Burned 4 Calamity Corpses in the morning, but nothing came out.
The atmosphere during corpse burning was more stifling than usual, neither of them spoke much, both seemed to have secrets on their minds.
Wang Jian's lips moved several times, as if wanting to say something, but eventually swallowed the words back, went to the door to smoke, and silently fiddled with his phone.
Feng Mu shot a gloomy glance at Wang Jian's back, and his own suspicions had no chance to be voiced.
Who did Wang Jian betray? Could it be me?
That day, the punch rang out, it was my oversight, and I've been doing Body Forging Exercise in the incineration room these days, does he find it strange?
Luo Ji, Tao Fei, Sun Yi, and Wang Jian, the only thing common among us is that we all dropped out, can't figure out what the Cyan Wolf Gang's suspicion is based on.
But anyway, I'm within the range of suspicion.
Feng Mu looked at the Calamity Corpse in the flames, suddenly sneered, and said in a voice only he could hear, "If living people could also have their chests split open, revealing the secrets in their hearts like Calamity Corpses, that would be great."
Under the gaze of the Calamity Corpse, Feng Mu's thoughts settled into calm, and he began to practice Body Forging Exercise.
In the afternoon, it was a rare moment of leisure, no Calamity Corpses, and no human corpses, Feng Mu practiced Body Forging Exercise alone, Wang Jian went to the contaminated area to accompany his father.
Off work.
Passing by Academy 47.
Just like the previous days, Feng Mu paused slightly, then saw a Huang Mao with a cigarette, comparing a list to him, then quickly walking towards him.
"Wang Jian wasn't lying to me, I'm on the list."
Feng Mu didn't wait for Huang Mao to get close, quickly hopped on his bike, and swiftly turned into a side alley.
Huang Mao cursed and spat on the ground, but didn't chase, probably thinking there was no rush to catch up today.
Feng Mu emerged from the other end of the alley, didn't hurry home, but rode for 20 minutes to Street 978.
The reason it's called Street 978 is because it was once the garrison of the 978 Investigation Corps.
Now, the 978 Investigation Corps has moved to a new garrison, and this area was abandoned for a while, later inhabited by some scavengers and ragpickers.
More and more people gathered, forming a shanty town, and then some small vendors settled in, gradually developing the street over several years.
Short tin buildings, a messy shanty town, rampant growth of shops, and hair salons beckoning in the alleys.
And just like in gangster movies, every gang would formally occupy a territory.
This form is not protected by law, not written on property certificates, but carved in knives and fists, forcing vendors to pay rent, commonly known as protection money.
What does protection money mean?
It means that once you pay, you're protected from harm from us.
798 Street is the territory of the Cyan Wolf Gang.
Feng Mu rode in, neither fast nor slow, his eyes casually scanning along the street.
Restaurants, convenience stores, hair salons, video arcades, bars, dance halls... no planned layout, it's all just placed where they want.
The Cyan Wolf Gang's headquarters is a bar, occupying the best location, with colorful signage on the walls, both aesthetics and the name are cliché, but it's eye-catching, called Blood Rose.
Feng Mu didn't dare get close, glanced from afar, then rode away.
His sense of direction was good, didn't take the original route back, but cut through the shanty town, leaving from another exit.
Because there's no plan, the shanty town is like a maze; and because there's no plan, there are exits everywhere to slip out from.
Went home, ate, practiced Body Forging Exercise.
2 a.m.
Finished two hours earlier than usual, the settlement image on the retina frozen.
[Iron Eater: First Tier]
[Edible Iron Types: 1]
[Metal Traits that can be Absorbed: 1]
[Currently Testing Edible Iron Type — Ordinary Pig Iron, Edibility 38.2%.]
[Traits Absorbed: ??]
"Increased by 4.1%, not enough to fully cover the left arm, oh, not the left arm, but….."
Feng Mu let out a soft sound of surprise, the left arm didn't feel a fresh coolness because it quietly moved toward the base of the right leg along the tailbone.
