Chapter 164: Divine Artisan Han Army Banner

Chapter 164 -161: Divine Artisan Han Army Banner

Wang Xiuqiao shot to her feet, her voice filled with emotion.

“Benefactor!”

The two young people beside her stared, stunned by the scene.

‘Does this old-fashioned way of hitting on someone actually work?’

Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes were as placid as an ancient well, showing no ripple of emotion.

The title “Benefactor” meant nothing to him.

‘Who knows what those buyers call the Manager behind his back, anyway?’

Jiang Chaosheng stood and walked toward the door.

“I’m very busy.”

Wang Xiuqiao hurried forward in her high heels to lead the way.

She rushed to a Volkswagen Magotan and took out her phone.

Jiang Chaosheng frowned.

“What are you doing?”

Wang Xiuqiao blinked.

“You can’t drive after drinking.”

Jiang Chaosheng pulled open the driver’s side door.

“You give me directions.”

Wang Xiuqiao gave Jiang Chaosheng a look of astonishment.

‘A god-like figure such as him… actually knows how to drive?’

Dubiously, Wang Xiuqiao got into the car and pointed ahead.

“That way.”

Jiang Chaosheng slammed the accelerator to the floor, practically launching the car forward.

Wang Xiuqiao cried out, her hands gripping the grab handle in a death grip, her legs tensed.

…..

「By the time the car reached Zhangtun, it was already eleven o’clock at night.」

The village was tiny, originally home to just fifty households.

These days, the younger generation was unwilling to return, and those with the means had moved their elderly parents to the city.

Even fewer people remained in the village now.

It was in this village that Wang Xiuqiao had bought a house to hide the Black Banner.

The car stopped at a house on the eastern edge of the village.

Wang Xiuqiao got out of the car and leaned against a tree, dry heaving.

Jiang Chaosheng glanced at the Magotan, his expression a little awkward.

Both sides of the car were covered in scrapes.

He truly was a terrible driver.

In the past, when he rode in the Vengeful Ghost Vintage Car, the ghost in the car was always responsible for driving; he just sat in the driver’s seat.

After learning the Spiritual Concentration Divine Art, his reaction time far surpassed that of an ordinary person. As long as he knew the rules of the road, he could get by safely.

Wang Xiuqiao straightened up, her face pale, and walked to the courtyard, opening the iron gate.

Jiang Chaosheng followed her inside.

…

Once inside, they found themselves in a classic Northeast-style house.

The entrance opened into a living area with a stove, with the master bedroom to the east and a side bedroom to the west.

The room was dusty but tidy.

Wang Xiuqiao led Jiang Chaosheng into the east room and had him sit on a stool.

“Please wait a moment.”

She went to a large pear-wood cabinet next to the television and began rummaging through it.

A moment later, she pulled out a black flag.

It was made of animal hide, with a tiger pattern drawn on it.

Wang Xiuqiao gently stroked the flag, lost in a daze.

She faintly remembered her father’s excitement the day he brought it home.

Wang Xiuqiao handed the flag to Jiang Chaosheng.

Jiang Chaosheng took the flag, feeling the faint, primal aura within it, and tucked it inside his trench coat.

Item No. 5-30: Divine Artisan Han Army Banner.

During the Qing Dynasty, in the Northeast, spiritual roles included not only the Out-of-Horse Disciple, the Shaman, and the Black Mother Dharma Protector, but also the Divine Artisan.

In ancestral worship ceremonies, the Divine Artisan would perform the “Tiger Ruckus in the Family Hall” to exorcise evil and bring good fortune to the family.

This ancient flag came from a Divine Craftsman Family.

When this Divine Craftsman Family performed rituals to protect the homes of wealthy families, they would ask for a hefty fee.

However, when they performed the “Tiger Ruckus in the Family Hall” for poor villagers, their payment was whatever the villagers chose to give.

If they encountered a particularly destitute household, the Divine Artisan, after receiving the villagers’ offerings, would pay it back double out of his own pocket, leaving with only a drink as his reward.

According to them:

“The monetary offering is to show respect to the guardian tiger; it is necessary. But performing good deeds is a matter of personal choice.”

Through the faith of countless mortals and nurtured by the benevolence of the Divine Artisans, this flag came to possess a divine power.

A look of relief washed over Wang Xiuqiao’s face.

“I’ve finally fulfilled my father’s last wish. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep soundly.”

Jiang Chaosheng stood up, pulled several diamonds from his pocket, and placed them on the edge of the kang bed.

Wang Xiuqiao froze.

“What is this for?”

After setting down the diamonds, Jiang Chaosheng walked toward the door.

“This is your compensation for taking care of the flag all these years.”

‘To be honest, Wang Xiuqiao was challenging his worldview.’

‘In all his time as Manager of Antique Shop Zero, he had seen plenty of people who refused to return Taboo Items, but it was rare to find someone like Wang Xiuqiao who had guarded one for so many years.’

‘Normally, honoring a contract was the bare minimum of human decency, not something worthy of praise.’

‘But when no one else seemed to have any decency, that spirit of integrity became precious.’

Wang Xiuqiao snatched the diamonds and hurried after him.

“Benefactor, I can’t accept this, I…”

Wang Xiuqiao chased him to the doorway.

