Volume 1, Chapter 40: Bring Your Sister-in-Law Out for Us to See

The world spun around him as Lin Hanchuan felt a dull, throbbing pain in his forehead and his vision went black.

The second before he lost consciousness, he cast a glance in Sang Haining’s direction.

He saw astonishment in Sang Haining’s eyes, as if she were surprised that her kick had actually sent him crashing into the metal pole.

In that fleeting instant, a thought flashed through Lin Hanchuan’s mind: his tailbone hurt intensely; it must have been fractured by Sang Haining’s kick.

Before he could utter a word, Lin Hanchuan passed out cold.

Chaos erupted at the scene.

Reduced to a single map, the edges of the cartography were outlined in deep black—presumably an uncharted region, or perhaps the outermost fringes of the Wind River?

After a brief moment of reflection, without tearing open the Guardian of the Underworld, he sat down quietly on the ground and began to restore his spiritual energy.

A dart flew in from beyond the curtain. Kumoha reached out a hand, and the projectile landed squarely in his palm. Attached to it was a slip of paper, which he promptly unfolded and read.

The eastern city gates stood wide open, desolately silent to the point of speechiness. Feng Wuqing simply strode inside with an unhurried, swaggering air.

Pan Shuang grew so exasperated that he picked up the cup on the table and drained it in a single gulp, completely oblivious to Xue Yuhan’s furrowed brow of disgust.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Qi Jia, seated opposite him, underwent a drastic change in complexion, stepping back a full pace in sheer shock.

He walked over to the bed, leaned down close to her face, and asked in a low voice, "Where is the reward we agreed upon?" His warm breath brushed against her neck, sending a sudden flush of heat through her heart.

Meng Xiaoran placed Zhou Tian on the bed in his room. Looking around at everything that belonged to him, Zhou Tian felt a mounting sense of excitement.

Meanwhile, nestled in a depressed terrain ten miles away from the spatial gate, Feng Chen and his contingent of five hundred men remained quietly stationed.

Jing Yunyun watched as Liu Man, who usually maintained an air of professional aloofness, put on such an adorable display. Finding the contrast utterly jarring, she burst out laughing with a sudden "pft."

He was the beating heart of the criminal syndicate, possessing extraordinarily sophisticated thievery skills capable of relieving you of your belongings without a sound, leaving you entirely unaware until it was too late.

"I'm truly sorry, but I don't have the time. You should go ask the villagers in the stockade yourself," Village Chief Xue said, waving a hand. His wrinkled face was etched with worry, clearly lacking the bandwidth for such idle matters.

Amidst the biting wind, the streetlights along Elephant Mouth Road flickered, their harsh glow swallowing the rigid skyline. From afar, the high-rises in the business district looked like rectangular cages woven from light. Traffic surged relentlessly below, the vehicle headlights merging into a dazzling river of radiance. Cutting through this luminous current, Gu Bei pushed his Mercedes-Benz S530 to absolute maximum speed.

Jiang Wei was someone he intended to groom into a supreme general of the realm. Since martial cores held such immense utility, Chu River naturally wanted Jiang Wei to forge one of the finest quality.

Commanding the Unified Mobile Force had always been his dream; that was where true soldiers belonged—the ultimate cradle for cultivating super soldiers and advancing warriors.

Gu Bei chuckled softly, pulling Nuonuo into a tight embrace as he rested his chin against her smooth forehead. Wrinkling her delicate nose, Nuonuo demanded to know if he was done yet, complaining that he smelled awful.

Ling Tian was currently unable to discern the true cultivation level of this host, as there were no fluctuations of spiritual energy about her body whatsoever, making her seem no different from an ordinary person. Yet Ling Tian patiently awaited her reply.

A menacing aura was creeping stealthily toward Wu Yue, inch by inch, shrouded in utmost subtlety.

Upon clarifying the truth, the village chief let out a curse of "little bastard," snatched the whip from the shepherd Eighth Master, and hurried off in frantic pursuit.

When military authority becomes overly concentrated, ministers inevitably grow arrogant from favor, indulge in bloated self-importance, and occasionally even harbor rebellious ambitions. The most effective countermeasure is to hollow out their power, ideally cutting off any hope of a comeback—yet Emperor Shengwu was powerless to do so.

Madam Cheng bluntly stated that the manor felt far too desolate and rather frightening, earnestly begging Ye Zhen to accompany her back. Seeing the plea and vulnerability in Madam Cheng’s eyes, Ye Zhen ultimately could not harden her heart to refuse, and thus agreed to return to the Cheng residence to await news of Rong Susu in peace.

"Wu Jiaqing, are you sick?" If she weren't ill, she would never have uncharacteristically discarded every single item she was accustomed to wearing.