Yama Reborn

Chapter Ninety: Don't You Just Want to Hit Someone?

Chen Nuo watched as the woman squatted in the plaza, drawing circles on the ground.

Then he watched as, after finishing her phone call, she left with a look of grievance.

Chen Yanluo sighed with relief.

Actually, he hadn't run away.

After a feint attack as a diversion, Chen Nuo grabbed Old Jiang and hid nearby—not even running far, just sneaking into the small two-story building next to them.

Then he suppressed his own aura and also concealed Old Jiang's aura.

When he had run out before, he had already sent a text message to Li Yingwan: "Get out of there fast."

After Jiang Yingzi and her son quickly left, Chen Nuo was not worried that the Star Sky Empress would go after Jiang Yingzi.

Knowing Lu Xixi from his past life... Chen Nuo was very clear about one thing: once this woman found "Ardent Pyromaniac," she would definitely prioritize hunting him down. As for the task? She wouldn't care about it at all.

And... talk about bad luck! He never expected this woman would actually come to Jinling. He never expected this woman would, on a whim, take on a task in Jinling—and it just happened to be the mission to assassinate Jiang Yingzi. He never expected this woman would use five different aliases!

Speaking of which, when she took on the task today and saw "Ardent Pyromaniac" also joining the chat group, she must have laughed, her mouth crooked with glee! It was like a mouse had fallen into a cat's den!

Watching the woman get into her car and leave secretly, Chen Nuo breathed a sigh of relief.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He heard Lu Xixi making a phone call.

Task canceled?

He quickly opened his laptop to take a look.

Indeed, in the mission to assassinate Jiang Yingzi, all five aliases had left the chat group!

In the original group of seven, only his "Ardent Pyromaniac" and the "Client" remained.

Glancing at Old Jiang lying on the bed, Chen Nuo sighed.

The old man was indeed pitiful. This blame was not something he had deliberately made him shoulder.

Old Jiang's injuries were serious. Chen Nuo gathered a few things, helped Old Jiang out of the small motel, hailed a taxi, and headed home!

On the way, a question lingered in his mind.

What was Lu Xixi doing coming to Jinling City in Huaxia?

When he arrived home, Li Yingwan had already sent over a dozen text messages.

Chen Nuo sent a brief reply to reassure the long-legged girl, telling her and Jiang Yingzi not to return to the hotel tonight and to stay somewhere else. He then tossed the phone aside and started looking for medicine for Old Jiang.

Old Jiang was badly hurt, but it was actually not too severe.

After a quick checkup, Chen Nuo determined that his lungs and viscera were somewhat damaged. These were likely internal injuries from forcibly channeling his energy against Gold-level experts like the Star Sky Empress.

There were also some cuts, bruises, and twisted joints.

The house had some standard medications. What was insufficient, he found by searching through the bag Old Jiang carried. Old Jiang, being an old-school figure in the Jianghu, always carried some reserve medicines—and sure enough, Chen Nuo found them.

He administered medicine to Old Jiang, bandaged some of the wounds, then used a chopstick to pry open Old Jiang's clenched teeth. From Old Jiang's own bottles and jars, Chen Nuo selected one he recognized as being for warming and nurturing internal injuries, dissolved it in water, and fed him a bit.

As for the rest of the bottles and jars that Chen Nuo couldn't recognize, he dared not use them!

What if they were body-dissolving powder!!

He was busy like this for over an hour.

Old Jiang never woke up, but he did mumble a few words in his sleep.

The old man said, "I'm not… the damn… Ardent… Pyromaniac… you've… got the wrong… person…"

Chen Nuo propped the old man back in bed properly.

Then, at the cost of consuming some Telekinesis, he guided the old man's Inner Breath along the circulation route of his sect. He helped gather the nearly shattered Inner Breath in Old Jiang's body. Only then did Chen Nuo, sweating profusely, exit the room.

Sitting on the living room couch, he began to calm down and think.

A Gold-level expert… Since his rebirth, Chen Nuo had never thought he would encounter such a formidable adversary so soon. Lu Xixi's strength was definitely at the Controller-level. In the history of his previous life, this woman was one of the few standing at the very top of the Underground World pyramid! Moreover, she was universally acknowledged as one of the most steadfast among them.

