Chapter 2 Shen Zhou, please save me and become my Daoist partner.
Youzhou is located in the northeast, and December is the time when the cold wind blows and snow falls.
When Hua Deng arrived after traveling a long distance, the weather wasn't much better, even though it hadn't snowed. A biting wind swept in from all directions. She numbly inhaled, wrapped herself in her heavy winter clothes, clutched a hand warmer, and moved forward with the crowd.
The massive building came into view, with the words "Arena" prominently displayed on the stone pillars. The crowd moved in an orderly fashion, having their tickets checked one by one before entering. Hua Deng was at the front of the line. He reluctantly pulled out his ticket, his thoughts drifting away with the wind.
When she set off to find Shen Zhou fifteen days ago, she never imagined she would end up like this.
They thought that with the Hua family's wealth, they could find Shen Zhou in three days at most. Who would have thought that he would be like Doraemon, appearing in Qingzhou one moment and going to Yuezhou thousands of miles away the next, harder to catch than an eel.
Yesterday evening, she received news that Shen Zhou had signed up for the Hundred-Person Arena in Linshan City, Youzhou. She immediately sent her men to buy tickets and travel overnight to get there.
To speed things up, she even changed from two horses to four, and luckily the horses didn't die from exhaustion along the way.
Upon arrival, they didn't even have time to rest or drink water before rushing to queue up, fearing they would miss out on meeting Shen Zhou again.
Fortunately, she made it in time this time. The competition wouldn't start for a while, so she went into the stands and found a seat with a good view. Her eyes kept darting around, trying to pinpoint Chen Zhou's location.
The guy next to her greeted her: "You're here to watch the 100-person arena too? It's so bloody, are you sure you can handle it?"
Hua Deng glanced at him, then turned back and said casually, "We'll find out soon enough whether it works or not."
The man seemed mesmerized by her gaze, and involuntarily reached out his hand: "May I ask your honorable name, beautiful lady..."
Click.
With a cracking sound of bones twisting, the man clutched his wrist and screamed in agony, cold sweat pouring down his face as he retreated in terror.
Hua Deng kindly used her healing magic to realign his bones.
She was at least at the Foundation Establishment stage; it was an act of kindness that she only dislocated his shoulder and didn't break his bones.
The man finally realized that he had encountered a cultivator, and instantly became as still as a quail, not daring to cast a single glance at her no matter how beautiful she was.
Fifteen minutes later, almost everyone in the audience had arrived, and the contestants began to prepare to enter the venue.
The 100-person competition, as the name suggests, involves hundreds of participants each time. There's only one rule: the last one standing wins.
The winner will receive a reward of one thousand spirit stones, which is not much considering the scale and brutality of the event.
Based on his performance at the morning market last time, Hua Deng felt that he was probably really short of money.
Coincidentally, she has nothing but lots of money.
One hundred contestants entered the venue one after another. After waiting for a while, Hua Deng indeed spotted Chen Zhou's figure.
He was extremely tall, standing out from the crowd, and his bronze mask was so distinctive that it was hard not to notice him.
Half a month had passed since I last saw him, and he was still dressed in the same simple white clothes, his black hair tied up with a red ribbon, the ends of which hung down to his waist and swayed gently with his steps.
From the perspective of the streetlights, one could see that many people were secretly observing him, probably because they thought he walked steadily and had an extraordinary demeanor, and regarded him as a formidable rival.
But soon, everyone's attention shifted. The reason was simple: Shen Zhou was too silent, standing out awkwardly among the contestants who exuded a fierce aura like ferocious beasts.
No matter how others provoked him, he never drew his sword or spoke, remaining in the corner to observe coldly without revealing a trace of murderous intent.
This place is called an arena, as if defeating your opponent is all that matters, but in reality, it soon turns into a life-or-death struggle. And someone without the will to kill will absolutely not survive to the end.
A moment later, at a command, a chaotic battle of a hundred people began, and the whole place erupted in cheers.
Shen Zhou finally made a move. He took a step forward slowly, moving from the corner to the edge of the battlefield. His hands hung down, and he shifted his weight backward, adopting a very relaxed posture.
Last time he saw him, he had a sword but no sheath; this time, it was the other way around, with only the sheath hanging from his waist. Hua Deng wondered which stall owner had been so kind as to sell it to him at half price.
When the thought arose and then vanished, the commotion in the room abruptly ceased.
Looking over in confusion, Hua Deng realized that the game was over.
The arena for a hundred people has become a one-man arena, with ninety-nine people lying on the ground groaning in pain, while only Chen Zhou remains standing.
The audience and referees were stunned.
