Senior Fellow Apprentice, Why Do You Have So Many Schemes

Su Ji's voice carried a hint of suppressed excitement.

"I've decided!"

"From now on, I, Su Hao, will follow you!"

Zhang Kui's bell-like eyes slowly narrowed.

He didn't speak immediately, simply placing the wineskin in his hand back on the table.

For a moment, the room was terrifyingly quiet.

Only the wick of the oil lamp occasionally let out a faint crackle.

Zhang Kui's rough fingers unconsciously tapped against the scarred stone table, one after another.

The dull thuds seemed to strike right at Su Ji's heart.

"You came running to me in the middle of the night just to say this?"

Zhang Kui's brows furrowed so deeply they could crush a fly.

Su Ji stiffened his neck and asked in return,

"Is this not a major matter?"

Zhang Kui looked Su Ji up and down, his scrutinizing gaze completely undisguised.

This person, Su Hao, was already eye-catching enough.

Now, sneaking into his room late at night to say such things.

If someone said there wasn't something fishy going on, Zhang Kui would be the first to disbelieve it.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, his brows relaxed.

Could it be...

Interesting.

So that's how it is?

Su Ji didn't seem to notice Zhang Kui's suspicions; his face was filled with an eagerness to prove his loyalty.

"Big Brother Zhang, I've finally figured it out."

"In this hellhole, trying to go it alone is something only an idiot would do."

"If you want to live well and comfortably, you need a backer!"

"I don't want to become a walking corpse like those other miners."

"Weren't they also ascenders who fought with all their might until no one in their entire world dared to utter a sound?"

"Yet they ended up in such a state."

"I, Su Hao, might not be the most outstanding among so many people."

"There's a good saying: a wise man submits to circumstances."

Hearing this, Zhang Kui's expression didn't change. He just picked up the wineskin and took another swig.

"I said I'd take care of you, so I will. Why don't you believe me?"

He wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, his voice muffled.

This was exactly the sentence Su Ji had been waiting for.

Lowering his voice, he put on a pained expression.

"Out of the ore I mined today, apart from the two hundred catties I gave you as a transport fee, I should still have nine hundred and ninety catties left on my account, right?"

"I am willing... to give another five hundred catties to Big Brother Zhang!"

Five hundred catties!

Even Zhang Kui's fingers, which were tapping the table, suddenly paused upon hearing this number.

Five hundred catties of Black Vein Iron was no small amount.

How should one put it.

Even though a miner had to dig up five hundred catties in fifty days.

But saving up a quota of five hundred catties was not easy at all.

This kid was really investing heavily and was quite good at playing the submissive subordinate.

Able to bend and stretch, adapting to the wind.

Even among all the ascenders he had seen over the years, he could be considered a decent character.

It was just a pity that his cultivation was a bit lacking.

Otherwise, he really would have been willing to lend him a hand.

Unfortunately, the weaker the cultivation, the faster the rate of erosion...

They say one can regain freedom in four hundred years...

But in reality...

Whether this Su Hao could even live past forty years was an unknown...

"Is there nothing else?"

Zhang Kui's voice betrayed neither joy nor anger.

"Nothing else."

Su Ji quickly shook his head, replacing his expression with a good-natured smile.

"I just... I just arrived and I'm not used to the life here yet. I tossed and turned at night unable to sleep, so I figured telling you this earlier would put my mind at ease."

Looking at his somewhat fawning appearance, Zhang Kui's tense face finally relaxed slowly.

He waved his hand.

"Alright, I understand."

"Go back."

He paused, then added,

"In the future, just come to me during the day for this kind of thing. It's not some shady deal, after all."

Feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, Su Ji hastily stood up from the stone stool and bowed repeatedly to Zhang Kui.

"Yes, yes, yes, thank you, Big Brother Zhang!"

"Then I won't disturb your rest any longer."

After saying that, Su Ji backed out of the shack.

...

Outside the shack, in the shadow of a massive rock barely a dozen zhang away.

A figure had almost completely blended into the darkness.

It was none other than Qin Feng, who had left and returned.

He was no fool.

Su Ji's plan of operating in the light and the dark, coordinating from the inside and outside, sounded absolutely flawless.

But you can never truly know a person's heart.

