Chapter 85 - 82: Li Xinyuan

Chapter 85: Chapter 82: Li Xinyuan

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...

Zhong Shu sat on the bed, facing the hard-boiled protagonist he had written about in his novel.

He felt like he was dreaming.

Ever since the night before last, everything had felt so unreal.

Zhong Shu kept studying him.

Don’t get the wrong idea—his sexual orientation was normal. He just wanted to get a good look at the character he had created.

Some people say there’s no difference between an author and a stripper.

A stripper reveals their body; an author reveals their soul.

Zhong Shu felt like he was examining his own soul, made manifest.

Li Xinyuan asked,

"You don’t have a good life in the real world, do you?"

Zhong Shu asked in surprise,

"How did you know?"

Li Xinyuan said,

"Because before my comeback, you wrote my downfall in very specific detail."

Zhong Shu gave an awkward laugh.

"Just a little personal experience."

Li Xinyuan asked,

"Then how did you write about my life as an underground emperor?"

Zhong Shu chuckled sheepishly.

"I guessed."

Li Xinyuan asked,

"So, you haven’t dominated the criminal underworld, you don’t have CEOs of listed companies kneeling to receive you, and you don’t have a harem, right?"

Zhong Shu felt like he was being publicly executed and could only laugh awkwardly.

A flicker of pity appeared in Li Xinyuan’s eyes.

"You will, from now on."

Zhong Shu then remembered the important matter at hand and showed him the Twin Dials.

"What is this?"

Li Xinyuan said,

"The Twin Dials.

You can summon another version of you, one who is completely different.

The price is that you must share your time with me.

My time flows twenty-four times faster than yours.

For every hour I exist, you lose a day of your life."

Li Xinyuan stood up.

"Tell me, what do you need done right now?"

Zhong Shu said,

"There’s someone outside who took my friend hostage..."

Zhong Shu told Li Xinyuan everything that had happened on the Sea Train, word for word.

Li Xinyuan looked at him with satisfaction.

"So you’ve already been a leader once.

That guy took your girl, right?

Come on, I’ll help you crush him."

Zhong Shu hesitated for a moment.

"That person has a gun, and it’s a very powerful one."

Li Xinyuan smiled.

"Have you forgotten? I’m the pinnacle of combat power."

...

「In the hard-seat carriage.」

"Hand it over!"

The male actor glared fiercely at an old man.

The old man clutched his bag tightly.

"No, I can’t! We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here. If I give it to you, what will I eat?!"

After becoming the new leader, the male actor’s first order of business was to collect supplies.

The male actor cursed angrily,

"You’re all a bunch of misers! Not a shred of gratitude!

Don’t you know I’m the one protecting you now?

If I go hungry, how am I supposed to fight the Ghosts!"

Everyone in the carriage looked miserable.

This guy was nothing compared to that young man!

’If we’d known, we should have helped the young man deal with this guy back then.’

The female actor postured menacingly behind him.

"That’s right! You all better listen up! My husband is the boss now!"

Just then, a voice called out,

"Who did you say is the boss?"

The female actor froze for a second, then turned around.

She saw Zhong Shu walking over with a brute in a suit.

’That guy... I’ve never seen him before.’

The female actor’s mind raced, and she quickly figured it out.

’This guy must be a survivor from one of the other cabins.’

’Zhong Shu went out to find that mysterious person and brought this man back with him.’

The female actor shouted aggressively,

"My husband is the boss, what about it?

You must be new here and don’t understand the situation, right?"

The female actor was afraid that her attempt to seduce Zhong Shu earlier would anger the male actor.

Besides trying to build up her husband’s prestige, she was also eager to distance herself from Zhong Shu.

The female actor pointed at Zhong Shu.

"You! Did you finish the task my husband gave you?"

The male actor, holding the flintlock gun, tilted his head back arrogantly and pointed it at Li Xinyuan.

"You look pretty tough. Come work for me.

I’ll consider saving your life when a Ghost comes to kill you."

He at least knew how to recruit underlings.