According to the timeline, the Octopus Monster's website would undergo an upgrade in two years, introducing several lists. The most famous among them were the "Underground World Combat Power List" and the "Task Points Index List." The latter, the "Task Points Index List," was mainly used to calculate a scoring system for the Octopus Monster's website. It assessed the completion rates, success rates, and credibility of all sorts of figures in the Underground World who frequented the site for tasks. It quantified and displayed who were the most powerful, who had the highest success rates, especially regarding the most difficult tasks, and who were the strongest performers. The former, the "Underground World Combat Power List," had no specific data. This list was rather subjective, as it was entirely based on the strength of the powerful figures. How strong they really were could only be judged by their past battle performances.

On that "Task Points Index List," the Star Sky Empress rarely ever made it into the top fifty! This woman's mind really was strange; she often did things in a messy way. So, in terms of task completion success rate and points, she always lagged. But, on that "Underground World Combat Power List," this woman had never, ever fallen out of the top five! Even when she kept a low profile and didn't appear much for a while, she never fell out of the top five!

What did that mean? You could think of it like this: a widely recognized God with great skills and brilliant writing, but they just damn well wouldn't write properly. They were always delaying updates and leaving stories unfinished, resulting in terrible outcomes. But speaking of them, everyone would feel: this guy is indeed very strong and can write well, but they just damn well won't write properly! Like someone who wrote "Mortal Wisdom," like someone who wrote "Eternal Long Night," like some... fatso who always liked to deceive fans with photos of their younger, more attractive self.

One thing Chen Yanluo was somewhat unwilling to admit was that even in his past life, at the peak of his strength, he had never beaten Lu Xixi. It wasn't that he truly couldn't beat her, but... Forget it, let's not talk about that. But what was certain was that in this life, with Chen Nuo's current level, facing the Star Sky Empress... Just two words: Must kneel!!

In his previous life, during the later stages, the Star Sky Empress had allegedly broken through the Controller's ceiling, her strength purportedly ascending to the legendary Lord Level! Although no one could confirm it, somehow, this rumor spread widely. Even the Wizard, that old schemer, had once neither confirmed nor denied this rumor on the Octopus Monster's website.

When the clock hands reached 10:15 PM, Chen Nuo stood up and went back in to check on Old Jiang.

Old Jiang still hadn't woken up.

But his breathing had smoothed out.

With Chen Nuo's help in regulating his Inner Breath, Old Jiang's years of cultivation took effect. In his sleep, his Inner Breath circulated naturally, beginning to slowly recover bit by bit.

This type of Inner Strength circulation, called the Transporting Great Celestial Cycle, took a full twenty-four hours to complete one cycle.

Old Jiang would not wake up within twenty-four hours.

Chen Nuo decided that just before the time was up, he would go out, find a safe place to leave him, and then quietly depart.

Ah... he couldn't keep messing with Old Jiang in the future; the old man had it tough enough. Well... he wouldn't mess with him in the short term.

Glancing at the time, Chen Nuo remembered he hadn't finished dinner... he had eaten only half a bowl of crawfish.

And that stuff, it wasn't filling at all.

So he put on his jacket and went downstairs.

Hmm, at this time, Ramen Guo should still be open.

The small shop was devoid of customers past 10 PM.

Old Guo had already flipped the stools up onto the tables and was picking up a broom at the entrance, about to start sweeping, when Chen Nuo sauntered in.

"Old Guo, a bowl of braised ramen, large, with extra meat and egg!"

Chen Nuo walked in, found a seat, and sat down.

The owner glanced at Chen Nuo. "...We're about to close."

Chen Nuo smiled and slapped a hundred yuan on the table. "Add a spicy lamb stir-fry with scallions."

The owner walked over and picked up the money. "Got paid? Eating so lavishly?"

Chen Nuo waved his hand. "Make the noodles thin, and hold off on the cilantro."

The owner went to the back kitchen. Soon after, the sound of noodles being pulled could be heard, followed by occasional thumping on the cutting board.

Chen Nuo picked up two cloves of garlic from the small bowl on the table, rubbed them in his hands first, then peeled them, and blew hard to scatter the garlic skins...

As he peeled the garlic, his mind was on other matters.

Suddenly, Chen Nuo's movements stopped!

His head remained bowed, not lifted. But the hand holding a garlic clove froze!

His fingers tightened slightly, nails digging into the garlic clove!

On the nighttime street, under the dim glow of the noodle shop's sign, a figure stood.

