"You said you'd tell me after you've chosen a name."
Chang Le stared at the silent blond-haired man—no, now it was Wang Yao.
Wang Yao pointed ahead: "Look, we're almost at Sunrise Canyon!"
"Tsk."
Wang Yao smiled and said, "Don't rush, there's a long story. We'll have plenty of time to tell you after we come out of the secret realm."
Chang Le couldn't believe his words, and 422 suddenly appeared:
[I think you can leave the secret realm and go with him to the Mogan region in the fourth district. Another secret realm I've selected is in Water City, just not in the Mogan region.]
[Although you planned to go to District 4 after Anning's birthday, this person suddenly appeared. Plans can't keep up with changes, so why not take him with you?]
Chang Le thought 422's words made sense.
She said to Wang Yao, "After we come out of the Sunrise Secret Realm, take me to the place where we lived when we were little, and tell me the stories from back then."
Wang Yao paused for a moment, then his eyes softened: "Of course."
...
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
November 5th.
In late autumn, a thin layer of frost covered the water town.
Mogan District, located south of the Water City, was once a deserted place due to the monstrous disaster that struck Chaohai City more than ninety years ago. After decades of reconstruction, although it has not regained its former prosperity, it is still a livable and tourist-friendly place.
The autumn rain was chilling to the bone as two young men walked by, holding retro oil-paper umbrellas.
The man on the left is very tall with strikingly handsome features. He's wearing cargo pants and a windbreaker, and sporting blond hair, making him look like he's stepped out of a different dimension.
The one on the right is slightly shorter, with slightly curly hair and amber eyes, wearing a hoodie and trousers, exuding a youthful vibe.
The two have very different styles, but both stand out from the crowd. They get a 99% head-turning rate when they walk down the street, and the remaining 1% are too embarrassed to pretend they don't turn around.
These two people were Wang Yao and Chang Le, who was disguised as Fu Jiu.
After leaving the Sunrise Canyon Secret Realm, the two went directly to the Mogan Water City area in the fourth district.
Wang Yao led Chang Le forward, saying, "I came to this area a while ago. More than ten years have passed, and it has changed a lot."
"Chang Le, we've arrived."
It's a low-rise building area, very new, with the ground still a pale gray. The buildings on both sides are no more than seven stories high, and the orderly crisscrossing streets divide and connect them.
Wang Yao pointed to the road leading to the small park at the end of the road ahead: "This is where you used to hang out. Do you remember?"
Chang Le looked at the road in front of him, and it was like a scene transition in a movie; the new road blurred out and turned into an old alley.
The new residential area has become the old town area of my memories.
A little girl, not very big, was huddled in a corner at the end of the alley, with a small "nest" made of cardboard boxes around her.
It was early spring and the weather was cold. Her thin clothes and cardboard box were not enough to keep her warm, and she was almost frozen.
Occasionally, someone would walk by, and she would shrink back like a frightened stray cat, afraid to look up. Her large eyes would peek out from between her arms and body, filled with extreme wariness and fear.
Chang Le was momentarily dazed.
That was her, probably four or five years old.
Yes, from the time she could remember, she was a wanderer.
The scene before her eyes flashed by like a revolving lantern, and she quietly looked at herself in the corner.
From the initial fear, wariness, and collapse when first facing this world, to learning to struggle after being bullied, and finally realizing that people need to live.
Xiao Changle learned to pick up trash and also learned to fight.
Chang Le laughed out loud as she watched herself beat up the scrap yard owner who had been exploiting her.
From then on, Xiao Changle had food to eat.
But she remained adrift, a rootless duckweed. Insignificant, unnoticed, life in an era of natural disasters is fragile; a mere gust of wind could carry Xiao Chang Le away, and no one would know.
That loneliness made Xiao Changle forget her initial curiosity and kindness towards the world; her fists were always stained with blood.
Chang Le sat down against the cold wall, hugging her knees as she watched her younger self busy at work.
Wang Yao patted her shoulder lightly, and the scene before Chang Le's eyes disappeared. He pulled her to the small park at the end of the park.
“This used to be the square where you often went ‘treasure hunting’, but now it has been rebuilt and transformed into a cultural and recreational park.”
Chang Le looked at the lush green park with its artificial hills and clear water, but the green scenery before him was replaced by a tall, bustling crowd.
People are tall, and when they look up, each one has a unique expression.
This is Xiao Changle's perspective.
On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, the square near the old city was bustling with activity as a memorial service for the Ghost Festival was held. Nowadays, in addition to ancestor worship, the Ghost Festival also includes commemorating the spirits of those who died in times of natural disasters, in order to pray for peace in the future.
Xiao Changle didn't know what the sacrificial ceremony was for or what its significance was, but she knew that where there were more people, there was more trash, and she could get more. So, she went to the square.
In Xiao Chang Le's world, you can't see the sacrificial altar in the center of the crowd in the square; you can only see all kinds of clothes and shoes.
The adult is very tall and intimidating, but it's not necessarily true that you can beat her.
Little Chang Le carries his little woven bag and wanders at the foot of the grand world, a world that those high above would not bother to look down and search carefully, a world full of Little Chang Le's treasures.
Xiao Changle quickly collected a lot of empty bottles, plastic bags, and cardboard boxes, and his back was full of a large bag.
Some people passing by her looked at her with sympathy, some avoided her like the plague, some cursed and swore, and some pointed and whispered, but they were all strangers who brushed past her.
Xiao Changle happily carried her "wealth" to a dilapidated bench near a trash can. It was dark and there were few people there. She counted her wealth there.
At that moment, a faint weeping sound came from the wind.
Xiao Changle looked in the direction the sound came from; she was no longer afraid of all sorts of strange noises in the dark.
A chubby little boy of six or seven years old ran over crying, not towards her, but wandering around aimlessly in the dark night like a headless fly.
The chubby boy cried out "Mommy" and "Daddy" in a pitiful state. He tripped and fell to the ground, crying loudly.
Xiao Changle sat on the ground, looking at him curiously.
The chubby boy, crying, looked up unintentionally and met Xiao Changle's eyes.
The little boy's crying abruptly stopped, his face turned deathly pale, and then he opened his mouth wide, screaming terribly, "A ghost—Mommy—there's a ghost!!!"
Xiao Changle looked at him as if he were an idiot.
She didn't know that from the little fat boy's perspective, she was just a dark shadow and a pair of bright green eyes.
Feeling bored, Xiao Changle dusted himself off and prepared to carry his things back for a second trip. Just as he stood up, a low flash of silver light illuminated the scene for a fleeting moment.
She froze, stopped to look, and saw a little girl of eight or nine years old running over, her face full of anxiety, calling out "Ye Xiaobao".
Xiao Changle's surprised gaze fell on her hands, which shimmered with a faint silver light, and her hair was also a strange silver color.
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I was quite productive today, so there are three chapters~ Bonus update!
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