Calamity Messenger-Chapter 95 - 75: Foundation Establishment Arr

The sky completely darkened, the campfires ignited, turning the night scene into chaotic gray.

Assassinating Lu Wangji, killing Zhou Ye, beheading Chen Linchuan, severing arms from Qunyu Book, any event here could cause a shock in the Liang Kingdom’s court and commoners, upending countless lives, redistributing many interests. Yet now they happened one after another, as if it were inevitable, and no one cared.

Servants, soldiers, and young members of various families in the camp were so stingy that they didn’t even glance at the losers of this battle. Everyone held their breath and focused on the sole victor, waiting for her to declare her will.

Noble families fell, the Third-Turn Messenger was down.

The Commoner Black Belt won, the Second-Turn Messenger stood tall in the forest land.

When the unbelievable scene unfolded before their eyes, everyone swiftly accepted this reality. Some fled, some were afraid, but more showed sincere admiration. When the weak make progress, you praise her; when the weak are equally matched with you, you feel uncomfortable; when the weak surpass you, you become jealous and even resent her; when the weak trample on those you perceive as strong, you start to worship her.

Dignity is merely a product of circumstance; one moment dignity demands you resent her, the next moment dignity thinks you should respect her. Ninth Grade, rank, bloodline, these societal disciplines drilled into countless minds for many years disappeared at this moment, leaving only a primal yearning for the strong... Humans aren’t as rational as they imagine.

The person with the most complex emotions present was likely Jie Yuan Shao.

Initially, she sympathized, feeling indignant over Jiang Shi’s ordeal. But after Jiang Shi rejected everyone’s goodwill and recklessly attempted to assassinate Lu Wangji, she also felt Jiang Shi had gone mad beyond salvation. Killing Lu Wangji offended the court and noble families, it wasn’t foolish anymore, but suicidal madness.

Until Jiang Shi revealed the Legendary Token Bingzi Pepper Forest.

Unlike the excited Shang Xinlei and Qian Gongyu, Jie Yuan Shao, though shocked, couldn’t be genuinely happy for Jiang Shi. No matter how she tried to console herself, she couldn’t ease the pain in her heart as if gnawed by thousands of ants.

This feeling peaked after Jiang Shi slayed Zhou Ye and Chen Linchuan. When Jie Yuan Shao saw her pass by Jie Zilong, a dark thought emerged that even she couldn’t believe — she hoped Jiang Shi would kill her third uncle.

If Jiang Shi killed her third uncle, Jie Yuan Shao could hate her without worry, cutting ties completely.

But Jiang Shi didn’t.

Shang Yue and Jie Zilong were almost unharmed. Everyone knew it was because Jiang Shi spared them for their sake. Yet precisely for this reason, Jie Yuan Shao felt suffocated, like drowning, surrounded by tangible pressure that made her breathless.

What is wrong with me? I should be grateful to her, but why do I feel so uncomfortable, even, even... hate?

Suddenly something soft grabbed her right hand, comforted her, freeing her from the drowning pressure, back to the clear camp. Jie Yuan Shao turned around and realized it was Qian Gongyu’s hand, which due to transformation, had become furry meatballs, akin to being tightly embraced by a raccoon slave.

So gentle it melted her heart.

"Are you okay?" Qian Gongyu’s eyes were full of concern, "Yuanshao, you seem very uncomfortable."

Shang Xinlei glanced at them. She was born with a Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, naturally discerning the psychological change in Jie Yuan Shao. But this wasn’t something she could interfere with; often, emotions couldn’t be rational.

Clearly without malice, sincerely hoping for you to improve, yet when you excel beyond their imagination, they become unhappy.

Shang Xinlei herself wasn’t someone with a broad heart, but she had the Thief’s House, many opportunities, and most importantly, she knew Yan Qing. In her mind, Jiang Shi was a subordinate of Yellow Dog, while she, Red Snake, had an equal status, so no matter how high Jiang Shi jumped, she wouldn’t surpass her; thus, she could calmly accept Jiang Shi’s sudden rise.

Friends are like this; when in good terms, it’s chaotic, when in hate, it’s chaotic too.

Shang Xinlei reached out to rub Qian Gongyu’s tiger ears, thinking if only everyone was like you. Qian Gongyu impatiently shook her head, but Shang Xinlei insisted on touching, leaving her resigned.

The camp suddenly became noisy. They looked up and found Jiang Shi ’looting corpses’. She didn’t mind being watched by many, squatting down to rummage for tokens from Zhou Ye and Chen Linchuan.

Seeing this, people from the Zhou Family and Chen Family were instantly agitated. They didn’t dare speak ill of Jiang Shi, resorting to calling Qunyu Book, Shang Yue, and Jie Zilong, but these three were either crippled or disheartened by defeat. Realizing Jiang Shi wasn’t desecrating bodies, they let her be.

After finishing with the corpses, Jiang Shi approached the personal score board, passing by Shang Xinlei and the others, but not turning her head or pausing her gaze for a moment.

