Chapter 79
Xiao Shengyun arrived near the industrial zone and sent a message to Wang Tan, asking her to wait by the vending machine.
The weather was fine, and the process of entering the industrial zone went smoothly. However, having learned from his previous experience, he was much more cautious.
After waiting for a while next to the vending machine, Wang Tan rushed over.
"My benefactor, what are you doing here?"
Wang Tan hurriedly looked around and only relaxed slightly after confirming that no one else was around.
"Here's your card back. Also, find a quiet place; I have some questions to ask." The dark figure on the ground spoke.
There were surveillance cameras everywhere in the industrial park, so for safety reasons, Wang Tan took Xiao Shengyun directly to his dormitory.
The accommodation here is different from that in residential areas. Residential areas are like hotels, while this is a normal residential community. The rent varies depending on the size of the property.
The buildings in this area appear grayish-black from the outside, with several places even having holes that expose steel bars and wires. Clearly, a fierce battle had taken place in this area, and the grayish-black walls are traces left by explosives.
These buildings are all considered high-risk residential buildings. The holes have damaged the structure of the entire building, and there is a risk of partial collapse at any time.
Wang Tan lives in a two-bedroom apartment that is quite dilapidated, with the walls starting to peel off. However, she has put up some colorful wallpaper, which has made the home look much better.
Xiao Shengyun followed Wang Tan and only came out after she opened the door to her house.
"Mumu, you're back?"
An old woman's voice came from the bedroom; she must have heard the door close.
"Yes, I'm back." Wang Tan walked into the bedroom, said a few words, and then came out.
“That’s my adoptive mother. It’s just the two of us living here,” Wang Tan explained.
"Foster mother?" Xiao Shengyun originally thought that was her mother. Judging from the way Wang Tan knelt down and begged for medicine that day, only biological mothers and daughters would be so close.
“My mother passed away after giving birth to me, and my adoptive mother raised me. She was a very capable person.” Wang Tan spoke with pride when mentioning her adoptive mother.
"That's really impressive." Xiao Shengyun exclaimed. To raise a child in such a godforsaken place, one must be an extraordinary person.
"My benefactor, what do you want to ask?"
Xiao Shengyun returned the card, and he suddenly understood why Wang Tan hadn't saved much money. After all, she had to take care of two people while working one job, and one of them was a patient with limited mobility.
"Do you know—" he wanted to ask the old woman who had the gun that day.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Both of their expressions changed simultaneously. Xiao Shengyun quickly blended into the wall, his shadow becoming one with the shadow of the curtains.
Wang Tan's heart was pounding. Communicating with people outside the industrial zone was illegal and would result in severe punishment.
She opened the door, and there were familiar faces outside.
Xiao Shengyun was somewhat surprised when he saw the face of the person who came; it was the woman who had fired the shot that day.
"Aunt Xin, why are you coming at this time without telling me beforehand?" Wang Tan relaxed instead.
"I've come to see Yunxia. Is she feeling any better?"
"I'm much better now. I'm fine after taking the medicine." Wang Tan didn't dare mention that she went to the commercial street; she meant the medicine sold there.
"That's good. I brought some nutrient solution. There's nothing else here, just these." Yang Xin walked in and didn't rush to leave, but sat down inside.
She walked to the potted plants by the window and stopped.
It only takes a moment from picking up the gun to pulling the trigger.
Xiao Shengyun was already on edge, and the moment Yang Xin pulled out his gun, he quickly dodged.
The bullet punched a hole in the floor.
Yang Xin shielded Wang Tan behind her as bullets flew towards the moving shadows, while she took out her phone with her other hand.
"Wait." A black line appeared out of nowhere, wrapped around the gun, and tossed it aside.
Xiao Shengyun appeared instantly and kicked the phone out of Yang Xin's hand. The other party was obviously not a combatant and was easily subdued.
"It's you again. I remember saying that this is not a place for outsiders to enter."
"Aunt Xin, I brought him in." Wang Tan hurriedly stepped forward.
She briefly explained the cause and effect, but before she could finish, Yang Xin's eyebrows had already stood up.
"You've really gotten bold, daring to go out on your own. No, how did you get out?"
“Use your ID card,” Wang Tan said awkwardly.
Yang Xin was furious, but she had watched Wang Tan grow up since she was a child, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was like a daughter to her. If the other party were a boy, she would have kicked him long ago.
“Perhaps we can talk. I do come from outside, but not from outside the industrial zone, but from outside this city.” Xiao Shengyun spoke after Yang Xin calmed down.
Yang Xin's wariness hadn't disappeared; she was eager to vent her anger and found an outlet: "This place has been isolated from the world for twenty years. How did you get in?"
