In a dim and narrow alley, several shady-looking men were carrying something quickly. They turned a corner and stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden door.
“Open up.” The leader of the group pounded on the wooden door.
“Coming.”
The wooden door was pulled open, and a person inside peeked out. “Boss!”
“Shh.” The leader of the group raised a finger, looking around nervously as if fearing eavesdroppers. He quickly glanced down both ends of the alley and saw no suspicious figures. Only then did he impatiently say, “Let’s talk inside. Don’t make a fuss outside.”
The person inside the gate heard the words and pulled open the door in their hand. They turned sideways, allowing several suspicious-looking men to carry a tightly wrapped object inside. Then, the wooden door closed swiftly with a crisp sound, and a lock fell into place from the inside.
On the roof opposite the wooden door, two people stood. One held a sword, dressed as a guard, and in front of him was a young gentleman who was gently fanning himself.
“Master,” the guard looked at the young gentleman, “do you want to go down and rescue them?”
The young gentleman smiled slyly while waving his folding fan, “Not in a hurry, let’s wait a bit longer.”
Only when rescuing someone in the most critical moment would yield the greatest gratitude.
…
Zheng Er walked to the door of the room. Even before pushing it open, he sensed something was amiss. There was no sign of anyone inside the room. The crown prince had never practiced inner strength, so he naturally couldn’t conceal his presence.
Zheng Er’s expression turned cold. He forcefully pushed the door open and quickly scanned the empty room.
Trouble.
Zheng Er turned and walked to the other end of the corridor, raising his hand to lightly knock.
…
Qi Heng was originally meditating and recuperating. Although his soul was damaged, the intensity of his solidified soul remained, along with the insights and experiences from his past life. It was like something you’ve already done once, gone through all the possible failures, and finally achieved success. And now, you need to do it again. With the experience and lessons from the previous attempt, would it still be difficult?
Not difficult. But what if there was an added restriction this time? What if there was something that would kick you out of the game as soon as you touched it?
Qi Heng was currently in this situation. His cultivation was stuck at the tenth level of Qi Refinement, but he knew it wasn’t a mistake in his cultivation. It was the rules of this world that limited him. The spiritual energy here was thin and couldn’t support higher-level cultivators.
Before Qi Heng, there seemed to be a barrier, one he could break through, but his subconscious told him that once he broke it, the consciousness of this world would notice him and then throw him out of the world.
A cultivator’s sixth sense was never just speculation; it was guidance and warning.
It was like a system with only 4GB of memory. It couldn’t handle files exceeding 4GB, and once the memory was full, it would cause the system to slow down. To reduce the lag, memory had to be freed up and viruses killed.
The world’s way of cleaning “memory” was to throw out the main culprit causing the overflow.
Knock, knock, knock.
Qi Heng opened his eyes, and his fingers moved slightly, releasing a burst of energy that made the door latch fall.
“Come in.”
Zheng Er pushed the door open and walked up to Qi Heng. He lowered his voice and said, “Master, the crown prince is missing.”
“Missing?” Qi Heng furrowed his brow. He closed his eyes and released his spiritual sense, with the inn as the center. Surprisingly, there was no trace of Qi Shao within a radius of three hundred meters. However, Qi Shao had no money on him. Relying solely on his legs, accustomed to a life of luxury, he couldn’t have left this area in such a short time.
“Shall I go inquire outside?” Zheng Er suggested.
Qi Heng opened his eyes and replied, “No need. Let’s go to the alley in the south of the city; he’s there.”
He had heard Qi Shao’s voice.
“Understood.” Zheng Er didn’t doubt the truthfulness of Qi Heng’s words. Qi Heng put on his concealing barrier again, and the two of them descended the stairs together.
“It’s getting late. Are you two guests heading out?” The innkeeper behind the counter noticed and greeted them with a friendly smile.
“Our Second Young Master went out, and he hasn’t returned yet. We’re newcomers to Fufeng City. We’re a bit worried that something might have happened to him outside,” Zheng Er expressed his concern, sighing. “Innkeeper, have you noticed the direction he went when he left?”
The innkeeper pondered momentarily, then beckoned a waiter and asked a few questions. The waiter nodded at first but then shook his head.
The innkeeper turned back to them and said, “I was busy with bookkeeping and didn’t pay much attention to what was happening around, but the waiter said he saw the young man in blue clothes leave the inn and head left. But he lost sight of him afterward.”
“Thank you for the information,” Zheng Er replied with a slightly relieved tone. He walked over to Qi Heng and pointed in the direction. “The innkeeper said that the Second Young Master went that way. Let’s go and find him there.”
Qi Heng nodded. As they left the inn, Zheng Er immediately removed his disguise.
“It seems like our Second…the Crown Prince might be in trouble,” Zheng Er said. “When I saw the waiter speak, he seemed to cast suspicious glances at you.”
“No need to worry; there’s no threat to his life,” Qi Heng replied calmly. “We made quite a scene when we entered the inn and intentionally exposed our wealth. It’s not surprising that when he chose to run out, he got robbed.”
“Why did you have to bring the Crown Prince with you, Master?” Zheng Er’s expression showed clear disdain. In his eyes, Qi Shao was someone who accomplished little and caused more trouble than good.
“If I hadn’t brought him, it would have been you traveling a thousand miles to search for his mother today,” Qi Heng replied.
Zheng Er recalled the melodramatic backstory he had fabricated for the Crown Prince and shuddered. As an orphan with no parents, he didn’t want to be involved in the heartwarming story of a child traveling far and wide to find his mother.
