Scourge Messenger

Chapter 2 Nesser Handheld Game Console

In Chang'an City, at the Duke of Jin's Mansion, outside a room in the inner courtyard, many maids were waiting outside the door. Suddenly, a cold voice came from inside: "Wu Qiu, Shi Dong, come in. There are only two of you."

The two maids closest to the room first signaled the others to leave, then quickly entered the room and closed the door. When they saw the person in the room, they couldn't help but show surprise, and laughed softly, "Where did you get that wolf hat, young lady? It's so cute!"

The person in the room was none other than the Black Wolf who had appeared in the Thieves' House.

The black wolf glanced at the two maids, howled, and made a grabbing gesture: "Dare to make fun of me, believe it or not, I will bite you!"

After some joking around, the two maids took off Black Wolf's hood, coat, chain mail, inner armor, skirt armor, shoulder guards and other protective gear. Even though they were quite skilled, it still took them a lot of effort to remove the armor, especially since some of the armor was mixed with mountain copper and refined gold, which was thin and heavy. Just taking it off made the two maids sweat.

After removing his armor, the once sturdy Black Wolf transformed into a tall young woman. She instructed Wu Qiu and Shi Dong to maintain the armor, then walked out of the room and asked the guards outside, "Yu Fu, where is the Duke now?"

The guard commander responded, "I am meeting with my subordinates in Changqiuzhai."

"Inform the Duke, I have something important to report."

"Yes."

Heilang quickly arrived at the courtyard of Changqiuzhai and waited. A moment later, a middle-aged official emerged from the building. Heilang took the initiative to greet him, "Lord Yang, thank you for your hard work in state affairs."

"It's not hard work. If I don't work hard for state affairs, how can I repay the Grand Chancellor's kindness in promoting me?" the middle-aged official responded quickly. "I also ask the young lady to persuade the Grand Chancellor to take care of his health. I see that the Grand Chancellor works day and night for state affairs, and I am truly worried. The Great Zhou cannot live without the Grand Chancellor for a single day."

"I wish to know. Lord Yang is truly a loyal man that my father relies on."

After Heilang entered Changqiuzhai, she waited for the guards outside to close the door before she immediately said to the middle-aged man behind the desk, "Dad, Yang Xing is a treacherous man who pretends to be loyal. He is cunning and deceitful. You must never entrust important matters to him."

Before Black Wolf stood the master of Changqiuzhai, the Duke of Jin, Grand Tutor, Grand Marshal, Grand Chancellor, and Pharmacist Moke, the Grand Master of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Pharmacist Moke smiled and said, "Of course I know. Those people in Yangxing are trying every possible way to get their hands on the secret realm controlled by the Pharmacist family, but aren't we also trying to take away the secret realm they control? Father knows what's going on. By the way, I hope you can find me if you need anything."

"Yes."

Black Wolf, Yaoshi Yuan, daughter of Yaoshi Moka, said: "I was recruited into the secret realm of the Thieves' House and accepted a theft mission. The target is the Bingzi Pepper Forest kept by Anguo Temple."

"House of Thieves?!"

Pharmacist Moke stood up quickly and walked quickly to Pharmacist Yuan.

"You're not in danger, are you?"

"No, just like the rumors say, the Thieves' House is just a safe house for thieves. There are no secret demons there." Yao Shiyuan said, "And the Thieves' House has the power of teleportation. I can now go back and forth between the Thieves' House and the Duke of Jin's Mansion at any time... Father, the Thieves' House can quietly teleport me to the Duke of Jin's Mansion, so it can definitely teleport me anywhere in the world!"

"As long as we control the thieves' home, our Great Zhou army can descend upon Liang's Jiangnan and Qi's Never-Night City, and the whole world will be ours!"

Although his daughter was painting a grand vision, Pharmacist Mo Ke remained unmoved. Instead, he asked, "I remember that the House of Thieves only recruits experienced thieves. Why were you invited? Speaking of which, last year, a notorious thief named 'Yelang' appeared in Chang'an. Back then, you volunteered to take on the Yelang case with your Embroidered Uniform Guard. As a result, more and more nobles have been victimized, and many have come to me to complain about this."

