The fish pond at the mansion.
Chen Yu, sitting on the stone railing of the long pavilion, held a piece of bread in his hand. From time to time, he would pinch off a small piece and throw it into the fish pond. In an instant, the fish in the pond would snatch it up and devour it.
“Quite leisurely, feeding the fish?”
A faint whisper reached his ears. Chen Yu turned his head and saw the little demon floating in the air, arriving beside him.
“Cultivating my character,” Chen Yu said with a slight smile, and threw her a piece of bread. He gestured towards the fish in the pond, “Look at these fish. I never skimp on their food, yet when I scatter bread for them, they still fight fiercely over it.”
“They eat more, and that’s wrong?”
The little demon pouted and also pinched off breadcrumbs, throwing them into the fish pond.
The fish continued to scramble.
Even more amusing was that while the little demon was throwing bread, Chen Yu had not thrown any. All the fish in the pond swam over to the little demon, staring expectantly.
“Hey, they like me more.”
“Do you think they like you, or the bread in your hand?” Chen Yu said with a smile, pinching off a piece of bread and tossing it into the pond.
The fish, which had been waiting by the little demon a moment before, all rushed back to Chen Yu.
“See? Isn’t it interesting?”
“You find it interesting to feed fish breadcrumbs? Are you living a very boring life?” The little demon pouted with disdain, but her hands did not stop pinching bread and snatching fish from Chen Yu.
In the end, she simply threw the entire loaf of bread into the pond.
Seeing this, some of the fish even jumped out of the water, just to get a bigger mouthful of bread.
Seeing all the fish gathered around him, the little demon grinned, shaking her head and swaying.
“They’re all with me.”
“What’s the point? When your bread is gone, I’ll still have bread, and they’ll come back to me waiting,” Chen Yu murmured with a smile. “You say, these fish are clearly raised by me. I come here to feed them day and night. Logically, they should obey me. Yet, as long as you throw bread, they will abandon me without hesitation to go to you. Don’t you think they are a bit ungrateful?”
“Huh?!”
The little demon looked bewildered, her face full of surprise.
“Why are you arguing with fish?”
“Is this considered arguing? I am their keeper,” Chen Yu frowned. “I have fed them for so long, given them so much bread, and just because you have bread, they go to you. Why?”
“You… what exactly do you want to say?”
“Talking about fish.”
Chen Yu shrugged and gestured towards the fish pond.
“These guys only have eyes for food. It’s a pity they don’t know this will anger their keeper, and their keeper can take their lives at any time. Even if I, as their keeper, understand their stupidity and they keep eating like that, they will be stuffed to death.”
“You… what exactly do you want to say?”
“Talking about fish!”
Chen Yu repeated, placed the remaining bread on the stone railing, clapped his hands, and then stretched lazily.
“Did Liam and them leave the city?”
“They left the city.”
“Liam looked very angry. What exactly did you say to him to provoke him like that? When I was with him, I felt like he could devour others alive at any moment,” the little demon whispered, her feet dangling as she floated to Chen Yu’s side.
At this moment, Chen Yu leaned against a pillar of the long pavilion, holding a white bread and throwing crumbs to the ornamental fish below the pavilion.
The fish in the lake pond scrambled to snatch the bread.
Ripples rippled across the water.
“I didn’t do anything, I just dragged him into the vortex to share the hardships,” Chen Yu whispered, smiling as he threw breadcrumbs into the lake pond. “If you want to get involved, get involved properly. Everyone wants to stay out of it and reap benefits. There are no such easy things. I’m not some great benefactor.”
Involving Liam was indeed something Chen Yu had done deliberately.
The reason was simple: he needed Liam to firmly stand on his side.
Regardless of how he or his family had maneuvered in the past to survive, since they wanted to engage with him, they should at least abandon the idea of being a bystander.
Sharing joys and sorrows, enduring hardships together, that is what makes comrades.
Having Liam involved also made things more convenient for future situations. No matter how many plans Chen Yu made, in terms of intelligence gathering, he would never surpass Liam, the local snake.
With him investigating in secret, the network behind the scenes would be seen more clearly.
Furthermore, Chen Yu was also reminding him.
The merchants under his command had been bought off by outsiders, yet he was acting as if nothing had happened. How could he survive in the underground caves with such a lack of crisis awareness?
“You’re quite calculating.”
The little demon pouted, crossed her arms, and also threw breadcrumbs into the lake pond.
“Since you entered this city, how many people have you calculated? Do you remember? And how many things have you done behind others’ backs, can you count them?”
“Do I want to be like this?” Chen Yu smiled wryly.
If he could, who wouldn’t want to live a more relaxed life? Recalling the situation when he first entered the underground caves, there were almost daily surprises. He would get some bread from the crates, sell it to others for some elemental fragments, and gradually expand his camp.
Did Chen Yu not like such days?!
The problem was—
He was no longer the same person as when he first entered the underground caves.
The appearance of that ‘Dian Jiang Hu Fu’ had completely cut off his retreat. He wished he could live carefree, being an adventurer full of hope and a future in the underground caves.
Would those who desired the ‘Dian Jiang Hu Fu’ let him off?
Calculating?
In such an underground world, if one didn’t have some cunning, they would only be eaten until not even bones were left. Imagine, was Yu Pu honest when he first entered the underground caves? He was definitely one of the most honest people in the underground caves, but now he had also grown a lot, undergoing a transformation.
