Chapter 109: The Conflict Between Ideals and Power

Feng Peng ranted and raved for over half an hour, especially after drinking, and his tone of daring to lead the world made Chen Xiyi question his life.

There was nothing wrong with the tone itself, but when paired with his words condemning the new-school students, it felt awkward no matter how he thought about it.

Finally, Chen Xiyi realized he couldn’t extract any more useful information and decided to make up an excuse to leave, only to find that Feng Peng was sticking to him like glue.

This annoyed Chen Xiyi.

“Young friend Chen, do you know whose world this is today?” Feng Peng suddenly asked.

Whose world?

Of course, it was the world of the Qi Refiners—who else could it be? It couldn’t possibly be the world of scholars; that would be pure daydreaming.

“Well… I’m not quite sure,” Chen Xiyi certainly wouldn’t say it outright; he genuinely wanted to hear the other’s opinion.

“Today, the world is in chaos. Foreigners are eyeing us covetously from outside, while the new-school revolutionaries disrupt the Imperial Court from within. If we are not careful, heaven and earth could be overturned. We scholars should seek out a wise ruler and assist him in sweeping across the land, unifying the world.”

“…”

Chen Xiyi felt exasperated. Are you trying to stage a restoration? At this point, he would rather join the Student Faction in protests than play along with a restoration.

What difference was there between that and becoming a eunuch in the palace the day before the Qing dynasty fell?

And Foreigners eyeing us covetously? They had probably been beaten so badly by the Qi Refiners that they didn’t dare show their faces. If they were really going to act, why wait until now? With the firearms and technology of the Holy Purple Iris Empire, which warlord could possibly defeat them?

Besides, disrupting the Imperial Court?

The Imperial Court had been gone for who knows how many years. How could you still talk about disrupting it? Why not take it even further?

One could say that even the warlords no longer employed these old-school scholars; they used the new generation of students who had received systematic education.

What use were the eight-legged essays and sage writings in this chaotic era? Did they really think they could implement policies by spouting classical phrases or writing beautiful calligraphy?

The warlords might not be highly educated, but those who lasted long definitely had good judgment in recognizing talent. Without it, they would have been wiped out long ago.

Listening to Feng Peng still talking about his grand ambitions, Chen Xiyi could only smile awkwardly but politely.

Feng Peng noticed that Chen Xiyi wasn’t responding and thought he was seriously considering his words, so he quickly seized the opportunity: “Young friend Chen, do you know of Crown Prince Chengyin?”

Chen Xiyi instinctively asked, “The last crown prince of the previous dynasty?”

He had no idea who that was; he just made a random guess. Given the tone of the question, it had to be the last crown prince.

“So you do know him, young friend. Crown Prince Chengyin left behind descendants, and by chance, we patriots found the imperial grandson. I invite you to join us in our righteous cause to restore the nation. When we succeed, the merit of supporting the rightful ruler will bring glory to your family.” Feng Peng carefully glanced around before speaking cautiously and quietly.

“…”

Chen Xiyi thought that staging a restoration was already foolish enough, but he hadn’t expected something even more foolish—finding a master to serve as a dog. Even if he didn’t join the Student Faction in protests or participate in a restoration, he would rather be emperor himself. Why would he willingly place an ancestor above his head?

“I’m sorry, but I refuse,” Chen Xiyi decisively rejected.

Feng Peng’s eyes widened in surprise; he hadn’t expected Chen Xiyi to refuse so firmly.

“What do you mean, young friend? We scholars should support the nation in times of crisis and uphold righteousness.”

“I think you might be a bit drunk,” Chen Xiyi looked at Feng Peng as if he were a fool. To reveal himself so easily—this organization probably wouldn’t survive past tomorrow.

Feng Peng’s expression changed, and he snorted coldly, “Hmph! Bathed in the emperor’s grace but ignorant of repaying it. I am ashamed to be associated with a coward like you.”

With that, Feng Peng flicked his sleeve, stood up, and left, displaying his pride to the fullest.

Although Chen Xiyi didn’t know what he had to be proud of—was it because he served as someone else’s dog?

After Feng Peng left, the innkeeper came over with a flattering smile, “Sir, please don’t take offense. Feng Sheng is usually proper, but whenever he meets a scholar, he becomes delirious. Don’t take his words seriously. The neighbors all know about this. Let me add a few side dishes as an apology from our humble inn.”

Chen Xiyi, however, gave the innkeeper a meaningful look, “I already noticed that this person behaved as if he were insane. Your waiter didn’t even try to stop him. I’ll let it slide this time, but if it happens again, don’t blame me for smashing your shop’s sign.”

“Yes, yes, sir. You are magnanimous,” the innkeeper knew he was at fault, but he also understood that the matter was being downplayed. Mentioning ‘next time’ meant he wouldn’t be held accountable for this instance.

‘Delirious? Hah, more like playing the fool.’ Chen Xiyi muttered to himself. He had already seen Feng Peng’s information.

[Scholar Feng Peng, Health Points: 99%, Status: Joyful, Testing]

[Ability 1: Eight-Legged Essays]

[Experience]

[December: Gathered information at the inn, found a scholar to recruit, pretended to be crazy to recruit him but failed and left]

[December: Visited the imperial grandson and learned about the lack of funds and weapons]

[December: …]

It was clear that Feng Peng had somehow made everyone believe that this Xiucai was half-mad. He was normal most of the time but acted insane whenever he encountered matters related to the previous dynasty.

