Chapter 373: New Opportunities

"Um... excuse me, can I go now?"

Li Qingshan, pulling a cart of firewood, cautiously asked the mysterious person standing before him, who was holding an oiled paper umbrella.

Li Qingshan was frustrated. He had finally managed to haul a cart of firewood back, only to be suddenly stopped halfway by this man with the paper umbrella. Then, a flock of drawn sparrows surrounded him, seemingly ready to stab him through at any moment.

"I've told you everything I can. My name is Li Qingshan, a local from Willow Town. My grandmother and I live in the house up ahead... You want me to prove it? How can I prove it to you? Why don't you come back with me and meet my grandmother? She can vouch for me."

Lin Xi put down his walkie-talkie and immediately waved his hand, "No need, you can go."

He oriented himself and was about to head towards Furong Bridge.

"Wait!" Li Qingshan suddenly spoke.

Lin Xi looked back at him, puzzled.

"Are you... no, are *you*... the rumored divine messenger? Are you here to capture the person on the theater stage?" Li Qingshan asked cautiously.

Lin Xi frowned. "Yes."

Li Qingshan opened his mouth, then hesitated, "Well, I was there at the time... Honestly, I don't think he's a bad person. Although he killed those judges, he didn't harm anyone else in the slightest. He might just have simply disapproved of the judges' conduct and intended to rid Willow Town of scoundrels... it's just that his methods were a bit extreme."

Hearing this, Lin Xi's eyes narrowed slightly. He scrutinized Li Qingshan for a few moments. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I want to ask, can you not kill him?"

"Impossible." Lin Xi shook his head decisively. "He has to die!"

From Lin Xi's perspective, Chen Ling not only committed public murder but did so with extreme brutality. Most importantly, he showed complete disregard for the Floating Life Scroll, repeatedly scheming against them, making him an absolute terrorist. If Chen Ling didn't die, Willow Town and other towns would never know peace again!

Li Qingshan's face paled, and he wanted to defend Chen Ling further, but Lin Xi had no time for him. Opening his oiled paper umbrella, he caught the wind and hastened towards Furong Bridge.

From Old Lu's voice just now, the situation seemed extremely critical; he had to go assist immediately!

Watching Lin Xi leave with his umbrella, Li Qingshan stood alone by the roadside, his eyes filled with helplessness and conflict. He stood there for a long time, then sighed, picked up his firewood cart again, and walked towards home.

His house was very close by, and a few minutes later, he pushed open the courtyard gate.

"Grandma, I'm home."

Li Qingshan called out to the house as usual, piled the firewood to the side, and as he stepped inside, he saw a letter lying in the center of the table.

He approached curiously, picked up the envelope, and examined it carefully, noticing the four large, clear characters "Huadu Consortium" neatly written in the sender's section.

"Qingshan... you're back?" The old woman, leaning on her cane, walked out of the room, seemingly still half-asleep.

"Grandma, where did this letter come from?"

"A postman delivered it around noon... You weren't home, so I left it here."

"Oh, okay."

Li Qingshan held the envelope, about to open it, when the old woman beside him seemed to remember something, frowned, and said:

"Qingshan..."

"Yes?"

"It seems like our house was robbed!"

"What??"

Li Qingshan's heart skipped a beat. His hand, poised to open the letter, paused as he quickly asked, "Robbed? Grandma, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine... It's just that when I woke up, I found the radio was gone, and there was a pile of tiles on the cabinet, I don't know who put them there..."

Li Qingshan slightly relaxed upon hearing she was unharmed. "The radio... anything else?"

"No."

"That's good then. They probably saw we didn't have many valuables and just took whatever they could."

Li Qingshan comforted her, then checked the house himself. After confirming nothing else was amiss, he sat down by the door alone.

He tore open the letter, his eyes scanning its contents, and his pupils slightly contracted!

"This is..."

This was a letter from Red Dust Main City. In it, the Huadu Consortium earnestly apologized to all preliminary examination participants in Willow Town, admitting their error in appointing the theater judges and acknowledging that this had caused a series of negative impacts, betraying the consortium's founding principles.

To atone for their mistakes, the Huadu Consortium announced they would send a professional judging team from the Main City to Willow Town to restart the artist selection examination. The entire process would be open to supervision by all media and the public, ensuring fairness and impartiality.

Those who passed the selection would be able to sign with the Huadu Consortium, gaining direct entry to Red Dust Main City. Furthermore, this year's quota would be double that of previous years, demonstrating their sincerity.

After reading the letter, Li Qingshan's hand, holding the paper, couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"I... have another chance?"

He murmured to himself.

Not long ago, Li Qingshan had suffered a severe setback, and just when he thought things couldn't change, everything was turned upside down. He had been given a new opportunity, and the quota was doubled! Li Qingshan was confident that if this selection process was truly fair and impartial, he had a strong chance of entering Red Dust Main City!

His long-held dream... was it actually going to come true?

Li Qingshan felt like he was dreaming, yet he knew all of this was real. No one understood better than him how this opportunity had come about.

If Chen Ling hadn't gathered evidence of the judges' corruption, if he hadn't personally distributed that evidence to everyone, and if he hadn't escalated the situation in the most brutal way, this matter would never have caught the attention of Red Dust Main City, and the Huadu Consortium would certainly not have treated Willow Town with such humility.

His opportunity was given by Chen Ling.

"Brother Lin..." Li Qingshan's mind conjured the image of the laughing figure in red on the stage, his heart filled with complex emotions.

At the same time, the divine messenger's words from earlier seemed to echo in his ears:

"He has to die!"

"No... no, I can't..."

The figure in green slowly rose from the doorway, his eyes full of struggle. "Brother Lin sacrificed himself to bring clarity and justice to Willow Town... If he dies because of this, how could I ever find peace, even if I enter Red Dust Main City?"

Li Qingshan paced anxiously in the courtyard for a long time. Finally, he made a decision, slapped the letter onto the table, and pushed the door open, rushing out!

The figure in green quickly disappeared down the flagstone path.