Chapter 3: Madam Wang Collects the Rent

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Suddenly, urgent knocking sounded outside the door—“knock, knock, knock”—shattering the silence of the night.
“Master, it’s Wang Po coming to collect the rent,” said the eldest apprentice.
“Ancestor… I’ll go handle it,” Zhuang Qitong replied.
“Taoist Zhuang, you finally show yourself! I’ve sent you countless messages with no reply,” Wang Po shouted, followed by a dozen masked men.
“This godforsaken place doesn’t even have flying vehicle signal; we had to climb all this mountain path on foot,” Wang Po complained, pounding her leg.
“The signal’s weak up on the mountain, please forgive us,” Zhuang Qitong said with a forced smile.
“Wang Po, look, we plan to sell the beast core tomorrow and pay you the rent, plus a one-day grace period!”
Wang Po’s gaze instantly locked onto the beast core of the Pu’e beast, and her heart stirred with desire.
Then, she drew a particle knife to Zhuang Qitong’s neck. “Either hand over the beast core or the land deed.”
Wang Po’s mechanical arm shot out a laser net. “My prosthetic is the latest from the black market!”
Zhuang Yun’s inner energy shockwave distorted the laser net into a Tai Chi pattern. “How fitting—I specialize in dealing with flashy tricks!”
Wang Po glanced at the shadows. “Don’t refuse a drink and then be forced to drink! Brothers, attack!”
The masked men advanced, revealing a triple concentric circle emblem on their mechanical limbs.
“Let’s see who dares!” Zhuang Yun shouted. She drew the Heavenly Machine Blade from the third apprentice’s belt, swung it in the air, and a cutting wind rushed toward Wang Po’s face.
At that moment, an ethereal feather slipped from her sleeve, faintly hovering and forming a protective barrier.
“Ah!” Wang Po screamed as a bloody scratch appeared across her face.
“My next strike won’t be aimed at your face!” Zhuang Yun raised the blade, pointing at Wang Po.
Terrified, Wang Po stepped back several paces, staring fixedly at Zhuang Yun standing in the shadows.
Though she couldn’t see her clearly, Wang Po felt the overwhelming pressure radiating from her.
“We… we’re leaving,” she gritted through clenched teeth.
As Wang Po fled, she dropped something; Zhuang Yun picked it up—a ten-thousand-denomination black market casino chip, engraved with a miniature mech meridian diagram on the edge and a hidden “Lin” character on the back.
Moonlight illuminated her sly profile, a cloud-patterned jade pendant faintly visible beneath her robe, golden threads seeping from its cracks, weaving into a spectral Kunpeng bird that emitted a cry only Zhuang Yun could hear.
As the Kunpeng apparition appeared, the damaged Taoist temple’s lighting system suddenly surged to full power, projecting a star chart fragment into the void.
Zhuang Qitong’s light brain automatically played the recitation of “The Carefree Journey,” with voiceprint analysis matching perfectly the jade pendant’s vibration frequency.
At this moment, surveillance footage from a repair shop at the mountain’s foot suddenly snowedI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.