Feng Mu reached toward the base of his leg, a slight coolness seeped through his skin, giving his lower body a shiver.
Feng Mu walked a few steps in his bedroom, could clearly feel the right leg pressing more firmly to the ground, while the left leg felt light, causing his center to involuntarily tilt to the right, as if limping.
Feng Mu adjusted for a while, then barely regained his balance.
Changed into black clothes, black pants, masked with a baseball cap, concealed a folding dagger in his pocket, Feng Mu quietly opened the bedroom door, closed it in reverse, and sneaked out of the house.
The corridor was pitch black, Feng Mu descended the stairs, one foot deep, one foot shallow, moving with an unusual gait.
In the dead of night, naturally, not many streetlights were lit in the old and run-down community, and the backside of Upper City was completely dark, Feng Mu, dressed in black, melded with the darkness as he limped.
Did not ride a bike, the sound made by the bike wheels was too loud, footsteps in the dark were more discreet.
Not many people on the road, occasionally glimpsed silhouettes from afar, Feng Mu avoided them in advance.
03:14, Feng Mu stood behind the trash can at the entrance of 798 Street.
Half the street was dark, but faint lights every now and then, they were neon boxes breathing in the night, flickering red and blue and green, emanating tempting desires.
Feng Mu hid in a shadowy corner, coldly watching the women flirting under the lights.
A woman was supporting a plump man, struggling to drag him into a hair salon, the man's head buried in the woman's chest, while the woman's eyes were glued to the man's wallet, both eyes interwoven with greed.
The hair salon seemed to come alive at night, turned into a garishly made-up demon, swallowing both the man and woman who exuded the scent of meat into its belly.
The curtain in the window was drawn, and two men with meaty faces stepped out, squatting at the door as they smoked, occasionally letting out lewd laughter.
They were watching the curtain, and Feng Mu was watching them.
04:41.
The neon sign extinguished, a ground full of cigarette butts, amid two shadows with arms around each other's shoulders, a third shadow appeared briefly.
....
My name is Ma Wei, I'm 27 years old.
I don't really remember much from my childhood, just that when I was seven, that whore left me and my dad and ran off with someone else.
My dad was a street cleaner, not skilled and very bad-tempered, he would beat me when drinking, and then hold me and cry when sober.
I don't blame him, because he fed me, I only hate that whore, I think when I grow up, I want to find that whore and cut her head off and bring it home.
When I was 13, Dad died.
The Patrol Office said that it happened in the morning while cleaning the street, he got into an argument with two hooligans breaking beer bottles and was stabbed to death.
I wasn't sad, just felt he died in a squalid way, and also, that I'd have no one to feed me anymore.
Blank People can't buy a burial place, and I had no money, I didn't claim his body, I think it was probably burned with the garbage.
At 15, I didn't have to go to school anymore, and I went to pick garbage.
It's hard for one person to collect anything that can be exchanged for money, those organized scavengers would occupy the garbage heaps, and the wild dogs scavenging corpses would also bare their teeth at me fiercely.
I was alone, it was hard to grab anything.
At 16, I met Brother Tong, he was two years older than me, and we began collecting garbage together.
At 19, two people are stronger than one, we teamed up and smashed a wild dog to death with a brick, and ate its meat, it was delicious.
But, we still couldn't compete with the scavengers, most of the time we were hungry, once, a cleanly dressed kid gave me a piece of bread.
Brother Tong and I shared it, after eating, we got even hungrier.
The next day, we blocked that kid on the street and took his backpack, haha, that day we ate well.
Later, we robbed a few more times, unfortunately, the kid disappeared, Brother Tong and I were very angry,
At 20, Brother Tong brought in two more kids.
We weren't as strong as the scavengers, but we were fierce enough, so we seized a trash can, and occasionally we could eat till full.
At 21, Brother Tong said he didn't want to collect garbage all his life….
ps: Ma Wei is an important NPC