The Main City's Loophole

Appearing before An Wu was a monk.

He looked young and handsome, his monk's robe was covered in patches of various colors, and he wore straw sandals. When he spoke, he held his hands together in a respectful manner, looking like a naive little monk who had lived in a temple since childhood.

"Charity House?"

"It's over there." The young monk pointed behind Anguo Temple, "I'm just about to go back. Would you like to come along? But there's only space left in the dormitory, so you'll have to share a room with others."

"Are there any single rooms?"

"Yes, after all, it's not convenient for women or certain patients to share a room with others... Are you hungry? If you haven't eaten yet, there might be some leftovers if you go now."

Yan Qing followed the monk without much suspicion. Firstly, this was a small account, and secondly, he didn't think anyone in Chang'an would harm him. The monk was very talkative and introduced himself: "This little monk's Dharma name is Ben Zhi. I cultivate in the Miscellaneous Service Courtyard of Anguo Temple, which means doing chores... But doing chores in Anguo Temple is a good thing. Unlike the Martial Monk Courtyard, where you have to practice martial arts from morning till night, it's not so tiring..."

"And the Miscellaneous Service Courtyard can also take shifts at the Charity House, and you can come out for three days every ten days... By the way, what is the benefactor's name?"

"An Wu."

"An Wu, this is the Charity House. You see, it's very close."

Ben Zhi led 'An Wu' to a large house with the words 'Charity House' written on the door plaque. Opening the door, they smelled a strong medicinal scent. Dozens of medicine pots were brewing medicine, and dozens of patients were lying in the large room next to them.

"This is the patient area. If you feel unwell, you can come here during the day. The senior and junior brothers from the Medicine Dispensing Courtyard will come from the county to provide free medical consultations."

"The county?"

"Anguo Temple has even larger temples in the outer counties. After all, land is precious in the city. Apart from the main hall, Anguo Temple doesn't have much space to accommodate monks. Do you want to eat?"

"No need." Yan Qing thought, I still have dozens of roasted lamb legs in my warehouse.

"This Charity House was built with funds from many benevolent elders in Chang'an. Anguo Temple is only responsible for managing it. Although it's free, we will advise people to leave after a maximum of seven days unless they are seriously ill or have special circumstances. If they have nowhere to go, people will come to the Charity House during the day to recruit tenant farmers and odd job workers. This place will not support idlers..."

"Although the Buddha protects the city, ordinary people are immune to swords and fire, but touching and bumping are allowed. It's best to sleep with your butt facing the wall... Alas, sometimes even us monks can't avoid encountering such scoundrels."

The Buddha protects, huh? But that's normal. Even the dungeon monsters are called demons, so the safe zone where you can't hurt each other is naturally a miracle of various gods and Buddhas.

As they walked, Ben Zhi opened a side door, which contained many cleaning tools, obviously a utility room. There was a large bucket at the very back of the utility room. Ben Zhi walked to the side of the bucket and beckoned, "Benefactor, come and lend a hand. Carry this bucket to the well. I almost forgot what Uncle Cheng Yin told me to do."

There was naturally no reason to refuse such a small favor. 'An Wu' walked to the other side of the bucket, ready to lift it together.

"Steady now."

When the little monk Ben Zhi said this, he didn't lift the bucket, but instead reached out and grabbed a hanging hemp rope next to him.

Pa.

The wooden board where 'An Wu' was standing suddenly sank, revealing a hole. Yan Qing didn't have time and couldn't stop 'An Wu' from falling. He saw 'An Wu' sliding down like a slide, and after nearly twenty seconds of sliding, he landed on a pile of straw with a pa sound.

Although there was a buffer slope along the way, 'An Wu's' health still inevitably dropped by a tenth. Yan Qing had a realization—Chang'an City can prevent mutual harm, but it doesn't prohibit fall damage. By the same logic, jumping off a building in Chang'an City will definitely kill you.

"Heh, another newcomer so late?"

The place where 'An Wu' was located was an underground prison, with only candlelight as a light source. Black iron bars stood on the hard bluestone. Two tall and sturdy bald monks sat outside the prison. Their appearance was still considered upright, but there was no compassion in their eyes. They looked at 'An Wu' like farmers looking at their own chickens and ducks.

"Excellent, rosy lips and white teeth, fair skin, nimble hands and feet, a very good seedling."

"It's just that he looks like he comes from a poor background. He'll have to be trained for a while. Mud legs can't be sold for a good price."

"That's not difficult. In the end, it all depends on appearance. What if an ugly girl is the daughter of a prime minister? If a beautiful one is said to be the son of a noble family, people will believe it."

In the prison cell, besides 'An Wu,' the newcomer, there were over a dozen other people, men, women, and children alike, all possessing attractive features. Many were dressed in fine clothes, clearly from wealthy families, but without exception, they all lay listlessly on the ground. In the corner of the cell were several chamber pots, but the floor was also littered with filth. Fortunately, the game console couldn't transmit smells, or Yan Qing would definitely lose his appetite for supper tonight.

