Chapter 21: She Wants It All!
In the eastern part of the night market in Dawn City, at the downwind position, there is a large area of low-lying urban village, sprawling immensely like a huge, ugly scar on the city.
There, many old buildings, aged and rickety, jostle tightly together.
Shanties built haphazardly cling to the gaps between the buildings like malignant tumors. The illegally strung electric wires crisscross in the air.
The narrow, winding alleys are always filled with water, emanating a foul stench that is hard to dissipate.
This place is called Fragrant Lady Cave, consisting of three horizontal and four vertical streets, totaling seven roads and countless twisted branches.
The people of Dawn City have never regarded the residents of Fragrant Lady Cave as human beings; in their eyes, the residents here are akin to the snakes, insects, and rodents that inhabit the sewers and thrive in darkness, perhaps even more dangerous.
“Fragrant Lady” is another name for the cockroach, so Fragrant Lady Cave essentially means cockroach nest.
Of course, this doesn’t completely excuse the prejudices others have against the residents of Fragrant Lady Cave. After all, most of them are indeed engaged in shady business.
Heartless snack vendors, petty thieves who steal day in and day out, “craftsmen” skilled in forgery, “drug lords,” “success brainwashing organizations,” drunks, gamblers, and addicts are all common characters in Fragrant Lady Cave, and they can only be considered minor players.
The real heavyweights are the reckless smuggling gangs, the potions in laboratories that can blow up half a street, the alchemists who can create bombs, and the notorious spirit ability users on the Siye Society’s wanted list.
Moreover, when humanity is unable to change their miserable lives through their own strength, they will often pin their hopes on some ethereal things. Thus, the Night Grind Alley, home to nearly a hundred thousand residents, has become a breeding ground for urban legends.
In fact, at its peak, there were thirty-three cult organizations with different beliefs coexisting simultaneously, which was really quite ridiculous.
And Hua Xie Yu’s father is the epitome among the residents of Night Grind Alley; he has sold counterfeit goods, been a pickpocket, participated in smuggling gangs, served as a minor head of a cult, and was also an addict.
About eight years ago, after relentless efforts and persistent self-destructive behavior, he finally managed to k*ll himself. Probably he is dead.
In any case, that guy hasn’t returned to his home in Night Grind Alley for seven or eight years.
Of course, it’s also possible that he disliked Hua Xie Yu as a burden and simply abandoned both the house and his daughter in this sunless corner.
However, regardless of the reason, Hua Xie Yu couldn’t care less. It would be better if that man never came back!
If he suddenly returned, whether to personally deal with her father or not—now that would be quite a headache.
After all, that man merely abandoned her here, unlike many residents of Night Grind Alley who sold their children like goods. This already shows he has a tiny inkling of conscience.
Yet, he may have completely forgotten he had a daughter—
When Hua Xie Yu stepped into the boundary of Night Grind Alley and walked along the familiar path deeper inside, someone waved at her insistently and greeted her.
“Yo, Sister Hua! I made some late-night snacks, and I didn’t use gutter oil! Want to come in and try them?”
It was a stout, dark-skinned man, grinning widely and revealing two shiny gold front teeth. Noticing the man’s lewd gaze that seemed to penetrate her clothes, Hua Xie Yu rolled her eyes, secretly sneering. After all these years, how could this guy still lack self-awareness?
Did he really think that by waiting here every day, he could get close to her?
Ignoring the man, she continued forward. As she got closer to her residence, her expression didn’t become relaxed; instead, she grew more vigilant, quietly pulling a kn*fe from her bag and skillfully tying the kn*fe to her hand with a cloth strip.
The dimly lit alley was eerily quiet with a heavy atmosphere. In the shadows, there were vaguely moving figures casting malicious glances. Only when Hua Xie Yu took out the kn*fe did those restless figures calm down.
“Sister Hua, did you have a good haul today?”
From the shadows by the roadside, a tall, gaunt man with sunken black eyes mockingly approached Hua Xie Yu.
She merely nonchalantly shifted the kn*fe’s tip a few inches closer to the man as a response and continued walking. In Fragrant Lady Cave, responding to such advances is usually a test prior to a “zero-dollar purchase,” and the best strategy is to ignore it. “Hey, you little witch!”
The gaunt man sneered at Hua Xie Yu’s departing back, snorting disdainfully.
Hua Xie Yu’s home was in a corner at the eastern side of Fragrant Lady Cave, a three-story small building. Compared to the surrounding dilapidation, this small building appeared much brighter.
Perhaps it was due to the flowers growing on the building’s balcony and the colorful graffiti painted on the surrounding iron and red brick walls.
