Chapter 63: Shut Your Mouth

Chapter 63: Shut Your Mouth

As three burly gardeners wielding giant scissors silently charged through the snow, their eyes gleamed with the dark thrill of imminent murder.

Chen Shijin, who had disappeared from their sight, was actually standing not far from them under a red plum tree, where he could clearly see the blood dripping from their giant scissors onto the snow.

It was clear they had already done something before arriving here.

Chen Shijin recalled the warning on the tailcoat butler's sign: "Do not break plum branches or pick flowers, or you will be punished by the gardener."

This punishment likely required one's life to compensate.

However, Chen Shijin felt that exiles who had entered this devouring world wouldn't be foolish enough to break branches or pick flowers knowing the consequences, so there must be something wrong with these three gardeners.

Moreover, wanting to observe whether these three gardeners were monsters in disguise, Chen Shijin quietly followed them for some time.

After all, with the Unscrupulous Navigation that ignored the maze of the Plum Garden, he wouldn't get lost no matter where he went. He certainly wouldn't lose track of these three yellow dots.

Then, Chen Shijin witnessed the entire process of the three gardeners bullying the few, blatantly swindling in broad daylight!

Even though Chen Shijin didn't consider his moral standards very high, he still found the actions of these three gardeners despicable—

At this moment, the three sturdy gardeners were surrounding a blond, middle-aged foreign exile wearing glasses and holding a book.

When they saw him, they simultaneously revealed sinister, evil grins.

As the seemingly harmless, blond, middle-aged man returned their smiles in confusion, one of the gardeners harshly snipped off a plum branch with his large gardening shears.

Coincidentally, the cut branch fell right on the blond middle-aged man's head, causing his smile to freeze.

Then, Chen Shijin saw all three gardeners open their mouths wide silently at the blond middle-aged man:

"You dare to damage the plum tree!"

"You dare to break a plum blossom of the Silent Manor!"

"You should be punished!"

This time, the smile on the blond young man's face didn't just freeze; it disappeared entirely.

He seemed to struggle to accept that these three gardeners dared to shamelessly frame him so blatantly, but when he turned his head and realized no other exiles were around, he understood that no one else would witness this situation. Once isolated and cornered by these three gardeners, his fate was almost sealed.

Chen Shijin watched with interest from the side, his intuition telling him this foreigner wouldn't go down so easily.

After all, the handsome men and beautiful women in his squad seemed to implicitly regard him as their leader.

A squad leader should have some ace up their sleeve.

Indeed, when the three gardeners were sinisterly laughing, thinking of dismembering him with scissors amidst the red plums and snowy scenery, the blond middle-aged man silently sighed.

Suddenly, he opened the book he had been holding all along.

Chen Shijin thought some kind of virtuous golden light would emerge from the book, but instead, it emitted dazzling red and blue lights that flickered incessantly, causing anyone who saw it to feel dizzy and mesmerized.

Then, the blond handsome uncle started smiling at the gardeners in front of him, and while smiling, his eyes, or rather his pupils, seemed to emit a dim light.

When Chen Shijin's gaze swept over the blond handsome uncle's pupils, he felt as if he saw something reminiscent of the most enchanting heavenly realm.

This made him unconsciously take a step towards the direction of the blond handsome uncle, but he quickly came to his senses and stopped, somewhat surprised.

Indeed, the team's leader had the ability to hypnotize with just a look, which would be effective against both exiles and humanoid monsters, as long as they had eyes.

However...

Chen Shijin slightly stroked his chin, wondering how this person would cope if he wore sunglasses.

If this guy and that giant-eyed monster had a staring contest, who would go blind first?

Kind of want to know.

As Chen Shijin was thinking this, Alen glanced suspiciously towards where he was standing.

It wasn't an illusion; he had felt a gaze coming from this direction just now.

Could there be someone else hiding here?

Alen slowly narrowed his eyes, wondering if the hidden person was waiting to catch the worm or looking for the perfect moment to launch a surprise attack.

That wouldn't be within the capabilities of just any group of thugs; if it were the Godmaking Squad, then...

A chill ran through Alen's heart. Could it be the Shadow Assassin?

But both squads had agreed to ambush and hunt Chen Shijin; the Shadow Assassin shouldn't be starting infighting, right?

Thinking this, Alen suddenly issued a silent command to the three gardeners he controlled.

Instantly, the three gardeners turned with their shears and charged towards the spot where Chen Shijin was standing, their scissors snapping!

Who's hiding in the shadows? A little probe should reveal that, right?

Alen's lips curled into a smile.

