Scourge Messenger

Chapter 32 Milestone Achieved

When Ying Rushi came to the palace to pay homage to the emperor again, he was surprised to find that... the air was very fresh.

The skylights and doors were open, allowing soft sunlight to stream directly into the hall, illuminating every corner through the reflective structure of the building. A breeze dispelled the oppressive heat. Upon entering the hall, one could look up and see the majestic and solemn dragon reliefs. While the supreme solemnity remained, there was no sense of oppression in one's heart, only awe of imperial power.

When Ying Ru saw the figure on the throne clearly, her mind went blank for a moment and she almost couldn't control herself. When she came to her senses, the person was already kneeling in front of the Sumeru throne.

The one sitting on the throne was naturally Emperor Ying Le of Qi.

But she was not wearing random clothes at this time, nor was she wearing no clothes. Instead, she sat upright on the throne, wearing a full set of Silver Moon Armor. The shoulder armor was carved with intricate dragon patterns, the breastplate fit her body perfectly, the skirt armor covered her legs like layers of mountains, and the steel gloves on her hands were full of ferocious sharp corners.

She wore a laurel crown, her long black hair fell like a waterfall, a few strands of hair gently brushed across her stern face, and she stabbed the ground with a black steel sword in her hands.

If the Yingle before was a volcano, a tsunami, a storm, and unrestrained destruction, then the Yingle now was a mountain in the deep sea, majestic and majestic. Seeing the emperor like this, Ying Rushi almost cried with joy, and said in a trembling voice, "Yingru, the Duke of Lecheng County, greets Your Majesty!"

"Give me a seat."

A chair was immediately brought over, but Ying Rushi did not get up. Instead, he presented the long sword in his hand: "Since you are incompetent, you have not been able to obtain the Bingzi Jiaolin. You can only obtain a fake sword that has some of the power of the Bingzi Jiaolin."

In the thieves' house, Ying Rushi reached a deal with Yan Qing: 500 spirit jades in exchange for a sealed knife.

Yan Qing naturally agreed. The division would consume 100 spiritual powers, which cost 100 spiritual jades. Moreover, the more swords were divided, the stronger Bing Zi Jiao Lin would be. He wished that everyone could use the weapons that had been divided.

The encapsulation process did take quite a while, as the spiritual power limit for even a second-rank messenger, let alone a first-rank messenger, could not exceed 100. Fortunately, the encapsulation process was a 'continuous consumption of spiritual power', meaning Yan Qing could absorb the spiritual jade while encapsulating it.

This design of 'continuously consuming a large amount of spiritual power that exceeds the level cap', in other words, means 'this function cannot be used in combat'.

"Oh?"

Ying Le took the fake sword and said, "It does look like a fake Zhou-style sword... So, Bingzi Jiaolin's power is to enhance the performance of other weapons?"

"As Your Majesty expected, the three powers of the Bingzi Jiaolin are enfeoffment, pillar of state, and heaven-shaking." Ying Ru briefly explained the effects of the Bingzi Jiaolin and continued, "You can't loot within the Thieves' House. To obtain Legendary Tokens, you can only earn Thief Points according to the rules of the Thieves' House. Only if you have more Thief Points than others will you have a chance of bidding for Legendary Tokens."

"If we fail to obtain the Bingzi pepper forest, please punish me, Your Majesty."

"No need." Ying Le put down the fake knife. "You are the most talented member of the royal family. I will need to rely on you to govern the country in the future. How can a legendary token be as important as you? You can continue to follow the House of Thieves, but you should protect yourself first. There is no need to force it."

Ying Rushi knocked his forehead to the ground, tears streaming down his face: "I will definitely sacrifice my life to repay your majesty's kindness!"

She took off the ring in her hand and presented it to Ying Le: "This is the storage ring I won at the auction of the Thieves' House. It should be handed over to Your Majesty for disposal."

Ying Le studied the ring for a moment and nodded. "Okay, I'll take it. You can go back and rest. By the way, you should be aware of the announcement and the wanted order, right? Don't reveal your identity. There are countless messengers eyeing your bounty. Even the City That Never Sleeps may not be able to protect you."

"only!"

Even after leaving the palace, Ying Rushi still felt dizzy, as if in a dream, and it was unbelievable.

She never expected that after nine years, the emperor who had been crazy for nine years could actually wake up and become the powerful Emperor Fengyi who once dominated the country and whipped the world!