Facing the small building was a convenience store where a fierce-looking middle-aged woman sat. Hua Xie Yu paused at the front of the small building.
“Aunt Sun, has anyone caused trouble today?”
The middle-aged woman lifted her eyelids but said nothing, only shaking her head.
“Good, thanks!”
Hua Xie Yu said her thanks and cheerfully walked into the convenience store, grabbing some dairy drinks and a dozen meat floss bread. She turned and left a folded hundred-yuan note shaped like a heart on the counter before hurrying across to the small building.
The middle-aged woman glanced at the bill on the counter, then at Hua Xie Yu’s retreating figure, rolling her eyes and muttering, “This girl, always like this.”
The hundred yuan was a bit more than the total price of what Hua Xie Yu bought, and she always spent a little more at this convenience store.
Just as the middle-aged woman muttered to herself, Hua Xie Yu had already crossed the wall, slammed the heavy iron door of the small building shut with a bang, and locked it with a “click.”
All the windows of the small building were boarded up, completely opaque. At the moment the heavy door closed, darkness enveloped her.
In the dark, Hua Xie Yu fumbled around until she quickly found the switch, illuminating the entire room with light.
The first floor of the small building was spacious, resembling a hall created by removing walls from two or three residential units. Some areas still showed remnants of half-demolished walls.
Several high-power light bulbs hung precariously from the ceiling, shedding warm light in a swaying manner.
In the empty hall were a few old sofas and a round table made from barrels and wooden planks, with broken furniture, tires, and metal sheets scattered haphazardly on the floor.
Beside the round table stood a pink rocking horse, and an old-fashioned arcade game displayed the selection screen of a fighting game, as if someone had just been there playing.
Strangely, on the wall in the corner by the window was a full bookshelf, making it hard to imagine that Hua Xie Yu, who seemed not to like reading, had such a wide-ranging interest that included novels, travelogues, law, and history.
Even more strangely, among these books were a large number of children’s books and elementary school textbooks. “Bang!”
Hua Xie Yu threw her bag onto the round table, puffing up her slightly pink lips, placing her hands on her hips, and glancing around before feigning surprise, “Oh! Where is everyone? Why are they all gone? It can’t be that they got caught by the pointy hats, right?”
“What should I do? It seems these things can only be eaten by me!”
As her words fell, something suddenly moved in the corner, knocking over a soda can and making a series of clinks.
Hua Xie Yu squinted toward the source of the sound, curling her lips, “Hmm? Is there a mouse? It must be Aitian slacking off and not cleaning properly!”
As she spoke, a thin, dark-skinned girl, around fourteen or fifteen years old, stood up suddenly from behind the sofa and loudly retorted, “No way! I’ve always been working hard!”
While speaking, the girl bent down to pick up a stone, throwing it into another corner of the hall. “Fei Liang, it’s all your fault! You hid poorly and made Sister Hua misunderstand me!”
The stone flew through the air in a parabolic arc and accurately landed in the gap formed by two old wardrobes leaning against each other.
With a shocked “Ouch!” a plump little boy, pale and chubby, emerged from the gap, rubbing his head. “I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Don’t you dare talk back!” the girl replied.
Seeing this, Hua Xie Yu couldn’t help but laugh, waving her hands, “Okay, okay! Aitian, Fei Liang, stop arguing and come over to eat.”
“And all the other little ones, come here! Today’s dinner is milk and bread, and the bread has meat floss!”
After Hua Xie Yu’s words, the hall immediately erupted in a flurry, and amidst the commotion, a dozen or so small, thin figures, like startled household sprites, emerged from the corners.
From their appearances, the oldest looked about fourteen or fifteen, while the youngest were only two or three years old.
“Don’t fight! Everyone gets their share today. I’m talking to you, Baby Baboon! Stop bullying your younger siblings!”
As she spoke, Hua Xie Yu picked up her bag from the table, pulling out various items while approaching different children. “Here, Little Red Bean, this is anti-inflammatory medicine. Remember to take it after dinner; it’ll help your cold.”
“Baby Baboon, I brought back the small kn*fe you wanted, but you must promise that it can only be used for defense and not to hurt others!” “Fei Liang, this is yours!”
Seeing the little box wrapped in kraft paper that Hua Xie Yu handed over, Fei Liang was taken aback and curiously asked, “What is this, Sister Hua?”
“Weight-loss medicine!” Hua Xie Yu said seriously, “You should lose some of that fat.”
“Eh?” The little boy made a bitter face, “Sister Hua, I’m just bloated; I don’t need to lose weight.”
“Hahaha!” Hua Xie Yu laughed heartily, pinching the little boy’s face, “Here you go, this contains the astronomy books you wanted before. I don’t understand these stars and moons, so I randomly picked a few expensive ones for you to make do with!”
