Chapter 122: About to Die
Chen Xingzhou was on the verge of dying. This news spread like a storm that night, leaking out at lightning speed.
Countless curious netizens went crazy trying to verify the information through every possible channel they could find, but all they got were vague, copy-paste-like statements, or the classic “the editor also doesn’t know” kind of useless answers.
Chen Xingzhou is dying.
Chen Xingzhou is critically injured.
Chen Xingzhou is alive.
Chen Xingzhou punched a bullet out of the air on the spot.
Rumors flew everywhere, but none of them had any real proof.
In this era, truth had become something of a luxury. Most people could only sift through a flood of lies, trying to find the tiniest fragment of something worth believing.
Soon after, an even more explosive piece of news drew everyone’s attention. Among Lei Wuye’s godsons and goddaughters, the Fourth Brother, who controlled all smuggling operations in South Ridge District, was also dead.
Right after finishing his final meal given by Lei Yaoxing, the unhappy Fourth Brother was the first to flip the table. He cursed Lei Yaoxing with something along the lines of not even being able to afford pineapple anymore. The moment he got into his car, it exploded into the sky, turning him into fragments of a character card in a gacha pool, distributed for free to every “lucky” witness present.
No one dared to speak or even lift their heads and glance at the figure standing at the front. From beginning to end, Lei Yaoxing remained silent with a grim scowl. Everyone stared down at the spreading blood on the ground, as if they could see reflected within it the pitch-black sky above and the approaching thunder and lightning.
A new storm had already begun. Unfortunately, there were no gods descending from the sky to save everything this time, and the beasts on the ground had already gone completely mad.
Inside a restaurant, staff from the North Mount Team were eating late-night snacks and drinking beer, watching as a group of people outside walked quickly into a dark alley, each carrying a watermelon knife[1]. From the distant shouts of killing and chaos, there was an almost eerie sense of peace.
Ji Jue frowned, instinctively sensing something was off. “Was it really Lei Yaoxing who did it?”
Even if he wanted to eliminate rivals and troublesome younger siblings, why would he smear himself with all that filth? True, he was the biggest beneficiary, but his supporters had suffered heavy casualties as well. Those uncles who had stood up to speak for him all left with ashen faces, not saying another word despite all the polite attempts to make them stay, not even accepting a single bribe.
Having half a lifetime of reputation trampled—like a pig bladder being kicked around—was humiliating enough that not immediately grabbing a watermelon knife and fighting to the death already counted as remarkable self-restraint. At this point, the uncles were probably already buying tickets to leave on airships, swearing never to touch anything related to Cliff City again.
And the big financial backers behind them would probably have to reconsider as well. They had supported and invested in Lei Yaoxing to make money, not to watch him start wars and turn everything upside down with bloodshed everywhere. Even if he was now the strongest contender with no rivals left, he was also already showing signs of being abandoned by all sides as he was slowly pushed toward the edge of a cliff.
“He already said it himself, didn’t he? It wasn’t him. Who would believe that?” Wen Wen sneered, picking at her edamame, clearly still irritated after nearly being tricked. “If he says it’s not him, then it’s him!”
Chen Xingzhou was tricked into a negotiation meeting, and now he’s in the ICU. Your brother was tricked into going as a witness, and now he’s been blown to pieces without even a corpse left. Those uncles stood up for you, called everyone to a meal, and half the people died before the meal was even finished. The Security Bureau comes asking if it’s you, and you say it’s not related to you, and then right under their noses, someone undergoes corruption.
You say it’s not you, then who the hell else could it be?! Me?!
Hearing Wen Wen’s blunt reply, Ji Jue let out a sigh and shook his head.
“No need to feel sorry for a bunch of scum that deserved to die anyway. If you’re in a bad mood, just wait until they’ve finished biting each other to death, then go up and kick them a few more times.”
Wen Wen cracked open some edamame while chugging the nearby bottle of high-proof liquor in big gulps.
It’s not like only you White Deer people hold grudges. Do you really think Origin Chosen Ones have such a good temper? Right now they’re ignoring you just to prevent the situation from spiraling further out of control. Once this wave passes, do you think there won’t be a reckoning?
Wen Wen already had a list prepared in her mind, a long one at that. This year’s and even next year’s “accidental injury quota” were already completely filled, and there wasn’t a single spare slot left.
Besides, it wasn’t like only Origin had organizations. With Cliff City in such chaos, did they think the Taiyi Ring was just going to stay silent because they were making less money? So many materials were rotting in warehouses across the sea, unable to be shipped in. Even Ji Jue’s packages were delayed.
The Radiant Church’s charity hospitals were already overwhelmed, unable to keep up with all the accidental injury cases. If things really pushed them too far, would those Ascension lunatics care about the consequences?
On the surface and in the shadows, every major organization’s normal operations were being affected by this internal war. The situation in the Wasteland Assembly was gradually slipping out of control.
“Even if all the scumbags die, what does it have to do with me? So what, who cares?!” Ji Jue chewed the icy grains in his shaved ice, then paused slightly. “I’m just worried about a friend.”
He was thinking of Chen Yubo. The helpful Mr. Chen, devoted lover of all things pink, the young master Chen. Even though Chen Xingzhou and Chen Yubo had not interacted publicly for many years, everyone knew what their real relationship was. The moment Chen Xingzhou fell, Chen Yubo’s situation immediately became precarious.