This struck Chen Xiyi as strange. Others might see him as crazy, but how could the local warlord allow him to act so recklessly?

It seemed abnormal. If Chen Xiyi were in the warlord’s position and discovered a group of people intent on overthrowing his rule, he would eliminate the threat immediately instead of letting them grow.

Chen Xiyi searched through the Game Map but found no one with prefixes like ‘imperial grandson’ or similar. Unfortunately, there was no search function.

However, he guessed that this so-called imperial grandson was likely a fake.

This so-called organization was probably just a tool fostered by the local warlord to counter the Student Faction. Essentially, they were the warlord’s people. These restorationists either didn’t know the truth or were feigning ignorance. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain how an organization that randomly recruited scholars could still exist.

This also explained why these people held such deep resentment toward the Student Faction.

Of course, Feng Peng might be one of those who didn’t know the truth, or perhaps he was being exploited.

Judging by Feng Peng’s attire, his family was undoubtedly from a scholarly background and at least well-off.

And yesterday, the imperial grandson mentioned a lack of funds. Combined with Feng Peng’s mindset, he was probably planning to sell off his family’s assets to contribute.

After all, it was the merit of supporting the rightful ruler.

This was only Chen Xiyi’s speculation; he didn’t know the actual truth.

‘However, this matter is also a potential danger. Will they use it against me?’ Chen Xiyi pondered. He had genuinely offended them.

Especially since he knew their secret but hadn’t joined them.

Even if Feng Peng was the one who revealed it, such a secretive organization might not see it that way.

‘So, should I strike first?’ Chen Xiyi wasn’t a good person; if there was danger, it had to be eliminated early.

‘There’s no rush. I’ll wait for the Game Log to alert me. If they plot against me, I’ll see a prompt. It won’t be too late to kill them then.’

Chen Xiyi admitted that he might not be a good person, but he was undoubtedly a weak scholar who valued righteousness.

Currently, there wasn’t even a Hostility Level increase. Clearly, Feng Peng’ earlier outburst was just an act; he wasn’t actually angry. His name was still white, so there was no reason to kill his entire family.

[Scholar Feng Peng slandered you to Scholar Chen Xia. Scholar Chen Xia agreed with Scholar Feng Peng’s view. Scholar Chen Xia’s Hostility Level toward you +1. Hostility: 0.5 stars]

[Scholar Feng Peng slandered you to…]

Chen Xiyi felt a headache. Good grief, it hadn’t even been half an hour, and he was already being slandered.

What’s more, he realized that Feng Peng was truly cunning. He himself remained a white-name NPC with zero Hostility Level, yet he managed to stir up so much hatred for Chen Xiyi while staying out of trouble himself.

[Scholar Feng Peng repeatedly slandered you, attempting to use others to harm you. Hostility Level +10. Hostility: 5 stars]

After this series of slanders, this message suddenly appeared, directly turning Feng Peng into a red-name NPC.

And it didn’t show that Feng Peng was targeting him; it was clearly Chen Xiyi’s Hostility Level toward Feng Peng.

“Good grief, there’s even this function?” Chen Xiyi couldn’t help but complain.

To be honest, he didn’t really feel anything toward Feng Peng—no anger or resentment. Yet the Home Game had issued a judgment.

Why wasn’t he angry?

Nonsense, who would get angry at a dead man?

All the red dots were marked on the Game Map. Chen Xiyi planned to go out at night and eliminate every single one of them, ensuring not a single family member was left behind.

As long as they weren’t red-name NPCs, Chen Xiyi was quite friendly toward them. He definitely wouldn’t casually attack someone just because they had a health bar above their head.

But if they turned red-name, then the NPC couldn’t be spared.

When he killed red-name NPCs, he left no traces. After all, after collecting, not even their clothes remained.

As evening fell, Chen Xiyi returned to his room to continue reading because the inn’s main hall was getting crowded with diners, making it increasingly noisy.

So, he had no interest in staying downstairs to listen to the patrons’ bragging and tall tales.

He was preparing to go out at night and take care of business, eliminating all the red-name NPCs to ensure no future troubles.

In the previous world, he had left some red-name NPCs because they posed no threat to him. But this time, the red-name NPCs would cause trouble.

To avoid problems before they arose, he decided to deal with all those who wanted to cause him trouble before they could act.

As night deepened, the diners gradually left, and the inn eventually closed.

The streets entered a curfew state, with soldiers occasionally patrolling with lanterns and rifles.

Chen Xiyi opened the window, stepped onto a shield, and leaped down.

The Object Manipulation Talisman couldn’t be used on himself, but if applied to an item, it could carry a person. However, the consumption increased accordingly. Originally, one talisman could last three hours, but if Chen Xiyi used it as a flying vehicle, it would last only ten minutes.

On one hand, the Object Manipulation Talisman wasn’t meant for flight, and on the other, the quality of the talismans Chen Xiyi made was too poor.

But it didn’t matter. Chen Xiyi wasn’t planning to fly the whole time; he just needed it to cushion his descent from the inn.

When going out to kill and set fires, one couldn’t just use the main door—that would leave evidence.

“I’ll start with Feng Peng. This guy is the worst. If not for his attempt to use others to harm me, I would have thought he was just a naive remnant of the previous dynasty. I didn’t expect him to be so sinister, secretly playing dirty tricks.”

Chen Xiyi checked the Game Map to locate Feng Peng and couldn’t help but complain. Truly, appearances could be deceiving.