Chapter 110: The Framed Rebel Faction

Chen Xiyi quietly returned to the inn, while outside, loud shouts about a fire echoed through the sky.

He had committed murder and arson—since he had already killed, setting a fire was just an easy extra step.

In case he left any traces behind at the scene, the big fire would help cover them up.

“There are so many costumes! Just the Scholar Costume alone has so many styles—it’s really amazing.”

“And why are there women’s clothes? Can I even wear these?”

Chen Xiyi stared at the other costumes with some hesitation; he had never expected this situation.

They had appeared when he collected them.

That’s right, he had carried out a massacre. He had said he would take revenge and settle scores, that he would kill their whole families—just like committing murder and arson, he had killed and then conveniently set the fires.

There were probably around fifty households in total.

After all, he had over fifty red names; he hadn’t counted exactly how many families, but in his enemy list, they had all turned black.

There were no red-name NPCs left on the Game Map, which proved that his work had been clean and swift.

“The costumes can be kept for collection, but what should I do with all this Human Skin and Human Bone?” He had killed quite a few in this wave, making sure to eliminate every last root.

As for killing innocent people, Chen Xiyi admitted it—he felt no psychological burden about it.

The family members of those red-name NPCs might have been innocent, but since they held a grudge against him and even intended to suppress him, he couldn’t be blamed for harming their families.

When a large organization targeted a weak scholar like him without reason, why should Chen Xiyi reason with them?

They might be innocent, but wasn’t Chen Xiyi innocent too?

Just because he refused to join their rebellion, he was targeted and oppressed—was he not allowed to fight back? There was no such logic in the world.

He had killed them, but he wouldn’t stop their friends and relatives from seeking revenge—only, Chen Xiyi had taken care of future troubles in advance by sending their friends and relatives along with them.

Once you’ve committed murder and arson, you certainly wouldn’t spare someone just because they were good-looking. What use was good looks? Could it compare to how nice the costumes were?

“Forget it—these human materials are at least certified by the Home Game. They might be useful someday, so I’ll store them for now.” Chen Xiyi put all the costumes and human materials into the Wooden Storage Chest, planning to make a wardrobe for them when he had time.

As for the noise outside, it had nothing to do with Chen Xiyi. As someone with no strength to even tie up a chicken, it wasn’t appropriate for him to get involved.

Besides, he was the one who had set the fires—how could anyone expect him to put them out? It was already kind of him not to add fuel to the flames.

By dawn, when the Sun showed a sliver of light, the fires in the city gradually died down. The commotion had been huge; the common people and soldiers had worked all night before they could finally rest.

After that, the whole city was placed under martial law. When Chen Xiyi excitedly prepared to leave, he found that he couldn’t exit the city.

His face fell long like a horse’s, and he couldn’t help cursing inwardly.

What he did last night had indeed cleared up future troubles, and it felt great, but now the aftermath was affecting him too.

‘If only I hadn’t been so impulsive. My impulse directly blew things up.’

It was no small matter—around fifty households had been wiped out, and fires had been set.

More importantly, every one of those people was part of the local warlord’s support system, used to counter the new Student Faction.

As a result, it immediately drew the attention of the city’s higher-ups.

If it had been one or two families, it might have been considered an accident, but when it was all of them, even a fool could see something was wrong.

That’s why the city was placed under martial law immediately, allowing people in but not out.

Chen Xiyi heard the news from the inn waiter in the morning and felt quite helpless.

Although he felt bored, he didn’t try to climb over the wall to leave.

Fishing wasn’t that important; if necessary, he could just read in the inn.

The main goal was reading, not fishing.

But while things were calm for him, the city was anything but calm.

“The City Garrison Army is searching for rebel faction members. Everyone, gather in the inn’s main hall now.”

Chen Xiyi, who was killing Time in the main hall, saw about ten soldiers carrying guns and looking serious burst in.

The leading officer scanned the inn’s hall and, after a glance, ignored Chen Xiyi. Chen Xiyi wore a long gown—meaning he was an old-school scholar, unlike the new Student Faction members who wore student uniforms. Why would they want to wear such feudal remnants as long gowns?

“Officers, please wait. I’ll go hurry them up right away, right away.” The innkeeper knew about the multiple massacre fires from the previous night; the news had spread throughout the city by morning.

Because it was such a big deal, anyone who dared to delay would face these soldiers’ violence.

The officer looked around and questioned a few people who seemed suspicious before speaking. “Last night, the Student Faction in the city attacked wealthy households. The Warlord has issued a warrant, branding them as rebels. Those in the schools have already been arrested, but some escaped. If you have any leads, report them to the security team for a reward. Those who hide rebels or fail to report them will be treated as joining the rebel faction—executed without mercy.”

The officer’s tone carried a hint of killing intent, and everyone who heard it was shocked.

