After Su Mingan returned to her room, she fell asleep.
Due to the night level with the Demon King and the Hero, he is currently extremely sleep-deprived.
But before he slept for long, he was suddenly awakened by the sound outside.
"——In order to ensure the safety of the East District...the royal city...taxation..."
"Please...please...if...we..."
The noise outside became louder and louder, giving Su Ming'an a headache.
He originally didn't want to care about this kind of thing, but the noise outside became louder and louder, even mixed with small sounds of crying and smashing, as well as loud male voices shouting angrily.
He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and the watch on his left hand suddenly lit up.
"Good afternoon, Master! It is now 3:12 system time, and I will play relaxing and soothing wake-up music for you..."
"Shut up." Su Mingan said.
The light of the watch immediately turned back, and the music that had originally started fell silent.
A timid voice came from the watch: "Master, you haven't given me a name yet."
"You can get it yourself." Su Mingan stood up from the bed and listened to what was going on outside.
"But Master, how can you do something like naming yourself..."
"Then your name is A Du." Su Mingan said casually.
Adu is the name of the goldfish Su Mingan raised before.
The watch seems to be very happy to have a smart name.
Su Mingan walked to the door and listened to the sounds coming from outside.
"Sir, 30% of the tax has cost me my life. Can you please tell the Royal City that the 40% of the tax is really..."
Su Mingan opened the door.
The incident happened on another street not far away. The residents' begging for mercy was so loud that it could be heard through the leaky door.
On the bluestone road covered with cloth belts and piles of garbage, a tall man stood in the middle of the road with a cigarette in his mouth. Behind him were several guards in royal uniforms.
"How dare you disobey the orders from the Royal City?" the man yelled at the crying woman on the ground: "Now that the barrier is fragile and the storm is rampant, adding 10% of the tax is already considered mercy from the Royal City. You guys only know how to live on your own. Parasite, selfishness should have limits!"
The man stepped forward, snatched the jade ring from the woman's wrist, turned around and left regardless of her pleas, and at the end he said:
"The day after tomorrow is tax collection day. You morons, don't forget to pay your taxes honestly! Praia doesn't raise waste!"
Behind him, the uniformed guards stopped the woman. With one push, the woman lay down beside the room.
"Mom, mom..." The little girl in shabby clothes supported the coughing woman.
Behind them is a leaky house.
Residents nearby also helped the woman and patted her back to calm her down.
"Kasana, don't be sad, everything will be fine..."
"The child's father just went to sea. How dare they, how dare they rob so openly? We have lived in Praia for generations, how come we have become moths..." The woman sobbed, crying and coughing. It looked like Been sick for a long time.
"Kasana, the people in the royal city are like this, and we can't do anything about it... Otherwise, why don't you go to the tavern we introduced before, and they should be able to give you a sum of money to help you survive this time. Difficulties..."
Under the persuasion of the residents, the woman's expression continued to change.
Finally, facing her daughter's timid gaze, she nodded with difficulty.
It seems that the "tavern" that people call it is a very scary place for her.
Su Mingan leaned against the door and watched the scene happening not far away.
As if having seen enough of the excitement, the residents were doing their own things, and the crying woman also stood up and walked out of the street.
In the room next to Su Mingan, the old lady was stepping on a sewing machine. The sewing machine made a squeaking sound, and there was a slight sound of thread friction.
The room was not soundproof, and the sounds inside could easily be heard.
The family seemed to be chatting.
"...Mom, leave me alone..."
"...How can you ignore it? You are my biological daughter. Don't worry, even if the old man can't get this medicine, you and Lele will be fine."
"……Why bother."
"Don't worry about it, just lie down and I'm looking for someone to help me send this photo from home..."
Su Mingan didn't listen to the corner's habit. He turned around and wanted to go back to the house to catch up on his sleep.
Beside the window, the sound of the sewing machine suddenly stopped.
"Hey, let's see who's standing at the door...young man, young man, hey, it's from Su Lin's family!"
As soon as Su Mingan turned around, the old lady's voice came from the window.
Seeing him looking over, the old lady stopped what she was doing.
She folded the cloth in her hand with the clothes next to her and waved to him through the window.
Su Mingan hesitated for a moment and then walked over. Unexpectedly, the old lady opened the door directly and let him in.
