The Siskin Lurks Behind

No Bottle had barely opened her mouth when the chat exploded into a cacophony.

A whole crowd piled on, insulting and denouncing her. But a few people joined her in arguing back.

The former residents of District 66 stared, completely baffled.

District 66 had seen something similar before, right at the beginning, when Heart Without Darkness and Daoist Number 323 had stirred up trouble.

But after the Cave Master had killed a batch of them, that kind of troublemaking had quickly been stamped out.

It had been a long time since the chat had erupted like this.

No Bottle: "@Everyone, people from District 33, if it weren't for the Daoist, would you have survived until now? Now there isn't even anyone left who dares speak up for him?"

The Daoist she meant had once been the top-ranked person in District 33. He had died an untimely death three days ago.

The chat was in an uproar.

Meanwhile, quite a few people in District 66 received private messages from Zhu Jiusi.

"Merge paths to Monkey's location immediately!"

Sword Seven, Scholar, White Beard... Five or six Path Seekers who had worked with him all received Zhu Jiusi's message at once.

White Beard: "Young friend, I don't have any Dao Discussion Cards left!"

His luck was mediocre. He had never gotten anything decent—not even food.

Zhu Jiusi traded him a Dao Discussion Card.

He didn't have many cards either. They'd all come from Sword Seven, and once he used this one, he'd be out.

But this wasn't the time to be stingy.

Three years of Journey Survival had erased many memories from the previous round. But the information from the very beginning had remained vivid.

The last time, his district had merged with District 33, too. But District 33's top-ranked player had been a Daoist!

The genuine article, a real Daoist in the modern world.

His Daoist name was easy to remember: Ox Nose!

After the districts merged, that Daoist had even ranked first two or three times. But now there was no one by that name in District 33.

No Bottle's words were highly credible!

And Zhu Jiusi remembered something else.

Before the districts merged last time, District 66's top-ranked player had been killed by Filial Respect to Mother.

The strongest players at the time of the merger had been the former second- and third-ranked players.

After the merger, people from District 33 had also erupted into a cacophony like this.

While the people in District 66 watched the show, the former second- and third-ranked players suddenly turned into black avatars, one after the other.

River Suppressing Marquis, Cloud Traveler, and the others from District 33 had stirred up arguments in the chat to distract everyone. Taking advantage of District 66's lowered guard, they had launched a killing spree.

That very night, the top-ranked players had been wiped out!

District 66 had been caught completely off guard.

But nobody knew what had happened. Even Ox Nose had no idea.

He had done his utmost to ease the tension between the two districts.

Only after those people joined forces with Filial Respect to Mother and secretly killed Ox Nose did the truth come to light.

Zhu Jiusi's original plan after the merger had been to merge paths directly to Ox Nose, then travel with him to merge paths with the others. That way, Ox Nose could see the caliber of his district's people for himself.

Zhu Jiusi had thought highly of the old Daoist. He had a kind heart without being a bleeding heart, and his character was sound.

He hadn't expected the old Daoist not even to make it to the merger this time.

Dao Discussion Card bound. Merge paths.

The scene before Zhu Jiusi changed, and he found himself on Monkey Has Iron Rod's road.

That guy's ranking had been built entirely on wealth. He was the likeliest target for the people from District 33.

The moment he arrived, he came face-to-face with Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword. The female swordswoman's face was frosty, and she looked ready to kill.

Zhu Jiusi froze. Looking past the swordswoman, he saw Monkey standing on the roof of his vehicle, stark naked and airing his privates.

He probably hadn't expected anyone to suddenly show up on his road for no reason.

And not just one person!

In the few breaths after Zhu Jiusi arrived, the scenery on both sides of the road changed one after another.

Path Seekers appeared all around his vehicle.

For a moment, he didn't even know which way to run.

In a fluster, he made a backward somersault off the vehicle and climbed in through the rear window.

A moment later, he came back out wearing a flashy outfit.

"Well, look at that! You're all here! Had lunch yet?"

He acted as if they'd just met, as though nothing had happened.

Sword Seven glanced at him. Her cool gaze held a hint of disdain, and at last she made him fidget.

Monkey gritted his teeth and pointed at Zhu Jiusi, speaking with brazen defiance. "That's just a personal quirk of mine. Look at him. He never wears clothes and spends all day swinging five limbs around. Why don't you say anything about him..."

Zhu Jiusi: "?"

Zhu Jiusi shot him a look, and Monkey shuddered, swallowing the rest of his words. "Uh... You big shots aren't watching the show right now. Why'd you come all the way to my place? Look, people from District 33 are about to arrange a fight."

Everyone turned to Zhu Jiusi. He was the one who'd alerted them, but they had no idea why.

Zhu Jiusi's eyes narrowed slightly. "They're here. Scatter and hide!"

No one knew what was happening, but everyone darted into the woods at once.

Only Monkey Has Iron Rod remained on the mountain road, blinking in confusion.

Monkey still hadn't figured out what was going on when the environment, which had just stabilized, changed again. Figures flickered into view all around him.

Six people appeared beside him one after another.

He didn't recognize any of them!

They'd all hidden their names. They seemed to belong to two separate groups, and both sides clearly froze when they saw each other.

"How'd you get here?" the two groups asked at the same time.

As one of them spoke, he suddenly attacked Monkey Has Iron Rod. "Forget that for now. We'll finish this quickly. Take him out, then head to Sword Seven's location!"

A beam of light shot out and sealed Monkey's mouth. Another person spoke up. "Release all the supplies in your inventory, and we'll spare your life. If you livestream or call for help, we'll kill you on the spot!"

Monkey blinked, utterly bewildered.

But beneath his bewilderment, there was no fear. He even looked at the six men with a hint of amusement.

The six men immediately grew uneasy under his gaze.

One of them held a dagger. He lunged forward, aiming for Monkey's neck.

"A third of his resources is still plenty to split!"

He plunged his dagger down, but felt no flesh give way beneath his hand.

Instead, a sharp clang rang out, and his entire arm went numb from the shock.

A graceful figure had appeared beside Monkey without anyone noticing. She held a slender sword against his neck, blocking the blow.

Sword Seven's eyes were icy. "Kill him, then come find me?"

Did these people think she was weak and could be casually butchered and robbed?

The man's expression changed. "Attack!"

He didn't need to say it. The moment Sword Seven appeared, the others had already rushed forward.

It wasn't that the two groups had mistaken their target and both come to Monkey Has Iron Rod's location. These two had been in cahoots and had happened to meet up!

All the better to take them out together!

They had a beautiful plan, but things didn't go their way. The two fastest men had barely charged forward when a flash of blade-light streaked from the roadside brush, slashing straight at one man's neck. He suddenly froze, then jerked backward in a frantic attempt to dodge, barely avoiding the blade.

But the blade abruptly changed course and struck his shoulder, slicing clean through one of his arms at an angle.

With a scream, he finally looked toward the roadside.

A steady, decisive man appeared. Neither fat nor thin, he stood there with the unmistakable bearing of a soldier.

The first slash had barely ended when a second came crashing down.

The man's expression changed drastically. Ignoring the agony, he turned and ran.