Chapter 264 Anti-Monopoly
The elderly man’s teammate, hearing this, immediately sensed the problem. "Two?! Hey... you only have one extra fan!"
"Give him yours too!" the elderly man insisted. "If we don’t have that fan, we’re really done for!"
Qi Xia knew that his objective had already been achieved. To truly amass the wealth of these people, he couldn’t go after them individually. He had to find a way to make them willingly form a team, thus boosting the total amount of capital.
At this moment, every individual in these teams would either voluntarily or reluctantly contribute to the group's gains and losses.
After all, you couldn’t harvest the chives one by one; you had to gather them in bundles.
"Since that's the case..." Qi Xia sighed with apparent regret, "We’re all just trying to get out, so I suppose the {highest bidder wins}."
The words {highest bidder wins} settled among them, like a well-understood market principle, gradually taking root.
"We’ll offer three fans!"
Upon hearing this, Qi Xia still did not acquiesce. Instead, his gaze swept once more over the assembled crowd.
That single gesture shattered the last vestiges of their Normalcy bias. His eyes conveyed, with icy clarity, that {three fans} was not the ceiling—the final price would climb even higher.
A heavy silence gripped the gathering before, at last, a different team broke the stillness. "{Four}," came their offer.
All eyes turned toward the pair, each of whom appeared to possess four fans. To procure {Sorrow} at such a cost would strip them bare, leaving not a single fan between them.
The rules here had long been shrouded in layers of deception. By all logic, seizing what they desired by force would have been far simpler than trading away precious fans. Yet ever since that Terrestrial Goat incident—an act of murder dressed in the guise of fairness but steeped in selfishness—no one dared make a reckless move.
Indeed, sooner or later, Terrestrial Goat would inevitably unleash a bloodbath.
Those who truly understood the rules had likely left long ago. Only two kinds of people remained here now—fools and madmen like Qi Xia.
With a slight nod, Qi Xia spoke: "Is there anyone willing to bid higher than four fans?"
The crowd exchanged uneasy glances, but no one could muster a response. While some teams present could afford four fans, none could offer more.
"In that case... it seems I have no choice but to give it to this team..." Qi Xia took the four fans from their hands and, in exchange, tossed them a single {Sorrow}.
Though the two men felt a pang of loss, time was running short. In half an hour, Terrestrial Goat would begin his slaughter—and staying any longer would only cost them more.
Those who remained wore expressions of bitter regret, as if sensing their doom drawing near.
Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Qi Xia slowly produced another {Sorrow}.
"Everyone," he announced, "I have one more {Sorrow}."
His words fell like a shaft of sunlight piercing through despair, offering a fragile glimmer of hope—yet also like an unseen blade, carving fissures of doubt into every heart.
"You—You still have extras?"
"Indeed." Qi Xia nodded. "And this one, too, is for trade."
One of the aunties in the crowd couldn't hold back any longer. "Young man, aren't you just scamming us? The way you acted earlier... it seemed like you only had one {Sorrow} left! If you'd said you had a second one, would those two have needed to offer four fans?"
Qi Xia felt like he'd heard more jokes today than ever before.
"Auntie," he said, "have you ever done business before? I'm not some savior—just a participant like the rest of you."
The auntie turned her head away, clearly unwilling to engage further.
Minutes passed before someone finally cracked. They approached Terrestrial Goat's stall and inquired about the {Sorrow} listed as "price negotiable."
Having seen Qi Xia trade a single {Sorrow} for four fans, {Terrestrial Goat} was already calculating the value of his own.
After a pause, he said quietly, "Three. Just three fans, and it's yours."
At this price, the crowd grew restless. After all, if they continued with the {highest bidder wins} approach, buying from Qi Xia might cost them four fans again.
Two members of one team exchanged glances and were about to step forward to make the purchase when Qi Xia spoke up once more.
"Tell me," he said, "does anyone here possess both {Joy} and {Anger} fans?"
After a moment, a hand went up.
It belonged to a slender woman.
Qi Xia studied her briefly, then nodded. "You won’t need to partner with anyone else. I’ll arrange a place for you."
"Exactly." He gestured toward the square-faced man standing in the corner of the room. "You can go {pair up} with him right now. That man has already placed {Sorrow} and {Happiness} into the machine. Once you join him, you’ll be free to leave."
"Huh?" The slender woman froze for a moment. "Serious?"
"Yes, completely serious," Qi Xia replied. "Go on now."
While no one understood what was happening, they observed as the woman made her way to the corner, had a brief conversation with the square-faced man, and then inserted her {Joy} and {Anger} into the machine.
Before long, the screen displayed: {Pairing successful}.
"Listen up, everyone," Qi Xia sighed, his voice eerily calm. "Starting now, I'm slashing prices—offering you a deal beyond your wildest imagination in exchange for your fans."
"What?" The crowd halted in their tracks, falling silent as all eyes turned toward him.
Meanwhile, Terrestrial Goat sensed something amiss. He abruptly left his table and strode toward Qi Xia. "Are you truly trying to court death?" he hissed.
"Oh? Getting nervous?" Qi Xia smirked. "Planning to kill me right here?"
Terrestrial Goat's eyes narrowed to slits as a growing sense of familiarity prickled at him. "What exactly are you playing at?"
Qi Xia's lips curled. "Terrestrial Goat, you're painfully slow... I've been doing business right under your nose just to make sure you'd notice my {monopoly}."
"The moment you realized I was {monopolizing}, you'd already lost."
"I... lost?" Terrestrial Goat stared at Qi Xia, utterly bewildered. The source of this content ɪs novel⁂fire.net
"Are you going to kill me? If not... then I'll continue explaining." Qi Xia slowly swallowed, unable to comprehend why Terrestrial Goat was tolerating him to this extent. He had originally planned to use {Terrestrial Tiger} as leverage at a critical moment, but now it seemed completely unnecessary.