The guy next to me yelled, "Damn it! What's the point of paying to see this?!" Where's the promised gore?!
"Hiss..." Hua Deng was no less shocked than him.
She had clearly seen that Shen Zhou hadn't even used any magic; he had truly defeated everyone in three seconds with just a sword sheath. Even for cultivators, this was no less difficult than a seventy-year-old woman beating up Tyson.
She was instantly thrilled and had a new assessment of Shen Zhou's strength. She couldn't wait to rush down from the stands and go to the front hall to look for Shen Zhou.
When she arrived, Shen Zhou was walking out the door after receiving his bonus. Hua Deng rushed up to him and stopped him.
Her movements were a bit too large, and the peach blossom bracelet on her wrist dangled out, which she quickly hid. It was given to her by a passing cultivator when she was five years old; it could conceal her physique, and she didn't want to reveal her special nature.
Unexpectedly stopped, Shen Zhou didn't react much, only slightly lowering his eyelashes, waiting for her explanation.
Hua Deng quickly scanned the surroundings and asked bluntly, "Fellow Daoist Chen Zhou, do you currently have a Daoist partner or someone you like?"
Upon hearing her name, Shen Zhou glanced at her and then said, "None."
Hua Deng smiled with satisfaction: "Would you mind having another Daoist partner?"
Shen Zhou calmly countered, "What do you mean?"
Hua Deng took a deep breath: "What I mean is, would you be willing to become my Daoist partner?"
Fearing Shen Zhou might disagree, she finished in one breath: "I urgently need someone with strong cultivation to be my Daoist partner, and after thinking it over, you are the most suitable. If you are willing, I can provide 50,000 spirit stones per month. Of course, I have no intention of keeping you as a mistress; this is purely a friendly exchange between fellow Daoists."
After saying this long paragraph, she felt much more relaxed, thinking that Shen Zhou would definitely not be able to refuse such generous terms.
Shen Zhou didn't hesitate much. He said, "I don't practice dual cultivation with others."
"You agree, then... huh?"
After a moment of surprise, Hua Deng asked, "You cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness?"
Shen Zhou said "no" and walked right past her, leaving the place.
Hua Deng: "???"
Having rarely been rejected in both her lives, her first reaction was to grab Chen Zhou's sleeve and demand an explanation.
However, that sleeve slipped silently from her palm like smoke, as if it utterly detested being touched by her.
Hua Deng: "..."
She must have been rejected.
You must have been rejected!
When her temper flared up, she immediately grabbed her skirt and chased after him.
"Why don't you agree? I can raise the price! How about 80,000?"
"If you don't cultivate the path of ruthlessness, what else is there to argue about?"
"Do you think I'm not good enough for you?"
No matter how much the lights shouted from behind, Chen Zhou remained unmoved.
She chased after him, breathless, and asked the system, bewildered, "Is Shen Zhou also like this in the book?"
System: "Hmm...probably. He doesn't really have much of a role in the book."
Even if she has no role, there's no need to be so stingy with words. Hua Deng felt that something was off.
But in any case, she had no choice. Rather than letting her go back to follow the plot, it would be better to let her die sooner rather than later.
Shen Zhou didn't care about her situation at all. After leaving the arena, he quickened his pace and headed towards a tall building at the end of the street.
Hua Deng glanced at it casually and hurriedly followed, completely unaware of the three large characters "Feiyan Pavilion" on the plaque.
Once inside the high-rise building, she realized something was wrong.
It was unusually quiet. Everyone was intently staring at the communication discs in their hands or the huge scrolls on the wall. No one was talking or paying attention to anything else.
Several pairs of eyes turned to her, filled with scrutiny. She quickened her pace to catch up with Shen Zhou, calling softly, "Shen—"
Suddenly, the following words could not be pronounced.
She opened her eyes wide, but all she could see was Chen Zhou's back. Her throat felt like it was blocked by wood; she couldn't speak or breathe, and her limbs became unresponsive, carrying her stiffly up the stairs.
Was this done by Shen Zhou? What kind of magic is this?
"Puppetry," the system explained considerately.
Once they reached the empty platform on the second floor, Shen Zhou casually tore down the bounty poster, released his control over her, and turned away indifferently.
Hua Deng, clutching her neck and panting, accused, "What are you doing? Trying to harm me?"
Shen Zhou asked, "Do you know where this is?"
Hua Deng recalled the words on the plaque: "Feiyan Pavilion?"
Shen Zhou raised his chin, gesturing for her to look at the scroll on the wall.
The lights then followed the gaze.
On the scroll where information kept changing, one name stood out prominently—
The bounty is on Shen Zhou, the number one wanted person.
Bounty: 78 million.