Zheng Er thought to himself that he would never consider Qi Shao as surplus anymore.
The “surplus” Qi Shao was abruptly awakened by a bucket of cold water. Before he could fully comprehend the situation, several people held him down and searched his body. Of course, they found nothing except a bronze plaque engraved with the character “Wei.”
“Pah, so poor,” the scar-faced man holding a kitchen knife pressed it against Qi Shao’s neck.
“Where’s your money? Hand it over.”
The sharp blade against his delicate skin made Qi Shao feel the pain of being cut. Terrified, he stammered, “K-knife…big brother, let’s talk. Don’t don’t move the knife.”
“Don’t dilly-dally, hand over the silver,” the scar-faced man roared angrily, pressing the knife even harder.
Regret filled Qi Shao’s heart. He shouldn’t have come out without any money.
“Big brother, let’s make a deal,” Qi Shao cautiously began, “Look, you’ve searched me. I really don’t have a single piece of silver on me, except for this bronze plaque. How about you take this?”
He frantically reached for the bronze plaque hanging around his neck and held it up.
“Big brother, look at how terrified he is. This kid might really not have any money,” one of the henchmen chimed in.
Back in the capital, if anyone dared to call Qi Shao poor in his presence, he would have definitely been enraged.
At this moment, hearing these words was like grasping a lifeline for him. He nodded repeatedly, but due to the kitchen knife held against his neck, he could only nod slightly.
“I really don’t have any money. How about you take this bronze plaque and exchange it for money? Please, let me go!”
“A worthless bronze plaque is worth how much?” The scar-faced man sneered, spitting as he spoke, making Qi Shao feel sick to his stomach. However, he had to suppress his disgust and not show any signs of provocation.
“Boss, he doesn’t have any money on him, but we can use him to get money,” suggested the henchman with a limp.
“Are you suggesting we demand a ransom from his family?” The scar-faced man squinted, “It’s not a bad idea, but who’s going to write the ransom note?”
“Boss, I can’t write.”
“Me neither.”
“I can’t either.” The limping henchman’s eyes darted around, and he pointed at Qi Shao on the ground. “There’s a ready-made candidate right here. Let him write a letter back to his family, asking them to bring money for his release. His handwriting can serve as proof so that his family doesn’t think we’re trying to deceive them.”
“You have a point,” the scar-faced man affirmed the suggestion of the henchman. Then, he tore a piece of cloth from Qi Shao’s sleeve and threw it onto his face.
“Do you hear that? Write it quickly, or else, I’ll kill you.”
Qi Shao forcefully pulled the tattered cloth from his face, anger burning in his eyes. His fists clenched tightly, and veins bulged on the back of his hand.
A man may be killed but not humiliated.
In his mind, Qi Shao angrily envisioned scenarios of trampling the scar-faced man and pummeling the henchmen. However, when he felt the coldness of the knife’s edge against his neck, he immediately backed down, “I don’t have any writing tools.”
“Writing tools?” The scar-faced man smiled maliciously. “We can get some ink from you by taking a bit of your blood.”
Qi Shao felt the scar-faced man’s gaze roaming over him, seemingly considering the best approach to take.
Inside, Qi Shao was cursing vehemently, struggling to hold back his urge to insult the scar-faced man’s ancestors for eighteen generations.
Ding!
A pebble flew through the air, striking a vital point on the scar-faced man’s arm. He felt a numbing sensation, causing him to drop the kitchen knife he had pressed against Qi Shao’s neck.
Seizing the opportunity, Qi Shao quickly rolled away, putting some distance between himself and the scar-faced man.
Countless roof tiles fell, creating a large hole in the roof, and two men jumped down. One of them immediately engaged in a fight with the scar-faced man and his henchmen.
“Brother, are you alright?”
Qi Shao lifted his head and met a pair of smiling eyes. This person seemed like a young gentleman.
“Is it you?” The young gentleman appeared surprised, and Qi Shao couldn’t quite understand his expression, finding it somewhat perplexing.
“Do we know each other?”
“I saw you before in the inn. People like you, young masters, are rarely seen in Fufeng City. I remembered you at first sight,” the young gentleman replied.
Qi Shao forced a smile. “I see. I’m Wang Shao. I must thank you for saving my life, sir.”
He used the identity given to him by Qi Heng.
The young gentleman waved his hand confidently. “Doing the right thing is only natural. Wang Gongzi1young master need not thank me.”
A henchman was kicked and flew towards them, so both of them silently stepped back to avoid being hit.
“Master,” a voice suddenly came from outside the door. Qi Shao recognized it and felt relieved. Fortunately, Wang Shu2Qi Heng’s disguise had realized he was missing and sent someone to find him.
The wooden door crashed to the ground with a loud noise. Zheng Er saw Qi Shao and immediately turned to Qi Heng. “Master, Second Young Master is here.”
“Is this your family coming to…” The young gentleman looked at the approaching person in white. Although he had a concealment barrier on his head, up close, it couldn’t hide the extraordinary grace of his figure, like that of a celestial being.
The young gentleman immediately turned to Qi Shao, his eyes intense. “Wang Gongzi, I’ve made a friend in you.”
![[Western Fantasy] What Kind of Character Did the Devs Give Me Anyway?](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/冥河摆渡者.jpg "[Western Fantasy] What Kind of Character Did the Devs Give Me Anyway?")
