Messenger of Calamity

Chapter 2: Nesser's Handheld Gaming Console

In Chang'an City, at the Jin Duke's residence, outside a room in the inner courtyard, many maidservants were waiting.

Suddenly, a cold voice came from inside the room: "Wu Qiu, Shi Dong, come in, only you two."

The two maidservants closest to the room gestured for the others to move away, then swiftly entered the room and closed the door behind them.

When they saw the person inside, they couldn't help but show an expression of surprise, and whispered with a smile, "Where did the young lady get that wolf hat? It's so cute!"

The person inside the room was none other than the Black Wolf, who had appeared at the Thieves' House.

The Black Wolf glanced at the two maidservants and growled, assuming an intimidating stance, "Dare to mock me? Do you believe I'll bite you?"

After some playful banter, the two maidservants helped the Black Wolf remove her hood, coat, chainmail, under-armor, skirt armor, shoulder guards, and other protective gear. Though the two were quite skilled, removing the armor still took them quite a bit of effort, especially since some pieces were made of a special alloy combining copper and gold, thin yet heavy, and simply taking them off left the maidservants sweating.

Once the armor was removed, the seemingly muscular Black Wolf transformed into a tall young woman.

She instructed Wu Qiu and Shi Dong to maintain the armor, then walked out of the room and asked the guards outside, "Yu Fu, where is the Duke now?"

The head of the guards replied, "He is in the Changqiu Hall meeting with his subordinates."

"Inform the Duke, I have an urgent matter to report."

"Understood."

The Black Wolf quickly arrived at the Changqiu Hall's courtyard and waited.

After a short while, a middle-aged official came out of the hall, and the Black Wolf greeted him first, "Lord Yang, the country's affairs must be tiring."

"Not tiring," the middle-aged official quickly replied, "If I didn't work for the country's cause, how could I repay the Grand Chancellor's promotion? Please, Young Miss, advise the Grand Chancellor to take care of his health. I see him rising early and staying up late for the country's affairs, and I truly worry for him. The Great Zhou cannot go a day without the Grand Chancellor."

"Understood, Lord Yang. You truly deserve to be the loyal and devoted person that Father holds in high regard."

After entering the Changqiu Hall, the Black Wolf waited for the guards to close the door, then immediately spoke to the middle-aged man behind the desk: "Father, Yang Xing is a treacherous man who pretends to be loyal. He's cunning both inside and out, you must not entrust him with important matters."

The person in front of her was none other than the owner of the Changqiu Hall, the Jin Duke of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army, the Grand Tutor, the Grand Chancellor, and the Medicine Master Mo Ke.

Mo Ke smiled and said, "I already know. These people like Yang Xing are trying all ways to get their hands on the secret realms controlled by the Medicine Master family. But have we not been trying to take back their controlled realms too? Don’t worry, I’m aware of it. By the way, Wen, you have something to report?"

"Yes."

The Black Wolf, Mo Ke's daughter, Medicine Master Wen, spoke: "I was summoned into the Thieves' House's secret realm and was given a theft mission. The target is the 'Bingzi Pepper Forest' stored in Anguo Temple."

"Thieves' House?!"

Mo Ke immediately stood up, hurriedly walking over to Medicine Master Wen.

"You didn't encounter any danger, did you?"

"No, just as the rumors say, the Thieves' House is just a safe house for thieves, and there are no demonic creatures in the secret realm." Medicine Master Wen said, "Moreover, the Thieves' House has teleportation abilities. I can now come and go from the Thieves' House at any time... Father, the Thieves' House can quietly teleport me to the Jin Duke's residence, so it should be able to teleport me anywhere in the world!"

"As long as we control the Thieves' House, our Great Zhou's military power can descend on the southern Jiangnan of Liang, the endless night sky of Qi, and the entire world will be within our grasp!"

Although his daughter painted a grand picture, Mo Ke did not seem overly excited. Instead, he asked, "I remember that the Thieves' House only recruits experienced thieves. Why were you invited? Speaking of which, last year, the great thief 'Ye Lang' appeared in Chang'an, and you volunteered to take on the Ye Lang case with your Embroidered Guard. In the end, more and more nobles from the country were harmed, and quite a few people have come to me complaining about it."

