Chapter 72: The first batch of friends rescued, but Sang Zhitao hasn't arrived yet...
Before Sang Zhitao even reached the blue-haired boy's residence, she heard a deafening explosion from there.
Her expression changed immediately, and she sped up and ran in that direction.
The tin-roofed houses that were similar to hers had long been blown to pieces.
The boys who used to threaten her and steal her things were now crookedly surrounded by others.
The two girls they were protecting were forcibly held aloft by two men.
"Since you can't hand over anything, then let your sister go earn money." One of the gray-haired men, who was smoking, glanced sideways at the two girls, as if he were crushing two ants.
"Brother Gray Card, we really didn't see any perfect-grade gems. Everything we found today is here." The blue-haired boy clutched his chest, still trying to speak.
Graycard narrowed his eyes and said unhappily, "Then tell me, besides you, who else went to Garbage Mountain today?"
The boy in blue paused for a moment before shaking his head: "We arrived quite late and didn't see anyone."
The red-clad boy's expression changed, and he was about to speak, but the blue-clad boy beat him to it, and his expression immediately became even more unpleasant.
Gray Card glanced at the blue-haired boy before a mocking smile appeared on his lips as he lured the red-haired boy, "Did you see that?"
The boy in red subconsciously turned to look at his companion, only to see disapproval in the other's eyes.
He instinctively wanted to deny it like the other person, but when he saw the way Gray Card was examining his wrist, he involuntarily trembled and stammered, "It's...it's Blue Star!"
"Crimson!" the blue-haired boy cried out anxiously, only to be brutally trampled underfoot by the gray card in the next second.
"Blue Star?" Gray Card gritted his teeth and spat out the two words.
"Yes, it's her! I saw her leave with my own eyes, the perfect gem must be in her hands!" Touhong looked at her partner's mouth, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, and his face turned pale with fright.
Gray clicked his tongue, hesitated for a while, and then waved his hand to signal someone to make the move.
The men surrounding the boys worked together, kicking and wielding them, until the tin shack was completely destroyed.
The blue-haired boy's face turned pale instantly. He knew that Gray Card was going to kill them. His cold, sharp eyes pierced through the crimson-haired boy.
Her face flushed, she avoided his gaze, pursed her lips, and murmured to herself, "It's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's your fault. Because of your sister, we're starving. I don't want to starve, I don't want to starve..."
As if finally convincing himself, his reddened eyes became more determined, and his timid expression slowly faded.
This scene, as seen by Greycard, made him smile slyly, as if he had witnessed something amusing.
Sang Zhitao, who was not far away, watched the scene with a furrowed brow.
In the original book, she wrote that the teenagers led by Tou Lan suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight one day. Lan Xing found it strange and went to their location only to find that everything had turned to ashes.
Later, thanks to her lucky nature, she became a miner in a mine, where she rescued Tou Lan, who was being tortured as a slave.
By then, Tou Lan had lost his mind and soon died in the mine, and Lan Xing never had the chance to know what had happened.
Only now does Sang Zhitao understand that it was because of that perfect-grade ore.
"Another plot point not in the original book..." she murmured softly.
This wasn't the first time Sang Zhitao had encountered a plot outside the original book. She wasn't flustered, but she was a little troubled, unsure how to save Tou Lan and the others. After all, she always felt that the perfect gem was especially important to her.
"Who!" Before she could figure it out, Gray Card cautiously walked towards her.
"I'm sorry, I came to find my friend, I didn't see you on purpose." Sang Zhitao knew she couldn't hide it anymore, so she could only stand up with her hands raised.
When Grey saw it was her, he was taken aback at first, then scratched his head with some difficulty, stared at her for a while before saying, "You should call the things out first!"
"What is that?" Sang Zhitao looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Greycard took a deep breath before speaking again: "I don't want to hurt you, nor do I want to offend anyone. Hand over the perfect-grade gem you found today."
Sang Zhitao looked at him and suddenly burst out laughing: "Are you kidding me? A perfect-grade gem could possibly be found in a dump like this?"
Greycard frowned at her, sighed, and continued, "It's not that I want it. That gem is special. Its owner found the city lord, and you know the city lord's methods."
Sang Zhitao frowned, never expecting that this mere perfect-grade gem would involve the lord of the Garbage City.
"I really haven't seen it. If you don't believe me, you can come to my house and search it." After thinking for a moment, Sang Zhitao still decided to keep it a secret.
Greycard rubbed the cigarette between his fingers, pressed his tongue against his left cheek, and after a while said, "I'll have someone investigate, but you have to stay here."
Sang Zhitao nodded indifferently and sat down in front of Toulan.
"Why are you here?" Tou Lan asked, panting heavily, before finally managing to utter the five words.
"I noticed there were two more of you today, and I was worried you wouldn't have any food, so I brought you some." Sang Zhitao said, handing him a small cloth bag.
Tou Lan forced a bitter smile, coughed a few times, and then said, "We usually treat you so well, why do you still come to bring us food?"
"I can't just watch you starve to death," Sang Zhitao replied casually.
