Chapter 137 - Inside and Outside the Wall, An Eternal Divide Between Mortals and Deities (End of Volume One)

Chapter 137: Chapter 98 Inside and Outside the Wall, An Eternal Divide Between Mortals and Deities (End of Volume One)Many people, just to pay their taxes and eat, have to work desperately to make money. How much can they save? Once they get sick or encounter a mishap, they’re done for. In such circumstances, there’s naturally no extra energy left to "pay attention to hygiene," which is why things can appear dirty and messy.

Although this problem could be solved by building more housing, the safe zones are too small, and most of the land must be reserved for farmland. Therefore, most people’s living standards are definitely sacrificed, and they have to move into publicly managed apartment buildings.

Even this is only because the Transcendents are helping with farming. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough food supply, and conditions would only get worse.

It’s only in the central district, a relatively prosperous area, that has entry fees, where everyone’s quality naturally improves, and so too does the environment.

So you see, just living in the safe zone isn’t really expensive.

It’s retaining the qualification to stay in the safe zone that’s expensive.

Xu Shu didn’t live in Xinyang Apartments as a child.

A few years ago, they lived about five kilometers from the Star Tower, where the rent wasn’t cheap, and the living environment was much better.

His adoptive father was a very capable and hard-working man who, through his skills, created a quite decent living conditions for the family.

Unfortunately, later his adoptive father fell seriously ill, and to treat him, they completely drained their savings. Xu Shu and his adoptive mother and younger sister had to move here.

Passing through the intriguing corridor, Xu Shu returned home.

The home was very small, but unusually tidy and full of warmth. Returning here, Xu Shu felt like he was coming back to his college dormitory from a previous life.

On the table was a family portrait; his adoptive father lay in a hospital bed giving a peace sign, the three of them surrounded him, their faces full of hopeful sunshine.

That photo was from over a year ago. Now his adoptive father was confused and disoriented, seldom lucid during the day.

At this time, Xu Shu realized that there was no one at home, but the stove was still warm, so he knew his adoptive mother must have gone to the hospital.

His sister was in high school and boarded there, coming home only one day a week; when his adoptive mother finished work, she’d first come home to cook, then take food to the hospital for companionship.

If it weren’t for the many pieces of furniture they couldn’t afford to discard, they might even have given up this apartment altogether. Fortunately, it was indeed cheap enough here.

Xu Shu approached his own bed and saw, despite being away for so long, the bed was dust-free and neatly made, prompting a knowing smile.

For them, this was a sign that family members were still around, indicating his adoptive mother would clean every day after coming home.

Xu Shu quietly watched the moon outside the window, boiled a bowl of noodles for himself, and started to silently calculate.

From time to time, he could hear the sound of men and women getting intimate from the floors above and below, coming and going in waves.

The lascivious noises resonated here and there, whining and moaning like a song about Grannie’s Bridge.

Rocking and swaying, even the apartment seemed to rock three times.

It’s like this when there are too many people... Hot Fire Superman.

"Fuck! Damn this dogshit safe zone!"

"It seems I’ve fed you all too well."

"Compared to others, I must be the one who deserves the most sympathy, damn it!"

After finishing his noodles, Xu Shu reluctantly got up, took a bath, changed his clothes, took his money, left the apartment building, and headed north.

He first ran to the hospital where his adoptive father was admitted. He had planned to go in and chat with them, but through the windows and doors, he saw his adoptive mother already fast asleep from exhaustion and didn’t have the heart to disturb her.

Since his adoptive father fell ill, it was this woman who had kept their home going by working odd jobs night and day.

Xu Shu’s gaze deepened; his adoptive mother didn’t want to tell him what strange disease his father had contracted, saying she was afraid it would worry him.

But he had overheard a conversation in the hospital, mentioning that with a one-time payment of more than two million, his father’s condition could be cured.

"More than two million, the value of two resurrection pills, and the hospital dared to guarantee a cure, obviously meaning that my father’s illness requires intervention by an Extraordinary Power for a cure.

