As the last rays of golden evening sunlight streamed through the windows, Chen Yang stretched, feeling the familiar stiffness in his shoulders after a long day's work.
Time to clock out.
Today had been a real grind. The shop was packed from morning till night, with people chattering away.
It used to just be annoying background noise, but now all that talk was like music to Chen Yang's ears . He'd been actively listening, his ears practically twitching for any juicy gossip.
He'd even managed to overhear quite a bit, and while chatting with some customers, he'd let slip a few things, teasing them gently. That's how he'd finally started to figure out how this system really worked.
Rule one: The secret had to be shared with people who knew the person or where it could actually matter or be useful to them. That made perfect sense.
Rule number two: The rewards you get depend on how important the information is and the cultivation level of the persons involved.
For example, if you exposed a regular person's secret but not useful to cultivator, you might only get something ordinary like fruit, wine, or something along those lines.
He'd even spilled some minor secrets about his work buddies, guys who were at a similar Cultivation level like him before – the third stage of Body Refinement Realm.
All he got was one month of cultivation progress, which doubled to two months with the bonus. It barely made a dent in his training.
Rule number three: If the person involve already knew the secret, no reward. Fair enough.
Rule number four: Gotta be true. No making things up.
Rule number five: Don't accept physical rewards in crowded public places because they'll just appear out of thin air without any warning.
Chen Yang, who didn't even own a storage bag, had almost had a heart attack when a bottle of wine and some fruit suddenly popped into existence in his hands when he choose accept option.
Luckily, nobody seemed to notice; they probably just assumed he'd taken them out of his bag for a snack earlier.
After that first scare, he learned his lesson. He decided he'd only accept physical rewards once he was safely back home.
...
After his work hours ended, Chen Yang waited around for a bit, hoping Young Master Lin might call him and maybe even offer a promotion or some kind of reward. But it seemed like the young master had completely forgotten about him.
So, Chen Yang went up to his small room, but the guard on duty told him that Young Master Lin had already left in the afternoon.
"Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up," Chen Yang mumbled to himself, feeling a little foolish for believing the words of a pampered young master.
Without hesitating, he went downstairs and quietly slipped out of the Pavilion, carefully scanning the area for any sign of Manager Zhang or his brother, just in case they were lying in wait.
Seeing no trace of them, he blended into the evening crowd and hurried towards his house as fast as he could, going with the flow of people.
As he was heading home, he suddenly spotted his neighbor, Auntie Jiang, carefully watering her prize-winning roses.
She looked to be in her forties, what people would call middle-aged. But don't let her looks fool you. She'd looked the same as long as he could remember.
She and Uncle Tao were the ones who had taken care of him and his sister when they were little kids. If it hadn't been for them, they probably would have been sold off by traffickers or starved to death.
Almost everyone in this neighborhood were a mortal. Even the strongest fighters around were only at the fifth level of the Body Refinement Realm.
Looking at Auntie Jiang tending her plants, Chen Yang couldn't resist a mischievous idea to stir things up for Uncle Tao. So, he called out, "Good evening, Auntie Jiang! Where's Uncle Tao tonight?"
The kind-faced woman smiled as he approached. "Why, little Chen! Your uncle is just out having drinks with his friends again, the old rascal."
Just as Chen Yang was about to drop his little bombshell about Uncle Tao, a friendly middle-aged woman from the house next to Auntie Jiang's came over and said, "Oh, little Chen and neighbor Jiang, what are you two chatting about?" She asked with a warm smile.
"Ah, Aunt Dai, you came out at the perfect time! On my way back, I saw Uncle Tao and Uncle Di going into the Blossom Pavilion, and they weren't alone – they had ladies with them."
Hearing that, Aunt Jiang's face remained calm, and the smile was still there, but it wasn't the sweet, loving smile it was used to. This time, it felt like she was forcing it down, trying to hide her anger.
Meanwhile, Aunt Dai exploded. "Little Chen, you can eat but you can't just say things without thinking! Tell me the truth, did you really see him go into the Blossom Pavilion with girls? This isn't one of your jokes, is it?"
"How could I joke about something like this, Aunt Dai? Would I ever lie to you and Aunt Jiang? I'm just looking out for you, like always."
"Good... good old man Di," Aunt Dai seethed, "you're practically on your deathbed and you still have the energy to go fooling around in that filthy place! If I don't beat the living daylights out of you, my name isn't Dai Mei!"
Aunt Dai shouted, her voice like a roaring gorilla, sending shivers down Chen Yang's spine. It was a sound that could curdle milk and shatter windows.
She spun around like a tornado and stormed back inside her house, slamming the door with a loud bang that echoed down the quiet street.
Chen Yang watched with amusement as Auntie Dai disappeared inside.
Aunt Jiang, acting completely normal without showing any anger, simply went to her own house and quietly closed the door behind her.
Then, suddenly, the ground trembled slightly, and a strong gust of wind whipped through the street.
Chen Yang's jaw dropped in shock as he saw Auntie Jiang's seemingly frail body shimmer for a moment, revealing a powerful, muscular warrior underneath.
"That blasted Tao!" she roared, her voice booming like thunder. "He'll regret going there!"
Looking at Auntie Jiang, who had been so calm just moments ago, suddenly explode with such power, revealing those muscles, Chen Yang couldn't help but gulp hard.
'Looks like I might have gone too far this time. Aunt Jiang and Aunt Dai might actually beat Uncle Di and Uncle Tao to a pulp after this.'
"Well," Chen Yang thought, a little nervously, "I can only pray for your souls to rest in peace, my two dear uncles."
"Ding! Exposure successful. Congratulations, host, for receiving a ordinary apple. It is juicy and sweet enjoy x2 as old man pension for year.."
"Huh? Only Two juicy apple? But I exposed two people... Does that mean my two uncles and aunts are just regular folks? But what about Aunt Jiang's strength just now?"
Thinking about it, Chen Yang couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear for Uncle Tao. She literally made her house shake with a single stomp! Or was her house that weak? Maybe... maybe not.
Lost in thought, Chen Yang headed into his own house.
That night was a sleepless one for many folks in Chen Yang's neighborhood.