Chapter 223
“Yes, we don’t want to go against Sister Hong Li,” Tang Yu’an said.
“We also know Brother Chi Hao, and we have a good relationship with him. If possible, we’d rather not become enemies with them.”
He looked at Xie Chaori and patiently explained, “They mentioned you. If you can persuade Sister Hong Li to join us, then… we can ask the Divine Emissary to recommend her.”
Xie Chaori was stunned. “Recommend her?”
“Yes, recommend Sister Hong Li to join the Merchant God Association and become an employee like us,” Tang Yu’an said.
“Once she becomes an employee, we’ll be on the same side. In the future, we can develop the Desolate City Haven and Jufeng Mountain together.”
Seeing the hesitation on Xie Chaori’s face, he glanced at Zhou Qi’s message on the communication board and then lowered his voice.
“The secret of the Desolate City center—we’ve already reported it to the Divine Emissary.”
Xie Chaori’s heart trembled. He recalled how, in his dream, he had once thought about trading that secret with the mysterious merchant…
But just like the two Divine Emissaries had said, the moment he was rescued, his secret had lost its value.
He let out a bitter laugh. “You found that place?”
Tang Yu’an paused, then nodded. “We even went to take a look.”
Xie Chaori’s eyes widened in shock. “You two sure are bold! That’s a spatial rift—you just… went in like that?”
“As you can see, we made it back safely.”
Tang Yu’an said this before shifting the topic. “If you can convince Sister Hong Li to join us, maybe we can build something together in the future.”
The realm where the Giant Wood Forest was located was simply too vast.
He and Zhou Qi had spent more than two years there and had only explored a small corner of the forest.
They didn’t mind sharing with others, but…
“Of course, you’ll need the Divine Emissary’s approval first,” Tang Yu’an said seriously.
“You have a way to travel safely back and forth?” Xie Chaori pressed.
Tang Yu’an didn’t answer, only saying, “Once your rank is high enough, you’ll gain access to more secrets, and you’ll naturally find out.”
“How high does my rank need to be?” Xie Chaori refused to give up.
Tang Yu’an sighed. “At the very least, you’d have to be the branch manager of a grocery store.”
Xie Chaori nodded, deep in thought, weighing his options.
He knew that if he agreed, it would mean betraying Qingmu Fortress.
But when he thought about what Chi Hao had told him—how the Xie family had reacted with cold indifference when they heard of his supposed ‘death’—he couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
He had always known that the family prioritized benefits over everything else, and they would never go through the trouble of sending someone into the heart of the Desolate City to rescue him.
But when it actually happened, it still hurt…
Finally, he looked up at Tang Yu’an, his gaze turning resolute.
Then let “Xie Chaori” truly die, he thought.
From now on, he was the [Xiang Tianshi] (Sky Stone) of the Merchant God Sect. Having survived this brush with death, he had lost interest in the family’s prestige and wealth.
He had finally been given a new life, and he wanted to live it for himself.
“Alright, I agree!”
*
Outside the Front Gate of the Desolate City Haven
Hong Li glanced at the injured Gu Zhenfei, who had suffered backlash, scoffed, and then looked away.
Her gaze landed on the sign for the Desolate City General Store. If she still couldn’t guess that this place was connected to those two boys, then she didn’t deserve to be a lord in Jufeng Town.
But…
Did those two really have this much power?
As Hong Li was deep in thought, the frozen gate suddenly shed its layer of frost. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the door swung open.
The guards beside Hong Li instinctively drew their weapons and stepped forward—
Only to disappear in the next instant and reappear ten meters away.
Hong Li cast a glance at them before calmly looking back at the open door, where a burly man stepped out.
He seemed a little nervous at first, but when he saw the people stranded ten meters away, unable to approach the Desolate City Haven, he quickly regained his composure.
“Master Hong Li, our boss invites you inside for a talk.”
Before Hong Li could respond, someone nearby recognized the man and gasped in disbelief. “Ba Shi? You’re Ba Shi? What happened to you?”
