Before, You Called Me Xiao Bai, and I Didn't Hold It Against You

Silence!

A deathly silence. Everyone stood frozen in place, their faces filled with disbelief, as though time had stopped once more.

The sight of Bai Ye smiling as he raised his gun and fired seemed permanently etched into their eyes.

"It... it really misfired!?" someone exclaimed in horror after a long while.

"That's impossible!?" Li You shot to his feet, his eyes wide, bloodshot from his agitation.

More and more cries of shock rang out.

"Holy shit! A six-bullet roulette of fate—even the heavens themselves would have to take that shot! Yet Bai Ye came out completely unharmed!?"

"Forbidden objects can misfire too? What lousy quality."

"What the hell do you know? It didn't misfire. Forbidden objects have minds of their own. It must have acknowledged Bai Ye, which is why it didn't fire!"

"That makes sense! It was a game of gambling with your life; it came down to courage. Six bullets—who had more guts than him?"

"Look! The gun... the gun is glowing!"

Before everyone's horrified eyes, the forbidden object [Breath of Bones] suddenly erupted with a dazzling blood-red glow. The light spread outward until it enveloped Bai Ye's entire body.

All at once, Bai Ye felt something strange. Looking at [Breath of Bones] in his hand felt like looking at his own right hand, giving him the illusion that they were bound by blood.

Had he successfully contained it?

He was not surprised. If a six-bullet roulette of fate still could not successfully contain it, then [Breath of Bones] was being rather rude.

When the bloody light faded, the mutated blood vessels on [Breath of Bones] slowly wriggled. They first withdrew from Bai Ye's right hand, then contracted back into the gun until they vanished completely.

The bone-crafted body of the gun gradually lost its color as well, turning into a matte black metal.

In the end, [Breath of Bones] became indistinguishable from an ordinary revolver.

"Looks like..." Bai Ye lightly spun the revolver in his hand, one brow lifting slightly. "This forbidden object has decent judgment."

He twirled the gun around his finger and casually slipped it into his pocket.

The youth's arrogant words echoed in everyone's ears, yet no one refuted him. Deep down, they even felt it was only natural. Perhaps only someone like him was qualified to possess a forbidden object.

Only then did everyone recover from their shock, though the looks they gave Bai Ye remained full of awe. What had just happened seemed to have draped him in a veil called miracle.

"Hahaha..." A burst of laughter rang out. Tan Jie, leader of the East District, was beaming with delight. "The forbidden object belongs to our East District now! King Snake, what else do you have to say!"

In the face of Tan Jie's arrogance, King Snake's expression darkened. He said nothing, his cold gaze sweeping repeatedly between Tan Jie and Bai Ye. His men gripped their guns tightly, as though waiting for a single command.

Tan Jie's smile slowly faded. He gave his men a meaningful look, and the atmosphere instantly turned tense.

At that moment, King Snake suddenly gave a soft laugh. "Brother Bai Ye truly is a remarkable young man. What a pity that you were reduced to a slave of the East District. Would you be interested in joining our West District?"

Tan Jie's expression changed abruptly. He hurriedly stepped forward, went to Bai Ye's side, and threw an arm around his shoulders. "The slave business was merely a misunderstanding. Xiao Bai is now my brother, Tan Jie's brother—the deputy leader of the East District. How could he possibly join the West District? Right, Xiao Bai?"

The look he gave Bai Ye held both hope and threat.

Bai Ye smiled faintly and brushed Tan Jie's hand away. "Before I contained the forbidden object, you called me Xiao Bai, and I didn't hold it against you. But now that I've contained a forbidden object, tell me... what should you call me?"

Before everyone, Tan Jie's expression shifted again and again. He forcibly suppressed his anger and smiled. "Brother Bai Ye, I'm not good with words, but I always keep my promises. From today onward, you are my own brother. From now on, the two of us will rule the East District together!"

Bai Ye raised a brow. "Old Tan, how many times have I told you? Address me by my title in public!"

Tan Jie froze. When had you ever said that? And you didn't address me by my title either. But he did not dare argue now, afraid Bai Ye might join the West District, so he could only force a smile and say:

"Right, right, right! Deputy Leader Bai! Brothers, hurry up and greet him!"

The dozens of East District lackeys called out unevenly, "Deputy Leader Bai!"

Bai Ye nodded in satisfaction and grandly waved a hand. "Minions, we're going home!"

The East District lackeys exchanged looks, hesitant to move. From the corners of their eyes, they kept glancing at the sour-faced Tan Jie.

Tan Jie forced a smile. "What are you standing around for? Didn't you hear Deputy Leader Bai?"

The group returned to the East District in a mighty procession.

King Snake and the others, leaders of the West District, remained standing where they were with ugly expressions.

"Leader, I..." Li You said in a trembling voice.

"Shut up! Useless trash!" King Snake gave him a cold glance. "We're leaving."

Soon, they left as well.

As the two factions of Gray Soil Town withdrew, the onlookers gradually dispersed too.

East District, Tire Tavern.

Tan Jie and the others enthusiastically gathered around Bai Ye. Everyone held up wine cups in high spirits, spouting crude vulgarities while drinking inferior liquor.

Tire Tavern had not originally been called that. The red-painted wooden sign above its entrance read—Old Times.

The owner, Old Wang, was over forty, with graying hair. It was said that he had read a few books in the past and picked up quite an artistic air, which was why he named it Old Times. No one knew what he was reminiscing about, nor did anyone care.

With limited funds, he could not find decent renovation materials, so he hauled in a large number of discarded tires from the dump to use as seats. Most people in Gray Soil Town could not read and did not recognize the words Old Times, so they simply called it Tire Tavern.

"Now that Deputy Leader Bai has a forbidden object in hand, we won't have to worry about those mutated monsters outside anymore!"

"Yeah. Those mutated beasts have surrounded Gray Soil Town for nearly a month. If we don't deal with them soon, people like us are going to starve to death."

"Those mutated beasts are truly cunning. I feel like their intelligence is almost no weaker than a human's. Knowing that a direct assault on Gray Soil Town would cost them heavily, they deliberately stayed outside, cutting off the trade routes and preventing us from going out to exchange for food."

"By the way, Deputy Leader Bai, this is the first time us brothers have ever seen someone contain a forbidden object. Why don't you demonstrate its power for us and broaden our horizons?" someone said ingratiatingly.

Before Bai Ye, who was wolfing down food, could speak, Tan Jie suddenly snapped, "What the hell are you talking about! It's not some street performance—what demonstration? Besides, firing [Breath of Bones] drains the user's vitality. Is that something to demonstrate casually?"

Then, as if changing faces, he smiled at Bai Ye. "Deputy Leader Bai, don't lower yourself to their level. A person's vitality is precious. You should save your strength for dealing with the mutated beasts."

Bai Ye patted Tan Jie's shoulder with his grease-covered hand, conveniently wiping it clean. "Old Tan, you really know how to talk. Someone, bring me another plate of meat!"

"This..." A trace of pain flashed through Tan Jie's eyes. In Gray Soil Town, eating meat was a great luxury. Most people could only eat one meal a day and never even saw meat. It was common to go hungry for three meals out of every four.

Now that the mutated beasts had surrounded the town, their food reserves were nearly exhausted. Only a leader like him could afford to eat meat every day.