Fearing Qian Gongyu’s impulsiveness, Shang Xinlei quickly grabbed her arm: "Don’t speak, Jiang Shi ignoring us is for our own good. Now she has no place to stand in Liang Kingdom, the Quan Family, Zhou Family, Chen Family... even Shang Family and Jie Family won’t spare her. Befriending us actually harms us."

"I know." Qian Gongyu surprisingly calm: "I will coordinate our statements to show Jiang Shi is not close to us — in reality, she doesn’t enjoy talking to us, we know nothing about her." Toward the end, her mood inevitably dropped, her round ears drooping.

"Although I want to comfort you by saying it’s just her personality, to be honest, I think Jiang Shi only intended to participate in Mansu Forest Land from the beginning, planning to leave immediately once it ended," Shang Xinlei said. "She’s so indifferent because she has no interest in making friends."

"I think so too..."

"So, you should feel proud," Shang Xinlei rubbed Qian Gongyu’s head, "Such an icy beauty who locks her heart away was eventually conquered by you and is even willing to stay for you."

"Ah? Me?" Qian Gongyu pointed at herself dumbly, "No way—she didn’t join my family; she joined yours or the Jie Family!"

"To her, what difference is there between Shang Family, Jie Family and Quan Family, Chen Family? Do you think we have a good relationship with her? But why did she finally accept our invitation?" Shang Xinlei wrapped her arms around Qian Gongyu’s shoulders, "It’s because we’re close to you. She joined our two families because of you; she stayed for you, silly tiger."

"I don’t believe you, Xinlei. You’re always fooling me." Qian Gongyu looked unconvinced, turning to Jie Yuan Shao, "Yuanshao, you tell me."

Jie Yuan Shao rubbed Qian Gongyu’s fluffy meatball and nodded, "About seventy percent of the reason Jiang Shi agreed is because of you, and the remaining thirty percent is due to our good relationship with her and the favorable terms our family offered. By the way, since when did you start addressing me directly by name? Such courage, but..."

"If you’re willing to transform into a tiger every time you see me, I’ll allow you to call me by my name."

"So you understand now?" Shang Xinlei grabbed Qian Gongyu’s shoulders, showing a sinister smile, "As long as you are on our side, it means Jiang Shi is too. Hehehe, little Patriarch Qian, you’ll never escape our grasp from now on!"

Qian Gongyu shivered, hugged herself with both hands and backed up two steps, her expression as frightened as if surrounded by two female wolves.

Suddenly, a rainbow appeared in the distance.

The words "Jiang Shi: 11,200 points" transformed into flowing colors, crafting a dazzling crystal chest in front of Jiang Shi, with rewards visibly far superior to others. Although she only exceeded second-place Shang Xinlei by two thousand points, her total broke the ten thousand mark, raising her reward level accordingly.

Three light spheres emerged from the crystal chest, each taking the shape of a Secret Technique Book, a token, and an unknown, token-shaped artifact. At that distance, they couldn’t see what was inside the spheres. Before they could approach, Jiang Shi had already made her choice—she took the Secret Technique Book on the far left.

"Oh?"

Many were surprised as Jiang Shi had already comprehended the Secret Skill - Shadow Splitting Saber during the battle earlier. For her, secret techniques were not urgently needed; a suitable token might be more valuable. More importantly, given Jiang Shi’s humble background, could she really judge which reward was more valuable?

Only Shang Xinlei vaguely guessed the reason behind Jiang Shi’s choice of the Secret Technique Book.

At this moment, a symphony of thunder and fire suddenly resonated outside, followed by a thunderous roar approaching quickly—

"Beast, come meet your doom!"

The night seemed to be torn apart, a blade arc formed by lightning traversing a hundred steps, its power unfading as it aimed like divine punishment at Jiang Shi!

Even from a considerable distance, Qian Gongyu and others felt their hair standing on end, as if brushing shoulders with death. The compressed terror rendered their minds blank, and when they came to, they saw a deep gorge in the grass.

—A gorge split by the blade arc!

With one strike, heaven and earth were parted, controlling celestial phenomena, altering the landscape!

"Didn’t die after all."

At this point, everyone discovered a person standing atop the camp tent. His handsome beard and eyebrows bristled, clad in robe armor, holding inexplicably a broadsword, looking both like a noble outlaw and a fierce army general. He coldly spoke to Jiang Shi who escaped the blow on the ground, "You’ve missed your best fate—what comes next is only living hell."

"Greetings to Prison-Suppressing Thunder King," Jie Zilong and others immediately dropped their weapons, kneeling on one knee.

"Greetings to Prison-Suppressing Thunder King!" Everyone still alive in and out of the camp spared no effort to show their reverence.

"Prison-Suppressing Thunder King, Chen Liexia," Shang Xinlei stated his power with difficulty:

"Fourth-Turn Messenger, Foundation Establishment Powerhouse!"