Chapter 1 The Calm Before the Storm

On the second floor of the restaurant, Xu Jingming sat alone at a table, eating dinner. He hadn't ordered much – three dishes and a soup, along with a pot of wine. A waiter stood not far away, ready to attend to his needs at any moment.

After all, Xu Jingming was the leader of the Blood Rain Guards in the surrounding district! The restaurant naturally had to serve him well.

"Slurp, slurp." Xu Jingming ate quickly. After finishing the rice mixed with meat in the large bowl, he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, poured himself a drink, and leisurely sipped his wine.

While he seemed to be enjoying his wine, Xu Jingming was deep in thought.

"...Knowing his nature, I'm afraid he won't let it go."

"Be careful every day. It'll be better after this period. Cheng Yanran won't be watching you forever."

Fei Qing's words from the morning echoed in Xu Jingming's mind.

"With Fei Qing's status, he wouldn't say something he wasn't sure of. He said 'Cheng Yanran won't let it go,' so there will probably be another wave of attacks." Xu Jingming frowned slightly. "Sigh, I'm just a Blood Rain Guard captain, and I've already incurred the enmity of a Prince Yan's son. Is this the world targeting me? Or is it just bad luck that I've been caught up in a high-level struggle?"

"I'm just a small fry who wants to make some money, why target me?" Xu Jingming felt rather helpless. "No matter what, I've now encountered the greatest threat in the Blood Rain World—Prince Yan's son!"

The Blood Rain World was a place of chaos, where people struggled to survive.

Order could still be maintained within the city! Outside the city, it was utter chaos.

Even the family of the esteemed Chief Commander Fei had encountered many dangers on their journey from their hometown to the capital, which showed just how chaotic the order was.

"Now that the empire has declined and the world is in chaos, there are many large and small rebel armies," Xu Jingming thought. "The Blood Rain Guards in each city can only bully gangs. They can't withstand the rebel army at all."

"Chaoshan Lake is a small-scale rebel army that makes the surrounding cities tremble."

"And the largest rebel armies have swept across vast territories, even destroying many princes' fiefdoms and massacring members of the imperial family," Xu Jingming thought to himself. "The empire's military strength mainly consists of the Blood Rain Guards and the armies of the five princes."

"In the past few years, the princes fought fiercely for the throne, and the current emperor successfully ascended the throne."

"But with the world in ruins, he still has to unite these five princes to barely maintain the situation." Xu Jingming thought, "So Prince Yan's son can still live freely despite ruining the reputation of many women from powerful families in the capital… the biggest reason is… the Emperor needs to win over Prince Yan!"

Xu Jingming pondered how to break the situation.

The Blood Rain World was too vast! It took a long time for the Emperor's orders to reach the border regions.

To strengthen their rule, the empire had established 'fiefdoms' in many remote areas since its founding, allowing princes to sit and command. They wanted the princes to assist the Emperor in ruling the world together.

However, some princes were too useless, only caring about enjoying themselves, causing people to live in misery. Some were even killed by the rebel armies under their command.

The truly powerful princes were only five in number now! Prince Yan was one of them.

"Prince Yan's fiefdom is a vast territory that he has managed into an iron bucket, and its strength radiates over a wide area. Prince Yan's son is targeting me?" Xu Jingming felt a great deal of pressure.

"Prince Yan's son acts ostentatiously, ruining the reputation of many women from powerful families, making many enemies! There have been many attempts to assassinate him, but they have all failed."

"Blood Rain Guard files record that last year, over a hundred experts attacked Prince Yan's son's team, but Prince Yan's son was still unharmed."

Xu Jingming thought about this information, and felt that Prince Yan's son was too difficult to deal with.

A hundred or a thousand times more difficult than Shen Gongfu.

…

After eating dinner, Xu Jingming walked out of the restaurant. It was already dark, but the streets were still full of people, and the shops and restaurants were doing their best business.

"Captain."

The Blood Rain Guards patrolling the streets saw Xu Jingming and were quite respectful.

Xu Jingming nodded slightly. He had become familiar with these Blood Rain Guards under his command in recent days.

"What's going on?" Xu Jingming walked on the road and glanced behind him. Many pedestrians looked ordinary. He looked up at the distance, and on the second floor of a teahouse, someone was watching the street scene.

"The person in that teahouse was staring at me, and the old man behind me is also following me." Xu Jingming's mind was sharp. Without showing any signs, he continued to walk.

From the main street, he suddenly turned into an alley.

With a few leaps, he disappeared into the alley.

