Chapter 144 Beloved (6) Memories of the Slums…

Chapter 144: Beloved (Part 6) Memories of the Slums...

Yu Xing’s words made Wei Tao’s pupils constrict. Forgetting the immediate danger, she asked in shock, "How do you know about Yunyun?"

Yu Xing remained impassive, thinking, *So there really is a Yunyun.* Both she and Wei Tao had encountered familiar faces in this eerie space. The question was, why hadn't Miao Yuanjin had the same experience?

As Yu Xing pondered, Wei Tao seemed touched, a wave of sadness washing over her. "She was my best friend, we grew up together. But... she died before I became a Divine Chosen..."

Wei Tao glanced around, a wistful expression on her face. "It’s strange, but her home was right here. I used to come here often to find her."

Watching Wei Tao’s melancholy, Yu Xing suddenly understood. Perhaps the familiar faces they encountered in this bizarre space weren't illusions, but... people who had truly existed here in the past.

And those events had genuinely unfolded in this very place.

Yu Xing rummaged through the original host’s memories of this area. The host’s home wasn't far from this slum. As a child, she scavenged for scraps here and inevitably met the slum children doing the same.

The original host had no friends and desperately wanted to play with the slum kids. She often wandered over, hoping they would notice her and invite her to scavenge together.

But due to her extraordinary bad luck, no child wanted to befriend her. Instead, they excluded and bullied her. How could Yu He stand by and watch his sister suffer? Whenever he learned she’d been bullied, he’d fight fiercely to avenge her, often returning bruised and battered.

So, this wasn't just the environment—it was the memories of the slums?

Because Miao Yuanjin had never been to the slums before, she remained unchanged upon entering and encountered no familiar faces.

"By the way," Wei Tao finally emerged from her reverie and asked warily, "How did you know about Yunyun?"

Yu Xing replied smoothly, "Oh, just earlier, right after we came in, before the monster appeared. A girl named Yunyun suddenly showed up, linked arms with you, and seemed really close. She even said she wanted to go look for work with you."

Wei Tao’s eyes widened. "How is that possible? Yunyun’s been dead for almost ten years!"

"It’s true," Yu Xing gestured to Miao Yuanjin. "She saw it too."

Miao Yuanjin: "..."

"Yes," Miao Yuanjin, utterly bewildered, stated solemnly, "I saw it with my own eyes."

Wei Tao took a disbelieving step back. "How could that be...? Why don’t I remember any of it?"

"You were still disoriented when you first arrived," Yu Xing continued to fabricate. "Yunyun spoke to you, but you didn’t react."

"Then why were you two lucid?" Wei Tao found it hard to accept. "Weren’t you just arriving too?"

Miao Yuanjin thought, *We’ve been here for ages*, but maintained a serious expression. "Perhaps everyone’s constitution is different, leading to different reactions..."

Wei Tao pressed for more details about Yunyun’s appearance. When Yu Xing accurately described Yunyun’s looks, Wei Tao no longer doubted—it was indeed Yunyun.

"How could this be...?" Wei Tao was both shocked and anxious. She asked, "Where is Yunyun now? Where did she go?"

Yu Xing thought, *Yunyun’s in another dimension*, and quickly changed the subject. "I have a theory: this isn’t just an illusionary space, but the slums from the past."

Miao Yuanjin looked confused, scratching her head. "What do you mean?"

Yu Xing pointed at a dilapidated house nearby. "That shack is intact here, unlike in reality. And people who have already passed away are appearing. So this must be the slums from years ago—ten years, or perhaps even longer."

"Possibly..." Miao Yuanjin said, amazed. "Is this pollution source that powerful? Did it send us through time?"

Wei Tao, now recovering from her shock, sighed at Miao Yuanjin’s idea. "This clearly isn’t time travel. It’s more like... a phantom of the old slums."

Yu Xing agreed. To her, it felt more like the slums’ memories—each space a fragment of memory.

Just then, the slum residents reappeared, behaving exactly as before. Some hurried out, some rushed home, some carried garbage bags in groups, and others gathered to chat.

The wounded monster still whimpered, but the residents ignored it as if the massive creature didn’t exist.

"So," Miao Yuanjin asked, "if this really is a phantom or memory of the slums, what exactly is the pollution source?"

She shivered. "We can’t stay here forever. I feel my mental energy constantly draining."

Yu Xing and Wei Tao simultaneously fell into thought.

This pollution source was truly peculiar. No one knew what it was. It had existed in the slums for years without affecting the residents. Only when someone tried to destroy the slums did pollution manifest.

After much deliberation, they were still clueless.

Finally, Yu Xing said, "I think everything might be connected to that little shack."

The other two looked at her. Yu Xing continued, "Otherwise, why would the shack be the most heavily polluted? And the entrance to the next space is always that shack."

Wei Tao nodded. "You have a point, but we can’t even enter the shack. The moment we do, we automatically enter the next space. We’re helpless."

