There were many pedestrians on the commercial street, and Wang Xiaohai would have been too conspicuous if he had been running. Fortunately, the streets here were interconnected and not straight. He turned left and got into a group of onlookers.

There was a crude stage in front, with many members of the troupe taking turns performing on the stage. Some were juggling and throwing torches, some were swallowing swords (Wang Xiaohai could tell at a glance that the props were retractable), and some were walking on a tightrope three meters in the air.

The onlookers cheered and applauded thunderously.

"You're new here, the ticket price is one hundred coins." A thin man pulled Wang Xiaohai's sleeve.

"What did you say?" Wang Xiaohai turned around and asked the thin man. He had only stopped for a few seconds and had not decided whether to look or not.

"I said, give me money!" The thin man's voice was threatening.

"Sorry, I don't want to give it." Wang Xiaohai would have given it if he had spoken nicely, but with such a threatening tone, Wang Xiaohai really didn't plan to give it. Let's see what he can do!

Wang Xiaohai is a person who responds to soft words and not to hard ones. The more you threaten or force him, the less likely he will obey.

The thin man punched Wang Xiaohai in the face.

Wang Xiaohai could tell the thin man's footwork was unsteady and he had no martial arts experience. He dodged the punch and then kicked him right in the crotch, sending him flying three or four meters and knocking over several passersby.

"There's a troublemaker!" The people in the troupe on the stage stopped performing and pulled out weapons from the cabinet behind the scenes and surrounded Wang Xiaohai.

"You're dead! How dare you hit someone from our troupe!" A burly man performing the stone-crushing chest move reached out to grab Wang Xiaohai.

“Snap—”

Wang Xiaohai slapped the hand that was reaching out to him away. The burly man spun around and bumped into his thin colleague who was performing the fire ring trick, and both of them fell down.

"This guy is awesome. Let's go and invite the new martial artist!" Two members of the troupe took a step back and ran backstage upon seeing this.

Their troupe is just a show of fancy moves, and when they encounter someone more capable, they can only hire someone else.

Soon, a man in tight clothes and with an imposing manner walked towards Wang Xiaohai, led by two people.

"Are you the troublemaker?" the man said to Wang Xiaohai. He only saw Wang Xiaohai's back.

"Yes, it's me. When did you become the martial artist of the opera troupe? Lincun." Wang Xiaohai turned around after hearing the voice of the person coming.

"Wang Xiaohai?" Lin Cun felt that he was too stupid to recognize Wang Xiaohai! Perhaps it was because he had become a mortal now, and all his previous magical powers were gone.

"Do you know each other?" The troupe owner also came over from behind the scenes. He didn't expect that the martial artist he had just hired today was acquainted with this troublemaker.

"Yes, he is my friend." Lin Cun said to the troupe owner.

Between Wang Xiaohai and the troupe, he could only choose Wang Xiaohai because he knew clearly the strength of the troupe members.

"How did you join the troupe? Are you planning to give up the mission?" Wang Xiaohai did not mention the marriage proposal, but just called it a mission, which was equivalent to influencing a country as a mortal.

"I'll tell you when we get to the stage."

Lin Cun pulled Wang Xiaohai into a temporary tent behind the stage. The tent was very large, with a round table in the middle and seven stools around the table. The cloth cushions on the stools had faded and turned yellow and white.

"Originally, I joined the troupe hoping to find an opportunity to assassinate the emperor." Lin Cun sat on a stool, resting one hand on the edge of the table. "After all, if I succeed in assassinating the emperor, the impact on the Zhou Kingdom will surely be enormous, enough to qualify for the next round of marriage proposals."

"Do you think this troupe has a chance to perform at the palace?" Wang Xiaohai also sat down. "What if there's no chance in fifteen days?" He knew that the palace would be heavily guarded, making it difficult to sneak in. Even if Lin Cun could defeat a hundred palace guards, he would be shot dead by archers inside the palace! Only those who got the upper hand could enter the palace when the guards were lax. Now that the Zhou emperor was injured, it was those people who were responsible.

"It's okay that fifteen people didn't enter the palace." Lin Cun said in a normal tone, "Anyway, my strength among the True Gods is at the bottom, not to mention those Planar Gods!"

"I think this troupe is just trying to extort money from passersby. You won't get much use staying here for fifteen days. Find another place to go!" Wang Xiaohai said, "Let's go and join the imperial palace and become imperial guards."

"After becoming a guard, will you look for an opportunity to kill the emperor?" Lin Cun asked, "But the Zhou royal palace is not stupid. They will not accept someone with unknown backgrounds to become a guard!"

"There's only one emperor, and if there were a hundred thousand assassins, I'm afraid they'd slaughter everyone in the palace, and even the princes and grandchildren would be wiped out!" Wang Xiaohai said, "But this strategy obviously doesn't work, because the fellows are all fighting alone, and facing the palace's ironclad defenses, it's very likely they won't be able to break in for fifteen days. Moreover, killing a prince is probably not as influential as killing a famous poet or vassal king of the Zhou Kingdom, because the emperor will definitely have many princes, and losing one will not affect the succession to the throne. Besides, even if you kill the prince, what's the use? Can you escape after killing him? Is it worth it to trade one life for another?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Cun was a little confused.

"I believe most gods plan to save their own lives first and then slowly develop. Saving their lives is definitely the first prerequisite, so there shouldn't be any foolish gods trying to assassinate the palace right now!" Wang Xiaohai said, "We'll become guards first, then capture or drive away a few assassins, rise in rank, and become generals. We can lead troops into battle and expand our territory, and that way we'll have no problem making it into the top 100."

"The problem is how to become a guard. Others would also like this, the competition is fierce!" Lincun said, "You want to be a palace guard too? And if we have to fight a war, how can we finish it in fifteen days? I'm afraid we'll run out of time halfway through the campaign."

"You can just go out and attack some small countries, and it will be fine if you travel quickly, otherwise you can go and suppress bandits." Wang Xiaohai said, "I think the situation will change to a civilian position. If the time is really up and we still haven't achieved anything, we can only randomly eliminate some corrupt officials."

Anyway, there was no better way, so the two could only act according to Wang Xiaohai's method and act according to circumstances during the process.

"First, go to the royal palace in the capital or to high-ranking officials such as the prime minister to apply for a guard position. If you perform well, you will have the opportunity to be recommended to become a palace guard." Wang Xiaohai proposed specific steps.

"But even if they're short of people, they won't want people like us with unknown backgrounds. What if we recommend them to the palace and harm the emperor?" Lincun analyzed. "How about we go to the barracks and enlist as soldiers first?"

"Your objection is well-founded. We should go find those princes and nobles with rebellious intentions to join us. They're short of people and won't conduct a thorough investigation," Wang Xiaohai said. "At worst, you can get two passersby's fake IDs, and we'll be cleared of any wrongdoing!"

After the two finalized the details of the plan, they left the troupe's tent.

"It's too late today. Let's go tomorrow morning and find a hotel to rest for the night," Lincun said. "I know a cheap hotel nearby."

"Why would I want to live in a cheap place? I have plenty of money!" Wang Xiaohai said. "Let's find the best place to live."