When Mingmei and her group arrived in Linjing City in the evening, the insectoid creature had just been forced back into the dungeon, leaving only a mess in the city lord's mansion, which was currently being cleaned up by others.

"Holy crap, what's going on at the entrance? Has a farmers market opened here?"

Lu Xiaoyao's sensitive nose is not only excellent at smelling food, but also incredibly sensitive to foul odors.

The person had just stepped off the flying artifact when the stench almost made him faint.

However, the Fifth Elder simply made a hand seal, and a gentle breeze blew by, completely eliminating the stench.

Before Lu Xiaoyao could even give a thumbs-up and flatter him, the Fifth Elder said, "The Cleansing Technique can even purify the surrounding air. As a beginner disciple, none of you even remembered this most basic ability? Is this how you usually cultivate on the mountain?"

Lu Xiaoyao: ……

Zhen Po: ...

"Go back and have half a month's salary deducted or copy the disciple's introductory manual ten times."

The Fifth Elder's smile was so bright when he spoke that the disciples who heard his words felt a chill run down their spines!

Deducting a month's salary is like asking for your life!

Copying the beginner's manual ten times is deadly!

You just copy a beginner's manual of ten thousand words?

Lu Xiaoyao's face went from looking like she was about to faint to breathing a sigh of relief, then upon hearing the elder's words, she suddenly felt suffocated.

The smooth and radiant way she switched between expressions is truly remarkable. It's no wonder that Lu Xiaoyao, a streamer who prides herself on her talent but is actually "talented in both looks and acting," became a hit because of her hilarious facial expressions.

"Would you like to stay at the City Lord's Mansion tonight?"

Mingmei hadn't noticed them when they landed at the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, but at that moment the gate opened, and the servants who came out to greet them seemed to have known in advance and welcomed them inside.

Looking at the Fifth Elder, whose expression remained unchanged, Mingmei felt that she had not guessed wrong.

Therefore, she asked a question on purpose.

"Yeah, the inn is too noisy."

Mingmei: "..."

This person clearly has something on their mind, but they still make up an excuse to fool themselves. They really know how to take things to heart.

"Then can we go see that bug... that bug villainous evil cultivator?" Lu Xiaoyao almost shouted "Baldy!" again in her excitement, but thankfully she managed to stop herself in time. However, that nickname—

That's kind of cute.

The Fifth Elder remained silent, only asking after settling into the arranged courtyard with the servants, "Does anyone come with me to see that evil cultivator?"

"I!"

In an instant, almost everyone raised their hands, including Mingmei and Meijiu.

"Listen to me, stand behind me." This was mainly directed at Mingmei and Meijiu. "The rest of you must not let your guard down; the evil cultivator may not be so easily captured..."

His words implied that the evil cultivator was faking it, doing it on purpose, and was about to cause trouble.

Mingmei took this to heart.

If the Zerg are not the problem, the game should indeed be over.

But from the moment she left until now, Mingmei felt that things weren't so simple.

"So many people want to watch this?"

The Lord of Linjing City, who had not shown his face until now, finally made his appearance.

After all, it was his territory, and so many people were going to see the imprisoned evil cultivator, so he had to show up somehow.

However, the first time Mingmei saw this city lord, she subconsciously felt that he looked familiar.

That's strange.

"Wow, this city lord's friend is something else, short hair..."

Hearing the exclamations of others around her, Mingmei realized that something was wrong.

In this world, apart from some body cultivators and a few demonic cultivators who like to keep their hair short, most cultivators keep their hair long, regardless of gender. Mingmei and the others did not expect that this Lord of Linjing City was wearing a cultivator's robe, but the length and hairstyle of his hair looked something else—unlike this world.

...

"I knew it! You weren't in a good mood back then, but you could still play games sometimes. You didn't seem like you'd lost a close friend."

Outside the game, Mei Shi's expression became quite subtle when she saw Mo Wenshu's face.

A person who had died at her hands suddenly appeared. Although many years had passed and the old grudges had disappeared with the changes in that zombie world, Mei Shi still couldn't help but recall the past when she saw him again.

"He's not alive either..."

Yan Hui didn't say much, but just looked at the person on the screen. He glanced at Mei Shi, who was watching him, out of the corner of his eye, and then sighed and said, "I have no intention of reviving him."

"We've come this far, don't you want to?" Mingyi, who hadn't spoken until now, finally said this.

“When I was lost, he gave up everything to bring me out of that world, but in the end, he himself became deeply trapped in it. I just… just thought that since that’s the case, I should bring him back.”

Yan Hui had discussed this matter with the mainframe. After all, the mainframe had tricked them back then. Even though Mei Shi and the others managed to turn the tide and bring that world back on track, the mainframe still agreed to compensate them because they were drawn into that world due to its own selfishness.

"Forget it, now's not the time to discuss this." Mei Shi's gaze fell on the game world again. She frowned, then, remembering something, asked, "Since Mo Wenshu has already obtained this Zerg, why hasn't the game ended yet?"

Yan Hui looked somewhat embarrassed by this.

"Actually, it's not a big problem."

“It’s just a bit difficult to handle.” Mei Shi immediately followed up Yan Hui’s next sentence.

Yan Hui: "..."

What else could he say?

"What exactly happened?" Ming Yi frowned. He felt that Yan Hui was hiding something from them.

"Hmm... it's just that Xie Chen and Zen Guang's obsession is too strong. The game world has started to be locked down, preventing all data and spiritual entities inside from escaping."

"Wait, what does this have to do with Guan Changuang?"

Mei Shi was completely confused. She knew that Mu Chen had a crush on Ming Mei since childhood, but what about that little monk, Chan Guang?

"He likes Xiao Jiu?"

"No, don't you know? He likes Meimei too."

Mei Shi: ? ? ! !

Mingyi: ? ? ! !

How could they not know?!

No, should they even know?!

"How did you know that?" Mei Shi couldn't hold back any longer.

“I saw it in Mu Chen’s memories…” After Yan Hui finished speaking, Mei Shi and Ming Mei exchanged a glance. Ming Mei frowned and denied it, “That’s not right. I remember Xiao Jiu later said that Chan Guang finally ascended to Buddhahood and became the first person from Lianhua Temple to ascend to Buddhahood. What did he like? He liked it?”

"You don't really think that at Mu Chen's age back then, even if he was a genius, he could drag the entire continent into the abyss and stir up trouble, do you?" Yan Hui asked with a look of surprise. "Even if someone like that suddenly has an epiphany and turns back to the right path, are you really comfortable with him dating Mei Mei?"

The couple remained silent after Yan Hui's question. Ruan Xun, who had been watching the whole thing like a spectator, couldn't help but ask, "Sister Mei, are you two really that carefree?"