The Venting System's First Item: Tang San!

Time seemed to freeze at that very moment.

The sensation of their lips touching was soft and scorching, carrying the uniquely youthful, sweet fragrance of a girl. Like an electric current, it instantly shattered every thought in Lin Jiang's mind!

He could even clearly feel Xiao Wu's wildly pounding heartbeat, like drums beating in battle, thudding heavily against his chest through her thin bathrobe.

That sudden, earth-shattering kiss lasted less than two seconds.

Bang!

As if frightened by her own actions, Xiao Wu abruptly shoved Lin Jiang away, then spun around like a startled rabbit, slammed open the door, and darted inside like lightning!

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind her with a deafening crash!

In an instant, Lin Jiang was the only one left in the corridor.

He stood frozen where he was, the lingering softness on his lips and that sweet scent still painfully vivid.

The night wind poured through the not-quite-closed window, making the candles in the wall niches flicker wildly. Their shifting light cast an unusually blank look of utter astonishment across his face.

What... just happened?

Inside the room, Xiao Wu leaned against the icy door and slowly slid to the floor, gasping for breath as though she had just clawed her way back from the brink of drowning.

In the darkness, her cheeks burned like red-hot iron, while her heart pounded madly in her chest, as if it might burst through her ribs at any moment!

That reckless impulse just now... Heavens! What had she done?!

The soft sensation of that hurried kiss was like a feather falling into the lake of her heart, sending wave after wave of tingling ripples silently through every limb and bone.

This feeling... was pretty nice.

Just then, the final echo of midnight bells drifted over Suotuo City.

[ Ding! Fourth subsystem binding authorization has been activated! ]

The cold prompt tore apart that lingering aftertaste.

Lin Jiang raised his gaze, seeming to see through the inn's thin walls to the round figure in the garbage heap, who was getting up while cursing.

That kid Ma Hongjun was a menace. It looked like he needed to be taught a lesson.

"The fourth subsystem binding target—" An icy curve rose at Lin Jiang's lips. "Ma Hongjun!"

In the foul-smelling garbage heap, Ma Hongjun spat out a rotten cabbage leaf. His greasy fat face was smeared with filth, and only his tiny eyes burned with venomous hatred.

"Lin Jiang! Fuck your ancestors! Just you wait—"

His curses came to an abrupt halt.

[ Ding~ Venting System binding successful! ]

A mechanical voice devoid of emotion drove into his buzzing skull like a steel nail.

Then came an even more absurd, even cruder declaration, carrying a scalp-tingling excitement:

[ The Venting System is at your service! ]

"...The fuck?"

Ma Hongjun froze in place, his tiny eyes widening round as saucers as if he had seen a ghost.

"Did... did that fall knock my brain loose?"

He viciously slapped his greasy fat face, and a burning pain flared up.

"Damn it! Lin Jiang must have knocked some damn delirium into me! Damn it! It's all that bastard's fault!"

Before the thought had even settled, the icy voice rang out again:

[ Beginner mission issued: Target—Tang San! ]

[ Mission details: Release the blazing energy accumulated within your body. ]

[ Mission reward: Soul power level +1. ]

[ Mission failure: Yang energy backlash, meridian disorder. ]

[ Time limit: 2 hours. ]

Soul power level +1?!

Those words were like red-hot iron, instantly burning through all his hesitation and discomfort!

One level! A whole level! No grueling cultivation, no risking his life, just...

"Ha... hahaha..."

A few hoarse, low chuckles squeezed out of Ma Hongjun's throat. A twisted light flickered in his eyes, as though flames were burning at their depths.

"Title Douluo... If I really become a Title Douluo, Lin Jiang? Ning Rongrong? Xiao Wu? Zhu Zhuqing? What would any of you... amount to then?!"

He licked his dry lips, and a scorching, turbid breath escaped with it.

Tang San's door was knocked upon, the sound especially clear in the silent corridor.

Tang San had just finished bathing. He wore thin sleepwear, droplets still hanging from the tips of his hair, and a faint scent of soap lingered around him.

Hearing the knock, he paused slightly. For no reason, his heart tightened, and he instinctively softened his breathing.

"Xiao Wu?"

His low voice carried a note of probing, his throat tightening quietly.

He could almost imagine those eyes shining like stars beneath the moonlight on the other side of the door, their corners curving faintly as she smiled and perhaps offered him a piece of her favorite carrot cake.

Had she finally decided to come speak to him first?

Countless scattered thoughts surged through his mind, and even his fingertips grew faintly warm.

Yet the voice from outside was not the crisp female voice he had expected, but something thick and muffled, as though something were lodged in its throat. "It's me, Tang San."

The voice was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing all the vague anticipation and fantasies in Tang San's heart.

The gentle smile that had been on his face, one he had not even noticed himself, froze at once.

It was replaced by undisguised irritation, and even his brows carried a trace of coldness.

With a click, the door was yanked open so forcefully that it stirred up a gust of wind, making even the frame tremble slightly.

Seeing the round figure outside and the grease-stained front of his clothes, Tang San instinctively stepped back half a pace and furrowed his brow tightly. "Fatty?"

Suppressing the churning in his stomach caused by the mixture of sweat, grease, and food scraps on the other man, he spoke with undisguised distance.

"What do you want at this hour?"

"Tang San..."

Ma Hongjun's voice still clung thickly in his throat, carrying a strange hoarseness. Before he could finish—

No one expected that the seemingly clumsy, obese body would suddenly erupt with speed utterly at odds with its size!

Like a crazed trapped beast that had broken free of its shackles, the fat all over his body shook violently with the explosive sprint, and the floor beneath his feet even let out a faint creak.

A foul gust mixed with sweat, grease, and an unidentified sour stench rushed at Tang San, nearly making the air itself feel sticky.

Before Tang San could react, Ma Hongjun had already slammed into the half-open door. With a bang, the wooden door was knocked wide open, and using the momentum, he spread his arms and lunged at the completely unprepared Tang San!

Bang—!

A dull impact exploded through the room.

Tang San only felt a huge force strike his chest. He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, his back smashing without any cushion against the cold, hard stone floor.

Intense pain spread along his spine, making his vision go dark and his ears ring. His chest felt as though it were pinned beneath a boulder, making even breathing difficult. He could only open his mouth uselessly and suck in cold air.

"Are you insane?!"

Tang San endured the agony wracking his body, the veins at his temples twitching faintly. His voice trembled slightly from lack of air, but it still carried irrepressible shock, fury, and coldness.

He instinctively raised a hand to push Ma Hongjun off him, only to find that the other man was astonishingly strong, like a massive boulder pinning him firmly to the floor.

(The detailed plot here has been heavily cut!)