But his expression quickly turned grim again—

These three gardeners, after randomly snipping around with their scissors, evidently cut nothing at all.

Meaning there's no one else around?

Impossible.

Alen's smile froze on his face.

However, just then, he heard the crunching sound of snow being stepped on and abruptly turned his head, only to see... a strikingly vivid green amidst the red plums and white snow.

Quite eye-catching indeed.

Alen was momentarily speechless, but this speechlessness soon turned into suspicion.

Even if this woman in the green fur cloak appeared to be lazily wandering through the snow, as if she had just arrived, could things really be so coincidental?

Too much coincidence suggests deliberation.

Although his analysis of behaviors made the curly-haired Sweet Sister a more likely Chen Shijin, he knew Chen Shijin was not one to follow predictable patterns; what if this time his disguise was indeed as such?

Alen watched the green fur-cloaked woman approach step by step, showing no fear and even silently waving a greeting to him, slowly revealing a very gentle smile.

The empty Plum Garden in the snow, three gardeners already under his control, and a woman who seemed utterly defenseless.

This truly is... a perfect murder scene.

This woman is lucky to have encountered him.

Compared to dying by the hand of that guy who enjoys slicing people to pieces, isn't it fortunate to die under his gentle gaze?

Then, this fortunate one simply stopped in her tracks, gave Alen a look of disdain and grimaced, then turned and walked away.

As she left, both Alen and Chen Shijin clearly saw her rolling her eyes skyward and her silent mouthing—

"Bad luck."

Chen Shijin broke into a genuinely radiant smile.

Ah, Sister Green Hair, you're simply a master at identifying jerks!

But Alen couldn’t find it in him to smile at all, even feeling as though he had been slapped hard.

How! Could! Any woman be indifferent to his smile?!

He concluded this green-haired woman was definitely not a woman!

She must be that damned Chen Shijin in disguise!!

Alen felt like he was going to explode with rage, and with a fierce turn of his head, he commanded the three burly gardeners under his control.

Kill that woman in the green cloak!

Kill her!

Dismember her body into pieces with scissors!

Suddenly, the three gardeners who had been cutting wildly around the Plum Garden simultaneously stopped their actions and then turned around, their malevolent and fierce eyes all fixed on the green figure in the snow ahead.

Kill her!

Kill her!

Kill her—

The three gardeners swiftly glided towards the woman in the green cloak.

Yes, they slid over the snow.

Fast and ferocious, with almost no sound.

The three large shears, capable of severing a person's neck, targeted the green-cloaked woman's neck, waist, and legs, colder than the snow on the ground.

Chen Shijin frowned and took out his writing board.

A second before he began to write, he suddenly heard the sound of a heavy collision and the uncontrollable screams of the three gardeners.

？

Chen Shijin looked up in surprise and saw a giant green protective shield emanating from the green-cloaked sister, blocking the three gardeners outside the shield when they were about five meters away from her.

Moreover, it was clear that the green-cloaked sister's protective shield was a highly advanced energy item, or perhaps it was her advanced ability—

This green protective shield could not only block attacks, but it could even... rebound them!

Yes, rebound!

Chen Shijin watched as the three gardeners, after colliding with the green energy shield, screamed collectively and then were rebounded back by an even greater force!

One of the gardeners, by coincidence, rebounded towards the blond uncle who was smirking at the green-cloaked sister's back. When the gardener's large shears slashed across the blond uncle's cheek and tore off the cloak he was wearing, his smirk hadn't even had the chance to fade.

Until the silver-gray cloak fell to the ground.

Alen then incredulously turned slowly, looking at the cloak on the ground, no longer on his body.

At that moment, he felt a bone-chilling cold breeze from all directions, shivering all over, sensing that things were going awry.

Impossible!

Alen stared intently at the back of the woman who hadn’t turned around until now.

How could this woman let things turn out this way?!

Even Chen Shijin shouldn't have such abilities! She hadn't said a word, had she?! She hadn’t even turned around,

Suddenly, Alen's eyes widened.

He quickly picked up the cloak and draped it over himself, trembling slightly as he thought of someone.

No way? How could this be? How could that woman possibly be here?!

As Chen Shijin watched Alen continuously pacing, his face flashing through expressions of shock, annoyance, disbelief, and then realization, the green-loving sister had at some point turned around, her face still bearing that lazy expression.

However, at this moment, besides being lazy, she also carried a bit of a resigned disdain, leisurely taking out her writing board to write.

Eventually, she slowly raised it.

Chen Shijin noticed that the direction in which the green-haired sister was holding the writing board seemed to be between him and the blond uncle.

