My wife is the stand-in.

Li Junzi, anxiously waving his cigar, the end moving back and forth between his thick lips, misunderstood Amanosaki's silence and blankness: "Big brother, I'm serious!"

"Jiajia is still lying in the hospital bed at the branch headquarters, and I was left here by the teacher. I haven't seen Jiajia for a whole day. I used to bring her food, but now that I'm not here, she must be so lonely!"

Li Junzi scratched his head in regret, his eyes filled with unconcealed longing.

"If you cared about a girl half as much as others do, you probably would have confessed successfully back in high school on Earth," Yubaba mocked mercilessly.

Amanosaki replied sternly, "I'm a dignified seven-foot-tall man, practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill. His 'Simp's Heart Sutra' is unsuitable for me; I'd cough if I practiced that stuff!"

"They're ten feet tall."

"Mental stature, in spirit!" Amanosaki emphasized, "In terms of spiritual height, I've looked down on him far too much. Look, he even calls me 'brother'!"

"Big brother, you have to think of a way for me."

Just then, Li Junzi called out, "If I don't get back soon, Jiajia will probably starve."

Feeling smug, Amanosaki stood on tiptoe and patted Li Junzi on the shoulder, marveling at Li Junzi's delusions, and said earnestly, "Brother, with your emotional intelligence, you're probably only good for practicing the 'Simp's Heart Sutra'..."

"What Heavenly Dog Heart Sutra? I'm not being serious, bro. This mission can't be completed in a day or two. We'll have to stay here for at least a week or two!"

"What the hell?! One or two weeks?!"

An aged voice, like that of an owl, rang out from the lounge, startling Li Junzi.

Under his wary gaze, Yubaba, leaning on her glass cane, shuffled out and pointed to the still-warm river water: "I killed the four-clawed scale fish and the queen fish with a single bolt of lightning. Why do we have to stay for another week or two?"

"I mean at least one or two weeks, maybe even a month or two," Li Junzi grumbled, then asked, "Grandma..."

"Mr. Li, this is my girlfriend, A-Tang. You have to call her 'sister-in-law'!"

Amanosaki quickly interrupted his emotionally immature younger brother, rescuing him from the abyss of being beaten.

What a joke! Yubaba's fame has reached the second stage. Her witchcraft is practically a miracle. She can even manipulate lightning and river water. She's on a completely different level from Li Junzi.

According to his observation, even Amber King could not defeat him quickly. Perhaps only the Sword Saint Scabies Bin, who carried a parasol and shouted "A sword is not such an inconvenient thing," had the ability to decide the outcome in one move.

"sister in law?!"

Li Junzi also showed a surprised expression. He circled around Granny Tang, looking her up and down with his eyes.

Granny Tang's lips were pursed as she calmly smoked, exuding an aloof and unapproachable air.

Amanosaki wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking to himself, "If you keep courting death like this, your brother can't help you anymore. You'll just have to accept your fate and leave your wealth to heaven."

Then Li Junzi clapped his hands, revealing a bright and fawning smile: "No mistake! Although the appearance has changed, this temperament is indeed that of my sister-in-law! Hello, sister-in-law!"

The burly man, nearly two meters tall, bowed deeply and waved to his men, shouting, "What are you all standing there for?! Come and say hello to my sister-in-law!"

So a group of clueless heroes, fully armed and ready to provide reinforcements, bowed in bewilderment and shouted in unison, "Hello, sister-in-law!"

"The heroes from the front lines said a master has arrived and taken care of the Queen Fish. I was wondering who it was, but now it seems it must be my sister-in-law's doing. Isn't that right, brother?"

Amanosaki stared blankly at Li Junzi, unsure whether to call it a lucky accident or just plain foolish luck. He secretly whispered to Yubaba, 'How did this kid fail to catch that high school girl? He seems quite talkative; I have nothing more to teach him.'

'You used to be a single dog, what can you teach? How to be a straight man?' Granny Yu glanced at Amanosaki and tapped Li Junzi's foot with her cane: 'Alright, alright, tell me what's going on, why are you staying here for so long.'

Li Junzi straightened up, looked at Dajiang with some difficulty, and finally sighed:

"Sigh, to put it simply, ever since the Sanjiang Dam was chosen by the branch of the Great River Basin as a training ground for their own heroes, a new training objective has been added to the original plan of 'orderly weakening the fish monsters.' About ten years ago, after the Sanjiang Hall was established by the reservoir, those queen fish also found that fewer and fewer four-clawed scale fish were successfully migrating to spawn."