Ba Shi looked at the soldier standing beside Hong Li and chuckled. “Yep, it’s me. If you stay in our homestead for two months, you’ll be like me too!”
Although Hong Li’s guards had enough food to eat, they were still different from the homestead’s residents.
Especially for an earth-element ability user like Ba Shi—his higher salary allowed him to not only eat his fill like the other residents but also afford meat, eggs, and milk.
It was nowhere near as luxurious as what the fortresses provided for their elites, but compared to these guards, who survived on soybeans and wild greens, he was living comfortably.
Hong Li glanced at her guards, whose eyes were glued to Ba Shi in astonishment, then shifted her gaze back to him, frowning.
“Your name is Ba Shi?”
“Yes, Master Hong Li,” Ba Shi quickly composed himself and answered respectfully.
Hong Li didn’t make things difficult for him and simply said, “Lead the way.”
“Of course! This way, please!”
Ba Shi stepped aside to clear the path, and after giving a few instructions to her guards, Hong Li strode forward.
Behind her, Li Feng panicked. “Hong Li, where are you going?!”
He instinctively tried to follow her inside, but the moment he stepped within ten meters of the homestead, his mind went blank.
When he regained his senses, he had already turned around and walked back out of the area.
Looking up again, he saw that Hong Li had already entered the Desolate City Haven, and the gate had shut once more.
Frustrated and helpless, he clenched his fists in anger. Then, glancing at the unconscious Gu Zhenfei, who had been incapacitated by backlash, he felt an even bigger headache coming on.
Gu Zhenfei was from the Gu family’s main bloodline—he was only here for a little ‘experience’ to boost his reputation. If anything happened to him, Li Feng wouldn’t be able to explain himself at all!
Meanwhile, inside the Desolate City Grocery Store, Hong Li had officially entered the territory of the Merchant God Association.
This room was built later, specifically for receiving outside guests, so it was quite fitting to use it for welcoming Hong Li.
She examined the somewhat simple brick house and finally turned her gaze to the elderly man sitting on the chair.
“You’re the boss here?” she asked, somewhat surprised.
“Mountain Lord Hong Li, I am merely the steward of the Desolate City Haven,” Old Li said calmly, neither humble nor arrogant. “As for our boss, you should be familiar with them.”
Hong Li raised an eyebrow. “An An or Zhou Qi?”
“It seems you have a close relationship with them,” Old Li’s expression softened slightly.
Hong Li remained noncommittal and returned to the main topic. “So, what exactly do you want to discuss by inviting me here?”
“Mountain Lord Hong Li, there’s no need to be impatient…”
Just as Old Li finished speaking, the sound of footsteps came from the back door of the grocery store. He smiled and said, “The person who will be speaking with you has arrived.”
Hong Li froze on the spot.
She stared at the person walking in from the back, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“You… you’re supposed to be dead?”
“Zhou Qi and the others saved me,” Xie Chaori said, then turned to Old Li. “Elder Li, can I speak with her alone?”
Old Li nodded. “Go ahead.”
With that, he waved his hand and led everyone else out of the room.
Now, only Hong Li and Xie Chaori remained in the grocery store.
“What exactly is going on?” Once everyone else had left, Hong Li finally spoke. Then, frowning, she asked, “Why has your cultivation dropped so much?”
“I was just rescued not long ago, and my injuries haven’t fully healed.”
Xie Chaori sat down in a chair, then examined Hong Li and said, “Your aura seems weaker too.”
Right now, he was at the fourth tier, while Hong Li was at the fifth. He couldn’t sense her exact power level, but he had interacted with enough experts to know what a sixth-tier cultivator should feel like.
Hong Li didn’t answer but simply stared at him. “Are you really Xie Chaori? How did you survive in the center of Desolate City?”
When Chi Hao had told her that Xie Chaori was dead, she had secretly gone to the city center to look for him. However, after encountering a horde of beasts, she realized that Chi Hao was telling the truth.
She couldn’t imagine how anyone could survive in such a perilous place for so long.
Xie Chaori replied in a deliberately casual tone, “I was injured and suffered an ability backlash, turning into a rock. That’s how I survived.”