In the original book, Lan Xing, who was in the crystal mine, encountered several crises, but was saved by Tou Lan, who had lost his mind. Lan Xing never understood that instinctive protection, but Sang Zhi Tao now knows.
It's just that my figure is similar to that of Tou Lan's younger sister.
Although it was merely a misplaced act of mutual protection, it was still a life-saving grace. Sang Zhitao believed that Tou Lan wasn't a bad person, and since he wasn't a bad person and could save her, why not do it?
Tou Lan didn't know her real reason, but he was also moved by her help. He carefully sat up, tore open the cloth bag, and stared at a piece of unusually black gemstone fragment about the size of a finger. He was stunned.
He immediately realized what was happening and looked up at Sang Zhitao.
Sang Zhitao turned to the side, her back to Huika, and gave him a wink.
Tou Lan quickly pretended to be trembling and shook the gem fragment to the bottom.
"Brother!" The blue-skinned sister, having been released by the two men, ran quickly to her brother and hugged him.
“These are my newly found sisters, Jinglan and Jingqian.” After introducing them to Toulan and Sang Zhitao, Toulan pointed to her and said to her sisters, “Her name is Lanxing. I was able to survive and find you thanks to her.”
Tou Lan didn't explain much, but grabbed a handful of gemstone fragments from her cloth bag and stuffed them into Jing Lan's hand: "You and Qian go and have some."
Jinglan nodded silently, holding the gemstone fragments, and pulled her sister's hand to sit down next to her, slowly stuffing the gemstone fragments into her mouth.
After eating for a while, when about half of the gemstone fragments remained, Jinglan and her sister divided the fragments into two portions and gave them to their other friends.
No one complained that the two of them had finished eating; instead, they thanked them and then ate the gemstone fragments clean.
Greycard paid no attention to the obviously contaminated gem fragments; his only concern now was finding the perfect gem.
Soon, the people who went to Sang Zhitao's tin shack returned.
Greycard quickly stubbed out his cigarette and silently asked his subordinate.
The two tall, muscular men slowly shook their heads.
Hui Ka's face instantly turned ashen. He lit another cigarette, took a few deep drags, looked at Sang Zhi Tao, then at Tou Lan, and said, "Shut your mouths."
He then turned to leave with his people.
Seeing this, Touhong hurriedly followed them.
Grey Card stopped and glanced at him sideways: "Go back."
Her flushed face turned pale, and she stammered, "But...but...couldn't you take me with you?"
"Who agreed to that?" Gray Card's mockery became even more pronounced.
Her face flushed red as she stared at him in disbelief, her hands trembling, instinctively reaching for his clothes as she used to.
But... Gray Card isn't Transparent Blue, and it won't tolerate his rudeness.
"Ah!!!" A scream drew the attention of Tou Lan and the others.
Tou Lan tried to get up, but failed because her injuries were too severe.
Ignoring the fact that his hand had been severed and he was lying on the ground, his face red from crying, Greycard coldly led his men away.
After he left for a while, Tou Lan, supported by Jing Lan, came to Tou Hong and touched Tou Hong's severed wrist with trembling hands.
"This...this..." The trembling voice disappeared into the continuously flowing red liquid.
"There's nothing we can do, they can't be saved." Sang Zhitao came to them, looked at their bodies that were turning from red to pale, and sighed.
Jinglan and Jingqian ignored her words, squatted down in front of Touhong, touched the spot on his hand, and closed their eyes.
The bright red wound seemed to be sealed by some force; the red liquid stopped flowing out, and the paleness on his body did not deepen any further.
Unfortunately, just as Tou Lan was feeling excited, the red liquid flowed out again. Jing Lan and Jing Qian suddenly opened their eyes, clutched their chests, and collapsed to the ground.
When Tou Lan saw his sisters fail, his eyes immediately welled up with tears. After telling his sisters to go and rest, he looked at Tou Hong and said, "How could you be so foolish? Didn't I tell you whether Hui Ka is a good person or not?"
His bloodshot eyes were already unfocused. He stared intently at Tou Lan and suddenly laughed: "I always thought you were using us to help you raise your sister, but in the end, I was wrong."
"Okay...okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hated you." Her bloodshot eyes looked up at the sky, as if trying to see through the gray sky to a future she could never reach again.
Soon the red liquid seeped into the ground and disappeared, leaving behind a humanoid crystal, a pale, gray, lifeless gem.
"Thank you, the things..." Tou Lan looked at Sang Zhi Tao beside her, took out a small cloth bag from her bosom, and subtly reminded her.
Sang Zhitao shook her head, thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you move to my place? It's not safe for me to live alone. With you all by my side, we can keep each other company."
Tou Lan hesitated for a moment, wanting to refuse, but looking at her home, which had been completely destroyed, and then at her brothers covered in bruises, she thought about it and finally nodded in agreement.
"Alright, you guys take a rest first. I'll go back and pull the cart, pick out the useful ones and send them to my place first." Sang Zhitao smiled and turned to go back to her own home.
Instead of waiting patiently, Tou Lan propped herself up and instructed her less seriously injured companions to gather out anything useful.
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