Pharmacist Yuan snorted coldly, "Those people are so fat and bloated that they only know how to have fun all day long. Why not use their money to strengthen the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

"You, you." Pharmacist Mo Ke shook his head. "If you accidentally reveal your identity, do you know what others will say?"

"If they knew the Chang'an thief was the daughter of the Duke of Jin, they would definitely put the treasure in the most conspicuous place." Yao Shiyuan said nonchalantly: "Dad, why did you win over those useless people from the Yuwen and Helan families? On the contrary, you pushed aside the famous generals of the royal family, such as the Duke of Ancheng County and the Duke of Wei?"

Pharmacist Mo Ke raised his eyebrows. "How can you interfere in national affairs? Who asked you to speak to Pharmacist Xian, Du Shuyu and the others?"

"No one asked me to do that. Over the past two years, my spies have been all over Chang'an. Besides using them to find out which nobles are rich, we've also obtained a lot of real intelligence." Yao Shiyuan said, "Dad, I've been holding back from telling you, but the people you trust are all good-for-nothings, and you're hostile to those who are capable. If this continues—"

"Shut up!"

Pharmacist Moko shouted, and Pharmacist Yuan fell silent. After a moment, he exhaled and spoke calmly, "The Yuwen and Helan families are both pillars of the Great Zhou, holding military power in the Secret Realm. If we don't unite them, the court will be in chaos. And if the court is in chaos, the whole region will be in chaos. Do you know how many spies in Qi and Liang are waiting for us to reveal our weaknesses? For the greater good, you must never say such things again."

"I wish I knew."

"Let's continue with the story of the Thieves' House." Pharmacist Mo Ke didn't want to antagonize his daughter. "You've always planned before you acted since you were little. Since you've come to me, you must have a plan in mind."

"Now that we've confirmed the existence of the Thieves' House, we naturally have to seize it," Yao Shiyuan said. "The Thieves' House has recruited four thieves in total, and they'll teleport us to Suzaku Street in five days. Dad will then send people to ambush the other three at Anguo Temple and capture them. He'll only let me complete the theft mission, and then I'll become the sole owner of the Thieves' House."

"But to prevent the House of Thieves from recruiting more thieves, Dad, you'd better find three skilled fighters and have them become famous thieves as quickly as possible. That way, the House of Thieves will remain a secret place of our Great Zhou no matter what."

Pharmacist Moke pondered for a moment and did not agree immediately.

Yaoshi Yuan found it incredible. She believed that the fact that the Thieves' House's first mission landed in Chang'an was a stroke of luck for the Great Zhou. After all, no matter how powerful the other three thieves were, they would be trapped by the twelve armies of the Left Guard. Why hesitate when such an opportunity was within their grasp?
"This is a matter of great importance. I need to think about it." Pharmacist Mo Ke said, "You go down first."

He paused, then continued, "First, pretend you really want to rob the Bingzi Jiaolin forest. Don't reveal your true identity. If there's any danger, it's better to abandon the thieves' home than take the risk."

"Don't worry, Dad. I won't let anyone find out." Pharmacist Yuan said seriously, "The Thieves' House will definitely become a new secret place for my Great Zhou!"

……

...

In the Nevernight City, at the Lecheng County Magistrate's Mansion, a figure wearing a white fox mask suddenly appeared in the empty room. Before she could even take off her clothes, she heard a hurried voice from outside: "County Magistrate, County Magistrate, are you back?"

"What's the matter?"

"His Majesty has summoned you to the palace twice!"

Startled, Bai Hu quickly removed her mask and armor. By the time she left, she had transformed into a graceful and elegantly dressed female county lady. A carriage had already been prepared, and soon Bai Hu entered the palace through a side gate. There, she could not ride, but had to walk. A eunuch wearing a black veil led the way without a word.