At some point, it had started to rain.

The benefactor was gone.

Wang Xiuqiao clutched the diamonds tightly.

Her company was in crisis. With this money, it could be brought back from the brink of death.

At the very least, she could pay off her loans.

Wang Xiuqiao put the diamonds away, thought for a moment, then tucked them into her bra for safekeeping.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

“Xiaoliu, are you asleep?”

The weary voice of a young man came from the other end.

“Sister Wang, not yet.”

For the past few days, Xiaoliu, the manager of her construction company, had also been overwhelmed with their debt problems.

Wang Xiuqiao said,

“Besides the bank, we still owe money to President Bai, President Zhao, and President Li.

I’ll give you an address. Come here tomorrow and take the money from me.

Help me apologize to President Bai and the others.

The house will go to the bank to cover the debt.

Sell the car and use the money to pay everyone’s year-end bonuses.”

Xiaoliu said in pleasant surprise,

“Sister, you found the money?”

Then Xiaoliu quickly realized something.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘take the money from you?’

Why aren’t you paying President Bai and the others back yourself?”

Xiaoliu’s voice grew tense.

“Sister, did something happen to you?”

Wang Xiuqiao hung up the phone.

She walked back to the east room, rummaged through a pile of clothes in the large pear-wood cabinet, and finally found the hunting rifle hidden underneath.

Wang Xiuqiao carried the rifle out to the “outer room” (in some Northeastern villages, the living room is called the ‘outer room’).

She faced the moonlight outside, lit a cigarette, and sat on the stool, waiting quietly.

Those two outsiders who coveted the Black Banner had mystical abilities.

No matter where she went, they could find her.

She had paid the debts she owed to others.

Now, for the debt others owed her, she would have to collect it with her life.

In the short two years since those two outsiders arrived in Celestial Mountain City, they had crushed her to the point where she could barely breathe.

Yesterday, they had given her an ultimatum.

If she didn’t hand over the flag or join them, she would die—a fate even worse than death.

Wang Xiuqiao knew that the two outsiders had managed to rise so quickly and successfully in Celestial Mountain City because they must possess something similar to the Black Banner.

‘Having one of those things in the mortal world is basically like cheating. It’s not fair at all!’

Her father had also valued fairness.

That was why after using the flag to support his family, he had never used it again.

Wang Xiuqiao enjoyed reading web novels, but she never read competitive system-based stories.

To other competitive players, a “system” was just an undetectable cheat.

Wang Xiuqiao liked fairness.

‘In truth, she could have told Jiang Chaosheng about her predicament.’

‘She could have told him she was in a desperate situation and asked if, for the sake of her guarding the Black Banner for all those years, he could save her.’

‘But Wang Xiuqiao felt that wouldn’t be fair to Jiang Chaosheng.’

‘The benefactor had already helped her father; there was no need for him to put himself in danger for her. Besides, she didn’t have the audacity to trouble him.’

Just then, the blinding headlights of a car shone at the courtyard gate.

Wang Xiuqiao bit down on her cigarette, gripping the hunting rifle tightly.

‘Even if I can’t beat you, I can at least hurt you with this gun!’

Two people got out of the unfamiliar car at the gate.

One was a hunched-over old man holding a snuff bottle, and the other was a middle-aged Drunkard clutching an empty wine bottle.

The Drunkard, his face flushed, staggered toward her.

“Well, well, little lady. So you had a hiding spot like this. Is the item hidden here?”

The hunched-over old man chuckled sinisterly. “Have you thought it over? If you don’t give us a satisfactory answer, you should know what you’ll be facing.”

Wang Xiuqiao gently touched her chest.

The diamonds were hidden there.

She was afraid that after she died, they would ransack the house, so she had hidden the diamonds in her bra.

‘These two wouldn’t go so far as to strip my corpse, would they?’

Wang Xiuqiao raised the rifle.

“Fuck you. You really think I’m some housecat, don’t you?”

“BANG!”

A bullet shot out.

The Drunkard sneered and spat out a mouthful of alcohol.

The alcohol instantly erupted into a raging fire.

The bullet was incinerated into ash, and even the front gate of the house caught fire.

Undaunted, Wang Xiuqiao tried to pull back the bolt to reload.

The hunting rifle was old and malfunctioning; she couldn’t move the bolt no matter how hard she tried.

The Drunkard roared,

“Damn bitch, you’re dead today!”

The Drunkard spat another mouthful of fire at Wang Xiuqiao.

Wang Xiuqiao just chuckled softly, shook her head, and raised a hand to shield her chest.

More accurately, she was shielding the diamonds in her bra.

She closed her eyes.

But after more than ten seconds, she felt no burning sensation.

She opened her eyes in confusion. A large black door had appeared at the courtyard entrance, blocking the flames.

Behind the black door, standing before her, was the back of a figure in a black suit and trench coat.

Wang Xiuqiao murmured,

“Benefactor?”

Jiang Chaosheng glanced back over his shoulder.

“I forgot to pay you for the car.”

Wang Xiuqiao’s gaze snapped to the courtyard entrance, to her Magotan.

The benefactor drove fast, but his skills were terrible. He had scraped the car against the curb several times along the way.