Chen Shijin: Wow.

Could Sister have discovered me?

"Don't hit me, it's futile."

"No exile can outlive me. At least, not yet."

Chen Shijin silently clapped like a seal.

Sister is awesome, Sister is tough.

So, what's Sister's ability?

What level is Sister at?

Alen was almost grinding his teeth to dust looking at the few lines written on the writing board.

He knew it! He knew he attacked the wrong person!

This woman, this woman is actually that undying green-haired turtle!

Alen was nearly brought to laughter by the luck of their two assassination teams.

They were supposed to ambush and assassinate Chen Shijin, but aside from them, the Devourer also took out two additional people.

—The Yu Xi Qing Team

One of them was once ranked first on the bounty list, the cruel Le Feng who seems to find everything amusing, and the other was Wu Qingyu, who awakened the eternal life turtle bloodline after entering the exile land, later inherited the Xuanwu turtle shell, and became one of the strongest exiles, the lord of Xingcheng!

What kind of hellish luck is this!

Le Feng and Wu Qingyu!

Although neither of them has reached the Level 6 King tier, it's speculated that both are at the peak of the Ruler energy level, but many high-ranking exiles have guessed that these two already possess the strength of a King tier—

After all, one has been bouncing around, wanted for nearly a hundred years, still finding fun wherever he goes.

The other survived being devoured and besieged by five Ruler-level Devourers without dying.

The human Kings of Jinri City and Baiyue City might not necessarily achieve these feats.

Alen was still shivering all over.

And continuously cursing in his heart.

Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! Why did they encounter Le Feng and Wu Qingyu? They just wanted to kill a Chen Shijin!

Did it have to be this difficult?!

Alen had suffered a huge setback, but he was still unable to turn the situation around.

Five Ruler-level Devourers together couldn't take down Wu Qingyu, so how could he possibly kill him?!

Damn it! Chen Shijin! He must kill Chen Shijin! The damned Sweet Sister Chen Shijin!

Chen Shijin could feel waves of malice and resentment emanating from Alen.

He just smirked.

Kicking someone only to hit an iron plate, and then blaming me for not stepping forward to say I'm Chen Shijin?

Truly shameless~

He really does prefer the green-haired big sister!

Standing next to Sister gives him an unparalleled sense of security!

Chen Shijin, with small steps, followed her.

Decided to try and get closer to the green-haired big sister.

Wu Qingyu seemed not at all surprised by the sudden presence next to her. When Chen Shijin carefully grabbed a corner of her green cloak, he saw the lazy sister with a hint of a listless air tilt her head and smile at him.

"Yo."

Chen Shijin smiled back.

Writing swiftly on the writing board.

"Sister! Super cool, please let me cling to your coattails!"

Wu Qingyu looked at the line, blinked, and then very naturally erased the last four words on the writing board.

Then she continued forward, satisfied.

Chen Shijin looked at the four words left on the writing board: "Sister! Super cool!"

Chen Shijin: ...

He actually instantly understood the green-haired sister's meaning—

Praising me as cool is fine, but don't cling to me (you're troublesome).

Is this the terrifying intuition of a woman?

Chen Shijin felt a moment of guilt.

But soon, he cheered up again; Sister's protective shield was so useful, of course, he had to make an effort to utilize it.

Just try not to be a nuisance, right?

Chen Shijin continued to follow as if nothing was amiss.

Wu Qingyu gave him a somewhat helpless look but didn't drive him away.

After all, not having reacted last night, looking at the configurations of the teams this morning, and then seeing Le Feng's face filled with amusement, she had some guesses about the real identity of this beautiful Sweet Sister.

But how to put it...

She really didn't expect that the person who might turn out to be a savior this time... would be so unrestrained.

Skilled in stirring emotions, leading collective robberies, and fond of changing faces.

Even transforming into a daughter didn't seem out of place.

Wu Qingyu paused her steps, then turned to seriously observe the little Sweet Sister Jin hopping and tilting her head in an attempt to act cute and charming.

Wu Qingyu: ...

Perhaps it's someone who doesn't care about their face, even willing to forsake a man's dignity, who can save the world.

She stretched out her hand and affectionately patted Sweet Sister Jin's shoulder.

Keep it up, the future depends on you, Sister wants to be a salted fish.

Chen Shijin, who was looking at the Unscrupulous Navigation on his phone: ?

Why does the look in this green-haired sister’s eyes suddenly resemble... that of someone reluctantly working overtime? It's eerily unsettling!

