Chapter 336 Chapter 334·“But my hair is already turning gray”

Su Mingan went back to his room and fell asleep.

Due to the night level with the Demon King and the Hero, he is now extremely sleep-deprived.

But before he slept for long, he was suddenly woken up by the sound outside.

“In order to ensure the safety of the Eastern District…the royal city…taxes…”

 “Please…please…if…we…”

 The noise outside became louder and louder, giving Su Ming'an a headache.

 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 withdrew.

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.

A Du is the name of the goldfish Su Mingan raised before.

The smart watch got its name, and he seems to be very happy about it.

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 report it to the royal city...”

Su Mingan opened the door.

On the bluestone road where garbage was piled up, a tall man stood in the middle of the road with a cigarette in his mouth. Behind him were several guards wearing 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, and turned around and left regardless of her pleas:

“The day after tomorrow is tax day, you morons, don’t forget to pay your taxes honestly! Playa doesn’t raise waste!”

 The residents on the side helped the woman and patted her back to calm her down.

　　"Casana, don't be sad, everything will be fine..."

"The child's father just went to sea. We have lived in Praia for generations, so why have we become moths..." the woman sobbed.

"Kasana... why don't you go to the tavern we introduced before? They should be able to give you a sum of money to help you tide over this difficulty..."

 Under the persuasion of the residents, the woman's expression kept changing.

 Finally, she nodded with difficulty.

 It seems that the "tavern" as people call it is a very scary place for her.

Su Mingan leaned against the door and watched the scene happening not far away.

In the room next to him, 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.

“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.

Su Mingan hesitated for a moment, then the old lady opened the door and let him in.

The house is not large, but it looks very clean. There is only a screen between the dining room and the bedroom, 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 granddaughter Lele of the family came out holding an empty bowl filled with medicine. She frowned slightly when she saw him, as if she was 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 by the sewing machine, the old lady arranged the clothes in her hands.

“Young man,” she said, “you still want to sign up for soul hunting?”

　　　…”

"You didn't come back last night, so I knew you must have become a soul hunter... Don't be nervous, I don't blame you." The old lady smoothed the cloth: "I think the feast on the sea will start soon. I just want to ask you for a favor."

Su Mingan said: "You said it."

 Communicating with local residents helped him collect some information, and he did not refuse.

 The old lady grinned.

 She put down the needle and found a photo.

The photo is extremely blurry, and the faces are also blurry. You can only vaguely see a family of four standing inside.

She stroked the black and white photo with trembling fingers, paused for a moment, and then handed the photo to Su Ming'an.

“Young man, you are a child of Su Lin’s family, and you are a good young man.” She said, “I am old and can’t walk anymore, so I can only live in this small room all day and night...”

Su Mingan took the photo.

"I would like to ask you to send this photo to the Central Soul Hunting Department." The old lady said: "After the soul hunters die, their photos will be preserved at the Central Soul Hunting Department. I think the old man has already If he can’t come back, let’s fulfill his wish… In this photo, I hope I can still see their faces clearly…”

Su Mingan took a look.

The photo is blurry and it is impossible to tell who is against whom.

"I can see it clearly." 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.

"You have probably seen it in the past few days since you came back." She said softly: "This Praia is not a charity hall."

Su Mingan remained silent.

"You have seen the scene just now. There is nothing we can do about the increase in taxes in the royal city..." the old lady said: "I saw a bright knight coming nearby last night. Maybe the church can't tolerate a poor neighborhood like ours." Alright..."

"Knight of Light?" Su Mingan guessed that Sherlude 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."

The old lady laughed: "In Praia more than sixty years ago, our life was not so sad... My old man was a cultural person of the older generation. At that time, he could also talk about literature, history, and popular culture. The customs and customs of Raya. Even if I work as a lobbyist and write some tabloids, I can barely survive...

“He loves to be brave, and his favorite thing to do is to help search for clues at night. I tried to persuade him not to do it, but he still did it without telling us. He is too stubborn and won’t let go no matter how hard I persuade him...

“Later, when his daughter Jiajia became ill, he went to the city in the clouds 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 his granddaughter Lele was born and when little Huer died, he didn’t come back.

“I still remember what he looked like before he left. What a glorious person he was. He would send us letters every year, asking us to wait, and we were waiting too.

“When my hair turns white, my eyesight becomes blurry, and when my needle can no longer sew.

 “He finally has news.

“…He said I didn’t have to wait for him.

 “But my hair is already turning gray.”

Perhaps she found someone to talk to, but the old lady was a little nagging.

She seemed to be unable to see clearly. There was a faint white circle in her pupils. The needle was pinched by her fingertips, and it took a long time to thread it, but it still didn't 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.

“Then thank you.” 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 again and talked to him a lot.

She said that the situation in the East District is indeed not very good. In the Imperial City, taxes have been increased, making it difficult for residents to live. 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 to survive.

There are also people who will take the initiative to clean up the battlefield and tidy up the dirty work in the neighborhood, risking the remnants of the Soul Clan to move the corpses and get paid.

 Some of them do it out of desire, some do it involuntarily, and some do it out of family considerations. But everyone is trying to survive in this **** world.

 That 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.

Slave taverns that deceive outsiders, over-enthusiastic women, clean and tidy neighborhoods, corpses covered with white cloth...

All the unreasonable phenomena gradually seemed reasonable in the old lady’s deep 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.

 Humiliated and endured humiliation, living 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 not to violate the basic rules and not to stand up for anyone. People at different levels will see things differently.

She told him that people should focus not on gaining happiness 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 seemed so free now.

  She told him that wisdom can also represent a kind of strength, and people inherently 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 place that eats people. Wangcheng also has 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 and said, His voice was hoarse: "Su Lin, Su Lin's child... you are a good young man. You have become a soul hunter. You will realize your dream."

Su Mingan nodded.

 He has lived in an unhappy family since he was a child. Except for his father, no one from the older generation would say these things to him.

Now listening to the old lady's nagging words, he felt inexplicably warm.

She would talk to him about the past, about her family's shortcomings and human nature, 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 start of the world game, 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 setting sun slowly spread on the window sill like a ribbon 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, is standing in front of this house.

 (End of this chapter)