366: Rich but heartless

Qin Han seemed to sense the mountain of Spirit Stones piled up in the ring.

Although the taste was average, the quantity was overwhelming.

For it, eating was an instinctual part of cultivation.

If it was both delicious and could increase its strength, that would naturally be best.

Even if it didn't taste good, as long as it could make it stronger, it was still good.

Because it consumed energy, it really liked Top-Grade Spirit Stones and rare Heaven And Earth Treasures.

It immediately cheered and jumped onto Qin Chen, its furry head rubbing against his chest as it shouted excitedly:

"Daddy, I love you the most!"

Then it looked up, its eyes shining:

"Why did you suddenly give me so much food!"

"Because Daddy dotes on you!" Qin Chen smiled and rubbed its furry head.

"Wonderful, thank you Daddy!" Qin Han happily rubbed against his palm, and with a flash of its body, it dived into the spatial ring.

Qin Chen looked at the ring, shook his head gently, and then slowly walked to the railing.

The morning breeze blew across the terrace as he leaned against the railing and looked out—

Morning light enveloped the entire Imperial Capital, with crisscrossing streets, horses and people flowing like water, layers of pavilions, and the towering palace walls in the city center, the palaces reflecting a golden-red glow.

The wind blew from afar, carrying the bustle of the neighborhood, making his mood exceptionally relaxed.

He just watched quietly for a long time.

Until the sun rose high, he narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint, almost boyish smile playing on his lips.

"What a beautiful land..."

He murmured softly to himself.

"It would be nice to be an Emperor for once."

"Even if only for a year... it should be quite satisfying to indulge that craving."

Although he had been an Emperor in the simulations, he wanted to experience it for real in reality.

He wondered if it was because he carried the human emperors seal that he always wanted to put it to use.

Just as he was thinking, a stall at the corner of the street caught his eye.

It was a girl selling pancakes, with bright eyes and white teeth, busy working at the stall.

However, it wasn't her appearance that caught his attention.

It was the price written on the wooden board in front of her stall—three pancakes for one copper coin.

Qin Chen raised an eyebrow.

At this price, let alone making a profit, she probably wouldn't even cover her costs.

Of course, Qin Chen wasn't clear about the costs of these low-level small businesses; there was actually a tiny profit, but it was pitifully small.

Curious, a wisp of his Divine Sense quietly drifted over.

The Divine Sense flowed like water.

Skin, texture, Bloodline... under the "gaze" of his Divine Sense, layers peeled away, eventually revealing a clear and complete human skeleton moving in a certain rhythm.

There was no spiritual power circulating, nor any special aura; she was just a low-level Martial Artist with slightly vigorous Qi and blood.

He Withdraw divine consciousness， The girl's vivid profile, still retaining its earthy charm, returned to what I saw before my eyes..

Qin Chen couldn't help but chuckle and shook his head.

"Seeing a beauty as a skeleton, that saying is truly right."

No wonder Cultivators often say that the deeper one's cultivation, the more indifferent one becomes to physical appearance.

Looking at a person with Divine Sense, no matter how world-shakingly beautiful they are, they are just a skeleton—

Most real, yet most uninteresting.

He did not step forward to disturb her, but quietly took note.

From the greetings of regular customers, he learned the girl's name—Zhixi.

As the sun tilted westward, the market gradually became quiet.

Zhixi packed up her stall, carefully collected today's copper coins, and turned to walk towards a clothing shop.

A moment later, she came out carrying several thick, old cotton coats and a bundle of coarse cloth bedding, her thin and small figure looking somewhat frail in the rising cold wind.

She walked through alleys of various lengths, going further and further off the beaten path, finally stopping in front of a dilapidated yard with a half-collapsed wall.

Qin Chen's Divine Sense followed her in silently.

In the yard were several crooked wooden board houses.

Zhixi pushed open a creaking wooden door, and a scent mixed with mustiness and the smell of children wafted over.

Dozens of children were squeezed into the room.

The oldest were only about ten years old, and the youngest were only five or six. All were dressed in rags, with sleeves and trouser legs that were too short, revealing wrists and ankles red from the cold.