“Officer, rest assured, if we hear anything about the rebels, we’ll report it to the security team immediately.” The innkeeper hurried to reply; no one else was in a position to speak, so he had to.

“Good that you understand. These rebels are vicious—last night they killed, set fires, and wiped out families. Who knows, in a few days they might go mad and attack ordinary people. Let’s go.” As the officer spoke, he scanned the crowd, observing their expressions.

Finding nothing, and with other places to check, they left promptly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have ended things so easily without extorting some money.

After the soldiers left, the main hall erupted into discussion.

“It was actually the Student Faction? Weren’t they just demonstrating yesterday? How could they do such evil deeds?”

“Who knows? If it wasn’t the Student Faction, who else could gather so many people? Think about it—over fifty households, killing and setting fires—you’d need a lot of people to pull that off.”

“But even if it was, why would the Student Faction do this? It brings them no benefit.”

“Who knows? Maybe they needed some Silver Dollars.”

“…”

Chen Xiyi felt speechless inside—this mess had been pinned on the Student Faction.

But thinking about it, it made sense. Besides the Student Faction, no other force in the city could accomplish this. Plus, the Student Faction had always been at odds with the old-school scholars, so it seemed understandable they might do this.

‘Ugh, this must be what they mean by “sitting at home, and blame falls from the sky.”’

Chen Xiyi hadn’t considered the consequences because he had acted so discreetly. Even if there were consequences, they wouldn’t connect to him.

Just like this time—the city’s higher-ups thought the Student Faction had torn off the mask, so they naturally labeled them rebels and arrested them. Who would have thought it was Chen Xiyi’s doing?

The whole thing started because someone wanted to use certain issues to target and suppress him, trying to force him to join their rebellion.

Now that someone else was taking the blame, a major purge was likely to follow.

Chen Xiyi estimated that the city’s martial law wouldn’t end for quite some Time. From the officer’s tone, it seemed many escaped Student Faction members were hiding in the city.

Although he had shifted the blame, the root cause was the Student Faction’s weakness. If they had guns and cannons and could confront the city’s warlord forces, how would the warlord dare to tear off the mask and arrest them outright?

They would first issue condemnations and negotiate, demanding the culprits be handed over. Then, after some back-and-forth, once the fuss died down, the matter would be minimized.

No matter how angry they were, they would have to swallow it for their own interests.

Unfortunately, the Student Faction hadn’t considered this, or perhaps they were limited in military strength; otherwise, how could they have fallen to this state?

But Chen Xiyi had no intention of helping them. While this mess was his fault, he had only intensified the conflict, making the warlord forces drop all pretenses sooner.

The noisy discussion in the inn’s main hall soon quieted down. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to talk, but they had calmed down. Discussing such things openly might lead to misunderstandings and arrests—hardly worth it.

They were curious, but no one was willing to risk themselves for curiosity’s sake.

Then, the diners finished their meals and left one after another, and the lodgers returned to their rooms. At a time like this, it was better to lay low to avoid trouble.

Chen Xiyi naturally followed the crowd back to his room. Staying seated any longer would have made him stand out.

As someone who preferred to keep a low profile, he wouldn’t do such a thing.

The innkeeper could only force a smile and joke with everyone—he was scared too.

If not for the guests staying at the inn, he would have considered closing for a few days. Business was sure to be slow, and keeping the inn open meant repeated inspections, especially since an inn with many rooms could easily hide people.

Today was just the beginning. As long as martial law continued, soldiers would likely show up now and then to search rooms and check guests to avoid missing any rebels.

Of course, these searches wouldn’t be that simple. To get through them smoothly, you’d have to bribe them. Otherwise, the soldiers might find excuses to smash things or, even worse, drag off some guests and accuse them of being rebels.

This wasn’t impossible—the innkeeper had seen plenty of such cases in the past.

Either pay to avoid disaster or wait for trouble to find you.

These soldiers under the warlords wouldn’t reason with you; if they were reasonable, they wouldn’t be in this line of work.

That’s why the innkeeper wanted to close for a few days to stay safe.

But these matters had little to do with Chen Xiyi. If they really dared to come to his door trying to cheat him, he had ways to deal with it.

He could solve it without killing and silencing witnesses—though that method was the most efficient.

Back in his room, he looked at the street. The once bustling street had turned completely deserted.

There had been quite a few people earlier, but martial law and the rebel search had driven almost everyone away.

This deserted state would likely continue for quite some Time—at least until martial law was lifted, it wouldn’t end.

“That’s fine too—just much quieter.” Chen Xiyi didn’t mind; peace and quiet were better, allowing him to focus more while reading and studying.

But it wasn’t entirely quiet. Occasionally, cars or groups of horses passed by—probably city patrols or other activities, all warlord personnel, not ordinary folks.

Feeling this tranquility, Chen Xiyi suddenly remembered Dongtai City: ‘I wonder how things are over there. Probably just as quiet—after all, most people should be dead. They have no choice but to be quiet.’