The Grand Performance Begins

"Good evening, sorry to bother you..."

At this moment, Liu Shuyue walked down the stairs and was stunned to see the two of them.

Lin Qing happened to be taking out potato chips, her shoulder almost touching Chen Xuan's.

"Sorry, is this a bad time?"

Liu Shuyue asked this, but her eyes didn't look away.

"No, we were just discussing some things," Chen Xuan coughed twice and stood up nonchalantly, "Would you like coffee or tea?"

"Tea, please. Brew an extra cup," Liu Shuyue beckoned to the second floor, "You can come down. The shopkeeper won't eat you."

"There's someone else?"

Chen Xuan looked curiously towards the stairwell and saw a sturdy man hesitantly walking down. He recognized this person; he used to be a hunter and was one of the first members of the hunting team.

"Your name is... Fu Jiaolu?"

The other party immediately showed an expression of flattered surprise, "Lord Chen, I didn't expect you to remember me!"

"Of course. You were shouting your support for the Immortal Master below Zhangwei City back then."

"Heh heh," he scratched his head sheepishly, "I'm just a simple man, I couldn't think of any fancy words, so I could only use my loud voice to cheer for the Immortal Master."

"Have some tea," Chen Xuan brought two cups of tea to the coffee table.

"Thank you, thank you..." He quickly lowered his head to express his gratitude, even sitting on the edge of the chair.

"I've basically made arrangements for Mala Village and am ready to depart," Liu Shuyue said, sitting down next to Lin Qing. "However, considering the distance between the two places, I wonder if the shopkeeper could register Fu Jiaolu as that... VIP customer? If his room is connected to the Great Wilderness, then I can return to the village anytime."

"I see," Chen Xuan immediately understood the brilliance of this move. The back door of the room followed the owner, so if two customers were connected to different locations, it would be equivalent to establishing a teleportation gate between the two places. "That's no problem."

"That's good," Liu Shuyue turned to Lin Qing again, "It seems your body has recovered well."

"You must be Miss Liu who treated me?" Lin Qing took her hand, "I heard Chen Xuan mention you. I wasn't clear-headed when I just woke up last time and forgot to thank you formally... Thank you for the help you provided me. If there's a chance in the future, I will definitely repay you."

Perhaps surprised by her initiative, Liu Shuyue paused, then smiled and withdrew her hand, "Actually, I didn't do much, so there's no need to be so formal. Miss Lin, don't you have any suitable clothes here? I can help you prepare a couple of outfits."

Lin Qing's only outfit was that one-piece combat suit, and the clothes she was wearing now were Chen Xuan's oversized T-shirt.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I've already picked out some online, and they should be delivered tomorrow."

"Online?"

"Um... it's a bit complicated to explain. If you're interested in learning about it, I can take you around now."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Miss Lin."

The two of them were quickly becoming familiar with each other.

Chen Xuan twitched his lips. Was this considered cross-era communication?

"By the way, does this shop need any special treasures to repair it?" Liu Shuyue suddenly turned the conversation back to Chen Xuan. "Last time I saw it was dilapidated, and it still is this time. Won't this affect your business?"

"Not necessarily. It's just like repairing an ordinary house; it's just troublesome to find someone," Chen Xuan explained. Repairing electric lights and water pipes was fine; there were many phone stickers on utility poles by the roadside, but finding a reliable bricklayer was difficult. "And I've been busy lately and haven't had time to deal with this."

"How about... I let the villagers come and help tidy it up?" Liu Shuyue suggested.

"Yes!" Fu Jiaolu nodded repeatedly, "The village has carpenters and masons with considerable skill. Especially after becoming cultivators, their original skills have even improved. However, they can only make ordinary items; they're probably powerless when it comes to things from the immortal realm..."

Right, why did he forget about this?

This shop was quite mysterious, so mysterious that apart from its functions, everything else seemed ordinary. Having the residents of Mala Village help with repairs seemed very appropriate.

Chen Xuan immediately agreed, "Alright, have them give it a try."

Soon, Fu Jiaolu brought a group of new villagers. Their expressions upon entering the room were similar to his, a mix of awe and restraint, as if this were some sacred place. After a brief discussion, everyone rolled up their sleeves and got to work with enthusiasm and seriousness.

All the broken furniture was dragged away and replaced with new cabinets and small tables made from solid wood. The holes in the walls were plastered over and then covered with animal skins and bones for decoration. The floor was swept and mopped several times, not missing a single corner.

In less than two hours, the shop was completely renovated.

