Cultivation Kill

As expected, Mr. Teda met with Shen Zige and Qin Jie.

"It's amazing!" Mr. Teda carefully examined the photos in his phone's album. "The details are flawless, it's like they've put real people directly into the photos!"

"Mr. Teda, your phone battery is low. Please draw the people in the photo as soon as possible. Just copy it," Qin Jie urged.

"Aunt Gui, please bring me the painting box," Mr. Teda said to the woman beside him.

"I have a request. Could I borrow this thing called a cell phone for a while to study it?" Teda turned to ask Qin Jie.

“You finish drawing it for me, and I’ll give it to you,” Qin Jie said nonchalantly.

My phone is almost out of battery anyway, so there's no point in keeping it.

Teda truly lives up to his reputation as a painting master; he sketched Qin Jing's likeness in just half an hour.

Shen Zige saw a low battery warning on her phone.

Teda asked the two what this meant, as he did not understand Chinese characters.

"It's nothing, just click the middle." Qin Jie reached out and took the painting. "Then we'll take our leave."

The two hurriedly left Teda's house, afraid that if they walked too slowly, Teda would call them back.

Shen Zige's mind conjured up the image of Teda discovering that their phone was out of battery and could only be used as a brick.

The two men left the area and, carrying the portrait, asked around as they went.

Most passersby glanced at it and shook their heads; some didn't even look at the portrait and simply yelled, "Get lost!"

Soon it was afternoon.

"It's getting dark. Why don't I look for it myself and you go and rest?" Qin Jie said softly, looking up at the sky.

“Even if fighting is not allowed in the city, it is not safe for a girl like you to walk alone at night,” Shen Zige said. “There are places that the city guards cannot patrol. In unseen corners, bad guys could strangle you.”

"Are you worried about me?" Qin Jie asked.

“Yes, after all, we are classmates, and you helped me with a lot of homework.” Shen Zige answered without hesitation, “A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude, that’s what my family has always taught me.”

"If it were Fang Lili, would you help her like this?" Qin Jie suddenly asked.

Fang Lili is another girl who helps Shen Zige with her homework.

“Of course,” Shen Zige said.

Qin Jie stopped talking and walked towards the bulletin board not far from the south gate of the city, where there were quite a few onlookers.

The two squeezed into the crowd.

"Wanted order?"

A new wanted poster was posted on top of many old notices on the bulletin board: Wanted six members of the Arena City fraud organization, four men and two women.

The wanted posters included brief biographies and rough sketches of six individuals.

Shen Zige quietly tugged at Qin Jie's sleeve, gesturing for her to look at the sixth person on the wanted list.

The notice, written in two languages, reads: "Please enter. Female, approximately 20 years old, new member of the fraud organization, guide of the organization. Scam at least ten people to the organization's location outside the city. If you find any clues about this person, inform the government and you will receive a reward of 100 taels of silver."

Shen Zige had seen Qin Jing's identity card, which had the name "Please come in" written on it.

Although the official portrait did not reveal that it was Qin Jie's sister, she knew that the person wanted by the authorities was her sister!

The onlookers were buzzing with discussion, and some even planned to go outside the city to look for clues. If they found something, it would be worth a hundred taels of silver, equivalent to a year's income for an average person working here.

The two quietly left the bulletin board and went to a secluded corner.

"How could my sister be wanted by the police?" Qin Jie said. "She's definitely not the kind of person who would do something like fraud!"

“The problem is we’re in another world. You can’t go to the government to argue with them; they’ll probably arrest you too,” Shen Zige said. “The notice board says they’re outside the city. Why don’t we go look for them outside the city?”

Qin Jie had no better option, so she had no choice but to agree to Shen Zige's request.

"Remember to stay close to me," Shen Zige said. "If anything happens, run away first, don't try to stand out."

Qin Jie nodded in agreement.

The two walked towards the city gate.

"Where are you two going? Stop right there!"

A loud shout startled Shen Zige and Qin Jie, who thought that the government officials had discovered that Qin Jie was Qin Jing's sister.