When Ying Rushi was a child, Ying Le was not what he is now. He was a general who fought in all directions and traveled all over the world. He led the Hundred Guards Cavalry to plunder the key secret places on the borders of countries many times, and defeated the pseudo-Zhou pharmacist Moke and the pseudo-Liang Shao Hu. He returned to his country with great prestige in conquering cities and territories, worked hard to govern the country, implemented reforms, encouraged agriculture and education, compiled laws and regulations, and governed Qi in an orderly manner. Countless people built ancestral temples for him and respected him as the Emperor Fengyi.

The scene where everything is thriving and full of vitality is still before our eyes.

This is why, despite Ying Le's years of perverse behavior, no one in the country dared to oppose or even overthrow her. Not only because of her strength, but also because she only needed to raise her hand and countless people who had benefited from her kindness would flock to her!
But after Ying Le established his foundation, everything changed. Power was like a curse, turning Ying Le into another extreme: alcoholism, absurdity, cruelty, madness, like a monster in human skin.

But it doesn’t matter, I’m back, everything is back!
When Ying Rushi returned to the mansion, he saw a team from the palace waiting at the door.

"County Lord, this is given to you by His Majesty." The eunuch held out a treasure box.

Ying Rushi opened the treasure box and found that it was a storage ring, and it was a storage ring with three spaces. It was far more precious and rare than the one she offered!
She immediately knelt on the ground and said with tears in her eyes:
"I, your Majesty, have been so kind to you. I will serve you till my death!"

At the same time, in the Qiankun Hall of the Imperial Palace.

The fake knife changed shape in Ying Le's hand, being squeezed into a ball like mud. Ying Le looked at the iron ball in her hand, her mouth dripping with saliva, but she seemed unaware of it, continuing to knead the iron ball, and finally smashed it out, directly smashing through the palace door made of pure gold!
She gasped twice and took out a wanted poster from her arms.

Suspect No. 3

"Features: Wears a white fox-shaped mask and wields a long sword"

"Charge: Participation in the Anguo Temple robbery"

"Threat Level: Level 3 Combat Strength"

"Kill bounty: 20000 Spirit Jade or advanced swordsmanship mastery manual"

"No hurry, no hurry, wait, wait."

"I have to hold it in, hold it in! I have to raise her until the bounty is high enough, high enough to lure out the people from the Divine Marquis Mansion, high enough to lure out that guy!"

"The Divine Marquisate will definitely come out to hunt him down, and that guy will come out too, for sure!"

"One day, one day..."

……

...

Jiangnan City, merchants.

"So you understand your situation now, don't you?" Shang Qie's voice was filled with worry but also a hint of gloating. "Now everyone in the world has heard the announcement from the Divine Marquisate. Do you understand what this means?"

"I understand." Shang Xinlei nodded: "Third brother, you are jealous of me!"

"Bullshit, why would I be jealous of you!"

"You're jealous that I can disguise myself and go to Chang'an to kill people and set fires. You're jealous that my deeds are announced to everyone, and you're jealous that I can participate in such exciting and sensational adventures, while you, Third Brother, can only stay at home and be scolded by our father."

"That's not true!" Shang Qia's face flushed with anxiety: "And my father hasn't scolded me recently!" It would be a lie to say that I'm not envious. It's public knowledge to the whole world. Even if many emperors, generals, talented men and beautiful women have made great achievements, they may not be able to let the whole world know their names and deeds.

Yet, Shang Xinlei and her companions had merely gone to Chang'an and stolen something, yet they had already caused a sensation, causing widespread public outcry! It's unknown who would succeed them, but it was definitely unprecedented. Even searching through all the history books, there had never been a similar incident!

For the first time ever!
Although the announcement to the world did not cause any substantial impact, it was no less than a miracle to people today. Even the messengers who had seen the secret realm were not immune to it.

Looking at his sister cracking melon seeds proudly, Shang Qia knew that he couldn't control her, so he handed a book to her in a bad mood.

The book had no title, only a few thin pages, but Shang Xinlei's expression changed slightly after flipping through it for a while.

This is a booklet introducing the secret realm 'Shen Hou Mansion'. There is not much content in it. It just briefly mentions what monsters are in Shen Hou Mansion, that the strength of these monsters is generally above the third level, and that Shen Hou Mansion does not exist in any place. If you want to enter, you can only rely on a prop called 'Reward Good and Punish Evil Order'.

The last page mentioned that the treasure chest in the Shenhou Mansion would produce a special elixir.

