Old Friends Meet, Things Have Changed

The sun leaped out of the hazy sea, and a small half-disk of purplish-red flame immediately illuminated the dim sky. Behind the vibrant morning glow, it was as if an endless piece of blue silk had been unfurled.

In the early morning, when the dragon dance team arrived at the gambling house in West City, just as they were about to ask for a lucky tip.

"Ah—! Someone's dead!!!"

A terrified, piercing scream tore through the morning mist.

By the time the Yamen Runners responsible for patrolling West City arrived at the gambling house, even though they were long accustomed to bloody scenes, they couldn't help but lean against the wall and vomit violently!

Inside the entire first floor of the gambling house, severed limbs flew everywhere, and large and small intestines mixed with congealed blood flowed all over the floor. Even experienced coroners took a full morning to piece together the bodies of over thirty Ruffians.

The scene on the second floor was even more gruesome.

The Hall Master of the West Hall, who usually lorded over the entire West City, bullying and dominating, and who liked to turn people into skinned dogs, was nailed to the wall with a long saber!

His eyes were wide open, his face ashen, his pupils constricted, showing intense fear from before his death.

In an instant.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves!

The entire West City of Pingjiang City was in an uproar!

"Our Living Yama of West City has been killed!"

"Hahaha, heaven has eyes!"

"Which hero is this who eliminated evil for the people? Did he leave his name?"

"Son! Do you see? The person who harmed you back then has finally been killed!"

"My foolish daughter! Your father has finally seen the day of revenge!"

"Good riddance!"

At this moment.

One family mourned, a hundred families rejoiced!

Although Yang Zheng was evil, at least he only violated others' wives and daughters and occupied land.

But Xiang Chengjiang was different.

This person operated gambling houses and pawnshops, and his usual method was to first drag people into debt, and then force them into loans with exorbitant interest rates.

After he had completely exploited them, squeezing out every last drop of blood.

Either he would break their hands and feet, skin them alive, and throw them onto the streets to beg and earn money for him!

Or the men would become slaves and the women prostitutes, sold to mines for hard labor, and they would be worked to death within a few days!

He devoured bones and dug out marrow, his crimes were too numerous to record!

Over the years, countless people had their families broken up and their homes destroyed by Xiang Chengjiang!

At this moment.

The entire West City was more sensational than ever before!

There were countless families who had been harmed by Xiang Chengjiang, now weeping in the streets, tears soaking their clothes, loudly calling out the names of their deceased loved ones.

Subsequently.

The news of Xiang Chengjiang's family being wiped out, like a tide, quickly swept across the entire Pingjiang City!

Outside Pingjiang City, in a cove.

Splash—!

A tall and imposing figure emerged from the water, tilting his head back to drink a mouthful of Whale Blood wine.

[Technique: Crimson King Eyes (Entry Level)]
[Progress: 50/500]
[Growth Method: Devouring Fear, Raising Dragons in the Eyes!]
[Introduction: The pressure of the heavens and earth's dragons, naturally forming kingly dominance!]

Fang Xuan looked at the Black Talisman panel that appeared before him, a dark golden light with a dragon-shaped pattern flashing deep within his pupils.

In just one night, the fear he had collected had directly propelled the Crimson King Eyes from the Initial Glimpse stage to Entry Level!

He could feel it with absolute clarity; the aura contained deep within his pupils seemed to be transforming in an unknown direction.

Its profound and vast intensity was several times greater than before!

Whoosh—boom!

In the distance, from the direction of West City, the sound of fireworks exploding could be faintly heard.

"This... I guess I've done a service to the people?"

Fang Xuan looked up, then shook his head with a slight chuckle, unable to help but say in his heart, Good riddance!

He didn't consider himself a good person; he had done some bad things over the years.

But he had never, like this Xiang Chengjiang, forced the common people into a dead end!

Killing Xiang Chengjiang this time was, firstly, to remove Zheng Juexiong's wings, secondly, to collect fear, and thirdly, it was also a convenient service to the people.

He took a deep breath.

Fang Xuan held a mouthful of Whale Blood and plunged back into the icy river water.

A surging wave crashed over him. Fang Xuan leaped up from the river surface, battling the waves with his body!

The day was fully utilized.

By the time Fang Xuan left Pingjiang, the progress of the Dragon Whale Technique was already very close to four hundred.

"I suppose it won't take many days for the Dragon Whale Technique to reach four hundred progress, and my cultivation will also rise accordingly, entering the late stage of the First Heavenly Gate?"

Walking along the Ten Li Long Street in East City, the gentle twilight draped over Fang Xuan's shoulders.

Fang Xuan walked forward, contemplating the progress of his various cultivation methods and martial techniques.

"Fang... Fang Xuan?"

Just then, a hesitant call came from a distance to one side.

"Hmm?"

Fang Xuan looked over and saw the entrance of a restaurant with a sign that read 'Happiness and Fortune Restaurant'.

A woman dressed in plain clothes, not particularly beautiful but with the gentle charm of a girl from a small family, was standing under the sign, looking at him with some uncertainty.

"Is it really you?"

Seeing Fang Xuan stop, the gentle woman's eyes lit up with surprise, and she quickly walked over.

She looked him up and down, stood on her tiptoes to pat his shoulder, and said with some surprise:

"Fang Xuan, how did you grow so tall after not seeing you for a few years? I almost didn't recognize you just now."

"You are... Sister Lu Ying?"

Fang Xuan looked at the woman's eyes and eyebrows for a long time before finally remembering who she was.

It wasn't that he had a bad memory.

It was just that the woman in front of him, although her appearance was similar to the 'white moonlight' in his memory, no longer had the lively and playful spirit that belonged exclusively to a young girl back then.

Now, even though she was only in her early twenties, her skin had become somewhat dark, her back was slightly hunched, her figure had started to change, her hands were rough like fishing nets, and there was a hint of the vicissitudes and fatigue of life and daily chores in her brows.

The lively girl with bright eyes and white teeth in his memory had long since become like the women in the market who weave nets, dry them in the rain, and work day and night.

Time makes people old, Fang Xuan thought with a sigh.

Seeing Lu Ying again this time, the trace of fantasy about the 'white moonlight' that had remained deep in his memory had long since vanished with the wind. What remained was more of a sense of melancholy about how things had changed.

"You guy, you used to follow me around every day calling me Sister Lu Ying and begging for candy, and now you don't recognize me, right?"

Lu Ying glared at Fang Xuan playfully, then grabbed his arm and pulled him into the restaurant.

"Let's go, I finally came back for a visit. I'm treating today, we have to get together!"

"Okay, then I'll trouble Sister Lu Ying to spend some money." Fang Xuan smiled and didn't refuse.

"What's this about spending money? Don't worry, although I'm not particularly rich now, my conditions are much better than before. Treating you to a meal is no problem! My husband and I can earn five hundred copper coins a month now, so order whatever you want."

Listening to Lu Ying's generous tone, Fang Xuan didn't say much, just laughed heartily:

"Hahaha, then I won't be polite."

They walked into the Happiness and Fortune Restaurant.

The restaurant owner, who was originally fiddling with an abacus, glanced at Lu Ying indifferently, but when he saw the tall figure behind her, his face twitched, and he quickly put on a fawning smile and went up to greet them.

There will be another update before twelve o'clock.