They sat tightly together, like a flock of small birds huddling for warmth.

But even so, their thin bodies were still shivering in the early winter chill.

Qin Chen watched, slightly stunned.

He hadn't paid attention to the seasons—heat and cold had long ceased to make a difference to him.

But for these children, a single cold wind was a matter of life and death.

"Sister Zhixi! You're back!"

"Sister!"

When the children saw her, their dull eyes suddenly lit up, and they all gathered around.

Dirty little hands grabbed her coarse clothes, and they looked up with small faces that were flushed with cold and stained with dirt, but full of reliance.

Zhixi bent down, carefully spread the cotton clothes and bedding on the dry straw mats in the corner, patted them, and turned to give the children a gentle but tired smile:

"Everyone will sleep here tonight. Squeeze together and cover yourselves with the quilt, and you won't be cold."

"Thank you, Sister Zhixi!"

"Thank you, Sister Zhixi!"

Immature cheers immediately filled the dilapidated little house.

The children skipped toward the simple but thick bedding, as if it were not coarse cotton but the warmest treasure in the world.

Qin Chen looked at the group of children shivering under the thin quilt in the broken house, then glanced at Zhixi's eyes, which were rough from years of labor but still bright, and his brow slowly furrowed.

This scene touched him.

A long-lost, almost primitive anger, mixed with a cold thought of "robbing the rich to help the poor," quietly rose in his heart.

In the next second,

His Divine Sense spread out like an invisible net, covering the entire Imperial Capital.

Countless auras, wealth, and information intersected in his perception.

In the blink of an eye, he locked onto the most foul and intense place—

Squire Shen.

One of the ten wealthiest merchants in the Imperial Capital, with immense wealth that could rival a city.

Unlike other wealthy families who were somewhat concerned with appearances, the industries under his name were almost all blood-sucking businesses:

Underground casinos that fleeced the poor, brothels that forced respectable women into prostitution, a Slave Market where prices were clearly marked, and even secret lines specializing in human trafficking, turning living people into mere goods.

That wasn't enough.

Deep within his massive mansion, he kept over a hundred "concubines," who were actually various women he had collected.

If they displeased him in the slightest, they were whipped or imprisoned at best, and at worst... beaten to death and thrown into the back garden to feed his dozen or so vicious mastiffs raised on raw meat.

At this moment,

Squire Shen was having dinner in his incredibly luxurious dining hall.

A red sandalwood round table over three meters in diameter was set with exquisite jade plates and porcelain cups.

A hundred delicacies were on the table: live fish sashimi, tender snow deer hooves, milky nectar... many dishes were things even ordinary wealthy families had never seen.

Beside him, a maid held a flask with delicate hands, pouring out wine with a misty aroma that was intoxicating just to smell.

This single meal cost more than a thousand pieces of gold.

A thousand taels of silver... would be enough to keep those children in the broken yard well-fed and clothed for decades, and ensure Zhixi wouldn't have to stand in the cold wind at that low-profit pancake stall.

"Behind the vermilion gates, meat and wine go to waste; out on the road, lie the bones of those frozen to death."

He whispered this poem, the coldness in his eyes congealing.

"In this Yan Dynasty court, those high and mighty officials only know how to fight for power and profit. When have they ever looked down at the hunger and cold of the common people?"

"A man as wicked as Squire Shen, on the other hand, lives in luxury and power, living like an immortal..."

Was it helplessness?

Certainly.

But what was more frustrating was that such a person happened to live very well.

Because he understood the "rules" too well—

Before the true nobility, he bowed and scraped, as fawning as a dog; but before the commoners who were unable to resist, he was the god who decided their life and death.

Wealth and ruthlessness had become his hardest armor.

But Qin Chen quickly calmed down and began to gather more information about Squire Shen.

"As expected, this guy has someone backing him up!"

"And he has a spoiled and wicked daughter?"

After understanding the situation, Qin Chen felt that Squire Shen's affairs involved many people. If he used crude methods directly, it might alert the enemy.

It would be best to think of a way that would solve it once and for all without exposing himself.

After thinking it over, he decided to wait another day.

Until the early hours of the morning.

With a thought:

"Start Simulation!"