"Then we won’t go in," Miao Yuanjin said, spreading her hands. "We can just peek from outside, can’t we?"

The three stealthily approached the shack’s door. Faint sounds emanated from within. The shack had only one window. Yu Xing claimed it, peering through a tiny gap in the curtains. Miao Yuanjin pressed her ear to the door, peeking through the crack. Wei Tao, having no other option, leaned against the wall, listening intently.

The window had curtains, leaving only a small slit.

Yu Xing squinted, barely discerning a shadowy figure moving inside.

"Eat more."

Suddenly, Yu Xing heard a voice she recognized—the old man who lived in this house. She had heard it many times before.

"Eat up and grow big," the old man’s voice chuckled. "Hehe, what does this mean? For me to eat? No, no, I won’t eat, I’m not hungry..."

Miao Yuanjin stared at the door crack, scratching her head. She could only barely make out a moving shadow and couldn’t see the situation inside clearly.

After a while, Miao Yuanjin heard the person inside say, "I’m going out. Be good and wait for me at home. I’ll bring you something tasty..."

Hearing this, Miao Yuanjin immediately darted away, afraid of being discovered eavesdropping.

Miao Yuanjin, with a practiced air of innocence, pretended to gaze at the sky as the shack’s door opened. An old man emerged, chuckling.

The old man carried a bag, a familiar scavenging bag to Yu Xing. After locking the door, the old man carried the bag and walked out of the slum.

Perhaps it was because she had seen the old man so many times, but Yu Xing felt a strange familiarity with him.

"Is that...?" Wei Tao frowned. "Grandpa Tao?"

"You know him?" Miao Yuanjin asked, watching the old man’s retreating figure.

"Yes, I used to come here often when I was little and sometimes ran into him," Wei Tao said. "But I didn’t know him well, never spoke to him. I just knew his surname was Tao, and the kids called him Grandpa Tao."

"It seems like there’s someone else in his house," Miao Yuanjin said, pressing her ear to the door again. "Why can’t I see anything?"

Wei Tao sighed. "After Yunyun passed away, I never came back here. I have no idea what happened to the slum afterward."

Yu Xing asked, "How did Yunyun die?"

Wei Tao was silent at first, then said, "We went out job-hunting together and encountered a contamination event. That was when I suddenly became a Divine Chosen, so I survived, but she..."

"Enough chatter," Miao Yuanjin interjected. "That old man lives in this problematic house; maybe he’s the pollution source."

Wei Tao asked her, "Is the contamination on Grandpa Tao severe?"

"No..." Miao Yuanjin waved her hand. "After entering here, my ability to sense contamination failed. The whole place reeks of pollution—I can’t distinguish anything."

"Let’s follow him and see," Yu Xing said, already walking in the old man’s direction.

The old man’s steps were slow; he was truly very old, his back hunched. Sometimes he would stop, bending down to pick up trash by the roadside.

He walked and walked, until he reached the edge of the slum. Taking one step forward, the old man vanished.

"What’s going on?"

Yu Xing said, "The boundary of this place is just the slum. Beyond it, there’s nothing."

"What can we learn from this?" Miao Yuanjin frowned.

"Should we go to the next space and see?" Yu Xing suggested. "Though that means we’ll have to fight another monster."

While they didn’t want to, there was no other way. Fortunately, the three of them were together now, so teaming up against one monster wouldn’t be a big problem.

...

"Ugh..."

In the next space, another monster collapsed, heavily wounded. Yu Xing and the other two, now seasoned pros, skillfully crouched around the shabby hut, observing for any movement inside.

This time, the hut seemed empty—no sound, no shadow.

After a while, Wei Tao suddenly whispered, "Quick, move! Grandpa Tao is coming back!"

The three immediately straightened up, pretending to be out for a stroll.

The old man returned from outside, his bag only a third full. He trudged back slowly, his face etched with fatigue. But the moment he opened the door, his expression brightened. "Look what I brought back? Half a fried chicken drumstick! Let’s eat it together."

As the old man opened the door, Yu Xing swiftly darted behind him, hoping to catch a glimpse inside. Unfortunately, the room was too dim; she saw nothing.

Once again finding nothing, the three huddled together.

Miao Yuanjin said, "I still suspect the old man is the pollution source. Isn’t that how most pollution sources form? Within the Wall, most arise from people’s suffering."

Wei Tao nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Miao Yuanjin’s reasoning.

Yu Xing sounded a bit doubtful. "This Grandpa Tao... I actually think he seems quite happy?"

"Just putting on a brave face," Miao Yuanjin dismissed. "Besides, we’re just experimenting. He’s not even a real person; there are countless other old men in other spaces."

Point taken. The three stood up together. Wei Tao clenched her fist and asked Yu Xing, "Which of us is going to do it?"

"You," Yu Xing said, still not entirely convinced the old man was the source.