The male supporting character was actually myself.

He lay prostrate on the ground, his eyes filled with hatred as he stared at the old man who had been kind and gentle just moments before, but whose face had now changed completely. He thought fiercely, "Your whole family has committed countless evil deeds, yet you come to slander me. You're trying to find a scapegoat, aren't you? Ha, Gu Yong, let me tell you, even if it costs me my life, I will not let you have your way!"

A vicious glint flashed across Gu Yong's old face. He lowered his voice and said to his eldest son, "Let's attack him together, kill this scoundrel who forged the account books and smeared the family, and then report him to the authorities to clear our family's name."

The other party immediately understood his father's meaning, and a cunning smile appeared on his lips. "Yes, Father. You are right. Kill this traitor who forged the account books and slandered the family!"

With a genuine, highly experienced Level 5 warrior in command, and over twenty weak Level 4, 3, 2, and 1 superhumans attacking together, Gu Xingzhou relied solely on his burning aura to find an opening in the life-or-death situation. Dragging his wounded body, he escaped the encirclement and fled all the way to hide in an uninhabited, dilapidated courtyard.

“Senior, it’s your turn now.” Jiang Chen, who had followed closely behind, squatted on the rooftop, stroked his beard, and with a swipe of his paw, took out a jade pendant full of spiritual energy from his space. “This Soul-Nourishing Jade is the treasure I found for you to keep yourself safe.”

Gu Xingzhou was severely beaten and injured, urgently needing spiritual medicine. The senior could use this opportunity to completely sever ties with him, to avoid being dragged into greater karmic entanglements and unnecessary trouble in the future.

Hong Luo could sense the gentle aura emanating from the Soul-Nourishing Jade. Instinctively, she knew that staying there would definitely nourish her soul and make her cultivation twice as effective.

"Okay, I'll go and explain it to him right away!" The thought of finally getting rid of that hypocritical guy made her feel very relieved.

A semi-transparent figure floated into the room.

Gu Xingzhou was huddled in a corner, barely daring to breathe, planning his next move to escape Junxi Town.

"Master?!" Sensing the familiar presence, he looked up with delight and saw the beautiful woman floating in mid-air looking at him. Gu Xingzhou's eyes immediately reddened and he said with a wronged expression, "I just came to seek justice for myself, but who knew they would be so despicable and shameless as to smear me."

Master, I am now…

Before he could finish speaking, Hong Luo, with a cold expression, waved her hand to stop him, saying, "No need to say more. Anyway, our master-disciple relationship has ended and we are about to go our separate ways. You are free to handle and resolve your family's grudges and interests on your own."

She tossed a bottle of spiritual medicine emitting a rich aroma to her with her slender fingers, saying, "You've been seriously injured, so use this bottle of spiritual medicine to nourish your body and try to stabilize your realm as soon as possible. Consider it my way of thanking you for waking me up."

Upon receiving a bottle of slightly cooling elixir, Gu Xingzhou was completely stunned.

He stared blankly at his master, who was floating in mid-air and whom he had fantasized about countless times in his dreams, holding a beauty in his arms. His face was full of confusion. Then he said anxiously, "Master! Beautiful Master, is there something I did wrong that made you angry? Please don't be angry with me. I have nothing left but you!"

"Even after all this, you still fantasize about keeping me captive and making me your own."

Using mind-reading, she found no remorse from the other party and even read the fantasies in her dream. Hong Luo's expression grew even colder. "You and I are not on the same path. We cannot work together if our paths are different. Today, I will use the elixir to thank you for the grace of awakening. There is no longer any connection between us. You should take care of yourself from now on."

After she finished speaking, she waved her sleeve and disappeared into the dilapidated room filled with cobwebs.

Jiang Chen had already prepared everything on the rooftop. Hong Luo gracefully entered the Soul-Nourishing Jade, feeling the comfort of her soul being enveloped by abundant spiritual energy and constantly nurtured. She exclaimed in admiration, "I never imagined that such a treasure existed in the mortal world. I can finally cultivate properly!"

"Senior, please rest for a moment. Meow still has some things to take care of." He hung the adjusted jade pendant around his neck, jumped to the torn window, and peered inside.

