Chapter 540: Feeding You (8/10, Autumn Subscription)

Pan Lao instantly felt his whole body go numb.

The way Fang Yue spent money, compared to ordinary White-Clad members like them, was really far too extravagant.

Normally everyone only spent a few small Merit Points; a few pills was already like a little New Year.

But when it came to Fang Yue, he bought pills by the dozen bottles at a time, and even bought several different kinds together.

Same with Martial Arts — Xiantian Realm martial arts, bought like cabbage, four volumes in one go, and he learned them all in one breath.

Sour — anyway, to sum it up, so sour that even Pan Lao the doorman was wearing a pained mask.

Comparing people really kills you with rage. When will I also have over ten thousand Merit Points to squander freely? Then I definitely would… definitely would…

Pan Lao wilted.

He had to admit that he was used to being petty; if you really gave him over ten thousand Merit Points all at once, he definitely wouldn't bear to spend them so extravagantly.

Instead, just like the Merit Points he'd saved his whole life, he'd treat them like a family heirloom and leave them to his grandson.

"What a pity Heaven sent down a Ye Baiyi, otherwise my grandson could definitely get together with You Qingyi and become the third Qingyi Lord!"

Pan Lao thought to himself, and at the same time had already taken out his key, opened the Qingsi Treasure Vault once more, and brought out all the pills Fang Yue wanted.

Bottles and jars by the basketful — Fang Yue swept them all into his bag.

Feeling the empty White-Clad Token in contrast to the full load on his person, Fang Yue was very satisfied.

With a wave of his hand, he bid farewell to Pan Lao.

Pan Lao was sullen at heart, but couldn't really say anything. He couldn't exactly ask someone where they got so many Merit Points, could he? These things must have been confirmed by a superior Qing-Si before being issued; Fang Yue must have achieved some great merit and received recognition, otherwise it would have been impossible to pass the review.

"If only my grandson had half of his promising future…"

Other people's children always make one's blood pressure rise.

……

On the other side, after leaving the Gong Xun Dian, Fang Yue was in a hurry to get back and cultivate.

After all, getting four Xiantian Warrior manuals in one go — he had to practice them properly.

But he had previously promised You Sisi that he'd go back her up, so he couldn't stand her up.

He went over there with Yu Baiyi, and from afar saw You Sisi standing there like a soulless script-reading robot, endlessly repeating the evacuation notice.

And below her, the crowd had long gathered together, chattering away as if haggling over vegetable prices at a market, making an unending racket — nobody was actually listening to what You Sisi was saying.

"Ye Baiyi is here!"

"It's Ye Baiyi!"

"Lord Ye Baiyi, is the situation at the Underground Stronghold really that serious? Do we really have to leave home and take shelter?"

No one knew who shouted it, but everyone's attention turned toward Fang Yue.

You Sisi's eyes lit up; she waved Fang Yue over, telling him to hurry up and come.

Once Fang Yue went up on the platform, the people below immediately fell silent.

Clearly they wanted to hear Fang Yue's take.

You Sisi hurriedly lowered her voice and said, "Say something quick."

"Uh…" Fang Yue looked at the vast sea of people below.

In truth, Fang Yue hadn't really shown his face much in public.

But this incident was just too serious — everyone was buzzing with discussion.

And in the spread of the news, Fang Yue's towering image — of him going deep into the Underground Stronghold, destroying the Phoenix Organization, and fighting a life-and-death struggle against the bizarre army — was passed on from person to person and spread just like that.

So now when people saw Fang Yue, they looked at him the way one looks at a hero, waiting for Fang Yue to point them a clear path forward.

Clearly, they didn't really want to mobilize everyone over something they couldn't even see the shadow of yet.

But what could Fang Yue say? This wasn't his strong suit.

Looking at those pairs of expectant eyes, Fang Yue braced himself, cleared his throat, and said: "You Sisi, every word spoken by You Qingyi represents my meaning as well. The bizarre army underground is advancing toward Qingsi County. For everyone's safety, please follow You Qingyi's arrangements."

As his words fell, You Sisi — who had been standing to the side with her arms crossed over her chest, a little unhappy — suddenly stole a glance at Fang Yue, and her mood seemed to calm down considerably.

But the crowd below erupted into an uproar.

"It's really true!"

"Heavens! Isn't the Green Guard sealing the underground entrance and reinforcing the formation? Does that mean even so they can't hold back those bizarre armies?"

"I just hauled so much of my goods out to sell — if I go take shelter now, how much money will I lose!"

Clearly, Fang Yue's words had limited effect; everyone just wanted to get real intel from Fang Yue.

You Sisi started getting irritated again, loudly rebuking them — what's more important, life or money? — and proposed that the Qing-Si would give subsidies, which barely managed to keep the situation in check.

Fang Yue didn't help much on the side, just silently standing behind You Sisi, giving off a bodyguard vibe.

After commanding and bustling about until nightfall, most of the villagers in Qingsi County had finally been notified to go take shelter, but only a small portion had actually gone; the rest had merely been notified and hadn't acted.

Compared to a small village like Gu Yue Cun, where one word was law.

Qingsi County's population structure was far more complex, making command much more exhausting, and even the Qing-Si's authority wasn't as strong.

At this pace, three days… no, two days from now, whether they could get the remaining villagers to go take shelter was still a question.

"We'll have to use forceful measures!"

That's what You Sisi said — she was nearly driven to explosion by these stubborn commoners.

Clearly it was for the sake of their own lives and safety that she was telling them to take shelter.

Yet they all acted as if the Qing-Si meant to harm them, desperately clinging to their little property and petty interests, refusing to budge — truly valuing money over life.

If Fang Yue hadn't been beside her, and she hadn't wanted to come across as too explosive-tempered, she probably would have started her lioness-roaring long ago.

"You can't blame them entirely. For us, that's just a little money — life is definitely more important than money. But for these common folk, that wealth is everything to them; losing it is like starting over from scratch, no different from dying. How does that saying go — severing a man's wealth is no different from killing his parents…"

Fang Yue was still speaking when You Sisi's glare came shooting over.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Uh… my bad, I shouldn't have made that snarky remark… I'll go get the team members from Gu Yue Cun to help out too. More hands, more efficiency, right?"

"Go ahead and call them, call them all to help."

You Sisi rubbed her brow with a headache; because of this matter, she had been so busy she barely got any rest.

After a moment's hesitation, Fang Yue held out a Clear Heart Pill.

"What for?" You Sisi was taken aback.

"For you to eat, to restore your spirit. I exchanged Merit Points for a pile of pills, this is nothing."

"…Oh, alright then."

You Sisi accepted the pill, but didn't eat it on the spot; instead, she urged Fang Yue to hurry to the inn and call people.

After Fang Yue had walked far away, out of sight, she carefully took out a small brocade box, and from inside, took out a higher-grade Awaken Heart Pill, and casually popped it into her mouth.

Then she swapped in this lower-grade Clear Heart Pill, carefully stored it away, closed the box, looked at the little box, the corners of her mouth slowly spreading into a smile; the whole day's bad mood seemed to have been swept clean.

……

(End of chapter)