CHAPTER 1791: CHAPTER 1852: XIAOWU SHOWS HER POWER

In just this short while, dozens of lives disappeared before Li Yifei’s eyes. Although it was just a dragonfly and dozens of ants, it was still life, right?

How innocent they were, yet suddenly struck down by unforeseen disaster. Li Yifei couldn’t feel these lives’ abrupt disappearance, but he suddenly felt very melancholy.

Today, he was experiencing a lot of strange emotions. Witnessing these deaths in person only made him feel worse. Li Yifei looked down at the still-busy ants by his feet and murmured, "What is the meaning of your lives? You could die at any moment. Passing vehicles can crush you, human footsteps can tread on you, a gust of wind can blow you away, a puddle can drown a whole bunch of you, and other insects can eat you. Yet you continue to toil, searching for food, nurturing offspring, serving the queen..."

"And you," he continued, looking up at the dragonflies, "flitting about so busily, only to disappear forever afterward."

At this moment, his emotions were in turmoil. As he constantly witnessed death, Li Yifei’s heart became entangled, his mind knotted. He began a sequence of self-questioning and self-answering, nearly sleep-talking to himself...

He repeated this over and over. Li Yifei didn’t know how to describe this feeling, or perhaps he hadn’t realized that his heart could become so chaotic.

Not long after, he felt a burning sensation in his heart, a mix of emotions akin to a fire that might soon consume him entirely. But at this moment, he couldn’t ask for help, stranded on the street. Even if he were to suddenly faint, there might not be anyone brave enough to come help him or take him to a hospital.

By this point, he realized something seemed wrong with him, but it was too late.

Just then, a butterfly suddenly flew over. Moving swiftly, it seemed to reach Li Yifei’s head after just a few flaps of its wings. It rested atop him, wings still fluttering, not too fast nor too slow, roughly once every six seconds. Suddenly, Li Yifei, feeling the heat inside, sensed a coolness spreading from his head, which gradually cooled his brain and eased his burning sensation, especially within his heart.

Once clear-headed, Li Yifei felt as if he had endured a severe illness. He was drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through.

Li Yifei stretched out his hand, and the small butterfly settled in his palm, wings closed, resting quietly as if exhausted from flight and looking for a place to rest.

Li Yifei recognized this fearless butterfly as Worm King Xiaowu. It had flown over from who knows where, saving Li Yifei, who now recalled the previous events with persistent fear. He had just suffered a heart problem, which, if allowed to continue, could have led to obsession, or even more severe consequences.

Thanks to Xiaowu, the wondrous coolness it brought temporarily suppressed Li Yifei’s agitation.

Witnessing the life and death of dragonflies and ants nearly ensnared Li Yifei, but it wasn’t the insects’ fault; it was his own heart issue.

His cultivation advanced too quickly, lacking necessary grounding. Coupled with months of constant travel, Li Yifei had no time to calm down and maintain inner peace.

"Phew!" Li Yifei exhaled deeply, a slight smile appearing on his face. He said to Xiaowu, "Thank you, Xiaowu. If it weren’t for you today, I might have been in big trouble!"

Xiaowu opened its wings and flapped them a few times, as if to say, "You’re welcome!"

Li Yifei stood up, keeping his palm open. Observing the direction, he realized he was at least five or six kilometers from home, even in a straight line. It was quite far, yet Xiaowu managed to fly all this way and still find its way back, which was miraculous for a butterfly.

Feeling unwell, Li Yifei decided not to wander outside anymore. He prepared to return home with Xiaowu. But after walking barely two hundred meters, he heard a commotion ahead, prompting him to look over.

It was people protesting for unpaid wages. Li Yifei saw a group dressed as migrant workers blocking a building entrance. Among them were men and women, old and young—some holding banners, some sitting silently in front of the building, while more stood there.

Some were shouting while others remained silent. It was three in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, and these people were baking under the sun.

The building’s doors were shut tight, and though someone knocked, there was no response from inside.

Li Yifei glanced over and intended to cross the street. He wasn’t the Municipal Party Secretary or the mayor; while these situations upset him, he couldn’t help everyone.

Xiaowu flew gracefully in the sky, like a tiny fairy. Li Yifei looked up at Xiaowu, then resumed walking forward.

But just as he walked a short distance, a sudden burst of curses erupted from the crowd. It seemed the workers, finally fed up, began shouting angrily. The reason Li Yifei stopped was that the familiar name was mentioned amid their curses.

Handing Group, a name Li Yifei knew well. It was a construction company that built several housing complexes in Mile City, both upscale and ordinary. Yet this alone didn’t make the name familiar to him. The organization belonged to the Li family, as one of their many enterprises. In other words, these protesters were cursing the Li family’s company, indirectly cursing the Li family themselves.

This halted Li Yifei from walking further. He turned, frowning, and observed the crowd before him.

He didn’t know what had happened, but why were these people cursing Handing Group? And on what grounds wasn’t Handing Group paying wages?

Although Li Yifei wasn’t deeply involved in company affairs, he knew at least that the Li family’s cash flow was strong. Not only the subsidiary construction company but across the entire group, in the Li family’s various industries, there was no possibility of unpaid wages.

Yet this scene unfolded before him, which puzzled Li Yifei. If it were only a few unpaid workers, there might be some special reason. But here were a hundred or more people—how many workers were there on a construction site?

Moreover, these people had likely been here for a long time, maybe all afternoon or even longer. That no one came to handle it was extremely unusual, so Li Yifei not only stopped but walked over, crossing the street and joining the crowd.