Nan Yue's gaze shifted to the adjacent Room 405, which faced the corridor and sat between the man and the vacant room.
The area outside the room was very clean; the walls even looked as if they had been freshly repainted, their whiteness jarringly out of place compared to the surroundings.
The door was polished to a shine, and even the dust on the floor had been mopped away, giving the impression that it belonged to an entirely different world from the rest of the corridor.
Who... lived here?
Why was this man so nervous?
Gu Xiang Kai had already turned back and crouched on the ground, pulling out another pack of cigarettes. "Brother, I wanted to ask you something."
The man glanced at Gu Xiang Kai and took a cigarette, tucking it behind his ear.
He was a man of the streets, and he could sense that Gu Xiang Kai shared a similar scent of the underworld, something the others lacked.
"Wu Ming."
Gu Xiang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Good name."
"We're going to be neighbors from now on, so what about this one..."
He tilted his head toward Room 405. "Are they easy to get along with?"
Gu Xiang Kai didn't miss the instantaneous stiffening of Wu Ming's expression. "To be honest, I've brought a younger brother with me. He just got out and doesn't know the ropes yet, so I'm worried he might accidentally offend someone."
Shi Xiaojie, not being an outsider, didn't have any ulterior thoughts and even felt that Gu Xiang Kai was looking out for him by saying that.
Since he was staying with Gu Xiang Kai, he naturally stood by his side when Gu Xiang Kai remained behind.
He felt he had met a benefactor; Gu Xiang Kai looked very reliable and was even handling the social interactions with the neighbors, saving him a lot of trouble.
Wu Ming lowered his head and remained silent, so Nan Yue took the opportunity to lead the others away.
Wu Ming's status was likely questionable, making him extremely wary of people, including them.
With them around, Gu Xiang Kai probably wouldn't be able to get much information out of him.
The lighting on the third floor was slightly better than on the two floors above, likely because there were no businesses there; instead, the vast majority of the rooms were used for a single purpose.
A church.
Indeed, inside this dilapidated old building abandoned by the city, there was a misfit church.
Calling it a church was a stretch; it lacked the iconic cross on the roof and the stained glass windows of a typical church.
There was only a grimy floor-to-ceiling window through which one could barely see outside, though it did allow for better light and air than the other floors.
The best piece of furniture in the church was a pulpit made from a dark wooden desk, behind which stood a massive cross made of copper.
There were seven or eight rows of simple benches and a confessional covered with a black cloth.
That was the extent of this misfit church.
Nan Yue lifted the black cloth; the confessional was divided into two sections, one for the priest and one for the parishioner.
Chi Yu leaned in to take a look. "It's quite clean."
Nan Yue nodded. The church was indeed cleaner than other places, especially this confessional, which was even cleaner than the exterior.
Even the black cloth didn't smell of dust; it had clearly been washed.
"This church is so strange."
Not only were the furnishings simple, but the church was also filled with greenery—likely pothos or something similar—which grew large and lush, making the entire church look as if it were built inside a garden.
"But it's quite unique."
Nan Yue agreed with Chi Yu. Given the location in a slum and the conditions of the surrounding residents, the church appeared somewhat incongruous.
However, with so many plants, it was pleasant to look at and certainly had its own character.
"Keep an eye out for who the believers are."
Ever since learning that the pollution world was a projection of the real world, Nan Yue had understood one thing.
Sometimes, useless clues and scenes would appear in missions because they weren't pollution sources formed specifically for the Scavenger Project, but rather parts of a world that truly existed.
Not everything that appeared would necessarily provide information; some were distractions, while others... simply existed.
Furthermore, the federal world was full of wonders, so nothing that appeared was truly surprising anymore.
Still, it never hurt to be observant.
Chi Yu nodded and began wandering around the church.
Strangely, there were no bibles, holy water, or other items typically found in a church.
If one just looked at it this way, the church seemed abandoned.
Yet someone was clearly looking after it, cleaning it, and tending to the plants.
Because there were no businesses on the third floor, there was one more vacant room.
The door to Room 306 was open, and people were moving things inside. It appeared to be a young couple whose circumstances weren't very good, as much of the furniture looked like it had been scavenged from a second-hand market.
The boy was doing the heavy lifting while the girl was seriously wiping things down with a rag. Another female voice drifted out from the room.
"You even know how to knit sofa covers? That's amazing!"
The girl holding the rag smiled bashfully. "If you like them, I can knit one for you."
A girl with twin tails walked out giggling, and Nan Yue immediately spotted the cross necklace she was wearing.
"Then thank you in advance."
"You're helping us move, so I should be the one thanking you."
"Oh, are you new neighbors?"
The girl with twin tails looked toward Nan Yue. She appeared young, and her hairstyle and clothing made her look even younger. Her voice was sweet, making it easy for people to feel well-disposed toward her.
"I'm Xie Hui from Room 305. I've lived here for many years."
The girl who had been crouching and wiping the furniture also turned around. Her looks were ordinary, but she had exceptionally beautiful eyes.
"Hello, I'm Yao He, and this is my boyfriend, Yang Xufeng."
Yang Xufeng had dark skin, so it was hard to tell if he was embarrassed; he simply nodded to everyone and, looking a bit constrained, carried more things inside.
Jiang Siyan took off his coat, handed it to Nan Yue, and rolled up his sleeves with a kind smile. "Let me help you."
Jiang Haoyu, who had just come upstairs, witnessed this scene. He looked at Jiang Siyan's bright smile and silently lowered his head.
Xie Hui seemed very interested in Jiang Siyan; she followed him inside, and her voice could be heard continuously from within the room.
"Are you new tenants? You don't look like the type of person who would live here."
"What kind of work do you do?"
"You're so handsome, are you a celebrity?"
Yin Qian let out a cold snort and then turned to gauge Nan Yue's expression.
With Jiang Siyan's looks, it was only natural for someone to be interested in him. He wondered if Nan Yue would get jealous.
As top-tier mission participants, no one would let such things affect their judgment, but because Jiang Siyan was special, Yin Qian had never imagined such a madman would develop feelings for anyone.
Jiang Siyan was supposed to be a cold, aloof, and antisocial person.
Such a person didn't love himself, let alone others.
But then Nan Yue appeared, resulting in a Jiang Siyan who still didn't love himself but was capable of loving someone else.
Yin Qian was very curious.
Thus, Yin Qian looked toward Nan Yue in what he thought was a subtle manner, only to be caught red-handed by her.
"Well?"
Nan Yue didn't find anything amiss; her mind was entirely on the information Yin Qian had gathered.
Yin Qian choked for a moment, shot a quick glance at Nan Yue, and then coughed twice as he professionally entered his scavenger state.
Rate on N.U.
