Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Who knows where he comes up with these lies—he was the one who forced it on the other guy, who never even asked for it.

But the moment Lu Yunqi stepped out of that dark room, he couldn't keep it together anymore. He slapped a hand over his rear, hopping instinctively a couple of times, thinking that it had felt amazing just moments ago, but now that it was over, the pain was really hitting him.

Especially since it was his first time—he wondered if he'd torn something down there.

Murong Jie's thing was so big, just thinking about it was enough to make his heart race.

Fortunately, when he went back and checked carefully, there was no injury—it was just that his first time taking it wasn't exactly comfortable. He needed to apply medicine, rest, and stay celibate for seven days.

He'd originally planned to let Murong Jie go, but...

In his previous nine lives, he'd treated the man well—good food, good drink, kind words—and that bastard had still killed him. This life, there was no way he was letting him off that easy!

With that thought, Lu Yunqi gave a sinister order: "Someone! Go get that Murong Jie cleaned up and move him into my side courtyard. This young lord intends to have his way with that beauty!"

Heh, since I've decided to really disgust you, I might as well go all the way!

Since he'd just been reborn and had nothing better to do, he needed to get pregnant with his child ASAP—that was the real priority.

His personal attendant Liu Bao answered cheerfully: "Yes, Young Lord, Liu Bao's on it!"

Watching Liu Bao scurry off all eager and happy, Lu Yunqi let out another sigh. Liu Bao was a poor soul too—just because the original owner had bought him off the slave market right before his hands were about to be chopped off, he'd carried that debt of gratitude his whole life, and in the end, he'd been riddled with arrows while shielding his master from pursuers.

The first time Liu Bao died, Lu Yunqi had been a wreck for days. By the ninth time Liu Bao died, Lu Yunqi thought to himself: in your next life, make sure you're reborn into a good family—and preferably never meet anyone named Lu Yunqi.

Alright, now it was the tenth life. Lu Yunqi lounged on the couch, bouncing his leg, thinking—if I'm going to die anyway, you guys should just live well, right?

He was born a useless good-for-nothing with no big ambitions. If he hadn't been set up, he wouldn't have ended up in this hellish-difficulty game. Before he died, he needed to leave something behind for the world.

With that thought, Lu Yunqi opened the system. The moment it opened, a little-boy voice came through: "Host, host, I'm your system spirit, Xiao Jiu. Your 'Idle Lad Planting System' is fully installed. Now, please follow my lead and complete the tasks one by one!"

Great, the same old system spirit again. Lu Yunqi grunted in acknowledgment: "Go on! What's the first step?"

Xiao Jiu replied: "Since this is a planting system, you naturally need to claim a piece of land to cultivate! This land can't be too small—it needs to be at least the size of a city, so you can develop it later."

Lu Yunqi sat up and asked: "That big? Aren't you the 'Idle Lad Planting System'? If I have to develop land that big, how am I supposed to stay lazy?"

The system cleared its throat and chuckled: "This... I can't reveal the secrets of heaven. Since you've chosen this system, just follow my guidance. Anyway... there are tons of rewards, so you won't lose out!"

Lu Yunqi thought to himself, yeah, I don't buy that.

Was he getting set up again?

At that moment, his body felt a bit uncomfortable—sticky and gross—and he wanted to take a bath, but he knew he couldn't. He had to wait for the conception to take; washing up right after wouldn't be good for getting pregnant.

Whatever, the system was already bound. What else could he do? Even if it was a trap, he had to walk right in.

But then Lu Yunqi said thoughtfully: "Hey System, there's no way there's land that big in the capital. To find wasteland the size of a city, it'd have to be out in the boonies. I can't just run off somewhere else to reclaim land, can I? Then what about my main quest?"

Xiao Jiu corrected him: "It's not Little System—it's Xiao Jiu! To answer your question, you don't need to worry about that. Our system has an Anywhere Door feature. You just need to set up two Anywhere Doors, and you can instantly go anywhere you want."

Lu Yunqi perked up: "Anywhere? The whole planet?"

Xiao Jiu: "...Host, you can open the world map and take a look. As long as it's on the map, you can pick it as your development area."

Lu Yunqi opened the system's built-in world map and saw that it covered the territories of four countries.

The Great Xia they were in was the heart of the Central Plains and the biggest country on the whole map.

To the north was Great Yan—which was basically Hebei and the areas north of the capital in his world.

To the west was Great Jin, and to the south was Great Zhao. Both were a bit smaller, and further west were the various Western Regions kingdoms.

Lu Yunqi studied the whole map, thinking it couldn't be too close—if it were, someone might see him popping up in two different places and think they'd seen a ghost.

It also couldn't be too far—if it were, getting around would be a pain, and development would be a nightmare.