Sitting in the position of the City Lord of Fengqi City, one had to consider more.
Even the lords of the branch cities wanted a piece of the pie and coveted his city. If he didn’t resist, those people would directly tear him apart and drink his blood.
Moreover, it was they who had actively provoked Chen Yu.
“I understand you,” the little demon patted Chen Yu’s shoulder. “It’s just that, I feel like you’ve been so burdened since coming to Fengqi City. The situation of this city must have put a lot of pressure on you. I do miss our time in the Free City-States. When the problems of Fengqi City are resolved, let’s go back and visit.”
“Then you’d better be mentally prepared.”
Chen Yu smiled, pursing his lips. “When we return to the Free City-States, perhaps it will be completely renewed. The Free City-States are developing very rapidly now.”
“Can it surpass my Demon King’s Fortress?”
“Perhaps it can.”
“Absolutely impossible,” the little demon said confidently. “When you saw the Sky City, you were so shocked. If you saw my Demon King’s Fortress, you’d probably wet your pants. My Demon King’s Fortress was once one of the most prosperous fortresses of the demon race.”
“Wow!”
“Don’t you believe me? When we go back to the Free City-States, you can ask Sona. My Demon King’s Fortress was very prosperous. Your human race simply can’t compare to me.”
“Then… why was it destroyed?”
“???”
The little demon floating in the air immediately became furious, clenched her fists, and unhesitatingly swung at Chen Yu.
“I’ll kill you!”
Curses and screams intertwined in the long pavilion, while the fish in the lake pond stared expectantly at the white bread on the stone railing.
A gust of wind swept past the railing, blowing the bread down into the fish pond. The fish, which had been waiting eagerly, madly scrambled for that piece of bread.
The ornamental fish in the City Lord’s mansion were not lacking in food. Chen Yu occasionally scattered breadcrumbs into the fish pond.
Yet, they still fought desperately for it.
Perhaps Chen Yu was feeding too much today, and the ornamental fish had small stomachs. Not long after that piece of bread fell into the fish pond, almost the moment Chen Yu spoke, some fish in the pond actually floated up belly-up.
They were much larger than the other ornamental fish.
Their bellies were round and full.
It seemed they had indeed been stuffed to death.
The other fish did not even glance at it, continuing to fight desperately for the remaining bread. As for those fish that couldn’t outcompete the others, they could only watch as the bread was gradually snatched away, their gaze eventually falling on the dead fish.
The ripples lingered.
Whether that fish, which had been stuffed to death, was devoured by other fish, Chen Yu did not know. However, when he went to the fish pond to scatter breadcrumbs again in the future, he did not see that fish floating belly-up.
Day and night alternated.
After the granary was burned, the people of Fengqi City remained peaceful and prosperous. The appearance of merchants meant that the shortage of food was no longer the city’s biggest problem.
Expensive, so what!
The moment they spoke of having millions of tons of grain, it was destined that this grain must remain in Fengqi City. This was the true intention of the Deputy City Lord Clay.
Even if it meant seizing it, the grain had to be kept.
Chen Yu had no idea what methods Clay had used to make those merchants stay in the city for a full three days. Of course, he also knew that those grain merchants had no intention of leaving from the beginning. They were fat prey in Clay’s eyes, and Fengqi City was also fat prey in the eyes of their master.
“I’ve found out.”
Liam’s efficiency was indeed high. He had promised three days and did not delay a single day, appearing at the City Lord’s mansion of Fengqi City on time.
At this moment, his eyes were red.
It was evident that he had not rested for the past few days.
“You’ve worked hard,” Chen Yu gestured for Liam to sit. “To find all this out in such a short time, judging by your appearance, you’ve suffered quite a bit.”
“I’m grateful that you allowed me to investigate this matter, sir.”
“Any discoveries?”
“How should I put it? It is indeed that our family has been too lenient with certain people,” Liam squinted and snorted. “They have forgotten who they are, who their true keeper is. For some immediate gains, they wag their tails and beg for scraps from others, stuffing their mouths desperately. Aren’t they afraid of being stuffed to death themselves!”
Liam gritted his teeth and snorted, taking out a list from his ring.
“This is the list you need. Who in Fengqi City has connections with the royal family and who they are loyal to, it’s all clearly stated here.”
“On the back is the list of nobles who took advantage of the situation in Fengqi City, as you requested.”
“You investigated so meticulously,” Chen Yu feigned surprise, picking up the list. “You’ve even mapped out the network of Fengqi City. I truly don’t know how to thank you right now.”
“It’s a small matter,” Liam said dismissively, waving his hand.
“You’ve also clarified many things for me, allowing our family to avoid many dangers in advance. My family owes you this favor.”
“You’re too kind. We’re all on the same side. I’ll accept this list.”
“You… don’t doubt what’s on this…”
“Why should I doubt it? Didn’t you hear what I just said? We are all on the same side,” Chen Yu said with a smile, patting Liam’s shoulder.
Only then did Liam react, his eyes widening.
“You are willing to…”
“Let’s support each other from now on,” Chen Yu patted Liam’s shoulder, then raised his hand to pour him a cup of cool tea. “You seem to have come in a hurry. Have a cup of tea to moisten your throat.”
“No, no, no, I have a very important matter to tell you.”
“Speak!”
“Old Seven is preparing to move against your Fengqi City!”