Medicine Master Wen snorted: "Those people live in luxury, only seeking pleasure. What’s wrong with using their money to strengthen the Embroidered Guard?"

"You, you." Mo Ke shook his head. "If you’re not careful and expose your identity, do you know what others will say?"

"If they knew that the great thief of Chang'an is the Jin Duke's daughter, they would definitely put their treasures in the most obvious places." Medicine Master Wen said nonchalantly, "Father, why do you try to win over the useless families of the Yuwen and Helan clans? Instead, you push capable ministers like the Duke of Ancheng and the Duke of Wei aside?"

Mo Ke's brows furrowed: "National matters are not for you to interfere with. Who told you to speak for Medicine Master Xian, Du Shu, and Uncle Yu?"

"No one told me. For the past two years, my Embroidered Guard has eyes and ears all over Chang'an. Apart from finding out which noble family has money, we’ve also gathered much real intelligence." Medicine Master Wen said, "Father, I've been holding this in for a long time, but the people you trust are all useless, and those with ability are being suppressed by you. If this continues..."

"Silence!"

Mo Ke shouted, and Medicine Master Wen immediately stopped speaking.

After a moment, Mo Ke exhaled deeply, his tone becoming calmer: "The Yuwen and Helan families are pillar families of the Great Zhou, holding control over secret realms and military power. If we don’t unite with them, the court will be in chaos. Once the court is in chaos, the regions will be in chaos. Do you know how many spies from Qi and Liang are waiting for us to make a mistake? The big picture is the most important; you must never speak like this again."

"I understand, Father."

“Continue talking about the Thieves’ House.” Medicine Master Mo Ke did not want to argue with his daughter: “You’ve always made plans before acting. Since you came to find me, you must already have a strategy in mind.”

“Since it's confirmed that the Thieves’ House exists, it’s only natural to take control of it,” Medicine Master Wen said. “The Thieves’ House has recruited four thieves in total. Five days from now, they will transport us to Vermillion Bird Avenue. At that time, Father will have people ambush the Anguo Temple to capture the other three and leave only me to complete the theft mission. Then I will become the sole owner of the Thieves’ House.”

“But to prevent the Thieves’ House from continuing to recruit thieves, Father, you should find three skilled individuals and have them become infamous thieves as quickly as possible. That way, no matter what, the Thieves’ House will be a secret realm of our Great Zhou.”

Medicine Master Mo Ke pondered for a moment and did not immediately agree.

Medicine Master Wen found this unbelievable.

She thought that the Thieves’ House’s first mission being in Chang’an was practically a blessing for Great Zhou.

After all, no matter how powerful the other three thieves were, once surrounded by the twelve legions of the Left Rear Guard, they would have no way out. Why hesitate when such an opportunity was within reach?

“This is a serious matter. I need to think it through,” Medicine Master Mo Ke said. “You may leave for now.”

He paused and then added, “You should pretend to truly steal from Bingzi Pepper Forest. Don’t expose any flaws. If there’s danger, it’s better to give up the Thieves’ House than to risk everything.”

“Father, rest assured, I will never let anyone discover anything,” Medicine Master Wen said seriously. “The Thieves’ House will certainly become the new secret realm of our Great Zhou!”

...

...

In the city of Eternal Night, at the Governor's Mansion of Lecheng County, a figure wearing a white fox mask suddenly appeared in an empty room.

Before she could remove her attire, a hurried voice came from outside: “County Governor, County Governor, have you returned?”

“What’s the matter?”

“His Majesty has summoned you to the palace and has urged you twice already!”

The White Fox was startled.

She quickly removed her mask and armor, and when she stepped outside, she had transformed into an elegant, magnificently dressed female county governor.

The carriage was already prepared, and soon the White Fox entered the palace through a side gate.

Here, she could no longer ride in a carriage and had to walk. A eunuch, wearing a black veil, silently led the way.

