Chapter 1483: The Biscuit Is Sweet
Without leaving this stretch of slums, just as he was about to reach the exit, Xu Huo turned back.
Those who had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity, began to emerge one after another. But they were all desperate outlaws testing their luck—none of them even had a chance to get close before being dealt with by the Tangent Lines arranged around him.
The teenager who had "escaped" earlier, upon discovering that the people chasing him had been killed, initially wanted to turn around and run out of the slums. However, he stopped after taking only a few steps. Facing the dark street that seemed to stretch endlessly, he apparently lacked the courage to sprint all the way to the exit. So he turned back, limping, and followed behind Xu Huo.
Xu Huo knew there was a tail behind him but didn't drive him away. After killing the first wave of people who came to test him, he stopped in front of a very small storefront. The door was closed, and on it was a crookedly written sign: "Knock for Lodging."
Though the environment was crude, this was one of the few "commercial storefronts" in this slum.
Xu Huo stepped forward and knocked.
A small window on the door opened, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes. After staring at him for a moment, the owner said in a hoarse, dry voice, "One hundred White Notes a night. You can use items as collateral."
Xu Huo pulled out a White Note and handed it over.
The person inside took the money and quickly opened the side door, poking half his head out like a thief, urging him to hurry. But when he saw the teenager not far away, he slammed the door shut, returned to the small window, and threw the money back out. "I don't take people from the Underground Palace. Get out, get out!"
In this filthy, chaotic place, even the grimy teenager looked relatively clean. Someone so "clean," without any means of self-defense, was likely being kept by others. Those who could hold their ground in a place like this were rarely good-natured, so it was normal for them to be wary.
Xu Huo turned and left.
The teenager following behind was scared but forced himself to keep up. As he passed the small shop, he seized the opportunity to grab the White Note that Xu Huo had dropped and left on the ground.
The shop owner, who had been watching from outside, saw the teenager take the money. The brief glimmer of joy in his eyes vanished instantly, and he cursed under his breath as he closed the small window.
Finding a place to stay wasn't easy. Xu Huo tried three more locations, but each time, the owners refused out of fear after seeing the teenager. However, they didn't dare offend him either. One person cautiously suggested he go deeper into the slums, to the "Lawless Zone," where the most vicious and troublemaking residents lived. The "Underground Palace" generally didn't venture there to cause trouble.
As a reward, Xu Huo gave the person a small packet of biscuits.
Perhaps it had been too long since she had encountered a normal person. The elderly woman didn't even dare reach out to take them. Xu Huo didn't say much; he set the biscuits down and left.
Just a few meters after he stepped out, there was a commotion inside the house. The woman, who had been too afraid to take the biscuits moments ago, now lunged like a starving wolf. Amidst the struggle with two equally gaunt men, she shoved the entire biscuit packet—wrapper and all—into her mouth, chewing frantically. Even at this point, the two men didn't give up; they tried to pry her mouth open. In the end, the woman killed one of them by smashing his head.
The remaining man fled. Only then did the woman pull the biscuits out of her mouth, peel away the chewed-up wrapper, and feed the saliva-soaked crumbs to a child hidden in a rotten wooden box under the bed.
"Mom, what is this? It smells so good."
"Biscuits. They're sweet."
"What's sweet?"
"Sweet is the taste you're tasting now. The best taste..."
The acid rain dripped incessantly. Along the way, Xu Huo dealt with a few more onlookers. Finally, in a neighborhood where almost all the streetlights were broken, he found a place willing to let him stay. The owner didn't mind him bringing the teenager and said bluntly, "One hundred and fifty for you alone. Two hundred with him. No food or drink included. No washing up. If you want to wash your face, you'll have to buy water."
Xu Huo paid two hundred White Notes. "I want a spacious room."
The owner, an old man blind in his right eye, took the money and lit a small lamp to lead Xu Huo upstairs. As they climbed the creaking stairs, he offered a half-hearted warning, "It'll be dark soon. After nightfall, no one will be in the shop. Don't come looking for anyone. But if you break something, you'll have to pay."
This inn was practically bare except for the walls. The reception area downstairs had only a small stool. The dilapidated stairs led to an equally dilapidated second floor. The hallway floor was patched together from mismatched boards, some places worn through and unrepaired, offering a direct view of the first floor.
The second floor had only two rooms. The door panels were covered in marks from swords and blades. From the outside, the rooms were visible—empty, with beds made from rotten planks.
The owner tried to force a rusty key into a rusty lock, failed, and simply yanked the lock off. Pushing the door open, he said, "No other guests. Pick whichever room you want."
Xu Huo had no other requests, so the owner took his lamp and left.
The room had only an emergency light. It worked when turned on, but the light was dim and clearly wouldn't last long. Still, Xu Huo turned it on.
The teenager didn't follow him inside. Instead, he crouched down by the door after Xu Huo closed it. Xu Huo ignored him and briefly observed the surroundings from the second floor.
Outside was a street barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Across the street, the buildings were stacked layer upon layer, just like on this side, with dangerous little alleys weaving between them, barely passable. Overall, the area looked like a steadily climbing mountain. The inn was at the lowest level—the foot of the mountain.
Judging by the previous exit, this slum was likely hidden inside a sizable mountain. All the buildings were constructed against the mountain, saving on costs while also shielding them from the acid rain.
However, from the subtle noises nearby, living at the top or the bottom made little difference. Due to the harsh external environment, even before nightfall, almost no one was walking outside anymore.
The space upstairs and downstairs wasn't spacious, and this room certainly couldn't support the weight of a shelter. Xu Huo sat down on the bed board, sealed off the space with his Spiritual Realm, and took out a P3S Injection. He injected it into his arm.
Perhaps because of the activation effect from his previous experience at Bai Kou's laboratory, the injection caused no adverse reactions. Within seconds, he felt a surge of energy—a normal kind of vitality, not the manic high from special drugs.
At the same time, he felt a qualitative leap in his control over his body. It was as if his body had become a semi-transparent state in his eyes, allowing him to clearly observe the condition of every part that made it up.
(Chapter End)