“Boss Zhou and Boss An fished me out and even cured my backlash.”
Hong Li’s first instinct was disbelief, but then she thought of something, and her expression changed slightly.
She recalled the time when she suffered an ability backlash in a cave and transformed into a fire snake. At that moment, she had a feeling that she might never return to normal. However, when she later regained consciousness, she discovered that her cultivation had dropped by two tiers…
Seeing that Hong Li wasn’t speaking, Xie Chaori said, “Do you still remember your promise to follow me in the future?”
Back in the fortress, he had not only guided her and her younger brother but had also saved them multiple times.
They weren’t just childhood friends raised together—they were comrades who had gone through life and death together.
Hong Li curled her lips. “Didn’t you reject me back then?”
“I didn’t exactly reject you. The Xie family is just a swamp…” Xie Chaori muttered, then quickly changed the subject. “Forget about that. I’m inviting you again—join me, what do you say?”
“Which faction?” Hong Li raised an eyebrow. “Desolate City Grocery Store?”
Xie Chaori grinned. “Commerce God’s Cult.”
Hong Li was stunned. “Commerce God’s Cult?”
“That’s right! Join me in serving the great God of Commerce. Let’s build a new business empire within the cult!”
Hong Li glanced at Xie Chaori a few times, then couldn’t help but say, “Did you soak in water too long? Has it seeped into your brain?”
“I’m serious!” Xie Chaori said in a low voice. “Besides, Chi Hao is already here.”
Hong Li was surprised again. “Chi Hao?”
“Yes,” Xie Chaori said without hesitation, outright selling out Chi Hao. “In fact, he joined before I did.”
“…Very well. Just perfect.”
Hong Li nodded. Although she said “very well,” there was a clear gritted-teeth quality in her voice.
“Boom—”
Suddenly, a loud explosion came from outside the Desolate City Haven.
Hong Li quickly went outside to check, while Xie Chaori hesitated for a moment and chose not to follow.
Outside, the once orderly group had fallen into chaos, with people frantically fleeing in all directions.
A massive lizard, five to six meters long, had appeared outside the homestead.
Its skin was red, and flames spewed from its mouth, indiscriminately attacking everything in sight—it was a Fire Lizard!
“Gu Zhenfei, calm down! Control yourself!”
Li Feng and a few others from Qingmu Fortress didn’t flee or attack; they were still trying to soothe the giant lizard.
Hong Li immediately understood the situation.
This Fire Lizard was the result of Gu Zhenfei’s ability backlash. The higher a cultivator’s level, the more severe the consequences of a backlash…
She frowned, wondering how to deal with it, when the lizard suddenly broke free from the others and spewed flames directly at her.
However, a formless barrier appeared out of nowhere, blocking the flames entirely.
Hong Li was stunned.
The Fire Lizard didn’t stop after one failed attack. It kept breathing fire and swinging its tail aggressively.
Yet no matter how it attacked, everything was blocked by the transparent barrier.
Gu Zhenfei had been a sixth-tier powerhouse, and after a backlash transformed him into a beast, his strength had likely increased further. Even at her peak, Hong Li wouldn’t dare say she could defeat this Fire Lizard alone.
And yet, this transparent barrier had completely neutralized its attacks?
It wasn’t just Hong Li—Li Feng and the others were equally stunned, while the guards watching from a safe distance couldn’t help but be drawn in.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
For a while, the only sound left was the furious Fire Lizard repeatedly striking the invisible barrier.
“Enough!”
At last, a clear, youthful voice rang out.
Everyone turned to look and saw a delicate and charming young boy flying out from behind the walls of the Desolate City Haven.
He was really flying!
Suspended above the roof of the Desolate City Grocery Store, he pointed his finger at the Flame Lizard.
He didn’t say anything else or make any extra movements—just that one commanding gesture, and the previously raging Flame Lizard suddenly stopped in its tracks. Then…
It suddenly hugged its head and started crying.
This wasn’t an exaggeration or a metaphor—the massive Flame Lizard truly wrapped its front claws around its head and wailed with gut-wrenching sorrow!
