Xu Shu shook his head with a slight smile and said, "Alright, old sir, tell , how much is it?"
The elderly man chuckled and said, "Talking money hurts feelings. It’s fate for us to share this ride. I forgot to buy a ticket when I boarded; could you help buy one?"
As they spoke, a conductor checking tickets in the carriage seed to suddenly hear them, stomped over angrily, and pointed at the elderly man, saying, "You boarded without a ticket again!"
The elderly man pointed at Xu Shu and said, "Calm down, this young man will pay for ."
The conductor suspiciously looked at him, then at Xu Shu, and asked, "Are you paying for him?"
Turns out, it’s just a ticket he needs, and the topic of money is rely a favor in passing. This old man is quite the character... Xu Shu smiled and nodded, "I’ll pay, how much?"
The conductor took out a palm-sized abacus, clattered it for a while, and finally said, "A total of twelve thousand six hundred and eighty-two dollars, pay up."
The smile on Xu Shu’s face gradually disappeared as he blinked, "How much?"
Do you think I’m an easy foreigner to bully?
I ca from the border, and a supplentary ticket was only 600. Is this old man enjoying a premium seat with monthly mbership on the train, or what, over ten thousand? And with odd cents?
The conductor took out a booklet, similar to a calendar, opened it, and showed Xu Shu, with train numbers marked in red on many lines.
"Did you ride all these trains without tickets?" Xu Shu asked in disbelief.
His smile shifted to the elderly man’s face, and the latter smiled and said, "Youngster, knowledge is priceless."
"...Alright." Xu Shu laughed in exasperation.
Fortunately, he had just looted Xinglong Manor and was considerably wealthy, so he dutifully handed over twelve thousand seven hundred dollars, saying generously, "Keep the change as a tip."
The conductor was surprised, looked at Xu Shu, and her voice softened a bit awkwardly, "Thank you, sir."
Having said that, she quickly trotted away from the scene.
At this point, the train slowed down again, and a broadcast announced that the next stop was "Liuyi Inn."
Hearing this peculiar na, Xu Shu beca slightly wary, thinking, could there be strange rules to follow here too?
Fortunately, until the train stopped, the broadcast did not say anything like "all passengers, please note."
Instead, the elderly man, who was forcefully "selling lessons," stood up and said to Xu Shu, "Young friend, this is my stop. You’re heading to that... First-class Safe Zone, which isn’t far away. It seems you’re planning to settle down here. We are quite fated; we might et again in the future. If you don’t mind, just call Uncle Yong instead of calling the senior, okay?"
Given the elderly man’s age, he could easily be Xu Shu’s great-grandfather, and calling him uncle seed like a good bargain, with Xu Shu actually gaining the upper hand.
Based on the fact that he had paid more than ten thousand dollars for him, with the thought that the money shouldn’t be spent in vain and many friends make for many paths, Xu Shu courteously said, "Okay, Uncle Yong."
"Young friend, to show politeness, what’s your na? You must tell , right?" Uncle Yong asked with a smile.
"My na is Xu Shu," Xu Shu said.
The na ’Yu Mingluan’ had already offended people from the Gengluo Departnt and could only be used when concealing his identity in the future, not easily shown to others.
And since he was new here, and everyone got along quite well, they counted as personal connections, so there was no need to always be so secretive.
Therefore, Xu Shu sincerely revealed his real na.
However, Uncle Yong’s expression suddenly froze as he said, "Young man, that’s not funny. I’m nearly ninety years old, aren’t you afraid of shortening your lifespan by taking advantage?"
Xu Shu said, puzzled, "What shortening of lifespan? Uncle Yong, I really am called Xu Shu!"
"I just saw your sister’s ticket; her last na is Zhou."
"Fine, you can call Zhou Shu too. A na is just a code, Uncle Yong, you’re quite the expert, how can you be so fixated?"
"..."
Uncle Yong felt at a loss, gave Xu Shu a deep look, morized his appearance, and said no more.
A gust of wind blew past, and his form slowly dissipated, leaving behind a peculiar "Order" character that gradually beca faint and vanished.
"Sure enough, he is quite the capable expert, likely the director of this Liuyi Inn?"
Xu Shu didn’t say it out loud, but in his heart, it was as clear as a mirror.
He quietly withdrew his line of sight and followed the train as it started again, enjoying the relatively rare starry sky over the wasteland. In his heart, he thought that since it was already night, given the situation at night in the wasteland, it would be impossible to enter the Safe Zone tonight, right?
It’s impossible for this First-class Safe Zone, no matter how powerful, to make a losing deal by dealing with the endless "dark creatures" that erged from underground at night on the wasteland.
So, without surprises, the last stop tonight should be a small town relatively close to the Safe Zone but at least five kiloters away from the city wall.
With this thought, Xu Shu passed several culturall- thed stations like "Zuiweng Pavilion," "Wenshu Courtyard," "Luling Platform," and in no ti, at 8 PM, approached the Safe Zone.
And this was when Xu Shu finally understood why the mont he spoke, his identity was exposed.
Because here, the Safe Zone wasn’t called a Safe Zone, it had another na.
As his line of sight revealed that familiar majestic city wall, Xu Shu’s pupils narrowed. He saw not only the Star Tower that stood like a lone pillar reaching the sky but also the palatial scenes suspended above the clouds, glittering gold and jade, under the twinkling stars and moon.
Xu Shu looked down at the cover of the travel guide booklet, which depicted a painted Immortal Palace, and murmured, "No wonder it’s painted so realistically, it’s not a painting, but a live photograph!"
A grand scene resembling an Immortal Palace lay before him, and steady, clear broadcasting resonated in his ears:
"Passengers, arriving at the next stop, final destination, Bai Yujing..."
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