Chen Shijin took a small step back, but Wu Qingyu made no further moves, and the two began to silently and tacitly head towards the exit.

They had already enjoyed the Plum Garden's scenery, faced the pitfalls brought by the cloak, and encountered the gardeners' threat, so they should consider this plum blossom and snow appreciation mission completed.

Next, just walking out of this snow-covered Plum Garden, which felt like walking in circles, should fulfill their morning's task.

Chen Shijin felt reassured seeing that the path led by Sister Green Hair on the Unscrupulous Map was indeed correct, heading towards the exit.

He then focused on the three gardeners' yellow dots on the Unscrupulous Map that had been rebounded.

Just now, he seemed to have discovered a method to find the "one percent" imposter monster.

When the three gardeners were rebounded away, the shadow of one gardener twisted very rapidly for a few seconds.

And that twisted shadow, cast so clearly on the pristine snow, was of a slender monster with several heads, contorted in shape.

At this moment, on the Unscrupulous Map, two of the three yellow dots were still in place, seemingly questioning their existence after being rebounded, showing no movement.

However, one yellow dot was rapidly moving in the opposite direction.

Chen Shijin pondered while looking at the Unscrupulous Map.

Was that gardener the man-eating monster?

If so, why was it so easily controlled by the blond uncle, and why did it flee in the opposite direction instead of seeking revenge after being rebounded?

Could it be that the man-eating monster... is actually weak?

If the monster is so weak, how could it possibly pose a threat to the entire Silent Manor?

Or does daylight weaken the monster's powers, becoming powerful and invincible only at night?

Chen Shijin stopped pondering as the small yellow dot ran off the screen of his phone.

With five days left, as long as he pays attention to the shadow anomaly, he can systematically observe.

He's bound to find that monster.

Having wandered in the snow for quite a while, it's time to head back for some sweet, hot tea or coffee.

Then, Chen Shijin looked up to see Le Feng across from him, baring his teeth in a broad smile.

However, Le Feng's smile visibly drooped upon seeing his beloved Sweet Sister mingling with the green-haired turtle lady next to her.

Le Feng had never felt this way before.

This feeling of having one's fun stolen.

Different from the feeling of food being snatched away, it's more like... wanting something unique.

So, Chen Shijin saw his expression darken instantly, and Le Feng quickly moved to his side, forcibly separating him from the green-cloaked sister.

Even more, Le Feng actually wrapped an arm around his shoulder and turned his head to glare coldly at Wu Qingyu.

He then pulled out a writing board with the words boldly written: "Green Hair! Stay away from my sweetheart. Or I'll eat you."

Green Hair Wu Qingyu: ...

Sweetheart Chen Shijin: ...

This guy's condition is getting worse.

Then, Le Feng turned to look at Chen Shijin, who was wearing an expression of speechlessness, frowning with a sense of indescribable irritability and dissatisfaction.

To him, Chen Shijin is a unique delicacy, a special energy, an interesting sweetheart, and also particularly pleasing to the eye.

So... what about his feelings towards him?

Is he a unique delicacy? A particularly pleasing Sweet Le Feng?

Le Feng's eyes deepened, momentarily flashing a stunning deep blue with specks of gold.

He had observed entertainment for so long, seen countless Devourers and exiles, witnessed various heart-stirring acts of love and sacrifice, and bottomless betrayals and murders.

Having seen so much, he had never cared about these entertainments' opinions of him.

But now, Le Feng felt that he must become Chen Shijin's one and only to be truly happy.

Only then would he feel joy.

Chen Shijin, feeling uncomfortable under Le Feng's intense gaze, tried to push him away but failed to move him at all.

Instead, it only made his own frown deepen.

Just as Sweet Sister Jin felt like he was about to explode from being stared at, and other exiles finally arrived at the exit, breathless and disheveled from various directions, the frowning Le Feng suddenly smiled.

He seemed to have thought of a rather good idea.

Thus, in front of everyone and the tailcoat butler waiting at the entrance of the Plum Garden, he directly broke off a branch of red plum that was extending outwards!

Yes, in full view of everyone!

He broke a branch!!

If it weren't for everyone vividly remembering the rules of this world, there would have been a collective gasp of shock.

Still, some desperately covered their mouths to prevent themselves from coughing out loud.

Then, under the stiff gaze of the tailcoat butler, Le Feng joyfully curved his lips, placing the beautiful snow-capped red plum branch into the sweet girl's embrace.

Seeing the girl's wide and beautiful phoenix eyes, Le Feng felt immense happiness.

Ah, her eyes were all on me.

Not a hint of green.