Chapter 148: The Decaying Northern Sichuan City

Su Zhenzhen looked at Hensheng, "Have you ever heard of this poem?"

Hensheng shook his head. "Let alone the poems, I don't even recognize the characters on this page."

Su Zhenzhen was then surprised to realize that the words on the scroll were written in simplified Chinese characters. She found them easy to read and had completely overlooked the fact that traditional Chinese characters were used in this era.

Oh wow, there really was someone from a previous life who was sent here before me. Judging from the yellowing of this scroll, this person must have appeared in this time and space at least a dozen years ago.

Seeing that Su Zhenzhen was thinking, Hensheng did not interrupt her, but quietly watched her. In this dilapidated house, there was a sense of time travel, as if a photograph from a past life had been frozen in time.

Just as Su Zhenzhen was pondering, the lead soldier had already dug the pit and was walking into the house.

Su Zhenzhen gestured to Hensheng with her eyes, and the latter immediately picked up the magistrate's body.

Putting everything else aside, just based on this scroll, the county magistrate must have some connection with Hensheng, making him the most suitable person to escort the old man to his burial.

The magistrate was placed into the dug pit, and Hensheng and the leading soldier filled it with soil, soon building a small mound.

After all that work, he inevitably broke out in a sweat. The leading soldier casually wiped his brow with his sleeve and said, "Brother, thanks. I'll go to the county office to get you the official seal."

Su Zhenzhen had a headache. Why was he still thinking about this? After much deliberation, she decided to be direct.

"General, when you were digging the hole in the yard just now, did you hear us talking inside the house?"

Logically speaking, this dilapidated house shouldn't be very soundproof, so why isn't this person curious at all?

The lead soldier said nonchalantly, "You heard that? People who have lived long enough don't find anything strange surprising."

Su Zhenzhen: "..."

Therefore, he must have heard the magistrate's spirit speaking.

"Wait here, I'll go to the county government office to get you the official seal." The leading soldier was still determined to stamp the travel permit.

"General, there's no need for such trouble." Su Zhenzhen quickly stopped him, tentatively saying, "Since you heard us talking inside, you should know whether we need this stamp or not, right?"

The leading soldier raised an eyebrow, and just when Su Zhenzhen thought he was about to say something extraordinary, he unexpectedly said, "But if I don't find something to do, I'll have to go back to guard duty. It's so boring being on the city wall all day long. My brothers and I have such a tacit understanding that we can communicate with our eyes. Sometimes I even wonder if we're already dead, but we still think we're alive."

Su Zhenzhen was both amazed by this person's advanced awareness and speechless at his motivation for doing things.

It seems they're only so enthusiastic about slacking off at work, not because they're genuinely kind.

"Why doesn't the general find something else to do?"

The lead soldier curled his lip, "All we do every day is eat and sleep, nothing else. There's no hope for this life, what can we do? We just live one day at a time."

They've truly mastered the art of tanking to the highest level.

After playing a supporting role for so long, Hensheng finally spoke up, "Would you be willing to move to another place to live?"

Before he could finish speaking, the leading soldier waved his hand to interrupt him.

"I don't want to, that's fine. Anyway, no one is going to leave this world alive, so let's just live like this. Moving around is too much of a hassle."

This guy really doesn't care about anything. Su Zhenzhen suspects that if it weren't for the terrible feeling of hunger, he would have starved to death without eating.

There is a way to deal with such people: arouse their desires, as desire is the direct driving force of the human body.

Su Zhenzhen bought a grilled sausage from the system store, and almost the instant she took it out, the aroma wafted into the noses of the other two.

Hateful was alright, but the leading soldier couldn't help but swallow hard, "This stuff smells pretty good."

"Here, have some." Su Zhenzhen handed over the grilled sausage.

The leading soldier took it with a slight excitement, and couldn't wait to put it in his mouth.

Haha, it's still pretty hot!

While breathing out air, I stuck out my tongue and licked and bit it. What is this thing? Why is it so tender and fragrant?

Once my mouth had finally adjusted to the temperature of the sausage, I immediately took a bite. The tender sausage swirled on my tongue, and before I could even taste it, I couldn't help but swallow it down my throat.

One bite, two bites, three bites, and the whole sausage was gone. Only the steam from my stomach escaped through my throat and was exhaled through my lips, which hadn't yet closed properly.

Delicious and satisfying!

Su Zhenzhen smiled rather smugly. Not interested in food? That's because you've never eaten anything good.

If you have no interest in life, it's because you've never had a good day.

"How about it? Want another one?"

The leading soldier nodded repeatedly while holding the bamboo skewer. This stuff was so delicious that even though he couldn't really taste it, he still thought it was delicious.

Su Zhenzhen bought another grilled sausage from the system shop.

This time, the leading soldier wasn't in such a hurry to eat; instead, he savored the meat slowly, wanting to remember the flavor in his mouth.

Su Zhenzhen said to herself, "I think Chuanbei City is quite poor. I guess the food there isn't very good. If we moved to a city with a better standard of living, we might be able to eat such good food every day."

The leading soldier slowly finished his grilled sausage, swallowing the last bit of flavor before speaking, "Does the young lady want to persuade everyone in Chuanbei City to move to Yangcheng?"

Su Zhenzhen was in a good mood. She had thought she would have to give another hint, but the other party had gone straight to the point.

"Yangcheng, Shanxian, and Bianzhou are all good options. Putting aside everything else, the food and accommodation are definitely better than in Chuanbei City."

The leading soldier twirled two bamboo skewers in his hand. "Young lady, there are no young people in Chuanbei City. Most of them are elderly. People my age are considered few. Otherwise, we wouldn't be guarding the city gate. To put it bluntly, we'd just be wasting our lives anywhere else."

Hensheng spoke immediately after the leading soldier finished speaking, "It's not that I want you to do anything, it's just that I feel your lives shouldn't be like this. General, I see you're only around thirty years old. Do you really want to live the rest of your life like this, without any hope?"

Su Zhenzhen quickly added, "Actually, you all know this isn't good, right? Otherwise, if you felt life was meaningless, to put it bluntly, wouldn't you have committed suicide long ago? After all, no one can leave this world alive. But you didn't. Why? Because you still have a tiny bit of hope in your hearts, thinking that you'll just live one day at a time, and maybe things will get better someday. But it's wrong for you to dream like this. Only when you genuinely want to change will your lives change."