Distinguished Guest

The man had been badly wounded and was fleeing. One of his companions carried an iron hammer and was just about to lend a hand when someone grabbed him by the ankle.

His forward momentum sent him crashing face-first to the ground.

Before he could even get up, someone had already hoisted him by the ankle. Hanging upside down, he struggled to make out his attacker.

The man holding him was at least two meters tall, with a crescent of white beard jutting straight up.

Before he could even finish gaping, White Beard grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him headfirst into the ground.

"Crack!"

With a sharp snap, the man's head was driven halfway into his chest. He died instantly.

A Scroll flashed beside him, displaying his identity.

Daoist name: Cloud Traveler.

The three who had yet to charge in were instantly scared out of their wits. They turned to run, only to freeze in their tracks.

Several figures had appeared behind them without their noticing.

At their head was a giant Wild Boar, over 1.2 meters tall at the shoulder.

Its tusks jutted out, and a Golden Horn grew from the bridge of its snout.

A monster!

There were monsters in Journey Survival at night. Why had one shown up now, of all times?

The pig glanced at them but didn't say a word. In a flash, it charged, moving so fast it left afterimages.

The Wild Boar rammed into one man's waist, tossed him into the air, then drove him back down.

Before the man could even hit the ground, his torso exploded with a boom, turning into a cloud of blood.

At the same time, something came rolling from behind with a rumbling sound.

The man who had been stopped by Sword Seven had already been beheaded with a single slash. His head rolled a long way down the slope.

Only the half-crippled man who had been following Scholar was still alive. But he had lost all will to fight. He frantically begged for mercy as he fled in terror.

In his panic, he charged straight into the fog and was swallowed up in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, only two of the six attackers remained alive. Neither dared move. They trembled as they stared around in terror.

They'd spent their lives hunting geese, only to get pecked in the eye—no, the people of District 66 weren't geese. They'd flown straight into a nest of raptors!

"Separate them and interrogate them about their accomplices. Kill anyone who gives us less information!"

Zhu Jiusi's voice sounded as if it had risen from hell.

Scholar and White Beard came back, each carrying one of the men, and headed to opposite sides of the road.

Zhu Jiusi's devilish voice rang out again. "Make them show us their Scrolls. If they dare whisper to each other, kill them!"

The two men looked even more terrified and begged frantically for mercy.

Only now did Monkey Has Iron Rod manage to pull the stuff stuck over his mouth free. It was a blob of slime-like material, clinging to his lips so stubbornly that it was nearly impossible to peel off.

As soon as his mouth and nose were free, he gasped for air, then immediately looked at Zhu Jiusi.

"Awesome! Where'd you get that Golden Horn?"

The others stared at him, momentarily stunned. Was that really what he should be asking right now? If they'd been one minute later, he'd be dead!

"The Golden Gourd!" Zhu Jiusi replied.

Monkey gave him a thumbs-up, then looked around at everyone. "Thanks for this, everyone. I promise I'll make good on what I offered!"

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Sword Seven and Zhu Jiusi. "But I don't have what you two asked for right now. I'll have to find someone who's selling. Now that the two districts have merged, I should be able to find more people. Don't worry, I'll find it!"

Sword Seven made no comment, while Zhu Jiusi nodded slightly. Her glittering Golden Horn, streaked with a trace of blood, shimmered in the moonlight.

Monkey looked at the Golden Horn, green with envy.

Zhu Jiusi's Scroll flickered. She had a private message.

Rain Seeker: "Did you kill people?"

Zhu Jiusi replied, "It was just a fight. That's why I didn't call you."

Rain Seeker was a fish, and her ranking wasn't very high. Out of water, just walking each day took all her strength. Calling her over would only put her in danger.

Rain Seeker: "There are too many people watching the leaderboard today. A sudden change could make everyone uneasy. If they were in the wrong, just post the videos in the chat."

By now, the leaderboard had changed dramatically.

Three of the top ten had vanished. Of the four people just killed, three had been in the top ten!

"Okay!" Zhu Jiusi replied.

It really made things a lot easier when one of the bunch of hotheads had a brain.

Maybe she should've contacted Rain Seeker before taking action?