"So later on, there was more than one queen fish leading the migration each time. But after the training plan was introduced, the branch-level heroes no longer stayed at the dam, and the era was in the hall, only showing up in dangerous situations. So every year, many of the queen fish that were huge, familiar with the water, and had a group of offspring helping in the river were able to leave alive."

"So in recent years, queenfish have stopped appearing in large numbers and instead come to the dam one by one, following the migration waves of the four-clawed scale fish."

"The queenfish that my brother and sister-in-law dealt with today actually arrived at the dam two days ago, but it only started moving today. More queenfish will arrive in the next few days. The intelligence department over there believes that the weather this year has been excellent, resulting in a significant increase in fish stocks in the shallow waters, which can support many large marine creatures to remain active in the shallows for extended periods. The river is also very suitable for the reproduction of the four-clawed scale fish. This year, there will likely be a large-scale migration of four-clawed scale fish. In other words…"

Amanosaki continued, "In other words, the number of migration waves will increase this year, and the number of queen fish will also increase accordingly."

"Yes." Li Junzi's face turned even more bitter at the thought of not being able to fly back to the Yushan branch to be with Jiajia as soon as possible.

Chapter 52: Love, Hypnosis, and Witchcraft

"Yes." Li Junzi's face turned even more bitter at the thought of not being able to fly back to the Yushan branch to be with Jiajia as soon as possible.

He didn't really care much for the title of a chivalrous hero. He was only leading the team to clear the fish infestation because of his status—after all, he was Amber Master's apprentice, who had adopted him and done him a great favor, whom he regarded as a father. Even to protect Amber Master's reputation, Li Junzi had originally planned to go to the local area for "internship" soon.

But his true ideal was not to eliminate evil and protect the righteous, but to marry JK, have a son and a daughter, and live a simple and warm life with his wife and children.

Seeing that the fish damage had been temporarily eliminated, Li Junzi stopped restraining everyone. He let his subordinates act freely, while he sat with Amanosaki at the small round table at the entrance of the lounge, watching Amanosaki make tea.

"Green tea, black tea, oolong, Longjing tea, which do you prefer?" Amanosaki asked, shaking the cloisonné enamel teapot in his hand.

Li Junzi didn't dare ask where he got the tea from, nor did he dare ask where such a shabby rest room could have so much tea. To save face for his older brother, he ordered the most common and ubiquitous tea that all farmhouses would prepare.

Jasmine tea.

"it is good."

Amanosaki opened his hand to Yubaba, and in the face of Yubaba's disapproving look of "You're always ordering me around," a small jar inexplicably appeared in his palm.

Amano Saki walked into the tea room, playing with the jar and saying, "Wow! It's a collaboration between Touhou Leaf Man and the Touhou Tree Leaf Man."

Confused, Li Junzi looked at Granny Tang and asked, "Sister-in-law, how did you and my brother perform this magic trick?"

"What magic trick?" Yubaba asked back.

"First, there was a burst of light in my brother's hand, and then..." Li Junzi's voice gradually lowered as he said this.

"Is this my sister-in-law's ability? She can conjure objects out of thin air?"

Amanosaki returned carrying a teapot full of boiling water: "You underestimate Tom too much. Her ability is witchcraft. Tom can do everything that is traditionally believed to be possible for priestesses and witches."

"See this teapot in my hand? It's a modified Persian-style wine jug. The wine jug was created by Tom. The rattan chair you made and the glass table you're holding are also created by Tom."

Li Junzi was filled with respect. He pushed back his chair, stood up, knelt on one knee, thought for a moment, then simply pressed both knees to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Please, sister-in-law, let me marry Jiajia!"

Amanosaki poured tea, pushing a cup towards Yubaba, while secretly whispering to himself, "He seems very sincere. Should we help him?"

'Nonsense, the wooden floor was broken, how could it not be sincere?' Yubaba slapped away Amanosaki's hand that was reaching for the cookies on the table, complaining inwardly that Amanosaki, as the eldest brother, was just enjoying the show.

Amanosaki shrugged. "Tom, you don't understand. With you around, what would a grown man like me get involved in? If it's about sending flowers to confess your love, or playing the villain and getting beaten up to help your brother, I'd do it without hesitation. But he's getting married! What can I do? I'm not even married yet!"

Amanosaki popped a cookie into his mouth. 'Besides, he's worshipping you, the true Buddha, so what can I do?'

Ignoring Amanosaki's witty remarks, Yubaba looked at Li Junzi, who had already broken two planks of wood, and knew that this stubborn man truly liked the high school girl from the bottom of his heart. So she sighed.

"I can definitely get JK to marry you."

"Thank you, sister-in-law!" Li Junzi was overjoyed, so much so that he didn't even bother to correct Granny Tang's nickname for his sweetheart.

