Chapter 316
With Qing You and his younger brother taking the lead, the survivors gradually emerged from the ruins, following them onto the pathway formed by the fence walls.
More and more people supported one another as they continued walking farther along the path.
At the end of that road stood Xie Zhaori, who had already received the mission and was waiting with a team for support and reception.
Among them was a fiery red figure walking against the flow of people — it was Hong Li, who had come to inspect the situation.
If this pathway could remain as stable and safe as the one between Mount Jufeng and the Desolate City, then their work moving forward would be much easier.
After all, the new mission they had just received included not only resettling the survivors but also clearing the corpses to prevent the spread of diseases.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi retreated again beneath the shadow umbrella.
Though they wore masks and cloaks, Hong Li and Xie Zhaori were both sharp individuals — there was still a chance they could recognize them, so it was best to avoid direct contact.
At that moment, Tang Yu’an thought of something and asked, “Brother Qi, what about those beastified Awakeners?”
Zhou Qi paused for a moment before replying, “They’re all dead.”
Perhaps it was because they had been beastified for too long, or maybe for some other reason, but after Zhou Qi extracted the spirit insects from them, they didn’t revert to human form.
To prevent these mindless beasts from causing further casualties, Zhou Qi ended them all.
Tang Yu’an was stunned by this.
He then reached out, gently embracing Zhou Qi, his hand softly stroking his back.
“Let’s just say they’ve atoned for the dead.”
Though they may have lost their sanity due to the backlash of the spirit insects, the fact remains that many people died because of them — there had to be consequences.
And more importantly, there was no way to stop their destruction.
Zhou Qi understood this. He quickly composed himself, then returned the embrace, gently rubbing the back of Tang Yu’an’s head.
“Let’s go back.”
“Okay!”
Although only a few days had passed in this world, they had actually spent a whole month traveling to get here. And upon arrival, they were met with such a bloody scene. Now, they were both physically and mentally exhausted.
With the immediate work complete, they returned to the aircraft to rest.
As for the rest of the Qingmu Fortress…
Tang Yu’an purchased several small drones, each labeled with “Church of the God of Commerce – Peace Trading Company,” and sent them out. Starting from the southern district, they scattered Purple Thousand-Layer powder across different parts of the fortress.
At the same time, the drones broadcasted messages.
Very soon, survivors in other parts of Qingmu Fortress learned that an organization called the Church of the God of Commerce had arrived from afar, and that the southern gate area had been reclaimed. They could evacuate through the south gate to the refugee camp.
The powder being spread was a plant-based insect repellent, highly effective in driving away insect swarms.
More and more survivors began moving toward the south gate.
Soon, Hong Li relayed this information to Xie Zhaori and Chi Hao via the nearby communication channel.
[Message Board (Nearby Channel)]
[Sky Stone]: The divine envoy’s methods are truly impressive, but we should still stay on guard.
[Greenish Blue]: Guard against what?
[Chi Long]: Indeed — we can’t let Qingmu Fortress pin the blame on the Church of the God of Commerce.
[Greenish Blue]: What do you mean “blame”?
[Sky Stone]: The Church of the God of Commerce showed up too conveniently.
[Greenish Blue]: Isn’t that a good thing?
Since this was said in a nearby channel, both Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi saw the conversation.
Zhou Qi frowned, and Tang Yu’an fell into thought.
“Sis Hong Li means… the leaders of Qingmu Fortress might try to frame the Church of the God of Commerce as the cause of this disaster?”
“Mm, that’s probably it.”
Why did the Church of the God of Commerce arrive so timely? And how did they have such effective means to handle the disaster?
If one were inclined to believe in conspiracy theories, it wouldn’t be hard to paint the Church as the mastermind behind Qingmu Fortress’s downfall — and some people would undoubtedly believe it.
In reality, both Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi strongly suspected this had something to do with Qingmu Fortress seizing Shanna’s crystal mines.
They didn’t know the full details, but based on the behavior of the spirit insects, it wasn’t hard to deduce a likely cause.
[Message Board (Nearby Channel)]
[Sky Stone]: We should go on the offensive first.
[Chi Long]: What do you propose?
[Greenish Blue]: Come on, the fortress isn’t that corrupt… right?
Whether or not the fortress was “that corrupt,” if the Church of the God of Commerce planned to establish a presence in Qingmu Fortress, conflict with the fortress leadership was inevitable. Establishing a strong public position early on would only help their cause.
“So what should we do?” Tang Yu’an asked, a bit lost.
This kind of situation wasn’t something his education had ever prepared him for.
Zhou Qi hesitated, then pulled out his lightbrain and played a video clip.
In the footage, a giant tusked boar appeared — the perspective was from Zhou Qi’s point of view. Aside from his limbs, he wasn’t visible.
Tang Yu’an knew Zhou Qi had a habit of recording battles and reviewing them later in detail. But this didn’t seem like the time for a review.
Soon in the video, Zhou Qi extracted a spirit insect from the boar’s body.
The boar’s form began to shrink… and eventually turned back into a human.
Tang Yu’an’s eyes widened. Didn’t Brother Qi say these people couldn’t turn back?
He kept watching.
The re-humanized Awakened looked around in a daze, then suddenly broke down and cried out in anguish.
“Kill me! Please, just kill me!”
He cried, voice full of overwhelming regret and pain.
Perhaps memories of his beastified state had returned to him. And as a kind-hearted person, what he’d done was too much for him to bear.
“Why did you all beastify?” came Dark Moon’s cold voice off-screen.
The man just shook his head, begging for release.