The crowd exchanged glances, their fear of the boy on the roof growing.
Tang Yu’an observed the scene before him and nodded in satisfaction.
Having spent so much time around Old Mo, he’d naturally picked up some tricks for “putting on a show.” The pointing gesture was just a distraction—what actually worked was his “Sorrow Marble” ability, which he activated through his gaze.
Once the marble made contact with the Flame Lizard, he quickly retracted it.
“This lizard—is it yours?” Tang Yu’an asked Li Feng and his people.
The local Awakeners who had come with their boss from Jufeng Town all shook their heads hurriedly, eager to distance themselves. Especially the guards Hong Li had brought with her—
Because they just realized something…
Crap! This boy was the little boss of the Jufeng Grocery Store!
If they offended him, their families wouldn’t be able to buy affordable salt anymore!
Li Feng had just opened his mouth to speak when another figure suddenly appeared beside the boy. He coldly swept his gaze over the crowd before descending from the roof.
The Flame Lizard, still crying on the ground, visibly trembled when Zhou Qi approached. Its tears kept flowing, but its body instinctively wanted to escape.
Zhou Qi reached out and grabbed its tail.
A red, thread-like entity flickered within the lizard’s body, struggling desperately, but in the end, it was forced out. Zhou Qi clenched the glowing thread in his fist and folded his hands behind his back.
Then, he coldly looked down at the lizard.
With the fire spirit parasite removed, the Flame Lizard slowly shrank back to its original form—Gu Zhenfei.
But he was completely unconscious.
“Take him and leave,” Zhou Qi said, looking at Li Feng. It was clear he had already identified the true leader of the group.
Li Feng had just witnessed the frightening abilities of these two boys, and combined with the eerie, impenetrable barrier surrounding the Desolate City Grocery Store, he was deeply shaken.
After a moment’s hesitation, he quickly made his decision—to retreat for now.
After all, the battle had already begun. If he suddenly lowered his stance to beg for peace, he would be trampling on the dignity of Qingmu Fortress.
As long as the fortress stood, there would always be opportunities for revenge!
Li Feng reached out, and Gu Zhenfei’s unconscious body flew into the arms of Gu Qingtai beside him.
“We’re leaving!” he spat.
Not only had they failed to harm the Desolate City Haven, but they had also lost a top-tier fighter and suffered injuries from the lizard’s rampage. A complete disgrace!
As he left, Li Feng was already calculating his next move—until Hong Li’s voice rang out.
“We’re not going anywhere.”
She waved her hand, and ten squads of Jufeng Town’s garrison—sixty soldiers in total—separated from Li Feng’s group and stood behind her.
Li Feng was instantly furious.
“Hong Li, are you betraying Qingmu Fortress? Aren’t you afraid for your brother’s life?”
Before Hong Li could respond, someone who had been hiding in the grocery store finally stepped forward—Xie Chaori.
“Li Feng, when did you get the right to speak here?” He walked up beside Hong Li and shouted, “My people are none of your concern!”
Seeing Xie Chaori standing there, alive and well, Li Feng was stunned.
“You’re not dead?”
“If you died, I still wouldn’t!” Xie Chaori sneered.
Li Feng glanced between them, then at the well-established Desolate City Haven, and suddenly felt as if he’d figured something out.
“Ah, I see now… the Xie family wants to take everything for themselves!”
Convinced he had uncovered the truth, Li Feng surprisingly calmed down. His subordinates from Qingmu Fortress also looked a little less tense.
“You just wait. I’ll report this to headquarters. We’ll settle this soon enough!”
With that parting threat, Li Feng finally left.
Hong Li watched them go and frowned. “Did he misunderstand something?”
Xie Chaori shrugged.
With the Xie family’s reputation behind them, the Desolate City Haven could now continue expanding in peace for a while longer.
Though once the news spread, the Xie family would likely face even more opposition within the fortress…
But so what?
Profit above all else.
That was what his family had always taught him.
“Hong Li Sister!”
Tang Yu’an took a step off the roof and landed in front of her, smiling brightly. “Welcome to the team!”
