “dead gates,” all aligning seamlessly with a builder’s mindset.

But even with the blueprint, the Gates of Life and Death remained unsolved.

Ruan Xuezong sighed.

Seeing him sigh, the players sighed in unison. In their minds, this arc was now officially the Underground Palace Mystery.

Ruan Xuezong walked the streets, his senses razor-sharp. He kept hearing faint sounds from all directions—whimpers, hoarse cries, roars—emanating as if from the walls themselves. Muffled together, they seemed distant as the horizon yet close as breath on his neck.

Without thinking, he smashed through a wall and the ground beneath. Nothing but ordinary gray stone; digging three feet down yielded zilch.

He had no idea whose courtyard wall it was—he’d have to pay for it.

Ruan Xuezong’s sudden outburst didn’t scare the homeowner but startled a passing Azure-Clothed Hero on the street with flying debris. “What the hell?!” The Azure-Clothed Hero was furious at first, but upon locking eyes with Ruan Xuezong, his rage visibly evaporated.

Ruan Xuezong cupped his hands in apology. “I was reckless and startled you, hero.”

The Azure-Clothed Hero waved it off. “No harm done! Just a wall—us martial heroes have guts; how could we be easily spooked?”

He had clearly jumped earlier but now denied it flat-out.

Seeing the man had no intent to press charges, Ruan Xuezong cupped his hands again. “Since it’s nothing, I’ll take my leave.”

He turned and departed.

The Azure-Clothed Hero seemed eager to chat more and hurried after him. “Brother, with looks like yours, the streets are dangerous.” Everyone loved beauty; if he were that ruthless flower-plucking thief, gender wouldn’t matter—this man would get kidnapped for sure.

Ruan Xuezong sized him up—the hero’s handsome, spirited face and mediocre skills didn’t impress him.

He thought: If the mastermind is who I suspect, this young hero might be the one in danger.

“Thanks for the concern, but please be careful yourself, hero.”

His attempt to cozy up foiled, the Azure-Clothed Hero shrugged helplessly and left, glancing back every few steps. He brushed off Ruan Xuezong’s warning.

Or rather, every lone wanderer who came to Jiangnan City to hunt the thief, seeking fame by storming the tiger’s den, had thought the same—before vanishing without a trace.

Jiangnan City Magistrate’s Office

“Another wandering hero gone missing?”

“Yeah, seems like an inner disciple from Dragon Mountain Prajna Sect.”

Dragon Mountain Prajna Sect—that rang a bell. Lord Jiang vaguely recalled it. A sect even a commoner like him knew had to be second-rate in the martial world at least. Not some fly-by-night outfit. And even their inner disciples were disappearing…

“If this keeps up, Jiangnan City will be infamous as a den of demons. My career as magistrate ends here.” Lord Jiang slowly removed his official hat, clutching his head in agony.

The rivers and lakes handled their own affairs.

He had hoped these wanderers would root out the evil, but now they were dropping like flies—what was the point?

Progress on the underground palace was slow. Meanwhile, as disappearances mounted in Jiangnan City, players noticed the NPC Lord Jiang at the magistrate’s office cracking under pressure. He started rounding up innocents—or rather, railroading them. Or really, operating on “better safe than sorry,” he tossed suspects into the dungeon.

Anyone vaguely matching the flower-plucking thief’s profile went straight to the Jiangnan City Dungeon.

If they proved unrelated—or disappearances continued—they got released.

Miss Qian was the sole survivor who had faced the thief head-on. Her testimony was crucial: male, highly skilled in martial arts, tall and burly, around eight chi (about 1.8 meters).

Everyone knew player models in Jianghu were standardized.

To fit aesthetics, male players stood at a uniform 1.88 meters, with only face customization free. Coincidentally, some players idly wandering the streets in broad daylight—looking highly suspicious—found themselves jailed en masse.

On day one, players took it in stride.

They posted a “Dungeon Day Trip Check-In” thread on the forums, with jailed players sharing screenshots and stories of the rare experience.

By day two, they were antsy. Prison was boring, and the slop—three veggie dishes, one meat, one soup—was inedible.

“Aaaahhh, I logged back in and I’m still in the dungeon? I wanna work quests, see Zongzong!”

“This view gets old fast, fam. Should we bust out?”

“Don’t—escaping makes us look guilty, turns us into real thieves.”

“I’m the innocent one! You guys were loitering suspiciously in daylight. I just afk’d on the street after work, and boom—jail.”

“Wahhh, let the kid out! Think ‘unstuck’ works?”

“Nah, unstuck’s for glitches. This is plot-mandatory.”

Ruan Xuezong realized late that a bunch of players were locked up—his entourage hadn’t thinned, after all.

Learning they were in the Jiangnan City Dungeon, he rushed to bail them out. He vouched personally: these were his retainers from Heart Washing Manor—silly but kind-hearted, no ties to the thief.

“I see.” Lord Jiang knew he was grasping at straws and apologized profusely. He ordered the guards to let Ruan Xuezong retrieve his people. Heart Washing Manor affiliates could go; other suspects stayed put.

Ruan Xuezong entered.

“Tian Ah Zongzong’s here! He’s come to spring us!” The players lit up like kids seeing visiting family, clawing at their cell doors and howling with joy.

“This one, that one, and that one over there…” Ruan Xuezong pointed them out one by one. The guard obligingly jangled keys for each. Midway, Ruan Xuezong spotted a familiar face in the dungeon. At first glance, he thought his eyes deceived him and rubbed them instinctively.

Shen Jiangling flicked open his fan with a wry smile. “You’re not seeing things, friend. It’s me.”