Inside the palace, there were guards every five steps and sentries every ten steps.

The guards, wearing ghostly masks, stood like tombstones at the side of the road.

Despite the scorching sun overhead, the palace complex extended endlessly, gleaming with gold and jade. However, inside the palace, there was a deep, eerie atmosphere, with not a breeze to be felt.

It was as quiet as a graveyard, as if, aside from the White Fox and the eunuch leading her, no other living beings existed.

She walked through winding paths, climbing a series of long steps.

When the White Fox arrived at the entrance of the main hall, the four ghostly guards at the gate gave her a cold glance, and the malevolent aura that surged through her body sent chills down her spine.

Without speaking, the ghostly guards moved like iron molds, as if their bodies were filled with lead.

With just a push from their palms, they opened the golden-red palace doors.

Inside, the windows were tightly shut, and the place was pitch dark, relying only on candles for light.

A sickly sweet odor, nauseating and almost suffocating, wafted toward the White Fox. It seemed as if a giant fireball burned in the center of the hall, obscuring her vision.

As soon as the White Fox took a step inside, she sensed something was wrong.

The carpet beneath her feet was disturbingly sticky.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn’t a carpet, but rotting flesh and meat that had been minced into a paste, spread across the floor, with patterns even woven from the textures of the flesh!

The White Fox lowered her head and took small steps toward the center of the hall. The closer she got to the giant fireball in the center, the more she could hear faint, almost imperceptible cries of anguish.

She could also smell the sickeningly sweet scent that seemed to dissolve into her brain, making her feel nauseous.

But she didn’t dare to look up. When she reached the stairs, she managed to keep her voice calm: “Your Majesty, I have arrived.”

“Look up.”

The White Fox looked up.

Despite having prepared herself mentally, she was still struck dumb by the scene before her.

The beautiful woman on the throne was wearing only a translucent veil, almost completely naked as she reclined upon it. Behind her, nine tails extended, and the giant fireball she had seen earlier was actually caused by her tails burning.

However, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that those were not tails at all.

The woman had actually attached nine spinal columns to her back. Countless fingers were stitched to the vertebrae, writhing and twisting in the flames.

At first glance, it seemed like a furry tail.

The flames appeared to have no heat, and the fingers remained unscathed, but the cries of anguish came from within those fingers, as if countless restless souls were trapped inside!

“Ru Shi,” the woman asked, “the nine-tailed fox of ancient times must have looked like this, right? Do you think I am beautiful, or do you think the legendary nine-tailed fox is beautiful?”

The White Fox forcibly suppressed the shock in her heart and nodded: “Your Majesty is beautiful.”

“Then tell me, who is more beautiful, you or I?”

“Your Majesty is beautiful.”

“Lies!”

The woman stretched out her hand, and the White Fox was immediately pulled toward her, her chin resting on the woman’s hand.

The woman’s fingers entered the White Fox’s mouth and gripped her tongue, causing the White Fox to stiffen, nearly unable to move!

The city of Eternal Night was clearly a no-fighting safety zone.

It was one of the three major cities of the Central Plains, and theoretically, no one in these safety zones could actively harm others. Yet, this woman seemed able to bypass the laws of nature and play with life as if it were in her grasp!

“The Mirror of Mysticism clearly told me that the most beautiful person in Eternal Night is you! Why are you lying to me? Are you betraying me too?”

The White Fox could not speak and could only look at the woman in despair.

The woman released her tongue, and the White Fox gasped for air, coughing twice before hastily saying: “Ru Shi did not lie! To Ru Shi, a beautiful appearance is the most mundane part of beauty. Power and authority are the true beauty, everlasting beauty, the kind that crushes all beneath it! Therefore, the most beautiful person in Great Qi must undoubtedly be Your Majesty! In Your Majesty’s presence, I, Ru Shi, am nothing but a pale skull, unworthy of mention!”

The woman before Ru Shi was none other than the ruler of Great Qi, Ying Le.

Ying Le remained silent, simply stroking Ru Shi’s face.

