Bang!
Jingliu stomped on the back of Blade's head. "Who… did you just say deserves a beating?"
"Ah—I remember now. Back when you begged me to teach you swordsmanship, you didn't have this kind of attitude. Now you've grown capable, huh? You actually dare to shout at me. Hmph hmph hmph… Hahahahaha!"
( Stelle watching from the side: "At least the laughter seems to be learned from you…")
Dan Heng stared at Jingliu in surprise. "You… You're Jingliu? How did you become like this?"
The first second he saw Jingliu, what Dan Heng thought of was not the past events. After all, that was a mess left by Dan Feng and had nothing to do with him. The only thing he cared about was that if any readers saw Jingliu's current appearance and said his comic was OOC, that would be bad.
But Jing Yuan didn't give Dan Heng much time to think. He took out a thick stack of lawsuit documents from his pocket. "Dan Heng, you really disappoint me. This isn't about money anymore. In your eyes, can I only be the female lead?"
"Haven't you heard the recent rumors on the Xianzhou? Blade can only be considered a loli in the Zhuming. You might as well let him be the female lead."
Hearing this, Blade flew into a rage and struggled to get up. "Baby, Old Jing, you're such a little cutie too!"
Dan Heng: "Five hundred thousand credits."
Jing Yuan: "I said this isn't about money! This involves my reputation and my innocence! I'm at least a streamer assistant and a public figure. If netizens dig it up, it could even affect the second half of my career!"
Dan Heng: "…Add a zero."
Jing Yuan: "Sigh, we're all brothers. What else can I say? Draw whatever you want. Anyway, I suffered plenty of this kind of grievance under Jingliu back then."
Blade tried to get up again but was stomped back down by Jingliu. In desperation, he shouted, "Crazy woman! Dan Heng drew you into the comic too. In it, you're just an idiot who only knows how to mediate fights!"
Blade handed over his phone. Jingliu glanced at it a few times. The atmosphere suddenly became strangely silent.
"—Hahahahahahaha, hahahahaha!"
A few seconds later, Jingliu began laughing loudly in a bizarre way, like a cheerful girl who had been amused. She laughed so hard she could barely breathe and almost couldn't straighten her waist.
Whoosh—
A sword light so fast it couldn't be seen clearly tore through the air, aiming straight at Dan Heng!
!
A strong sense of crisis rose from the bottom of Dan Heng's heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he followed his body's instinct and dropped to the ground on his butt—
Jing Yuan, who was standing behind him, hadn't reacted yet and took the heavy hit. He sprayed out a mouthful of saliva. "Ugh—!"
Whoosh—
The first sword missed. Jingliu instantly followed up with a second sword. Dan Heng instinctively spread his legs apart. With a "crack" sound, a bottomless sword mark appeared on the ground the next second, only one centimeter away from little Dan Heng.
Bang!
Having dodged the first two, there was nowhere to hide from the third. Dan Heng could only watch helplessly as Jingliu's boot stomped toward his face—
Dan Heng: "Ugh—!"
In less than a minute, three of the Five Smiling Leaders of the Cloud were completely subdued by Jingliu, including but not limited to the Stellaron Hunter, the former Luofu General, and the former Imbibitor Lunae of the Vidyadhara.
The power of the Sword Champion—terrifying indeed!
"Ah… I remember now. I remember everything."
At this time, Jingliu covered one eye and laughed madly. "It would have been fine if you two didn't appear. The moment I saw you, scene after scene of the 'Drinking Moon Rebellion' all came back to my mind…"
"I spent so many years trying to forget, cooperated with genius treatment for many years, and even used the power of mysterious memory to erase those memories. Yet now, all of it has been for nothing… You came at the perfect time, perfect time…"
"Of five people, four must pay a price. You—all of you—are among them!"
"Let's all die together, hahahahaha—!"
Puchi—!
With that, amid her crazy laughter, Jingliu raised the ice sword high in her hand and stabbed it viciously into Blade's chest.
Blade lay on the ground without moving. He only frowned slightly. "You stabbed the wrong spot."
Ruan Mei furrowed her brows slightly. "…Tsk, Jingliu's Mara-Struck State has flared up again. This is troublesome. You two Nameless, please step back a little."
With that, she took out a bottle of splash-type potion from her pocket and threw it toward where Jingliu and the others were.
Crack—
Jingliu was still laughing wildly, Blade was also laughing, Dan Heng still had a grave expression, and Jing Yuan kept saying "Forget it, forget it."
However, Jingliu's sword did not fall any further. Dan Heng did not run away either. They… all could not move!
"This… Miss Ruan Mei, what did you do?"
March 7th asked in surprise upon seeing this. "They seem… unable to move?"
Ruan Mei nodded and smiled gently. "This is 'Wooden Person' potion. It's a type of neuro-potion that can invade the body through skin and the respiratory tract. Those affected will lose all mobility for three hours."
"But during this period, they can still make normal sounds. Their consciousness and senses are unaffected. In fact, because of reduced physical activity, sensory sensitivity will increase… In short, it's a very useful control-type potion. It's generally used in combat, interrogation, prison cells, confinement in basements, and similar scenarios."
March 7th's eyes lit up. "Miss Ruan Mei, can you sell me a few bottles of this potion? To be honest, we Nameless often encounter all kinds of difficulties during our Trailblaze journeys. In many cases we can't go all out. If we had this…"
Ruan Mei regretfully shook her head. "Sorry, I've only prepared two bottles of this potion recently. They're both for emergencies."
"Of course, if Miss March 7th really needs it, you can add me as a friend. Once I have stock, I'll contact you immediately."
March 7th hurriedly took out her phone. "No problem, I'll add you."
Ruan Mei: "Mm… Nickname is Night God Moon, right? Accepted."
March 7th: "Let me see… Eh?! Miss Ruan Mei, you have so many potions in your Moments. This Obedient Potion, this Charm Potion, and this Active Potion—can all of these be sold?"
Ruan Mei smiled slightly. "Of course. These potions are generally standard military issue. They can usually make enemy spies, undercover agents, investigators, etc., lay down their weapons and obediently comply. But don't use them casually in normal times~"
Stelle, who was standing to the side, had black lines all over her face. "I say, you two—shouldn't we be focusing on these four people right now? And March, what random stuff are you buying again! I'm going to tell Sister Himeko and Uncle Yang!"
Ruan Mei gave a light cough. "Alright, alright. Back to the main topic. Miss Jingliu's symptoms are getting more and more serious. If we don't intervene soon, I'm afraid it won't be long before external medicine loses all effect, and she will turn into a creature that only knows slaughter."
"How should we intervene?" Jing Yuan, who was completely unable to move, asked.
Ruan Mei raised one finger. "The one who tied the bell must untie it. The best way to eliminate inner demons is…"
"To face the inner demons directly!"