Chapter 76

Chapter 76

After unburdening himself to Xiao Xi about the worries that had weighed on his mind for days, Su Jianglou felt a significant release, visibly relaxing his entire demeanor.

That afternoon, instead of his usual routine of being constantly out for work, he stayed home. He accompanied Xiao Xi to the living room, where they selected a spot on the wall. Then, hammer in hand, he noisily set about nailing in the hooks.

With the nails securely in place and the painting hung, Su Jianglou gazed at the prominent family portrait in the living room, a surge of pride swelling within him.

He turned to his younger brother standing beside him and said, "Eldest Brother once specifically commissioned a painter from the neighboring city for his family portrait. Later, when it went missing, Second Brother and I were the ones who retrieved it."

But now, looking at it, that painting couldn't hold a candle to his own. It wasn't even fit to be compared to his heel.

At the staircase, Su Juzi, hearing this, cast a glance at Eldest Brother, as if a memory had been stirred.

Su Xuanxiao cleared his throat lightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

The past was the past. Su Juzi chose not to bring up Eldest Brother's previous act of sending both him and Jiang Lou away. Instead, he stepped forward and asked, "Xiao Xi, what would you like for dinner tonight? Second Brother will cook for you."

To ensure their family's newly rekindled warmth wasn't disturbed by other anomalies, Butler Li and the villa's other staff were given a vacation.

Fortunately, Su Juzi was an excellent cook, capable of stepping in for the chef, who was also on leave.

Hearing this, Su Ximu, without excessive politeness, pondered for a moment before listing his requests: "Hmm... I'd like corn and pork rib soup, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes."

Su Jianglou added, "Oil-braised prawns."

Su Xuanxiao chimed in, "Let's add a cake too."

When it was Su Ximu's turn again, the teenager, dressed in light brown casual wear, raised his hand: "Second Brother, I can help with the prep work and wash the dishes."

Su Juzi smiled, naturally taking Xiao Xi's wrist. "Then let's go grocery shopping first. But you don't need to wash the dishes; Eldest Brother and Jiang Lou are here too."

With that, he assigned tasks to Eldest Brother and Jiang Lou: "There are still some ingredients in the fridge. Jiang Lou, you and Eldest Brother can help prepare them at home. Once Xiao Xi and I return, we'll start cooking right away."

Su Jianglou shrugged, a hint of dissatisfaction in his expression, but still nodded in agreement. "Then hurry back with Xiao Xi."

"Okay, Third Brother, Second Brother and I will be back as soon as we finish shopping," Su Ximu replied this time.

Speaking of grocery shopping, Su Ximu brought up a question that had piqued his curiosity for the past couple of days: "Second Brother, do anomalies need to eat? Are there supermarkets or markets nearby that sell normal fruits and vegetables?"

He had already learned that the staff meals he ate at the Tourism Park were specially arranged by Third Brother.

The same went for the soups Second Brother often made for him.

He had thought that these ingredients had to be sourced from specific places.

Like the trainee cafeteria on Specter Island, where the ingredient delivery trucks always came and went silently.

Su Juzi was accustomed to Xiao Xi's endless questions and, as always, replied unhurriedly, "Anomalies don't need to eat, but they can. Some anomalies, out of habit, want to maintain their previous lifestyle, while others do it out of imitation. So, there is a certain demand for normal ingredients in this world. There happens to be a supermarket like that near Wealth Avenue. It shouldn't be much different from the supermarkets you remember, Xiao Xi."

No difference?

Su Ximu's interest was piqued.

By then, he had already put on his shoes and left the house with Second Brother. As they walked along the path in front of the villa, Su Ximu asked cheerfully, "Then, Second Brother, can I go to that supermarket by myself to buy things in the future?"

"Of course."

"Xiao Xi, anything you could do before, you can still do now."

"Don't feel burdened or worried."

As they spoke, they passed by the neighboring villa.

The villa’s gate was tightly locked, and the owner was likely out.

They walked all the way to the supermarket, chatting back and forth the entire time and never feeling bored.

Just as they were about to leave the villa area, Su Ximu turned back to look. When he turned around again, he mentioned a small observation to Second Brother: "Second Brother, Grandpa Niu and Neighbor Grandpa seem very similar, but also a little different."

"According to the book Third Brother compiled, Grandpa Niu used to be our neighbor, and now he’s our neighbor again. Grandpa Niu has a little yellow dog, and Neighbor Grandpa once said he’d give me a puppy when he returned."

With so many coincidences, he almost thought Grandpa Niu was Neighbor Grandpa.

But his intuition told him something still felt off. So he wasn’t entirely sure.

Yet, when he thought about it now, he felt a genuine familiarity with Grandpa Niu.

"Grandpa said back then that he was moving away..." At this point, the youth’s expression turned somewhat melancholy.

When he was young, he didn’t understand. And when he first woke up from the dungeon a couple of days ago, he was still a bit confused.

It wasn’t until yesterday that he became fully clear-headed and understood everything.

Grandpa hadn’t actually moved. With the state of the post-apocalyptic world back then, where could he have moved to?

Grandpa had probably been forced into the anomalous world as well.

He wondered how Grandpa was doing now—whether he was still alive, like his brothers.

"Second Brother, in all these years, have you, Eldest Brother, and Third Brother ever encountered Neighbor Grandpa?"

