Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Emerging from the mine, Xue Seven handed the ores to Huo Yi for tallying and registration.

"Eighty copper ores, one hundred forty iron ores, and forty gold ores," Huo Yi noted, "Little Seven, you're quite lucky today, finding such a rich vein."

Normally, let alone gold ores, Xue Seven would only unearth half that amount of iron ores.

Xue Seven raised an eyebrow smugly. He, too, felt his luck was good today. However, coming out so late, he feared...

He approached the redemption counter, opened the box, and sighed. As expected, he was too late; the strawberry cakes had already been redeemed by his siblings.

He should have left earlier.

Though he said that, Xue Seven suspected that even if he could go back a few hours, seeing so many ores in the mine, he would still dig them all before leaving.

Xue Seven felt a little puzzled. He hadn't been this diligent before; how had he slowly become...

Wait, it seemed he was influenced by the Farm Owner.

Xue Seven recalled that Ying Yuanxing was a mining maniac, digging up every ore in sight. After mining alongside him for a while, Xue Seven had picked up the habit.

The only difference was that Ying Yuanxing only ate when exhausted, wolfing down his food without savoring it, while Xue Seven ate whenever he pleased, taking his time to enjoy each bite.

Shaking his head, Xue Seven focused on the other options. Though he missed out on cake today, it would be restocked tomorrow. He could save his credits and come early then.

However...

"Huo Yi, how much money do my older brothers have left in their accounts?" Xue Seven asked tentatively.

"Ying Yuanxing said every Weird's account balance is private—not to be disclosed," Huo Yi glanced at Xue Seven and shook his head.

"Hey, come on, we're close, aren't we? Besides, I'm just asking about my brothers' balances, not other Weirds'." Xue Seven leaned closer to Huo Yi, trying to leverage their friendship, but the moment he got near, he was scorched back by the intense heat radiating from Huo Yi.

"Don't get too close. I've been running hotter recently," Huo Yi said, stepping away from Xue Seven.

Only then did Xue Seven notice that Huo Yi's flames had shifted from their previous orange-red to a more yellowish hue—his temperature had risen another notch.

"I've grown some too," Xue Seven boasted, raising his hands. Compared to before, he now looked like a three-year-old. Even the illusions he couldn't maintain before were now...

At the thought of illusions, Xue Seven glanced at Huo Yi.

If he asked, Huo Yi definitely wouldn't answer. But what if Ying Yuanxing asked?

"Hey, the Farm Owner's here!" Xue Seven looked into the distance. Huo Yi instinctively looked up, falling right into Xue Seven's carefully woven illusion.

Meanwhile, Mother Xue, worried that Xue Seven hadn't returned from the mine, came looking for him—just in time to see him casting the illusion.

Though the illusion was still a bit crude in the eyes of a master like her, it was enough to reveal Xue Seven's talent.

Originally, Mother Xue had been hesitant about letting her younger children work, especially Xue Seven. Even though he was number seven, even Xue Eight was slightly more capable. She had planned to let Xue Seven rest until he was older.

But seeing his illusion, she decided not to waste his potential.

Besides, if Xue Seven was actively weaving illusions, it meant he enjoyed it—so there was no point holding him back.

Noticing that Huo Yi was already realizing the illusion's trick, Mother Xue waved her hand to dispel it. With other Weirds, she might have waited, but Fire Weirds' destructive range was too large.

"Little Seven, you tried to trick me again—" Huo Yi fumed, then spotted Mother Xue nearby. "Oh! Aunt Xue!"

"I already used that trick once, you can't fool me—" Xue Seven laughed as he turned, only to freeze when he saw his mother standing there.

Hauled back home by Mother Xue, Xue Seven thought the matter was over—until she announced he would be learning illusion-weaving and working at the farm, with shifts running nonstop for twenty-four hours.

For Weirds, rest wasn't strictly necessary, so working around the clock was feasible. But Xue Seven had never worked so long before—even mining allowed breaks.

Illusion-weaving, however, left almost no downtime.

Eyes welling up with tears, Xue Seven looked at his mother, hoping to appeal to her sympathy. But she remained firm, saying gently, "Little Seven, I know you love weaving illusions—you're just afraid it'll be hard to learn. Don't worry, we'll make learning fun, combining theory and practice. It'll be easy!"

Xue Seven was stunned. When had he ever said he liked weaving illusions...?