Sure enough, after one blow after another, Gu Xingzhou's brilliance dimmed even further.

The little white cat was ready to report to the main system at any moment to capture the virus, while simultaneously clasping its paws together and muttering, "Don't give up on him! Virus, virus, hurry up and replenish the halo for your chosen pseudo-master..."

After muttering to themselves for a while, just when Jiang Chen and the little white cat thought that the virus was unlikely to appear, the space in the dilapidated room suddenly distorted—a black substance appeared, holding a bright halo!

Chapter Thirty-One: Stubbornness and the Enticement Plan

"coming!"

The fluffy little creature immediately sent out the capture information, then jumped behind its host and meowed, "The virus truly loves its wild pseudo-host, it's so loyal..."

However, before it could finish speaking, an indescribable feeling came over it, as if something was falling from the sky, and there was a strong sense of oppression in the air!

Jiang Chen instinctively bristled like a black fluffy ball outside the window, his bright black eyes fixed on the direction the little white cat pointed out. Although he couldn't see anything, he could vaguely sense that the oppressive feeling was very familiar.

"hiss……"

A very low sound wave came to my ears, and then a bright light wave appeared in the dilapidated room, slowly advancing as if filtered.

In the blink of an eye, time stood still.

Jiang Chen felt a sense of dreamlike wonder at the scene before her. Gu Xingzhou remained motionless, maintaining his original expression and posture. Even the wind and swaying leaves in the courtyard seemed to have stopped.

The fluffy ball stood up excitedly, both nervous and thrilled, watching the beam of light streak towards them.

This moment seemed both extremely long and extremely short. The light waves from the filter plate seemed to move slowly but quickly across Gu Xingzhou's body, pausing slightly for half a second as they passed the cat's body occupied by Jiang Chen, before continuing forward...

"Hurry up and catch it!" The little white cat's eyes widened in terror, and then it watched helplessly as the black substance vanished in a bizarre manner.

This wisp of the main system's willpower was clearly defeated in the initial confrontation, managing to "grab" only a small portion of the remaining black matter before disappearing as well.

"Splash!"

As the light waves disappeared, the paused time began to flow again, and the wind rustled the leaves.

“Master… even you…” Gu Xingzhou was clearly unaware of what had happened; he clutched the bottle of elixir in his hand, his eyes bloodshot.

Just yesterday, she had become an apprentice and developed feelings for her, thinking that her bumpy life was finally turning around; she had even learned new boxing techniques and alchemy under the patient guidance of her beautiful master. However, her brief happy days lasted for less than a day!

"I, Gu Xingzhou, swear that I will chase that stinking cat to the ends of the earth and tear him to pieces!" The more he thought about it, the more he could not suppress his anger, and he said coldly through gritted teeth.

It's all because of that stinky cat!

Misfortune begins when you encounter it!

Damn it, if I had known it would end up like this, I should have torn it to pieces back then, so it wouldn't have had a chance to cause trouble!

It was this that exposed her father's long-standing secret. However, the more joyful and excited she was after learning about the huge compensation, the more lost and desperate she felt. She couldn't get the money and the elixir back, and instead, she was used as a scapegoat by the wicked Gu family wolves and hunted down everywhere.

She had finally made it here, hoping to escape Junxi Town with the help of her beautiful master, conceal her presence, and cultivate properly to find an opportunity to make a comeback. However, she abandoned her when she was most desperate and in need of help the most...

Gu Xingzhou hated the injustice of heaven and earth;

She hated her father for being foolish and cowardly, for giving away so much gold, silver and jewels and elixirs despite his wealth; she hated his stubbornness for not secretly getting involved in so many businesses like others and living a life of luxury for so many years.

He resented his mother's humble origins, which prevented her from providing even the most basic assistance, and from leaving him even a trace of his talent for cultivation.

I hate the Gu family for being cold-blooded, ruthless, and inhumane when they turn their backs on me;

I hate that stinky cat for meddling and sowing discord;

They even hate that the people of Junxi Town are so ignorant and still can't see the true colors of the Gu family, and that they've joined in the commotion to search for and arrest them...