Inside the palace, there was a guard post every five steps and a sentry every ten steps. Guards wearing evil ghost masks stood on the roadside like tombstones. Although the sun was shining brightly and the palace complex was magnificent and golden, the palace seemed to be filled with gloomy air. There was not even a trace of wind. It was as quiet as a cemetery, as if there were no other living things in the entire palace except the white fox and the eunuch who led the way.

Walk through the winding road and climb the long steps.

When the white fox arrived at the door of the hall, the four evil ghost guards guarding the door glanced at her, and a chilling malice ran through the white fox's body.

The evil ghost guards said nothing. They moved like steel molds filled with lead, pushing open the golden palace door with their bare hands. The windows of the hall were closed, and it was pitch black, illuminated only by candlelight in broad daylight. A sweet, sickening smell rushed towards the white fox like a fleeing creature, nearly suffocating it. A huge fire seemed to be burning in the center of the hall, making it difficult to see clearly.

The white fox felt something was wrong as soon as he took a step in. The blanket under his feet was quite sticky. He took a closer look and found that it was not a blanket, but rotten flesh and blood chopped into pieces and spread on the ground. There were even patterns woven into the textures between the flesh and blood!
The white fox lowered its head and took small steps towards the hall. The closer it got to the huge fireball in the center of the hall, the more it could hear a faint wail and smell a sickening sweetness that melted like honey in its brain.
But she didn't dare to look up. When she reached the steps, her voice remained calm: "Your Majesty, it is here."

"look up."

The white fox looked up. Even though she was mentally prepared, she was still frightened by the scene before her.

The beautiful woman on the throne was only wearing a translucent gauze dress and was lying on it almost naked. Nine tails extended from her back. The huge ball of fire that the white fox saw was because her tails were burning.

But a closer look revealed that it wasn't a tail at all, but rather nine vertebrae spliced ​​together by the woman. Attached to these vertebrae were countless fingers, which twisted and fluttered in the flames, suddenly resembling a furry tail.

The flame seemed to have no temperature, and the finger inside was intact, but the wailing that the white fox heard came from inside the finger, as if countless wronged souls were locked inside the finger!
"If so," the woman asked, "the nine-tailed fox from ancient times must have looked like this, right? Who do you think is more beautiful, me or the legendary nine-tailed fox?"

The white fox suppressed the shock in his heart, nodded and said, "Your Majesty is beautiful."

"Then tell me, are you beautiful or am I beautiful?"

"Your Majesty is beautiful."

"lie!"

As soon as the woman extended her hand, the white fox unexpectedly flew in front of her and placed its chin in her hand. The woman inserted two fingers into the white fox's mouth and grabbed its tongue. The white fox froze, almost unable to move! Nevernight City was clearly a safe zone where fighting was prohibited. It was one of the three major cities in the Central Plains. In theory, no one in the safe zone of the three major cities could actively harm others. But this woman seemed to be able to bypass this law of heaven and earth and toy with other lives at her fingertips!
"Xuan Jing clearly told me that you are the most beautiful person in Nevernight! Why did you lie to me? Are you going to betray me too?"

The white fox was speechless and could only stare at the woman in despair. The woman released her tongue, and the white fox gasped for air, coughed twice, and then quickly said, "Ru Shi wasn't lying! In Ru Shi's view, beauty is only the most vulgar part of beauty. Strength and power are the true beauty, the beauty that never fades, the beauty that dominates the world! Therefore, the most beautiful person in Da Qi must be you, Your Majesty! In Your Majesty's eyes, I, Ying Ru Shi, am nothing but a skeleton, not worth mentioning!"

The woman in front of Ying Rushi was none other than the King of Great Qi, Ying Le.

Ying Le remained silent, caressing Ying Rushi's face. A cold, pale smile gradually crept across her face, something unknown to her. Ying Rushi's heart trembled, and she quickly said, "I've just been recruited by 'The Thieves' House'!"

