Chapter 053: The Grand Opening as Scheduled

As usual, the triple plea! I ask for votes, recommendations, and favorites!

While Yang Tang inwardly cursed the cowardice of the criminals, a flash of understanding crossed his mind regarding the upside-down triangle-eyed thug and another criminal whom he had just eliminated using Mode 3.

Killing two humans—he gained twenty points of sin! Immediately, he received the two humans’ combined 0.8 merit points and 55.3 sin points! By preventing these two from killing seven others in the future, he earned seventy merit points! He also received a total of 1.3 secondary merit points from the seven would-be victims; the secondary sins were negligible.

Hawkeye watched as the remaining criminals surrendered, lying prone on the ground. Yang Tang asked himself, what should he do now? He didn’t care for captives—what he wanted was to leave no trouble behind.

“Damn it, eradicating evil is doing good, eradicating evil is doing good,” he muttered to himself, as if hypnotizing his own conscience. Yang Tang switched to Mode 2. While the five glowing-red thugs were lying on the ground, unfortunately close to the jagged edge of the broken window where the upside-down triangle-eyed thug had fallen, he locked his crosshairs onto each red-glowing figure—five fishing rod tips shot out in perfect unison.

“Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!” The tips pierced the prone criminals at impossible angles, leaving the SWAT officers behind cover utterly stunned.

In Yang Tang’s eyes, the red glow on each criminal extinguished without exception. Without concern for how the police and military inside the building would react, he fired the remaining fishing rod tips at a few flies on the glass facade of the Flower Building, packed away his toy bow into the tennis bag, slung it over one shoulder, and took the same route downstairs, carefully avoiding surveillance cameras as always, and strolled out of Tianxing Tower.

The last five criminals brought him another 143.1 merit points and 170.4 sin points!

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that every last member of the criminal gang had been wiped out, leaving no loose ends. The only thing to worry about was that Yang Tang had been caught on camera in the basement of the Flower Building. Whether or not the footage had been transmitted elsewhere, no one could say. Still, given the current situation, even if the footage got out, it would hardly matter—the criminals’ real grudge would be with the mysterious archer.

On his way back to the hotel on his second-hand bicycle, Yang Tang happened to spot a garbage truck. He casually tossed his tennis bag into the bin, and then discarded his synthetic leather gloves in a large pile of trash nearby.

“What?! All dead? How many times have I told you? We need at least one alive! Without a single survivor, how am I supposed to report to my superiors? And if all those damned criminals are dead, why are your people still upstairs? Waiting for me to give them medals? A cold shot? Where would that even come from? Within a two-kilometer radius of the Flower Building, there’s nowhere to set up a sniper. Cold shot? I think the cold breeze from upstairs has addled your brain. Ridiculous!”

“Xuanwu Squad, Xuanwu Squad, this is onsite command unit 001. What’s the status of the hostages? All safe? Excellent. Ensure the area is secure and danger-free. I’ll send someone up to meet you, and you’ll get top credit for this!”

One had to admit, this incident commander, though skeptical about the so-called “cold shot,” was prudent enough not to let the small Xuanwu Squad escort the far more numerous hostages downstairs, avoiding any last-minute mishaps.

It was only after all the hostages were safely evacuated and the crime scene was under investigation that Commander 001 was truly shocked by the criminals’ bizarre deaths.

“Find—find this archer for me! I don’t care if he has three heads and six arms, or if he’s some vigilante. Judging by his archery, he’s extremely dangerous. Even if we can’t charge him with a crime, we must keep him under surveillance!”

The next morning, as Yang Tang was having breakfast with his parents and He Jiani, Shen Chen called his mobile.

“Miss Shen, what’s up?”

“Yes, just wanted to let you know—the Peony Festival opens officially at ten this morning!”

“Ah? That soon? Wasn’t the building still under lockdown yesterday? So you mean the criminals have all been dealt with by the police?” Yang Tang feigned surprise, though in truth he knew the details better than anyone.

“Sort of, sort of not. Anyway, last night a military engineering team worked overnight to repair the damage. Everything’s back to normal—just waiting for the festival to begin!”

“That’s great!” Yang Tang was pleased not for the festival’s sake, but because the thousand yuan he borrowed from Shen Chen yesterday no longer needed to be repaid. In fact, Shen Chen now owed him over ten thousand for food and lodging.

“Dad, Mom, shall we go see the Peony Festival later?”

“Sure, I was hoping to go myself!” Yang’s mother agreed.

With two votes to one, Yang Jixue, who hadn’t voiced an opinion, simply went along.

He Jiani, however, seemed worried. “Tang Tang, last night I heard from Yuhua that something happened near the Flower Building.”

