Chapter 40: Hehe, what fun

"Master Zhang, we have arrived in Runzhou."

Su Xinghe’s voice echoed in his ear.

Zhang Chengyi, lying in a daze, replied, "So we’re in Runzhou, so what? Why wake me up in the middle of the night?"

They had been traveling by water, departing from Guazhou Ferry to reach Runzhou—also known as Zhenjiang or Jingkou. It was just a short river crossing that usually took half a day. Since they had set off around three in the afternoon, it was now exactly the middle of the night.

"..."

Su Xinghe was silent for a moment before asking, "Master Zhang, should we dock?"

"Huh?" Zhang Chengyi opened his eyes, let out a yawn, and asked listlessly, "Why dock? Do you have acquaintances there?"

In truth, it didn't matter whether he slept or not; he could run for twenty-four hours straight without any issues. He had already tested that when he first logged into this body. The only downside was that he would accumulate a "fatigue" status effect, which would make him feel increasingly uncomfortable. If he went a week without rest, his physical attributes would start to decline.

For a cheater like him who had locked his stats, it didn't really matter, but the discomfort was genuine. The ability to log into the game meant he partially shared the game’s sensory feedback. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't let himself fall into that miserable state. Since he was already using "Jinshan Ranger" cheats in the game, he had no intention of suffering any unnecessary hardship.

"Er..." Su Xinghe hesitated, then cautiously reminded him, "Jinshan..."

"Jinshan? What’s that?" Zhang Chengyi rubbed his face to wake himself up. Now that his physical stats were improved, it was harder to fall into that fatigued state, and with his internal energy circulating to clear away physical discomfort, he was fully awake in moments.

Su Xinghe fell completely silent.

Nearby, Qiao Feng reminded him, "Brother Zhang, the Jinshan Ranger."

"Huh?" Zhang Chengyi chuckled, then remembered that Runzhou—Zhenjiang—did indeed have a Jinshan. He laughed, "My nickname has absolutely nothing to do with Jinshan."

He stretched his body, crawled out of the cabin, and looked at the shimmering water under the night sky. In the distance, he could vaguely see the brightly lit pleasure boats.

"By the way, how much longer until we reach Wuxi?" he asked casually.

"The weather should be clear for the next few days. Based on the wind direction..." Su Xinghe made a mental calculation and said, "We will definitely arrive within three days."

"Three more days?" Zhang Chengyi was slightly surprised. He had never asked about the distance before, as Old Su was very reliable. Usually, when they sat in the carriage, they would arrive at a small town or temple to rest and relax within a day. Even if he felt a bit dissatisfied, he hadn't paid it any mind.

Yes, he simply hadn't cared. He just ate, drank, slept, watched the scenery when idle, studied martial arts, or practiced "3D Pinball" with his internal energy. Everyone else was doing their best to find interesting things for him to do.

Now that he realized the time, hearing that they would be drifting on the water for three days felt like a waste.

Su Xinghe was about to bow and apologize, but Zhang Chengyi pressed a hand on his shoulder. A voice echoed in his ear: "Old Su, tell me, is this boat sturdy?"

Su Xinghe looked up at Zhang Chengyi, whose face was flickering with a weird, excited expression. He probably guessed what was coming and replied, "Back to Master Zhang, this is a cargo boat; it should—it should be sturdy."

If he wasn't mistaken, the boat might not be so sturdy in a moment. But then again, there were no outsiders on board. Even if it were destroyed on the canal, their martial arts skills would ensure they were fine.

"Excellent."

Zhang Chengyi grabbed the scrawny Su Xinghe and jumped to the stern of the boat. His voice rang out across the entire vessel: "Everyone hold on tight! The Jinshan Ranger is preparing to depart at full speed!"

After giving the others a few seconds to brace themselves, he turned and asked, "Which direction are we heading?"

Su Xinghe silently pointed the way and then used the "Weight of a Thousand Catties" technique to anchor himself to the deck.

"Ha!" Zhang Chengyi warmed up, inhaled, channeled his energy to root himself to the boat, and then struck out with his palm. A violent gust of wind surged, creating a piercing sound across the lake surface while generating immense recoil.

Artificial Propulsion: Activated!

"Whoosh!"

"Vroom!"

The boat, which had been crawling forward, shot out like an arrow the next second. Amidst the shrill whistling, the hull trembled violently, and all the pots, pans, and bedding inside were swept away by the wind.

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing the acceleration, Zhang Chengyi kept striking backward frantically, as if he had found a new toy. He ignored the groaning hull, the struggling Su Xinghe, and the Hangu Eight Friends who were plastered against the cabin wall with a thud. He kept laughing and pushing the boat to leap across the river.

The constant commotion drew the attention of nearby pleasure boats, but whoever caught sight of the vessel skipping across the water like a stone was left in a state of utter stupor.

"Master Zhang, Master Zhang, it's time to turn, turn right, turn right..."

Su Xinghe’s voice was distorted by the gale. If it weren't for the unreasonable effects of internal energy, a normal human voice would never have been able to carry in such an environment.

"Got it!"

Zhang Chengyi’s voice, bolstered by his immense internal energy, was clearly audible.

"Screech!" The boat drifted across the surface and surged in another direction, but—

"Crack!"

"Oh no" x7.

*[What a piece of junk. Might as well make the most of it!]*

Zhang Chengyi didn't think it was a disaster. Once he realized the boat was failing, his first thought was to accelerate even more to cover some ground before it fell apart. He gathered energy in his hands, pushing out with a motion that looked slow but was actually lightning-fast.

"BOOM!!!"

The river surface exploded. The boat was no longer just a boat; pulled by his energy, it took flight along with him.

"So refreshing!" Zhang Chengyi shouted with a grin. The boat began to disintegrate in mid-air. It was only held together by his energy, but energy wasn't omnipotent, and he didn't know any techniques that could exist independently once released. Keeping the boat intact was purely a matter of brute-forcing it with a massive expenditure of energy.

On his data panel, his internal energy was dropping by dozens of points every second. In just a short time, he had burned through two or three hundred points—a classic case of using ten times the effort to achieve one-tenth of the result.

But he didn't care about the consumption; he was just tossing it around blindly, focusing entirely on the joy of the moment.

"Snap!" The boat finally couldn't hold on any longer and shattered into pieces.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Xue Muhua screamed, clutching half a wooden plank in mid-air.

Who would have thought the old fellow was afraid of heights?

Zhang Chengyi still had the leisure to observe the others. Su Xinghe looked quite calm, standing on a wooden plank as if elegantly surfing through the air.

Qiao Feng’s burly figure was also stepping on a plank, holding his luggage in his left hand and the screaming Xue Muhua in his right.

Most of the others were either clutching or stepping on planks. Even if they fell, they would likely be fine; after all, in terms of internal energy, they were all top-tier masters. What was a fall of a few dozen meters to them?

*[Hehe, this is so much fun.]*

The culprit, Zhang Chengyi, still looked like he hadn't had enough.