34: Chapter 34 My dream of living off a woman has been shattered by you!

The night was deep and quiet, the moon dark and the wind high.

Inside Villa No. 8 at Zijin Villa, the air conditioner was set to a comfortable 26 degrees.

Jiang You lay spread-eagled on the soft imported latex mattress, sleeping so soundly that he was dead to the world, drool flowing from the corner of his mouth onto the pillow, and from time to time he mumbled in his sleep: "Auntie... I don't want to work hard anymore... please keep me..."

At this very moment, inside his body, an emergency court meeting regarding "dignity and the future" was being held.

[Internal Chat Group (All-Member Berserk Mode)]

[Brain (Cold Dictator)]:

"Everyone wake up. Stop sleeping."

"Just now, while the Slacker Ruler was turning over, I scanned the supplies in that snake-skin bag."

"Apart from that fire poker and that bottle of zixiao thunder bamboo, I discovered an extremely serious contraband item."

[Right Hand]:

"Contraband? What is it? High explosives?"

[Brain]:

"No. Worse than that, more sleazy."

"It's two books."

"The titles are 'The Overbearing Empress Falls in Love with Me' and 'How to Make Rich Women Fall for You: 108 Tricks for Being a Kept Man'."

The group fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately after, it exploded like a volcanic eruption.

[Kidneys (Emitting a piercing screech)]:

"A disgrace!!!"

"This is a sheer disgrace!!"

"I! The Kidneys with the strongest explosive power in the heavens! A top-tier existence destined to sneak into the God Realm to bathe in Divine Source Liquid! This Slacker Ruler... he actually wants to use me to serve rich women??"

"I won't do it! Whoever wants to eat this soft rice can eat it! I'm going to go hard!"

[Right Hand (Violently waving a fist)]:

"My fist was born to crush stars and shatter the firmament!"

"He actually wants me to peel grapes for rich women? And give them massages?"

"Unforgivable! This is a blasphemy against the God of Martial Arts!"

[stomach (Disdainful)]:

"Soft rice? Sounds like it has no nutrition. I want to eat meat! I want to eat high-energy ores! Even dogs wouldn't eat soft rice!"

[Brain]:

"Very good, motion passed by all."

"Since this Slacker Ruler is like mud that can't be plastered onto a wall, vainly attempting to take shortcuts, we shall cut off his retreat."

"Right Hand, take action. Destroy those two novels that represent depravity for me."

In reality.

Jiang You, fast asleep, suddenly sprang up from the bed, straight as a board, as if he were a corpse come back to life.

But his eyes remained closed, his expression solemn, like a chief judge about to execute a holy verdict.

He walked with stiff steps to the corner, pulling open the snake-skin bag.

[Right Hand] reached in like lightning, precisely grabbing the two treasures Jiang You regarded as "shortcuts in life."

"Riiip —!!!"

The crisp sound of tearing paper echoed through the quiet villa.

Jiang You's fingers were as nimble as a paper shredder; in just a few seconds, the two thick books had turned into snowflakes dancing in the sky.

After destroying the source of the sin, Jiang You did not return to bed.

He stood amidst the paper scraps, the "Brain" behind the mask casting its gaze toward the night view of Jiang City outside the window.

[Brain]:

"The Slacker Ruler's dream of being a kept man is shattered, now it is time to get down to business."

"Tomorrow we leave this newbie village for the Magic City."

"According to calculations, the journey is long, and the cost of living in the Magic City is extremely high. We need to reserve some travel expenses and snacks."

"Tonight is our last dance in Jiang City."

"City-wide search for high-energy sources... Target locked."

"The underground vault of the Wang family in the north of the city... has a piece of Tier 3 Cold Iron."

"The secret chamber of the Li family in the east of the city... hides a century-old demon core."

"And... the treasure of the Jiang City Museum, that extraterrestrial meteorite that no one recognizes."

[Legs (Shaking with excitement)]:

"Woohoo! It's time for zero-dollar shopping! I've been dying for that meteorite in the museum! I smelled it last time we passed by!"

[Kidneys]:

"What are we waiting for? Let's go! Empty out Jiang City! Save up some dowry for our trip to the Magic City!"

"Whoosh —"

A black shadow flew out of the window and instantly merged into the night.

That night, the underground world of Jiang City encountered an unprecedented "catastrophe."

There was no river of blood, nor any earth-shattering explosions.

There was only silent disappearance.

The head of the Wang family got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, only to find the door of his three-ton alloy safe had been torn open by bare hands, and the Tier 3 Cold Iron inside had vanished, leaving only a pile of iron filings like biscuit crumbs.

The infrared alarm in the Li family's secret chamber did not react, but the heirloom demon core had evaporated into thin air.

