Chapter 10 - 6: Tomb Raiding
He returned to the city from the western suburbs.
Lin Yi, his body weary, climbed out of the taxi. He didn’t head straight back to his cramped little rental apartment.
The city’s clamor hadn’t ceased just because it was late.
He changed direction and stepped into a large shopping mall, still operating under cold white lights.
The "24-Hour" sign was particularly eye-catching, but right now it only reflected the bewilderment in his heart.
The Mosquito Avatar’s seemingly perfect "fleece the sheep" Blood Sucking master plan had gone bankrupt.
He urgently needed to find an alternative.
His gaze swept across the dazzling array of shelves.
Finally, it landed on a pound of bright red pork.
While no one was looking, he secretly had the Mosquito Avatar try to touch the lifeless flesh.
However...
The feedback from the Mosquito Avatar was "Ineffective."
The congealed blood in the dead meat was not the kind the Mosquito Avatar craved—the Qi and Blood that contained life energy.
’So dead things don’t work? It can only feed on the living?’
Lin Yi’s fingertip slid across the screen of his wrist-mounted communicator.
A screen of light appeared, displaying the numbers.
Current Balance: 804.41 yuan.
A little over eight hundred yuan. That was his entire net worth at the moment.
With that little money, forget about buying a live pig; he’d have trouble affording even a decent-sized dog.
He could buy the small rabbits or hamsters at the pet store, but their prices were inflated, they were tiny, and it would be a drop in the bucket—not worth it at all.
’Forget it. I’ll just go home and sleep. Since it’s too risky to act in the city with its Demon Qi detectors, I’ll just take the Mosquito Avatar out into the wilderness on the weekend to hunt! There’s always a way, right?!’
Lin Yi sighed, left the pork on the shelf, and his figure melted into the dim, yellow-tinged night outside the mall’s entrance.
Walking down the silent street, scenes from the web novel clichés he knew by heart flashed through his mind, and he mused wryly:
’According to the usual tropes, some blind idiot of a villain should be jumping out to step on me right about now! They’d be a perfect blood bag delivered right to my door, letting me suck their blood and slap them in the face... Tsk, I wonder if any moron will actually volunteer to get themselves killed.’
...
The apartment complex.
It was already midnight when he pushed open the creaking iron door to his rental unit.
Inside the cramped room, only the faint light from outside the window outlined the furniture.
Lin Yi threw himself onto the hard bedboard as exhaustion washed over him like a tide.
He forced himself to gather his chaotic thoughts and fell into a deep sleep.
His Martial Dao realm was still low, so he needed sleep to recover his energy. Besides, he had school tomorrow.
He couldn’t afford to lose a whole night’s sleep just because his Blood Sucking plan had hit a snag.
There’s always a way forward. No need to be impatient for quick success.
「The next morning.」
The early morning sun pierced through the gap in the curtains.
Lin Yi woke up on time.
As quickly as he could, he prepared a simple but substantial breakfast.
Three glasses of milk and ten hard-boiled eggs.
The food quickly filled his stomach, bringing with it a comforting sense of fullness.
After cleaning up, he slung on his backpack and pushed the door open.
Just as he stepped out of the shadows of the stairwell entrance, a heart-wrenching wail slammed into his eardrums like a clap of thunder.
"My baby!"
The shrill female voice echoed throughout the entire apartment building.
It was Granny Li from the fourth floor.
She was slumped at the entrance of the stairwell, tightly clutching the stiff corpse of a Tibetan Mastiff. Its fur was dull gray, and it was nothing but skin and bones. Tears and snot streamed down her face as she cursed, "Which goddamned bastard son of a bitch poisoned my baby! Xiaowang, it must have been you! You were the one arguing with my baby yesterday!"
Aunt Wang from the sixth floor stood at the turn of the stairs with her hands on her hips, looking down and retorting in a sharp voice:
"Sister Li, don’t you go making baseless accusations! Open your eyes and look at your dog! It’s so skinny, it’s just skin and bones! What kind of poison would make it look like that? I think it died of some nasty disease! It might even be a highly contagious one!"
Her words were like a drop of water in a pan of hot oil, instantly causing an explosion among the onlooking neighbors.
"A contagious disease?! Oh my god, that’s not good!"
"Quick, quick, get it out of here and burn it! Don’t let it harm everyone in the building!"
