Run if You Want, but Leave Some Feathers for a Duster

Inside the imperial palace, the smell of garlic mixed with the aroma of roasted mutton fat rose straight up to the beams.

The Six-Winged Angel behind Qian Renxue still had half a piece of extremely spicy hot pot broth stuck to her wings, and she looked as disheveled as a drowned rat. She watched as the Golden Dragon Military Token in her hand fell into Ling Yun's hand, and then saw the two Titled Douluo on the ground, one dead and one injured, and her teeth gritted.

"Withdraw!!"

Qian Renxue let out a shrill scream from her throat, and with a sudden wave of her hands, the golden domain remnants gathered into a ball. With her last breath, she grabbed the Snake Lance Douluo She Long and tried to squeeze through the broken window hole.

"Trying to run away? You took the deposit and didn't even give me a receipt. Do you think I'm a philanthropist?"

Ling Yun narrowed his eyes, casually picked up the broken piece of pure gold door bolt from his feet, and with a bang, unleashed his Water-type- Dark-type essence, hurling it fiercely at Qian Renxue in mid-air!

Call out--!

The solid gold bolt, accompanied by a piercing whistle, arrived first despite being delayed.

To protect his master, She Long turned around and used his spear to deflect the door bolt by three inches. But Dai Mubai and Tai Long, who were right behind him, were not idle. The two of them pounced on the windowsill like two black bears that had suddenly sprung up!

"Leave me some souvenirs!!"

Ma Hongjun flicked his hand and threw out a ball of pure yang fire, which grazed Qian Renxue's left shoulder, scorching a large patch of dazzling pure white feathers.

Immediately afterwards, Tai Long's arm, which was thicker than a normal person's thigh, swept across and grabbed the largest and most conspicuous Six-Winged Angel's main feather on Qian Renxue's back!

"Sizzle--!"

A sharp, chilling sound.

Tai Long forcefully plucked a large handful of bloody, golden bird feathers from Qian Renxue's wings, as big as half a palm-leaf fan! He also ripped off the "Elder Token" hanging from her waist, which was engraved with the highest authority of the Spirit Hall.

"Aww--!"

Qian Renxue was in so much pain that her vision went black, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, which turned into a cloud of red mist in mid-air. No longer caring about elegance or dignity, she dragged She Long and tumbled and crawled through the flower wall in the backyard, before fleeing into the depths of the night in a disheveled state.

Only her furious, wailing voice echoed in the air, "Ling Yun! If I don't avenge this, I swear I'm not human!!"

The main hall was a complete mess.

Ning Rongrong happily took the large handful of golden, Six-Winged Angel feathers, which still shimmered with a divine glow, from Tai Long's hands. She touched them, her face beaming with joy.

"Brother Yun! This is a real treasure! These are genuine feathers from a holy Six-Winged Angel. Take them back to the Vast Sea Chamber of Commerce in Heaven Dou City, and give them to those rich women to make into golden feather dusters or down vests. They can sell for at least five thousand gold coins each! These few feathers together will be a huge extra income!"

As Ning Rongrong spoke, she stuffed the gleaming golden Spirit Hall Elder Token's token into her large sack. "This token is of good quality; it'll be perfect for hanging at the entrance of the mutton restaurant as a gua sha board."

As Xue Ye lay panting on his dragon bed, he listened to the group listing their spoils on the spot, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently twice.

He raised his hand shakily and beckoned to Ling Yun:

"Captain Ling... now that the rebels have fled, and the palace is smashed to pieces..."

Xue Ye swallowed hard, his face contorted with pain, and pointed to the door. "Look, can you now cash in the national treasury for the Golden Dragon Military Token I just gave you?"

"Deliver on your promise? Absolutely."

Ling Yun tossed the Golden Dragon Military Token in his hand, then stuffed it into his shorts pocket, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"Old man, you stay here and don't move. I'm going to the national treasury to count the money!"

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

In front of the Royal Treasury Gate on the back mountain of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

The once thick, gold-plated gate of the Imperial Treasury, which was secured with nine large iron locks, was now smashed to pieces by Tai Long with a cast iron hammer.

The national treasury was filled with the treasures accumulated by successive Heaven Dou Emperor. It contained a dazzling array of top-quality crystals, boxes of pure gold bricks, countless pieces of aged black iron ore, and Soul Tool, all crammed full.

