Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Chapter 127: Xin Kui
“Esteemed sir, do you require a guide? I know everything in the Inner City of Demon City, so you can count on me.”
“It only costs three Soul Points a day.”
A scrawny middle-aged man pushed his way to the front, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. He had a pained expression and begged earnestly.
“Sir, don’t choose him, choose me! I’m known as the All-Knowing of Demon City. Everyone knows my name, ‘Drilling Rat’!”
“And it only costs me 2 Soul Points a day.”
The one who interjected was a rat humanoid, with a human body and a rat’s head. Its eyes darted around, giving it a shifty look, not like a good sort at all.
Xi Wei finally understood. These people were guides in the Inner City of Demon City, likely earning some Soul Points daily for survival through this work.
Xi Wei was not familiar with Demon City, so finding a guide was a good idea.
His gaze swept through the crowd for a moment.
He finally fixed his attention on a Half-Elf Girl at the very back of the group.
The little girl was petite, her dry, flaxen hair curled. It was unclear how long it had been since it was washed. Her small face was dirty, and she didn’t look very old.
She was lowering her head, trying hard to push forward.
But how could she possibly push past the surrounding people and Humanoids? Even though she tried her best, she was still shoved aside.
“You’re the one.”
Xi Wei parted the crowd and walked over to the Half-Elf Girl.
“Ah, ah… hhh…”
The Half-Elf Girl looked up, uttering hoarse sounds from her mouth. Gratitude appeared in her pale green eyes.
She wanted to kneel and kowtow.
But Xi Wei stopped her by grabbing her shoulders.
“Is she mute?”
Xi Wei frowned, cursing his bad luck.
A mute guide for him.
What a joke.
Communication would be difficult, right?
Sensing Xi Wei’s disappointment and disdain, the Half-Elf Girl immediately panicked.
She mumbled “yiyi-ya-ya” from her mouth.
Hurriedly, she fumbled in her dirty pocket and pulled out a few tattered pieces of paper.
Her small hands, covered in chilblains, flipped through the papers and took out one.
Her eyes lit up, and in her haste, she unfolded the paper and held it up to Xi Wei. She paid no attention to the other papers that fell to the ground.
[I’m sorry, I cannot speak, but I can write. It will only be one Soul Point a day.]
Seemingly feeling this wasn’t enough to impress Xi Wei, the Half-Elf Girl immediately knelt on the ground, rummaging through the scattered papers.
After a while, she picked up another piece of paper, unfolded it, and held it up as high as she could on her tiptoes.
[I can help you with odd jobs and run errands. These will not cost extra Soul Points, they are complimentary.]
Xi Wei’s gaze moved back and forth between the Half-Elf Girl’s eager eyes and the paper in her hand. Finally, he nodded.
“Alright, you’re hired.”
“Sir, aren’t you going to reconsider?”
“She’s just a mute, she can’t possibly handle the job of a guide!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Xin Kui, don’t get in the way here, or you’ll die in your doghouse tonight, I guarantee it!”
The surrounding Humanoids’ eyes were red.
News of what had happened in the outer city had already spread.
This was a powerful individual. He had killed hundreds of scum from the outer city upon arrival. He was not short of Soul Points.
“Get lost!”
Xi Wei snorted. A trace of his Sky Knight aura was released, immediately silencing the surrounding Humanoids.
However, their venomous gazes still swept over the Half-Elf Girl, showing no attempt to hide their killing intent.
This Half-Elf Girl probably wouldn’t live for a week.
Xi Wei had a rough guess in his mind.
When he no longer needed this Half-Elf Girl, it would be her time to die.
The Half-Elf Girl herself knew this fact.
Her eyes held a faint, deathly gray hue, as if she were indifferent to death.
“Let’s go. Take us to find a place to stay first. The cost in Soul Points doesn’t matter, but it must be clean.”
The Half-Elf Girl named Xin Kui nodded. She took out a pre-torn piece of paper, took out a worn-out pen, and scribbled a line of text. She unfolded it and presented it to Xi Wei.
[Please follow me.]
Half an hour later, under Xin Kui’s guidance, Xi Wei and his party arrived in front of a gray building.
The building did not look like a place to live, but rather like a prison.
[This is the safest and cleanest residence. Although it looks inconspicuous, it is very sturdy. Other places may look luxurious, but disputes often occur.]
Xin Kui noticed Xi Wei’s confused gaze and, before he could ask, immediately wrote a note.
“So that’s how it is.”
Xi Wei nodded.
Along the way, through his Q&A with Xin Kui, he had gained a certain understanding of the Inner City of Demon City.
Firstly, Soul Points were equivalent to currency in Demon City. Especially in the Inner City, no matter where you went or what you did, it was almost always linked to Soul Points.
With Soul Points, one could enjoy a treatment fit for an emperor in the Inner City of Demon City.
The reason people from the outer city desperately wanted to enter the Inner City was that it was much safer than the outer city.
As long as one could pay the entrance fee and continue to pay the monthly Soul Point tax, they would almost never be killed randomly while walking down the street.
Of course, living in the Inner City also meant a higher monthly Soul Point tax.
There were mainly two ways to obtain Soul Points in the Inner City.
The first was to kill. However, the rules in the Inner City had changed compared to the outer city.
Killing was permissible, but it had to be done stealthily, without being discovered by patrols. If discovered, a hefty corpse disposal fee would be imposed.
If unable to pay, one would become a “red-named” resident.
Red-named residents could be slaughtered by anyone without any repercussions.
The second method was to participate in gambling in the Dream Capital, where anything could be gambled.
Organs, precious equipment, one’s partner, even one’s life.
In other words, Soul Points.
Besides these, there was also finding a job, like the Half-Succubus girl.
However, these jobs were basically all taken, or like Xin Kui, helping the powerhouses of the Inner City with odd jobs and running errands as a humble guide.
Living in the Inner City, one truly did not have to worry about suddenly being pierced through the throat by a steel fork thrown from nowhere and dying on the street.
However, without sufficient strength, one also faced greater living pressures in the Inner City.
If one could not afford the monthly Soul Point tax.
Their eyes would be gouged out, and they would be expelled from the Inner City.
As for why Xin Kui was mute, according to her, it was last month in the Dream Capital. For 10 Soul Points, she gambled away her tongue.
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Without electricity, what motivation do I have to write extras? ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚
