A bloody transaction

I really did guess right... Using this Charm Skill actually changed my appearance, too.

In a dim alley in the old district, Ren Ye walked ahead, leading the way, his appearance transformed into that of a classical beauty.

He felt strange inside and uncomfortable all over. It kept feeling as though something was missing down below, leaving him oddly empty...

Behind him, old Xu was a determined man, too. Carrying four large bags, he walked along panting, but never once considered backing out. His commitment to indulging himself was unwavering.

"Sweetheart... do we really have to cross provincial lines for this little bit of business?" Sweat poured down old Xu's forehead. "Do you actually have a place?"

"We're here, we're here."

Ren Ye slowly stopped. The fork on the left led toward a small factory, with little groves on both sides of the road and hardly anyone around. "Come on, sir, right here...!"

"Outdoors?!" Old Xu was stunned. "I'm wearing Ralph Lauren! You haven't spent a cent on your workplace. I'm docking your pay!"

"Oh, just come over."

Despite his complaints, old Xu followed the hip-swaying Ren Ye down the left fork, stopping right beside the grove.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Ren Ye whipped around, a bewitching light shining in his eyes as he softly recited, "Food and desire are human nature. Who could resist my endless charms?"

Old Xu looked up. Their gazes met, and his pupils instantly grew more focused, his expression wooden. A dirty old man's stubborn fixation spread across his face...

Noticing the change, Ren Ye stepped into the grove and beckoned. "Come here!"

Old Xu craned his neck, abandoned all four bags, and followed him in with the look of a desperate lapdog. "I really... want to do it with you...!"

"Shut up. Call me master." Standing in the shadows, Ren Ye snapped at him coldly.

"Master...!" Old Xu stared fixedly at Ren Ye, his eyes already looking ready to devour him.

"What's your name?"

"Xu Ye."

"Where do you work?" Ren Ye asked again. At the same time, he probed with his mind and discovered that a subtle connection had formed between him and the old man.

No wonder Liu Ling'er had followed Er Leng into the secret chamber so decisively. After charming someone, she could sense whether they were loyal to her.

"I'm a deputy editor-in-chief at the Chinese Platform. I also have a little... little studio that takes manuscript submissions." Old Xu stared straight at Ren Ye, his voice trembling as he spoke.

"Where did the historical transmigration manuscript you gave Ren Daguo to revise come from?" Ren Ye asked the crucial question.

"I partnered with a short-drama company. They wanted a story about the protagonist transmigrating into a useless prince, so I came up with the concept and outline." Unable to resist, old Xu took two steps forward and slowly raised his arm.

Smack!

Just as the hand was about to touch his chest, Ren Ye slapped old Xu's arm away and quickly asked, "Are you a player?"

"?!"

Old Xu visibly froze. "Wh... what player?"

Hearing that answer, Ren Ye went completely blank.

He could feel the subtle connection between them. That meant... old Xu wasn't lying.

Silence. After a brief silence, Ren Ye asked again, "Does Ren Daguo, the man working with you, have a leading role in shaping this story?"

"No." Old Xu raised his arm again. "He only revises parts of the plot, characterization, details, things like that... Master, I... I really can't hold back anymore."

Clenching his delicate fists, Ren Ye reacted instantly and scolded, "You must obey my commands... You must forget the questions just now, forget the answers just now, forget... forget...!"

Confusion slowly seeped into old Xu's eyes. He backed away two steps in a daze and slowly grabbed his hair. "Wait, I... what did I just... just say...?!"

Whoosh!

Taking advantage of the opening, Ren Ye stopped bothering with him and started out of the grove.

Rustle...

As he moved, his body brushed against willow branches, producing a faint rustling sound.

Old Xu looked up. Seeing his master about to run away, he instantly panicked. "I... I can't hold back anymore."

"Go back!"

Ren Ye turned and reprimanded him with a frown.

"I want it so badly... You're so beautiful... so damn sexy...!" Old Xu kept shaking his head, the remnants of reason in his mind struggling against his frenzied obsession.

At his words, Ren Ye's "delicate body" suddenly shuddered, and an ominous feeling rose in his heart.

He suddenly remembered that Er Leng had once been dragged into a grove. If she'd had a choice, Liu Ling'er wouldn't have needed to... get passionate with him outdoors, unless she was a serious addict herself.

But under those circumstances, that possibility was practically zero.

The only explanation was that someone successfully charmed would indeed obey their "master" unconditionally, but they still needed release.

Ren Ye also suspected that the weaker someone's willpower, the stronger that obsession would become.

"...!"

"I... I really can't hold back anymore!" Old Xu breathed heavily through his nose, his eyes erupting with near-madness. He suddenly lunged forward and wrapped Ren Ye in his arms.

The overpowering scent of an older man filled his nostrils. Trapped in that tight embrace, Ren Ye went rigid, his face turning white with fright. "Go back! Stand against the wall!"

"I'm not going back! Just once, even if it kills me...!" Old Xu opened his mouth wide and went straight for Ren Ye's head, looking as though he wanted to swallow him whole.

"Don't get excited! I'm scared you'll die on top of me! This isn't worth someone dying over. Get the fuck back over there!"

"I don't care anymore!"

