Chapter 117 Shifting the Blame

The next day.

Fan Bei received a report, and upon seeing the results, he was not surprised.

The entire sequence of events was clear at a glance.

He Gui took a liking to his pet and then manipulated him into taking a risk. In the end, He Gui was unexpectedly killed. His trusted aide, to prevent the city lord from taking out his anger on him, falsely accused Fan Bei of being the murderer simply because he was involved, hoping to have someone kill Fan Bei first to create an irrefutable case.

Indeed, this world was filthy!

Filthy hearts!

This world was utterly ruined!

Hearts needed purification!

Fan Bei shook his head and smiled. If he were still the age he was in middle school in his previous life, facing this situation, he would certainly have such thoughts.

Especially after gaining the corresponding power, it would be very likely that he would act on such thoughts directly.

Then he set the report on fire and burned it.

Dabai kindly took a porcelain bowl to catch the ashes and poured them into the orchid pot at the doorway.

“I’ll fertilize it,” it explained.

“You don’t need to pretend. It’s obvious you were lazy and didn’t keep watch. You’re just trying to curry favor,” the iron ball teased from the side.

“Xiaobai, are you still my brother?”

“Who told you not to share your new abilities with me?”

Fan Bei ignored these two fools and closed his eyes, deep in thought.

Should he really entrust his family business to the Starry Trade Guild and then retreat into the Copper Fortress to cultivate?

That wasn’t necessarily a bad plan—to imitate Lang Sheng, holding back his ultimate move, waiting until he reached max level before emerging.

But the problem was, was it really safe to hide in the Copper Fortress? Did Lin Zhongqing have enough deterrence to stop the assassins from striking again?

And Lin Zhongqing wasn’t stupid either. Knowing he was being hunted, would he let Fan Bei hide for free on her territory?

After all, Lin Zhongshi had paid a heavy price to take refuge within the Silver Trade Guild’s sphere of influence.

After much pondering, Fan Bei suddenly realized he had walked into a dead end.

Then a bright idea struck him: why bother exhausting his mind? Didn’t he have a good man he could call on for free help?

So he opened the Good Man system page and sent Lang Sheng a task he had to complete...

It felt good to have someone take the blame.

Fan Bei acted confidently; after all, he had just given Lang Sheng the “System Space” and “Upgrade Allocation” modules, so it was only fair to return a favor or two.

After finishing, he made a difficult decision.

Third time’s the charm. After this assassin incident, he would accompany Lang Sheng.

***

What could a system creator do? Before fully developed, he couldn’t rush in blindly.

Though he longed to be decisive and charge forward recklessly—thrilling as that might be—it would most likely lead to death. The temperament shaped by two lifetimes prevented him from acting so rashly.

***

Lang Sheng, trekking through mountains and valleys on a night journey toward the Evil Spirit Iron Mine, was in full stride.

Silver Complete—that was his current power level.

But his early foundation was flawed. He had broken through to the Gold stage several times and failed repeatedly. Relying solely on irrigating his spiritual power, he felt that even putting all he owned into it wouldn’t succeed.

His island was vast, nurturing too many plants. Those bamboo groves all had to be transformed into silver quality, and only then could the core bamboo become golden quality.

For him, this was nothing short of scaling the heavens.

This was the importance of a solid foundation. Many people’s lives were like this: a wrong foundation, a wrong path, and in the end, they could never reach the peaks they might have.

Still, he believed that after leveling up more and putting all his upgrade points into the “Spirit” attribute, he could solve this problem.

He stared into the dark jungle, clenching his teeth.

At worst, he would fight desperately. With a system, he would never lose!

Just then, a “ding” sounded in his mind.

“Temporary Good Man Task: An ‘assassin’ in the west threatens innocent lives. You need to kill it.”

Lang Sheng, who had just reached the mountain summit, was stunned.

“Brother System, isn’t it a bit abrupt to send this at midnight when I’m not sleeping?”

“Not abrupt. I just gave you such powerful abilities; you must use them to repay the world. Remember, being a Good Man means always having the awareness of ‘If you don’t go to hell, who will?’” the Good Man system said earnestly.

“Who is this assassin? Any detailed intel?”

“It’s also an evil being, probably similar to the evil spirit the new Copper Fortress lord slew.”

“That strong? You want me to kill it? Is there a time limit?” A flicker of hope rose in him.

“Of course, the time limit is one week.”

“I think it can be extended to a year,” he bargained.

“Failure means you lack the qualifications to be a true Good Man. A Good Man must turn the impossible into possible, courageously sacrifice, kill beyond his level, and even if crushed by overwhelming forces and broken to dust, must still cry out for justice...”

“Brother System, can I say something, though I’m not sure if I should?”

“Go ahead.”

“I think you’re still easier to communicate with without intelligence.”

“Host, you’re delusional. With intelligence, I can better urge you to walk the righteous path and prevent you from exploiting loopholes.”

“Damn it. Fine, I’ll just fight it out. I’m not sure I’ll lose!” Lang Sheng gritted his teeth.

“That’s the spirit. Don’t worry, with me backing you up, you’ll definitely turn the tide.”

***

“What if I fail to turn it around?”

“I’ll find the next one.”

“I feel like I’ve fallen into a huge trap with you. No wonder thousands before me died.”

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Gains always come with equal cost.”

Two days later.

Lang Sheng finally arrived at the Evil Spirit Mine.

Given the one-week deadline, he at least wanted to level up a few stages and attempt to break through to Gold.

Reaching here, he saw the Starry Trade Guild’s location and an idea struck him.

“I’m borrowing others’ power to uphold justice. That’s fine, right?”

“No problem. The righteous are helped by many.”

He entered the Starry Trade Guild’s office and even met Lin Zhongqing.

“Huh? You want me to deal with an assassin?” Lin Zhongqing immediately became suspicious. One had just left, and now another arrived.

Could there be some connection between the two?

Suppressing her doubts, she shook her head. “Dealing with it will be expensive, very dangerous, and the intel is unclear...”

“If you kill it, I’ll waive the remaining payments for buying my Copper Fortress. You haven’t finished paying yet,” Lang Sheng said, bleeding inside.

“That’s quite a deal,” Lin Zhongqing smiled. “Alright, I accept the task.”

“But you’d better be quick. I want this menace dealt with within three days,” Lang Sheng said firmly.

For the system, to avoid hell, to avoid being crushed like dirt under wheels, he had exhausted all future earnings in one breath.

“Three days? Fine, you’ll see results soon,” Lin Zhongqing said confidently.

A pang of envy rose in Lang Sheng.

How frustrating! I have a system, yet this little woman is so impressive. It’s just not fair!

“Host, please keep a broad mind. You should think, yes, there are still more good people in this world,” the Good Man system timely corrected him.

“What good person? She’s obviously a profiteering scoundrel!” Lang Sheng fumed.

“You should be grateful. If not for such scoundrels, we would part ways in a few days.”

“You’re cold and heartless, turning your back on friends. Is this really a Good Man system?” Lang Sheng tried to morally bind it.

“No, I call it sacrificing our private friendship for the sake of all living beings.”

***