He searched all over the map until he finally found a good spot. Located at the junction of Great Yan and Great Xia, there was a lawless zone with the Taiyan Mountains to the north, the Cang Sea to the east, and the Yu River to the south. That area would later be developed into a trade market, but that was a hundred years in the future.

At that moment, the area was nothing but wasteland. If this system really had that much development capacity, hiding there would indeed be a good choice.

It also had a nice name—Wanping Wasteland.

So he reached out and tapped it, saying: "Right here!"

As long as he built a bridge over the Yu River, he could control the future crossroads of all routes, because this was the only mountain path leading to the Taiyan Mountains, and that path was the main thoroughfare between Great Yan and Great Xia.

Xiao Jiu didn't say anything else, only asking: "Host, are you sure you want to set your development area here?"

Lu Yunqi nodded: "I'm sure!"

Xiao Jiu responded: "Very well, host. Please set up an Anywhere Door leading to the development area."

Lu Yunqi thought for a moment, then asked: "By the way, how many Anywhere Doors can I set up?"

Xiao Jiu answered: "Three—two entrances and one exit. But they're not permanent; you can dismantle and reset them."

Lu Yunqi gave an "oh": "That's good then..."

With that, enduring the pain in his rear, he opened the wardrobe door in the room and said: "This one! Passing through it will take me to my private domain!"

Xiao Jiu responded: "Alright, alright. The Anywhere Door has been generated. Please continue to set up the Anywhere Door exit."

Lu Yunqi zoomed the map all the way in, studied the outline of the entire wasteland, and set an Anywhere Door exit near the edge of the Yu River.

Once the exit was set, he saw a flash of white light before his eyes, and Lu Yunqi was teleported to the Wanping Wasteland.

It was the transition between spring and summer, and the Wanping Wasteland was lush with grass and flying orioles, wildflowers covering the ground. The Yu River flowed slowly through the wasteland like a jade ribbon, pouring into the Cang Sea to the east.

Lu Yunqi looked at the endless wasteland and hissed: "Isn't this a bit too desolate? A place like this—surely I'm not expected to develop it all by myself?"

Xiao Jiu chuckled twice and said: "How could that be, master? We're a proper, good system—we don't exploit our hosts. Now then, please continue with the system tasks!"

The moment Xiao Jiu finished speaking, a mechanical prompt sounded: "Congratulations, host, on completing the first system task. You've received a hand-pushed lawn mower, usable for three days. Would you like to claim it now?"

"Three days?" Lu Yunqi frowned and asked: "Just three days? I finally get an item, and it's only usable for three days?"

Xiao Jiu sighed: "Master, don't rush. The lawn mower is modern machinery, and electric at that—in this world, it's a BUG-level existence. The system can temporarily shield the world's rules, but at most, it can only shield them for three days. So please make the most of it during these three days!"

Lu Yunqi waved his hand: "Fine, got it. What's next? Any more system tasks?"

The system prompt sounded: "Please have the host reclaim one mu of wasteland. Step one: clear the weeds from the wasteland."

Lu Yunqi secretly rejoiced—wasn't this perfect timing?

The moment they'd given him the lawn mower, the next moment they asked him to clear weeds. He quickly claimed the lawn mower, flipped the switch, and started buzzing away.

The system interface outlined a one-mu plot for him (about one-sixth of an acre), and all he needed to do was clear the weeds within that boundary.

The system's weed trimmer worked great, though it was a bit noisy. Besides, Lu Yunqi, for all his years of causing trouble and cheating death, had always been pampered and soft. After just an hour of cutting grass, his palms were already rubbed raw.

On top of that, his butt was still sore. By the time he finished mowing that one mu of land, he felt like total crap.

At that point, he couldn't give a damn about getting pregnant—he yanked off his clothes and dove into the Jade River.

The Jade River was so clear you could see straight to the bottom, which was exactly why the Wanping wilderness was so lush and fertile. After one lap, he finally felt a lot better.

He plopped down on a clean haystack and soaked up some sun before continuing with the remaining system tasks.

As soon as he opened the system, the prompt sounded again: "Congrats, host, on finishing step one of reclaiming one mu of wasteland. You've received a rotary tiller, usable for three days."

Lu Yunqi: ...Yeah, I already know what's coming.

Sure enough, the next second, he heard the system prompt: "Reclaim one mu of wasteland, step two: please till the cleared land evenly."

So, the rotary tiller he'd just received came in handy once again.

Now he understood the system's logic—the reward from the previous task was exactly the tool needed for the current one.

What more could he say?

He simply mounted the rotary tiller and worked the land until it was properly tilled.

After tilling, he received a drone sprayer, and the next task was to spray herbicide over the reclaimed land.

Great, they'd already moved on to drones. Decades—he'd been in this world for decades—and he finally got to see some modern tech.

As he operated the drone to spray the herbicide, tears streamed down Lu Yunqi's face.

Not for any particular reason, really—mostly because his butt still hurt.

==========Author's Note:==========