"I... I'm calling the police!" Terrified, Ren Ye tried to break free, but discovered that old Xu had become much stronger. His hair was a mess, and he was working away at Ren Ye with both hands and feet.

Thud!

During their struggle, Ren Ye's right leg caught on something, sending him crashing onto his back.

"Here I come!" Old Xu leaped and pounced down at him.

Smack!

Ren Ye landed a huge slap on him. "I'm your master!"

"It's my master I want to fuck!"

"I give up! I'll give you five hundred yuan. Go have another look around, okay?!"

Thump!

Smack!

Crash!

Unable to reach a consensus, the two went from reasoning with each other to wrestling, and finally to outright combat.

Until someone was pushed into a desperate situation, they could never know their own potential.

Under the moonlight, Ren Ye beat up a man in his fifties, while that man's conviction soared. Fearless in the face of punches and kicks, he insisted on getting his money's worth...

About twenty minutes later, a young man stood by the main road, carrying one shoe. His clothes were disheveled, and his face was covered in drool.

Swaying with every step, utterly drained, he made his way to an SUV and knocked on the window. "Quick... get me some water."

Clunk!

Huang Wei, Gu Nian, Xu Peng, and the others pushed open the doors and rushed out. When they saw that it was Ren Ye, looking thoroughly bedraggled, their expressions filled with shock.

"What happened to you?!" Gu Nian asked, blinking her large eyes.

"...Ran into some crazy old bastard. He screwed me over." Ren Ye waved weakly. "Quick, give me some water."

Huang Wei looked at Ren Ye in bewilderment, taking in his appearance and his torn trousers. Instinctively, he asked, "What kind of screwing are we talking about? Do you need to get examined...?"

"What are you talking about? I got into a fight with that old man!" Ren Ye's face flushed red.

"...Why were you fighting an old man?" Xu Peng took a full five or six seconds to process it before asking slowly.

"It's a long story." Ren Ye looked at Huang Wei and reminded him, "My dad's here."

Huang Wei turned and glanced around, then nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'll make the arrangements."

Inside an ordinary apartment building.

Knock, knock, knock...

Hearing the knock, Dad turned and walked into the hall with a cigarette in his mouth, then opened the door. "You were only buying a few things. What took so long...?"

Before he could finish, Dad's mouth fell open in shock, and his cigarette dropped to the floor. Old Xu's white suit was covered in green grass, every strand of his hair stood on end, his nose was bleeding, and his eyes were bruised. "...What... happened to you?!"

Holding his nose, old Xu cursed through clenched teeth. "You probably won't believe me, but a streetwalker beat the shit out of me... That woman must've had training. Her fists came down like rain...!"

"?"

Dad was utterly dumbfounded. "Why were you fighting her?"

"Did I want to fight?! She hit me first... Dragged me over by the Insole Factory and beat me senseless. I don't know what happened. It was like I was possessed. I got carried away and almost forced myself on her. Fucking cursed, that's what it was." Old Xu walked inside, cursing all the way.

"Then call the police," Dad suggested.

"Are you stupid? What would I tell them? That I tried to hire a prostitute, failed, and got beaten up?" Old Xu went into the bathroom.

Dad glanced toward the door. "Then... you didn't buy anything?"

"Fuck! I was so focused on fighting that I left everything I bought over by the Insole Factory...!"

"You're really something." Dad was speechless. "Then go get it back."

"Get it back, my ass! What if she comes back and beats me up again?" Old Xu replied. "You go. Have a good look around in the grove."

A little while later, Dad left.

Old Xu came out of the bathroom, picked up the manuscript notebook from the table, and sat down in a chair, muttering, "How can I revise this... to make it satisfying?!"

By the roadside.

Huang Wei arranged for three people to stay behind, then they drove off in two cars with Ren Ye.

"What exactly did you come here for?" Gu Nian asked curiously.

"Maybe I've just been too sensitive lately and overthought things." Looking out the car window, Ren Ye carefully went over what had just happened once more.

While charmed, old Xu's condition had been extremely stable, and the subtle connection between them had never broken. His words... hadn't been lies at all.

That meant all the earlier speculation had been wrong. The story Dad was revising and the Qingliang Town scenario were probably just a simple coincidence of ideas.

Such things weren't unusual in the webnovel industry. Many writers came up with overlapping ideas, while the specific details and settings generally differed.

The Star Gate had kept his nerves stretched taut lately. Had he just... been overthinking it?

"...Do you want some medicine?" After thinking for a long time, Xu Peng finally worked up the courage to ask Ren Ye.

"What medicine?" Ren Ye felt sore all over. "Does it work?"

"Shut up!" Huang Wei turned and snapped at Xu Peng. "That old man might not kill him, but you definitely could! Let me make this absolutely clear: you cannot give him any medicine. Got it?!"

"Oh." Xu Peng answered resentfully.

Ren Ye withdrew his curious gaze and rubbed his aching cheek, unable to help sighing. "Good thing I had Dad's turtle soup tonight. Otherwise, I really might not have beaten him...!"

A small county town in Xiangjiang City.

Inside a theater, a middle-aged man sat in front of a mirror, applying makeup.

Beside him, a shifty-looking young man said quietly, "Mr. He, Wang Hong is dead. Her daughter and that kid are here."

"Let them in."