Chapter 79: Plan
Snow, blood…
One white, one red, blended together to become a dark color.
The sunlight reflected off the snow, appearing bleak and devoid of warmth.
The bodies on the Open Sky Pass were spread out over a large area, and the brutal scent of death still lingered in the air. Some wild beasts had followed the scent of blood and were gnawing on the corpses, while a group of vultures circled in the sky, ready to feast.
Groups of three to five adventurers appeared one after another, their faces either filled with horror or complex emotions as they looked at the snow stained with blood. Then, they avoided the area and entered the Savage Wastelands
Qi Bei, with one hundred Black-Armored soldiers, returned to the West Spirit City. Behind him, the five Wolf Generals and the eight Star Generals followed obediently. The people in the city looked at him with awe.
No one doubted Qi Bei’s ability to control West Spirit City anymore. Those who had bet that he would run away within three to five days felt like slapping themselves in the face.
In front of the City Lord’s Mansion, the smell of blood still lingered. When Qi Bei went to the Open Sky Pass, the people of the three major forces had come to attack the City Lord’s Mansion. At that time, those who had come to watch the excitement thought that Qi Bei was done for.
However, the strange scene that followed left people stunned. The members of Blood Wolves and the Starfall suddenly turned against the members of Shadow Clan and, together with the Black-Armored soldiers in the City Lord’s Mansion, killed all the members of the Shadow Clan, leaving not a single one alive.
Afterward, Qi Bei returned safely to the city with the five Wolf Generals and the eight Star Generals. It was then that many people finally realized what had happened. It turned out that this new City Lord had quietly taken control of the forces of Blood Wolves and Starfall.
The recruitment at the City Lord’s mansion attracted over a thousand qualified warriors and mages. They were divided into groups of ten, each with one Black-Armored soldier as the leader, and took turns patrolling the West Spirit City. They killed over a hundred people who were fighting in the city, which finally made everyone believe that what Qi Bei had said was not a lie. West Spirit City was going to become stable like never before.
In the hall of the City Lord’s mansion, Qi Bei wore a brocade robe as he looked at the map of the West Spirit City hanging on the wall.
The West Spirit City was indeed very large, roughly half the size of the Golden Leaf Imperial City.
At this time, Qi Bei’s gaze was fixed on the Western City District, which occupied nearly one-fifth of the West Spirit City’s area. However, there was not a single flat street or a good house. About 180,000 impoverished people lived there.
Most of these poor people were elderly, weak, and disabled. Many were the family members of adventurers and merchants who had died during the chaos in the West Spirit City, and had fallen into the poverty-stricken area.
“Young master, what are you looking at?” Huan Ying walked up behind Qi Bei and spoke softly, her snow-white hands habitually pressing on his shoulders.
“I’m looking at my territory. The next blizzard should be coming soon, and I’m thinking about how to settle the poor people in the Western City District.” Qi Bei said.
Huan Ying was stunned for a moment and didn’t know what she remembered, but suddenly she seemed a bit absent-minded.
Qi Bei turned his head and saw tears in Huan Ying’s beautiful eyes. He took her hand and let her sit on his lap, gently stroking her face with his hands, and said, “No matter what you’ve been through, I’ll always be by your side.”
Huan Ying didn’t say anything, just shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
“Good girl, don’t cry, don’t cry…” Qi Bei hugged Huan Ying into his arms, comforting her in a soft voice, not quite understanding why she was suddenly so sad.
Outside, Jin Gang, who stood like a pillar, had a hint of pain in his eyes. He had always thought that his sister was too young at the time and couldn’t remember what had happened back then, but now it seemed that she had always remembered, just never spoken about it.
Beside him, Lone Eye saw Jin Gang’s eyes full of resentment and couldn’t help but gently rest his hand on his shoulder.
Jin Gang turned his head and looked at Lone Eye’s concerned gaze, feeling a warmth in his heart, and restrained his resentment.
At this time, Murong Xingchen entered the City Lord’s mansion, followed by three elf girls.
After hearing the report of their arrival, Huan Ying wiped away her tears haphazardly, jumped out of Qi Bei’s arms, and ran towards the backyard.
Murong Xingchen still had her head wrapped in a scarf, her face covered by a light veil, revealing only her star-like beautiful eyes.
“Xingchen, do you miss this young master?” Qi Bei smiled and asked, pushing Murong Xingchen into the hall.
Behind him, the three elf girls exchanged a glance.
Murong Xingchen ignored Qi Bei’s flirtatious words and her gaze also fell on the map hanging in the hall. She saw the slums in the Western City District marked with a red line, and couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise.
Qi Bei noticed Murong Xingchen’s gaze and thought of her identity as a doctor. He smiled and asked, “Did you come to talk about the Western City District?”
“Mm.” Murong Xingchen nodded.
At this moment, the three elf girls quietly backed out and closed the door to the hall.
Qi Bei remembered what Yan Ling had said and felt a strange feeling in his heart. These three girls were really putting in their all, it seemed they were determined to bring Murong Xingchen and him together.
“Xingchen, do you think we have a telepathic connection? I was just thinking about how to settle these poor people,” Qi Bei pulled a chair over and sat next to Murong Xingchen.
“Really? Do you have a plan?” Murong Xingchen looked at Qi Bei with softer eyes. She had also thought about it before, but the chaos in West Spirit City had made her tread carefully. Without absolute control, she would become a target if she tried to improve the slum areas.
“Not yet, but before the next snowstorm comes, I’ll build a batch of simple brick houses for them to get through the winter. After that, when I integrate various industries, there will be many jobs that don’t require much effort, and they can make a living on their own,” Qi Bei said.
Murong Xingchen’s eyes flickered with a subtle light as she looked at Qi Bei. “Are you really willing to help them? You won’t get any benefit from doing this.”
In the eyes of the nobles, isn’t it all about their own interests? Aren’t the lower classes just worthless? This was how Murong Xingchen saw the nobles, no matter how charming and elegant they appear on the surface, their nobility is only highlighted by trampling on the lower class.
Qi Bei smiled faintly and said, “Is that what you think? Actually, helping them is helping myself. The prosperity of a territory cannot be measured solely by gold coins, but by the overall standard of living. If everyone in my territory is prosperous, and there is no longer hunger and poverty, then that is the greatest benefit I can get.”
Qi Bei didn’t want to be hypocritical and say that he wanted to eliminate class distinctions in his territory. In any era, in any race, class distinctions were inevitable.
Murong Xingchen looked at Qi Bei in a daze. This was the first time she had seen this side of him, the side that made her heart beat faster.
Qi Bei peeled a fruit and reached out to pull down Murong Xingchen’s veil, then offered her the fruit. She reached out to take it, but Qi Bei dodged her hand and then held the fruit up to her mouth again, with a domineering gaze.