In this average-sized city, the Gu family was also of average size.
Starting from Gu Nan's grandfather's generation, they were a somewhat famous family of entrepreneurs within the city. When it came to Gu Nan's father's generation, the Gu family truly became successful and entered the upper class.
Regarding the wedding of Gu Nian, Gu Nan's older sister, there were many factors to consider.
During peacetime, marriages among the rich always had to pay attention to the families being well-matched in terms of social status, but Gu Nian's marriage was different. She wanted to marry a little boy who had just turned 20 and didn't have any background.
"Eldest Martial Sister, why bother feigning civility with a bunch of mortals and even going so far as to marry that Lin person? He's a traitor to our martial arts hall!"
"That's right, Eldest Martial Sister! It's been half a year since you left, and we're all looking forward to your return to the martial arts hall!"
In a small courtyard in the Gu family's villa, a man and a woman were earnestly trying to persuade someone. Sitting in front of them was a girl with an indifferent expression as she leisurely sipped tea.
Faced with the earnest persuasions from her younger martial brother and sister, Gu Nian didn't even look up as she calmly said, "You can go back. Ever since I left the martial arts hall back then, I've never thought about returning again."
"Eldest Martial Sister…" The girl was so anxious that she looked like she was about to cry. "Ever since you left, Master hasn't been able to fight anymore. And those people from the Golden Martial Arts Hall are still coming over to make trouble every day… Our martial arts hall will collapse if you don't come back!"
"Oh." Gu Nian continued to face them with a cold expression.
They choked in their tears so much that they couldn't speak for a long time.
After a while, Gu Nian leisurely continued, "I don't care how you were able to find me. Right now, I'm just an ordinary person who wants to live an ordinary life."
"Well said!"
Just when the two of them wanted to persuade her once more, a young man suddenly applauded and walked out from the side. It was Gu Nan himself.
Of the two, the man's face suddenly turned cold. "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. What's more important is that my older sister is finally enlightened! Say, you guys are still learning martial arts, even in this era? Heh, can martial arts be faster than bullets?"
Gu Nan prattled on self-importantly from the sidelines with a face full of arrogance and ridicule, but in reality, his heart was very calm and even somewhat expectant.
From the first day that he transmigrated into this world, he had been trying to understand the functions of this world through various means.
An ordinary technological world? Gu Nan definitely wouldn't believe it. The Evil God Temple took him to many dungeon planes, all of which had individuals highly skilled in combat. Even the weakest plane contained martial arts experts.
It wasn't until later, when he heard of the existence of martial arts halls, that Gu Nan felt that the door to a hidden world was slowly opening in front of him.
'What would the so-called martial arts masters here look like?'
It was with this thought that Gu Nan took the initiative to speak out, trying to enrage the two people who were obviously from a martial arts hall.
But to his surprise, neither of them were angry. They just glanced at each other in response to his words and smiled simultaneously.
Gu Nan recognized their smiles. These were smiles of disdain. This was the look of a cat upon seeing the mouse jumping around in front of it.
'Tsk, I'm being looked down upon.'
Neither the man nor the woman gave Gu Nan a second glance. Both of them cupped their hands at Gu Nian before quickly retreating, vanishing without a trace in just a few seconds.
"They sure are quick to exit the stage…" Gu Nan roasted thoughtlessly and then asked, "Elder Sister, who were those two?"
Gu Nian still had a calm look. "Zhang Qing and Zhang Yuan. My friends from the martial arts hall."
Gu Nian once went out to practice martial arts for two years. This wasn't a secret in the Gu family.
Of course, Gu Nan would not be satisfied with such an answer. He thought about it and asked from another angle, "Elder Sister, the legends say that martial arts masters can leap onto roofs and vault over walls, and those who reach the peak of martial arts can even move mountains and drain seas. Is that true?"
"Moving mountains and draining seas are only legends."
"Then leaping onto roofs and vaulting over walls are real?"
"I never said that."
