Chapter 222: The Killing Intent of Six Fourth Tiers

"Commander's Partial Power Liberation Card."

This card was currently the biggest variable.

Once a commander used this card, they would suffer a heavy blow to grant their chess piece a portion of the commander's power for a single turn.

In this game of Monopoly, it was still unclear exactly what would happen upon bankruptcy, but one thing was certain: no one wanted to be the first eliminated.

Unknown consequences were the most unsettling.

Therefore, at the critical moment, the commanders would definitely use this card.

When that time came, everything would change.

Just after Yan Jing and the others finished building on all their grids and walked back to the Lin Estate, they spotted a figure surrounded by a four-sided curtain waiting at the front gate.

"County Magistrate Luo!"

Before Yan Jing and the others could speak, Bi Jie's voice rang out from within the curtain.

Completely different from his usual welcoming tone, Bi Jie's voice carried immense momentum today. His pitch was elevated, making it instantly clear he was not to be taken lightly.

"Lord Bi."

Yan Jing walked over.

"What brings Lord Bi to my door today?"

"Nothing much. I just came to chat with County Magistrate Luo."

Bi Jie laughed heartily, the very picture of a man invigorated by a stroke of good luck.

Yan Jing pondered for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"Come on in, then, Lord Bi."

"Alright."

The group entered the courtyard, and the two men each found a chair and sat down.

"I wonder what thoughts County Magistrate Luo has regarding tomorrow's competition?"

Bi Jie didn't even bother to hide his intentions, cutting straight to the chase the moment he sat down.

"If County Magistrate Luo is short on cash, you can just ask tomorrow."

Because the scattered teams from the neighboring cities had almost all joined Bi Jie, his starting funds were explosively high—a full four to five hundred.

Leaving everything else aside, even if he did absolutely nothing, his chess pieces could easily survive a dozen rounds.

Naturally, he had come today to show off to Yan Jing and Old Master Liu.

"Hmph. Showing off after getting a cheap advantage."

Old Master Liu coldly snorted.

Bi Jie wasn't angry. He chuckled and said, "County Magistrate Luo, I definitely remember the help you gave me yesterday. We're an alliance, after all; we need to cooperate!"

"If you're short on money, just ask. Don't worry about saving face. After all, you're a junior!"

Bi Jie patted his chest, acting incredibly magnanimous.

"Then I must thank Lord Bi."

Yan Jing laughed.

"Xiao Yu! Serve the tea!"

Bi Jie's expression shifted, and he offered an awkward smile.

"Look at you, look at you. County Magistrate Luo, if you ask me, you just take things too seriously."

"It's not the Herbal Tea."

Yan Jing reassured him.

"Oh, that's fine then."

Bi Jie relaxed and nodded.

Since it wasn't the Herbal Tea, he returned to the previous topic.

"County Magistrate Luo shouldn't have much money on hand, right?"

Bi Jie's smiling tone made Old Master Liu puff his beard out and glare.

"I really don't have much money."

Yan Jing took the plain boiled water Fei Yu handed him and sighed deeply.

"Just having a few hundred plots of land isn't much use."

Bi Jie's smile froze.

Because none of his subordinates were particularly capable fighters, after handing over thirty plots, it was essentially as if he hadn't earned any land in the first stage.

The eighty or so plots he had left—minus the initial fifty—had been scrounged up bit by bit by his subordinates relying on their numerical advantage.

It had taken a lot of effort.

"I truly am short on money. Truly short."

Yan Jing let out a long sigh. "If worse comes to worst, I'll just have to borrow some from Lord Bi to scrape by. It's better than mortgaging. Since you've already offered, you can't go back on your word when the time comes."

"..."

Hearing the word "mortgaging," the smile on Bi Jie's face faded slightly.

He had also ordered the Inner World Residents under him to inspect Bianliu County. Yan Jing had nearly three hundred plots of land!

And that wasn't even counting Tranquil Valley...

If it were all added up, even if Yan Jing only mortgaged a hundred plots, he would still have more money than him!

