Chapter 309
Desolate City Haven.
Tang Yu’an looked at the location of Qingmu Fortress on the map, where it was covered in dense green dots.
Among these green dots, there were five red dots moving around.
The green dots swept by the red ones were disappearing rapidly, but fortunately, in the area where Chi Hao was, no more green dots had vanished.
“Xiao An, your pillow is amazing!” Chi Hao’s voice rang out. “Let me think about what to do next…”
“You guys should evacuate outside the fortress,” Tang Yu’an replied. “The Sleep Pillow doesn’t offer complete immunity to mental energy damage.”
There was still 30% of the force remaining, which was quite dangerous, and not everyone could withstand it.
“Got it!”
“By the way, while you’re moving, your head must never leave the pillow, and you must not straighten your back, understand?” Tang Yu’an instructed.
“…I’ll try my best,” Chi Hao replied.
Keeping his head on the pillow was fine, but not even straightening his back? That would be difficult.
After a moment of hesitation, Chi Hao told Mu Sheng about this restriction.
“So… your power comes from this pillow?” Mu Sheng asked, a little skeptical.
Chi Hao didn’t really want to explain, but given the urgency and the lack of trustworthy people around him, he had no choice.
“This artifact comes from the Merchant God Sect,” Chi Hao said seriously. “Believe it or not, but if you want to survive this, you’ll need to cooperate with me.”
Mu Sheng raised his eyebrows. Chi Hao sounded serious, but his lying-on-the-ground posture looked… kind of ridiculous.
“An artifact? That thing doesn’t look all that proper to me.”
“As long as it works, who cares what it looks like?”
“Alright then. How do you need me to cooperate?”
Chi Hao listened closely to Tang Yu’an’s instructions, then said:
“Find me a child.”
Mu Sheng looked around. Coincidentally, among the people bound by his vines, there was an infant. He used the vines to bring the baby over.
“My child! That’s my child!”
The child’s mother squeezed her way through the crowd, panicking and thinking they were trying to harm her child—only to see…
…that her baby was being gently placed on the red-haired youth’s pillow.
The red-haired youth then stood up and, from who-knows-where, pulled out a cloth strap and tied the child to the pillow.
Chi Hao picked up the pillow, with the baby still strapped to it.
“That’s my baby…” The woman rushed over, trying to take back her child.
Chi Hao shook his head.
“Let me borrow him for a bit. Once everyone reaches safety, I’ll return him to you.”
Right now, all of their lives were tied to that child—not even the slightest mishap could be allowed.
Chi Hao, holding the baby in one arm and a loudspeaker in the other, shouted:
“Everyone listen up! Keep moving toward the South Gate, and remember—stick together with the people next to you!”
“Only by sticking together can you be protected! If you get stomped by a monster alone, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
The crowd finally found their sense of direction again.
With the message spreading, the streets grew noisy once more, and soon, the crowd began slowly moving toward the South Gate.
“ROAR!”
The giant gorilla roared in fury, smashing the buildings along the street.
Chunks of shattered brick and wall fell toward the crowd, but caused no harm—most were blocked by ability users among them.
Working together, they pressed toward the South Gate, and soon, the exit came into view.
At this moment, the fortress’s defense force finally managed to block the two beasts.
Once they realized this area was protected by some mysterious power, the defenders quickly notified the other teams to redirect refugees in this direction.
More and more people joined Chi Hao’s group.
In this way, the front of the group eventually exited the fortress, reaching temporary safety.
“Keep moving, don’t block the exit!”
Chi Hao and Mu Sheng remained at the gate, as the people still inside needed the Sleep Pillow’s protection, and they couldn’t leave just yet.
Although they were now outside the fortress, no one dared to go far, nor to separate.
Who knew what monsters might still be lurking outside? After everything that had happened, everyone knew—sticking together was the safest choice.
So the crowd squeezed together like a rising tide, spreading outward.
Luckily, Qingmu Fortress’s outskirts were better developed than most other fortresses, and there was still enough space for people to stand.
The sounds of horrific battle continued to echo from within the fortress. The people outside were restless, full of fear and uncertainty about the future.
They had never lived on the wasteland. Now that the fortress had fallen—what would life be like from now on?
That night, after confirming that no more refugees were escaping in their direction, Chi Hao and Mu Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and fled the fortress themselves.
Outside the southern side of the fortress, hundreds of thousands had already gathered.
Chi Hao and Mu Sheng continued leading the group to a farther location—after all, there was no guarantee those giant beasts wouldn’t come after them. It was still far from safe.
As night fell, the temperature dropped. Fortunately, everyone was packed together, and the tension kept them from feeling too cold.
After two hours of walking, Chi Hao finally stopped.
He untied the child from the pillow and returned him to his mother. Without caring whether anyone noticed, he stuffed the Sleep Pillow back into his personal storage.