Feiyan Pavilion, a place where people hire hitmen to commit murder.
Hua Deng fell silent. She said, "I understand, I won't call you by your name here."
Shen Zhou: "Don't follow me, I won't agree."
This was the first long sentence he spoke to Hua Deng.
His tone was so calm it was almost eerie.
Hua Deng blinked, and as he lifted his foot to leave, he did not stay where he was told, but instead jogged after him again.
"If you don't agree now, it's because you haven't seen my wealth. You'll definitely regret it later!" Hua Deng clenched his fist and swore.
"Host, why don't you give up?" The system couldn't bear to watch and advised her, "Actually, following the plot isn't that difficult, and most of your male leads are... uh, rather anthropomorphic."
"No!" Hua Deng was even more determined. "The more he rejects me, the more it proves that he can break free from the influence of the Hehuan Sacred Body. I must spend money to win him over!"
She doesn't want to play weird games with all sorts of strange species!
Hua Deng keeps its word.
When Shen Zhou stepped into the weapon pavilion, she immediately followed, having already obtained the jade token for storing spirit stones.
She was stunningly beautiful, and her clothes were exceptionally luxurious. Even the boots she wore were made of Yuezhou's specialty Yuehua brocade, making her exquisite from head to toe.
The shopkeeper immediately recognized a big customer and rushed forward to flatter him. However, when he turned his head and saw Chen Zhou with Hua Deng, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, thinking of him as a poor swordsman trying to seduce a rich woman.
Hua Deng didn't care about any of that; her eyes were fixed on Chen Zhou. She bought whatever he looked at, and in the end, she almost emptied half the store. When she left, the shopkeeper was practically kneeling down to her.
Shen Zhou remained unaffected, as if Hua Deng had no presence behind him at all, going wherever he pleased and doing whatever he wanted.
Hua Deng followed him for most of the day, buying countless things. As evening approached, he finally stopped lingering, left the city gate, and seemed poised to kill the man on the wanted poster.
As soon as Hua Deng entered the winding woods outside the city, he realized something was wrong.
Before she could grab Shen Zhou, sure enough, his figure vanished without a trace in a flash.
Hua Deng: "..."
She stomped her foot in frustration. The things hadn't been delivered yet, and finding Shen Zhou would take a lot of effort. There was no guarantee that Yao Qingzong wouldn't arrest her and take her back beforehand.
"Oh, where did this beauty come from?" A nauseating voice rang out from behind, breaking the silence.
Another voice said, "We're in luck today; we'll get to have some fun."
Ah, here we go again. Hua Deng turned away expressionlessly, her heart completely unmoved. This was the female lead's buff, and also the reason why she rarely went out before.
Two cultivators stood opposite him, each wielding a sword. Hua Deng, adorned with magical artifacts, wasn't actually that afraid, but just to be on the safe side, he asked, "System, what are the cultivation levels of these two idiots?"
The system scanned the system and found that both were at the Golden Core stage.
Hua Deng said gravely, "Judging from this, their strength may be greater than mine."
system:"……"
Isn't that obvious?
Seeing that the two were about to pounce on him, Hua Deng turned around and shouted, "Here's five hundred spirit stones, help me kill them!"
The two men immediately laughed, "Who is the little beauty talking to? It's just us here... Oh oh oh! Who poked my ass!"
Who else could it be but Shen Zhou, whose eyes are only on spirit stones?
When he unveiled the bounty notice, Hua Deng happened to catch a glimpse of it. The bounty was only three hundred spirit stones, so she deliberately raised the price, betting that Shen Zhou would hear it and come over.
She gambled correctly. Shen Zhou appeared extremely quickly, and his killing was equally swift; with a swift movement of his sword, not a single drop of blood was spilled.
Hua Deng happened to be a bit of a germaphobe, so he was even more pleased and ran over with the spirit stone in his arms.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind swept by, and she shivered. When she saw Chen Zhou's condition, the chill was even greater than before.
The people on the ground were already dead, but the murderous aura emanating from Shen Zhou did not subside. The blood and ferocity from years of battlefield experience poured down on Hua Deng, almost freezing her blood.
The pace of the streetlights gradually slowed down, and then stopped.
Even if she were slow to realize, Shen Zhou was completely different now. If he was a sword sheathed before, he was now undeniably sharp and terrifying.
The surroundings were silent, except for the sound of the wind rustling through the treetops. Shen Zhou casually pulled the sword out of the corpse and turned to look over.
The bronze mask gleamed coldly as it stood high above, uttering indifferent words: "You don't seem to have noticed yet."
"I can kill them, and now I can kill you too."
Every word exuded an undisguised murderous intent.
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