Now all I can do is wait until nightfall. I just hope that I can escape into the mountains under the cover of darkness, then cross the Great Wilderness Mountain to other towns, hide my identity, and use the alchemy skills taught to me by my beautiful master to make some spiritual medicines to sell.

I'm only eighteen years old now, and with plenty of money and elixirs, it wouldn't be difficult for me to make a comeback.

You all just wait, in the future I, Gu Xingzhou, will repay this humiliation a thousandfold!

"Little cat, you must stay away from Gu Xingzhou. This guy is really too hateful." Hong Luo had heard this so many times that she secretly told the little demon cat, "He still doesn't know how to repent and even regrets that he didn't tear you to pieces back then. He is really hopeless. Let's stay away from him to avoid you suffering another unnecessary disaster."

Gu Xingzhou was so engrossed in plotting his revenge that he didn't even notice the small black figure nimbly flashing past the window.

Jiang Chen jumped onto the wall before replying, "Senior, don't worry. I've traveled all over the country and seen a lot. I know how to protect myself and won't be caught by such a newly promoted level two trash. You should hurry up and recover your strength. Don't worry about saving my spiritual medicine. Use as much as you need; I can supply you indefinitely!"

Hongluo looked down at the spiritual medicine brimming with spiritual energy in her hand and was overjoyed.

With a sufficient supply of spiritual herbs, I will soon be able to try to condense a physical form. Once that happens, I will be able to sense the location of the gate between the two worlds, open it, and return to the demon race in no time!

"Thank you, little cat. I'm going into seclusion to cultivate now. Please take care of yourself."

Jiang Chen jumped onto a distant rooftop, carefully severing the connection between the Soul-Nourishing Jade and the outside world before sighing, "The main system is still too slow. Xiao Bai, you need to report to the main system, and it would be best if you could grant me permission to see viruses."

That way, next time a virus is targeted, if the main system's detection and removal efforts still fail to lock onto the virus immediately, I can think of some ways to help buy time.

The fluffy little ball nodded eagerly, "Okay, meow~ I'll report it right away!"

After a while, Short Claw replied, "The main system has approved the application report and will grant the host the necessary permissions immediately. However, the reply also reminds the host to prioritize their own safety and avoid direct contact with the virus, as there is a risk of infection."

Although we weren't able to catch the virus just now, the main system has captured a small portion and is analyzing it. If we can detect important data, we might be able to perform a precise scan and eliminate the virus completely.

"In summary, there is hope for victory, but not much." Jiang Chen rubbed his ear and tilted his head to think. "We need to come up with a trapping plan. The more we try, the more experience we can accumulate and eventually eliminate the virus."

"A trapping plan? Meow~ Host, as usual, my CPU is not enough to keep up with demand."

"To successfully lure it, we need to first determine if this virus is stubborn. If it has flexible limits for doing evil, then it will be a bit troublesome." Jiang Chen took out the scroll and glanced at it. Currently, the tools provided by the main system can detect that Gu Xingzhou still occupies the spot of the wild pseudo-master in this world.

Since the virus's previous attempt to project its aura failed and it was even ambushed, yet no new wild pseudo-masters have emerged, it means that the virus has no intention of giving up on Gu Xingzhou, who is not yet completely dead.

"It seems that the mysterious sect princess setting added later is very important. Even with her halo being damaged like this, it hasn't changed the general plot of what follows."

He scratched his ear with his hind foot, put away the scroll, and glanced at Gu Xingzhou, whose halo had dimmed, before lowering his voice and saying, "We need to make him lose some more halo, so that the virus will try to replenish it."

The little white cat perked up its fluffy ears excitedly and said, "Then we can catch one more time! We'll just grab one and pluck its fur as much as we can. If that doesn't work, we'll pluck it bald and then move on to another one!"

“We have to take it easy and not just pluck them all out. Instead of searching the whole world for the next target, we should stick to one and pluck it slowly.” Jiang Chen squatted on the wall with his hands in his pockets, squinting and snoring softly. “We can lend a hand when night falls and the wild pseudo-master wants to make a move.”

