Chen Ling'er and the others happily left Taiqing Mountain and returned to the Reality Realm.
Chen Lin was in no hurry, however. Instead, he went to the County Office to see Xiong Ziqi.
"Brother Chen, what brings you here today? Could you have some good news?"
As time passed, Xiong Ziqi grew increasingly anxious. He could already feel his projection being eroded. If not for the protection of his Official Position, he would have long since been unable to withstand it and been expelled.
Chen Lin shook his head. "Not yet. How have you been lately, Brother Xiong?"
His tone was casual.
Over the past ten years, the two had become very familiar with each other. At first, he had worried that killing the father of Xiong Ziqi's concubine would leave a thorn in the man's heart. Later, he learned that the concubine had belonged to this scenario's original county magistrate and was a Nightmare Realm creature. Xiong Ziqi only kept her around to pass the time and did not care about her at all.
Xiong Ziqi gave a bitter laugh. "How else could I be? Same as always, without the slightest progress. Damn it! There must not be any task in this scenario at all. This damned Nightmare Realm doesn't have a single fucking normal scenario!"
Watching his exasperation, Chen Lin felt a pang of shared dread.
Anyone would struggle to remain calm while watching the time they had left to live dwindle day by day.
"Can you still not enter Li Fuyao's courtyard, Brother Xiong?"
Chen Lin continued his questioning.
He had always assumed that Xiong Ziqi could enter that courtyard freely, only to learn later that this was not the case.
Before Li Fuyao hid inside, Xiong Ziqi had indeed been able to enter freely and had