There were still a few sets of clothes in Tao Bai's storage pouch:
Daoist robes in four different colors—
Cyan, black, white, and purple.
These robes were woven from a special silk found only in the cultivation world.
In that realm, a single set of such garments would cost over a thousand spirit stones, a price far beyond the reach of ordinary, low-level Qi Refining disciples.
The fabric itself possessed the property of being warm in winter and cool in summer, and it even offered a degree of defensive protection.
Ordinary low-tier magical artifacts struggled to cut through it, let alone the mundane blades of the mortal world.
Tao Bai channeled his spiritual power, causing it to coat the surface of the robe.
The fabric heated up, baking the bloodstains dry.
Then, the robe billowed out as the spiritual power oscillated, shaking the coagulated blood into dust and expelling it.
The bright red Daoist robe was restored to its pristine state, without a single trace of blood remaining.
He summoned the Blood-Link Mill, interrogated the souls of the man in the suit and the bald man, and then teleported to the location where they stashed their cash.
He took over seven million in cash.
This world had no shortage of people filled with rotten intentions.
Malice was everywhere in daily life.
There were too many of them to kill...
He would just deal with them as he encountered them.
The most detestable were those who felt superior, thinking money could settle everything, regarding the lives and dignity of others as nothing.
And those who aided the wicked while believing themselves innocent were equally detestable!
…
Evening.
The apartment building parking lot.
"Thanks for driving me back..."
A fashionably dressed woman, appearing to be in her early twenties, kissed a middle-aged man before grabbing her bag, opening the door, and stepping out of a Mercedes-Benz C280.
She took a hundred-yuan bill from an envelope and bought some fruits and vegetables downstairs.
Carrying the groceries, she climbed the stairs.
Before long, she arrived at Room 403.
Fished out her key, jammed it in with some force, jiggled it a few times, and opened the door.
"Ah!"
Seeing Tao Bai sitting on the sofa, she screamed.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not a thief. I'm a good friend of Chen Youli; he gave me the key to this place."
Tao Bai explained, pointing to the key on the table.
"Hm? You're Chen Youli's friend?"
Huang Zhaorong stared at Tao Bai, who was dressed in Daoist robes, for a long while, clearly skeptical.
She had never heard Chen Youli mention having any Daoist friends.
"You have the scent of another man on you. Did you betray Chen Youli?"
"That joke is a bit excessive, stranger."
Hearing this, Huang Zhaorong grew somewhat angry, her tone unconsciously becoming impolite.
"Where is Chen Youli? Why didn't he come back?"
"He asked me to give you a sum of money. One hundred thousand."
Tao Bai saw that she didn't admit it, but he didn't bother exposing her further.
Instead, he pulled ten bundles of red banknotes out of a black plastic bag.
For Tao Bai, judging this sort of thing was effortless.
Here, no one understood what a " vessel " was better than he did!
When a "vessel" had just been tainted with impurities, how could Tao Bai not perceive it?!
Everyone's aura was unique, and it was impossible for Tao Bai to mistake it.
"Oh? Where is the money?"
Upon seeing the one hundred thousand in cash, Tao Bai noticed her eyes light up, and she immediately tossed Chen Youli to the back of her mind.
"Aha,"
Tao Bai laughed,
"Aren't you even going to ask how this hundred thousand came to be?"
Huang Zhaorong placed the fruits and vegetables on the tiled floor, sat across from Tao Bai, and asked:
"How did this money come to be, then?"
"He exchanged his life for it,"
Tao Bai said indifferently,
"I just didn't expect that while he used all his strength to love you, his final request before I released his soul was for me to bring this money to you.
It's a good thing I sent him on his way quickly.
Otherwise, seeing you like this, he'd probably die of grief all over again and turn into a Jian（聻）—a ghost of a ghost. Haha!"
"What do you mean? Chen Youli is dead?"
"In the end, he still wanted you to have a good life.
I reckon even if you beat him to death, he never would have guessed that the woman he loved with his life was cheating on him behind his back.
You hid it quite deeply..."
"If you keep spouting nonsense, please get the hell out!"
Huang Zhaorong's face flushed with anger.
Tao Bai put the money on the table back into the black plastic bag and stood up to leave.
Huang Zhaorong panicked.
Although she didn't know how Tao Bai knew she was cheating, that didn't matter!
What mattered was that she knew the money on the table was definitely real!
She hurriedly stood up, took two steps forward, and reached out to block Tao Bai.
"You're taking my money?
Doesn't that count as burglary?
If I call the police now, tell me, how many years do you think you'll get?"
"Oh?"
Tao Bai wasn't flustered.
He retorted, "What evidence do you have that this is your money?"
Huang Zhaorong froze, choked by his words.
"The man is dead.
There is no proof.
This money...
I can give it to you, or I can choose not to."
Tao Bai pushed her hand away and took two steps forward, only for Huang Zhaorong to lunge at him, hugging him tightly from behind.
"Give it to me..."
Huang Zhaorong begged bitterly.
"Give it to me... I can..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Tao Bai shook off her restless hands, turned around, and slapped her across the face.
"That slap was for Chen Youli!"
He then threw the bag onto the floor, pulled open the door, and quickly left the place.
…
Feeling a gloom that was hard to dispel, Tao Bai walked into a quiet bar.
He ordered a Whiskey Sour and found a seat.
Tao Bai picked up the glass and took a sip.
First came the sourness of lemon, followed by the mellow richness of the whiskey.
He didn't use a shred of spiritual power, allowing the alcohol to go straight to his head, trying to numb himself and empty his mind.
After a drink, he leaned back lazily, took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to watch the world through the haze—
Looking through the smoke at the beautiful singer on stage.
She was playing the guitar and singing The Sound of Silence.
Her voice was unique and moving.
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again.
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain,
Still remains...
"Hey dickhead, excuse me, scram to the side!"
Just as Tao Bai closed his eyes slightly, intoxicated by the song, the cigarette in his hand was snatched away.
The act of snatching the cigarette didn't register as killing intent;
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the man to grab it from Tao Bai.
Even so, for Tao Bai, this was somewhat unacceptable.
You dare snatch BenZuo's cigarette?
With this question in mind, he slowly turned his head and looked up to his right.
He saw a man wearing a black leather jacket, chewing gum.
The man looked roguish, but his expression was incredibly arrogant as he looked down at Tao Bai.
"Are you as blind as a chicken? Hurry up and scram!"
As he spoke, he threw Tao Bai's cigarette onto the ground.
He blew a bubble—Pop!—it burst.
He then rolled the gum back into his mouth with the tip of his tongue and chewed leisurely.
Tao Bai stood up and slapped him instantly.
The man stumbled, clutching his face, looking at Tao Bai with eyes full of shock and rage.
"You dare throw away BenZuo's cigarette?"
Tao Bai took a box of brown-packaged "Zhenlong Shengshi" cigarettes from his robe, popped one out, lit it, and spoke.