However, despite so many people in the cell, the two martial monks outside discussed how to sell them for a high price without any hesitation, indicating their confidence in the prison and the entire transaction chain. Even if these people were to escape in the future, there would be no possibility of retaliation.

But Yan Qing still had many details he didn't understand.

"Is the Charity House a place you specifically use to abduct people? Are the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled in the Charity House also fake?"

The martial monk put his hands together, revealing a solemn and dignified smile.

"My Buddha is merciful. It is only right for monks to help the world. The Charity House is naturally real. If there are elderly, weak, women, or children who come to the Charity House, Anguo Temple will naturally do its best to take care of them. As for providing porridge, sending charcoal, repairing bridges, and paving roads, Anguo Temple has never failed to do so every year, spreading its good name far and wide."

"Precisely because of this, if anyone were to slander that their family members disappeared after going to Anguo Temple to offer incense, no one from the common people to the government would tolerate such rebellious people slandering Anguo Temple's century-old reputation."

The martial monk said these words not only to 'An Wu' but also for the others to hear. If what he said was true, then these victims in the prison cell would not be able to wait for outside assistance.

Seeming to sense 'An Wu's' unexpected calmness, the martial monk glanced at him a few times and warned, "Stay here obediently. No matter what you say, you'll have to starve here for a few days. But if you cause us trouble, don't blame us for making things difficult for you."

It really was starvation.

Seeing these people in the prison cell who didn't even have the strength to sit up, their cheeks gaunt from hunger, Yan Qing guessed how they harmed others under the restrictions of the safe zone—first, they lured people into a inescapable place like a prison cell, and then they starved them until they had no power to resist. These victims naturally became meat on the chopping board.

However, Yan Qing thought that this was just a place to starve people. The real 'training' location should be in the temples outside Chang'an City. After all, without a safe zone, they could use all kinds of methods. But listening to the martial monk's words, did that mean they had ways to harm others even in the safe zone?

So, Yan Qing put on an extremely arrogant appearance: "Come on, I'd like to see how you grandsons make things difficult for your grandpa. Chang'an City is blessed by the gods. What can you do to grandpa?"

The martial monks exchanged glances, and one of them sneered, walked to the side, opened a black jar on the ground, scooped out a spoonful of oil into a bowl, and then approached the candle. The black oil in the bowl immediately burst into flames.

Fire attack?

"Come on, do you think playing with fire can scare your grandpa?" Yan Qing wasn't afraid at all, and even controlled 'An Wu' to walk to the railing and reach out: "If you have the guts, burn your grandpa."

Yan Qing didn't believe that the safe zone would have such a big loophole. If it did, what kind of safe zone would it be? As long as you played with fire, you could harm each other. Wouldn't a single Flame Herald be able to slaughter the main city? Moreover, 'An Wu' was in the prison cell. If Yan Qing guessed wrong... then he guessed wrong.

However, the martial monk slowly explained, "Normally, flames cannot burn others, and will even extinguish as soon as they are poured out."

The martial monk splashed the burning black oil into the prison cell, and it extinguished instantly upon hitting the ground, leaving only black oil stains.

"Under the Buddha's protection, the flames of Chang'an cannot burn external objects or others. Only those with great enlightenment, great wisdom, and great perfection can understand the Buddha's true meaning and know the meaning of flames to the world—"

The martial monk casually picked up a piece of clothing from the miscellaneous items next to him, seemingly an old piece of clothing left behind by someone else. He wrapped the clothing around his hand like a cloth strip, and then poured the entire bowl of burning black oil onto the cloth strip!

Boom!

"Blazing holy fire, burn my remnant body!"

The martial monk raised his burning right hand and rushed over to grab 'An Wu's' hand that was reaching out of the railing. Even though 'An Wu' immediately retreated, he was still burned for several drops of health, and even got a few drops of black oil on his hand, which he had to roll on the ground to extinguish!

"Little brat, still dare to be tough?"

The martial monk sneered and threw the cloth strip on the ground. The cloth strip was still burning, unlike the bowl of black oil that extinguished immediately before.

Yan Qing immediately guessed the principle: burning others or burning buildings would trigger the rules of the safe zone, either making it ineffective or extinguishing the fire.

There was only one exception—burning oneself.

The safe zone only prohibited causing harm to others, but it did not prohibit harming oneself. And once one was on fire, the safe zone's judgment of the flame would become invalid, and it could normally cause damage to others and the environment.

They really managed to find such a loophole.

But these things alone weren't enough to make Yan Qing submit. He retreated onto the straw and waved his hand, "Come on, let me see if you dare to burn this whole place down."

"You think you can threaten us like this? We have plenty of ways to deal with a cheapskate like you."

