The Players and the Protagonist Want to Kill Me – Chapter 337

Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)

Chapter 130: Xin Kui’s Preparations

“Sister, Xin Zhi doesn’t want to be cured anymore. Can you stop taking risks?”

“Please, please, Sister. Mom is already gone. Xin Zhi can’t… can’t live without you…”

Xin Zhi’s gaze was filled with pleading, and crystal tears were already welling up in her eyes. She seemed to have foreseen something.

“Ah, ah…”

Xin Kui held up her small hands and gestured twice. She gave a thumbs-up on her chest, then stroked Xin Zhi’s little head, signaling her not to worry too much and that she would be fine.

Then, with a still-intact finger, she gently wiped away Xin Zhi’s tears. Someone always had to bear the burden.

Xin Kui tucked her sister in and then, outside the makeshift shelter, a chilling wind seeped in through the cracks.

If her sister were cured. She would be a beautiful Half-Elf Girl… Then, if she were the only one left to live, the pressure would be much less. Plus, perhaps Uncle Jerry, the Half-Dragon, might help look after her. In that case, her sister would have no problem surviving in the Inner City.

Xin Kui hadn’t thought about leaving Demon City and returning to the outside. But what would happen if she did? Although Demon City was dangerous, at least there was no racial discrimination here. If she returned to the outside, she would be killed by elves if she encountered them. Humans would capture her and sell her as a slave. Orcs would simply make her food.

With nowhere to go in the vast world, only this dilapidated shelter could barely offer protection from the wind and rain. She had to build a future for her sister. Xin Kui’s gaze grew firmer, three parts brighter than the flickering candlelight in the darkness.

…

In the early morning, while Xin Zhi was sound asleep. Xin Kui rubbed her eyes. She quietly got up from the straw mat. She was very sleepy and tired. But she couldn’t sleep anymore. The howling cold wind could be heard from outside the shelter. Xin Kui glanced at her sleeping sister, pursed her lips, and gently tucked the crystal chip storing Soul Points under her sister’s pillow.

Then, she went to the edge of the shelter, opened a gap, observed carefully for a moment, turned back, and came out with a basin in her hand. It was really cold outside. Xin Kui couldn’t help but shiver, which also made her sober up considerably.

She tiptoed to the vicinity of the ruins. She pushed aside some deliberately concealed obstacles. Soon, she retrieved some good things she had collected long ago. They were mostly toiletries left over by the city’s residents and casually discarded. Xin Kui usually couldn’t bear to use these toiletries, nor did she have the chance, but now it was time for them to be useful. When her sister recovered, she could buy better ones herself, instead of using leftovers.

With such hope, Xin Kui loaded these toiletries into the basin and, sticking to the dim wall, went to a public water area near the ruins. This was a very ordinary channel. The water came from the core area, and it was the wastewater left over by the big shots in the core area. But this wastewater was the source of life for the lower-class residents living near the ruins.

The water in the channel was cleanest every pre-dawn. Xin Kui was waiting for this time. She bent down and filled a large basin with cold water. Then she looked around and went to an unobtrusive corner. Piles of bricks and wood were stacked there. No one would find her if she didn’t go around two corners.

Xin Kui’s hands trembled as she slowly unbuttoned her clothes, revealing her tender body. The cold made her instinctively shrink her neck. Her skin, which should have been as fair and smooth as a baby’s, was covered with crisscrossing whip marks. Some were relatively new, but most were old scars. Xin Kui’s fingers lightly brushed over some of the newest wounds, causing her to gasp in pain.

Killing was not allowed in the Inner City. But no one cared about hitting people. Xin Kui was beaten almost every other day, sometimes by drunkards passing by, sometimes by fellow guides, but more often, it was just a chance encounter, and the other person simply took a dislike to her. Even though Xin Kui was used to sticking to the shadows, trouble always found her because she was weak.

The cold wind swirled above the ruins. Xin Kui’s face turned pale, and her whole body trembled from the cold. But she still endured the cold and poured the icy water over her head and body. This would make her sick. But Xin Kui couldn’t worry about that anymore. She began to scrub her body earnestly. The toiletries and potions eroded her wounds, causing her whole body to burn with pain. As the cold wind blew, the chilblains on her fingers finally cracked open.

Xin Kui endured the pain and tore off the skin from her chilblains. Pus and blood mixed with the shower gel and the icy water, flowing into the nearby ditch. After washing her body and hair, Xin Kui took out a long-cherished white towel and began to dry herself. However, after she finished drying herself, the originally snow-white towel had turned a rusty light red.

Sitting on a stone in a dark corner, Xin Kui wrapped her chilblains and the wounds that had broken open from the cold with pre-prepared bandages. These chilblains and wounds would affect her subsequent actions. After finishing all this, Xin Kui shivered as she put on a goose-yellow dress, covering the bandages and most of the wounds, leaving only a section of her lower leg and arm exposed. This was the only piece of clothing without holes or patches. It was a gift from her mother, a small dress sewn with every stitch. Xin Kui had treasured it and had been reluctant to wear it.

Standing in front of a broken mirror, Xin Kui looked at her reflection. The mirror was fractured like a spiderweb, but it didn’t prevent her from piecing together these shattered reflections. Her face was free of dirt and grime, her damp long hair cascaded down. Although she was emaciated and her complexion was sallow, she was still considered beautiful. A smile appeared on her lips. But as she smiled, tears fell from her eyes.

Xin Kui put on her shoes, clenched her hands and slowly released them, took a deep breath, and glanced back at her and her sister’s small shelter. Then, she turned and walked towards the Wailing Merchant Guild.

…

Humans are greedy and lustful. She had no money to bribe humans, so she could only dress herself up properly to have a chance to enter the Wailing Merchant Guild and obtain the information that “a certain Lord” needed. As for what price she would have to pay, Xin Kui had already prepared herself mentally. As long as she served those humans well, she might survive and come out.

As for serving “that other person” before, Xin Kui never thought about it. Because she felt she was unworthy. After all, how outstanding were the girls around “that person”? Compared to them, she wasn’t even a plain girl, more like a dirty, stinking piece of rag. If she were to make that request, Xin Kui believed it would only pollute “that person’s” ears and eyes.