Strange Dream

Jin Baogen read the room:

"For now, let's stay there. Once we find the right opportunity, we can rent a place in the 38th Shop District."

The conditions in Zhabei's slums were terrible, and Jin Baogen knew that. It was just that they were short on money right now, and that was all they could afford.

Most outsiders who came to Puxi City lived in one of Zhabei's several large slums.

If everyone else could live there, so could they.

Xu Yi pondered for a moment.

"The 38th Shop District is worth its weight in gold. Even a decent little courtyard in an alley costs at least ten silver dollars a month. If you rent a place together, you could afford it.

"But if you rent a place like that, you won't have enough left for living expenses. You might not even be able to afford food.

"Even if you scrape by and can afford to eat, are you going to stop studying? How will you get smarter if you don't study?

"Are you going to hang around at the bottom of the 38th Shop District as some low-level thug and spend the rest of your life that way?"

Jin Baogen fell silent.

He really hadn't thought that far ahead.

Xu Yi continued:

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

Jin Baogen had only just sent the workers there today. All he knew was that they had to pay to stay.

"There's... more to it than that?"

Xu Yi let out a dry laugh.

"There's a whole lot more to it!"

"You didn't pay rent in Fan Gua Nong. You paid a 'ground fee.'

"It's just like protection money. They collect it today, then come back a couple of days later to collect again, and you still have to pay.

"Did you just hand over the money without asking anything, thinking you'd put up with it for a month and move somewhere else as soon as you could?"

Jin Baogen's expression darkened.

That was exactly what he'd thought.

He hadn't given it much thought at the time. He'd paid the money and rushed straight back to work, without finding out what the place was really like.

"Most of the shacks in Fan Gua Nong have beds made of bamboo, reeds, and scraps of rusty sheet metal. You have to pay extra for a slightly better spot.

"The local toughs don't tell you that at first. They wait until you've moved in and can't leave right away. Then they come knocking, and by then you have no choice but to pay!

"That 'entry fee' you paid today was only the beginning."

The more Xu Yi said, the worse Jin Baogen looked.

Xu Yi continued in a low voice:

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

Jin Baogen gave a bitter laugh.

"That's it?! They call that a Ground-Rolling Dragon?!"

Xu Yi remained expressionless.

"From the outside, these shacks look like tubes shaped like a peaked roof lying flat against the ground. They're hideous, and no one wants to live in one, but people have no choice. So they try to make light of their misery and add the word 'dragon,' calling it a Ground-Rolling Dragon. They probably thought the name would make it a little easier to bear..."

"I went to Fan Gua Nong once... There were Ground-Rolling Dragon shacks everywhere. They never saw sunlight and were terribly dark.

"It rains a lot in Puxi City, and the ground there is all mud. After a while, everything inside gets incredibly damp, and snakes, rats, bugs, and ants breed everywhere.

"No electricity, no running water, no kitchen, no toilet. You have to carry drinking water from far away, and the chamber pots are usually kept in a corner of the room. When it rains, all of Fan Gua Nong turns into one enormous cesspool..."

Jin Baogen couldn't bear to listen anymore.

He looked distraught. Even so, they couldn't afford to move out of there right now.

Maybe... he could have everyone stay in the factory dormitory for a while, then find somewhere else once they got paid?

Jin Baogen could hear the constant noise coming from next door.

But this place... it wasn't somewhere anyone could sleep!

Suddenly, Xu Yi pulled ten silver dollars from inside his shirt and set them in front of Jin Baogen.

They were almost all of his remaining "family wealth."

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

That was what Xu Yi said.

Jin Baogen's throat tightened.

He'd expected Xu Yi to help them, but he hadn't expected him to help so much.

Before he could speak, Xu Yi waved a hand, looking utterly exhausted.

"I'm so tired...

"Go on. Get them out of Fan Gua Nong. That place isn't fit for people to live in...

"I can't take care of everyone, but surely I can take care of my own brothers and sisters?

"The factory will be fine tonight whether you're here or not...

"Go..."

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

Everything that had happened that night had drained his reserves of spiritual power. Now that he had relaxed, his head felt heavy and his limbs weak, as if he had come down with a bad cold. Dizzy and groggy, he fell asleep.

Xu Yi had a dream.

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

The warehouse hadn't burned down. It was alive and well, crouching in the darkness like a monster that devoured people.

Xu Yi entered that large shipping container again and met the Foreign Devil.

This time, he and the Foreign Devil got along famously, spending the whole night discussing how to pickle human bodies and what precautions to take.

The Foreign Devil showed him what he knew about Fragrance Studies. He rattled off the properties of all kinds of common animal- and plant-based aromatics, opening Xu Yi's eyes and delighting him with his knowledge.

The Foreign Devil told Xu Yi that to make good incense, you had to understand the fundamental principles behind how fragrances were produced, as well as the basics of using aromatics.

Xu Yi immediately regarded the Foreign Devil as a kindred spirit. They drank together and hit it off at once, as if Yu Boya had met Zhong Ziqi—a chance encounter between kindred spirits, making them regret they hadn't met sooner!

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

The studio was filled with incense burners, each holding incense Xu Yi had made from people.

When the Foreign Devil saw the roomful of incense sticks, he was awestruck by Xu Yi.

Xu Yi was pleased by his astonishment. Smugly, he showed the Foreign Devil the incense sticks and burners, then told him:

"I'm actually much more capable than you imagine. I don't need all your complicated steps. I can turn people into incense directly!"

Xu Yi considered the Foreign Devil a kindred spirit. He told him that although he could turn people into incense, his ability had one fatal flaw: every time he used it, he briefly lost consciousness.

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

His master had said that the Night Roaming Gods of their lineage would lose control of their spiritual power if they couldn't keep it in check. Their spiritual power would run wild, and they would fall into demonic ways, becoming fiends of the most evil and sinister kind!

Incense Demons could turn people into incense!

Xu Yi said to him, "Listen to yourself. You've already killed so many people. What makes you any different from a demon?"

The Foreign Devil told him with a serious expression, "There's a world of difference. I kill for my dreams and my ambitions. I'm not like the demons in the Hundred Night Miasma, who do nothing but hurt people."

The Foreign Devil stressed, "I have a purpose!"

He also said, "Those people I killed became my aromatics. Isn't that better than spending their lives laboring day after day, only to fade into obscurity?

"They became my incense to contribute to my great ideal!

"They should be happy! As my incense, they can give off a fragrance they could never have produced in their whole lives! The moment they became my incense was the true high point of their lives!"

Xu Yi wholeheartedly agreed. The two of them burst out laughing, utterly pleased with themselves.