Chapter 1332: Chapter 140: Xiaoman
She bit into it with great force, and quickly, afraid that Gu Shen might change his mind.
While eating, she gazed at the ragged man in front of her with incredulous eyes.
In the E0 District, fruits are a strictly controlled “food”… Even those in control at the Church have little chance of tasting them. How is it that this guy, who looks so shabby, has three apples, and is willing to give two to her?
She was very aware.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch… But no matter what, now that the lunch has fallen in front of her, fresh, clean food, she might as well eat it without worry, and fill her stomach first!
“No need to rush, I’m not going to take it from you…”
Gu Shen watched the scene and couldn’t help but smile. He waited patiently for the girl to finish the apple and then asked, “Little one, what’s your na?”
The girl looked at Gu Shen warily, furrowing her brows.
Did he give her food just to ask her na?
“… Xiaoman.”
Gu Shen could tell the child still didn’t trust him and was resistant, though he could easily change that with “Chi Huo,” he chose not to…
He had seen the mories of the boy in the alley, and this girl had been wandering the garbage hill for many days.
Even if she’s not God’s Favored Son.
This child has excellent temperant, perseverance, and alertness.
“Xiaoman, a nice na. What’s your last na?”
Gu Shen raised an eyebrow. Before coming to the garbage hill, he wiped off his “ghost face” and prepared to et the “God’s Favored Son” with his real features. However, to blend in, his face was covered with dirt, looking just like one of the many wanderers here.
This little one’s na clearly seems to be an “East Continent” na.
Six hundred years ago, when humanity reached its new ho, they divided into Five Continents… each with so level of cultural evolution. Nas from Central and Southern Continents are generally not like this.
“Surna… I don’t have a surna.”
The girl’s voice was calm, warily asking, “Who are you, and why ‘give’ this?”
Gu Shen noticed the girl only ate one apple, the damaged one, and carefully wiped and placed the complete one in her pouch.
Is she saving it for later or for soone else?
“This isn’t a handout, it’s more like… sharing.”
Gu Shen smiled without answering the previous question, gently saying, “I’m looking for soone, soone very much like you.”
The girl’s expression imdiately beca tense. Recently, Transcendents from the Source Tower have been looking for people all over the city… Anyone taken away never returns.
She was just about to get up and run.
The man across from her seed to read her mind and calmly said, “You don’t need to run, I’m not from the Source Tower.”
The girl paused.
“If you feel uneasy accepting sothing for nothing, consider this a ‘trade.’ Gu Shen said softly, “I gave you two apples; you answer two questions…”
This statent actually made the girl breathe a sigh of relief. She was much more mature than her peers.
“Go ahead and ask.”
The girl responded instinctively, then quickly added, holding the apple pouch, “If I can’t answer, no returns.”
“How… old are you?”
Gu Shen looked at the girl.
His spiritual power had enveloped her.
This young girl’s spiritual power was ethereal, like clouds and mist, sotis hovering, sotis dissipating. In Sangzhou Cave, it was the first ti he encountered such a thing… This “Awakener’s” talent, he actually couldn’t see through at a glance?
The girl was silent for two seconds.
“Five, six… I don’t rember.”
Hearing this, Gu Shen was thoughtful, slightly squinting his eyes.
Five, six… This doesn’t seem to match the “awakening ti” in Mr. Zhuang’s diary… If there really is a “God’s Favored Son,” it should be before three years old, right?
Seeing the look of disappointnt on the man’s face, the girl couldn’t help but ask, “Does this question matter?”
In Sangzhou Cave, age is aningless… At least for wanderers, there’s no respect for the elderly or care for the young. The garbage mountain won’t spare you because you’re young, nor give way because you’re old.
The strength of fists and height are what truly matter.
Xiaoman looked at Gu Shen.
She couldn’t understand why Gu Shen asked her… her last na, her age, what significance did those questions have?
“You’re right… For you, those are indeed aningless questions.”
