Chapter Twenty-One: What? Say That Again

Everyone was struck with terror; no one had expected the illustrious Xia family to resort to such lowly tactics. What’s more, Xia Moyu’s aim was impeccable—not a drop of filth was wasted from that entire basin. Han Feng, the self-styled “oppa” Jin Jindao, and the posturing master Xu Lang were completely unprepared, and were drenched from head to toe. The overwhelming stench was enough to make anyone retch, and in an instant, everyone within ten meters had scattered—even their own attendants instinctively fled far away.

“What are you all staring at? Help me clean this up!” Jin Jindao barked. The attendants, reluctant as they were, stepped forward to start wiping him down with tissues.

“Xia Moyu, you really are insane. Just wait, I swear I’ll kill you one of these days,” Xu Lang spat, looking utterly wretched and wishing he could strangle Xia Moyu on the spot. But now was not the time; there was business to attend to.

“Grandfather Xia, I never imagined your family would sink to hurling excrement. Enough with the nonsense. It’s already eleven o’clock—your Xia Corporation must have lost another hundred thousand or more. Just say the word: are you selling or not? If you do, we’ll transfer the money now. According to the Hunting Ground Management Regulations, you can shut down this loss-making ground immediately and cut your losses.”

“If you refuse, we won’t force you. Jin Jindao and I will leave at once, and you can deal with Manager Liu. If you come crawling back to us later, don’t blame us for changing the price,” Xu Lang pronounced with finality. It was harsh, but it was the truth. Even if you didn’t want to choose, the time had come. The later you sell, the greater your losses.

Xia Hong was silent for a moment, then let out a long, helpless sigh.

“Very well, then let’s—”

But before Xia Hong could finish, Fang Nian suddenly stepped forward and said, “Grandfather, don’t be so hasty. Maybe the Xia family’s fortunes will turn around any minute now?”

Xia Hong paused in surprise. Xu Lang and Jin Jindao, however, burst out laughing, regarding Fang Nian as hopelessly ignorant, utterly unaware of the gravity of the situation.

Just then, the Xia family’s steward came running out of the house in a panic, not even bothering with his shoes, clutching a phone.

“Master, a call! A call!”

Seeing the usually composed steward so flustered, Xia Hong’s heart sank. He took the phone, his expression dark.

“Hello, this is Xia Hong.”

“What?” Xia Hong’s face changed drastically, his expression a mix of astonishment and delight, confusion and disbelief. Even Xia Hong himself was bewildered.

“Say that again?”

Before Xia Hong could finish his call, Xu Lang and Jin Jindao’s phones began to ring simultaneously, as if by prior arrangement. Then the journalists’ and suppliers’ phones rang, as did Xia Moyan’s, Xia Junliang’s—almost everyone’s phone was going off at once.

In front of the Xia family’s gates, the scene turned surreal: nearly a hundred people, all ignoring one another and frantically answering their phones. Their expressions ranged from sweet as honey to bitter as gall.

“What? Say that again—you mean Xia’s losses have stopped, and there are hardly any queues at their six hunting grounds? How is that possible? Has money started blowing in on the wind and no one’s grabbing it? Are these hunters all idiots?”

“No way! You’re saying the Xu Corporation’s ‘Buried Alive’ is being cleared in droves? Five hundred people per session, and four hundred seventy passed? Are you joking? Fine, I’m coming over right now—save me a good spot.”

“What? Bro, I’m still working—stop messing with me. ‘Death ID’ just launched, it was supposed to be the year’s toughest F+ hunting ground, and now you’re telling me people are clearing it left and right, with an 80% pass rate? Are you out of your mind?”

Beside Fang Nian, a man with a roaring old cell phone, unable to hear, switched on the speakerphone. From the other end came a voice, hoarse with excitement:

“I’m not lying! The entire Lost Souls Street is now so packed with hunters you couldn’t squeeze in a rat. This morning, as soon as the grounds opened, hunters swarmed in. Everyone thought they’d make a killing at Xia’s grounds, but instead, the crowd rushed to the Jin and Xu hunting grounds.”

“And every single one of them came prepared. The first round of ‘Buried Alive’ was cleared by over four hundred seventy people in less than an hour. Xu Corporation is set to lose hundreds of thousands in a single session. The second round has already started, the entrance trampled flat, and even eighty-year-old grandfathers are joining in—apparently, just saying some password in the grounds is enough to clear it. Easy as pie!”

“If I didn’t have reporting duties and wasn’t afraid of being chewed out by my editor, I’d be lining up too. If Xia’s ground was handing out cash yesterday, Xu’s is handing out free money today—it just won’t stop!”

The reporter was left dumbfounded. In all his years on the beat, he’d seen all kinds of chaos, but never the three major hunting grounds taking turns playing Santa Claus. Shaking his head in disbelief, he dialed another colleague.

“Hey, Chief Editor, are you at Jin’s hunting ground? What’s it like there? Should I stay with the Xia story?”

The phone was a cacophony of shouts and curses about queue jumping. The chief editor was swearing in fury, “Forget it—get over to Lost Souls Street. Jin’s ground is giving out cash today. ‘Death ID’ was boasting yesterday about being the strongest F+ ground, but it was cleared last night.”

“The strategy guides sold out across every alley overnight, thanks to the massive prize pool. Jin’s hunting ground is packed to the rafters, and hunters who can’t get a slot are fighting at the door. Including today, ‘Death ID’ will run for at least four more days before they can take it offline.”

“I’m telling you, Jin Corporation is finished this time. Conservative estimates put their losses at over ten million in these four days. Even the Jin family patriarch has been alerted. Don’t bother coming here—you probably can’t even get through the crowd. Stick with the Xia story.”

“In my experience, the Xia family must have a real mastermind helping them this time. That classic feint—luring the tiger from the mountain, rescuing Xia by besieging Jin—was pulled off flawlessly. Xia has nothing to worry about now. As for ‘Ayer’s Cipher’ and its meager prize, no one even cares.”

“I’ve heard that only one person managed to clear both ‘Death ID’ and ‘Buried Alive’ in these few days—a guy named Fang… right, Fang Nian. Track down this cash-distributing god right away. If you get the scoop, you’ll get a promotion when you’re back.”

The reporter, hearing this, glanced at Fang Nian right in front of him and nearly burst out swearing in excitement. Wasn’t the man right here? He was about to hit the jackpot.