I was too kind

The convoy sped down the dirt road outside the city.

As time ticked by.

Rows of ice spikes suddenly appeared on the road ahead, blocking it completely.

The truck had no time to stop and crashed straight into them, finally rolling over onto the ground.

Like dominoes, the trucks behind it stopped one after another.

"Dark Pavilion..."

"Zhao Qingyi?"

Several people climbed out of the trucks and huddled together nervously. Looking at the ice spikes glistening faintly in the moonlight nearby, they spoke instinctively.

In a nearby tree, a girl wearing a somewhat old-fashioned white dress looked down at them expressionlessly.

Behind the girl stood a somewhat illusory ice sculpture.

The ice sculpture had a female form.

It radiated an icy chill.

Four pale blue gems were embedded in it.

Suddenly, the second gem flashed. The ice spikes on the ground shot up, shattered into tiny blades of ice in midair, and rained down from above.

"Ice Rain!"

"Damn it, didn't the God Servant say Ink Pavilion wouldn't dare attack us?"

They cried out in despair.

Though Awakening Objects barely managed to appear behind them, they were nothing but pens, paper, and even a computer mouse.

And not a single crystal was embedded in any of them.

By comparison...

They were a sorry sight.

Within mere seconds, they lay on the ground, their breaths gone for good, still filled with unwillingness.

Blood stained the tiny ice blades as they melted and seeped into the soil.

Zhao Qingyi's expression never changed from beginning to end, not even at the gruesome scene before her.

She turned and floated lightly away from the tree.

Then...

She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Hss..."

She quickly got up and cautiously checked her surroundings. Once she was sure no one else was nearby, Zhao Qingyi's expression turned icy again, and she gradually disappeared into the night.

The ice sculpture behind her slowly faded away.

"Did I just..."

"Imagine that?"

In the distance, a young man dressed in Ink Pavilion attire hid in the shadows, watching.

He asked somewhat hesitantly.

Another companion nodded uncertainly. "Probably not... right?"

"The ice goddess of my dreams..."

For a moment, the young men from Ink Pavilion who had stayed hidden the entire time felt their youth come to an end... along with Zhao Qingyi's fall.

An ice goddess... who wouldn't love her?

But how the hell had she melted?

"Forget it. Let's take over the supplies first."

"If we're late, the team leader will start cursing again."

Only after Zhao Qingyi had gone far away did they hurry out, move all the crates from the overturned truck onto the trucks behind it, then climb aboard, turn around, and drive back toward Baichun City.

On the road.

Zhao Qingyi was still walking calmly beneath the moonlight.

Her pace was unhurried.

In the moonlight, her stunning face held the gaze, as though a fairy had descended into the mortal world.

She looked so otherworldly, so ethereal.

Especially with that old-fashioned white dress, she stood out all the more.

Soon, trucks roared past her one after another.

The Ink Pavilion members driving them kept their eyes straight ahead.

As though they hadn't seen the goddess at all.

Zhao Qingyi stiffened for a moment, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly, but she still maintained her elegance.

"Pavilion Master Lin, is Ink Pavilion really this insincere?"

The phone rang.

The hoarse voice carried anger.

Pavilion Master Lin reluctantly let go of his mouse and replied, "You make it sound like you're a good person."

"What?"

"If I didn't attack, would you have released them?"

"You bastards just need a beating."

"You really think I'm some cultured gentleman just because I played along and chatted with you?"

"Fucking putting on airs."

Pavilion Master Lin had completely lost the refined manner he'd shown half an hour earlier and instead hurled mocking insults into the phone.

The other end stayed silent for a long time.

It seemed the caller hadn't expected the deputy pavilion master of a provincial-capital-level Ink Pavilion branch to have this sort of personality.

"An insult to refinement."

"You'll pay for this."

The hoarse voice turned somewhat cold, and the caller hung up.

"Can't even talk normally. Have to force your voice down."

"What are you, the world's number one voice-lowerer?"

"Coming to Jiangbei Province to act tough? Sooner or later, I'll drag you out, string you up, and beat you."

With a scoff, Pavilion Master Lin muttered a few more words, then focused all his attention on the computer screen again.

The office was pitch-black.

Only the computer screen still gave off a dim glow, illuminating Pavilion Master Lin's slightly balding head and his tense, intent face.

A long while later...

"Fuck, lost again!"

"If it weren't for that dumbass's call, how could I have lost?"

"Broke my whole train of thought."

Pavilion Master Lin cursed, then plunged back into the tense atmosphere.

"Move!"

Glancing at his phone, the man in the suit coughed twice, stood, and declared fervently, "Brothers, the God Servant just sent word that he's been watching over us all along!"

"Even... God is watching."

"This time, we'll all become slaves of God."

"Be with God."

"Remain ever at his side!"

The suited man's speech brimmed with fervor.

The others grew excited too, all shouting, "Be with God!"

Their gazes fell on the abandoned factory in the distance.

Mad and devout.

"Charge!"

The suited man roared and charged out first.

The others followed close behind.

Awakening Objects appeared behind them, and the suited man's even had two crystals embedded in it.

"Just what kind of idiot is that cult's new God Servant?"

"Can't even get intelligence work right."

"What can a handful of misfits like these accomplish?"

"Isn't this just a waste of time?"

Watching them from afar, Luo Yun curled his lip and grumbled discontentedly as a wolf's silhouette appeared behind him.

The first crystal lit up.

The wolf lunged at Luo Yun and merged with him.

The next instant, Luo Yun vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in front of them.

"Heh heh."

"Have a big fucking slap!"

Luo Yun grinned with some excitement, a hint of blue-green even coloring his pupils.

The next instant, he picked up the cook with one hand and casually flung him into a tree.

With a wail, the cook lay screaming on the ground, unable to get up again.

The suited man panicked, turned, and ran.

The remaining beggar still muttered, "Be with God," as he charged recklessly toward the factory.

"Forget it. I'll leave one for them to play with."

"Let them experience just what the difference is... between killing monsters and killing people!"

"Tsk, tsk. I'm too kind."

Like a cat playing with a mouse, Luo Yun trailed behind the suited man, not forgetting to praise himself.