The house is not large, but it looks very clean, as if it has been carefully cleaned. There is only a screen between the dining room and the bedroom inside, and a woman's cough can be heard from time to time on the other side of the screen.
When Su Ming'an came in, the family's granddaughter Lele came out holding an empty bowl filled with medicine. She frowned slightly when she saw him, seeming to be very wary of him.
"Lele, let me have a conversation with this young man." The old lady said.
Lele curled her lips, turned around and continued to enter the screen.
Sitting next to the sewing machine, the old lady carefully arranged the clothes in her hands.
"Young man." She lowered her head and said, "Are you still going to sign up for soul hunting?"
"..."
"When you didn't come back last night, I knew you must have become a soul hunter... Don't be nervous, I don't blame you." The old lady smoothed the cloth with her thin hands. She polished her fingers in the box next to her, and then took out a thin needle: "I think the feast on the sea is about to start, so I want to ask you for a favor."
"It's okay." Su Mingan said, "You tell me."
Communicating with local residents helped him collect some information, and he did not refuse.
The old lady grinned.
She squinted her eyes, put down the needle, and found a painting-like photo.
This photo seemed to be made with special techniques. The photo was extremely blurry and the faces were blurred. Only a family of four could be vaguely seen standing inside.
She stroked the black and white photo with trembling fingers, and after a moment of pause, handed the photo to Su Ming'an.
"Young man, you are a child of the Su Lin family. You are a good young man." She said: "I am getting old and can hardly walk anymore. I can only live in this small room all day and night..."
Su Mingan took the photo.
"I want to ask you to send this photo to the Central Soul Hunting Department." The old lady said: "After the soul hunter dies, their photos will be preserved at the Central Soul Hunting Department. I think, although the old man I can’t come back, but I want to fulfill his wish so that the photo of him and my little Hull can be preserved together... This photo is the clearest one I found. I hope I can still see him clearly. s face……"
Su Mingan took a look.
The photo was blurry, and even the face looked as if it had been polished, making it impossible to tell who was against whom.
"It's clear." He said, "I will submit it to the Soul Hunting Department."
He accepted the photo, and the old lady seemed to want to say something else.
After putting on the glasses tremblingly, the needle in her hand began to move.
"You have probably seen it in the past few days since you came back." She said softly: "This Praia is not a kind hall. It is not a good place where everyone can live a good life."
Su Mingan remained silent.
"You have seen the scene just now. There is nothing we can do about the tax increase in the royal city. If there is no young and middle-aged person in the family, life will be like a moth and life will be a burden..." The old lady said: "I saw something nearby last night. There's a Knight of Light here, maybe the church can't tolerate a poor neighborhood like ours..."
"Bright Knight?" Su Ming'an guessed that Xie Lude came to him for a mission last night, but unfortunately he was still with the Soul Clan in the Southern District last night: "It shouldn't be the church. They don't seem to care about this."
"Really?" the old lady laughed: "In Praia more than sixty years ago, during the most scarce and difficult period of resources, when Su Lin had just ascended to Yunzhong City, he had not yet obtained the enchantment. At that point in time when it was established...the church was the first to advocate giving up residents and saving resources.”
As she spoke, her fingers holding the needle gradually tightened: "At that time, life here was not that difficult... My old man was a cultural person of the older generation. At that time, he could also talk about literature, history, and... The customs and customs of Praia. Even if I work as a lobbyist and write some tabloids, I can barely get by...
"He loves to show off, and his favorite thing to do is to be the second-line captain of the soul hunting team at night, helping to search for clues. I tried to persuade him, saying that it was the same job as a death squad, but he still liked to do it, hiding it. When we do it, our lives are just like those of the underground team. We are too stubborn and won’t let go no matter how hard we try to persuade us...
"Later, when his daughter Jiajia got sick, he went up to Yunshang City and said he was going to find medicine.
"Our family is waiting. Waiting for him to come down, waiting for him to bring the medicine back.
"...When granddaughter Lele was born, when little Hel died, he didn't come back.
"I still remember his appearance before he left. What a glorious person he was. He would send us letters every year, asking us to wait, and we are waiting too.
"When my hair turns white, my eyesight can no longer see clearly, and when I can hardly sew with needles.
“…He finally has news.
“He said I didn’t have to wait for him.
"But my hair is already turning gray."
