Chapter 136 Return to City Seven, Jiang Hui, Give Me Ten Thousand

Chapter 136: Back in Seven Cities—Jiang Hui, Give Me Ten Thousand

Yu Xing truly needed to leave. Her Level 3 Broomstick Star upgrade progress had reached 9/10; just one more tainted creature, and she would level up.

Moreover, she had already dealt with almost all nearby tainted creatures of the same level. Yesterday, she had searched extensively but found nothing.

"When do you plan to leave?" Yu asked considerately. "Do you need us to prepare anything?"

Yu Xing surveyed the room that was hers, then replied, "I'll leave tomorrow. There's no need to prepare anything."

That night, Yu Xing slept in her new room and had a very peculiar dream.

First, she dreamed she was a caterpillar, wiggling carefree on branches and leaves. Then, she dreamed she was an ugly fish, swimming freely in the water every day. After that, she dreamed...

When she woke up the next morning, Yu Xing rose with unusual calmness—dressing, putting on her shoes, washing up, and heading to Tomorrow Village Cafeteria for breakfast...

Why was she so unfazed? Because she had grown accustomed to it. Ever since she ate that caterpillar, every night she had dreamed of becoming whatever she had consumed.

Her dream-self felt nothing unusual—as if she had truly transformed into that creature. Upon waking, it was like... she had lived an entire lifetime as that thing in the dream. It evoked an inexplicable feeling, much like Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly—except she was Yu Xing dreaming of bugs.

At first, she was a little worried, fearing that too many such dreams would drive her insane, making her believe she was actually an insect. But as she consumed more and more pollutants, she stopped worrying, because she began dreaming of turning into increasingly bizarre things.

Not only that, Yu Xing gently pinched the back of her hand, feeling some changes in her body.

Though nothing was visible on the surface, she could sense it—her skin had become tougher and more resilient, her muscles firmer. Once, during a protracted battle with a pollutant, she accidentally fell from a great height but walked away unscathed. Not only that, she hardly felt any pain.

Her body was being enhanced. Realizing this, Yu Xing felt uneasy. She was supposed to be upgrading her Broomstick Star skill—so why was her body also being strengthened?

From what she knew, among the Divine Chosen, apart from the Beast God Chosen and the Follower of the God of Steel, most Divine Chosen gained no physical enhancements to their attributes beyond their Divine Skills as their level increased.

With this question in mind, Yu Xing left Tomorrow Village and flew on her broomstick to a spot near the railway tracks.

Hiding behind a large rock, she observed the area. Many trains passed by daily, and Yu Xing’s goal was to sneak onto one and enter Seven Cities.

Last night, she had used her divination compass again and confirmed that Yu He was still in Seven Cities. So, she decided to return there and find Yu He and the others to figure out how to save her grandmother.

Before long, a train appeared in the distance, speeding toward her.

Yu Xing snapped to attention and quickly pulled out the Undead Necklace from her storage bag, putting it on.

The moment the necklace touched her skin, her features contorted in agony. The sun was unbearably bright today—she hated sunlight!

The train raced forward, the ordinary carriages overflowing with passengers. A snaking queue formed outside the restroom; some passengers were clearly desperate to relieve themselves but unwilling to endure the wait inside the train, preferring to hold it until the next stop.

Just one compartment away, the First Class carriage was a different world. Few passengers occupied the space, all dressed elegantly. They lounged in comfort, enjoying the attentive service of the train attendants.

A woman sat by the window, her reflection showing a young and beautiful face.

She held a tube of lipstick, touching up her makeup. She would soon arrive in Seven Cities and wanted to return in her best state.

As she touched up her makeup, she suddenly noticed her lips had turned black.

Blinking, she glanced at the lipstick in her hand—no, it was her favorite red hue. How had it turned black? Had she bought the wrong one? Was this some color-changing lipstick?

Puzzled, she looked up—and in the window, she saw a terrifying face.

Cadaverous, green-tinged skin, pitch-black lips, eyes burning with eerie white flames...

"Ah!" Her scream startled everyone in the carriage.

"What happened?" A conductor quickly rushed over.

The conductor approached the woman who had screamed. "Ma'am, is everything alright?"

The woman now sat relaxed, gently wiping away excess lipstick. Without even looking up, she said, "Oh, the sunlight was too harsh. Could you close the curtains?"

The conductor: "..."

You couldn’t do that yourself?

Still, the battle-hardened conductor dutifully drew the curtains shut with a polite smile. "Ma’am, if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call. Also, we’ll be arriving in Seven Cities soon—please prepare to disembark."

After the conductor left, Yu Xing lifted her head. She had possessed this woman to enter Seven Cities, but she couldn’t stay in this body for long. If the woman went missing, her family would surely report it, causing unnecessary trouble.

After leaving the station, she’d have to switch to another host. Yu Xing thought this as she gazed at the desolate scenery outside the window, returning to the familiar Seven Cities.

Yu Xing disembarked at the D District station of Seven Cities, pushing her luggage out into the bright sunlight. The woman she possessed had no sunscreen or parasol, making the exposure unbearable.

Outside the station, taxis hawked for fares, along with budget hostel touts and even part-time trash-picking beggars.