"Where did he go?"

Several people also walked into this alley and searched all the alleys in the area, but couldn't find Xu Jingming.

"He's gone?" The leader's face was ugly. "This Captain Jing manages the entire district, and we have people everywhere! He can't escape."

…

With a few leaps, Xu Jingming had actually entered an uninhabited residence. As the leader of the Blood Rain Guards in the entire jurisdiction, he also knew that there were some 'houses' that were uninhabited.

After he came in, he hid in a woodshed, and then logged off!

His whole person disappeared out of thin air.

******

"Since this period is so dangerous, I might as well log off at night and leave the Blood Rain World!" Xu Jingming walked out of the virtual chamber.

Logging off was a secret weapon for Cosmic Citizen players to hide.

In reality, it was afternoon.

Xu Jingming walked into the courtyard and saw Li Miaomiao sitting in the pavilion, looking at the many messages displayed on the light screen. On the grass, a baby was walking, quite steadily. Old Master Xu was smiling and following behind: "Slow down, slow down."

"Jingming." Li Miaomiao saw Xu Jingming.

"Our daughter is not even a month old, and she can already walk so steadily," Xu Jingming exclaimed.

"Now the entire Blue Star's new generation has undergone genetic transformations," Li Miaomiao smiled. "You, the father, are already a cosmic lifeform. Isn't it normal for our daughter to walk after half a month?"

Xu Jingming smiled as he looked at his daughter.

In the Blood Rain World, danger lurked everywhere, and killing was common. But Blue Star in reality was still very peaceful.

Li Miaomiao turned off the light screen and walked over. "Did you know that Zhang Qing has also broken through to Tier 5?"

"Oh?" Xu Jingming was surprised.

"The fourth Tier 5 since Xia Kingdom opened the virtual world," Li Miaomiao said with emotion. "But according to what you said, there are only five months left before the new civilization's protection period ends."

"Yes, only five months left." Xu Jingming also felt pressure.

He wanted to improve himself as soon as possible.

But life evolution couldn't be rushed!

Suddenly, the baby in the distance saw Xu Jingming, and her eyes lit up immediately. She raised her hands and walked over, walking quite fast.

But as soon as she walked fast, the baby stumbled and was about to fall to the ground.

Whoosh.

Xu Jingming instantly appeared beside his daughter, like a teleport, and picked her up before she fell.

"Good girl, be careful." Xu Jingming felt his heart melt as he held his chubby little daughter.

"Ba! Ba! Ba!" The baby looked at Xu Jingming, opening her mouth and only saying this one word.

"Our daughter's first word is 'Dad'," Li Miaomiao walked over, helplessly.

"Haha…"

Old Master Xu walked over with a smile. "Jingming, I remember you were about eleven months old when you started talking. Your first word was also 'Dad'. It's genetic."

Xu Jingming held his daughter, feeling extremely happy. "Miaomiao, think about it. How many times have I taught her to say 'Dad'? At least a thousand times, right? I've said 'Dad' so many times, of course she has to call me first."

Li Miaomiao was speechless.

"You two young people, have you thought of a name for the child?" Old Master Xu asked.

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao immediately felt a headache.

"The baby's full moon banquet is coming up soon, you have to come up with a name before the full moon banquet," Old Master Xu urged.

"Grandpa, we've thought of a few names. They're all on the shortlist," Xu Jingming immediately said.

…

He chatted with his wife about the current situation on Blue Star, teased his daughter, had dinner with his parents and elders, and then Xu Jingming entered the virtual chamber again! Nowadays, he was online for more than twenty hours a day.

Inside the virtual world network, in his personal space.

Xu Jingming practiced his marksmanship.

"Buzz." A message came.

"The Myriad Realms Group is at your service. The intelligence you ordered on Cheng Yanran, Prince Yan's son, in the Blood Rain World, has been sent. Please check and leave a review after reading." Xu Jingming clicked on it. "The intelligence is finally here."

Ordinary intelligence was easy to investigate, but detailed intelligence cost money to buy.

This was because Xu Jingming realized that 'Cheng Yanran' had sent someone to assassinate him, so he immediately used the 'Myriad Realms Group' to offer a reward for detailed intelligence on Cheng Yanran.

"This piece of intelligence cost me 100,000 universe coins." Xu Jingming carefully examined it.

Converted into gold and silver in the Blood Rain World, it was actually only ten taels of silver. (tael: a unit of currency)

Ten taels of silver would never be able to gather such detailed intelligence in the Blood Rain World.