Mu Sheng’s eyelid twitched.
When did Chi Hao awaken a spatial ability? And was that pillow really the artifact that had protected them?
Chi Hao ignored his look, cleared some space, then bought some firewood from the trading forum and lit a bonfire.
As everyone turned to look at him, he raised the loudspeaker and said:
“I’m Chi Hao of the Peace Commerce Sect. Everyone must be hungry by now. You can trade items with me for food.”
“You can trade plants, fruits, or crystals—no paper money accepted!”
Then, Chi Hao pulled out a large pot seemingly out of thin air, filled it with water, set it on the fire, and took out the potatoes and sweet potatoes he had previously stored in his personal inventory.
These were all produced in Desolate City Haven, and he had stockpiled quite a lot—
Of course, it wouldn’t be nearly enough for hundreds of thousands of people, so he would need to exchange for more food from the system later.
“No need to fight over it, everyone will get some.”
Chi Hao casually tossed the potatoes and sweet potatoes into the boiling pot.
His actions left everyone around him, including Mu Sheng, completely dumbfounded.
As the aroma of cooked potatoes and sweet potatoes spread, everyone started to drool uncontrollably.
Those far away had no idea what was happening—they only saw the firelight—but those nearby had already begun searching for items to trade.
[A new customer has completed a profitable trade. Reputation +3, Employee XP +1]
[Another customer has completed a trade…]
Soon, Chi Hao’s business was booming!
As a fire-type ability user, he wasn’t afraid of heat. Once the sweet potatoes and potatoes were cooked, he’d reach directly into the pot, grab them, absorb some of the heat, and then hand them over to the customers.
The items used for trade were piled off to the side.
Since these were all residents of Qingmu Fortress, even though most people didn’t carry much, many still had something of value.
And now, on the road as refugees, food was more valuable than anything, so people were willing to trade whatever they had.
Even those with absolutely nothing dug up some plants from the ground—Chi Hao accepted those too.
Chi Hao’s experience points began to rise rapidly.
But of course, the higher his level, the more XP he needed. It wasn’t until late at night, when most people chose to rest, that his level finally reached Lv17.
After closing up shop, Chi Hao looked at his skyrocketing level, too excited to sleep.
[Greenish Blue: Yunqing, I reached Lv17! Just four more levels to go before I hit Lv21!]
Even though it was the middle of the night, his message got a quick reply.
[Red as Fire: Keep going! You still need 88,000 more XP to reach Lv21.]
Wha—what?!
Chi Hao looked at that number, and his head began to spin.
[Greenish Blue: Did you accidentally type an extra zero?]
[Red as Fire: Nope.]
Chi Hao flopped onto the ground in despair. That was way too much!
Even though he wasn’t lacking customers—he’d just saved hundreds of thousands of people—the problem was, even if he worked nonstop without eating or drinking, he could only handle about 5,000 to 6,000 trades per day.
So it would take at least half a month to level up. But could these people even hold out for that long?
[Red as Fire: I’ll think of something. You hang in there.]
[Greenish Blue: Sigh… I’m really lucky to have you and Xiao An. Without you two, I don’t think I could’ve protected all these people.]
[Red as Fire: You’ve done a great job.]
Chi Hao’s mood instantly improved.
Beside him, Mu Sheng—also unable to fall asleep—rolled his eyes as Chi Hao broke into yet another silly grin.
Since returning from this mission, Chi Hao had frequently been caught grinning at thin air.
At first, Mu Sheng thought Chi Hao had lost his mind, but now… was that silly smile somehow related to that so-called “Peace Commerce”?
Chi Hao once again pulled out the purple-red Sleep Pillow, laid down on it, and immediately started snoring.
Mu Sheng stared at him, eyes falling on the pillow that had reappeared. He couldn’t resist—he cautiously walked over.
But just as he approached, Chi Hao’s eyes suddenly flew open, alert and sharp.
Chi Hao had far more survival experience than Mu Sheng. While he might be lacking in some areas, his battle instincts were among the best of his peers.
Mu Sheng froze, then asked bluntly:
“Where did you get all that stuff?”
“Let’s just say… a blessing from the gods.”
Chi Hao replied mysteriously, then turned over and ignored him.
Meanwhile, Tang Yu’an received another message from Lan Yunqing.
[Red as Fire: Xiao An, do you know how to contact the Divine Envoy?]
[Eastern Sweet Tang: What’s going on?]
Lan Yunqing briefly explained Chi Hao’s current situation.
[Eastern Sweet Tang: Ohhh, so what do you want from the Divine Envoy?]
[Red as Fire: I want to transfer the title of Store Manager of Store No. 5 to Chi Hao.]
That way, with employee trading XP boosts, Chi Hao’s level would rise much faster.
The sooner he built the store and activated the protective barrier, the fewer lives would be lost.