Then he remembered—when his mother found him, he'd been using an illusion to trick Huo Yi. Had that led to this misunderstanding?

Before he could explain, Xue Eight rushed over excitedly. "Mom said before that you and Xue Nine could rest and not go to the farm yet. I didn't expect her to change her mind!"

That only made Xue Seven feel worse. His little trick had backfired spectacularly.

"By the way, when did you start liking illusion-weaving? I never noticed," Xue Eight asked curiously.

Distracted, Xue Seven could only watch helplessly as his mother headed toward the farm, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Don't be upset. Mom said the farm pays well, and there are no restrictions on what you can get—anything the farm has, you can..." Xue Eight tried to cheer him up, but Xue Seven suddenly stood and walked off.

"Where are you going? You're not trying to run, are you?" Xue Eight grabbed him nervously. There was no escaping their mother's decisions.

"I'm not running. I'm going to spend all the money in my account—I won't have time to visit Huo Yi later," Xue Seven said, rolling his eyes.

"What do you want to eat? I'll get you something," Xue Seven offered, willing to share with Xue Eight for his concern. He didn't forget Xue San either. "Third Bro, what do you want?"

Xue San wouldn't take his money. He could tell Xue Seven wasn't exactly excited about the illusion work, but he couldn't override their mother's decision. The best he could do was make it up to him somehow.

"No need. I'm not hungry right now. I'll... go with you," Xue San said, standing and leading Xue Seven and Xue Eight back to the mine.

Xue Seven exchanged all his money for Weird Food, and Xue San did the same—though he didn't eat his share, saving it for Xue Seven instead.

Clutching his snacks, Xue Seven sighed. Perhaps the world knew he was leaving the mine, which was why he'd found so many ores today.

By the time they returned, Mother Xue was already back, launching straight into on-the-job training. The older four formed one team, while Xue Five to Xue Eight made up another.

Xue Seven was just glad he'd stocked up on Weird Food—without it, his Weird Qi wouldn't last through the illusion-weaving.

Mother Xue trained them ruthlessly, but the results were outstanding. In just one night, all eight Xue clan Weirds got the basics of illusion-weaving down.

When Mother Xue brought the Xue clan Weirds to the farm, Jing Zhen and Lan Ying, as veteran employees, tested the illusions first. Once confirmed safe, they opened for business.

...

Aside from the Weirds from He Yingqiu's side, some independent Weirds also arrived—some bringing younger Weirds, others coming alone.

Entering the illusion, they were nearly scared off by the sight of a massive crowd of Weirds, mistaking it for a black-market clinic. They tried to flee, but in the illusion, escape was impossible. The disorientation only heightened their panic.

This was it—they'd risked coming for treatment, only to lose their lives instead.

Following Mother Xue's orders, Xue Seven immediately conjured up a doctor figure, directing the scattered Weirds to proceed with their checkups.

Unable to flee and too afraid to resist, the Weirds could only obediently follow along for the physical examination.

All these elaborate processes were mainly to keep the Weirds' attention focused on these trivial matters, leaving them no time to notice other things in the illusion.

For the physical examination, those who met the physical standards entered the treatment room for physical therapy, while those who didn't first drank some nutrient solutions to repair their bodies before qualifying for treatment.

The scattered Weirds gradually shifted from panic and anxiety to bewilderment, then to shock and ecstasy. By the time the treatment was completed and they found the impurities in their bodies gone, they were extremely grateful.

Soon, with this batch of treated patients as seeds, the reputation of the treatment room gradually spread among the lower-ranking Weirds across various Weird domains.

Although the treatment room's fees were high, they weren't completely unaffordable. If necessary, the treatment room also accepted other unusual items—although they had to be sent for appraisal first. If accepted, they could offset the cost.

Because of this rule, Ying Yuanxing suddenly received a deluge of random objects and had to build a new large warehouse just to store the boxes, as they had become too numerous and disorganized.

"Why collect all these?" Xuan Ying asked curiously while helping to organize, also wondering whether he should send a clone to gather more if Ying Yuanxing liked them.

Ying Yuanxing glanced at Xuan Ying, who had never played games and thus didn't understand that sometimes strange items were needed.

These things might seem useless when discarded, but when the need arose, collecting them would require great effort—and sometimes they might not even be obtainable.

Though Ying Yuanxing wasn't sure if they'd be useful, the purchase price was low enough that he figured it was worth keeping them.