But in less than half an hour, the place looked like it had been hit by a locust plague.

Ning Rongrong led ten large flatbed carts Sheer Force requisitioned from the Imperial Guard's stables, directing the old pirate and Tai Long to frantically load them onto the carts.

"This! This two-hundred-pound blue crystal, take it! And don't forget that box of ancient Agarwood, take it too!"

Ning Rongrong's abacus clicked rapidly, her face flushed, and she kept urging, "Hurry up! If those old fogies from the Ministry of Revenue come with their account books and start wailing, we'll strip them of their official robes and load them onto carts!"

The entire national treasury was licked clean by these bandits, cleaner than a rice jar licked by rats.

Not only were all the gold and silver jewels loaded onto the trucks, but even the two imposing stone lions cast in pure gilded Ma Hongjun at the entrance of the national treasury were dragged away by two donkeys with thick hemp ropes around their necks. "Take them back and put them as door gods at the entrance of Old Huang's Mutton Restaurant; they're much more impressive than stone lions!"

At the same time.

Thousands of miles away, in the barren black stone quarry behind Sea God Island.

The sun was so scorching it felt like being in a sauna.

Tang San, shirtless, his face covered in black lime and stinking sweat, gripped the handles of the wheelbarrow tightly with both hands. He gritted his teeth and used the last bit of strength to push the cart, full of thirty millstone-sized granite blocks, up to the repair site on the mountaintop.

"Bang!"

After unloading the last load of stones, Tang San's legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the scorching hot gravel ground. His ten fingers were covered in blood, and he didn't even have the strength to lift them.

For three days and three nights, fueled by a burning desire to avenge himself on Ling Yun, he endured whips and insults, working like a slave in the quarry.

The white lettering on his forehead that read "Bricklaying Laborer" was now gleaming with the light of a coolie.

Just as Tang San closed his eyes, fantasizing that as long as he finished building half of the Sea God Hall wall, he could obtain the divine artifact and ride the Ling Yun.

"Pat-pat, pat."

A series of heavy footsteps stopped beside her.

Tang San opened his blood-red eyes and looked up.

The person who arrived was none other than the yellow-robed Sea Soul Master deacon who had whipped him earlier. However, this time, the deacon was not holding a whip, but rather a new notice with an urgent order emanating from blood red, and his face was so gloomy that it could drip water.

"Hey, you there, yes, you, the laborer named Tang San."

The yellow-robed deacon kicked Tang San's thighbone with his toe, his tone extremely impatient:

"The High Priest has just awakened from his coma; a top-secret report has arrived from outside—"

The deacon snorted and slammed the notice onto Tang San's head.

"News from Heaven Dou City says that the main Oak and the giant golden fork of the Sea God Hall's main hall have been dismantled by a group of bandits named Ling Yun and used as floorboards and weights for sauerkraut! Half of the temple has collapsed, and the High Priest's old injuries have flared up in anger!"

"Therefore, the higher-ups have just issued a notice regarding changes to the content of the Divine Examination:"

The yellow-robed deacon looked down at Tang San, who was frozen in place, and coldly pronounced his verdict:

"Starting today, your bricklaying privileges are revoked. Get the hell out of here and head to the depths of the Ten Thousand Demons Trench right now, and dive down with your bare hands to retrieve ten thousand catties of giant black Pearls to fill the foundation hole! If you fail to do so, I'll even take away that half-eaten, rotten salted fish you get every day!"

Buzz--!

The white mark on Tang San's forehead that read "Bricklaying Laborer" flashed twice, then transformed into four bloody characters: "Deep-Sea Pearl Diving Slave".

The sea breeze, carrying scorching sand and gravel, swept across the barren mountains.

Tang San lay sprawled in the mud, his eyes completely unfocused.

He suffered terribly here, working like a stray dog, carrying bricks and doing manual labor.

As a result, his enemies dismantled and emptied the temple on land, using the divine artifacts to pickle vegetables. He, the "only examiner of the Sea God," not only failed to gain any opportunity, but was also demoted from a bricklayer to a lifelong indentured laborer who went to sea to salvage Pearls.

"Puff--!"

Tang San let out a final, desperate cry, his eyes rolled back, and he died completely, lying stiffly in the scorching pile of rocks.