At a time like this, expecting White Deer followers to lend a helping hand was impossible. Even offering help when things were going well depended on personal character, let alone now. As for kicking someone while they were down, they were practically experts. After all, doing so offered a high reward with zero risk and effortless execution.
When a lion fell, hyenas swarmed in. His situation was probably already very bad.
Ji Jue looked at his empty phone screen. He had just called Chen Yubo, but no one answered.
“He probably doesn’t even have time to look at his phone anymore now, huh? Too bad. I still haven’t gone to his place to watch his cats do a backflip.”
Ji Jue shook his head, but before he could say anything else, Wen Wen shoved a glass of beer into his hand. “What are you doing holding an empty glass and dragging your feet? Drink!”
He let out a wry laugh. After every late-night supper and drinking session following dealings with the North Mount Team, he realized that he, someone who never touched alcohol, had somehow started getting used to it.
“Alcohol really ruins people.” Ji Jue sighed, tilting his head back and downing the drink in one go.
After finishing the late-night meal and packing up the stall, Ji Jue went back to the workshop. He seized the chance to “process the materials” and, along the way, wipe out all traces and destroy any evidence, erasing every clue. Whether it was good luck or the unexpected effectiveness of the temporary mercury lockdown, with Mr. Ball’s help, he actually managed to extract a complete blessing.
It was Herbert’s valuable blessing, First Strike, the same one that had fully blocked Ji Jue’s bullets even with his eyes closed. The only regret was that this blessing, which had undergone many qualitative transformations before, had now regressed to its basic form.
Despite this, just selling this single blessing would still bring in a hefty profit. But why not keep it for himself? Even though handling such a powerful blessing was still beyond his level, he could at least save it for future use.
Once he got it working, Ji Jue would at least not have to worry about being easily overwhelmed by close-combat experts once they got in his face. At the very least, he could stubbornly throw out a strike or two in resistance.
From the perspective of blessing hunting alone, working at the Security Bureau didn’t seem as troublesome as he had expected. Origin was always inhumanly exploitative toward the lower ranks. The grunt agents of the Second Division spent their days running around in wind and rain dealing with all kinds of trouble, not to mention severe internal infighting and excessive number of factions. Still, the rewards were at least pretty good.
And if one had even a bit less conscience, one could earn even more.
As they said, people didn’t get rich without windfall gains. This kind of outsourced work should happen more often. If Ji Jue could land a few more jobs as profitable as this one, he definitely wouldn’t have to worry about setting up his own workshop after graduating.
At least if I get more blessings, I could borrow a bit more money when applying for a loan at Eternal Bank with collateral, he thought.
The life of every Ember Chosen One was almost a life spent dealing with loans. From the moment they stepped foot onto the path until their burial, from apprentice to craftsman, money flowed in like water, but flowed out even faster. Without one or two powerful backers or investors behind the Ember Chosen Ones, this lifestyle was truly hard to sustain, with almost zero ability to withstand risk.
Life was hard, money was difficult to earn, and some didn’t even have enough to feed themselves and had to resort to eating filth.
Now, under Professor Ye’s protection, even if Ji Jue worked himself to the point of risking his life, at most he only had to worry about money. He didn’t need to bow his head for anything, or sell his dignity just to smile and beg others for mercy.
Once he grew strong enough, or if one day Professor Ye felt he had matured and learned enough, it was time for him to experience the harshness of society. Professor Ye would kick him out to fend for himself. If he had no preparations by then, he would probably suffer quite a bit. He had to plan ahead.
Even if having Pacifier reduced his reliance on the workshop, he couldn’t just abandon it entirely. What was the difference between feeling warm in winter and then running around naked?
Mm, another day of fighting for my future workshop. Progress: [1 / 9,999,999,999].
Riding his self-driving three-wheeled scooter, Ji Jue sighed over the future as he returned home. Just as he took out the key to the courtyard gate and prepared to enter, he suddenly heard a faint, distant call coming from the darkness behind him.
“Ji... Jue...”
He froze in place and turned back sharply. In the pitch-black night, shadows lurked everywhere. Goosebumps rose all over his body as he wondered if he was just imagining things.
But the voice came again, clearer this time, mournful and pleading.
“Ji Jue... Ji Jue...”
His hair stood on end. Almost instinctively, he drew his gun, cocked it, and pointed into the darkness. “Who is it? Show yourself!”
“Mr. Ji? It’s me! It’s me...”
From inside a stinky garbage bin, a disheveled face slowly looked up, lifting the lid and staring at him with tearful, aggrieved eyes, utterly speechless and on the verge of tears. It looked like a wailing, killer ghost.
In the cold night, Chen Yubo, who was only wearing a T-shirt, had been curled up inside the garbage bin for who knew how long, shivering uncontrollably. The moment Ji Jue recognized the man, he was utterly speechless.
The good news was that Chen Yubo wasn’t dead, but the bad news was Chen Yubo had somehow shown up right at his doorstep.
I’m about to die!!!
1. A “watermelon knife” is a type of fruit knife commonly used for cutting watermelons, with various designs. Its blade is sharp enough to easily slice through melons and other fruits. Some are made of stainless steel, typically ranging from about 20 to 45 cm in length, and come with wooden or plastic handles for a better grip.
Here is a picture for your reference. ☜
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