Strange Dream

Jin Baogen observed his expression:

"We'll stay there for now. Once we spot a good opportunity later, we'll rent a place in the 38th Shop District."

Jin Baogen was well aware that the living conditions in the Zhabei slums were abysmal, but their pockets were empty, and that was the only place they could afford.

Most outsiders coming to Puxi City ended up living in the large slums of Zhabei.

If everyone else could live there, so could they.

Xu Yi pondered for a moment and said:

"Every inch of land in the 38th Shop District is worth gold. A decent small courtyard in a proper alleyway costs at least 10 silver dollars a month. If you all share the rent, it's not entirely unaffordable.

But if you rent a place like that, you won't have enough left for living expenses, and you'll likely find yourselves unable to even afford a meal.

Even if you scrape by on food, what about your schooling later? How will you ever become clever without an education?

Do you intend to just drift through the bottom of the 38th Shop District as some low-life thug and spend your whole life like that?"

Jin Baogen fell silent.

He truly hadn't considered things so deeply or so far ahead.

He heard Xu Yi continue:

"Do you even know how the rent is collected in Fan Gua Nong?"

Jin Baogen had only just dropped his workers off today and only knew that he had to pay to stay there:

"Is there... a trick to it?"

Xu Yi let out a scoff:

"The tricks in that place are massive!"

"What you paid when you went to Fan Gua Nong wasn't rent; it was a 'land fee.'

This thing is no different from protection money. They collect it today, and in a couple of days, they'll come knocking to collect it again, and you'll have to pay.

Did you just hand over the money without even asking, thinking you'd just grit your teeth and endure it for a month before moving somewhere else?"

Jin Baogen's face turned ugly.

That was exactly what he had thought.

He hadn't thought much of it at the time; he had paid the money and rushed back to work, truly unaware of what that place was really like.

"Inside the shanties of Fan Gua Nong, the beds are basically made of bamboo, reeds, and rusted tin. You have to pay extra for the slightly better spots—

The local thugs won't tell you that at first. Once you've moved in and can't leave on short notice, they'll come knocking, and you'll have to pay whether you want to or not!

The 'entry fee' you paid today is just the beginning."

The more Xu Yi spoke, the worse Jin Baogen's complexion became.

He only heard Xu Yi say gloomily:

"If you don't want to pay extra, you have to live in a 'Ground-Rolling Dragon.' It's a low, cramped shack made of scraps where a person can't even stand up straight; you have to hunch over to get in and out... or even crawl."

Jin Baogen said miserably:

"That's it?! That's called a Ground-Rolling Dragon?!"

Xu Yi remained expressionless:

"From the outside, these shacks look like a human-shaped 'person' character pressed against the ground. They are incredibly ugly. No one likes them, but since they have no choice but to live there, they find a bit of bitter humor in it and add the word 'Dragon' to call it a Ground-Rolling Dragon, thinking that perhaps calling it that makes it easier to bear..."

"I've been to Fan Gua Nong once... the place is full of shacks like those Ground-Rolling Dragons. They never see the sun and are incredibly dark.

Puxi City is rainy, and the ground there is just mud. Over time, the interiors become extremely damp, breeding snakes, rats, and insects.

There's no electricity, no water, no kitchen, and no toilet. You have to go a long way to fetch drinking water, and the chamber pot is usually kept in a corner of the room. Whenever it rains, the whole of Fan Gua Nong turns into one giant septic tank..."

Jin Baogen couldn't bear to listen anymore.

He looked panicked, because even knowing all this, they had no ability to move out of that place right now.

What if... he let everyone stay in the factory dormitory for a while, and once the wages were paid, they could find a place to live?

Jin Baogen listened to the constant noise coming from next door.

But a place like this... it wasn't a place to sleep at all!

Suddenly, he saw Xu Yi take 10 silver dollars from his pocket and place them in front of Jin Baogen.

This was the last of his "family fortune."

"Go and rent a decent place for your brothers and sisters."

Xu Yi said.

Jin Baogen choked up instantly.

He had thought Xu Yi might help them, but he hadn't expected him to help this much.

Before he could speak, he saw Xu Yi wave his hand, his face full of exhaustion:

"I am so tired..."

Go quickly, bring them out of Fan Gua Nong; that is no place for a human to live...

If This Humble One, Xu Yi, cannot look after others, can I not even look after my own brothers and sisters?

Tonight at the factory, it makes no difference whether you are there or not...

Go, quickly...

By the time Xu Yi finished speaking, he had already collapsed onto his dormitory bed.

The events of this night had exhausted his reserves of spirituality. Once he relaxed, Xu Yi felt as if he had caught a severe cold, his head heavy and his feet light, drifting into a dizzy, muddled sleep.

Xu Yi had a dream.

In the dream, he returned to Yangjing Creek, back to that warehouse at the foot of the city wall.

The warehouse was not burning; it was alive and well, crouching in the darkness like a man-eating monster.

Xu Yi entered that large shipping container once more and encountered the Foreign Devil.

This time, he and the Foreign Devil conversed happily, discussing the methods and precautions for pickling human bodies for an entire night.

The Foreign Devil showcased his knowledge of Fragrance Studies, listing common animal and plant spices one by one as if they were his own treasures, leaving Xu Yi wide-eyed and thoroughly enlightened.

The Foreign Devil told Xu Yi that to create a fine incense, one must understand the underlying principles of how scents are produced, as well as the fundamental mechanics of using spices.

At that moment, Xu Yi regarded the Foreign Devil as a soulmate, drinking and laughing with him. The two felt like old friends at first sight, as if Yu Boya had met Zhong Ziqi—a meeting of kindred spirits, lamenting only that they had not met sooner!

Afterward, Xu Yi brought the Foreign Devil to his own studio.

The studio was filled with incense burners, and upon them was the incense Xu Yi had refined from human beings.

Upon seeing the room full of joss sticks, the Foreign Devil was stunned by Xu Yi's brilliance.

Xu Yi was very satisfied with the Foreign Devil's shock; he was immensely proud as he showed off the incense and burners, telling the Foreign Devil:

Actually, I am far more capable than you imagine, because I do not need your complicated steps—I can turn people into incense directly!

Xu Yi regarded the Foreign Devil as a confidant, telling him that although he could turn people into incense, this ability had a fatal flaw: every time he used it, he would briefly lose consciousness.

The Foreign Devil told Xu Yi that his master had once mentioned this state.

His master said that for those of us in this lineage of the Night Roaming God, once we cannot control our own spirituality, it will spiral out of control, causing us to fall into the demonic path and become a demon of pure evil and darkness that commits every imaginable atrocity!

An Incense Demon is one who can turn people into incense!

Xu Yi said to him, "Look at what you're saying—you've already killed so many people, what difference is there between you and a demon?"

The Foreign Devil told him with a straight face that the difference was vast: "I kill for my dreams and my pursuits, which is different from the demons in the Hundred Night Miasma who harm others for no reason."

The Foreign Devil emphasized: "I have a pursuit!"

The Foreign Devil also said, "Those people I killed became my spices; is that not far better than them toiling away their whole lives and vanishing into obscurity?

They became my incense, contributing to my great ideal!

They should be happy! The moment they became my incense, they emitted a fragrance they could never have produced in their entire lives! The moment they became my incense was the true highlight of their existence!"

Xu Yi thoroughly agreed with this sentiment, and the two laughed heartily, feeling immensely proud and at ease.