Chapter 103: Even a Thousand Would Do
Chapter 103: Even a Thousand Would Do
As night fell, the usually bustling and brightly lit night street seemed unusually quiet tonight.
Chen Xiyi rubbed his waist. He had been sitting for too long today and felt a bit uncomfortable.
“This array seems to be destabilizing. Why hasn’t anyone fixed it?” Chen Xiyi looked at the strange Qi Mechanism around him and couldn’t help but complain. Such an important matter was being ignored, making him—the one causing the destruction—feel awkward.
Throughout the day, he had used the five pickaxes to demolish almost everything on the list. Now, only this street remained.
Once he finished demolishing this street, he could move on to the power station.
Although his Homestead might not have enough space for a power station, that was fine. He only needed the power generation facilities.
Moreover, since he was the only one using it, such a large scale wouldn’t be necessary. A single steam generator would probably suffice.
“Tonight is way too quiet. When I came last night, the lights were flickering, and the street was packed with people and vehicles. Ah, no—wait. Why am I only thinking about these things on this street? Is there something wrong with me?”
Chen Xiyi began to doubt his mental state. Shouldn’t a normal man be more interested in the graceful ladies here?
“There shouldn’t be a problem. Even if my first thought was about construction materials and tools, definitely…”
“Wait, if someone has a curvy figure, would that yield an extra unit of meat?”
“Darn, I’m starting to feel neurotic. I wonder if there are psychologists in this era. I should find time to consult one.”
“If that’s not possible, I could learn it myself. But what if I do have issues and studying psychology makes me even more messed up?”
As Chen Xiyi controlled the five pickaxes to dig, he realized his thoughts were spiraling further off track.
“So why am I assuming I have psychological issues? I clearly don’t have any problems. It’s just that my brain sometimes gets stuck. Yes, that’s it.”
Chen Xiyi suddenly realized he shouldn’t doubt himself. He had endured ten years without going insane, so his mental resilience must be strong. There was no way he had any psychological issues.
“Yes, that’s how it is.”
After reassuring himself, Chen Xiyi’s digging speed increased even more.
The Qi Mechanism around him seemed to be growing increasingly unstable.
He suspected that if he didn’t finish demolishing this street soon, the entire Dongtai City might explode.
This hesitation caused his digging speed to slow down slightly.
Chen Xiyi wasn’t sure what would happen if the array exploded. He figured he would probably be fine since he couldn’t die. At worst, he could retreat to his Homestead, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
However, he was worried the explosion might be like a methane blast.
Without the array, he wouldn’t be afraid of the Death Qi, Resentment Qi, or Yin Qi. At most, these energies could make someone suffer terribly or die instantly.
It was like gas—without ignition, it could only poison or kill people. But if it met a spark, it would explode outright.
The current situation was like a leaking gas tank. Chen Xiyi didn’t know if removing the array would cause Dongtai City to explode.
His main concern was the buildings on this street. As for the NPCs in Dongtai City, he couldn’t care less.
He wasn’t the one who set up the array, nor did he cause the disaster. Why should he be responsible? Just because he demolished a few buildings, he had to confront the entire array?
He had merely accelerated Dongtai City’s downfall by a tiny bit.
Even without him, the city would eventually be destroyed by the array anyway.
Besides, confronting the array and the mastermind behind it wasn’t impossible, but the NPCs hadn’t offered any rewards. He was already shameless enough to freeload off NPCs; how could any NPC possibly freeload off him?
“Whatever, if it explodes, it explodes. With my full set of gear, I don’t believe anyone could… Wait, no—I don’t believe this could kill me. At worst, I’ll just respawn and keep digging.”
Chen Xiyi almost boasted that no one could kill him, but he guiltily glanced at the Immortal Being above, who had no health bar. Although that being couldn’t kill him, it could still trap him at the respawn point.
Sure, he couldn’t die, but that didn’t mean he could withstand everything.
Chen Xiyi waved his hand and started digging frantically. Although his actions made the Qi Mechanism even more unstable, there was no other choice.
However, the Qi Mechanism was a mysterious thing—formless and intangible.
Ordinary people couldn’t perceive it, and even if they did, without the proper means, they couldn’t confirm its existence. Only Qi Refiners or those on the path to becoming one could directly or indirectly sense it.
So, no matter how chaotic the Qi Mechanism in Dongtai City became, as long as it didn’t explode, hardly anyone in the city would notice, aside from those with particularly sharp senses.
After all, the Qi Mechanism was only slightly disordered. The dominant energies in Dongtai City remained Human Qi and Yang Qi, which emanated from people.
However, as the Death Qi, Resentment Qi, and Yin Qi within the array grew increasingly agitated, they disrupted the array, causing the Human Qi and Yang Qi to become unstable.
Of course, there were no issues now, but Chen Xiyi couldn’t guarantee what would happen next. He was just a novice; being able to recognize the array’s purpose was an achievement in itself. He couldn’t possibly understand the array’s deeper workings.
He lacked the relevant knowledge and data about the array. He had no idea what would happen afterward—only that it would explode. As for how severe the explosion would be, he would have to see it with his own eyes.
…
In the Marshal’s Mansion, Xu Jingshou’s eyes were filled with rage.
