Volume One, Chapter 135: Awake!

Once Du Qing and the others had departed, Yun Ruoxia looked Xiao Junhe up and down with brazen scrutiny.

She arched a brow, her gaze sharp and questioning.

"Are you in love with my sister?"

The question was blunt, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Xiao Junhe did not answer directly.

"I am in the ward right next door. If you need anything, tell the people outside or just call for me."

With that, he strode out of the room. Two guards stood watch at the door, one on each side.

The rules of this game were simple: the opponent acted as the dealer. The player had two face-up cards in front of them, while the staff member had two cards—one face-up and one face-down. The suit of the cards did not matter; only the numerical value counted. Face cards were worth 10 points, and an ace could be counted as either 1 or 11.

Zhu Zhishan understood the symbolic weight of Zhu Mo's words, but forced by the reality of the situation and the formidable influence of the Xuanwu Wu family, he chose to ignore them, neither taking them to heart nor giving them further thought.

"Is it down here?" Hanyuan whispered, pulling her fur cloak tighter around her as her long hair whipped about in the howling, frigid wind.

"Hey? Where are you going? The painting hasn't been critiqued yet!" Seeing Xiling Yue walk toward the door, Han Bing and Leng Xue, who had been in the midst of their merriment, quickly stopped in their tracks.

"Are you saying that you are actually Falcon? So you were lying to me all along!" Upon hearing the Ring Spirit—no, the Falcon—Ji was furious.

Pushing the door open slowly, he found the man sitting in a luxurious leather chair, maintaining his stern posture, his gaze completely undisturbed.

However, the thief's once-stylish, slicked-back hair was now standing straight up like a chimney, with thin wisps of smoke curling from it.

The others rushed into the hall behind them, and upon seeing the scene before them, they were momentarily bewildered.

"Seventy... seventy-something thousand?" Xiao Le could no longer contain his shock and leaped to his feet.

"Potian, what’s wrong?" Ming Potian had been studying a military map when his brows suddenly furrowed, his expression one of such agony that it sent a wave of panic through Tang Youyou.

Later, however, it became clear that these members of the hidden families not only possessed extraordinary skills but were also completely obedient to Zhou You’s commands.

Even without taking Yan Huang’s pulse, Zhou You could feel the violent surge of energy within him and knew that the price for consuming that pill was immense.

"It can shield you from some of the Yin energy of the Myriad Yin Insects." As he spoke, he pressed closer, chuckling softly. "That is a precious thing; even the wandering ghosts crave it." He licked his lips as he gazed at the gauze-wrapped wound on my wrist, looking as if he were still hungry for more.

"But if there were two Zhang Qins, it would be much easier," Li Tao added, clearly agreeing that Sun Bin’s speculation held merit.

Their car was parked right below, stocked with iron bars. Whether they had ever truly used them was unknown, but at the very least, they certainly hadn’t shied away from using them to intimidate others.

Of the six, only the Vajra Dharma King possessed the physical strength to go head-to-head with Li Fan; in the previous siege, the majority of Li Fan’s attacks had been absorbed by him.

This house had been registered for three years, and though hundreds of prospective buyers had visited, every single one of them had been carried out.

"Of course I can get used to it..." If I see it enough, it won't be painful anymore. Otherwise, I’m truly a masochist—having my heart crushed and still making the bed for the person who did it.

Without needing陆 Nan to arrange it, Du Pingfan and Luo Xingchen spontaneously walked out into the courtyard, beginning a clash between the orthodox techniques of the Xuanmen and the obscure, clandestine arts of the folk tradition.

How glorious the former village chief's house had once been—they were considered wealthy by the standards of the entire county, and his sons were all successful. And now?

Beside her, Madam Zhu Wang stared at Uncle Xiang in disbelief, her hands gripping the corners of her clothes, rendered speechless.

"Phew, I suppose memory really does fade with age. I can't believe I actually managed to bluff my way through that," the village chief of Daliu Village muttered, crouching in the tall grass in the distance.