Chapter 92: The Unemployed Clan Chief Massa

At the Massa household.

Massa had just taken a sip of water when he choked and started coughing. “What the heck? We have to pay for water now?”

His eyes went wide with shock as he stared at the cup in his hands, heart aching at the thought. Then, tipping his head back, he gulped down the rest in one go.

This was the last bit of free water—he couldn’t let it go to waste.

Hualan shot him a look of disgust. “Your hands are all covered in dirt. Isn’t it gross to drink like that?”

Gemo chimed in from the side, “Exactly, Dad. How can you be so careless? You’re a dignified water ability user—why are you so obsessed with a little water? Besides, we still have a month before the water bill is due. We can definitely afford it. And Mom and I are starting work tomorrow—we’ll earn three top-grade nutrient solutions. Those taste way better than water anyway.”

Unemployed Massa felt like his own son was stabbing him right in the heart. He tried to defend himself, “I’m just trying to save a little where I can. Even water ability users have a limit, you know.”

Then he started to worry out loud. “I used to be clan chief because of my water ability, but now that we’re in Earth Village, there’s water and meat everywhere. I’m useless as a chief now. The good stuff the clansmen used to trade for my water—they don’t need to anymore.”

The now-jobless clan chief Massa was feeling pretty down. He’d thought he’d be chief for life.

“That’s true,” Gemo said. “But Dad, why don’t you team up with Brother-in-law Luke and go hunt some monsters? If you get lucky, you might do even better than Mom and me working for Village Chief Yun. If I hadn’t already signed up for work, I’d go monster hunting with Luke too—it pays better.”

Massa’s eyes lit up at his son’s words—he had a point.

For the sake of his family, Massa swallowed his pride. “Alright, tomorrow I’ll organize some clansmen to go out with Luke’s group and give it a try. Maybe they can show us the ropes.”

“Great! It’s settled then. Dad, we’re counting on you to bring home something good,” Gemo encouraged him.

Hualan also looked at him with a bright smile.

Massa immediately felt energized. Puffing out his chest, he declared, “Even if I’m not the clan chief anymore, I can still provide for this family. Just wait—you’ll all be living the good life soon!”

“Hehehe,” Gemo snickered mischievously, then glanced toward the bathroom. “Let’s treat ourselves to a nice bath tonight. I heard the water in the bathroom is hot—it feels amazing.”

“Go ahead, let’s all have a good, relaxing bath tonight.”

Other villagers were also discussing the water charges, but no one really objected. After all, water was precious, and they’d always had to trade good things for it before. Now that such pure water was being charged for, it only made sense.

Yun Qimu, who also heard the announcement, grumbled about how stingy the system was, but for once didn’t try to haggle. Charging for water was reasonable.

Besides, she’d earned quite a bit lately—paying the water bill wouldn’t be a problem.

Tomorrow, she planned to check out the mountain range—maybe she’d find something good.

With that in mind, after dinner with her father and little brother, she went to bed early.

The next morning, following her principle of protecting children, Yun Qimu left Yun Xiaoyu and the other young ones in Earth Village, hiring them to help keep an eye on the workforce.

Wu Xingyu was a decisive person. As soon as they met that morning, he bought three acres of land and three spirit-stone greenhouses as initial capital.

With land secured, it was time to get planting.

Yun Qimu taught Yun Xiaoyu a whole set of farming procedures, then confidently handed over the seeds, plant nutrient solution, and the thirty hired workers to him.

She also assigned the ten most dexterous recruits to Little Pearl, letting her organize textile work and clothing production.

Neither of the two kids were ordinary children—they were cleverer than many adults, and had performed excellently in Earth Village so far. Plus, with Al always worrying over everything, there was nothing to worry about.

With tasks assigned, Yun Qimu became a hands-off boss, leading the remaining ten strong, skilled Tengu clansmen she’d recruited toward the mountains.

As the young clan heir, Gemo was usually the hunting leader, so he was naturally among the ten.

He was visibly excited, waving at his father standing with the other clansmen, then proudly joining the group.

Massa: …

Just last night, he’d said he’d scout ahead and try hunting some monsters, but in the blink of an eye, his son had already joined Village Chief Yun’s team.

“Chief, should we go too?” asked one of the clansmen behind him, eyes shining with anticipation, weapons from the tribe in hand.

Massa was a cautious man. The towering mountains looked even more imposing in daylight than they had the night before.

He frowned in thought for a moment, not making any rash decisions. Then, seeing Luke and his well-equipped group approaching, he called out, “Luke, are you heading to the mountains?”

Luke, in high spirits after reuniting with his wife and child, walked over with a big smile. “Uncle, yes, we’re going to check out the mountains. Do you have any plans?”

Massa hesitated, frowning. “What advice can you give us? We’re new here and don’t really know the lay of the land.”

If he led all his clansmen into danger, that would be a disaster. The Tengu people, who’d spent years battling berserk beasts, knew well how dangerous things could get.

More people didn’t always mean more safety.

Luke scratched his head, thinking Uncle Massa was as sensible as ever.

“If you’re asking my opinion, I’d say don’t rush. That mountain range just appeared—we have no idea what’s up there or how dangerous it is. It wouldn’t be wise to take everyone up at once.”

“I think you should stay in Earth Village for now. The snowfish and danghu here are fast, but their attacks aren’t strong—your clansmen won’t get hurt, and you can get weapons and build up some resources.”

“If you really want to go, just pick a few of your best warriors to come with us and check it out. If things get too dangerous, we’ll retreat immediately.”

He didn’t seem to think retreating was shameful at all—if anything, he was worried they wouldn’t run fast enough.

Massa thought it over and realized he was right.

The other Tengu clansmen agreed. “Yeah, Chief Luke is right. I’m not that strong—I’ll stay in the village. There are plenty of monsters here.”

“Exactly, and since the loot is random, you don’t have to go to the mountains for good stuff. If we’re lucky, we can get something great right here.”

With everyone saying so, Massa naturally didn’t insist on going to the mountains. He declined Luke’s offer to take them along, deciding the whole clan would stay in the village for now and get used to things."