Shi Xiaojie... Shi Xiaojie stopped trembling.
Indeed, the dead weren't as scary as being poor.
"If it weren't for that, would you have been able to rent such a cheap place?"
Uncle Zhong retracted his head and pulled the curtains shut.
However, his voice still drifted out.
"You can go up using the internal stairs, but if you want to leave the building, you have to use the external fire escape."
Chi Yu had been standing by the window in silence. When she saw the curtains close, her eyes flickered, and she glanced at Nan Yue.
"Let's go."
Nan Yue took the keys. They were just dead people; except for Shi Xiaojie, everyone here had seen plenty.
Shi Xiaojie was on the verge of tears and could only stick close to Gu Xiang Kai as they walked.
Nan Yue and Zhu Xi Ning walked side by side. Zhu Xi Ning whispered, "The building is fine, and so is Uncle Zhong."
This building looked eerie, like a haunted house, and that one-eyed Uncle Zhong didn't look like a good person either, but there was no danger or ghostly energy.
"But missions in a pollution zone are usually extreme or high-difficulty, so there might be situations my ability can't see. We must be careful."
Zhu Xi Ning had truly grown. Not only could she control her ability at will and live in peace with Zhu Xi Ning Number Two, but she also recognized the limitations of her power in certain situations.
When she wasn't anxious to prove herself, she was strong enough.
Nan Yue nodded slightly. The keys in her hand were ice-cold, with room numbers written in ballpoint pen on pieces of adhesive tape stuck to them.
There were four rooms: two on the third floor, one on the fourth, and one on the fifth.
Nan Yue and the others went to check every room.
The fifth floor was the highest floor of this dilapidated building. As soon as they stepped inside, they felt it was even hotter than the other floors. The corridor was covered in dust, and most rooms were empty, but one door was open.
【Wu's Clinic】
Nan Yue glanced sideways. Inside, the left and right walls were filled with medicine cabinets. Facing the door was a wooden desk as decayed as the rest of the building, with a grimy wrist rest placed on top.
Near the window was a single examination bed, its sheets so dirty their original color was unrecognizable.
This was likely a two-bedroom apartment. The door on the left was half-closed, and though it was dark inside, the smell of boiling Chinese medicine wafted out.
A man with only a few sparse white hairs on his head sat in a chair, fanning himself with a cattail fan. He didn't move when he saw them, staring back in silence.
After a moment, the man forced a strange, welcoming smile. Nan Yue turned her head away.
The occupied rooms were obvious because items were piled by the doors, or there was no dust, showing signs of frequent entry and exit.
There were three tenants on the fifth floor. One had an earthenware pot by the door containing cold dregs of Chinese medicine; they were likely in poor health.
Across from the medicine dregs, Room 504 had a simple shoe rack outside with several pairs of canvas shoes and two pairs of black high-heeled leather shoes.
A young woman.
The only room left for them was the one at the end of the corridor, Room 505.
Just as Nan Yue and the others were about to head downstairs, the door to Room 504 opened with a bang. A bare-faced woman walked out, carrying a bag of trash to the corridor.
She only realized there were quite a few people in the hallway after opening the door. She looked wary until she saw everyone's heavy luggage.
"Are you... new tenants?"
A smile appeared on Zhu Xi Ning's face. "Yes, sister, we're new tenants. We'll be neighbors from now on."
Zhu Xi Ning was sweet-looking, and when she deliberately tried to be likable, she seemed very friendly. The woman's expression instinctively relaxed a bit.
"Ah... when we rented the place, the landlord said there were four rooms left. I see you've taken them all."
Zhu Xi Ning nodded and asked softly, "Is the person across the hall also a tenant?"
Hearing this, the woman glanced at Room 503, her tone turning sour.
"It's an old lady. She boils Chinese medicine in the corridor every day. It's bitter and fishy, and the smell is so strong you can smell it even with the door closed. She won't listen when told and even makes a scene."
It seemed there had been some friction between these two tenants before.
Zhu Xi Ning showed a worried expression. "Can't you talk to Uncle Zhong..."
The woman let out a cold laugh. "Him? Once he collects the money, he vanishes. Whatever, what more can you say about such a cheap place? The old lady has probably lived here for a long time. It might even be her own apartment."
Zhu Xi Ning gave Nan Yue a look. She didn't follow the others downstairs, instead opening the door to Room 505, intending to stay there.
Nan Yue left Zhu Xi Ning on the fifth floor to gather clues. Jiang Haoyu wanted to stay with her but was dragged away by the collar by Yin Qian.
"Why are you staying? Do you think you can protect her? It'll be enough if the two of us don't hold everyone back."
Jiang Haoyu adjusted his glasses which had slid down. "Follow me to the second floor."
Yin Qian completely obeyed Nan Yue's arrangements, and the two slipped away to the second floor. Yin Qian's ability was well-suited for coaxing information out of NPCs.
Jiang Haoyu's main role was establishing corridors, but he always wanted to make himself stronger. While abilities couldn't be forced, he could learn more to make himself more useful.
Since the mission had just begun, Nan Yue wasn't worried about them encountering a situation they couldn't handle.
Watching the two run down, the others arrived on the fourth floor.
Room 404 was already occupied; an adult man was crouching by the door, changing the lock.
It looked like he had just moved in and didn't want to use the previous lock.
The man glanced back but said nothing, continuing to hammer away. Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening. Nan Yue noticed the man's body instantly tense up, as if he were on high alert for something.
Click.
The door to a nearby shop opened, and a short, somewhat shifty man walked out. He greeted Nan Yue and the others enthusiastically when he saw them.
"New neighbors! That's great. The building is getting lively again. Life is good when it's lively."
Nan Yue saw the sign by his door: 【A-Wang's Certifications】.
Gu Xiang Kai glanced at the small man and moved slightly to stand in front of the women. "Good luck with your business, brother."
The small man chuckled. "I'll take those kind words. If you need any certificates or IDs, no matter what it is, I can get it done as long as the price is right."
Gu Xiang Kai nodded. The small man looked at his muscular arms, smiled, and returned to his room.
This was a common sight; the poorer and filthier a place was, the more these shady industries thrived.
Even though they weren't from the Federation, they had seen this in the digital city as well.
No matter how glamorous a city appeared, there was always a dark side.
Those filthy things didn't disappear; they were just hidden in places like this, giving those living in the sunlight the illusion that their city was truly clean.
Nan Yue didn't pay much attention to the small man named A-Wang. She had been observing the neighbor crouching on the floor.
After hearing it was A-Wang who had come out, the man's body relaxed. He didn't even look in that direction and continued with his work.
It wasn't him.
The man wasn't wary of A-Wang.
Rate on N.U.
