Chapter 344: Try Not To Electrocute Yourself
"Then apparently, the metal has become available," I replied, rolling my eyes.
Yuche didn’t wait for the discussion to continue. Gates tore free from hinges. Window bars twisted out of brick. Rebar ripped through cracked foundations, while abandoned cars shuddered as their frames separated from the rest of their bodies.
Metal streamed toward the road from every direction.
Lingyun stepped closer until his shoulder nearly brushed mine, his attention following the stream of metal tearing itself out of the abandoned houses. A gate twisted free from its hinges and passed over our heads, followed by half the frame of an old car, and his eyebrows slowly climbed as the pile around Yuche continued growing.
"That’s going to be a lot of rods."
"Hopefully."
"What are we doing with all of it?" he asked, turning one hand palm-up toward the metal as if he expected the answer to be sitting somewhere inside the mess.
"Putting it in the ground," I replied without looking away from Yuche.
The silence beside me changed.
Lingyun didn’t need to say anything for me to know that answer hadn’t satisfied him. His shoulder pulled away from mine as he slowly turned his entire body toward me, and the faint flames curled around his fingers dimmed while he stared at the side of my face. I could practically feel the offended disbelief rolling off him.
I continued watching Yuche compress the metal, refusing to give Lingyun the eye contact he clearly believed he deserved. The longer I ignored him, the straighter he stood, until he looked like a child waiting for an adult to admit they had deliberately left out the best part of a story.
When he drew in a breath to try again, I finally tipped my head back and met his eyes. "Did you need a drawing?"
Lingyun’s mouth twitched. He tried to hide it by pressing his lips together, but the smile still reached his eyes as he rocked back on his heels. "I was hoping you’d eventually get to the exciting part."
"You set fire to seven people and an entire house less than ten minutes ago." I swept one hand toward the smoking ruins behind him, where the last pieces of metal were still cooling in the ash. "How much excitement do you need in one afternoon?"
He glanced over his shoulder at the destruction as though seeing it for the first time. His gaze moved over the collapsed house, the blackened cart, and the smoke still curling from the road before he looked back at me and lifted one shoulder.
"That was the previous exciting part."
The absolute sincerity on his face made me stare at him harder.
Lingyun stared back without the slightest hint of shame, then spread his hands as if the logic should’ve been obvious. Fire brightened around his fingers again, responding to the enthusiasm he wasn’t bothering to hide.
"There should always be a next exciting part," he added, nodding once like he had just shared something profound instead of deeply concerning.
"You’re exhausting," I muttered, turning away from him before the smile tugging at my mouth became noticeable.
He leaned closer again, lowering his voice even though everyone standing nearby could still hear him. "You say that like it’s a bad thing."
"I’m saying it like I’m considering asking Yuche to turn one of those rods sideways and put you in the ground with them."
Instead of looking threatened, Lingyun’s grin widened until his teeth showed. He bent slightly at the waist so his face dropped closer to mine, clearly delighted by the possibility that I might actually try.
"See?" he murmured. "That sounds exciting."
I shoved one hand against his chest and pushed him back into his own space. He moved because he chose to, laughing under his breath while the flames danced higher around his hands.
Behind us, Yuche made a quiet sound that might’ve been amusement, although when I glanced toward him, his attention remained fixed on the metal twisting beneath his control.
Traitors. I was surrounded by them.
I pointed toward the growing pile before Lingyun could drag the conversation somewhere even more annoying. "Yuche is making long rods and driving them as deep as possible into every part of the contaminated ground."
Lingyun’s amusement faded just enough for him to follow the direction of my hand. He looked from the dark soil to the rods forming in the air, his head tilting as the pieces finally began fitting together.
"And then?" he asked, the question quieter this time as his attention shifted toward Zhenlan.
"Then Zhenlan sends lightning through the entire field."
Lingyun’s face lit up so quickly that I regretted answering.
His shoulders straightened, and the flames around his hands flared as he turned to stare at the contaminated road with renewed interest. "You could’ve led with that."
"I was enjoying watching you suffer."
He looked down at me, placing one hand over his chest as though genuinely touched. "I knew you cared."
I rolled my eyes and stepped away before he decided that required a hug. "Go stand near the edge and burn anything the electricity forces out."
Lingyun started walking backward toward the contaminated section, his grin returning as he spread his arms. "See? Another exciting part."
"Just try not to electrocute yourself."
"That sounded almost concerned."
"It was concern for Zhenlan. He’d feel guilty."
Lingyun laughed as he turned around, fire already spreading over both hands.
Yuche compressed the metal into long, narrow rods. Some were thicker than my wrist, while others were no wider than a finger. He sharpened one end of each before sending them toward the contaminated section.
The first rod struck the road hard enough to split the pavement.
It continued downward until only the upper half-meter remained visible.
Then another followed.
And another.
Metal drove into yards, trenches, cracked roads, and the blackened soil where the plants had torn themselves free. The rods formed uneven rows stretching from the ruins toward the edge of the mansion’s main garden.
Some disappeared almost entirely beneath the ground.
Others stopped when they struck stone or buried concrete, forcing Yuche to pull them free and drive them down somewhere else.
Chenghai picked up his shovel and started breaking open the harder sections without being asked. Each time he exposed more earth, Yuche added another rod.
Zhenlan watched the grid take shape.
He didn’t ask me to explain.
None of them did.