A devilishly charming smile played on Li Xinyuan’s lips.

"I hate it when people point guns at me."

In the blink of an eye, Li Xinyuan appeared in front of the male actor, his world-weary eyes filled with mockery.

The male actor’s hair stood on end, and he instinctively pulled the trigger.

Li Xinyuan tilted his head, dodging the bullet. His hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the barrel of the flintlock gun and ramming it into the male actor.

The male actor spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

Li Xinyuan, holding the flintlock gun, patted down the male actor’s pockets and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

He flicked the pack, and a cigarette popped out, which he caught deftly between his lips.

He touched the hot barrel of the flintlock gun to the tip, the high temperature lighting the cigarette.

The movements were seamless, countless times cooler than any hard-boiled hero in the movies.

Instead of helping her unconscious husband, the female actor was swooning, completely mesmerized by Li Xinyuan.

’Now *this* is a real man, isn’t it?’

Her gaze softened alluringly. Just as she was about to say something, Li Xinyuan swung the gun barrel at her jaw.

She didn’t even have time to scream. Her whole body slammed into the ceiling of the train car before crashing back down, several teeth scattering on the floor.

Li Xinyuan stepped on the female actor’s face and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Let me correct you. *I’m* the boss here.

That foolish kid back there, Zhong Shu, is under my protection. Who do you think you are to order him around?"

Li Xinyuan stomped his foot down hard on the female actor’s head.

The female actor fell completely unconscious.

Zhong Shu stared blankly at Li Xinyuan.

"You... you’re so ruthless."

Li Xinyuan raised an eyebrow.

"You’re the one who wrote me to be ruthless."

Zhong Shu said,

"I thought an underground boss should be this ruthless."

A smile tugged at the corner of Li Xinyuan’s mouth.

"It’s that *you* think you should be this ruthless if you were an underground boss. I’m just a true reflection of your inner self."

Zhong Shu was stunned.

He felt like he was seeing himself for the first time.

Li Xinyuan tossed the flintlock gun to Zhong Shu.

"Alright, go give this to ’that person’."

Zhong Shu knew ’that person’ Li Xinyuan mentioned was the antique shop owner.

He glanced at Li Xinyuan in surprise.

In his writing, Li Xinyuan was arrogant and invincible, holding nothing in reverence.

But Zhong Shu could sense that Li Xinyuan was afraid of the antique shop owner.

He didn’t even dare to use a name, only referring to him as ’that person’.

Zhong Shu nodded, glanced at Bai Tasha, and entrusted her to Li Xinyuan’s care. Then, he grabbed the flintlock gun and ran toward the front of the train.

Bai Tasha was still dazed, unable to process what had happened.

Li Xinyuan had already sat down beside her.

"Sister-in-law, let’s talk."

Bai Tasha’s face flushed red.

...

「In the locomotive’s crew cabin.」

"Go back to your seat."

"Go back to your seat."

"Go back..."

The train crew mechanically repeated the same phrase.

The twin men, the long-braided elder, the woman with her hair in a bun, and the boy in the wheelchair were currently locked in a fierce battle with these people.

The long-braided elder, wielding a Western Sword, retreated to the side of the boy in the wheelchair and wiped away his cold sweat.

"Master Xie, aren’t there a few too many of these monsters?"

Light from a Buddha, Sanskrit characters, and Swastikas would occasionally flash around the boy in the wheelchair.

He said in a low voice,

"If the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun wasn’t in the hard-seat carriage, there would be even more of these monsters here!"

After thoroughly inspecting the train, the five Taiping Daoists had finally found a way to get off it.

That was, to take control of the cockpit!

It sounded simple and crude, but it was indeed the easiest and most direct method.

The boy in the wheelchair guessed that this Sea Train was being controlled by something, and that this something was sentient.

Only by cooperating with that thing, or by gaining its approval, could they escape this train.

The boy in the wheelchair stared intently at the iron door of the control room behind the crew members, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"If that thing is willing to cooperate with us, willing to lend a hand to the Taiping Dao, we will have performed a great service!"