“Thank you, Sister Hua!” The little boy exclaimed excitedly, taking the little box.
After distributing everything from her bag, Hua Xie Yu finally approached the thin, dark-skinned girl named Aitian.
While Hua Xie Yu was handing things out to other children, Aitian had watched the whole time, her expression filled with anticipation but timidly not daring to come forward.
“Here, this is yours.”
Hua Xie Yu handed Aitian a brand-new smartphone.
Staring at the shiny Xiaomi flagship phone, Aitian was momentarily dumbfounded and hurriedly shook her hands, saying, “Sister Hua, I can’t accept this!”
Hua Xie Yu tousled her hair, saying, “Take it! Look at your old phone; it’s so worn out! Sometimes, the calls don’t even go through!”
“You don’t want to be in a situation where I’m out and something happens here, and you can’t contact me!”
“Then, thank you, Sister Hua.” Aitian blushed and carefully took the phone with both hands.
Seeing Aitian accept the phone, Hua Xie Yu patted her shoulder with a smile, saying, “Alright, I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m going upstairs.”
“Mm!” Aitian nodded—
Hua Xie Yu didn’t feel that she was providing a big favor to those children; she just couldn’t bear to see those with similar backgrounds to hers living on the streets.
It’s probably like adopting a bunch of kittens?
Although, for these kittens, she could have left Fragrant Lady Cave a long time ago, yet she stayed here, spending all her savings to buy the entire small building where her home was located, and had to even join the local gang, pay protection fees, and seek shelter.
Honestly speaking, she had been part of that ridiculous Sun Gang for over two months now, and aside from Old Zhan, who came to collect protection fees from her, she hadn’t seen anyone else at all.
However, with the Sun Gang as her backing, she had indeed faced fewer troubles around the building.
The children all lived downstairs, while Hua Xie Yu’s home remained the extra small room built on the rooftop of the small building; that was her home.
After a long day, Hua Xie Yu felt tired, put down her bag, kicked off her shoes, and began to peel off her clothes piece by piece, walking into the bathroom. With a swish, she pulled the shower curtain closed, and soon the sound of water echoed in the simple bathroom.
Warm beads of water slid over her fair skin, smoother than Dove soap.
“d*mn, why is this hair dye so hard to wash off? I shouldn’t have pretended to be a student!”
“Old Zhan should be coming again tomorrow, right? A bunch of vampires, huh, thankfully I did something big today!” Some complaints faintly resonated in the bathroom.
Moments later.
After finishing her shower, Hua Xie Yu wiped her long, deep blue hair while stepping into her little dressing area in an oversized T-shirt, showing off her long legs.
Unlike the clutter in the rest of the small room, the small dressing table was filled with bottles and jars, yet it was all neatly arranged, showing no disorder.
Those seemingly cheap bottles contained expensive high-end cosmetics and skincare products, arranged this way mainly to avoid being stolen.
Hua Xie Yu knew very well how powerful beauty could be, how many benefits it could bring, and how much convenience it could provide. Since she was a child, she had learned to take advantage of her looks to exchange for some benefits within a reasonable scope.
Thus, every time she looked in the mirror, she would sincerely thank her parents for giving her such good skin.
Of course, growing up in a place like Fragrant Lady Cave, even if naturally beautiful, maintaining a fair complexion and stunning looks requires ten years of consistent upkeep and discipline.
In fact, while other children like her struggled to scrape up some money for a few days of meals, she was already considering saving a bit of that money to buy a bottle of baby cream.
After nearly an hour of skincare, pinching her flawless face, Hua Xie Yu was content and climbed into bed, crossing her legs and reaching under the pink pillow to pull out a business card covered in doodles of little ghosts, quietly activating her spirit patterns.
“It’s time to see how much those three tough guys helped me earn! Thinking about it is a bit exciting!”
Hua Xie Yu has always enjoyed working with people like those three muscular men.
Because when they say they like to “talk with their fists,” what it really means is they act without thinking, making it easy to squeeze every bit of useful value out of them.
Just like now, with a business card imbued with the powers of the “Wealth Ghost,” she could discreetly transport the little money from Funoman’s pocket to hers without anyone noticing.
Just over half? How could Sister Hua be satisfied? She wants it all!
As the spirit patterns began to activate, Hua Xie Yu’s consciousness became hazy, as if floating away with the wind, lightly leaving her body and flying to the far side of the city.
The scene before her twisted and transformed into a bizarre, surreal dream-like vision—
When Hua Xie Yu’s vision sharpened again, she saw a brightly lit luxury suite.
