44: Chapter 44: The Tanking Movement

The morning on Hengchuan Peak was eerily quiet.

The frenzy of "working desperately for points" from a few days ago had completely broken, like a fever that came and went in a flash.

The morning bell on the training grounds had rung three times, yet it remained completely empty.

Only a few withered leaves swirled on the ground.

If you looked up, you would find those empty Immortal Caves and rooftops crowded with people.

Some were lying flat on the roof tiles basking in the sun, others were gathered together playing card games, and some were even holding wine flasks, grinning foolishly at the rising sun.

"Why the hell should we still train?"

On the roof, an Outer Sect Disciple propped his legs on the tiles, a grass stalk dangling from his mouth. "I didn't do it the past few days because I was afraid of dying. Now I've figured it out—no matter how they calculate this performance, people are going to die anyway, so I might as well just lie here."

"Exactly."

His companion grabbed a handful of cards and threw down a 'Ghost Card'. "The Sect can't possibly sacrifice all of us. If they did, who would sweep the floors? Who would farm the land? They still need to keep us alive. This is what you call... a 'zero-sum game' in game theory."

"That stuff from Boss Shen? That's just to scare the fools."

The man chuckled. "As long as we all collectively lie flat, there's nothing he can do about it. He can't kill everyone on the peak, right?"

This "a dead pig doesn't fear boiling water" attitude spread like a plague.

They stopped taking on dangerous field missions and even became perfunctory with their daily sweeping and cleaning.

After all, the more you do, the more mistakes you make; if you don't do anything, you make no mistakes.

Since working hard doesn't guarantee survival, why not spend these last few days in comfort?

...

Inside his Immortal Cave, Shen Xingzhou stood by the window, watching the group of "lying flat" Disciples below, his fists clenching until they cracked.

This was even more of a headache than the previous "point-farming faction." At least those farming points still wanted to live; lying flat was a total abandonment of treatment.

He took a deep breath and opened the System panel.

As expected, the data before his eyes was a sea of blood red.

[Hengchuan Peak · Group Sentiment Overview (Real-time)]

Satisfaction: 12% (Cliff-like drop)

Confusion: 37% (Continually rising)

Lying Flat Index: 41% (Red high-risk)

Resentment: High-pressure state, currently looking for a vent.

[AI Prediction:]

If the "lying flat movement" is allowed to develop, within 3 days:

Hengchuan Peak's overall combat power will drop by 28%.

Field mission completion rate will fall below 10%.

The Sect will view Hengchuan Peak as an "unusable asset" and initiate mandatory liquidation procedures.

"I have to handle this."

Shen Xingzhou gritted his teeth. "If it continues like this, we'll be finished before the sacrifice even happens."

Just then, the System popped up that familiar simulation box again. But this time, the two options it gave made his spine chill just looking at them.

[Mass Incident Handling Simulation]

[Mode 1: High Pressure (Iron-fisted governance)]

Methods:

Heavily punish those who lead the lying flat movement for violations.

Those with three consecutive missions without records will be forcibly moved to the "priority tier" of the sacrifice list.

Strip all benefits and implement militarized management.

Short-term effect: Discipline is restored instantly, combat power is forcibly recovered.

Mid-term risk: Resentment index will break the critical point, triggering large-scale defection or riots.

*(Evaluation: This is drinking poison to quench thirst, but it tastes good.)*

[Mode 2: Appeasement (Gentle pacification)]

Methods:

Forcibly increase "rest days" and distribute appeasement benefits.

Lower mission quotas and conduct emotional counseling.

Short-term effect: Combat power continues to slide, inertia solidifies.

Mid-to-long-term effect: Loyalty and trust indices slowly rise; if the trough period can be endured, a stable team can be formed.

(Evaluation: This is gambling with your lives, betting that the Sect isn't in a rush to have you die.)

Shen Xingzhou's finger hovered over the "Select" button, unable to press it.