But the Myriad Realms Group could. This was the convenience for Cosmic Citizen players.

"Cheng Yanran once lived outside, his fate was tragic in his youth, and then he was found by Prince Yan?" Xu Jingming carefully read this file. Through this file, Xu Jingming truly understood the twisted character of Prince Yan's son.

However, just as Xu Jingming was reading the intelligence—

In the Blood Rain World, the killing of Xu Jingming's team had already begun.

…

Blood Rain World, the Imperial Capital, late at night.

A group of people, arm in arm, walked drunkenly down the street, followed by servants.

"Yuan Fu's alcohol tolerance is too bad. He's already drunk."

"Let him drink less in the future. If he gets drunk, I'll be the one who suffers. My uncle will punish me again."

Servants carried their young masters on their backs, and the others spoke drunkenly.

In the corner of the street, three Blood Rain Guards were hiding in the shadows, sitting there eating food, coldly watching the group of drunkards.

The group of drunkards staggered to the vicinity of the three Blood Rain Guards.

"Get lost."

One of the Blood Rain Guards scolded.

"Who are you?" One of the drunkards glared.

As soon as he finished speaking—

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Darts shot out. The group of drunkards and servants instantly released dozens of darts. Even though the three Blood Rain Guards were quite skilled, they couldn't withstand so many darts. In an instant, two of them were shot with bloody holes and fell to the ground, lifeless. Only one Blood Rain Guard held up his shield to block the darts, and his body crashed backward, directly smashing the wall behind him. He was about to escape.

But sword light, darts, and ropes enveloped him one after another. The Blood Rain Guard who had just smashed the wall didn't even have time to release a signal arrow before losing his life.

After killing the three Blood Rain Guards, the drunken team showed no signs of drunkenness. They were all very calm.

"Go to the next place," one of the inconspicuous servants ordered.

…

In various places in the jurisdiction, assassinations against the Blood Rain Guards were taking place one after another. It was always a case of many against few! With an overwhelming advantage and a surprise attack, the Blood Rain Guards were being slaughtered.

It wasn't until eleven Blood Rain Guards had been killed that one of them had time to release a signal arrow.

"Yo!"

The signal arrow streaked across the sky, its sound piercing. It finally exploded in the air, making it visible in a radius of more than ten miles.

"Full attack."

The experts of the Yellow Springs Sect saw the signal arrow and no longer concealed themselves. They began a full-scale attack.

"Haven't found Jingming yet?" The leader of the Yellow Springs Sect's mission this time was somewhat angry.

"Reporting, Protector, our spies are all over this district. Every street, every alley, and even some suspicious places have been searched, but we can't find that Jingming," his subordinate said.

"Forget it, kill as many as you can." The leader of the Yellow Springs Sect waved his hand. "We must retreat when the time is up."

"Yes." The subordinates acted quickly.

*******

In his personal space.

Xu Jingming was reading the file, and his understanding of Cheng Yanran deepened.

"He actually has so many secrets." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "But it can also be seen that Cheng Yanran is arrogant and reckless on the surface, but in reality, he is very cunning and cautious. It is almost impossible for me to kill him."

The more he learned, the more he realized that Cheng Yanran was too cautious.

His power was too strong! He couldn't find any flaws.

"He lived outside in his youth, which is why he developed such a cautious nature," Xu Jingming put away the file and suddenly had a thought, "He sent someone to assassinate me last night, I wonder what will happen tonight?"

With a thought, he clicked on the Blood Rain World and entered directly.

…

Xu Jingming appeared in the woodshed of the abandoned residence, surrounded by a faint light.

He walked out of the woodshed, his ears twitched slightly, and he heard the noisy sound of footsteps: "What's going on? It's already the second half of the night in the Blood Rain World, why is it so noisy?" He gently jumped onto the wall, then jumped onto a big tree next to him. Standing on a thick branch, he looked around, following the sound.

He saw Blood Rain Guards and auxiliary guards holding torches in the distance, in every street.

Looking around, he estimated that there were at least a thousand people.

"Something happened." Xu Jingming's expression was solemn. He jumped down from the tree and walked towards a familiar auxiliary guard.

The auxiliary guards were holding torches, illuminating the streets, their faces solemn.

Xu Jingming walked out of the alley and walked straight over.

"Lord Jing."

The auxiliary guards were startled and recognized their superior.

"Lord Jing, are you alright?" One of the auxiliary guards said in surprise.

"I just returned to the jurisdiction, what happened?" Xu Jingming asked sternly.