The fluffy ball tilted its head and thought for a moment, wondering what its host was planning to do. It simply gave up thinking and snuggled up to him, then followed its host's instructions and hopped off to find the target it was supposed to monitor.

Junxi Town is unusually lively today.

First, Gu Xingzhou, whose family was the largest family of cultivators, was expelled, came to file a complaint with a newspaper from eighteen years ago. Before the county magistrate could say a few words, he was enraged and made a scene in court, insulting an official of the imperial court. So the county magistrate ordered him to be flogged forty times and thrown out.

Not long after, Xu Xueqing, the most famous beauty in Junxi Town at the time, struck the grievance drum and recounted in heartbreak the torment and suffering she had endured for the past eighteen years. She cried uncontrollably as she mentioned her husband's deception and the difficulties caused by her in-laws and sisters-in-law, pleading with the county magistrate to grant her a divorce after eighteen years of unequal marriage.

As everyone knows, this former beauty was pursued and married by Gu Fei, a genius from the Gu family. However, she did not have many good days. After her husband was brought back from the capital and became a cripple, her status plummeted and she had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of taking care of her husband, children, and serving her parents-in-law.

Many people secretly felt indignant on her behalf. The Gu family was clearly so rich and had so many servants, so why should they bully a woman? But since Xu Xueqing herself didn't stand up to fight for her rights, outsiders could only watch the show.

Now in her thirties, Xu Xueqing has finally filed a lawsuit demanding a divorce, which has attracted the attention and whispers of many busybodies in Junxi Town.

Despite years of suffering, her beauty remained undeniable. The years and hardships only imbued her with an increasingly peaceful and profound aura, stirring up renewed desires in many men who had once been infatuated with her.

Everyone in town knew that Gu Feiyue went to Kyoto less than six months after his marriage, and when he returned, he was a cripple. Xu Xueqing had been taking meticulous care of him ever since she gave birth, and now, in her thirties, she was essentially no different from the newlywed woman she once was, naturally attracting a lot of attention.

Just as the county government was about to issue its judgment, an even bigger commotion broke out at the Gu family compound.

Gu Xingzhou amazed everyone by defeating a large number of opponents single-handedly;

The head of the Gu family personally received them, claiming that they would be given special attention and training.

Then came a jumble of rumors: some said the Gu family's treasure vault had been robbed, some said the Gu family's secret stash had been stolen, and others said the Gu family had offended a mysterious person and had been completely ransacked.

Before everyone could figure out what was true and what was false, many people grabbed the scattered account books and ran to the county government office to beat the grievance drum.

"The Gu family is all talk and no action; they secretly run illegal casinos, and those who can't pay their debts are all arrested and sold!"

"They also have shares in underground auctions, which often involve auctions targeting transient populations!"

"The Gu family patriarch, a dignified level-five expert, has driven many families to ruin and death by engaging in usury..."

…………

When a wall falls, everyone pushes it down; soon, a small mountain of messy account books and papers piled up on the magistrate's desk.

Before he could even examine the details, almost the entire Gu clan came to file a complaint. They said that after Gu Xingzhou demanded a huge sum of money with forged newspapers and magazines and failed to get it, he spread rumors and slanders about the entire clan by disseminating forged account books. They claimed that he had fled to avoid punishment and asked the magistrate to arrest him, bring him to justice, and restore the Gu clan's reputation.

Xu Xueqing, who had taken a wrong turn with her son and missed him, was extremely anxious upon hearing the news.

She knew that the Gu family would definitely use this to slander her son, but her son was short-tempered and refused to listen to advice. He even insulted the county magistrate in public and was beaten. What if the county magistrate and the Gu family joined forces to harm him?

"That's it!" Xu Xueqing looked at the whole town searching for her son's whereabouts. As an ordinary woman, she really didn't have any means to find him and hide him first. Just as she was extremely anxious, she suddenly remembered a young and sweet face. "Miss Yan'er! She was closest to my son back then. She was reluctant to leave when he was taken away by the clansmen. Now that Zhou'er's life or death is unknown, perhaps we can only ask her for help!"

Grasping at this lifeline, Xu Xueqing didn't want to wait even a moment longer.