Apocalypse: My Apartment Has Traits

Chapter 62: Chapter 56: Paying Out of Pocket

In less than ten minutes, Su Qi once again fell into deep self-doubt.

Su Lin’s aura suddenly retracted, hiding all its edge, transforming him to look as unassuming as the average passerby.

This was precisely the application of “Hidden”.

In the next moment, his eyes sharpened, a keen light shining forth as his aura surged, revealing a sharp prominence.

He instinctively glanced at his second uncle, hesitantly speaking:

“Second Uncle, the qi and blood in your body… it’s like a flame blown by the wind, fluctuating constantly.”

Su Qi fixed his gaze on him for several seconds, ultimately letting out a long sigh:

“Pay no mind to me, it’s due to old wounds, naturally unstable. But you… in less than ten minutes, you’ve already grasped ’Observation’ and ’Hidden’. Your talent is truly…”

He pressed his lips tightly, momentarily unable to find fitting words to describe this astounding comprehension, unheard of before.

Su Lin grinned, carrying a bit of naive foolishness.

To him, what Second Uncle taught seemed not particularly challenging.

But if he were to say “simple” again, taking advantage while feigning innocence, he might immediately receive a lesson from Second Uncle’s iron fist.

Su Qi shook his head, suppressing the complex emotions in his heart, returning to the main topic:

“Forget about it. The basics of qi and blood manipulation—’Release’, ’Circulate’, ’Observe’, ’Hide’, I have imparted all my knowledge. The rest is practice, proficiency over time.”

His expression suddenly turned serious:

“Once you return home, find some sturdy wooden stakes and bring them home. Carve out time daily to strike five hundred times with the method of ’Soldier’! When you can do five hundred strikes leaving only a single mark on the stake…”

His eyes were intense: “I will then teach you more advanced techniques, the ’Kill’ strikes!”

“Yes!”

Su Lin gripped the knife handle tightly, a fighting spirit igniting in his eyes, his voice resolute and firm.

Unbeknownst to them, noon had arrived.

Downstairs came Su Yingying’s lively, cheerful shout, and the aroma of lunch wafted faintly up.

…

After a brief rest following lunch, Su Qi then imparted the morning’s basic qi and blood techniques to Su Tongxi.

This time, it finally returned to a “normal” pace.

Su Tongxi was stuck at the first step of getting started—’Release’.

No matter how Su Qi guided and demonstrated, she exerted all her strength, her small face turning red, yet she still couldn’t instantly rouse her entire qi and blood.

Watching nearby, Su Lin scratched his head, stomped his foot anxiously, unable to understand how Humpty Dumpty could be so slow!

He couldn’t help but interject with advice: “Ah, just like this… like that… isn’t it just coming out then?”

His supposedly clear advice only added to Su Tongxi’s confusion.

Her face went from red to white, tears brimming in her almond-shaped eyes, almost bursting into tears from anxiety.

“Get downstairs and practice with the knife!” Su Qi’s face darkened seeing this, rudely waving them away, “If you don’t understand, go ask the old man! Stop causing trouble here!”

Su Lin was booted out of the Martial Arts Training Room, and had to reluctantly caress his nose and acknowledge defeat.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Zheng Weimin came to discuss the details of the outing, ending Su Lin and Su Tongxi’s training for the day as they left the old house together.

…

After they left, Su Qi approached the old man, Su Can, recounting in detail Su Lin’s incredible comprehension process.

Su Can listened with eyes wide open in joyful surprise.

However, before he could begin to praise, Su Qi changed his tone, sighing heavily:

“What a pity… Linzi’s talent for cultivation is truly lacking. Even after three days of eating Treasure Meat, his qi and blood are only at sixty percent… If not for this, with his level of comprehension, why would our Su Family need to remain confined to this tiny place? With the Kirin, in the future, it would be easy to resolve your poison!”

Upon hearing this, the old man’s sheer joy was also washed away, a deep regret passing through his eyes.

But his gaze soon reignited with a fierce determination, locking eyes with his son:

“You said that if Linzi succeeds, he can resolve my poison. But what about you?”

“Me?” Su Qi gave a bitter laugh, a trace of pain flashing in his eyes, instinctively avoiding his father’s gaze, “I… is better left unsaid.”

“Hmph!” Su Can snorted coldly, “I don’t even know what you’re afraid of! At worst, it’s just death!”

However, he knew well that forcing his stubborn second son was of no use, so he restrained his anger, shifting the topic with hope rekindling in his eyes:

“It is indeed an undeniable fact that Linzi’s cultivation talent falls short. But just as you said, if his talent in qi and blood manipulation is unparalleled, we still have that Smoked Meat Room Blueprint! As long as we can continuously provide Treasure Meat, even a pig could be developed into a dragon through vast resources! Let alone our Su Family’s Kirin!”

“That’s true!” The dim light in Su Qi’s eyes flashed brilliantly, nodding heavily.