She seemed to be lost in thought as a cold, pale smile gradually spread across her face. Ru Shi’s heart quivered, and she quickly said: “I was just summoned by the Thieves’ House!”

Ying Le froze, immediately straightening up, her expression becoming serious.

“The secret realm Thieves’ House, which can teleport to anywhere in the world? No wonder you suddenly disappeared from Eternal Night... What did you encounter inside?”

Looking at Ying Le, who was listening intently, Ru Shi felt a brief sense of daze.

She seemed to see the wise, martial, and kind-hearted queen again. But the nine burning tails behind Ying Le, her almost bare body, and the sickly sweet smell of blood in the air, quickly brought Ru Shi back to reality.

Ru Shi briefly explained the situation with the Thieves’ House and her target for theft, analyzing: “I roughly guessed the backgrounds of the other three thieves. Black Wolf uses our Great Qi dialect, but some of the idiomatic phrases he uses are from the Zhou Kingdom, so he is clearly from Zhou; Red Snake’s accent and grammar are from the southern regions, likely from Liang; Yellow Dog’s accent is unidentifiable, and he barely speaks, but from his movements, he seems rather timid, probably a thief without much combat ability.”

Ying Le interrupted her: “There’s only one thief group in Great Qi, the ‘Fox Ghosts.’ Do you have any relation to them?”

Ru Shi knelt on the blood-soaked carpet and confessed: “At first, it was because there were several disobedient noble families when I was a county magistrate, so I thought I would use bandits to clean them up. Later, I found that I could use them to gather rebellious men. Instead of letting them harm the region, I might as well manage them to do dirty work. That’s how the Fox Ghosts were formed. I must have been summoned by the Thieves’ House because I am the leader of the Fox Ghosts.”

“‘Fox Ghosts’ has been growing stronger recently, and I can no longer manage them. I beg Your Majesty to send someone to take over.”

At this moment, a series of synchronized footsteps sounded outside the hall.

Ru Shi looked back and saw a group of ghostly warriors marching in.

As they drew near, Ru Shi’s face instantly turned ashen—each of the warriors had three or four human heads tied to their waists!

And these heads were exactly those of the skilled subordinates and leaders of the ‘Fox Ghosts’ under her command!

The ghostly warriors placed the heads on the ground, stacking them into a formation named ‘Fox Ghosts’ 京观, then silently left the hall.

“From now on, you can focus on planning for the Thieves’ House,” Ying Le flicked her fingers, and a ball of fire burned the Fox Ghosts’ 京观 to ashes as easily as flicking dust away. “How could the county governor of the Ying family be associated with such lowly, wild ghosts?”

“Ru Shi understands.” Ru Shi’s head was pressed to the carpet, and the sweat from her forehead trickled into the blood-soaked carpet.

Although the Fox Ghosts’ base was not far from Eternal Night, the speed was terrifying.

The only possibility was that as soon as Ying Le discovered she was missing from Eternal Night, she immediately sent people to massacre the Fox Ghosts!

No suspicion, no questioning, no preliminary procedures, just killing!

“I have never heard of anyone controlling the secret realm of the Thieves’ House. I make no demands of you, just don’t let others control the Thieves’ House. However, I am very interested in Bingzi Pepper Forest.”

“Ru Shi will definitely present Bingzi Pepper Forest to Your Majesty!”

...

...

In Jiangnan City, the Merchant family, Zhiyuan Residence.

Zhiyuan Residence was the study of Shang Qiao, the third son of the Prime Minister of Liang and the Chief of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Normally, no one would dare to barge in, but at this moment, Shang Qiao had to stop his work and entertain an unexpected guest.

“Who bothered you again?”

“Look, I haven’t even spoken, and my brother is already like this.” Shang Xinlei sat down, covering her face as she cried. “I know no other sister is as interesting as me. In the end, brother has no place for me in his heart.”

Shang Qiao had no way to deal with his sister.

She was already uncontrollable in the household, and after becoming a messenger, no one could reign her in.

He sighed, took out his token, and said, “Take it, do whatever you want, but remember to return it after you’re done.”

