Once I hand you over to your sister, my mission will be complete.
I can eat and sleep as I please, no longer needing to cook for you, wash your clothes, bathe you, or sleep with you... My solitary life resumes, filled with joyful gaming and carefree living.
I suppose I'll be free, right?
But... why does it feel like there's an empty void in my heart... as if I've lost something very important.
This feeling... it's similar to when my mother passed away.
Uesugi Akizuki walked happily hand in hand with Su Ze, her smile as sweet as honey. Occasionally, she would skip along, pulling Su Ze's hand, like a lively sprite.
The warm midday sun bathed the uneven dirt road, with tree shadows swaying on both sides.
Su Ze didn't drive; he wanted to walk this part of the journey. The sun cast the shadows of the boy and girl together on the ground, the girl happily munching on cotton candy bought by the boy, her eyes filled with happiness.
Su Ze was alive, and the girl who had escaped with him was also alive. These two, who were the most important to her after losing her memory, were about to meet.
Su Ze, Uesugi Chigenki, her sister, and delicious food, perhaps games would be added to that list later.
Her happiness was so simple that she skipped and jumped, almost as if she could fly.
Yet she didn't know that after this journey, the most important part of her happiness, Su Ze, would be leaving her.
This dirt road led to a secluded path in the Sixth District. On both sides of the road were small trees spaced a meter or two apart. To the left were fields and fishponds, a small countryside in the second-tier city of Dust City.
This small countryside, nestled within the metropolis, had a touch of the flavor of a secluded paradise.
To the right of the path was a dense forest, where light and shadow intertwined, and gentle breezes occasionally rustled the leaves.
Passing by a large fishpond, three elderly men, all in their fifties or sixties, were fishing.
Uesugi Akizuki was curious about what they were doing and stopped to watch for a long time, pulling Su Ze's hand.
Su Ze quietly accompanied her, the breeze lifting the girl's bright red hair, the scenery enchanting, the landscape enchanting, the girl even more so.
"The fish is on! The fish is on!"
An Arm Sleeved Old Man shouted, and the fish, with tremendous strength, yanked the old man, who had just stood up, off balance and nearly dragged him into the lake.
The Bearded Old Man, with a scar on his arm, and another old man with a scholarly air, who was there just to accompany his friends, quickly stood up.
The Bearded Old Man helped hold the fishing rod, while the Scarred Old Man grabbed the Arm Sleeved Old Man's leg, who was about to be pulled into the water but refused to let go of the rod.
The Arm Sleeved Old Man's hair was already submerged in the water, his eyes wide open, still gripping the rod tightly.
With the combined efforts of the three, without any communication, both in the water and on the shore were exerting their strength, indicating the size of the fish.
A tearing sound, and the Arm Sleeved Old Man's trouser leg ripped, along with the Bearded Old Man, who slipped into the water with a gurgle.
However, what was astonishing was that the fishing rod was passed like a baton to the Scarred Old Man on the shore.
The Scarred Old Man's strength was evidently greater; he leaned back almost parallel to the ground, his heels digging into the slightly moist soil, his eyes wide, his face wrinkled and determined, his forehead veins bulging.
The fishing rod bent like a willow branch, and beneath the unseen surface of the water, a straight, transparent line pierced through the lake, splitting the water's surface.
The two elderly men, with a combined age of over a hundred, scrambled back onto the shore. The Arm Sleeved Old Man had lost one of his slippers, the other still on his foot.
Once on the shore, the Arm Sleeved Old Man helped the Scarred Old Man pull the rod.
The Bearded Old Man, who had just climbed out of the water, suddenly did a breakdance move, then fell back into the water with a classic backward dive.
His slipper on his right foot slid up to his calf, and the old man's eyes seemed to lose their luster.
The two old men on the shore, veins bulging on their foreheads, suddenly felt a strong hand grip the trembling fishing rod.
The two old men noticed that the silver-haired young man who had come to help was very strong. The Scarred Old Man, gritting his teeth, pulled the rod and said, "Let's pull together and get this fish out!"
"Okay," Su Ze gritted his teeth and replied.
Su Ze didn't want to reveal his identity as an ability user, so he only used a small amount of force, pretending to be exerting his full strength.
"One, two, three!"
With the Scarred Old Man's roar, the three of them suddenly pulled hard, and a series of loud crashes echoed from the other side of the lake, where four young men flailed and fell into the water.
Su Ze and the two old men were left dumbfounded, watching the four young men struggling in the water.
The Bearded Old Man, just out of the lake, inexplicably did a breakdance move, then fell back into the water with a classic backward dive.
Seeing the four young men dog-paddling back to shore, the three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Earlier, they had only thought they had hooked a big fish and pulled with all their might, not noticing that four young men fishing in the distance were also pulling on a fishing rod, which had become entangled with theirs. Su Ze had thought both parties had hooked a fish simultaneously.
Who could have imagined that the fishing lines had become tangled?
Seeing the old men in danger, they didn't hesitate to help.
By the time the two old men on the shore came to their senses, the young man who had helped them was already gone.
On the path, Su Ze used a stick to scrape the mud from his shoe sole, then kicked a nearby stone to shake off the mud, and continued his journey with Uesugi Akizuki.
Uesugi Akizuki seemed very interested in what had just happened, burying her head in Su Ze's side, her body shaking with silent laughter.
Although she made no sound, it was clear she was laughing very happily.
This laughter seemed contagious, and thinking of the four young men's clumsy appearance, Su Ze's mouth also curved into a smile.
The two walked like a breath of spring breeze along the quiet winding path, then arrived in the bustling Sixth District, which had experienced a blood moon but had not seen any high-level monsters, thanks to the fierce resistance of Meng Xingyao and others.
Huaxia was pouring significant effort into rebuilding homes, and the Sixth District was recovering its former prosperity almost overnight.
Su Ze, with his tall figure, walked hand in hand with the red-haired, innocent-looking miko through the streets, forming a beautiful sight.
Uesugi Akizuki suddenly pointed to a fruit stall, her eyes full of anticipation. Su Ze nodded and took her to buy fruit.
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man, smiling as he weighed the fruit for Uesugi Akizuki.
Su Ze was curious and asked, "Boss, you're already doing business just one day after the blood moon?"
The boss shook his head with a bitter smile, "Peddlers like us struggle to make ends meet in this world. Who wouldn't want to rest a few days after a disaster? But with the death of my child's mother, if I don't come out to do business, more than just the child's mother will die."