Lu Xixi—Empress Lu Xixi—in high heels, clack-clack-clacking into the shop, then, as if casually, sat down at the first table by the door.

Her soft, curly hair was now tied up with a hairband into a casual, slightly askew ponytail.

Her figure, which could easily ignite a man's desire, was casually wrapped in a coat.

And so, she sat down less than two meters away from Chen Nuo.

Her eyes swept across the shop, and finally, her gaze landed on Chen Yanluo!

Chen Nuo didn't move.

Not even the rhythm of his heartbeat changed.

After a slight stiffness, his fingers quickly resumed peeling the garlic with ease. The earlier action of his nails digging into the garlic clove continued naturally—digging in further and then pinching off the tip of the clove.

The young man seemed to naturally turn his head and yelled towards the kitchen, "Boss, you need to change the garlic in your bowl! How long has it been sitting there? Some of it is all shriveled up!"

There was no bristling like Old Jiang.

Chen Nuo naturally peeled garlic, then looked up and deliberately glanced at Lu Xixi.

A look of natural surprise appeared on the young man's face… followed by a hint of shyness.

He looked down.

Then looked up again.

As if he couldn't help himself, he stole another peek at Lu Xixi.

Then he seemed somewhat at a loss.

The young man sat up straight again, wriggling in his seat.

Then he took the opportunity to look at Lu Xixi again.

Everything played out as if an ordinary young man had unexpectedly encountered a very beautiful woman.

Stunned, wanting to look, too embarrassed to look, then peeking again.

Lu Xixi's gaze remained on the young man.

Chen Nuo coughed and lowered his head.

"Hey."

"Ah?"

Lu Xixi, seeing the young man's somewhat flustered expression, seemed to smile. "Am I very pretty?"

"...Uh, yeah." The young man blushed.

A happy smile appeared on Lu Xixi's face. "You look pretty good too."

"...Uh, yeah." The young man grinned shyly, his blush deepening.

Lu Xixi asked, "Are the noodles here good?"

"Not bad, it's just that the boss is a bit stingy; there's very little meat."

"What a cute kid~" Lu Xixi squinted her eyes and smiled. "After you finish your noodles, hurry on home."

"Ah? Oh."

Chen Nuo diligently played the part of a shy, honest, handsome young man.

At that moment, the owner came out.

He carried a bowl of noodles and placed it in front of Chen Nuo.

"Out of scallions, can't make the scallion lamb. Finish your noodles and go home."

After speaking, the owner went to the counter, got the change, and placed it in front of Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo picked it up and stuffed it into his pocket.

Old Guo didn't leave either. He sat down next to Chen Nuo, picked up the remote control, clicked the TV on, randomly picked a channel, then pulled out a pack of "Lanzhou" cigarettes, offered one to Chen Nuo, and lit one for himself.

In the noodle shop at night, the three of them sat in a strangely tense atmosphere.

Chen Nuo lowered his head and ate his noodles, picking at them with his chopsticks, neither eating too quickly nor too slowly.

Old Guo smoked and watched TV, remaining silent.

Lu Xixi sat at the table by the door, seemingly bored, taking two chopsticks from the holder to fiddle with.

Old Guo finished his cigarette and gave Chen Nuo a sideways glance.

"Why are you eating so slowly today?"

Chen Nuo looked up and protested, "What's the rush? Gobbling food is bad for digestion, don't you know?"

Old Guo eyed the young man and let out a light sigh. "Eat up. I need to close the shop after you finish."

Finally...

Lu Xixi let out a soft sigh.

"Hey, Boss, aren't you going to ask what I want to eat?"

The owner turned his head, glanced at Lu Xixi, and shook his head. "You're not here to eat noodles, so why should I ask?"

Lu Xixi seemed somewhat dissatisfied, pouting. "Can't I pay? But… I see your customer there seems to be enjoying his meal quite a bit!"

Saying this, she pointed at Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo raised his head, his face showing a naturally bewildered expression.

The owner turned around, stared at Lu Xixi for a moment, and said softly, "Can't this wait? Let my customer finish eating and leave first. Can't you wait?"

"I have a plane to catch." Lu Xixi sighed. "It's getting late."

"...Alright!" the owner said, then suddenly turned, reaching for the back of Chen Nuo's neck…

Chen Yanluo didn't move! He didn't even dodge!