"Half an hour ago, many Blood Rain Guards in our jurisdiction were attacked. They died miserably. By the time the Blood Rain Guards from other places saw the signal arrow and rushed over, the murderers had already escaped."

"Many of our auxiliary guards also died."

"Those murderers were too cruel. They killed anyone they saw wearing the Blood Rain Guard uniform."

The auxiliary guards spoke.

Xu Jingming's expression was solemn: "How many people died? Are Vice-Captain Zhang Ke and Vice-Captain Qian Yan alright?"

"We didn't see the two vice-captains," one of the auxiliary guards said. "Many Blood Rain Guards died, probably more than half. It's said that those murderers even killed people in the Blood Rain Guards' homes. The brothers who weren't on patrol tonight were hunted down in their homes, and even their families were implicated."

"Killed in their homes?" Xu Jingming's face was ugly.

Cheng Yanran was crazy to the core.

But how much hatred was there?

Was it necessary to deal with a Blood Rain Guard team like this?

Perhaps it wasn't hatred, but in the eyes of this young master, the Blood Rain Guards were just ants, and he was just casually stepping on some ants.

Xu Jingming walked to other places.

"Lord Jing."

Xu Jingming saw the bodies placed in the distance, and the auxiliary guards in charge of guarding them were extremely respectful.

"Here are the bodies of three Blood Rain Guards and seven auxiliary guards," the guarding auxiliary guard said.

Xu Jingming walked over and lifted the cloth.

They were all his own team members. In these days, they had served him respectfully. And those auxiliary guards, he remembered that when he moved in on the first day, some of them helped him move.

Now they were lying here, the wounds on their bodies hideous.

Xu Jingming was silent.

…

He continued to walk, checking the bodies of the dead. The many brothers lying there were no longer breathing, and Xu Jingming felt very depressed. Even though he knew this was a virtual world!

But it was still uncomfortable.

Xu Jingming was very clear that for those 'planetary lifeforms' with a lifespan of less than two hundred years, a lifetime in the Blood Rain World accounted for nearly half of their lives.

For them, how much different was it from a real life?

"They are all my subordinates, and my subordinates are implicated because they are targeting me?" Xu Jingming said silently.

"Captain Jing." Suddenly, an angry shout came from the distance.

Xu Jingming looked up.

Zhao Defang was riding a horse, looking coldly at Xu Jingming, and scolded: "The area under your jurisdiction was attacked by the Yellow Springs Sect rebels, but you, the Blood Rain Guard captain, disappeared at a critical moment? What use is there for a captain like you?"

"Lord Centurion, how many people in my team died?" Xu Jingming asked.

"Hmph."

Zhao Defang sneered, "Two vice-captains under your command, Qian Yan was at home, his entire family is dead. As for Zhang Ke, he disappeared like you! As for the 30 ordinary Blood Rain Guards, only three survived! All the others are dead, and those in their homes were also killed, even their entire families were killed."

Xu Jingming's eyes were slightly red.

A madman.

Killing people, and even targeting their entire families?

The intelligence was right, this Cheng Yanran was twisted in character, just a madman!

"I want to ask you, where did you go when the signal arrow sounded?" Zhao Defang scolded. A group of Blood Rain Guards around him were looking at Xu Jingming. In fact, they all sympathized with Xu Jingming.

If Xu Jingming hadn't escaped, he would have been surrounded by the Yellow Springs Sect rebels, and he would have lost his life.

"What about the losses of the auxiliary guards?" Xu Jingming asked.

"Dozens of them died," Zhao Defang said coldly. "This matter will be known to Lord Commander, and even the Prefectural Governor. As the captain, you can't escape the charge of 'incompetence'. Think about how to beg Lord Commander for mercy."

Xu Jingming turned around in silence. Suddenly, he saw a wet figure running over in the distance. It was Zhang Ke.

"Captain." Zhang Ke, soaked all over, said in surprise, "Are you alright?"

"I happened to be out of the jurisdiction before, and escaped a disaster," Xu Jingming said. Fortunately, one more of his team members had survived.

"I had just left the brothel and was preparing to go home when I was attacked on the way. I jumped into the river and barely escaped with my life," Zhang Ke said. "I don't know where those evil thieves came from, so vicious."

"The auxiliary guards said they were from the Yellow Springs Sect," Xu Jingming said.

There were many auxiliary guards in the jurisdiction, and they were almost all top-notch experts. Their escape speed was also extremely fast. It was they who saw many murderers and even recognized some of the wanted criminals.