There was no helping it. As someone from Minhu, the thought of selling land had never once crossed his mind.

"Haha, I was just joking with County Magistrate Luo earlier. Who doesn't know that Bianliu County is yours now? If you just casually mortgage a few plots of land, that would be heaps of shining silver."

Having finally realized he was the one at a disadvantage, Bi Jie no longer dared to act big.

If Yan Jing actually swallowed his pride and came to borrow money tomorrow, wouldn't it be like a beggar lending to a landlord!

"Land doesn't solve the problem!"

Yan Jing lamented. "A plot of land I give up for five yuan would cost me ten yuan to buy back, while it would still be five yuan for you guys. Plus, if someone else steps on it, they might not even need to spend money. Between the gains and losses, it devalues."

"Lord Bi, you can't go back on your word about lending money!"

Was that how it worked?

Bi Jie was momentarily stunned. He had only been introduced to this so-called Monopoly today and hadn't fully figured out the math yet.

Moreover, he hadn't actually had time to read all the fine print at the bottom of the crystal board.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that Yan Jing was being dishonest, so he simply changed the subject, deciding to calculate it properly when he got back.

"Haha, County Magistrate Luo must be joking. Drink your tea, drink your tea first."

"Alright, tea first."

Yan Jing downed his cup of plain boiled water in one gulp, then silently counted down.

Three, two...

Pfft. Opposite him, a patch on the pitch-black curtain noticeably darkened.

"Didn't you say it wasn't the Herbal Tea?!"

Bi Jie's grief-stricken and indignant voice rang out.

"This is the Gardenia Rhubarb Decoction," Fei Yu, standing to the side, explained earnestly.

With nowhere to vent his anger, Bi Jie finally looked toward Old Master Liu and fumed.

"Look at the maid this butler of yours taught! She can't even brew a Gardenia Rhubarb Decoction properly!"

"Hehe."

Now it was Old Master Liu's turn to be amused.

His entire demeanor screamed, What can you do about it?

Bi Jie could finally see it—there wasn't a single normal person in this entire household!

Just as he was fuming and preparing to take his leave, Yan Jing suddenly spoke up.

"Lord Bi, could I invite you inside to ask a few things?"

"Hm?"

Bi Jie paused, unable to figure out what Yan Jing needed to discuss that couldn't be said in front of the others.

But in the end, he nodded.

Stone Mountain.

Inside a stone house.

Seven black curtains formed a circle, currently conducting a secret discussion.

And the one who had convened this meeting was naturally Bai Qiu.

"I presume everyone is already clear on the matter concerning that Advisor Yan?"

Bai Qiu glanced around.

"Mm."

The chief mechanism master of the Mechanism Alley Entrance was the first to speak.

"I had a disciple who died by his hands."

"I must have revenge."

Craftsmen never hid their intentions, and he directly stated his stance.

The disciple he spoke of was naturally the female mechanical cultivator who had died at Yan Jing's hands during the great battle against Wei Nantian.

"Strictly speaking, Brother Wei was also buried by the hands of that human. Our Zhennan County naturally wants him dead as well."

The one who spoke was the leader of the Wu Faction, one of the other two factions in Zhennan County.

But in reality, on that day, he had been one of the many Fourth Tiers besieging Wei Nantian.

"I actually think that kid isn't bad."

The strongest old agricultural cultivator chosen by the Crop Plains sneered.

Simply because the Crop Plains had always been at odds with Wei Nantian.

Furthermore, Luo Sheng had killed Lin Changgui during his battle with Bai Qiu.

For many years, the Crop Plains had viewed Lin Changgui as a traitor.

So his stance leaned toward Luo Sheng.

"You'll know whether he's really 'not bad' when your side gets ruined by him."

The master of Baile Manor sneered.

"Do you think your background is completely clean? If that County Magistrate Luo catches hold of something against you, can you retreat unscathed?"