Zhou Qi didn’t kill him.
After the spirit insect was removed, the man was extremely weak — more so than even Hong Li had been in similar conditions. After crying for a while, his voice faded… and then he stopped breathing.
Out of the six beasts Zhou Qi dealt with, two ended like this. The rest, as he had said, remained beast-like even after extraction and had to be killed.
“Brother Qi…”
“Give this clip to Old Xie. It might come in handy.”
Zhou Qi edited the first part of the video, cutting out the scene of him extracting the insect and leaving only the battle, the transformation back into human form, and the man’s emotional breakdown and death.
Of course, even with this footage, it wouldn’t completely prevent others from framing the Church of the God of Commerce.
After all, it only proved that the beasts were once Awakeners from Qingmu Fortress. It said nothing about why they beastified.
However, there was no need for them to rush to clear their names. As long as they struck first and exposed the issue, the rest could be left to Xie Zhaori and Hong Li to handle, depending on their abilities.
Tang Yu’an understood what he meant. He copied the video to a new light-brain device and sent it to Xie Zhaori as a mission item.
At the same time, he also transferred control of the small drones that were dispersing the Purple Millefolium powder to Xie Zhaori.
Each profession has its expertise. For matters they didn’t understand, it was best to leave them to professionals. That was one of the reasons they had brought in Hong Li and Old Xie.
“Brother Qi, are you okay?” Tang Yu’an looked at Zhou Qi with concern.
Zhou Qi was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned to him and asked, “If one day I turn into a mindless monster too, will you…”
“I’ll immobilize you.” Before Zhou Qi could finish, Tang Yu’an interrupted.
Zhou Qi paused.
“I have immobilizing marbles!” Tang Yu’an grinned. “Or do you want to try the happy marbles? You might laugh yourself paralyzed!”
Zhou Qi’s tense expression gradually softened.
That’s right—An An had methods that even giants couldn’t resist.
Seeing the slight smile on Zhou Qi’s lips, Tang Yu’an hugged his arm and said, “So you have to stay by my side from now on, always with me, because I’m the only one who can handle you!”
Zhou Qi looked at Tang Yu’an and replied softly, “Okay.”
Tang Yu’an let go of his arm and wrapped his arms around Zhou Qi’s waist instead.
Leaning on his chest, he whispered, “No matter what you become, I’ll find a way to bring you back. I won’t let you do the wrong thing… I want you to live well.”
Zhou Qi looked down at him and finally opened his arms, hugging him tightly.
“Mm. We’ll live well together.”
They held each other as if holding the most precious treasure in the world.
In that moment, the atmosphere inside the drone’s control room turned warm and intimate—until…
[Your friend “Pillow Superman” has sent a message]
Seeing the prompt, Tang Yu’an froze for a moment. He instinctively let go of Zhou Qi, a little flustered, and opened the message.
[Private Chat – Friend]
Pillow Superman: Son, I’ve reached Level 25! What do I do with this teleportation array?
Tang Yu’an was stunned, then his face lit up with joy.
“Brother Qi, Dad’s reached Level 25!” he said excitedly.
Zhou Qi smiled. “Then the teleportation array can be built.”
Once it was completed, he and An An could finally go home…
“Yeah!”
Tang Yu’an was trembling with excitement. It had been five years—five whole years since he left his original world.
Now, he could finally reunite with his parents!
He opened the system panel and granted his father, Tang Sheng, the authority to build the teleportation array.
Soon, the shop management panel showed a teleportation array icon next to Store No. 13.
Tang Sheng sent another message:
[Dad: Son, the array is built. What do I do next?]
Tang Yu’an opened the teleportation array management panel and attempted to link Store No. 13’s teleportation array with the main store.
[You are attempting a cross-plane fixed-point teleportation. Plane Locator Stone detected. Conditions met.]
[Please enter the target plane code:]
Tang Yu’an took a few deep breaths, confirmed again and again, and finally entered the memorized code: MR168845.
[Detected plane has the following connectable teleportation array: Peace Grocery Store No. 13]
[Connect now? This action will consume one Plane Locator Stone.]
Without hesitation, Tang Yu’an selected “Yes.”
[Current teleportation options: Peace Grocery Store No. 13. Please select cross-plane teleportation mode.]
1. One-time deduction of 20,000 points
2. One-time deduction of 10 million points for permanent unlock
Compared to their first cross-plane teleport, the single-use cost had increased by 100 times, and permanent unlock cost had soared to 10 million!
But Tang Yu’an didn’t hesitate for a second—he chose the one-time permanent unlock.
As long as he could go home, even spending all his points was worth it!
[Points successfully deducted!]
The main store’s teleportation panel now included Store No. 13. Tang Yu’an added Zhou Qi to the teleportation list.
Then he looked at Zhou Qi. Though smiling, his eyes were brimming with tears.
“Brother Qi, we can go home now.”
Home—back to the home with his mom and dad.
Zhou Qi raised his hand to wipe away his tears, then held his hand. Tang Yu’an willingly spread his fingers and interlocked them with his.
Together, they entered the teleportation array inside the mobile home at the main store.
Bathed in the array’s bright glow, they faintly saw their younger selves—how they looked when they first arrived in this world.
All the hardships they’d endured flashed before their eyes…
“Brother Qi, remember what you said before?”
“What?”
“You said you’d definitely take me home. You really did it.”
Zhou Qi smiled. “Let’s go home.”
“Okay!”
They activated the teleportation array, tightly holding each other’s hands. As the light of the array faded away, the two of them finally returned—together—to their original world!
