"He can't stay here!"
"Mom, just think of it as renting out a room to him, even if it's the basement. He's really pitiable, framed by someone and with nowhere else to go."
"How much supplies have they given you to corrupt your filthy soul! You actually brought a stranger into our home!"
"A lot, I must admit, but that's not the point... The main thing is his uncle is in charge of logistics at a place very close to Upper City, and those in charge of logistics are no small fry. If the younger brothers and sisters can build a good relationship with him, even if they go to Middle City to make something of themselves later on, they'll have someone to look after them. It's a trade, Mom!"
"They don't need to go to Middle City! Middle City is a prison that extinguishes human nature! You've changed! Hua, you've changed!"
In the study on the first floor of the small wooden building.
'Old Goat' Thomas was having a heated argument with the kindly landlady.
Outside the wooden door with several cracks, a few children pressed their ears against it to listen to the commotion in the study.
Wang Jixuan stood in the corner of the living room that also served as a dining room, hands clasped behind his back, waiting for his 'fate'.
He seemed somewhat distracted, his mind racing with thoughts.
Qi;
Qi is the beginning of all things;
Qi does not lie;
The bundle of qi within Wen Heisen's body, Wang Jixuan would never mistake it.
This aged woman, Thomas's foster mother, had a trace of Wen Heisen's qi on her; they had been in contact recently. This thread of qi was slowly dissipating; had he arrived here tomorrow, he likely would have missed this crucial piece of information.
But this place was the heartland of the Wanli Gold Gang's 'Jade Manor.'"
Wanli Gold and Black Fire Gang were still in sporadic skirmishes; even when he and Thomas passed through the borders of the two gangs' territories by car, they could hear gunfire like the popping of beans.
While the actual distance between the two gangs wasn't too far, there were vast stretches of continuous dark zones.
However, the old lady's body was already in decline; she didn't possess any qi, just an ordinary person, and it was unlikely she could traverse those ditches, barbed wire, and landmines.
A phrase from Thomas echoed in Wang Jixuan's heart:
'They can keep expanding their territory downwards by digging holes.'
Digging holes?
Wang Jixuan looked down at the floor, closed his eyes to sense his surroundings, and ten meters below his feet, a two-meter-tall arched tunnel began to take shape.
There really was a tunnel...
"Hello! My name is Ye Zi!"
A slender, pale hand from a lack of sunlight invaded Wang Jixuan's line of sight.
Wang Jixuan looked up to see a small, clean, smiling girl's face.
Thomas had introduced her earlier; her name was Ye Zi, the leader of the current batch of orphans, thirteen years old, and already of a good height, just entering her teenage years.
"Hello, my name is Zhou Tian."
Wang Jixuan smiled and shook his head, "Men and women should not touch hands when giving or receiving."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
Ye Zi blinked, sizing up Wang Jixuan and asked in a low voice:
"Did you really come from Middle City?"
"Yes," Wang Jixuan replied softly.
"Is Middle City filled with lights everywhere? Can you see light everywhere you go?"
"Pretty much," Wang Jixuan nodded, trying to appear more talkative, "But many places' lights are at their dimmest, so they look a bit gloomy too."
"That's much better than here, where many places have no light... Do they regularly distribute anti-darkness medicine and vitamins in Middle City?"
"Anti-darkness medicine is distributed regularly, but vitamins need to be bought with a quota," Wang Jixuan explained, "And vitamins are categorized under food quota."
Ye Zi let out a few indistinct sounds of admiration, and then, trying to warm up the conversation, she found herself out of suitable topics.
After a while, Ye Zi asked, "Do you want to sit down and rest?"
"I'm fine."
"Why did you come down here? Isn't Middle City great?"
"Framed by someone, I offended the powerful," Wang Jixuan remembered the script Thomas had set for him.
Ye Zi muttered softly, "Wow, just like offending the gangs here... I really hope you can stay."
Wang Jixuan was puzzled, "Why?"
"Then you could help me with work!"
Ye Zi whispered:
"I have to learn so much every day, arithmetic, world geography, and I have to clean the first and second floors, help mom take care of the little ones; bathing them is the most tiresome.
"As soon as I open my eyes, I'm busy with all sorts of things and can't go out to play."
She complained with her head down, her ponytail gently swaying.
Wang Jixuan noticed that on the back of Ye Zi's neck, there was a barcode tattoo that had been mostly rubbed away.
He asked, "Can you tell me about your foster mother?"
"Of course! Mom is everyone's mother; she's been living here for a long time, even before the Wanli Gold Gang was established, and overall, she has helped more than three hundred children! Over three hundred!"
Ye Zi's eyes shone as she spoke of this, emphasizing the number.
"She might seem to have a bad temper, but she's actually very kind-hearted; she would stay up all night by our side when we were sick.
"I was on the Black Fire Gang's side until I was five or six, treated like livestock, as organ reserves for the officials and nobles of Upper City; if one of those old people had organ failure, I might have had my organs harvested.
"Later, during a gang conflict, people from the Wanli Gold side rescued me... Many of us were rescued.
"You see this, my barcode here is proof I was material for the Black Fire Gang; when I was young, mom used a lot of strength to rub it off while I was bathing.
"Then, mom raised me, taught me to read, and told me many principles of life. Mom always said that even if we are in the dark, we mustn't give up hope, that as long as we keep holding hands, even though we are just weak individuals, we can step by step change the world."
Wang Jixuan nodded his head and raised an eyebrow, "That makes sense."