“It’s been a whole day, and you’ve accomplished nothing. You even let that thing demolish so many buildings. You’re all useless!”
Xu Jingshou had left Dongtai City that afternoon to procure a batch of human resources. He had hoped to stabilize the Qi Reversal Soul-Returning Array, but he never expected that after adding the resources, he almost got himself killed.
He hadn’t anticipated that the person would be so deranged, demolishing buildings for an entire day. This turned the already crippled Qi Reversal Soul-Returning Array into a sieve, on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately, he had added a batch of human resources; otherwise, he would have died from the backlash upon his return.
The people in Dongtai City were all part of the array and couldn’t be used as human resources. This forced Xu Jingshou to procure them from outside.
He had hoped that upon his return, the Xu Family Army would have caught or at least identified the troublemaker. But to his astonishment, after a whole day, they had found nothing.
“Warlord, this matter is eerie. When we arrived at the scene, we found nothing. The buildings just vanished on their own. We even tried shooting at them and bringing in cannons, but nothing worked. We could only watch helplessly as the buildings disappeared.” As the deputy commander of the Xu Family Army, Wei Sheng had his own frustrations. The actual commander was, of course, Xu Jingshou.
If even foreign guns and cannons were useless, what else could they do?
After hearing this, Xu Jingshou’s eyes flickered.
If not for the Ritual Implement—the Mind-Clearing Spirit-Nourishing Jade Pendant—he was wearing, he would have already started killing.
Given the situation, he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands. Otherwise, with the speed at which the other party was demolishing buildings, he would die from the backlash of the Qi Reversal Soul-Returning Array before midnight.
“Where is that thing now?” Suppressing the rising urge to kill and his anger, Xu Jingshou asked in a restrained tone.
“On the night street. The patrol brothers said they saw many dancers and prostitutes being thrown out of the night street.” Hearing Xu Jingshou’s tone, Wei Sheng shuddered and quickly replied.
As an old-timer who had followed Xu Jingshou in establishing the Xu Family Army, he recognized the murderous intent in Xu Jingshou’s voice.
Everyone who followed Xu Jingshou knew that Commander Xu had an inexplicable obsession with the buildings in Dongtai City. They speculated it was related to some kind of Feng Shui array, one that could even affect Xu Jingshou’s power.
Therefore, no one in Dongtai City dared to violate this taboo.
There were plenty of rumors circulating privately, many of which sounded plausible. However, they remained just rumors. No one was willing to act on such vague speculations.
Who knew if it was true or false? Most of it was hearsay, with no reliable information.
“Everyone, follow me. We must resolve this matter today.” A hint of madness flashed in Xu Jingshou’s eyes. Not for any other reason, but because the Mind-Clearing Spirit-Nourishing Jade Pendant he had just put on this morning had already developed a crack.
Clearly, the Qi Reversal Soul-Returning Array’s instability was worsening, and the backlash was becoming more severe.
If he didn’t resolve it soon, he would definitely die.
For this reason, he had to go all in.
“Yes, Warlord!” The officers under his command had no choice but to respond loudly.
Everyone could see that Xu Jingshou was not in a normal state. Anyone who dared to voice a different opinion or outright oppose him now would likely be shot on the spot.
Over the years since Xu Jingshou took control of Dongtai City, his temper had indeed mellowed. But no one could forget his former methods.
If he hadn’t been ruthless enough, he would never have been able to hold his ground as a Warlord. He would have been devoured by others long ago.
Even now, his outwardly gentle demeanor was merely a facade for the sake of maintaining legitimacy. He had learned to hide his emotions.
But now that he had lost control, it was surely a sign of a major crisis.
Under the coordination of the officers, large trucks filled with Xu Family Army soldiers quickly assembled.
Normally, before any expedition, as the core force of Xu Jingshou, he would give a speech to boost morale.
But Xu Jingshou knew that in his current state, a speech was inappropriate. So, the usual morale-boosting routine had to be cut short.
“If this matter is resolved, everyone will be rewarded with one hundred Silver Dollars. Now, let’s move out. Target: the night street.” Xu Jingshou’s words were both concise and motivating.
Even Wei Sheng, standing nearby, was surprised that Xu Jingshou was willing to spend so much. One hundred Silver Dollars was a huge sum.
Currently, the monthly pay for a soldier in the Xu Family Army was only one Silver Dollar, which was already considered good. Ordinary civilians didn’t even have access to Silver Dollars; copper coins were the highest currency they used, and most relied on Provisionary Notes.
This alone showed the extent of the exploitation of the lower classes. As the exploiter, Warlord Xu Jingshou could easily come up with such a large sum, demonstrating the terrors of the warlord era.
Xu Jingshou’s offer was equivalent to paying eight years of extra military expenses.
This also highlighted how much importance Xu Jingshou placed on the buildings in Dongtai City.
However, this was Wei Sheng’s perspective. For Xu Jingshou, this was a matter of life and death. Money could be dealt with later.
If he didn’t survive, what use was hoarding these Silver Dollars? To leave them for others after his death?
Naturally, he had to survive first. Only by staying alive could he recoup his losses and more in the future.
But if he died, no amount of money would matter.
He understood priorities. If this matter could be resolved, he wouldn’t hesitate to offer not just one hundred Silver Dollars, but even a thousand would do.