“It’s fine!” Yang Tang waved it off. “Even if something were to happen, it won’t be today.” He knew that after yesterday’s fiasco, today’s security would be extra tight, so there was little to worry about.

With their plans settled, after breakfast the four of them borrowed a car from Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li and drove toward the Flower Garden.

Before they even reached the garden, they encountered traffic control. Luckily, the car they’d borrowed had a special permit, so they were let through.

Most other citizens had to walk toward the garden.

Seeing the crowds packed on both sides of the road, He Jiani had no choice but to slow the car.

Yang Tang looked out the window and noticed that more than half the pedestrians were young people—an odd sight. But seeing his parents unfazed, he thought better than to ask why, and simply chuckled, “So many people! Quite a few are about my age.”

Yang Jixue laughed, “That’s mainly thanks to the girls!”

Yang’s mother, hearing this, immediately took offense. “You old rogue, you’re not young anymore—stop going on about girls. Those young women are young enough to be your daughter-in-law.”

Hearing this, Yang Tang and He Jiani, who was driving, nearly choked with embarrassment.

Still, from his parents’ conversation, Yang Tang gleaned something: the boys came to the festival because the girls were there. And across all ages, there were always slightly more women than men.

After parking, the four of them joined the flow of people, hurrying toward the main entrance of the venue.

A banner hung above: “Under the Bright Moon, United Across the Land”—Peony Appreciation Festival. Only then did Yang Tang realize why there were more women than men at the event.

“Under the Bright Moon”—that was clearly a reference to Wu Zhao, who was especially fond of peonies. The festival itself seemed to have originated with her in this world. So, who could say women were inferior to men? At each festival, more women than men attended, and with a loyal female fanbase, there would always be men following suit.

In contrast, Yang Tang himself had little interest in the festival. If Shen Chen hadn’t offered him a generous reward, he’d hardly care whether the festival had more women or more men. But now that he was here, he might as well accompany his parents. As for the two poems he’d promised Shen Chen, they were already composed in his mind, ready to be written down at any time.

The trouble was that those who’d never participated in the festival’s poetry contest tended to think it was much simpler than it really was. Yang Tang was among them. With He Jiani and his parents, he wandered the venue, marveling at the various displays.

“Look, Tang Tang! That must be a dwarf peony!” He Jiani pointed at a pair of vivid red blossoms.

Yang Tang studied them and shook his head. “No, that’s actually a ‘Heaven-Defying Height’!”

“Heaven-Defying Height?!”

“Yeah, it’s a type of camellia. But it puzzles me—why is there a camellia at such a grand peony festival?” Yang Tang was genuinely perplexed.

Yang Jixue laughed, “It’s not so strange. Since the late 1980s, the Peony Festival has included peonies, peony roses, and camellias in its scope. After all, a single type of flower would bore people and cause the festival to lose appeal. Besides, late March to early April is the blooming period for all four, so why not display them together for everyone to enjoy?”

Yang Tang grinned, “To appreciate wonderful words together, to analyze doubts together… Dad, must you mangle classical sayings?”

Yang Jixue put on a serious face. “Why can’t we appreciate wonderful flowers together?”

Yang’s mother nudged him. “Why argue with your child?”

A little friendly bickering did nothing to disturb their cheerful family mood.

At this moment, Shen Chen, accompanied by two security guards, wove through the crowd, looking as if she were searching for someone. She caught sight of Yang Tang chatting and laughing, and nearly lost her temper.

“Yang Tang, what are you doing here?”

“This is the festival, isn’t it? Where else would I be?” Yang Tang replied.

Shen Chen rolled her eyes. “But you should have called me upon arrival!”

“Why? Oh, right—my room and board allowance! You haven’t given it to me yet!” Yang Tang suddenly remembered.

Shen Chen nearly fainted with frustration. “If you miss the poetry contest registration, you won’t see a single cent!”

“Registration? For what?”

“You think anyone can just hand in a poem and it’ll be accepted? Of course you need to register, otherwise how could the committee manage with so many people?”

Yang Tang was taken aback. “So where’s the registration desk?”

“Inside! Didn’t I give you the entry ticket?”

“No wonder there was no ticket check outside!” Yang Tang suddenly understood. “I’ll go check it out now.”

Shen Chen, amused and exasperated, said, “I’ll go with you.”

“Okay. Jiani, stay with my parents. I’ll be back soon!”

He Jiani nodded without question, but Yang’s mother seized the opportunity to ask, “Xiao Hong, what’s going on? Who is that girl?”

“Mom, that’s a distant relative of a classmate of mine—her name is Shen Chen. We’ve got something to handle. I’ll be right back!”