“If it’s really isolated from the world, then where do the goods in the commercial street come from? You should know that the city’s industry is not complete and it is not able to produce the necessary supplies independently. Take this bottle of nutrient solution, for example. It requires normal meat and vegetables. Do the city have these things?” He picked up the nutrient solution that Yang Xinsong had brought. It was very clean and there was no pollution in it.
Did Yang Xin really not expect this? Not necessarily. She just couldn't accept it for certain reasons.
"I need to know more."
"Outside the city..."
She muttered to herself, her eyes filled with confusion. Having been in this huge cage for so long, she could no longer imagine what the outside world was like.
"Yes, outside. A drug to eradicate pollution has now been developed, and the number of awakened beings is several times greater than before. Humanity can now contend with pollution."
Xiao Shengyun said.
"Can we get out now?"
Yang Xin asked in disbelief, tears streaming down her face, leaving fine lines around her eyes. She was just a little girl when the city was locked down, but now her face was weathered and worn.
Some people, after being locked in a cage for a long time, feel bewildered the moment the cage is opened, not excited.
They had become accustomed to life in the cage and could not imagine what it was like outside.
"Can we go out now?" Yang Xin's impression of the outside world was still stuck in the time when the pollution was spreading.
“Yes.” Xiao Shengyun did not mention that the pollutants had already faded by the third year, meaning that the remaining seventeen years of closure of Mengchuan City were meaningless.
But it is clear that there are problems with the management of Mengchuan City.
“But I need to know more about the situation here, including the amount and reserves of pollutants.”
Yang Xin had no reason to refuse. The city was rotten to the core. She wanted to protect ordinary people, but they were like sheep being herded in a pen.
She and Wang Tan's adoptive mother, Qian Yunxia, were among the first humans in this city. When pollution struck, Linchuan City became an abandoned city. At a critical moment, the mayor at the time stepped forward and led the garrison and awakened people to resist the pollution.
Yang Xin was among the first awakened ones, and her talent was terrifying—purification, purifying all the source particles in an area.
Her appearance almost brought tears of joy to the high command at the time, who had run out of ammunition and were far fewer in number than the Awakened and the Contaminants.
However, the emergence of the Purification Talent means that humanity will finally have a pure land.
Yang Xin became the highest-ranking official in the logistics department at that time.
In the process of repeatedly trying to break through the limits, her purification range increased from tens of meters to hundreds of meters and then to thousands of meters. This process was painful, but every time she expanded the distance, she could save more people.
War broke out among humans as they vied for control of the purified areas.
Finally, the mayor intervened and allowed those who were not contaminated and newborn children to enter first.
Because Yang Xin purifies the pollution in the area, she cannot completely purify the pollution inside the human body.
She is like a true deity, protecting this polluted and eroded land. But everything comes at a price, because the purification zone is centered on her, so she can only move within a small area.
Sometimes Yang Xin felt that she was no longer human, but a sculpture.
Because she was constantly using her talent, her body was gradually being eroded, and she could only inject excessive amounts of antagonists.
The people in the industrial area admired her, yet kept their distance from her.
Qian Yunxia was Yang Xin's comrade-in-arms. She was a doctor, and because of her profession, she was among the first to enter the purification zone.
At that time, they were both in their early twenties. Yang Xin lived in a high-rise building in the very center of the city. She could not move around freely, and the city's internet was cut off, which made her feel like a prisoner being held captive.
What trapped her was her own responsibility.
Qian Yunxia, on the other hand, spent her days treating patients in the streets and alleys of the cleanup zone. No news from the outside world escaped her ears. She recorded these messages and then went back to tell Yang Xin about them.
Every time she came downstairs to Yang Xin's building, she would send a message, "Princess, Princess, let down your long hair." So Yang Xin would have the gatekeeper let her in.
This kind of life doesn't seem so bad, Yang thought.
She was confined to a small room, watching the sunrise and sunset, her only activity area being the central building, and she looked forward to Qian Yunxia's arrival every week.
They rose again on a land that had been abandoned.
Not long after, Qian Yunxia delivered a baby girl. The girl's mother was injured in the war and turmoil and died not long after.
She raised the girl.
In fact, Yang Xin was the one who wanted to raise the child more, but because of her status, the higher-ups did not allow anyone to approach Yang Xin, so she could only do her best to provide food and other supplies for the mother and daughter.
Children symbolize hope.
Everything seemed to be getting better, but when Yang Xin looked up at the sky, she would still think of the peaceful life she had lived many years ago, when everything was normal and everyone was busy living, not surviving.
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