Excessive ferocity due to caution

The moon arrives with a heavy heart, and departs with a heavy heart.

He was holding a large document in his hands, with too many miscellaneous tasks to handle.

But the dejection on his face turned into excitement.

He joined the Jie Sect.

I officially began to engage with this massive organization and realized how heavy the burden on my shoulders was.

Working with someone like Zhao Yi, however, actually fueled his fighting spirit.

Not long after the moon went out, Wu Liang walked in.

"Among your many subordinates, you have always been the most loyal and the strongest."

Zhao Yi calmly gazed at the person in front of him.

Or rather, this ghost.

He's been with himself for a long time.

Wu Liang smiled slightly:

"Boss Feng's injuries have stabilized. Yan She is taking Feng Nan to get treatment, and he probably won't be back for a while."

"It seems the leader gained quite a lot from his trip to Wuji."

"Is there any special plan?"

Zhao Yi's eyes sparkled:

"Preaching the word."

"I can resolve all the misfortunes you have encountered on the path of evil."

"And it can significantly enhance your strength."

Wu Liang laughed:

"Master, have you decided to arm wrestle with the adult?"

Zhao Yi looked up in surprise, but calmed down upon seeing Wu Liang's smile.

"I almost forgot, you were the one he first placed by my side."

"You remembered things from the past?"

Wu Liang shook his head.

"Those who have reincarnated cannot fully recall their past lives."

"However, the master did inform me through a special method, saying that your current growth has far exceeded his initial expectations."

"The only thing he didn't take into account in his plan was you and Tang Jiujiu."

"My lord did not expect Tang Jiushijiu to come to you, and although you two have never met, you have indeed cooperated on something extraordinary..."

Zhao lit a cigarette, moved the books on the table, and replaced them with an ashtray.

"What did he say to you?"

Wu Liang replied:

"My lord asked me to pass on a message to you."

"He said that although you have different views from him, this time, he hopes that you and Tang Jiujiu can win."

Zhao Yi:

"This is a war without gunfire. We are not enemies, but we have no choice but to confront each other."

"I used to never care about the life or death of other people, and I had even less of a sense of emotion towards this world."

"But Tang Jiujiu changed me."

"Those game instances, those movies, those different stories, different people..."

"Having personally participated in their stories, one after another, and witnessed their joys and sorrows, their life and death separations, I finally realized that I had also become a person in the story."

"In the Chaotic Era, there were countless gods, and he was one of them, so he naturally assumed that I was also a god, or at least that my thinking was divine... But Tang Jiujiu wanted me to be a human."

Wu Liang listened with an unexpected calm expression.

"So, in the end, you still chose to stand on Tang Jiushijiu's side?"

Zhao Yi flicked off his cigarette ash.

"Yes."

"If I don't come back, I'll miss out on everything here."

"And you? After reincarnation, are you still the same as before?"

Wu Liang remained silent for a long time.

"I?"

"I changed a long time ago, didn't I?"

"Although adults always think this world is terrible, I have met many wonderful people along the way with the cult leader."

"I care about them a lot."

"After Lao Xu left, I kept blaming myself, even though I knew it wouldn't change anything."

Zhao Yi said calmly:

"I also bear responsibility."

"In any case... our main task now is to strengthen ourselves. After dealing with the Church of the Skull, the next step is to preach to everyone in these small worlds, using their good intentions to restrain their evil intentions, and gradually restore the broken balance."

Wu Liang glanced out the window at the newly built capital city, where carriages and people were bustling about.

"This is probably a long and arduous task."

Wu Liang sighed.

"It might be much, much harder than taking down the Skull Church."

Zhao Yi smiled and said:

"You're right."

"I'm not really sure either."

So... give it a try.

...

a few days later.

Three distinctive figures appeared in Guxuan Town.

One of them had an ethereal and uncertain form, and was not a physical entity.

They arrived at the Scoundrels Guild, a place that had long since collapsed.

The elusive figure wore a gray robe that completely concealed his face, making it impossible for outsiders to see his features.

He stood there staring at the ruins of the Scoundrels Guild for a long time, and sighed:

"The place where dreams begin."

An old man leaning on his cane smiled and said:

Why is the former chairman so sentimental today?

The man in the gray robe:

"I've lost count of how many years it's been since I last came back."

"Hell Game was originally created by him, but I destroyed it after I completed it. Later, he created Zhao Yi, wanting Zhao Yi to experience everything I went through again, so that Zhao Yi could quickly gain power and become stronger..."

"But I felt that simply having power couldn't change the status quo. At most, it would just make me a replica of myself. So I wanted to show Zhao Yi something different. That's why I volunteered to redo the game for him and let Zhao Yi see... this world."

"I just don't know if it's a coincidence or fate, but Zhao Yi and I chose this place back then."

"It's a pity that Guxuan Town was so glorious in my time, but now it has withered into this state..."

As the gray-robed man spoke, his body became increasingly ethereal, as if he might disappear at any moment.

He slowly pulled down his hat, knelt on the ground, and kissed the earth.

If Zhao Yi were here right now, he would definitely remember this face.

Because this was originally a face that belonged to him and his main personality.

"I can't be away for too long. Those interesting younger folks found the sacred mountain and helped relieve some of my stress, which allowed me to come out and have some fun..."

"call--"

"Anyway, I'm already very satisfied that I was able to get out and have some fun this time."

"My laws belong to the Chaotic Era. I cannot leave the Holy Mountain for too long, or it will affect the New Era."

"Please go back and thank Zhao Yi for me."

"He helped me a lot."

Watching the gray-robed figure disappear, Yan She asked:

"Old Chairman, what should we do about the Skull Church?"

The gray-robed man laughed:

"Let Zhao Yi have a headache."

"The affairs of the New Era are for the people of the New Era to handle. An old codger like me should have died long ago."

"See you later... oh no, never again."

After he finished speaking, his body disappeared like bubbles.

Yan She stood there, lost in thought, for a long time.

Until Feng Nan, who was covered in bandages, raised an eyebrow and spoke:

"He disappeared in a flash...that was fucking cool."

"I want to learn this move first, then go fight the church people. I'll appear in front of them in a flash, deliver two punches, and then disappear in a whoosh. That's so exciting."

Yan She was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

"You were almost beaten to death last time, and your injuries haven't fully healed yet, and you're already in such a hurry to go back?"

Feng Nan swung his fists twice fiercely:

"They must all think I was almost beaten to death, so I'm going back to tell them that if Wu Liang hadn't stopped me, I would have killed them first..."

...

(End of the book)

P.S.: It's an open ending. Actually, if I were to write it, I could write another 200,000 to 300,000 words about the plot that follows.

Because the initial design included two endings: a complete ending and an open ending.

As for why we chose this open ending and brought it to a premature conclusion, we'll discuss that in the next chapter.

In my humble opinion, this ending isn't a bad one. (Don't hit me, hahaha)

Of course, there are some things I haven't kept from you all, such as some unresolved issues.

Tomorrow I'll update with a closing statement and some little surprises.

That's all for the first book.

The next book will be published no later than mid-March. It will still be a thriller, but with a completely different world view and story. During this break, I will seriously work on the outline and setting.

I've suffered enough from not having written an outline for this book.

good night.