Zhu Jiusi shut the stable door after the horse had bolted and gave Rain Seeker a detailed account of what had happened that day.

There was no need to explain why they'd summoned everyone to Monkey's road.

After all, Monkey was the only one of the top three who hadn't obtained a manual. He looked like an easy target.

Rain Seeker sent a smiley face and checked the videos they'd sent her privately.

After confirming there were no problems, she told them to post the videos in the chat.

In the middle of an argument, several of the chat's ringleaders suddenly fell silent. Then everyone saw their profile pictures turn black, one after another.

The chat erupted.

As everyone wondered what was happening, several video clips appeared.

Together, the clips pieced together most of the story.

The waning moon hung high, casting silver light across the ground. A young man stood on a mountain path when the scenery around him suddenly shifted, and six people appeared.

The moment those six showed up, everyone recognized them.

The next instant, all six attacked the young man. The video ended there, proving only that the six from District 33 had struck first.

The next clip showed a sword blocking a dagger, then landing two quick thrusts that severed the tendons in the attacker's arm. The blade turned, and a huge head fell.

The chat was instantly flooded with messages: "Tss..."

That female swordswoman had incredible skill—and a truly ruthless heart!

As expected, the more beautiful the woman, the more ruthless she was!

The next clip showed a pig ramming into a man's torso, blowing it to pieces.

One clip after another showed a person being killed. The Daoist names displayed on the victims' Scrolls matched the names of people whose profile pictures had turned black.

For a time, the entire chat fell deathly silent. No one said a word.

After a long while, Zhu Jiusi finally spoke. "Staying alive in Journey Survival is hard enough. If there's no grudge, no conflict of interest, and you're only killing people to steal their treasures, maybe don't do that so often. Walk the night road too many times, and you'll run into a ghost."

No one spoke for a long time, but the profile pictures of two more of the six turned black.

Sparrow: "The boss is mighty! People only learn to quietly follow the rules after someone draws blood."

He sent a smiley face. "Everyone in District 66 is trying to survive. Cut out the dirty tricks and rabble-rousing, or people really will die. @No Bottle."

One of the two groups stirring up trouble in the chat had just lost six ringleaders. Now, they didn't dare say a word.

The other group deserved a warning too. Everyone had survived in Journey Survival for nearly a month. There were no truly good people here.

No saint could survive in Journey Survival, whether they were a real saint or just pretending.

Was No Bottle really picking on River Suppressing Marquis, Cloud Traveler, and the others out of pure selflessness, seeking justice for the Daoist in his story?

Before Sparrow could finish, Zhu Jiusi had already received a private message from No Bottle.

It was just a long list of names.

"Boss Cave Master, River Suppressing Marquis, Cloud Traveler, and their group have quite a few people. You and your team killed six of them. Watch out for revenge."

Zhu Jiusi glanced over the list and replied, "Thanks."

No Bottle sent an embarrassed emoji. "You're too kind, Boss Cave Master. I'm no good person. I just can't stand certain things. Of course, I'm also protecting myself. If they all die at your hands, I'll be able to sleep peacefully. To put it bluntly, I can't beat them myself, so I'm selfishly using you!"

He'd actually admitted it so readily!

Zhu Jiusi exchanged a few polite words with him, then sent No Bottle's list, along with the list of names Scholar and the others had extracted, to Rain Seeker.

A few breaths later, Rain Seeker replied.

"No Bottle sounds honest, but he may not be trustworthy! Don't let him lead you astray."

Zhu Jiusi snorted like a pig. "It's not that he may be untrustworthy. He definitely isn't!"

As she spoke, Zhu Jiusi's gaze fell on an inconspicuous name on the list: Half Spoon Orange Juice.

How could she possibly be one of River Suppressing Marquis's group, the people who had killed the old Daoist Ox Nose?

Orange Juice had been Ox Nose's relative in the real world!

Zhu Jiusi knew their relationship far too well.

She had been his regular partner for relieving stress in her previous life!

They hadn't been lovers; they'd simply understood each other's character. When the pressure built up enough, they'd agree to meet somewhere and let it all out.

She was someone Zhu Jiusi truly knew inside and out.

The name of someone who could never betray Ox Nose had appeared on the list.