With so many things happening recently, if Xiao Xi hadn’t brought it up, Su Juzi would have forgotten to mention it.

Hearing this, he also looked back at the villa with the large backyard.

He reached out and stroked Xiao Xi’s head reassuringly, giving him a definite answer: "Yes, we have."

They had encountered him quite early on, but it was only recently that they became neighbors again.

"Neighbors?" Su Ximu blinked in disbelief and surprise, whipping his head around to look back again.

But by then, he and Second Brother had walked further and could no longer see the villa.

The youth turned back and looked at Second Brother, seeking verification: "Second Brother, is Grandpa Niu Neighbor Grandpa?"

But why, why...

Fundamentally, Su Ximu was very perceptive.

However, his perceptiveness was often clouded by a haze that waxed and waned.

Like the last time, when he first woke up from the dungeon and saw Second Brother lying beside him, he had instinctively uttered the name "Lan."

Seeing that Xiao Xi was growing somewhat anxious from struggling to find the right words, Su Juzi stepped in: "But why does our Xiao Xi feel that Grandpa Niu is both familiar and unfamiliar, and if you think carefully, even somewhat dangerous—not quite like the impression he gave you before, right?"

Su Ximu nodded vigorously, caught red-handed.

"Xiao Xi, do you know where Grandpa Niu got his surname 'Niu' from?"

In the wasteland world, the meat-people only have numbers, no surnames.

Su Ximu immediately shook his head, slowing his pace slightly and looking ready to listen attentively.

"That surname belongs to another anomaly living inside his body." Su Juzi never beat around the bush when speaking to Su Ximu, always explaining thoroughly.

Noticing how the big-eyed boy’s eyes widened even further upon hearing this, Su Juzi couldn’t resist reaching out to gently brush the boy’s long, upturned eyelashes.

Only when Xiao Xi blinked repeatedly from the teasing did Su Juzi come to his senses and withdraw his hand. Slowing his pace as well, he continued, "In the earliest days, with Tanzhong City at the center, the surrounding four cities were still barren wastelands shrouded in gray mist. Back then, the closest place to Tanzhong City was an arena."

"The most experienced animal trainer in the arena was an elderly man surnamed Niu, who appeared quite aged. Under his command, he had jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards, dogs, chickens, horses, cattle... and more. Every beast fight, the sight of these animals ripping each other apart left the spectators extremely pleased."

"Until one day, news spread from the arena that this animal trainer, believing one of his cattle had particularly tender meat, decided to butcher it. But during the process, he was killed by the cow."

"Later, as the arena gradually declined, all the spectators finally learned that the owner of the arena was, in fact, this very same most experienced trainer."

A cow... killed the animal trainer?

Su Ximu listened, suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine.

He couldn’t help but look for clues about Grandpa Niu—or rather, the neighbor grandpa—in the story his second brother was telling.

Clearly, it couldn’t be the animal trainer who was killed, since the animal trainer had the surname Niu from the start.

But aside from the animal trainer, was there anyone else—human or anomaly—mentioned in the story?

Thinking this, Su Ximu rubbed his arms again and, fighting his discomfort, asked his second brother, "Second Brother, were the animals in the arena really just animals?"

Su Juzi shook his head.

There had never been any real animals in the arena.

Nor had the cow truly succeeded in killing the animal trainer.

They tore into each other, fought, their flesh and blood mingling, their powers intertwining. At first, it was genuinely hard to tell them apart.

Fortunately, in recent years, as one side’s power began to overwhelm the other, they gradually became more distinct.

In a few more years, the animal trainer would likely disappear completely.

Su Juzi explained patiently but avoided delving into the gory details for Xiao Xi’s sake, glossing over them lightly.

And Su Ximu truly understood.

He understood the explanation his second brother gave him.

The neighbor grandpa wasn’t the animal trainer—he was the "cow" that killed the animal trainer.

In the Anomalous World, powerful beings are all anomalies. The animal trainer was, of course, also an anomaly.

Anomalies aren’t so easily killed.

Perhaps some complicated changes happened during the process, but the current situation is that, inside Grandpa Niu’s body, besides the neighbor grandpa, there also resides the animal trainer.

That’s why, these past couple of days, whenever he felt familiar with Grandpa Niu, something still felt off.

***

That evening, because he and his second brother got sidetracked chatting, they returned later than planned.

As soon as Su Ximu stepped inside, he saw his third brother waiting impatiently on the sofa.

He felt a bit guilty, and immediately headed to the kitchen, carrying a small bag of vegetables.

Su Juzi, carrying a larger bag, also entered the kitchen under Jiang Lou’s stern look.

Just like their initial arrangement, he and his second brother cooked, while the eldest and third brothers did the dishes.

Two hours later, after finishing dinner, Su Ximu patted his slightly bulging stomach, stood up, and decided to go for a walk.

He turned and invited, "Second Brother, would you like to join me for a walk?"

Su Juzi gladly accepted and stood up.

Behind them, the sound of dishes being washed continued in the kitchen.

This time, as soon as Su Ximu changed his shoes and reached the villa’s entrance, he heard two sudden barks—"Woof! Woof!"—from nearby.

It was the sound of a puppy.

He turned around and, sure enough, saw a familiar dappled puppy wagging its tail, tongue lolling happily, and running toward him.

Behind the puppy, the villa that had been dark before dinner now glowed warmly from its windows.

Clearly, the villa’s owner had returned.