"Li, I told you before you shouldn’t keep such a big dog in the stairwell! Now look what’s happened! Can you take responsibility if you infect all of us?"
"I’ve already called the Health Bureau to report this! You just wait for your fine, Li!"
In an instant, Granny Li was drowned in a torrent of accusations.
With a blank expression, Lin Yi slipped through a gap in the boisterous, market-like crowd. His steps were steady and his gaze fixed forward as he quickly descended the stairs, leaving the pointless commotion behind him.
...
After his Qi and Blood had increased, he felt as light as a swallow when he ran, completely without strain.
He jogged all the way to school.
The moment he pushed open the classroom door, a different kind of clamor assaulted him.
A small vortex seemed to have formed in the center of the classroom. A group of people was crowding around Liu Yang, and cries of amazement and envy rose and fell.
"Liu Yang! Your Qi and Blood value... it went up again?!"
"My god! It’s only been one day! 0.02! A full 0.02 increase! That’s an insane speed!"
"Liu Yang, your godfather is really something else! Quick, tell us, did you eat some kind of Miracle Medicine?"
Liu Yang, at the center of the crowd, puffed out his chest and raised his chin slightly, basking in the fawning compliments. His face was an open book of undisguised pride.
Lin Yi’s calm gaze swept over the commotion without pausing. He walked straight to his own seat by the window in the back row and silently put down his backpack.
Almost at the same time, Luo Qian squeezed through like a nimble loach and plopped down in the empty seat in front of Lin Yi.
He curled his lip in Liu Yang’s direction with a hint of barely concealed disdain and whispered:
"Mr. Wang really went all out for Liu Yang this time. I wonder how many resources he poured in to force that kid’s Qi and Blood up by 0.02 in a single night! Tsk tsk, what a move..."
Lin Yi opened his textbook, his tone calm and steady:
"Liu Yang’s innate talent isn’t actually bad. He was just held back by his family’s financial situation before, which is why his Qi and Blood couldn’t increase. Now that he has a rich godfather and an endless supply of resources, a rapid increase in his Qi and Blood is pretty normal."
Luo Qian scoffed, shook his head, and rested his elbow on Lin Yi’s desk.
"You’re certainly magnanimous, sticking up for him like that. The way that kid’s been looking at you lately isn’t right. It’s full of hostility!"
Lin Yi looked up and chuckled lightly.
"Probably because we used to be the only two poor students in class. My grades were always at the top, while he was always dead last. He’s probably holding a grudge and feels it’s unfair. Plus, Mr. Wang wanted to sponsor me at first. It was only after I refused that he sponsored him. He probably wants to prove he’s better than me!"
"Tch!" Luo Qian snorted disdainfully. "He’s just a classic bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong! You think he’d dare challenge ’second-generation rich kids’ like us? He only picks on you because you’re honest, have no background, and he thinks you’re an easy target!"
Lin Yi smiled and waved his hand, signaling an end to the topic.
Just then, Liu Yang, brimming with inflated confidence, deliberately walked over to their seats.
He stopped, his fiery gaze fixed on Luo Qian and Lin Yi. He raised his voice deliberately, his tone feverish, as if making a declaration:
"Luo Qian! Lin Yi! Both of you, watch closely! I, Liu Yang, will definitely surpass all of you and become the first person in this class to break through and become a Martial Artist! Just you wait!"
Luo Qian rolled his eyes dramatically and turned his head away.
Lin Yi merely glanced up at him for a second before looking down again, as if studying an insignificant punctuation mark in his textbook. He couldn’t even be bothered to respond.
Liu Yang was choked by this silent disdain. His face flushed red, then went pale. In the end, all he could do was let out a heavy "Hmph!" and storm off, his back radiating humiliation and anger.
Gazing at Liu Yang’s somewhat arrogant departing figure, Lin Yi unconsciously rubbed the pages of his book.
Something stirred in a corner of his heart.
’This kid... is getting a little too full of himself.’
An uncontrollable thought popped into his head.
’Should I... have the Mosquito Avatar sneak a bite out of Liu Yang?’
’With just one bite, forget about getting into a top Martial Arts University; he’d be lucky to even get into a third-rate junior college, wouldn’t he?’
However, the moment this tempting idea arose, it was swiftly suppressed by reason.