Ying Le was startled, and immediately sat up straight with a serious expression.

"A secret thief's home that can teleport to anywhere in the world? No wonder you suddenly disappeared from the Nightless City... What did you encounter in there?"

Looking at Ying Le who was listening attentively, Ying Ru was in a trance. She seemed to see the wise and brave empress who was respectful to the wise and humble again... But the nine burning and wailing tails behind Ying Le, the almost naked body, and the sweet smell of blood in the air quickly brought Ying Ru back to reality.

Ying Ru briefly described the thieves' home and their target, then analyzed, "I can roughly guess the origins of the other three thieves. Black Wolf speaks with a Da Qi accent, but some of his colloquialisms are Zhou-style, making him clearly from Zhou. Red Snake's accent and grammar are both from the south, so he's probably from Liang. Yellow Dog's accent doesn't reveal his origin, and he doesn't talk much, but judging by his movements, he seems rather timid, so he's probably a thief with little combat ability."

Ying Le interrupted her: "The only thieves in Da Qi are the thief group 'Fox Ghost'. Are you related to Fox Ghost?"

Ying Rushi knelt on the carpet of flesh and blood and confessed his crime: "At first, it was just because there were a few disobedient clans when I was the county magistrate, so I wanted to use bandits to eliminate them. Later, I realized that they could be used to gather some strong men who refused to obey the court. Rather than let these people harm the people, I decided to manage them and do some dirty work. So I formed the Fox Ghosts. I was recruited by the House of Thieves because I was the leader of the Fox Ghosts."

"The Fox Ghost has grown stronger recently, and I am no longer able to handle it. I implore Your Majesty to send someone to take over."

At this moment, a sound of orderly footsteps could be heard outside the hall. Ying Rushi looked back and saw that it was a group of evil ghost warriors coming in. When they approached, Ying Rushi's face turned pale instantly - each evil ghost warrior had three or four human heads tied to his waist!
Moreover, these heads were exactly the best fighters and leaders among the 'fox ghosts' under her command!

The evil ghost warrior took off the human heads and placed them on the ground, forming a Jingguan called "Fox Ghost", and then left the hall without saying a word.

"From now on, you can focus on planning your own business." Ying Le flicked his fingers, and a ball of fire burned the fox ghost's Jingguan to ashes, as if flicking away dust. "How could a county lord of our Ying family, a member of the imperial clan, get involved with such a despicable and wild ghost?"

"I understand now." Ying Rushi's head was pressed against the carpet, and the sweat from his forehead flowed into the squirming flesh on the carpet.

Although the fox ghost's base was not far from Nevernight, this speed was too scary. The only possibility was that when Ying Le found out that she was not in Nevernight, he immediately sent people to kill the fox ghost!

No suspicion, no interrogation, no prior procedures, just kill directly!

"I've never heard of anyone being able to master the secrets of the Thieves' House. I don't ask anything of you. Just prevent others from mastering the Thieves' House. But I'm very interested in Bingzi Jiaolin."

"If so, I will present the Bingzi Jiaolin to Your Majesty!"

……

...

Jiangnan City, a merchant city, a place to live far away.

Zhiyuanju was the study of Shang Qia, the third son of the prime minister of Liang State and the general in charge of the army. Normally, no one dared to break in, but at this moment, Shang Qia had to stop his work and receive the uninvited guest.

"Who offended you again?"

"Look, I haven't even said anything yet, and my brother is already like this." Shang Xinlei sat down and covered her face with her hands, crying: "I know that I am not as interesting as other sisters. After all, my brother doesn't have me in his heart."

Shang Qie was completely helpless against his sister. Her father doted on her as his only daughter, and she was already lawless in the mansion. After becoming a messenger, she was even more uncontrollable. He let out a long breath and took out his token. "Take it. Do whatever you want with it. Just remember to return it to me when you're done."