Gu Shen smiled gently, not getting angry, and said, “The second question, you ‘take care’ of soone, who’s younger than you, right?”
As soon as he said this.
The little girl’s pupils shrank instantly. She stood up, her small face dark, staring at Gu Shen.
Gu Shen laughed, “Seems I was right.”
Even without her subsequent reaction, it wasn’t actually hard to guess.
For young children, no matter how cautiously they cultivate countless clever moves in the dirt, they may think they’ve done everything ticulously, but there are still many flaws visible to the keen eye.
When this little girl was eating the damaged apple, there was no hesitation… But with the remaining one, she carefully wiped it before putting it away.
This apple, she wasn’t saving it for herself.
Then, there’s only the possibility of “soone else”.
The next mont.
Xiaoman ran off… She sprinted away, not forgetting to glance back at her rear.
“…”
The wanderer, who didn’t look bad-faced, was sitting in front of the garbage hill, watching her leave calmly. Seeing that he had no intention to chase after her, she felt a bit more at ease in her heart. Confirming she wasn’t being pursued, she darted into the intricate, winding alleys. It was an area long abandoned, where few lived, and with its complex terrain, it could be considered “quite safe”.
To prevent being followed.
Xiaoman wound through over a dozen lanes, sotis doubling back.
Finally, she confird… no one was tailing her.
Taking a deep breath, she felt so emptiness inside looking at the dark alley… That guy didn’t seem bad, was she being too nervous?
Taking a deep breath.
Xiaoman clutched the apple in her pocket, took two deep breaths, and tossed aside her distracting thoughts. No matter what, today, she got so fresh, clean fruit…
She couldn’t help but smile and walked toward the end of the alley.
However, after the last turn, her smile froze…
The alley’s end was shrouded in shadows.
She saw a tall, majestic figure standing at the alley’s end, back facing her, and that towering figure had stretched out a hand, gripping the ankle of a baby in tattered swaddling, shaking the wrapping off.
These past days.
The new Source Tower Transcendents have been searching house to house for “geniuses.” She recognized the robe the tall figure wore… It was the Source Tower Transcendent’s enforcent robe.
She never thought the Source Tower enforcers would really find this place!
At the alley’s end, there was nothing but a makeshift, crude shack…
The lifted baby neither cried nor fussed, rely watching the man quietly.
“Drip.”
“Drip.”
“Drip.”
The man took out a small device, conducted a simple test on the baby… Though the baby’s silent, calm reaction was unusual, the test result was disappointing.
“What the hell, not even awakened as Transcendent…”
The man frowned, muttered softly, “What the heck is Deep Sea doing, wasn’t the linking rate supposed to be 99.9%…”
He glanced back and saw the girl.
“Drip.”
“Drip.”
The device retested, surrounding source matter suddenly surged; this Source Tower Third-order Enforcer squinted, thoughtfully looking at the girl arriving before him… The maximum level of the Transcendent asuring instrunt was “A”, and at that mont, the needle had reached the highest mark, even intending to exceed the limit.
In the next mont—
With a “bang”, the device exploded into a small flare of light and fire. The enforcer was startled for a second, hurriedly tossing the baby into a nearby cardboard foam. The baby, still not crying or fussing, like a soulless machine… Landing in a spot where they could see the entirety of the alley.
Xiaoman gritted her teeth, wanted to run, but her legs seed frozen, poured in cent.
She had never faced such a situation.
After confirming he encountered this unprecedented “genius girl,” the Source Tower Enforcer unleashed his spiritual power, targeting and immobilizing her.
He strode forward, reaching a large hand to grab the girl pinned at the alley’s entrance.
At Xiaoman’s peak of despair.
A hand reached out from above Xiaoman’s head, pressing on the enforcer’s face.
Gu Shen’s fingers gripped the head of this Third-order Enforcer.
He softly said, “I forgot to tell you earlier, Xiaoman, my surna is Gu, and I’m Gu Shen.”
…
…
(PS: This storyline was difficult to write, today there are only two parts.)
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