The martial monk took a large candle from the wall. He waited patiently for a moment, and when the wax was about to drip, he flicked it forcefully, sending a drop of wax flying towards An Wu.

Yan Qing naturally wouldn't stand there foolishly. After dodging several times, he suddenly heard a scream from behind. He turned his head and saw a drop of wax had landed on a little girl next to him, causing her to curl up in pain, trying to minimize her presence.

It was because of this turn that An Wu took several hits of wax, but he didn't suffer any damage, and his Vitality didn't decrease at all.

"Oh? You can endure even this?"

The martial monk seemed a little surprised and put down the candle. "Then we'll let you be arrogant for a few days. When you're too hungry to move, I'll cover you in wax and see if you can really endure it."

Although the wax doesn't cause damage, it can cause pain...

Probably because the wax is a falling projectile and not direct damage caused by someone else, the game system should identify the wax as an 'environmental interactive object'. In short, it's on the 'whitelist' of the safe zone, so people will be burned by the wax, which is a small loophole.

There shouldn't be many similar loopholes. Such harsh conditions as "painless micro-pain" + "projectile" are only met by wax.

However, just from the two moves of 'self-harm fire attack' that can cause damage and 'splashing wax' that can only cause pain, it can be seen that Anguo Temple, or rather the people here, have thoroughly studied all the loopholes in the safe zone.

Yan Qing glanced at the only exit in the outer hall. "You'll open the prison door sooner or later. I'll definitely escape. You won't be able to stop me then."

"Escape? Anguo Temple is outside. How will you escape?" The martial monk sat down and continued to eat peanuts and drink wine. "Even if you can get out of this prison, I just need to press a bell and Anguo Temple will immediately block the door. How will you escape? We don't even need to do anything, just block the road, and you won't be able to get through!"

"I advise you people to be obedient, if you really push us..." The martial monk's expression turned cold. "There are a dozen jars of kerosene here, enough to burn you to ashes."

Yan Qing pretended to be a troublemaker and probed a few more times, basically understanding the general terrain here.

This underground prison is connected to Anguo Temple and Charity House. Charity House only has a downward sliding passage, making it basically impossible to climb up. The passage to Anguo Temple is relatively narrow, and two martial monks can block the staircase. Moreover, the main hall of Anguo Temple is above, and these bald donkeys will naturally not let the victims run away.

Actually, this time it was Yan Qing's fault for customizing his face. If he had created a strong man with 13 Vitality, he wouldn't have been tricked into the trap. It was the 13 Dexterity short young man who happened to be a beautiful boy in the secular sense, meeting the monks' hunting requirements.

But these people in Anguo Temple can clearly use force to hunt people outside Chang'an, so why bother setting up traps in Chang'an City to catch people? The risk and time cost are much higher than outside Chang'an.

Yan Qing asked the martial monk several times, but he was too lazy to pay attention to him. It wasn't until the martial monk became impatient that he revealed a little information: "You'll know when the time comes—don't think the gods and Buddhas will protect you. Even in Chang'an City, people like you can only obediently be dogs!"

Chang'an City!

Yan Qing looked at the noble ladies and young masters in the prison, vaguely grasping the truth. If it weren't for Chang'an City, would these people without the strength to truss a chicken dare to go out alone? Would they be caught in such a simple trap where they can't call for help?

No!

Because they believe in the protection of Chang'an City, these people who can't protect themselves end up here. Then, conversely, for some 'people who can protect themselves', isn't Chang'an City similar to a prison?

They could have acted recklessly, but they are bound by the rules of the safe zone and can't even punish others.

No wonder Chang'an County is so much more prosperous than Chang'an City. Many powerful people probably prefer to live outside rather than stay in the main city where they are restricted everywhere.

And since rules exist, breaking them naturally becomes a pleasure. Like taking a bath on the ground and taking a bath on an airplane, although both are baths, the latter is obviously more luxurious and enviable.

Trafficking in human beings is just the appearance. What Anguo Temple is really selling is the pleasure of 'trampling on the rules'. To use a game term that is easier to understand, it's cheating—you can't violate the rules to hurt me, but I can exploit loopholes to hurt you. As long as there is a PVP game, someone will pursue this kind of one-sided crushing pleasure.

Moreover, the higher the identity of the prey, the better. After all, their customers outside must have countless servants and are already tired of bullying the poor. Only prey with noble identities can stimulate the customers' interest.

Now that Yan Qing understands the truth, what can he do?

After a brief thought, Yan Qing set some evolution instructions for An Wu, then logged out of the account and logged in to An Liu.

In the alley, among the four teenagers sitting on the ground resting, one slowly stood up. He twisted his neck and turned his head to look in the direction of the Charity House.

Avenging in the game, from morning till night.

The first step is to deal with that Ben Zhi who actually dared to deceive me.