Especially in such a despair-filled place, any trust seemed cheap and ridiculous.

How could he truly feel at ease letting an ally he had known for less than a day hold all the initiative?

Su Ji had said he was going to wander around outside, pretending to look for a way out to attract the overseers' attention.

This excuse was too perfect.

So perfect that Qin Feng couldn't help but suspect it was a fabricated excuse for Su Ji to ditch him.

If it were him, he would never make such a magnanimous move to willingly put himself in danger.

Therefore, he was not at ease.

He had to confirm it with his own eyes.

When he saw Su Ji's figure sneakily creeping up to Zhang Kui's shack, Qin Feng's heart instantly sank to rock bottom.

Betrayed!

This thought, like a venomous snake, frantically gnawed at his reason.

For a split second, he even entertained the thought of killing him to silence him.

But he ultimately held back.

He forced himself to calm down, retracted all his aura, and like the most patient hunter, silently lurked near that shack.

He wanted to hear exactly what Su Ji would say to Zhang Kui.

"...From now on, I, Su Hao, will follow you!"

When this sentence drifted intermittently into his ears along with the wind, Qin Feng's face instantly turned incredibly grim.

Just as he thought!

This bastard turned around and sold him out!

Next, he would definitely use the information he had revealed as a token of allegiance to earn Zhang Kui's trust!

Qin Feng clenched his jaw tightly, the anger and killing intent in his chest almost bursting out.

However, the next words he heard left him completely stunned.

He heard Su Ji offering five hundred catties of Black Vein Iron as tribute.

He heard Su Ji's excuse of being unable to sleep and coming to show loyalty.

From beginning to end, Su Ji did not mention a single word about Qin.

Nor did he reveal the slightest bit of information about their alliance or rebellion.

Standing in the shadows, the expression on Qin Feng's face constantly shifted.

He actually wasn't going to snitch?

He was truly trying to gain Zhang Kui's trust!

Even at the massive cost of five hundred catties of Black Vein Iron!

A profoundly complex and indescribable emotion suddenly surged in Qin Feng's heart.

It seemed he had judged the heart of a gentleman with the mind of a petty man.

This Brother Su, though his actions seemed reckless and flashy, actually had a deep mind and was willing to make such a huge sacrifice for their shared great cause.

And yet, just moments ago, he had been doubting him and even harbored murderous intent toward him.

Qin Feng took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing those unwarranted emotions.

Seeing Su Ji's figure emerge from the shack, he quickly turned around and, with a few flashes, silently vanished into the deeper darkness.

Alright then!

He had to find a way to get his hands on those two hundred catties of Black Vein Iron!

He must!

...

Su Ji stepped out of Zhang Kui's shack, facing the freezing night wind of the wasteland, and let out a long breath.

In his mind, Su Jiu's voice echoed.

"Senior Brother, you actually didn't sell him out."

Su Ji scoffed internally.

His pace remained steady and unhurried.

"Did you really think that Qin Feng would obediently go back to the room and sleep?"

Su Jiu paused for a moment.

"He... he followed you?"

"What did you expect?" Su Ji curled his lips. "People who fancy themselves as clever always suffer from the worst paranoia."

"If I put myself in his shoes, I absolutely wouldn't trust the other party easily either."

"My little performance tonight has more or less got him right in the palm of my hand."

"Next, just to prove his worth and avoid being 'abandoned' by me, he will definitely try everything he can, maybe even risk his life, to get me those two hundred pounds of black-veined iron."

"A free laborer. No matter how you look at it, this deal is a win."

Su Jiu felt she had still underestimated the sheer depths of Su Ji's shamelessness.

"Senior Brother, why are you so scheming?"

Su Ji did not reply.

He simply cast a glance backward.

The curtain across Zhang Kui's doorway swayed slightly.

Through the gap, Zhang Kui could faintly be seen peering in the direction Qin Feng had departed.

...

Su Ji stopped communicating with Su Jiu and returned to his own dilapidated shack.

Inside, Qin Feng was snoring like thunder.

Su Ji walked over to his corner, lay back down, and closed his eyes.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

It truly wasn't that he enjoyed plotting against people.

If anyone was to blame, it was Qin Feng for being so useless...

He was nothing more than cannon fodder destined to be slapped into oblivion by Old Ghost Li anyway.