Since the other party clearly didn't want to continue the discussion, Gu Nan also didn't insist on it. He still treated all of this as a game. Since the NPC was unwilling to divulge any information, it simply meant that the player hadn't triggered the right conditions yet, so it would be useless to keep asking.
Therefore, Gu Nan also turned to leave while leaving behind a sentence in passing, "Elder Sister, I look forward to your wedding tonight…"
The voice reverberated for a long time in Gu Nian's small courtyard. A long time after Gu Nan had left, the girl slowly stood up, her somewhat dull gaze gradually sharpening.
"A strange variable… I hope you don't hinder me. Even if you are my younger brother, I'll still..."
...
Zhang Qing and Zhang Yuan walked in the Gu's Family courtyard as if they were in their own back garden—they came in without any prior notice. The security of these mortals was nothing to them.
"Elder Brother, what can we do if Eldest Martial Sister refuses to go back?" Zhang Yuan sighed.
"That won't happen." Zhang Qing, her older brother, shook his head. "Senior Martial Sister is not the kind of person who ignores old affections. I think she must have her own unspeakable reasons as well…"
At this time, an abrupt voice cut in, "Oh? What reasons?"
The pair of siblings suddenly raised their heads, only to see a young man standing in front of them with a smile. It was Gu Nan.
"You again." Zhang Qing frowned and waved his hand a little impatiently. "Honorable me is in a bad mood, so don't bother us. Otherwise, not even Eldest Martial Sister's face will be enough to save you…"
Gu Nan smiled as he directly reached out to grab Zhang Qing's wrist and pulled backwards.
Zhang Qing only felt a strong force from the tug and fell forward. His expression instantly changed.
But right now, he didn't have time to exert any force. So he just fine-tuned his position, taking the initiative to fall forward. His combat experience was also very rich. Being passive naturally couldn't compare to actively taking the initiative, and this way, he would even have the opportunity to strike back.
'Boy, I'll teach you a lesson soon!' Zhang Qing adjusted his mental state in an instant, and a sneer began to appear on his face.
'He's merely an ordinary person!'
But he never could've imagined that Gu Nan was a veteran gamer who had been playing virtual reality fighting for over ten years. His rich combat experience was not inferior to the veterans of a hundred battles—only players can die thousands of times and accumulate experience.
Gu Nan merely sidestepped, dodging Zhang Qing's counterattack. He then casually slammed a palm onto Zhang Qing's back. The monstrous force directly caused Zhang Qing to spit out blood as his whole body fell down heavily.
This situation not only stunned the Zhang family's pair of siblings, but also stunned Gu Nan himself.
'These two seemed extraordinarily imposing and overbearing, but how come they couldn't even take a beating?'
As soon as they fought, Gu Nan had roughly figured out the level of his opponent. Purely in terms of physique, these two were probably similar to his Tier 1 self—they were stronger than the average person, but definitely didn't break through the limits of humanity.
And with the strength of his Tier 2 Evil God physique, he was now completely inhuman in all aspects and couldn't be compared with these two at all.
Zhang Yuan, the younger sister, was dumbfounded. 'I couldn't see the flow of internal energy at all when he attacked. But his strike made Elder Brother vomit blood… What kind of enemy is this?'
No matter what, she wouldn't be able to put up a fight, so she turned around and tried to flee.
Gu Nan became happy. If there was one thing players excelled at, it definitely wasn't a frontal attack. Instead, players excelled at finishing off wounded enemies and beating a drowning dog[1]!
Those at an advantage grinned from ear to ear while those at a disadvantage cursed like hell. Zhang Yuan entered Gu Nan's rhythm when she tried to escape.
Devotee's Game System Inspired Note
» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.
» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.
MC's Status Information
Name: Gu Nan
Current Location: Vague - In an average-sized city, transmigrated world
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 2
Current Quest:
→ Evil Event: Elder Sister Gu Nian's Wedding.
Current Evil Points: 206, Overall Evil Points: 506, Overall Evil Value: 11
Exclusive Skills Acquired:
— Deceitful Steps. ｢ Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50% ｣