The limitless possibilities brought by the Smoked Meat Room injected into his heart like a potent stimulant.

Father and son exchanged a glance, both filled with an indescribable exhilaration.

At the beginning of the month, the elder passed away, leaving behind an absurd, decadent, and unpromising Su Lin, casting a dark shadow over the Su Family’s future, making them almost lose hope.

Who would have thought, in just a short while, Su Lin went through a metamorphosis, radiating from inside to out, not only resolving the crises the Su Family faced one after another but also demonstrating a startling talent.

This earth-shattering change, like a thunderbolt dispersing the gloom, reignited the nearly extinguished flame in the Su family’s hearts, making them revive with a second spring akin to withered trees meeting spring, filled with unprecedented expectations for the future!

…

The afternoon sun was unobstructed by clouds, pouring over the cracked dirt road, making the loose gravel sparkle like shattered gold.

Along the main road, near the base of the safe house wall, dried animal bones and bundled wild vegetable stalks were piled and sun-dried.

Occasionally, a hot wind carrying yellow sand tried to stir these reserves, but they were futilely met with floating dust, firmly bound by the resilient iron wire below.

Most of the passersby squinted against the strong light or covered their foreheads with dampened rough cloths to block the intense sun, each breath carrying a scorching heat.

Wearing hardened leather armor from tanned animal hides, the armor’s edges were frayed, and many bore dark brown stains that couldn’t be washed off.

Their backs strapped tightly with crude ropes holding swords or short bows, the arrows in the quiver glinting coldly under the sun.

The noisiest was the wooden cart convoy in the middle of the road.

Those pulling the carts were hunched over, their rough short shirts soaked in sweat clinging to their sharp shoulder blades.

Even while straining to pull the carts, they managed to jest loudly with those beside them, their boisterous laughter drowning out the “creak” of the wheels over the gravel.

Thick cloth covered the cargo atop the carts, occasionally lifted by the wind to reveal animal hides carelessly stacked, still-bleeding animal bones, and piles of silver white material bags like a mountain.

The carts heading to the market rushed, water bottles hung on the handles, and occasionally someone halted to take a refreshing gulp before quickly catching up with the convoy;

Meanwhile, empty carts moved slowly, adorned with beast-resistant carvings on the shafts, as the cart pullers occasionally glanced towards the village entrance, where a faded cloth flag flapped noisily in the wind on the watchtower.

Su Lin and Su Tongxi walked along such a road as they headed home.

Their outstanding appearances were striking among the rough crowd, drawing many looks.

But those gazes quickly, with some complexity, silently shifted away when they recognized Su Lin’s face.

The materials and beast meat brought back this morning had all been successfully sold, and the valuable blueprint was safely kept by the old man.

Yet, they were not returning empty-handed this moment, as Su Lin carried several large bags of materials.

Su Tongxi walked alongside, quietly doing the math for Su Lin:

“…Sister Yaxin sold that eighty-seven jin meat to the Gouhuo Tavern for thirty-seven silver coins. The eleven bags of materials went for another twelve silver coins. That’s a total income of forty-nine silver coins. But to buy materials to upgrade the house to Level 3, build mechanisms, and raise the walls, Sister Yaxin chipped in an additional fifteen silver coins for us.”

Upon hearing this, Su Lin gave a wry smile: “I’m afraid not only did second uncle’s hard-earned money from these past few days all get spent on this, but they must have even dipped into their savings at the bottom of the box.”

Su Tongxi nodded silently, a hint of guilt on her small face.

Su Lin took a deep breath of the scorching air, suppressing the heaviness in his heart.

With one hand carrying the heavy bag of materials, he naturally draped the other over Su Tongxi’s slender shoulder and gently kissed her smooth forehead as a comfort:

“Don’t worry, let’s take our time.”

He was now penniless, with only some copper coins left.

The benefits reaped were many, but they completely emptied their savings in one go.

Money was lacking everywhere now.

Although he thought optimistically about asking second uncle to sell the house title deed and scraping together some money might help buy the mechanism blueprint.

But, it seemed a distant hope now.

Tier One Mechanism Blueprints were priced in gold coins; how much could they save in a week by hoarding silver coins bit by bit?

Unless they stumbled upon the sort of massive fortune like the golden vending machine they found today.

Or maybe… next week’s entries would offer direct cash.

Moreover, even if they managed to purchase the blueprint, the subsequent acquisition of two blueprint construction materials required an enormous expense.

They might as well gather closer to a gold coin’s worth of money still.

And the cost to upgrade his Level 4 Safe House…

Dammit, money, money, money; even in the apocalypse, they couldn’t escape the fate of making money.

The Su Family’s rise will be long and arduous.

Upon arriving home, Su Lin wasted no time.

He placed down the materials, immediately activating the house title deed’s power, and started the safe house upgrade process.