"At the end of the day, who in Bianliu County is clean? Fuck, we're all equally dirty. Luo Sheng, someone who hasn't even reached the Third Tier, wants to swallow us all in one bite?!"

"Regardless, I don't agree to it."

The Baile Manor master's words had a clear effect, and the old agricultural cultivator fell into thought.

"As for me, I have no choice."

Bai Qiu smiled.

"That's because you touched the live human trade!"

The old agricultural cultivator was also very dissatisfied with Bai Qiu. Snapping out of his thoughts, he spoke again.

Since none of them could make a move right now anyway, he spoke bluntly.

"The grandmaster once said that anyone who touches the live human trade will come to a bad end!"

"Even with the arrival of the New Heaven, this point has never changed!"

"Alright, alright!!! If you don't agree, then leave!!!"

The Baile Manor master interrupted impatiently.

This time, the old agricultural cultivator hesitated for a moment before finally leaving.

"Fuck, touching living people! Who knows if you've even touched the elderly and children! Fuck, animals!!!"

With the curtain to shield him, he spoke his mind freely before leaving.

Meanwhile, Bai Qiu didn't seem to mind much. Looking at the remaining people, he smiled and said, "Then let's continue."

...

...

Eventually, everyone formed an alliance and left one by one.

Bai Qiu and Tang Lian remained in the room, waiting for someone to return.

Soon enough, the master of Baile Manor returned.

"You didn't actually out me, did you?"

He looked at Bai Qiu.

He had also participated in the live human trade.

Otherwise, where did all those live transporters come from?

They were all rotten gamblers who had gambled away their very bodies at Baile Manor!

Moreover, this was far from the first time the few of them had cooperated.

"Not yet."

Bai Qiu said calmly.

Not yet meant that he might.

The Baile Manor master took a deep breath.

"I only believed you because you said you could handle it back then!!!"

"I could indeed handle it back then."

Bai Qiu remained composed, picking up a tangerine from the table and slowly peeling it.

Back then, there was no Bi Jie, no Liu Ye, and most importantly, no Luo Sheng as he was now.

Left with no other options, the Baile Manor master could only leave a threat before departing.

"I have quite a few things on you too!"

"If that greenhorn kid really takes control of the situation, I wouldn't mind airing everything out!"

After the master of Baile Manor left, Tang Lian finally spoke up.

"What are the odds of winning?"

"Fifty percent."

Bai Qiu's expression darkened, the smile vanishing from his face.

"I've never heard of such low odds."

Tang Lian frowned, highly dissatisfied.

Whenever that man spoke, he would state the odds were at least eighty percent.

And that was when he was lowballing it.

"I am not him."

Bai Qiu shoved the tangerine into his mouth. "If I were him, there's no way I would be stuck in this backwater hole. If I were him, I'd be the one befriending Luo Sheng."

"If I were him, I wouldn't have turned Luo Sheng into an enemy."

If the previous few sentences had been self-deprecating, that last sentence was Bai Qiu openly mocking that man.

Tang Lian couldn't tolerate this. She spoke indignantly.

"The reason he made Luo Sheng an enemy is because Luo Sheng could never possibly win against him!!!"

"What right do you have to compare yourself to him!"

"None."

Bai Qiu grabbed a tissue and wiped his hands.

"I really wish he could hear what you just said, so he would know just how loyal you are to him."

After saying that, Bai Qiu walked out of the stone house and slowly headed toward the top of the mountain.

Nobody knew what he was truly thinking inside. In his eyes, none of these people were fit to compete with him. There was an idiot whose heart was filled with self-righteousness, a rotten gambler who couldn't control himself, a brain-dead moron who would attack his own most easily controlled allies, and a woman whose brain had been rotted away by love.

No, it couldn't even be called love.

It was merely wishful thinking.

But he, Bai Qiu, was different.

No matter how much money he made or how large his businesses grew, to him, they were all just ways to prove himself.

He wanted only one thing.

That was to survive.

As long as he could survive, he could become Boss Bai again no matter where he went.

Therefore, Luo Sheng had to die.