"Brother, you guessed wrong. I'm not here to ask you for anything. Instead, I'm here to bring you some great news." Shang Xinlei didn't take the token and said proudly, "I just came back from the Thieves' House."

"Oh...huh?"

Shang Qia was stunned for a moment before reacting: "You were recruited by the Thieves' House? I remember that the Thieves' House is a secret place for four people. Did you reveal your identity? ...Wait, how did you get recruited into the Thieves' House?"

"Ah? Third brother, don't you know I'm the Feathered Serpent?" Shang Xinlei picked up the cake and started eating, stuffing her cheeks full. "I've asked you to help me sell the stolen goods several times, and I thought you already knew."

Shang Qia suddenly stood up and said, "You are actually the Phantom Thief Quetzalcoatl!?"

"You don't even know that I'm Phantom Thief Quetzalcoatl. Brother, you really don't value me at all." Shang Xinlei sighed and said, "Brother, if you have such an attitude, you might as well just ignore me."

"You, I, you..." Shang Qia rubbed his temple and sat down. "I thought you were just playing around. You usually steal... I'll tell father that you are a feathered serpent. As for the House of Thieves, don't get involved—"

"Why?" Shang Xinlei's eyes widened. "This is a legendary secret realm. Not only did it transport me from Jiangnan City to the House of Thieves, but five days later it also allowed me to descend into Chang'an and steal the Bingzi Pepper Forest. I've wanted to visit Chang'an for a long time!"

"Come to Chang'an and steal the Bingzi pepper forest!?"

Shang Qia was so frightened that he almost fell off his chair: "You are not even a second-level official, and you dare to go to Chang'an alone? You are not allowed to go anywhere. Wait until father comes back tonight-"

"Father will certainly allow me to go."

Shang Xinlei suddenly calmed down. "The House of Thieves is not only a weapon for the country, but also a treasure for the family. If there is any opportunity to get involved, father will never let it go. Father certainly dotes on me, but he values ​​the family more."

"I know my skills mean nothing in the business world, but if I can take control of the Thieves' House, perhaps I can... take control of my own future."

Looking at his serious and mature sister, Shang Qia was speechless for a moment. After a pause, he asked, "So the reason you transformed into a feathered serpent and stole was to be recruited by the House of Thieves?"

Shang Xinlei blinked, shook her head, turned and left the room.

"No, it's just because I like it."

This sister is really restless.

Shangqie felt a headache and decided to wait until his father came back to discuss it. However, as soon as he sat down, he immediately realized something was wrong.

"Where's my new purple-hair brush?"

……

...

In the house of thieves, homeless Yan Qing is inspecting his temporary new home.

It had a bed, a water heater, a toilet, and a bathroom. Aside from the lack of windows, it was essentially the same as a hotel suite. In the center of the room was a circular teleportation array. When Yan Qing stepped onto it, a portal appeared in front of him, and across from it was a forest path.

Yan Qing naturally wouldn't be so foolish as to go to an unknown place. For now, his personal room in the Thieves' House was his most reliable safe house. But ten minutes later, Yan Qing changed his mind - there was no food in the Thieves' House.

Not only the room, he also ventured into the hall and looked around, but he still didn't find any food!

There is running water, so taking a shower is no problem, but there is no food. Unless Yan Qing intends to starve to death, staying in the safe house is like waiting to die!
Although Yan Qing did not find any food, he was not without gain.

On the bedside table, he found a handheld game console with an LCD screen. It was casually placed there, looking like something the room's owner might play before bed. In fact, Yan Qing suspected it was the same console he owned in his original world—not only was the exterior identical, but even the slightly crooked tempered glass was identical!
Yan Qing pressed the power button. As he held his breath and waited, the screen slowly lit up after three seconds:

"Welcome to the Nesser handheld game console."

There was no prompt to connect to Wi-Fi, no prompt to update, but the account was automatically logged in, and then the system directly entered the main interface. The game library was empty. All the games Yan Qing had bought before disappeared, leaving only one free online game:
"messenger".

(End of this chapter)