High pressure means treating Disciples like livestock; it will backfire sooner or later.

Appeasement means turning Hengchuan Peak into a nursing home; at this critical juncture of life and death, it is simply courting death.

"Neither path is clean..."

He closed his eyes, feeling that in this man-eating world, trying to be a good person was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Just as he was hesitating, trying to find a third way.

Boom!

Outside the Immortal Cave, a violent surge of spiritual energy erupted.

It was... the fluctuation of the sacrificial list stone wall.

Shen Xingzhou opened his eyes abruptly and rushed out of the Immortal Cave.

On the training grounds, the lying-flat Disciples who were originally playing cards and basking in the sun were startled by this fluctuation, all standing up and looking at the stone wall.

They saw the [Sacrifice Reserve List] on the stone wall flickering wildly.

It was as if an invisible hand was forcibly tampering with the content.

Names that were originally in the middle or even towards the end of the list were fading one by one, while a new name was "teleporting" directly to the top three from the bottom in a brutal manner.

That name was: Zhang San.

A Utility Disciple who usually just muddled through life but never committed any major mistakes.

Shen Xingzhou opened the System, and the log before his eyes made his whole body go cold.

[List Abnormality Change Record]

Operation Target: Zhang San (Performance Points: Low, No violation record)

Change Content: Sacrifice Rank from 88th → jumped to 3rd

Liquidation Time: Moved up to tomorrow night at the Hour of the Rat (midnight).

[Operation Log Signature:]

[Unknown Signature]

[Permission Comparison:]

Operator Permission Level: > Highest permission of this System

Host Shen Xingzhou Permission: View only, cannot roll back, cannot appeal

"Unknown signature?"

Shen Xingzhou stared at this line of text, a chill shooting straight to his crown.

System permissions cannot be violated; this had always been his understanding. Even the Sect Head could not arbitrarily change the sacrifice list.

But now, something had changed it.

And it happened directly, without him, the System, or anyone else even reacting.

This meant—

Above him, above the System, above the Sect rules.

There was an invisible "Audit" hand, casually tapping the keyboard of life and death.

"Ah—!!"

A shrill scream broke the dead silence.

That Utility Disciple named Zhang San was slumped on the ground, pointing at his own name, his fingers trembling.

"Why?! Why me?!"

"I... I just didn't take any missions these past two days! I wasn't even slacking off that badly, why do I have to die?!"

The surrounding lying-flat Disciples, who were originally watching the show and even mocking that "whoever works hard is a fool," now had their smiles frozen on their faces.

Someone laughed dryly: "Old Zhang, you... you must just be unlucky; maybe this was a System random draw..."

But in that laughter, the sound of chattering teeth was clearly audible.

If Zhang San was being sacrificed because he didn't work hard, then what about them?

Were they, who were even lazier than Zhang San, going to be next?

Shen Xingzhou stood in the crowd, listening to the heart-wrenching wails and looking at the pairs of eyes filled with fear.

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, wanting to say, "I didn't do this."

But he knew it was useless.

In the face of these cruel rules, explanation was the palest thing of all.

He could only watch Zhang San, that young man who usually said with a grin that "lying flat keeps you safe," now curled up like discarded trash.

"I didn't do this."

Shen Xingzhou whispered, his voice very soft, audible only to himself. "I may be cruel, but I only kill those who should be killed. I don't play these random games."

He raised his head and looked at the vast sky.

There was nothing there, only the wind whistling.

But he knew there was a pair of eyes there.

Watching this good show.

Just in the darkest corner of his vision, the System slowly displayed a line of text that was as cold as ice shards.

[System Prompt]

"You are all involuting, but someone is directly liquidating everything above your heads."

In that instant, Shen Xingzhou understood.

The so-called performance, the so-called rules, the so-called struggle.

In the eyes of that holder of the "Unknown Signature," it was nothing more than a child's game that could be called off at any time.