Based on actual experience,
Mofan Street was a magical place.
When Ronald and Claudia stepped down from the rented horse carriage, the driver took the money without a backward glance and drove away. Although he was willing to co here for work, that was the extent of it.
Watching the carriage disappear into the distance as if avoiding the plague, Ronald and Claudia finally turned to look at the street in front of them.
— Mofan Street.
Although it was relatively late at this point,
standing where they were, they could still see a few people pacing back and forth on the street, seemingly accustod to waiting for sothing at this ti.
anwhile, in Mofan Street, the city’s electric lights had not yet been installed.
Instead, every few distances, old oil lamps were hung on surrounding buildings to provide lighting, the flickering light casting a gloomy and damp glow on the street, and the air was filled with a complex and foul sll.
Generally speaking, Mofan Street had this ominous and dilapidated feel.
Staring at the uncomfortable street ahead, Ronald spoke to Claudia beside him:
"Isa, are you sure we should continue going in?"
Unlike the apprehensive Ronald, the young woman seed not to care about the scene before her at all.
Facing her companion’s question, she nodded firmly:
"Let’s continue."
"I ca here today to get a real look at this slum. There’s no reason to quit halfway."
Unable to persuade her one last ti, Ronald could only shrug:
"Then as you wish, we shall continue."
The conversation ended, and the two headed toward the street in front of them.
As they gradually walked deeper into Mofan Street, more and more people appeared in their view.
Minors loitering at street corners at night;
Drunkards, reeking of alcohol and lying on the ground in a stupor;
And the ’local residents’, wearing tattered clothes, their exposed skin showing nurous scars...
Overall, most of these people looked unwell.
In every sense, they fit the actual condition expected of a slum.
Furthermore, after noticing Ronald and Claudia, two neatly dressed individuals entering the street, not a few people eyed them with malicious stares.
Although so quickly averted their gaze after seeing the uniform Claudia was wearing, many others had an even deeper greed in their eyes.
Despite this, neither Ronald nor Claudia said much.
They kept walking along, going deeper into Mofan Street, seeing more and more things.
A few minutes later, the situation beca even worse.
If the initial people mostly looked unwell, clearly showing signs of malnutrition, from this point on, so residents were facing severe threats to their lives.
The deeper parts of the street had not been repaired for years, with absolutely no lighting.
In such an unfavorable living environnt, one could see emaciated individuals curled up in corners, waiting to die, their terrible conditions compounded by the illnesses that tightly gripped them.
Moving forward alongside the young woman, Ronar could clearly see the changes in Claudia’s expression.
Her expression grew worse and worse.
Faced with the misery all around her, she was clearly very dissatisfied, yet she did not behave overly saintly and inspected each person’s condition. In Claudia’s eyes, she seed to simply view this situation as a social phenonon, rather than individual miseries.
She continued to remain silent.
After walking a mile deep into Mofan Street, they reached the end of the road.
It was the Wis River, which ran throughout Springs.
On the opposite bank were brightly lit and orderly streets, while the side with Mofan Street was dimly lit.
The wide river seed to divide a city into two areas, then turned into two completely different worlds.
Standing on such a spot, Ronald turned his head to look around.
Although also close to the edge of the Wis River, unlike his riverside apartnt, a factory whose function was temporarily unknown was next to this location.
Foul-slling sewage poured directly into the river here, and though the colors in the river were indistinct in the pitch-black night, the odor wafting up was unbearable.
Quietly watching this scene, Ronald spoke first,
"Isa, there’s no road ahead."
Hearing Ronald’s words, Claudia quietly nodded, paced along the spacious Wis River for a while, carefully rembered the sll here, then turned to look at Ronald,
"Yes, our journey tonight ends here."
"Ronald, I’m really glad you could join ."
"This was really important to ."
"..."
Facing the girl’s lancholic expression, Ronald said nothing more.
At the sa ti, he heard so faint sounds coming from behind.
Turning around, Ronald looked in the direction they had co from.
Despite the pitch-black night being dark enough, Ronald’s excellent vision could still make out several dark figures approaching from the shadows of the street.
He looked carefully.
It was at the edge of Mofan Street.
Seven hunched n were stealthily closing in.
Feeling sowhat emotional, Ronald shook his head and said to his companion,
"Isa, looks like we’re going to have to do so overti tonight."
With a slight turn of her head and following Ronald’s cue, Claudia also saw the scene in the dark streets.
She then huffed in annoyance.
"Huh—"
"I want to see how they’re going to make us work overti!"
As she spoke, Claudia moved behind Ronald, using his figure as a shield, and her barely detectable voice began searching the Britannica Encyclopedia for entries.
"Volu three, two hundred eighty-fourth page, second entry."
"..."
Listening to the faint chanting sound end behind him.
Ronald also knew that Claudia was ready for battle.
In such a scene, as a man, he naturally stepped forward towards the others.
Facing several ordinary people, Ronald was confident that he could handle them.
But when the ’locals’ in the darkness saw soone approaching them, they imdiately showed a very scornful smile.
So even brandished the knives in their hands, swinging them in ominously aning arcs before taunting with a very provocative tone,
"Little guy, we have so business with your little girlfriend."
"If you kneel and beg for rcy now, we might kindly let you jump into the river for a swim rather than tasting the blade here."
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