The original host had once been one of them. Stations were hubs of human traffic, generating plenty of discarded items. Every day, wealthy individuals passed through, and even something casually thrown away could be sold for several nutrition tubes.

As Yu Xing walked, several taxis deliberately slowed near her, and men and women approached, asking, "Ma’am, first time in Seven Cities? Need a hotel?"

Yu Xing kept a stone face. She knew better—there were no real hotels here, just cheap lodgings. In fact, the entire D District didn’t have a single decent hotel.

Quickening her pace, she suddenly saw a group of twelve- or thirteen-year-old kids running toward her.

Dressed in filth-stained rags and carrying bags, they chased and roughhoused noisily.

Amid the chaos, a little girl tripped and fell at Yu Xing’s feet, her grimy hand smearing Yu Xing’s immaculate white boots with a black, ugly handprint.

The children froze in fear, staring at Yu Xing—this woman was clearly wealthy, her clothes expensive.

Exchanging nervous glances, they scampered off in all directions, leaving only the girl who had dirtied the boots quaking like a leaf on the ground.

The girl looked up, wide-eyed with terror, meeting Yu Xing’s gaze.

"I-I’m sorry..." Her voice shook. "I’ll clean it for you."

Yu Xing studied her for a moment, then asked, "Want to earn some money?"

"Huh?" The girl blinked.

"Do something for me," Yu Xing said. "I’ll give you ten thousand."

The girl’s eyes widened further. Now she was even more afraid. This rich-looking woman wasn’t scolding her—instead, she was offering money? Ten thousand? That was a fortune... She must be up to no good.

Gritting her teeth, the girl nodded. "Okay."

She couldn’t resist the lure of such a huge sum...

Yu Xing led her to a secluded corner. As they walked, she asked, "What’s your name?"

"You Guang," the girl whispered, her voice barely audible.

"You Guang." Yu Xing led the girl into a dark, narrow alley and stopped, turning to face You Guang.

You Guang nervously glanced around, swallowing hard. Did she actually run into some creep?

"Don't be afraid." Yu Xing smiled slightly and raised her hand to touch the girl's cheek.

You Guang stared in horror at the well-dressed woman before her. Was this lady some kind of psycho?

The next second, the girl's eyes turned vacant, and a thin layer of frost spread over her skin.

A minute later, the girl turned and skipped away from the alley. After a while, the well-dressed woman came to, only to find herself in an unfamiliar, cramped, filthy alley. She couldn’t help but let out a scream.

"Ah!!!"

Compared to a wealthy woman, a little trash scavenger like You Guang was a much better host body—because even if she disappeared for an entire day, no one would likely notice.

Yu Xing arrived at the bus stop, intending to find Jiang Hui and learn more about the current state of Seven Cities.

At the platform, she caught a nasty smell and turned to find it coming from a billboard.

The billboard behind her, which had once displayed a large ad for Perfect World Game, was now splattered with a thick black stain. It looked disgusting and smelled even worse.

Fortunately, the bus arrived just then, and Yu Xing quickly boarded.

Once seated, she noticed some students behind her.

She tuned them out at first, but soon their conversation caught her attention.

"Did you see the news? The chairman of Eternal Entertainment was assassinated!"

"I saw it! They say anti-game folks did it!"

"You actually buy that the game's messed up?"

"I don’t know... The game went on sale, and I was going to buy it, but now..."

Yu Xing frowned. They must be talking about Perfect World Game. As for the chairman of Eternal Entertainment—wasn’t that Miao Yuanjin’s grandfather? He was assassinated?

Still thinking, she barely noticed when the bus reached her stop.

Yu Xing got off and headed toward Jiang Hui’s clinic. Along the way, she noticed way more security cameras in District D—places that had once been unmonitored were now covered.

Soon enough, she arrived at the clinic.

Since the battle in District B, Jiang Hui had barely left his home. He was still reeling from the shock Yu Xing had given him and trying to uncover her true motives for causing that ruckus in District B.

Eventually, he uncovered some things—and was even more stunned to learn that Yu Xing was tied to Purple Moon?

As he replayed the recording from the day of the District B battle for what felt like the hundredth time, a knock came at the door.

Jiang Hui stood up, straightened his lab coat, and walked to the door. He opened it with his gloved hand to find a thin, dirty little girl standing outside.

"You sick or something?" Jiang Hui looked down at the girl. She was clearly a flawed one from District D—probably crawling with diseases. "Do you have money?"

Instead of answering, the girl slipped under his arm and into the clinic.

"Hey, what are you—" Jiang Hui turned around. This brat had no manners, barging into someone else’s space without permission.

When he turned, he found the girl standing in the middle of the clinic, staring at him with a weird-ass look.

The girl said, "Jiang Hui, give me money. I need 10k."

"..."

After a long silence, Jiang Hui raised his hand. "I oughta slap you. Who told you my name?"

The girl glanced at his raised hand and gave him the most done look.

"Jiang Hui, it’s me, Yu Xing," the girl said.

"..."

"You were wondering how you mysteriously ended up in District B that day, right? That’s how." The girl explained, "Now hurry up and give me 10k. I promised this girl I’d pay her if she helped me get to the clinic."

"..."

Jiang Hui took a step back, dragging a hand down his face. "Wait... Let me process this. My brain's short-circuiting right now. I’m half-convinced I’m having a nightmare..."