Perhaps because she had someone to talk to, the old lady was a bit garrulous.
She seemed to be unable to see clearly. There was a faint white circle in her pupils. The needle was pinched at her fingertips, and it took a long time to thread it, but it still failed to penetrate the thread.
"You don't need to worry too much." Su Mingan said: "I have read the regulations from the Soul Hunting Department. Relatives who sacrificed themselves for soul hunting should receive financial assistance and care. From what I see in your situation, it should be from the Soul Hunting Department. I didn't pay attention. I will go to the Soul Hunting Department tomorrow to report it and ask them to send the aid, and your living conditions will be much better."
After listening to his words, the old lady was silent for a while.
She put down the needle and covered his hand.
The hand she covered was a little cold, much colder than ordinary people, like ice. After a moment of silence, she continued to smile.
"Thank you then." She said in a very soft voice: "In this way, Jiajia and Lele will live a better life."
Then, the old lady took his hand and talked to him a lot.
She said that the situation in the East District is indeed not good. In the Imperial City, taxes have been increased, making it difficult for residents to live. In order to maintain their family, they can only choose to join some taverns that defraud outsiders, kidnap and sell slaves, and obtain money to support the whole family.
Some people will deliberately seduce outsiders and exchange their bodies for capital just to get some money from outsiders.
There are also people who will take the initiative to take over the dirty work of cleaning up battlefields and tidying up neighborhoods, risking the remnants of the Soul Clan, going deep into those war zones to move corpses and get paid.
Some of them do it out of desire, some out of involuntary consent, and some out of family considerations. But everyone is trying to survive in this damn world.
Such was the chaos just now. The woman who was robbed of her jade bracelet was forced to join that tavern and engage in unconscionable trafficking for the sake of her child.
Through the old lady's words, Su Mingan gradually remembered the chaos he encountered when he first arrived in Praia.
A slave tavern that deceives outsiders, overly enthusiastic women, clean and tidy neighborhoods, corpses covered with white cloth...
All the unreasonable phenomena gradually seemed reasonable in the old lady's low and hoarse voice.
This is a world where people have to hurt each other in order to survive.
Humans and souls, souls and souls, humans and humans.
In this morbid way of living, people deviate from their original intentions and gradually coexist with pain.
They endure humiliation and live an ignoble existence.
...Is this really just a fictional copy of the game?
…
The chat between the old lady and him lasted for a long time.
She told him that there was nothing shameful about being weak. You don’t have to pursue something in life, as long as you can reflect on this life and feel guilty.
She told him that after becoming a soul hunter, he should not violate the basic rules, nor should he stand out for anyone. The increase in taxes in the royal city naturally has its reasons, and people at different levels will see it differently.
She told him that one should focus not on gaining pleasure or avoiding pain, but on seeing the meaning of life. People will get answers to their questions in this life.
She told him to cherish those years that now seemed so liberating.
She told him that wisdom can also represent a kind of strength, and people have infinite possibilities.
She told him to live well.
"...In short, don't be afraid. You are still young and there is still a long way to go. Even if you will see a lot of darkness and unfairness in the world along the way, you must give priority to protecting yourself... Soul hunting is not a cannibal. The place and the royal city also have their own considerations. They cannot blind their eyes and rush to fight against injustice...Only when you stand up, stand high and see far, can you understand that some things are not that simple." The old lady held his hand. holding his hand, his voice was hoarse: "Su Lin, Su Lin's child... you are a good young man, you have become a soul hunter, and you will realize your dream."
Su Mingan nodded.
He had lived in an unhappy native family since he was a child. Except for his father, no one from the older generation would tell him these truths.
Now listening to the old lady's nagging words, he felt inexplicably friendly.
She would tell him about the past, about her family's shortcomings and common sense in the world, about her life's experiences and stories, and about her son, Little Hull, and how cute he was when he was little.
Her voice was gentle and her tone was soft, like a flowing stream. As he listened, his originally tense mood relaxed a lot, and his somewhat numb emotions began to soften.
After the World Game started, he felt for the first time the feeling of being taken care of by his elders.
He sat here for a long time, probably two or three hours. When the sunset slowly spread on the window sill like a band of light, the door rang.
The old lady let go of her hand, stood up, and opened the door.
A handsome face, like a bright knight bathing in the sunset, was standing in front of this house.
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