Hong Li studied him for a moment. “I’ve already tried my best to overestimate you all… but you keep surpassing my expectations.”
Then, she turned to Zhou Qi.
She wasn’t as openly rattled as Xie Chaori, but the way her fists clenched tightly revealed how hard she was struggling to suppress her fear.
Zhou Qi gave her a brief nod, then said to Tang Yu’an, “I’ll be waiting on the ninth floor.”
With that, he returned to the homestead.
After he left, both Hong Li and Xie Chaori visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
“So earlier… was it also you who saved me?” Hong Li looked at Tang Yu’an and asked seriously.
Tang Yu’an understood what she was referring to. Since the fire serpent was a sensitive topic in Jufeng Mountain, she likely didn’t want her subordinates to know, so she spoke vaguely.
“Yeah, we were in the cave hunting mutated creatures when we happened to run into you…”
He didn’t elaborate further. “You’ve been in seclusion ever since, so we haven’t seen you until now.”
If they had met earlier, maybe they could have figured out why Brother Qi’s absorption of the spirit insect had such a strong effect on its original host.
“Is this Xiao Qi’s ability?”
“Yes.” Tang Yu’an nodded. “Let’s talk inside.”
He led Hong Li into the Desolate City Haven, leaving the sixty guards to be taken care of by Old Li.
Once inside, Hong Li realized that the place was much better than she had expected. It wasn’t as grand as a fortress, but the atmosphere among the residents was completely different from other settlements.
That thriving vitality, the sense of harmony and camaraderie—not only was it rare in the wasteland, but even in the fortress, she had never experienced anything like it.
“Hong Li Sister, Brother Xie can show you around later,” Tang Yu’an said. “You should stay here for the night.”
Hong Li nodded, still absorbed in her amazement.
Then, she heard Tang Yu’an say, “We’re planning to build a road between Desolate City and Jufeng Town.”
“A road?”
“Yeah, the current path is too difficult to travel,” Tang Yu’an explained. “We’re going to construct a direct route from Jufeng Mountain to the Desolate City Haven.”
Hong Li studied him. The boy’s face was as innocent and harmless as ever, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was revealing a hidden ambition.
She looked at the settlement’s infrastructure, at the residents, and at her own guards, who were gazing around with admiration.
It was easy to imagine—if this road were built, how many people from Jufeng Mountain would migrate here?
“This road… won’t be easy to build,” she said.
“Don’t worry. The construction will be fully handled by Desolate City Haven.” Tang Yu’an smiled brightly. “Hong Li Sister, you’ll support us, won’t you?”
Hong Li looked at him. The boy had grown quite a bit since their first meeting.
His smile was still sweet and innocent, but why did it feel like he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Did she even have a choice?
She turned to Xie Chaori. As expected, he was frantically making eye gestures, urging her to agree.
She pressed her lips together and glanced once more at the flourishing settlement.
In the end, she nodded.
Maybe her world didn’t have to be limited to Jufeng Mountain. If that was the case, perhaps it was time to embrace some changes.
“I look forward to it,” she said.
“Great!” Tang Yu’an grinned. “I’ve already recommended you to the Divine Envoy. We just need to wait for Their response.”
“Until then, make yourselves at home here.”
Hong Li didn’t believe in the so-called Merchant God, the God of Commerce, or Their Divine Envoy, not one bit. But she said nothing and simply nodded in acknowledgment.
Tang Yu’an then left to find Zhou Qi.
When he arrived at Room 901, he saw Zhou Qi sitting inside, waiting for him. His right hand was clenched tightly, with red flames flickering through his fingers.
The fire spirit insect struggled violently in his grip, constantly trying to break free.
“Brother Qi, are you okay?”
Tang Yu’an approached nervously but stopped a few steps away due to the intense heat.
“I’m fine.”
Zhou Qi’s eyes were clear. Maybe because he had already absorbed a fire spirit insect before, this time, he wasn’t affected—instead, he had successfully captured it.
He turned to Tang Yu’an. “Can you use your appraisal skill on it?”
“I’ll give it a try!”