"I haven't finished speaking yet." Granny Yu lit a cigarette. "Witchcraft is indeed magical, defying logic and scientific rules, but!"

Granny Tang's gaze sharpened, and the imposing presence of the bathhouse mistress sent a shiver down Li Junzi's spine.

"Witchcraft must also follow the rules of mysticism. I cannot change a person's thoughts. Thoughts are the foundation of what makes a person who they are. Changing a person's thoughts is a power that only gods possess. What I can do is simply use hypnosis."

At this point, Granny Yu looked at Li Junzi kneeling on the ground and said, "Little Li, do you really want to spend your life with someone who can't see your true face and is only in love with an illusion?"

For a moment, the only sound in the lounge was the roaring river outside.

Seeing Li Junzi's flushed forehead and complicated expression, Amanosaki immediately understood what he meant.

Li Junzi was unwilling to live with a hypnotized JK, but he found it hard to give up the option of easily fulfilling his wishes on the spot.

'After being called "Big Brother" so many times, I should finally show some big brother spirit!' Amanosaki licked the cookie crumbs between his teeth and slammed his fist on the table.

"Show some guts!" He glared at Li Junzi. "You can even kill demons, are you afraid you can't win over a little girl?"

"Lord Amber is your teacher, and that girl is your fellow disciple and your lover. How can you really bear to do such a thing to your own family?!"

"I've already made up my mind, so what's there to hesitate about!"

Amanosaki's voice grew louder with each note, and the last one was practically amplified by magic.

Li Junzi raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. He slapped himself hard across the face, the force leaving a red and purple welt. His lip was even cut open.

He stood up, panting heavily, and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Amanosaki: "Brother is right. Since my teacher named me Junzi (君子, meaning gentleman), I should strive to be like Junzi."

"A gentleman loves money, but he acquires it in a proper way. I, Li Junzi, would never do such despicable things!"

"now it's right."

Amanosaki beckoned to Li Junzi, "Let's consider this matter closed. Love is love, and your relationship with JK is ultimately up to you two. Now let's talk about our careers."

Li Junzi nodded and sat down again. Granny Tang gently lifted her finger, and the broken floor was restored to its original state.

As he spoke, he poured another cup of tea and pushed it towards Li Junzi, saying, "A Tang and I want to go downstream along the river and actively eliminate those fish monsters."

"It can't be done." Li Junzi shook his head.

"why?"

“Brother, this matter is not so simple.” Li Junzi held a small teacup, which looked like an oral liquid in his large palm. “As I mentioned before, the Sanjiang Reservoir was built by the government, but the current funding for its operation comes from conglomerates and various branch offices.”

"For the sake of the live stream?"

“Yes.” Li Junzi nodded. “My elder brother and sister-in-law only recently joined the branch, so they don’t know. In fact, in recent years, the rate at which heroes and knights are being born around the world has been almost twice as fast as in the past. My teacher said before that the headquarters issued a report at the beginning of this year, which said that in the past few years, the number of new superpowers in China has exceeded the total of the past ten years.”

"As a result, the competition among heroes has intensified, and conglomerates and branch organizations have become increasingly focused on these selection mechanisms in order to improve the quality of their personnel."

Amanosaki glanced at Yubaba and saw a strange look in her eyes.

Recently, isn't that about the same time period as when I traveled through time?

Amanosaki perked up: "Explain in detail!"

Chapter 53: Good heavens, is spiritual energy reviving here?

The three people sat around a round table, as if simulating a round table meeting in the ancient era of heroes.

As Li Junzi recounted the story, Amanosaki's brows furrowed involuntarily.

This world already has an abundance of superpowers, comparable to the martial arts in wuxia novels. Street performers and acrobats all know how to use both hands and fist techniques, and even the old man sweeping the floor has to bow and scrape.

Similarly, this world is full of people with extremely low-level superpowers, at most equivalent to a human lighter or a portable kettle, who live freely in China. Although these people are also on record, because their superpowers are too weak, they are harmless and usually do not attract the attention of the government.

However, since about six years ago, superpowers have naturally evolved in a broader and stronger direction. Currently, there are over 100,000 more superpower holders in the country who have exceeded the safety level and require regular patrols by the [Heroes Mountain].

A significant portion of them did not become heroes, continuing to live law-abiding lives based on past experiences, while the majority of the remainder strived on the path to becoming heroes.

The government couldn't help but feel fortunate that it hadn't banned the profession of "knight-errant" back then. Otherwise, if these hundreds of thousands of superhumans were allowed to operate freely, the police force and surveillance resources needed by the country would be astronomical.