The most miserable was the Jiang City Museum.

That piece of black, indestructible meteorite known as the "gift from the stars" was found by security the next morning with only a bare pedestal left, and surprisingly, a note was left on it.

Two words were written on the note in wild cursive — [Disgusting].

That was the negative review given by [stomach] after tasting it.

Six o'clock in the morning.

As the first ray of sunlight shone into the window of Villa No. 8.

Jiang You woke up on time.

"Hmm..."

He stretched comfortably, feeling that he had slept exceptionally well, even a bit full, as if he had eaten a buffet in his dream.

"Strange, why does it feel like there's a rusty taste in my mouth?"

Jiang You smacked his lips and sat up from the bed.

As soon as he raised his hand to rub his eyes, he felt something on his finger that was uncomfortable.

He took a closer look.

On the middle finger of his left hand, there was suddenly a pitch-black, ancient-looking ring.

The ring was engraved with some incomprehensible cloud patterns, and it felt ice-cold to the touch.

"Huh? What is this?"

Jiang You pulled at it, looking confused.

It didn't budge, as if it had grown into his flesh.

"When did I buy a ring?"

Jiang You patted his forehead and muttered to himself: "Could it be that I got drunk that day and swiped it from Zhao Tai's place?"

"Whatever, if it won't come off, I'll wear it for now, even though it looks a bit ugly!"

Regarding this priceless Sumeru ring, which was actually swiped by [Kidneys] from the private treasury of a hidden master last night, Jiang You only gave it the evaluation of "a bit ugly" and ignored it.

He hummed a tune, turned over, and got out of bed, preparing to pack his luggage to catch the train.

However.

The moment his foot touched the floor.

"Crunch."

The sensation under his foot was wrong.

Not the soft carpet, but... a pile of shredded paper?

Jiang You looked down.

His smile froze instantly.

He saw that the originally clean and tidy floor was covered with a layer of white paper scraps.

At the top of the pile of scraps, one could vaguely piece together a broken book cover, printed with half of an overbearing empress's face, and a few incomplete characters —

"... Rich woman ... fall in love with me ..."

The air froze for three seconds.

"Ah!!!!!"

A shrill marmot scream echoed through the entire Zijin Villa, startling a flock of sparrows outside the window.

Jiang You knelt on the ground, his hands trembling as he scooped up the pile of paper scraps, his eyes instantly turning red.

That was despair.

That was the sound of dreams shattering.

"My book! My treasure! My shortcut!!"

"Who is it!!!"

"Who is so insane!"

"I spent a huge sum of thirty yuan to buy it! I haven't finished reading it yet! I haven't learned how to make a rich woman's heart flutter with just a look yet!"

Jiang You was filled with grief and indignation, howling at the sky:

"This is jealousy! This is definitely someone jealous of my damn charm, trying to block my path to being a kept man!"

"Could it be... that the female devil Teacher Shen Qing sent someone to do this? To force me to cultivate properly?"

[Internal Chat Group]

[Brain]:

"Heh, stupid."

[Right Hand]:

"Cry! Let him cry! If he can't handle this little blow, how will he become a powerhouse in the future?"

In reality.

Jiang You wailed on the floor for five minutes and finally accepted the cruel reality that his "dream of being a kept man was shattered."

He sniffed, stood up with a lifeless expression.

"Fine... you guys are ruthless."

"Since you won't let me be a kept man, then I... I'll just go to school and lay flat!"

"As long as I lie flat fast enough, the beatings of life won't catch up to me!"

Jiang You kicked the paper scraps on the floor indignantly, turned around, and shouldered the old snake-skin bag.

That charred zixiao thunder bamboo stuck out from the bag like a beggar's stick.

The space ring he had treated as a free gift shimmered on his finger.

"Goodbye, my villa."

"Goodbye, my dream of a rich woman."

Jiang You took one last look at this luxury house that had given him three months of fairy-like days, and resolutely pushed open the door.

Although Teacher Gu Yan had long sent a message saying he would send a car to pick him up.

But the disheartened Jiang You decided to use the most simple way to commemorate his passing dream.

"No luxury car."

"I'm going to take the bus to the station."

"I want to experience the hardships of the world to numb my wounded soul."

And so.

On the streets of Jiang City during the morning rush hour.

A teenager wearing spongebob pajamas, carrying a snake-skin bag, wearing a ring on his hand, with a bird's nest hairstyle, squeezed onto the No. 2 bus heading to the train station with a bitter and deep-seated expression.

And inside his body.

The organs were rubbing their hands, preparing for the upcoming new map.

[Brain]:

"Magic City, here we come."

"Tremble, mortals."

"The strongest stocker... oh no, the strongest genius, is online."