"Hooded man!"

Shen Zige discovered that the person who called out to them was actually the hooded man they had met outside the bank a few days ago. He was still wearing a hood and a robe, and his face in the shadows was covered by a half-mask.

Sensing an aura that was not that of an ordinary person, Shen Zige was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected that this hooded man had also successfully condensed his spirit, just like him!

“It seems we are destined to meet, having both successfully condensed our spirits at the same time,” the hooded man said. “Have you learned the Five Elements Spells? The best Five Elements Spells are in the Star Realm Company’s library, and reading them requires many spirit stones.”

"You've already seen it?" Shen Zige said. "Then tell me, and I can save some spirit stones."

“That won’t do. We’re all being monitored by smartwatches. If I send it to you, it will deduct my spirit stones. If I can’t pay it back, I’ll have to go into the secret realm!” the hooded man said. “If you beg me, maybe I’ll consider it.”

Shen Zige wondered why there was no wanted poster for this hooded man on the bulletin board. This guy was clearly a fraud!

He ignored the hooded man, pulled Qin Jie past the city guards, and went straight out of the city.

The hooded man followed at a leisurely pace.

"Is this person your friend?" Qin Jie asked.

"We're not friends, nor are we acquaintances, just people we know," Shen Zige explained.

"Should we go back?" Qin Jie said. "There are no laws outside the city, it's very dangerous."

Although she was extremely anxious and wanted to find her sister immediately, a bit of rational thinking stopped her. She knew how dangerous it was to walk outside the city at night, and that if she didn't find her sister, the two of them might lose their lives!

"Look at the notice board, it's only been posted recently," Shen Zige said. "If we don't go out to look for her tonight, your sister won't be able to enter the city. She'll have to go far away, and there's a good chance she'll never be found again!"

Qin Jie felt that Shen Zige made sense. The world is vast, and there is no need to stay in Arena City 1218. Each Arena City has considerable autonomy compared to the Bamboo Kingdom, so if one city issues a warrant for Qin Jing's arrest, another city may not.

The two walked south until night fell and moonlight enveloped the earth.

To the south lies a dense forest, beyond which stretches a mountain range for hundreds of miles.

The rustling of their footsteps carried far in the quiet night, and Shen Zige felt as if a man-eating beast was lurking not far away.

"Wait, let's hide first," Shen Zige said, stopping in her tracks.

Qin Jie shivered and hid behind a tree that was so thick that it would take two people to hug it, and casually pulled Shen Zige along with her.

The sounds of wild beasts fighting came from afar, and just a few seconds later, the two heard the beasts howl and fall to the ground.

The hooded man came into their view, holding a dagger in his hand.

"What do you want to do? Don't come any closer!" Qin Jie shouted.

The hooded man didn't say anything, but simply wiped the dagger in his hand on a blade of grass, then sheathed it and tucked it into his waistband.

"Who exactly are you?" Shen Zige asked.

Even though the hooded man was wearing half a mask, Shen Zige could still sketch out his general appearance in his mind. Based on the facial contours and the distance between his eyes, he deduced that he had never seen the hooded man on Earth, so there were only two possibilities: first, the other man knew him, but he did not know the other man; second, he knew the other man, but the other man had undergone facial plastic surgery!

“I am your bodyguard.” The hooded man said calmly. “It’s impossible to find someone at night, you understand. Unless you want to die, I suggest you find an open space to camp.”

"Why not use magic to deal with the beasts?" Shen Zige asked.

“Not skilled enough,” the hooded man said. “One mistake and you’ll be dead. You’re more familiar with the dagger. Analyze it carefully: was entering the forest at night the right thing to do?”

The authorities are obsessed!

The hooded man's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, instantly sobering Shen Zige up.

There was no concrete information about Qin Jing, and it was difficult to find anyone to ask her late at night. Searching blindly in the forest was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Qin Jie, this isn't Earth. It's dangerous at night. We need to rest and go find someone in the early morning," Shen Zige said. "Your rationality must overcome your emotions!"

As for the hooded man, we can ignore him for now.