He allowed Old Guo's hand to touch the back of his neck. Then, trying hard to roll his eyes back, Chen Yanluo remained silent as his head dropped onto the table.

BANG!

As if he had lost consciousness.

Lu Xixi smiled.

"You really are as interesting as they say."

The owner stared at the woman.

Lu Xixi sighed softly. "I heard about you several years ago."

"You surely didn't hear anything good!"

"No, no, no, it was quite interesting!"

Lu Xixi's eyes were shining... yes, with the kind of gossip fire typical of onlookers munching on metaphorical melons!

"Back then, everyone said that a remarkably talented fellow had emerged from the Snow Domain Sect. He had married into the sect, but his talent was so outstanding that he outshone all the young men of the Snow Domain Sect itself. It was also said that the old sect leader taught him all his most treasured skills. During the Snow Domain Sect's triennial competition, that son-in-law defeated everyone and became the leader of his generation. I heard his surname is Guo."

"Alright, stop talking! It's me! The person you're talking about is me!" The owner waved his cigarette-holding hand dismissively.

"But why did you run away later?" Lu Xixi's eyes were full of the flames of gossip. "Your branch, in the grand competition between several schools of thought, your father-in-law was grooming you to be the flag-bearer, to bring honor to the sect. But you actually ran away before the competition. Not only did you run away, but you also injured seven or eight of your fellow sect members. Because you ran away and injured several of your own people, your Snow Domain Sect ended up significantly weakened. They lost disastrously in that competition; even several mines were taken away. That... wasn't very good, was it? They took you in, married their daughter to you, and taught you all those skills. Oh, dear, dear, dear. That was going a bit too far. If I hadn't heard how atrociously you acted, I wouldn't have taken this commission to capture you and bring you back."

By this point, the owner's expression had changed several times.

Finally, he slammed his hand on the table with a THUD.

His face was filled with sorrow and indignation!

"You don't know shit!!" Old Guo was filled with grievances. "They forced me to get married!!"

"But... you were a live-in son-in-law to begin with."

"That didn't mean I had to marry *that* woman!!" Old Guo was extremely aggrieved. "Their family had six daughters! I liked the fourth one!! But they insisted I marry the fifth one!!"

"Huh?" Lu Xixi's eyes widened, and she asked blankly, "Is there something wrong with the fifth daughter that makes her unmarriageable?"

"You don't know shit!! Is the fifth daughter someone a man can marry?! Do you even know what she looks like? That wife they assigned me, the one they wanted me to marry, weighs one hundred and sixty!!"

Lu Xixi looked somewhat confused. "One hundred and sixty... that's not too bad, is it..."

"Kilograms!!!"

Old Guo was filled with sorrow and indignation. "I was born with incredible talent and accepted into the Snow Domain Sect from a young age! My talent was unbeatable among my peers! Skills others took ten years to moderately master, I perfected in just a year and a half!

"Less than three years after joining, my own master was no match for me!

"The sect leader, seeing my talent, took me into the Inner Gate!

"In ten years, I built up such a reputation for the Snow Domain Sect, seizing so many benefits for it on the outside!!

"Married in, married in—you think I wanted to?

"When I roamed the Jianghu, I was Invincible among my peers!

"Forget my peers! In those years, the opponents I faced, whether old or young, from this country or abroad, none were a match for me!

"When I went to Siberia to compete with the Russians for resources, I single-handedly took down their entire team!

"There was a team nicknamed the 'Explosive Battle Tanks,' sounded impressive, right? They were making waves for a few years, almost rated Level A!

"I, alone, stormed into their camp and broke seven or eight of their leader's bones!

"Use your damn brain and think about it!

"I had reached that position back then!

"Fine clothes and swift horses, a life of passion and settling scores, a future that looked incredibly bright!

"And then, at that moment, someone comes up, grabs you by the neck, and tells you to marry a woman you've barely seen a few times in your entire life.

"And she's a damn 160 kilograms!

"Her arms are thicker than my waist! Her appetite is ten times mine!

"She looks like the damn love child of Tyson and Lu Zhishen!!

"You tell me, would you be willing?!

"You tell me, wouldn't you run?!

"You tell me, wouldn't you just want to hit someone?!!"

Old Guo's eyes were red with emotion!

Don't ask!

If you do, the answer is grievance!

The answer is sorrow and indignation!

Damn! Chen Nuo was lying there; if not for his excellent cultivation, he would have burst out laughing by now!