Inside the Green-Sprout Roadside Tavern, every floating live-stream camera orb zoomed in on twelve-year-old Zhao Tie.
Above the boy’s scrawny neck, the black iron Orbital Soul-Whip Collar began flashing a rhythmic red countdown timer—[60... 59... 58...]—waiting to verify whether Cannon-Fodder Actor #994 would fulfill his three mandatory blood-contract conditions:
1. Wear the Green Silk Young Master Outer Robe;
2. Walk within three paces of Chen Ao and pour out a pot of tea toward his table;
3. Speak the exact six-word opening line—“Do you know who my father is?!”—at 80 Decibels or louder!
Standing with his muddy boot propped up on the tavern bench and his right hand resting on the hilt of his Rank 7 Peak broadsword, Chen Ao grinned with cruel, sadistic anticipation.
To make doubly sure the terrified twelve-year-old boy would lose his temper or flinch with hostility, Chen Ao deliberately stepped forward. Moreover, Stomped his heavy, mud-caked boot right down onto the toe of Zhao Tie’s cloth shoe!
STOMP!