"But since it’s not an external injury, the treatment definitely requires some alternative medicine apart from the resurrection pill. Nonetheless, there are many roads to healing in the world; with the appropriate treatment, a normal person’s body can definitely be saved. For a Transcendent, apart from life span, no disease is incurable."

Xu Shu, looking at his adoptive father’s face which was not in great condition but not too bad either, gradually firmed his resolve.

The day he gave the resurrection pill to Gu Pan, he immediately asked her for two million.

Actually, this was the plan all along.

"First, cure my adoptive father’s illness; in a couple of days when my Promotion Drive is ’washed,’ I can also officially announce my Transcendent identity to my family. Then the whole family can move to a better place and no longer have to suffer the harsh environment here, heh heh."

"Just not enough money yet. I need to work even harder, can’t slack off!"

"Got no choice, I have to give the ruins a try tomorrow."

Xu Shu stood outside the door for a long time, thinking about how he would soon cure his foster father’s illness, and his mood gradually improved as he slowly left.

Before leaving, he went to the hospital’s front desk to settle the recent outstanding medical bills. With the remaining money, he deposited it into his card nearby, then quietly slipped it into his foster mother’s wallet, being careful not to wake them throughout the whole process.

Before departing, Xu Shu also asked the nurses for a favor, to let his foster parents know that he had visited once they woke up, as a way of checking in safely.

To set off as soon as dawn broke the next day and to avoid hearing the sounds of beds creaking from the floors above and below at home, Xu Shu ran straight to the north gate of the city and slept under the corner of the safety zone wall.

Although the night was cold in the early winter, for him, a "Warrior," it naturally wasn’t a big deal.

Outside the city wall, there was a dense mass of strange mountains and seas, a dark expanse, silently gazing at the moon.

Above the wall, the garrison patrolled quietly back and forth.

Inside the wall, Xu Shu leaned against it, using the ground as his bed and the moonlight as his blanket, soundly asleep.

It had been a long time since he’d slept so deeply. Tonight’s moon was particularly endearing.

However, when he was on the Wasteland, he always found the moon eerie.

Inside and outside the wall, the same moon, yet it gave him a completely different feeling.

A peaceful quiet.

The next morning, daylight suddenly flooded in.

Xu Shu opened his eyes and the first thing he did was relieve himself against the tree he had slept by, shaking himself dry, and then casually opened the Promotion Network.

*Promotion Network

*Gu Pan, First-tier Warrior

*Assemble Team: 6!

Team Channel

"Finally got up! Damn, when will you be here?" — Xie Xiaochan, Second Order Seven-Colored Daoist.

"I’m leaving the city now, going to eat an Old Xia chicken wrap, should be there in about three hours." — Gu Pan, First-tier Warrior.

"You call that ’right away’? Hurry up and get here, if you’re not here before twelve, I’m kicking you out. Everyone else, introduce yourselves with your profession and names, quick! @everyone." — Xie Xiaochan, Second Order Seven-Colored Daoist.

"Song Nianhui." — Pure Sword Heart, Second Order Weapon Master.

"Hello, Iron Armor Barbarian Bull, I am from the same profession as you. The boss lady already said, we’ll cover you." — Li Fengtian, Second Order Iron Armor.

"Qingyun 414, ah, a young genius, I’ve long admired your name." — Yan Wumo, Second Order Night Watchman.

"Brother Gu Pan, I’ll take good care of you, you just charge ahead and get it done, don’t go easy on me. Oh right, I’m a Witch, not a witch, don’t get it wrong, brother." — Zheng Qianrou.

"Six-person instance?"

"Although the ruins are a multiplayer dungeon, it’s still very dangerous with frequent fatalities."

"So..."

Xu Shu bought breakfast, went to the city gate and filled in a "Voluntary Departure Application Form," and then stepped out of the city gate.

Facing the rising sun, he reached out to touch the Tai Chu Scroll, pouring his intention fiercely into the journey mode.

"Tai Chu Scroll, activate!"