“Wow! Is this a five-star hotel? What’s it called again? Tsk, as expected of a muscle head—after just earning some money, he’s spending it like this?”
“How long can this last? I’d better help him save it until he gets married in his next life!”
While Hua Xie Yu sarcastically thought this, she quietly maneuvered her spirit-manifested ghost to search the suite. However, before she could find the wealth left by Funoman, she witnessed the arrival of police and hotel staff in the suite.
“Officer, that gentleman checked in around 23:30 tonight; probably jumped off the building around 2 a.m.”
“Was there anything unusual before he committed s*icide…”
Hearing the conversation between the police and hotel staff, Hua Xie Yu felt her mind buzz, nearly losing her focus on controlling the ghost. That guy is dead? Jumping off the building? How could this happen?
What about my money?
Could it be that the police are going to take it as evidence?
Just as Hua Xie Yu worried that the money from Funoman would be taken away by the police and she would have no connections to it in the future, her gaze unconsciously drifted toward the crowd outside the suite, behind the caution tape.
It was as if an invisible pair of large hands forcibly turned her head around.
The next moment, her entire body seethed with goosebumps as she could no longer maintain control over the ghost, her consciousness being yanked back to reality amidst a strong force.
In the crowd, she saw someone.
A man, dressed in work attire, looking spiritless, pale-faced with wide eyes and a fresh, bloody hole in his forehead.
The instant she noticed the man, it seemed he discovered her presence as well, flashing a strange smile and waving at her.
“T+—!”
With a startled curse, Hua Xie Yu broke free from her drifting consciousness of controlling the ghost, suddenly sitting up in bed.
As she did, her body went rigid like stone, frozen in place.
At some point, an additional person had entered her room, sitting quietly in the chair at the edge of her bed, observing her.
It was a man in work attire, cigarette in mouth, with one hand holding a convenient bag containing a few cans of cheap beer and a pack of peanuts.
Hua Xie Yu, “…”
Staring at the man blankly for two seconds, she quietly raised her pillow to cover her head, with a bang, fell back onto the bed, shivering and muttering.
“There’s no reason! I didn’t k*ll anyone, why are you looking for me!” “It’s a hallucination; it must be a hallucination! The spirit patterns are out of control and gone haywire…”
Seeing this, the man shook his head and said, “Miss Hua, avoiding reality won’t solve the problem; let’s talk.”
As soon as the man finished speaking, a ruthless glint suddenly flashed in Hua Xie Yu’s eyes. Without warning, she leaped from the bed, holding a kn*fe, swift and fierce, striking towards the man’s head.
Even if it’s an urban legend, I’ll show you!
Now!
Then, the man simply held a can of beer against the blade of the kn*fe, calmly opening it and taking a sip before offering her another can.
“Calm down; I’m just here to discuss a business deal with you. First, let’s share a beer and cool off.”
“By the way, these peanuts aren’t bad either…”
Looking at the man whose head was bleeding but seemed full of energy, Hua Xie Yu felt completely numb.
Even though she was a spiritual ability user, it was still her first time seeing someone with half their head chopped off, casually chatting.
At that moment, the man added coolly, “I advise you not to think about inflicting additional harm. If I d*e, it’s not just you; those kids downstairs, one by one, none will survive.”
Hearing the man’s mention of those children, Hua Xie Yu’s heart tightened, losing all desire to resist. What does he mean by that? Does he have help nearby?
Or is he confident enough to deal with me, using the kids as leverage? What kind of tough guy is this!
Hua Xie Yu froze in place for a moment, suddenly sensing the man’s lewd gaze, which seemed to appraise her like a commodity, causing her to shudder. She was all too familiar with that look; that fat deadbeat at the alley always gazed at her like that.
“You’re not talking about, um, that kind of business, are you?” Hua Xie Yu weakly asked. The man thought for a moment, nodded, and replied earnestly, “Sort of!”
After all, they wanted her to tempt Luxianbei!
If necessary, sacrificing her body would be entirely acceptable.
Hua Xie Yu remained silent for about five minutes, finally choosing to compromise. With a mournful expression on her face, she said, “If— I’m saying if I cooperate with you, will you spare me and those kids?”
“I never intended to do anything to those kids, but as for you…” The man’s words trailed off, revealing a greasy smile typical of middle-aged workers.
Hua Xie Yu facepalmed, “Alright then, I agree.”
As long as you don’t k*ll me and don’t harm those kids, I can pretend that I was just pressed down by a ghost!
“Let’s go!”
Watching Hua Xie Yu make herself into a large letter on the bed, closing her eyes, the man twitched his mouth, feeling embarrassed.
There must be some misunderstanding here?