……

At the boundary gate.

The Weird guarding the gate did some calculations and said, puzzled, "In the past, our post here was a lucrative position—many desperate Weirds, unable to find random rifts, had no choice but to come here to reach Blue Star."

"But since passage through the gate was limited, not all Weirds could go, forcing them to queue. Those who wanted to go earlier had to grease our palms."

"Although most of the bribes went to superiors, we here still received some Weird coins. Yet when I tallied the accounts today, this month's earnings were lower."

"You're short too?" another guard asked.

"You too?" The guard looked up, saw his colleague nod, and frowned.

Meanwhile, the Guard Captain's expression was even darker. If his subordinates earned less, his own share would shrink even more—since they got the smaller cut while he took the larger portion.

Moreover, he had paid a hefty sum in Weird coins to his superiors to secure this position. If his earnings weren't enough to cover their share, he'd have to make up the difference himself.

After all, his superiors didn't care how much he earned—they only cared about their own cut.

Narrowing his eyes, the Guard Captain flipped through the ledger, which listed Weirds who had scheduled passage but lacked sufficient funds and were thus pushed back in line.

But since fewer Weirds had been sent off this month, he decided to let these Weirds go first.

"Hey, Zhao Ze," the Guard Captain said, "we've got an extra slot for Blue Star. Want it? You'll need to pay a bit more in Weird coins as a fee for going early. Huh? No? You're sure? Your son's body won't last much longer. If you don't go to Blue Star, he'll just die. Hey—hey—"

Mid-sentence, the Guard Captain angrily slammed down the communicator—but the other end had already hung up, completely ignoring his rage.

The Guard Captain had never been treated like this before. In the past, other Weirds had begged him to loosen restrictions and let them through. Now, they were standing their ground and even daring to hang up on him.

If he weren't tied to guarding the gate—and if he didn't know where Zhao Ze was—the Guard Captain would have dealt with him personally on the spot.

Too impatient to keep calling, the Guard Captain delegated the task to his subordinates, ordering each of them to recruit ten Weirds to cross the gate—or be penalized.

The guards were baffled, but seeing their captain's temper, they had no choice but to accept the task and start making calls.

Some Weirds, thrilled at the chance to go to Blue Star early—even if it cost extra—happily agreed and came over.

Others were happy to hear the news but couldn't afford the additional Weird coins. They begged for discounts or to pay later, only to be flatly refused.

A few simply hung up after hearing the offer. Although not many, their numbers were noticeably higher than before.

Some didn't even answer, no matter how many times the guards called.

Zhao Ze felt an indescribable satisfaction after hanging up. Before, to get his son to Blue Star, he had begged every Weird at the gate, spending numerous Weird coins—only to have his spot repeatedly taken by others, pushing him further back in line.

But now, he didn't need to send his son to Blue Star at all.

Looking at his son, who had grown stronger after visiting the treatment room, Zhao Ze was filled with relief. If he hadn't gone, his son might have dissipated by the time the gate called. Now, he could absorb Weird Qi and grow slowly.

Although the Weird Qi in the Weird world was much thinner, it still existed. As long as there were few or no impurities in the body, the absorbed Weird Qi would always outweigh the lost Qi.

This was why many purified Weirds no longer wanted to go to Blue Star.

Though some Weirds claimed Blue Star was overflowing with prey, the lack of Weird Qi there was the biggest problem. Eating humans was only an inferior substitute for absorbing Weird Qi—who would choose Blue Star if they could absorb Qi here?

Furthermore, some Weirds retained memories from when they were human. While they wouldn't hold back when survival was at stake, they still hesitated to kill humans if their situation improved.

Since they were transformed from humans, wouldn't large-scale human deaths eventually affect the Weird world?

Before, they hadn't had the luxury to consider this. But now, with their safety somewhat secured, it was worth thinking about.

Zhao Ze's ears perked up—he thought he heard a colleague mention paying at the gate…

Carrying his son, he hurried out and returned a while later, smiling.

Meanwhile, the guard on the other end of the call waited in silence before the previously eager client hesitantly said they couldn't raise enough coins and would stick to their original spot, then hung up.

After persuading one colleague, Zhao Ze decided to post anonymously on the anonymous forum.

No Weird knew which Great Weird had created this forum, but it was truly anonymous—no matter how explosive the content or how big the fallout, no Weird could trace the poster's identity from the forum.

