We'll Strike from Within and Without, Crushing This Man-Eating Old World

The night was black as ink.

Outside the Saintess Hall, several faint ripples of Soul Power intertwined like a net so tight that not even wind could pass through.

Lin Fan stood behind a half-open window, peering through the gap at the extra patrols moving through the shadows.

"A guard every three steps, a sentry every five. They're patrolling more than twice as often as yesterday."

Lin Fan let the curtain fall and began to calculate. "And the hostility warnings above these NPCs' heads—their red-name alert levels are almost maxed out."

The hidden room was dark, lit by a single candle.

Bibi Dong sat at the edge of the bed, all the color gone from her face.

"Xiao Gang..."

Her voice was low, but she could not hide the panic in it. "The way my teacher looks at me lately... something's more and more wrong with it."

Lin Fan walked over to her. He said nothing, merely listened.

Bibi Dong bit her lip, tears misting her eyes. "I went to the Papal Palace today to report on my training. Instead of guiding me like he used to, my teacher kept grilling me about where you've been and what you're researching. That theory of yours about commoner Soul Masters made him furious. He even called you a heretic trying to overthrow the foundations of Spirit Hall."

Lin Fan knew exactly what that meant.

Sure enough, I've triggered this lousy game's aggro system.

He swiftly reviewed the situation in his head. Qian Xunji is a major early-game boss. Sure, I reshaped Luo Sanpao into the Golden Sacred Dragon and came up with that Soul Power compression approach, but this body's level is still too low. If I stay in Spirit City, I won't be able to level up. And if Qian Xunji snaps ahead of schedule, I'm dead ten times over!

As a player who had beaten more games than he could count, Lin Fan knew the importance of a strategic retreat.

The starter village and low-level maps were where he belonged right now—Nuoding City or the slums of the Two Great Empires, for instance. He could grind levels while advancing the main quest of this so-called commoner-class revolution.

He really could not stay in Spirit City any longer.

"I understand."

Lin Fan drew a breath, his expression turning grave. "Dong'er, I have to leave Spirit City."

Bibi Dong looked up, her clear eyes brimming with tears.

She sprang to her feet and clutched his sleeve. "I'm coming with you! I never wanted to be some lofty saintess! Spirit Hall is rotten to the core. I'd rather wander the world with you than stay in this cage where I can barely breathe! Even if we have to suffer in the remotest slum, I want to help you build that world of equality!"

In the wavering candlelight, resolve burned in her eyes.

It was not only for love. She was willing to abandon everything for the grand plan Lin Fan had laid before her.

Looking at Bibi Dong, so utterly devoted to him, Lin Fan's first thought was:

Are you kidding me?! Take you along? I'm heading to low-level maps to quietly grind. With the saintess of Spirit Hall at my side, I'd be a walking target everywhere I went! Qian Xunji would bring Titled Douluo after me across the whole world. How am I supposed to play then?!

But a second thought soon surfaced:

Still... she just said she'd rather wander with me than stay in that suffocating cage.

Lin Fan had played plenty of games and seen plenty of NPCs say, "I'm coming with you."

The next moment, those NPCs either fell dead before him because the plot demanded it or betrayed him because their affection level was too low.

He had long since learned to treat what NPCs said as part of the story.

Yet this time, he found himself hesitating.

Tch. This game's writers really know what they're doing. He cursed inwardly, as though looking for an excuse.

Despite all the thoughts racing through his mind, Lin Fan quickly assumed an expression both tender and tragic.

He took Bibi Dong's trembling hands and gently pried her fingers from his sleeve, one by one.

"No, Dong'er. You can't come with me! You have to stay!" Lin Fan spoke with the tragic resolve of a man sacrificing his own feelings for the fate of humanity.

Bibi Dong froze. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Why... Xiao Gang, do you think I'll be a burden?"

"Because Spirit Hall has stood for ten thousand years. It's too vast!"

Lin Fan placed his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "If we raise the banner of resistance outside but have no one to help us from within, the faint light of the common people will never pierce this sacred city's towering walls!"

"Dong'er, listen to me! We can't overthrow the old world by running off together! You must stay in Spirit Hall. Use your position as saintess to climb to the pinnacle of power and take control of the resources we can use!"

"I'll go out to the lowest, darkest slums and light a fire fierce enough to sweep across the land! And you'll stay deep inside this sacred city and hold half of Spirit Hall for me!"

Lin Fan pulled Bibi Dong into his arms. Resting his chin against her hair, he delivered the final stroke of his grand deception in a voice only she could hear. "When the day comes that my army stands at the city gates, you'll be the one I trust most on the inside! We'll strike from within and without, crushing this man-eating old world together!"

"For that dream, we must endure being apart. Can you... do it?"

Bibi Dong leaned against Lin Fan's chest and listened to his steady, powerful heartbeat.

Her body, which had been trembling with fear, grew still.

But that calm lasted only a few seconds.

"Xiao Gang, I'm scared!"

Her voice came muffled from his embrace, carrying a weakness she was reluctant to admit. "I'm not afraid of Qian Xunji. I'm afraid... afraid I can't do it alone! You want me to stay in Spirit Hall and help you from within, but how? I can barely lie. Every time I see my teacher, my legs shake."

She raised her head, tears still in her eyes. But the heat of love was no longer all that filled them; there was also the bewilderment of someone struggling to breathe beneath the weight of an enormous mission.

Looking at her, Lin Fan had a strange thought: Bibi Dong's expression was remarkably nuanced.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"No one is born knowing how to do these things! You couldn't before because you'd never been pushed that far."

"Starting today, you'll learn one thing every day—observe! Watch Qian Xunji's every move. Watch how power shifts in the Elder Hall. Watch who can be won over and who you must avoid."

"You don't need to rush to become a revolutionary! Right now, you only need to survive and remember everything you observe. Tell me when we meet again."

Bibi Dong listened intently. She sniffled, nodded hard, and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"I can do it!"

Her voice still shook a little, but it was far steadier than before. "One thing a day. I can do that."

A tiny flame kindled in the eyes that had once held only a young girl's longing for love.

Through countless nights to come, that flame would sustain her as she walked alone through Spirit Hall's deepest darkness.

Lin Fan said nothing more. He merely reached out and patted the top of her head.

The gesture came so naturally that he did not even realize it was not something a player would do to an NPC.

They gazed at each other in the flickering candlelight. Neither spoke another grand declaration. All the vows lovers made beneath flowers and moonlight paled beside this charge, weightier than a mountain.

Bound by their grand shared faith, their two hearts drew close together.