The name of the elixir is Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Is the Divine Marquis Mansion the only one that can produce Foundation Establishment Pills?" Shang Xinlei asked.

Shang Qia shook his head: "Not only that, but most of the other places that produce foundation-building pills are fourth-level secret realms."

The fourth-level secret realm and the third-level secret realm are completely different concepts. Because the third-level secret realm can be conquered by relying on a large number of second-level messengers and first-level messengers regardless of casualties, but this is absolutely impossible in the fourth-level secret realm. Only a team composed of fourth-level messengers can conquer the secret realm.

"In other words, the Divine Marquis Mansion is the only place where the vast majority of third-rank messengers in the world can obtain Foundation Establishment Pills." Shang Xinlei murmured, "Then the Reward Good and Punish Evil Order—"

"It's said that it could appear in any treasure chest in any secret realm," Shang Qia said. "Our family has controlled the secret realm of Jingxin Xiaozhu for decades, and the reward order for good and punishment for evil has only appeared once, but it was immediately traded as an important bargaining chip in exchange for our merchant's family's generations of nobles in Daliang."

"What did father say?"

"Enter the secret realm immediately," Shang Qia said. "Even if someone could track you using the token, it would be ineffective because the secret realm is isolated from the outside world."

"Then I can actually stay in the Thieves' House." Shang Xinlei tilted her head: "I just need to come back every day to take a shower and eat, and it won't be boring. After all, the yellow dog seems to be staying in the Thieves' House all the time..."

"No!" Shang Qie was anxious: "How can a man and a woman be in the same room together?"

"It's not a single room. We each have our own bedroom..."

"That won't work either. You should go to Jingxin Cottage and take shelter."

"I've been there too many times. It's boring." Shang Xinlei said nonchalantly, "I want to go to Mansu Forest."

Shang Qie was stunned and pondered for a moment. "It's true that the Mansu Forest will soon be open, but... it's much more dangerous than the Jingxin Cottage, and the family guards won't be able to help. Do you really want to go?"

"I won't necessarily stay in the woods for long. I'm just here to see for myself. There won't be any danger. Besides..."

Shang Xinlei glanced at the four wanted posters on the table.

"I should work harder. I don't want to be last on the next mission."

Suspect No. 4

"Features: Wearing a red snake-shaped mask, weapon used is unknown"

"Charge: Participation in the Anguo Temple robbery"

Threat Level: Unknown

"Kill Bounty: 10000 Spirit Jade or Basic Step Mastery Secret Book"

……

...

"Are you kidding me? Why is my bounty so much higher..."

In the thieves' house, Yan Qing turned on the game console and logged into the account of 'Ye Si', and soon found his wanted order.

And he didn't need to go to the city gate or something like that, because a message popped up in the chat bar in the lower left corner of the game -

"(World Channel) Announcement from the Divine Marquisate: Four unknown thieves have recently arrived at the Thieves' House. They successfully stole the legendary Bingzi Jiaolin from the Anguo Temple in Chang'an. They are hereby wanted."

The word "Wanted" is a hyperlink. Clicking it will jump to the "Notice Board", which is probably an area that displays various real-time activities in the game, but now there is obviously no activity at all, only four wanted posters hanging on it.

Suspect No. 1

"Features: Wears a yellow dog-shaped mask and wields a long sword."

"Charge: Participation in the Anguo Temple robbery"

Threat Level: Unknown

"Kill Bounty: 100000 Spirit Jades or Legendary Token: Bingzi Pepper Forest"

Yan Qing glanced at it and then let it go. After all, he didn't live outside, so a ten-thousand-fold increase in the wanted poster's reward wouldn't affect him. Instead, he began to worry that the others might not be able to withstand the pressure and flee to the thieves' home to hide, which would force Yan Qing to live under the same roof with them.

If you live together, it's normal for your partner to invite you to dinner, chat, or visit you from time to time, right?
Damn, how is this different from going to work!
I have to engage in useless socializing before traveling through time, and I have to engage in useless socializing after traveling through time? Then wouldn't my travels have been in vain?
The world is so big, is there no place for us to play games quietly?

Yan Qing sighed inwardly and focused his attention on the game.

Suddenly, he noticed an unfamiliar effect on the status bar above Ye Si's health bar. When the float moved over, the name of the effect startled Yan Qing.

Milestone Title: Demolition Team

Oh, I did reach that milestone... Wait!?

(End of this chapter)