Most posters who got in trouble had slipped up and leaked their own information.

Now, Zhao Ze wanted to cause trouble for the gate—like spreading the word that there was a place to remove impurities, advising other Weirds not to go to Blue Star, as they couldn't return and would lose out.

To avoid affecting his own access to the treatment room, Zhao Ze didn't name it directly but described it in vague but impressive terms.

To him, the experience of impurity removal there had been unforgettable. The ads hadn't done it justice—the process was meticulous, and although the treatment was painful, the relief afterward was great.

The post quickly drew attention, but most Weirds mocked Zhao Ze, calling his claims a transparent scam.

Some outright cursed him, accusing him of being a gate client with a late spot, trying to trick others into canceling so he could move up.

Others, who had already paid the guards for early passage, sneered at Zhao Ze as a loser.

Zhao Ze could tolerate the earlier comments, but the later ones made him lose his temper.

Impulsive by nature, he had already clashed with the Guard Captain and passionately argued with his colleague. Now, he retorted in the forum.

But the other Weird was much faster at typing, leaving Zhao Ze struggling to respond quickly enough. Still, his pride kept him going—replying to two or three of every ten insults.

The post, initially sinking into obscurity, rose back up thanks to their heated exchange.

Ying Yuanxing, scrolling through the forum on his communicator, raised his eyebrows at the post. It sounded like it was describing the treatment room.

Upon clicking into the post and reading Zhao Ze's praise for the treatment room, Ying Yuanxing inexplicably felt his face flush—not out of embarrassment, but awkwardness.

As the owner, he knew exactly how the treatment room had evolved step by step. It was far from the high-end establishment Zhao Ze described, but rather a process of constant jury-rigging.

Ying Yuanxing merely read through without intending to reply. Though the anonymous forum was claimed to be secure with decades of credibility, in his view, it simply meant the benefits of leaking information weren't substantial enough.

If the payoff was big enough, the Great Weird running the forum would take action.

Not just Ying Yuanxing, but all the Weirds who had undergone treatment at the facility noticed the post. Initially, they ignored it, but upon seeing others not only insult Zhao Ze but also attack the treatment room, they were riled up—just like stirring a hornet's nest.

At this moment, the Weirds were extremely grateful to the treatment room. Many felt the Weird Coins they'd spent were too little. Those with coins tried to leave extra, while those without even attempted to offer a limb as a token of gratitude.

The moment they left these "gifts," doctors and nurses tracked them down, returning the coins and reattaching their limbs before sending them off after the final treatment—giving them no chance for a second attempt, much to their regret.

Had Xue Seven known their thoughts, he might have wept. Before learning the illusion technique, he'd found the challenge tough but manageable.

But he never imagined he'd also have to learn medical skills from the doctors—otherwise, reattaching limbs in the illusions would be nearly impossible.

Now, seeing the treatment room attacked online (even if the critics knew nothing of its true workings) made them furious.

It also gave them an idea: they could help promote the facility. After all, their impurities had been removed—though they'd accumulate again, it would take time. If the treatment room lost business and shut down in the meantime, what then?

They feared both overcrowding and scarcity—too many patients fighting for slots, or too few leading to closure.

Zhang Wen was the Weird exchanging insults with Zhao Ze. Though too weak to rise from bed, his eight tentacles pounded the keyboard relentlessly—why he overwhelmed Zhao Ze in the argument.

When a bunch of Weirds emerged to defend Zhao Ze, Zhang Wen refused to back down, dismissing their praises of the treatment room.

Yet, the more he read their accounts, the more uneasy he grew. One or two, even dozens, could be dismissed as fakes or shills—but hundreds, each describing unique experiences in distinct styles?

Could there really be a place that removes impurities?

Hesitating, Zhang Wen eyed the contact number posted by other Weirds. Just as he wavered, the door burst open—his elder brother, Zhang Ming, stood there.

"Big bro?"

"Wen, hold off on going to the Blue Star. I just got word—we're heading here instead." Zhang Ming produced a tattered flyer. At a glance, Zhang Wen recognized the number from the forum.

Was impurity removal truly possible?

The post didn't just affect Zhang Wen. Many Weirds en route to the Boundary Gate saw it too. Some, still able to wait, were swayed—unwilling to leave.

The Guard Captain hadn't expected these Weirds to renege. After a long wait, less than half of those promised came.