“Brother, you guessed wrong. I’m not here to ask you for something; instead, I bring great news.” Shang Xinlei did not take the token and said proudly, “I just came back from the Thieves’ House.”

“Oh... hmm?”

Shang Qiao was stunned for a moment before realizing, “You were summoned by the Thieves’ House? I remember the Thieves’ House is a four-person secret realm. Did you expose your identity? ...Wait, how did you get summoned into the Thieves’ House?”

“Huh? You don’t know I’m ‘Feather Snake’?” Shang Xinlei picked up some pastries and stuffed her cheeks full. “I’ve asked you for help with disposing of stolen goods several times. I thought you already knew.”

Shang Qiao stood up in shock. “You’re the infamous thief, Feather Snake!?”

“You didn’t even know I was Feather Snake? Brother, you really don’t care about me.” Shang Xinlei sighed. “If you’re going to treat me like this, it would be better if you just ignore me.”

“You... you... sigh...” Shang Qiao rubbed his temples and sat down. “I thought you were just playing around. You’ve always been sneaky... I’ll inform Father about you being Feather Snake, and as for the Thieves’ House, don’t get involved—”

“Why?” Shang Xinlei widened her eyes. “This is a legendary secret realm. Not only did it move me from Jiangnan City into the Thieves’ House, but in five days, it’ll even let me go to Chang’an to steal Bingzi Pepper Forest! I’ve wanted to visit Chang’an for a long time!”

“To Chang’an, to steal Bingzi Pepper Forest!?”

Shang Qiao was so shocked that he nearly fell out of his chair. “You’re not even at the second level yet, and you dare to go to Chang’an alone? You’re not going anywhere! Wait until Father returns—”

“Father will definitely allow me to go.”

Shang Xinlei suddenly calmed down. “The Thieves’ House is a national treasure and a family heirloom. Father would never miss an opportunity to get involved. Although Father loves me, he cares even more about the family.”

“I know my cultivation is nothing compared to the Shang family’s standards, but if I can control the Thieves’ House, maybe I can... control my future.”

Looking at his serious and mature sister, Shang Qiao was momentarily speechless. After a pause, he asked, “So, you became Feather Snake and started stealing just to be summoned by the Thieves’ House?”

Shang Xinlei blinked and shook her head before turning and leaving the room.

“No, I just like it.”

This sister really couldn’t sit still.

Shang Qiao felt a headache coming on. After some thought, he decided to wait for Father to return to discuss this. But as soon as he sat down, he realized something was off.

“My new purple brush, where is it?”

...

...

Inside the Thieves’ House, Yan Qing, with nowhere to return to, was inspecting his temporary new home.

There was a bed, a water heater, a bathroom, and a shower.

Except for the lack of windows, it was essentially no different from a hotel suite.

In the center of the room was a circular teleportation array. When Yan Qing stepped onto it, a portal appeared before him, and on the other side was a forest path.

Yan Qing was not foolish enough to walk into an unknown place.

For now, the personal room in the Thieves’ House was his safest shelter. However, ten minutes later, Yan Qing changed his mind—there was no food in the Thieves’ House.

Not only was there no food in his room, but he also ventured to the hall to look around and found none!

There was running water, and showering was no problem, but without food, unless Yan Qing was planning to starve, staying in the safe house was essentially waiting to die!

However, although Yan Qing didn’t find any food, he did make another discovery.

On the bedside table, he found a handheld gaming console.

It was casually placed there, looking like the room’s owner would pick it up and play a game before bed. In fact, Yan Qing suspected this game console was the very same one he had in his original world—its appearance was identical, and even the tempered glass film that was slightly crooked was the same!

Yan Qing pressed the power button and waited, holding his breath. Three seconds later, the screen slowly lit up:

“Welcome to the Naiser Handheld Gaming Console.”

There were no prompts to connect to Wi-Fi or update, but the account was automatically logged in, and the system went directly to the main interface.

The game library was empty, and all the games Yan Qing had previously purchased were gone, leaving only one free-to-play online game:

“The Messenger.”