"How many brothers died?" Zhang Ke asked.

"Besides you and me, only three brothers are still alive." Xu Jingming's face was ugly. "The Yellow Springs Sect even killed many brothers in their homes, not even sparing their entire families."

"Homes?" Zhang Ke's face changed, "My home—"

Zhang Ke turned and ran.

"Zhang Ke! Get over here!" Zhao Defang rode his horse over and shouted angrily. He also wanted to question this Vice-Captain Zhang Ke. He couldn't control the 'Jingming' captain, who had a strong background, but he couldn't control a Zhang Ke?

However, the Vice-Captain Zhang Ke didn't even turn his head and ran away.

Xu Jingming also realized the problem and rushed over with him.

"Bastard!" Zhao Defang was annoyed. Even a small Zhang Ke dared to ignore him?

…

Zhang Ke finally arrived at his home.

The door was wide open.

Zhang Ke stood in front of the door and looked inside. The blood staining the window paper, the bodies lying in the distance, made Zhang Ke's face change.

Zhang Ke rushed in like a madman.

Bodies.

His stubborn father, who had also been a Blood Rain Guard, had a ferocious expression, holding a single blade, pinned to the wall by a long spear! The spear hadn't been taken away, showing the enemy's hatred. This old man had killed two experts from the Yellow Springs Sect.

The others in the house had no ability to resist and fell to the ground one by one.

"Dad, Mom, A'Pu…" Zhang Ke was completely stunned. He finally sat there blankly, holding the bodies of three children.

Zhang Ke had been taught martial arts by his father since he was a child.

He had then entered the Imperial Capital's Blood Rain Guard in an orderly manner, married a virtuous wife, and his wife had given him three children. He himself spent every day carefree, calling friends and drinking, and sleeping in brothels.

"My children…" Zhang Ke held the children, sitting there, motionless, his whole person like a dead tree.

Xu Jingming looked at this scene, and his heart was very sad.

Even though he had experienced a lot since coming to the Blood Rain World, he was still stimulated and felt very uncomfortable.

It's a virtual world!

This is a virtual world!

All of this… is virtual! When they die, they will come back to life in reality!

It's all virtual!

Xu Jingming repeatedly tried to convince himself.

"Cheng Yanran, you madman! You madman!" Xu Jingming could no longer convince himself, and could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. "What do you take these people for, ants? Pigs and dogs? Very good! Very good!"

"I came to this Blood Rain World, and this is the first time I've wanted to kill someone so much!"

Xu Jingming's killing intent was extremely strong.

…

The next morning.

Fei Qing had already entered the palace to meet the Emperor.

"Your Majesty." Fei Qing knelt respectfully, respectfully presenting the file.

"Get up." The Emperor said with a gentle smile.

Fei Qing then stood up. A waiter took the file and respectfully placed it in front of the Emperor.

The Emperor then looked at the file and said sternly: "What? In the Imperial Capital, there are rebels who dare to attack my Blood Rain Guards? An entire Blood Rain Guard team was almost wiped out?"

"The murderers were from the Yellow Springs Sect. Many auxiliary guards recognized some of the wanted criminals," Fei Qing said. "And the night before yesterday, Prince Yan's son, Cheng Yanran, sent people to attack Luo Baichuan and Jingming because these two are my sister's best friends. After the assassination of Jingming failed, Cheng Yanran was even more unhinged and ordered the Yellow Springs Sect to exterminate Jingming's entire team."

"Do you have evidence?" The Emperor looked at Fei Qing.

"The Yellow Springs Sect's foundation is in the north of the empire," Fei Qing said. "And the largest force in the north is Prince Yan! Without Prince Yan's permission, could the Yellow Springs Sect be so prosperous?"

The Emperor frowned and shook his head slightly: "Fei Qing, are you saying that you want me to punish my nephew Yanran?"

"Your Majesty, Cheng Yanran's temperament is strange," Fei Qing said. "Letting him act so recklessly will cause big trouble. He must be made to fear!"

"Enough!" The Emperor looked at him, his eyes turning cold, "I'll ask you one more question, do you have evidence?"

Fei Qing was slightly stunned and lowered his head: "No."

"If it's confirmed that they are Yellow Springs Sect bandits, then capture them and put them on the wanted list to avenge the dead Blood Rain Guards." The Emperor's voice was indifferent. "As for my nephew Yanran, Fei Qing, you must remember that without evidence, you cannot touch him at all."

"Yes."

Fei Qing could only bow and obey.