Night.
The four city gates were tightly shut.
Wearing leather armor, the soldiers of Evergreen City, whose Qi-Blood were at the level of a Martial Arts Instructor, patrolled the edges and top of the city walls. Each main gate was guarded by more than a dozen Evergreen City soldiers, standing like statues.
However, inside Evergreen City, thousands of lights were still burning, as if the abundant energy of the populace could drive away any malevolent spirits.
This stood in stark contrast to the pitch-black darkness outside the city.
Yet, not everyone had the money to wander the night market after dusk.
Except for the night markets in the east, south, west, and north, most other places had already extinguished their lights and were preparing to sleep.
Qingshui River District was such a place where ordinary people lived.
Li Er, with a broad waist and a stout body, yawned, carrying half a slab of ribs he had taken from the kitchen. Looking at the gradually quietening Qingshui Square street, he felt no fear; those who were afraid would not appear here at this time.
Afraid of walking at night? That's something only kids and women would worry about. Li Er was accustomed to walking the night roads.
Because he worked as a cook in a restaurant in the West Market, the restaurant's business was good, and Li Er often had to work overtime. It could almost be said that these night market cooks basically had no rest, but the wages and benefits were excellent.
For instance, even as just an assistant cook, Li Er could take this half-slab of ribs from the kitchen. In an era where many people couldn't get enough to eat, Li Er's job undoubtedly attracted the envy of countless individuals.
In comparison, walking at night was really nothing at all.
Li Er was thinking about how to handle this slab of ribs when suddenly a sorrowful sobbing sound came from ahead.
"Huh?"
Feeling a bit puzzled, Li Er walked forward into a side alley.
A woman in a yellow dress was sitting by the roadside, hugging her legs, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her pitiful appearance almost made Li Er forget that it was late at night.
"Miss, what's wrong? Do you need any help?" Li Er asked with concern as he approached, inexplicably recalling stories of heroes rescuing beauties and beautiful women offering themselves in gratitude from the novels he had read.
The girl in the yellow dress looked up, revealing two streams of clear tears, with a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye. The mole did not mar her appearance; instead, it added a touch of allure.
However, she seemed to be in her youthful prime, at a tender and lovely age, with a pretty girl's appearance intermingling with two styles, bewildering Li Er for a moment.
"Big brother, I twisted my ankle. Could you please help me? I, I can reward you…" the girl said timidly.
Blood rushing to his head, Li Er, slightly flushed, stammered, "Su-sure, no problem."
Instinctively, Li Er crouched down, and a pair of delicate hands gently touched his neck.
The girl also blushed a bit, but she continued, "My home is not far from here."
"Oh, oh."
Li Er cradled the soft body, his mind going blank, even as he was holding that slab of ribs, lifting the girl horizontally.
"Not long ago, I moved to Qingshui Square, and before that… I lived in Changle Square… but… sob sob…" In the middle of her sentence, the girl suddenly choked up.
"My former mother-in-law disliked how much I ate, so she didn't want me anymore… My parents also despised me, so I had to move to Qingshui Square alone, and I don't know how I will live from now on…"
The girl's words were tinged with a bit of a sob.
As the warm and soft body cried in Li Er's arms, suddenly feeling impulsive, spoke foolishly, "Miss, I'm not afraid you eat a lot! I'm a cook, and what I'm least afraid of is having nothing to eat!"
"Yeah, big brother, I could tell, you smell so nice…"
"And the meat is so abundant and firm…"
Meat? Li Er suddenly remembered he was still holding pork, and the girl must be talking about the pork.
The cold wind blew, and Li Er suddenly sobered up.
Why is the girl so light in my arms, as if… as if she was a duck I had gutted before, with no organs, just flesh and a layer of skin… Li Er suddenly stiffened.
He remembered the terrifying ghost stories often told by the storytellers in the restaurant.
Deep night, a street, silence, a crying girl, and the girl's abnormal words.
Li Er's steps faltered slightly, and he used all his strength to fling the girl from his arms, turning and running, shouting for help along the way.
The girl was thrown, yet there was no sound from behind, immediately confirming Li Er's judgment.
Head to the West Market, where there are crowds, and surely Martial Artists who can deal with supernatural beings.
This thought was all that remained in Li Er's mind.
However, suddenly a head popped up in his field of vision.
Fair, pretty, except the angle between the upper and lower jaws opened over ninety degrees.
A tender voice sounded.
"Big brother, why are you running? Don't you want to take me home…"
"Oh God, uwa—"
A sticky, crimson tongue wrapped around Li Er's neck like a whip, rendering him completely voiceless.
The street became silent again, and Li Er had barely run a few steps.
Now, something crawling on Li Er, moving like a human but also like a snake, or a lizard, with an extended tongue binding Li Er firmly. Its entire body shell softened and stretched like melting soft candy, seemingly to completely envelop Li Er.
Li Er fell powerlessly to the ground, his face gradually turning purplish-green.
Is this the end of my life…
The next second, a dark shadow smashed into the girl's head, then bounced off, gently landing on the ground.
The girl's head movements halted, with her eyes looking in different directions.
The next second, a swift wind swooped in.
"Boom!"
A searing burst of Qi-Blood.
The girl's head, along with her limbs, were smashed violently, sending the creature flying.
In an instant, the flash of a blade exploded, a long knife decisively pinning the head to the wall.
A young man squatted down, patting Li Er.
"Hey, you alright?"
"Cough, cough, I'm fine…" Li Er said, slightly disoriented.
He looked up, seeing a youth with a toothpick in his mouth.
This seems to be… a guest invited by the mistress...
"Good, all's well. I really like those braised chicken legs you make, so stay alive, don't die."
Jiang Ming casually tossed away the toothpick.
At his feet was the leftover bone from a chicken leg, the very shadow that had struck.
"Mi…" Li Er's pupils contracted, and he hadn't even gotten the second word out.
Jiang Ming's Qi-Blood surged all over, and he backhanded a slap, causing a blazing Qi-Blood flame to burst forth.
A woman's scream echoed.
A chunk of flesh burning with flames again splattered against the wall.
The scream gradually weakened.
Jiang Ming heard a prompt in his ear.
[Gained Simulation Points*60]
Jiang Ming then leisurely pulled the long knife from the wall and dug out an irregularly shaped bead from the ashes that were gradually extinguishing.
[Spirit Points*0.6, can be absorbed]