Yang Cancan closed up shop and led Wang Yue down the main street for a good while before they veered off into a severely dilapidated district.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Wang Yue wouldn’t have believed that such a run-down slum could exist within a global Super City.
Judging by the architectural style, these were likely the first batch of makeshift shelters built right after the Great Cataclysm—temporary housing for refugees that had sohow survived into the present day.
After hundreds of years and over a dozen generations of residents, this already cramped space had been choked further by a chaotic ss of shacks and lean-tos. The result was a labyrinth of alleys so narrow that only one person could pass at a ti. To anyone unfamiliar with the layout, it was a total maze; you’d be lost within seconds.
However, this chaos served as a natural form of protection. Tailing soone here was nearly impossible unless you stayed within ten ters, or they’d vanish around a corner in the blink of an eye.
Wang Yue realized that Yang Cancan’s confidence in standing up to those thugs ca from two things: her near-martial-artist combat ability and the invisible protection of this maze. No one was going to go through the massive headache of tracking her ho just for a asly protection fee.
As he followed her through a series of twists and turns, Wang Yue suddenly felt a chill down his spine—his hair stood on end.
He looked up and saw a slightly wider clearing ahead. Over a dozen middle-aged won were lined up on small stools, palm-leaf fans in hand, staring intently at Yang Cancan and him as they walked by.
That wall of gossiping eyes made Wang Yue feel more uncomfortable than facing an opponent of his own rank. He found himself tensing up instinctively.
He’d never experienced anything like this before. He didn’t understand why he was suddenly so nervous, so he did his best to keep a straight face.
Yang Cancan seed well-acquainted with the group, greeting them casually as she led him through the gauntlet.
Nothing happened while they were passing, and Wang Yue let out a silent sigh of relief. But before they’d gone far, the murmurs of the "Auntie Brigade" drifted over from behind them.
"Why is Cancan back so early today? And she’s got a man with her?"
"You think she finally got a boyfriend?"
"He’s not much to look at. Looks shorter than her, too."
"He’s a bit plain, but isn’t that a perfect match for her?"
"True. For a girl like her, it’s a miracle anyone wants her at all."
...
Listening to their "harmless" yet venomous chatter, Wang Yue found his fists clenching. Eventually, he forced himself to relax.
There was nothing he could do about people like them. Killing them over a few comnts? No, that was too much. But the things they said were genuinely nasty.
Even as a Transcendence Realm powerhouse, he had no defense against these bitter old busybodies who spent their days eating sunflower seeds and praying for their neighbors’ downfall.
In fact, because of his high cultivation, his hearing was too good. He could hear them from further away, which only prolonged the torture. Yang Cancan, who couldn’t hear a word they said, was much better off.
Thankfully, the tornt didn’t last long. Another young man walked past them, and the Aunties imdiately shifted their focus to shredding his reputation instead.
Five or six hundred ters and another eight turns later, they finally reached Yang Cancan’s ho.
It was a small courtyard. While still old, it was in much better shape than the bare, single-room shacks that made up most of the neighborhood.
Wang Yue began to understand why those won spoke ill of her. Resenting those who have more and mocking those who have less—it’s one of the uglier parts of human nature.
Yang Cancan was hardworking and ran her own shop at a young age; to an outsider, these were great qualities, but to the idle losers living around her, her success was an eyesore.
He scanned the yard. It was small—maybe a hundred square ters—but it was kept ticulously clean, a stark contrast to the filth outside. There was a main house with three rooms and a small side building.
"Mom, I’m ho!" Yang Cancan led him straight into the main house. The center was a living room; the east side was partitioned into a kitchen and bathroom, and the west room was clearly her mother’s bedroom.
Sure enough, a frail voice drifted out from the west room: "Why are you back so early? Is sothing wrong?"
"Yeah," Yang Cancan said bluntly. "Soone showed up claiming to be family. Says he’s your nephew. Co out and see if you know him."
"Your father and I don’t have any siblings. How could I have a nephew?" The woman spoke as she opened the door and stepped out.
Wang Yue looked at her, and his brow furrowed slightly.
She was an incredibly delicate-looking woman wearing a loose house dress and plastic slippers. Her face was pale, and she radiated a fragile, sickly aura.
While this woman was beautiful in a "tragic" sort of way, Wang Yue was certain she wasn’t his second aunt, Su ngchen. She bore only a thirty percent resemblance to his mother. His aunt and mother were identical twins; even after thirty years of different lifestyles, there was no way they’d look this different.
And yet, he felt that unmistakable pull of blood kinship from her.
This was startling.
"Mom, this is him. He says you’re his aunt," Yang Cancan said, pointing at Wang Yue.
Su Nuanyue looked at the plain young man with confusion. "Sir, you must have the wrong person. I don’t have any sisters."
"Then... may I ask if you know the na Su Yixuan?" Wang Yue asked tentatively.
Initially, he had assud Yang Cancan’s mother was Su ngchen, which is why he’d told Cancan they were related. Now he wasn’t so sure. He could feel the blood connection, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact relation. He had to wing it.
At the ntion of that na, Su Nuanyue’s entire body jolted. She gasped, "You know him? Where is he?!"
That na was burned into her mory. Although she had never t the man, her mother had spoken of him until her dying breath. That man was her father.
Seeing her reaction, Wang Yue knew he’d hit the mark, but he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: Looks like Grandpa was just like my Uncle—he had another woman on the side.
He took a deep breath. "He... he’s been missing for a long ti. I’m afraid he’s..."
"How does a man just go missing?" Yang Cancan cut in.
Wang Yue replied, "He went to explore a ruin years ago and never ca back."
Reviews
All reviews (0)