He glanced at the study, his gaze somewhat complex.
A person's eyes can't lie, and Ye Zi's gaze was pure, kind, and there was no trace of evil intent in her.
The same was true for the older woman in the study, marked with Wen Heisen's qi; she also had no evil intent.
What is evil intent?
In short, after committing a murder, one would exude an aura of malice. This malignance, intertwined with the resentment of the killed being, gives birth to an evil Qi.
Many Devil Skills specifically cultivate this malevolent Qi and use it to refine nefarious Magic Treasures like the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
He's definitely covered in this evil Qi right now, but... it seems that only he can sense it.
— Exclusive explanation by Daoist Wang.
So, what exactly is going on here? Who is this old woman really?
"What kind of job were you doing in Middle City?" Ye Zi asked softly.
Wang Jixuan casually replied, "Assembly line worker."
"Then I'll call you Tian," Ye Zi muttered, "I really hope Hua can persuade mom. I desperately need a house assistant."
"You might not have your wish fulfilled," Wang Jixuan said with a smile, "I might have to go out and work to earn some gang coins."
"No, please! I'm begging you!"
"I need to support myself."
The door to the study suddenly opened, and a few eavesdropping children immediately tumbled over.
Thomas winked at Wang Jixuan, "Done! You can live here! Later, my mom will assign you a job; she has a vast network of contacts here. But two-thirds of the materials you earn have to go towards buying food for the kids, okay?"
Wang Jixuan immediately nodded, "Okay, this place is quite nice and... interesting."
The 'quite nice' referred to the surrounding Spiritual Energy environment.
The interesting was referring to the underground passage beneath his feet.
"Yay!"
Ye Zi cheered and jumped up.
Although most of the children didn't understand what was happening, their big sister had started bouncing, so they joined in the jumping too.
"Mission accomplished! Bang bang bang bang bang!"
Thomas cheered, pointing his two index fingers at Wang Jixuan and then sashayed to the dining table, his body swaying in rhythm with the movement of his mouth.
It was obvious that he felt very relaxed here.
"Ye Zi, go fry me some donuts! I'm leaving after eating!"
Ye Zi grabbed Wang Jixuan by the arm and dragged him towards the kitchen, "Come help me out! The rule in the kitchen is that those who work get to sneak three bites!"
Wang Jixuan chuckled, speechless.
She sure was lively.
...
This was the first time Wang Jixuan had tasted sweets made purely of flour since he came to this world.
Ye Zi's cooking skills were quite good.
Thomas left hurriedly after eating two donuts; there was trouble in the shop he owned in the perverted area of Joyful City. It seemed someone was causing a disturbance.
Thomas had to reapply his flirtatious makeup on his way back.
While Daoist Wang was tasting fried sweets, the industrious Xiao Yezi, along with several brothers and sisters aged eight or nine, had already cleaned up a room for him in the corner of the second floor.
His room was across from several girls' rooms, so it was inevitable that it would be noisy from time to time.
But fortunately, Wang Jixuan wasn't fussy about this as he usually meditated instead of sleeping.
He was now very interested in the lady of the house, Kong Lianmei, who was of the 'ripe age' of sixty-nine.
The underground passageway;
The kind old lady who had lived here all along, constantly helping orphans;
The Qi of Wen Heisen, the third boss of the Black Fire Gang, an unseen Spiritual Ability User.
What on earth was the connection between all these?
His new room was not very large; it was just over two meters long and wide, with the ceiling sloping down from left to right, leaving no room to stand straight against the exterior wall. A narrow single bed, along with a desk beside it, took up two-thirds of the room.
Several text posters hung on the wall, with the large letters 'T.E.R' on them.
Wang Jixuan didn't know what those three letters meant.
From Ye Zi's non-stop babbling, he heard about the previous occupant of the room—a 24-year-old young man who had left this large family three years ago to work for the Silver Party Gang on the 46th Floor. He had last come back half a year ago, bringing some nearly expired cosmetics among other items.
The bed was covered with a clean old sheet, and the faint light from the desk lamp flickered weakly.
Wang Jixuan sat down to meditate and experience the speed of cultivation.
Before heading to Thomas's tavern, he had already sent his luggage to the 49th Floor. It was hidden in an abandoned shack near the border of the Black Fire Gang's territory.
Later, he planned to go there and pick up some small items that wouldn't attract attention.
Knock knock!
Sounds came from the drafty door, with big, sparkling eyes peeking through the gap.
Wang Jixuan called out, "Come in."
Creak—
Ye Zi bounced in holding several loose cotton and linen clothes and placed them along with two patched-up cloth shoes on the bed.
"I saw you didn't have any luggage, so I found some clothes and shoes from the older brothers for you. They should be about your size. I'll exchange them if they're too small! There's a lot stored in the basement."
Ye Zi instructed,
"But you need to take care of them. After you leave, I still need to wash them clean and put them away."
Wang Jixuan smiled gratefully, "Thanks a lot."
"Hehe, then you rest. I'm going off to bathe the little ones now."
Ye Zi waved her hand, her ponytail swinging slightly, and she quickly left the room.
'Quite a cute girl.'
Wang Jixuan thought simply. Finding such a spirited girl in these parts was indeed rare.
But who knew how long Xiao Yezi could keep her lively spirit.
Knock, knock knock.
Sounds of tapping on the wall came from the doorway.
He felt it again... that fleeting Qi about to dissipate completely.