If the lobby's previous style was simple and elegant, it had now become luxurious and elegant—the handmade furniture exuded a natural nobility, not to mention the bull horns, dragon claws, and tiger skins on the walls. These decorations, usually only seen in museums, instantly elevated the shop's ambiance to a new level.

"How is it? Are you satisfied?" Fu Jiaolu asked expectantly.

Chen Xuan patted his shoulder, "Well done."

Everyone was overjoyed, as if they had received the approval of an immortal, their excitement evident.

Chen Xuan was also deeply touched. They worked diligently for him and didn't ask for payment, their only requirement being his affirmation. These were truly top-notch workers, the kind you couldn't find even with a lantern!

When assigning a room to Fu Jiaolu, he used his scanner to glimpse the abilities of everyone present. He discovered that most of them had cultivated the Heart Calming Incantation, while some specialized in talismans and others in combat techniques, all progressing well.

In this case, the benefits Mala Village could bring him seemed to extend far beyond the performance points gained from exchanging abilities?

"Can you depart one day later?" Chen Xuan asked Liu Shuyue.

She estimated, "Just one day is fine. Do you have any arrangements?"

"Yes, there is indeed something I need your help with."

Perhaps he could conduct a small rehearsal first—for this world that had yet to open its eyes.

At noon the next day, Chen Xuan and Lin Qing took a ride to the flood control scenic belt along the Shajiang River.

This great river divided the city in two, so several large bridges had been built across it over twenty years. However, the liveliest of them all was the Shajiang Bridge One before them. It was the earliest built and connected to the most important city thoroughfares. Therefore, even though it was somewhat old, its traffic flow was still the largest of all the bridges spanning the river.

Not only that, but both sides of the riverbank were also good tourist attractions, with green belts and riverside parks. Even on weekdays, quite a few people could be seen playing along the banks.

"It's almost time, let's begin," Chen Xuan opened his phone's camera mode.

A moment later, three columns of water suddenly erupted from the river's surface, each tens of meters high!

This unusual commotion immediately drew gasps from the tourists on the scenic belt.

"Was that an explosion?"

"Is someone fishing with explosives?"

People who had been playing and camping on the park's lawn also rushed towards the flood control dike.

"Mom, there are people standing on the water!" a child shouted.

"Holy crap, is this some kind of stunt show?" More and more people were shocked to discover that three figures had appeared where the water columns dispersed.

They were three tall men, dressed in animal skins, with their chests and arms bare, revealing well-defined pectoral and abdominal muscles. The muscles on their arms bunched up one after another, exuding a powerful sense of strength. What drew even more attention was their attire: their light brown skin was painted with many patterns, they wore beast-horn helmets, and bone necklaces hung around their necks, fitting the style of fierce, wild men.

"But they aren't carrying any equipment, how are they floating?"

"Quick, check slow-motion, is anyone live-streaming?"

Everyone chattered and speculated incessantly.

"Enough!" Suddenly, a man roared. His voice, surprisingly, drowned out the surrounding noise, rolling across the river like muffled thunder. "You've gone too far! We left our homes and fled all the way here just to survive, yet you still pursue us to the death. Since that's the case, I won't hide anymore! Come on!"

"Heh, he's performing quite well," Lin Qing said happily. "He was so stiff during rehearsals, I thought he'd be too nervous to speak when it got real."

"They're just inexperienced, not cowardly," in Chen Xuan's opinion, those who could lead their families across half of Qingzhou and survive in an environment of famine and cannibalism were by no means incompetent or timid. Perhaps Fu Jiaolu and the others didn't understand the meaning of their performance, but as long as it was something the "Shopkeeper" asked for, they would do their best to complete it.

As for stage fright, it wasn't a big problem. As long as they circulated the Heart Calming Incantation, they could immediately calm their minds and focus on fulfilling their mission. Chen Xuan had experienced this long ago.

"Pursuing? Who?"

"I support calling the police!" the surrounding people chuckled.

But the next moment, everyone suddenly fell silent.

"Is that so? That would be for the best, saving me the trouble of searching for you world by world... Let's end this." The cold female voice that followed seemed to stir up a gust of icy wind, as if freezing the entire river. Even without seeing the speaker, just hearing the lingering reprimand was enough to ignite people's imaginations.

"Look, on the bridge!" someone pointed at the bridge.

Everyone else looked up, towards the bridge structure fifty to sixty meters above the water—

They saw a woman in flowing white robes appear on the railing of the Shajiang Bridge One.