123: After seven days of hiatus, I crawled back from hell to update

On a long-distance bus heading to a suburban county town, Sword River Fish was curled up in the corner of the last row, his face buried deep in his collar.

He looked through the fogged-up window at the city behind him, shrouded in gunfire and flames.

His heart was still pounding violently.

But this time, it wasn't due to "fear."

Instead, it was because of an unprecedented excitement called "control"!

He, an author with no power to restrain a chicken,

had managed to throw a modern city of millions into chaos, relying only on a small bell and the "story" that had played out countless times in his mind!

This feeling... this feeling of turning "imagination" into "reality"... it was even more wonderful than "becoming a god"!

However, he also knew very well.

This "power" had its limits.

Every use was frantically draining his mental energy.

He could feel his sanity being slowly eroded by that "madness" that didn't belong to him.

If this continued, the police wouldn't even need to catch him.

He would become a true "madman" first.

He had to find an absolutely safe place as soon as possible.

A place where he could temporarily escape the True Author's gaze.

A "novice village" where he could regain his strength and launch his next "counterattack"...

As the first ray of dawn tore through the eastern sky,

and the bus finally stopped on a country road with no bus stop sign,

Sword River Fish, dragging his broken leg that was almost numb, stumbled off the bus.

He had finally escaped that steel cage called Hai Shi City.

The scene before him was a vast field covered in morning mist.

The air was filled with the fragrance of earth and the fresh scent of grass after the rain.

It was completely different from the air in the city, which was filled with car exhaust and the smell of decay.

He walked along a muddy path, sinking deep and then lightly, towards the distant village where cooking smoke curled upwards.

He was like someone who had suddenly woken up from a nightmare filled with blood and slaughter.

Greedily breathing in the free air of "reality"...

[Outskirts · Wang Family Village]

...Young man, did you... roll down the hillside?

An old grandmother with silver hair and a face full of wrinkles, looking at least eighty years old.

She looked at Sword River Fish, who was lying at her doorstep, covered in mud and looking disheveled, and asked with concern in a heavy dialect.

Sword River Fish no longer had the strength to speak.

He just nodded with difficulty.

Oh, what a sin...

The old grandmother shook her head, feeling distressed.

She didn't act like city people, pulling out her phone to take pictures, post on Moments, or call the police directly.

She just walked forward unsteadily, and with her calloused but exceptionally warm hands, helped Sword River Fish up from the cold mud.

...Come, child, come inside first, drink some hot water, and warm yourself up.

...Your leg, I'm afraid it's broken...

This old woman, I learned a few tricks from the village's barefoot doctor before.

I'll give you some simple treatment first.

When the rain stops, I'll have my Dajiang take you to the town clinic in his tractor.

Sword River Fish was half-supported and half-dragged by this unfamiliar old grandmother into the adobe house, which, though dilapidated, was exceptionally clean and tidy.

The old grandmother brought him a steaming bowl of ginger water with brown sugar.

Then, from an old wooden box that had been used for who knows how many years,

she rummaged out a set of old clothes, faded from washing but very clean, and told him to change into them.

Then, she found two wooden planks and some clean strips of cloth.

Using a method that was clumsy but effective, she splinted Sword River Fish's broken left leg.

Throughout the entire process, she didn't ask Sword River Fish's name.

Nor did she ask where he came from or where he was going.

She was like a kind grandmother caring for a grandson who had been hurt outside and returned home in a sorry state.

Sword River Fish drank the bowl of brown sugar ginger water, which was sickeningly sweet.

He felt the dry clothes on him, though a bit loose, carried the scent of sunshine.

As for the somewhat painful feeling of restraint on his left leg from the wooden splints, it made him feel a long-lost sense of "stability."

His heart, which had been tightly strung, full of vigilance and madness, finally relaxed a little at this moment.

How long had it been since he had felt such pure "kindness" without any ulterior motive?

It seemed, ever since he left that "madwoman" who gave him candy, he hadn't felt it again.

...Thank you, Grandma.

He looked at the old grandmother before him, who was hunched over, tidying up his mud-soaked dirty clothes, and said in a hoarse voice.

...What are you thanking me for?

The old grandmother turned around and gave him a simple smile.

...When you're out and about, who doesn't encounter difficulties sometimes?

Sword River Fish's eyes instantly reddened.

He suppressed the tears that were about to gush out and made a request that might have been a bit abrupt.

Grandma... can I... can I borrow your phone for a moment?

I... I need to let my 'editor' know I'm safe... I've been missing updates for several days...

...Phone?

The old grandmother was stunned for a moment.

Then, she pulled out of her pocket an old, domestically produced smartphone with a cracked screen and a model so outdated it could almost be in a museum.

...Here, this is it. I don't even know if it still works.

...Dajiang said he wanted to get me a new one.

I said, I'm an old woman, I don't look at all those fancy things, as long as I can make calls, that's enough.

Sword River Fish tremblingly took the old-fashioned phone, which ran slower than a tractor.

He expertly opened an app called "Tomato Writer Assistant."

Then, he entered the account and password that he knew by heart.

When the book cover, full of passion and excitement, titled "Evil God as Group Leader, Group Members Beg Me Not to Speak," appeared on the screen,

and when he saw the 99+ reader comments in the backend urging for updates,

Sword River Fish finally couldn't hold back anymore.

He buried his face deep in his scarred and dirty hands.

And let out a long-suppressed, beast-like sob.

He was back.

He was finally back.

After crying, there was rebirth.

He wiped away his tears, and his gaze became firm again.

He had not forgotten his "mission."

He wanted to fight back.

He wanted to use his only and most powerful "weapon."

To launch the fiercest counterattack against that high and mighty True Author!

He wanted to continue the story that belonged to Chen Yuan, to Gu Jianghan, and also to him, Sword River Fish!

He wanted to tell that "Author" through this story!

To tell all the "readers" who were "reading" his destiny!

—I am the only protagonist of this story!

—My destiny can only be written by myself!

He took a deep breath and placed his finger on the button labeled "Create New Chapter."

Then, he slowly typed the first line of text.

[Latest Chapter: The Human Emperor's... Return!]