Five minutes later, Li Daoxuan picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Old Cai," he said without preamble, "I need a large architectural model. Custom built. Urgent. Three to five days, at most."
On the other end, Cai Xinzhi laughed lightly. "That urgent? What are you planning to make this time?"
"A 1:200 scale model of the Huaqing Palace Hot Spring Resort," Li Daoxuan replied calmly. "No cheap plastic. I want high end materials. Grand. Luxurious. I want anyone who looks at it to immediately understand one thing. This place is expensive."
"Pfft!"
Cai Xinzhi nearly spat blood. If someone had been standing five meters away, they would have been in danger.
"I thought you'd finally stopped messing with me," she snapped. "Turns out I was too naive. Take your twisted hobbies and go very far away."
Li Daoxuan remained unfazed. "You should learn to embrace challenges."
"No," Cai Xinzhi replied flatly. "I hate challenges. I retreat the moment things get difficult."
"I'll pay extra."
"Still no."
"Double."
"Not doing it."
Li Daoxuan paused, then casually added, "I'll give you a one millimeter micro sculpture of Guanyin Bodhisattva. You sell it yourself. Keep all the profit. No split with me."
There was silence.
Then Cai Xinzhi's tone changed instantly, as if she had been possessed.
"My greatest joy in life," she said solemnly, "is to challenge difficulty. I would never touch an easy project. A 1:200 hot spring resort, you say? Five days. Only five days. Guaranteed completion."
The call ended.
Cai Xinzhi immediately entered full subcontracting frenzy mode.
"XX Studio? I need a 1:200 scale classical garden, rush order."
"Hello, XXX Studio? I need a 1:200 scale hotel complex."
"XXX Studio, listen carefully. Pavilions, towers, lakeside covered bridges. Miniature. Immediately."
In an instant, dozens of model studios across the city were mobilized, each assigned a specific section. Cai Xinzhi herself paced back and forth, restless with anticipation, already planning the final assembly in her mind.
That same night, on Xi'an's busiest street, the Stars Performing Arts Agency had just concluded a grand concert.
The venue was packed to suffocation. Nearly every notable figure in Xi'an was present. Even Wu Shen and Shi Kefa sat among the VIPs, laughing and chatting with ease.
The final song ended, yet the crowd showed no sign of dispersing.
At that moment, the most popular female singer stepped back onto the stage.
She spoke at length, a torrent of pleasantries and gratitude flowing endlessly. Then her expression shifted, and her voice sharpened.
"My employer, Master Li," she announced, "has secretly invested an enormous sum to build a luxury hot spring resort unlike anything this city has ever seen. It will offer all of you the most noble enjoyment imaginable."
The wealthy elites frowned in confusion.
"A hot spring resort?"
The singer smiled. "Naturally. A place for distinguished guests to travel, rest, and take their leisure. Rooms designed like celestial grottoes for repose. Hot springs worthy of a royal concubine. Pre Qingming Dragon Well tea of the highest grade. Meals prepared by the top chefs of Xi'an's finest restaurants. Our own artists will provide music and dance. Everything will be perfect."
To modern ears, such exaggeration would sound hollow. But to the people of this era, listening carefully, it was bewildering.
Yet undeniably tempting.
Still, none of that was the real point.
The real point was the price.
With dramatic flair, the singer unfurled a printed image.
"This room type," she declared loudly, "is called the Royal Suite. One night costs one hundred taels of silver."
The venue erupted.
"One hundred taels?"
Even officials felt their scalps go numb. That price was daylight robbery.
Then a calm voice cut through the noise.
Zhu Cunji, heir to the Prince of Qin, stood up with a smile. "This room sounds rather interesting. Is it not designed precisely for someone like me?"
The crowd fell silent.
After a moment, they nodded inwardly. A room called the Royal Suite was naturally meant for princes and commandery lords. How could ordinary people dare to occupy it?
Yet among the merchants who had struck it rich, different thoughts stirred.
Once the Prince of Qin's heir stays there, I will go myself for two days. Living like a prince, even briefly, will be worth it.
More images followed.
Prices descended in order. Fifty taels. Thirty. Twenty. Finally, ten.
The common folk shook their heads. Ten taels for one night was not impossible, but it felt unbearable. Reluctance and inability often looked exactly the same.
Those with money, however, had already begun matching themselves to room tiers in their minds.
The hot spring resort became the talk of Xi'an overnight.
The wealthy waited eagerly for its opening.
While mansions overflowed with wine and meat, frozen corpses lay scattered by the roadside.
As Xi'an drowned itself in music and anticipation, Chen Yuanbo led a group of middle school students and five hundred Gao Family Village militia onto the banks of the Yellow River in Wenshui County.
The moment they disembarked, they saw bodies everywhere.
Many had already decomposed, white bones exposed to the air.
Chen Yuanbo's expression hardened. "As expected. These must be refugees. Fleeing bandits from the north, they tried to cross the river. The West Camp Eight Great Kings landed here and slaughtered them all."
The students were struck dumb by the scene.
Fortunately, they were not fragile scholars raised in sheltered academies. Most had wandered with their families through famine and chaos before reaching Gao Family Village. Scenes like this, though horrific, were not unfamiliar.
Otherwise, they would have been retching on the spot.
The militia moved immediately, digging graves and burying the dead.
After a long time, the group resumed their march northward.
From the riverbank to the county town was nearly twenty li.
They walked for half a day.
Along the road, they saw only burned villages, abandoned fields, and endless silence.
Chen Yuanbo sighed deeply. "I grew up in Gao Family Village and later worked in Puzhou. I never realized how desolate the world beyond had become."
The students shared his grief.
The soldiers said nothing. They were uneducated men, skilled only in labor and killing. They did not know how to save such a world.
So they entrusted their strength to those who could think.
They believed that these youths, who had studied the Heavenly Book, would one day lead them to sweep away the demons and monsters of this age.
A scout hurried forward. "Sir Chen. The county town is ahead."
Chen Yuanbo straightened. "Good. From this moment on, I am the Wenshui County Magistrate, specially appointed by the court. You are my household guards from home. Do not reveal the ruse."