Lin Yi’s brow furrowed slightly as he shook his head inwardly.
’No!’
’That tycoon who sponsored Liu Yang has invested so much real money in him. It’s about to pay off. If I were to interfere and cripple Liu Yang...’
’How could that sponsor let it go?’
’What if he investigates and the suspicion falls on me...’
’The dog in the complex, Liu Yang... both have a connection to me.’
’I can’t underestimate the Public Security Bureau!’
’It’s better to avoid trouble.’
’It’s just a few verbal provocations, after all.’
’Hmm...’
His gaze deepened as he took one last glance in Liu Yang’s direction.
’For now... I’ll just mark this jumpy guy as a "backup blood bag."’
’If I really can’t find a suitable target for Blood Sucking, or if Liu Yang keeps asking for it, it won’t be too late to consider draining him then.’
Once Liu Yang was completely out of earshot, Luo Qian snorted coldly. "Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s just a poor man who struck it rich, a classic case of a petty person enjoying a moment of success!"
Lin Yi gave a helpless smile. "Come on, you’ve still got a poor guy who hasn’t struck it rich right in front of you!"
"Oh, give me a break! If you wanted to get rich and were willing to sign a contract, eighty percent of the consortiums in Yang City would be extending you an olive branch!"
Luo Qian turned back around, the cynical look on his face fading somewhat, replaced by a hint of genuine urgency.
"Lin, you’ve really got to step it up! If that Liu guy really beats you to it and becomes the first Martial Artist in our class, we’ll both lose so much face... we’ll be shamed all the way back to our grandmas’ houses!"
Lin Yi turned a page in his book, the corner of his mouth curving into a confident smile. "Don’t worry, Luo. I won’t just hand over a position that should be mine."
His tone was light, carrying a certainty that took it for granted.
’It’s just an increase of 0.02 Qi and Blood in one night. What’s there to be so surprised about?’
’I skyrocketed by 0.1 in one night!’
’You see me getting cocky about it?’
Then, he looked at Luo Qian, a trace of confusion in his eyes.
"By the way, Luo, there’s something I’ve always wondered about. Logically, with your family background and talent... why is your Qi and Blood still so low? Why haven’t you broken through the threshold to become a Martial Artist yet?"
Hearing this, Luo Qian’s expression froze instantly, as if a hidden sore spot had been poked.
He instinctively retorted, "My Qi and Blood is low? 9.13! That’s the highest score in the entire school, okay?!"
"Haha..." Lin Yi chuckled. "Forget it. Everyone has their secrets. Just pretend I never asked."
He waved his hand to show he understood, but his confusion hadn’t completely vanished.
Although Luo Qian’s Qi and Blood value was the highest recorded in the school, Lin Yi always felt that the number was still too low for him.
’It’s just not normal.’
Lin Yi knew his own bottleneck very well: a lack of money and a lack of resources.
He had enough talent, but not enough resources, which had slowed his Cultivation progress and prevented him from becoming a Martial Artist.
The other well-off students in the elite class had resources piled high, but their talent was mediocre, so it made sense they were still stuck at the Martial Disciple stage.
But Luo Qian...
His family was one of the top tycoon families in the entire city, with a terrifyingly vast industrial empire.
More importantly, Luo Qian’s own Cultivation talent was by no means weak; in fact, you could even say it was outstanding!
By Lin Yi’s estimation, with the Luo family’s resources and his own talent, he should have steadily stepped into the ranks of Martial Artists before the end of his second year of high school!
Dragging it out until his third year was truly abnormal.
"Every family has its own problems," Luo Qian’s bitter smile deepened, carrying a weight far beyond his years.
He was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly leaned close to Lin Yi, his voice lowered to a near whisper. "Lin, do you know... what my old man did to build his fortune?"
Lin Yi was taken aback and honestly shook his head. "I don’t."
He only knew that the Luo family was incredibly wealthy, but as for how they made their fortune, Lin Yi had never really looked into it.
"Grave robbing!" Luo Qian suddenly spat out two cold words.
"Badass!"
Lin Yi’s pupils contracted abruptly. He couldn’t help but raise his right hand and give Luo Qian a big thumbs-up, letting out a heavy exclamation.
There wasn’t a trace of contempt or disdain in that "Badass!"; he genuinely thought Luo Qian’s old man was incredible.