Chapter 453: Return Home
Lin Jie had stayed in the Lower District for close to a month and the people here could be considered acquaintances that nodded when they saw him. Unfortunately, Lin Jie would always use "Enchanted Heart Alteration" to modify the image of him in their minds, so these people didn"t really have much of an impression of him.
The area with old and run-down tents was crowded with people, and this was the first time Lin Jie saw such a sight. Normally, everyone in the Lower District was busy and worked close to 24 hours a day, from dawn to dusk.
Red had a vague sense of foreboding and hurried forward. She had just reached the crowd when someone shouted, "She"s here!"
Red instinctively stopped in her tracks, hiding the bag of moldy flour behind her back as her breathing became slightly rapid.
Many pairs of eyes focused on Red, and the crowd slowly split and opened a path for her, revealing several tall administrators standing in front of the small tent where she and Lin Jie lived.
The pile of trash in the lodging had basically been strewn all over the ground, and one side of the tent was torn apart.
The main administrator was one that had been following Red before. In his hand was a chain leashed to two large but skinny black dogs that barred their sharp fangs. These animals seemed to have been corrupted by the gray fog too, and long strings of putrid transparent saliva dripped from their jaws.
Red couldn"t help but back away.
The administrator had a crazed look in his feral golden pupils and green face. When he saw the fearful expression on Little Red"s face, he revealed a sinister smile. The greasy tentacles on his chin twitched, and one could see yellow rotting vegetable residues between his teeth.
"Red, was it?" the administrator asked hoa.r.s.ely.
"Yes... May I ask if you need anything?" Red lowered her head and asked meekly.
"You even know how to ask politely. Looks like your grandmother taught you well," said the administrator with an evil grin as he raised his hand, revealing a necklace hanging around his finger.
Red"s pupils shrank when she saw the necklace, and she gulped anxiously several times.
"Then, your grandmother must have forgotten to teach you not to steal."
"No, no!" Red trembled violently like a little timid rabbit. She raised her hand and waved it forcibly. "It wasn"t stolen, Grandma and I picked it up while mining previously."
"Ha?" The manager feigned a look of incredulity. "Don"t you know that h.o.a.rding personal possessions is prohibited here in the Lower District?"
"Growl..." The two black dogs whined and eyed Red greedily.
"I..." Red"s mouth opened, but she couldn"t say anything.
The two dogs barked at her loudly, itching to pounce on Red, causing Red to nearly fall to the ground.
"You ought to remember what the punishment for theft and h.o.a.rding of personal possessions is, right?" chuckled the administrator as he released the chain in his hand.
Red"s eyes were bulging, and in the next moment, she grabbed Lin Jie"s hand with a sudden burst of inexplicable strength.
"Run!!!"
She hadn"t eaten for several days, but she shouted very loudly as she grabbed Lin Jie"s hand and started to run.
The two ferocious dogs sprang after them swiftly, their long tongues flapping around while their skinny bodies almost straightened into a line.
It seemed that due to the gray fog"s corruption, the physique of people within the Lower District was much stronger than those of the Upper District. Red held onto Lin Jie"s hand firmly and pulled away from the two dogs.
Lin Jie hadn"t even been able to take a breath as he was pulled along and followed Red"s lead, his steps steady and unchanged.
The administrator stood there and laughed loudly before he fished out a communicator and said something into it.
"I don"t want to die..." Red sobbed quietly as she ran.
"Let go of me. You"ll be able to run much faster," said Lin Jie from behind her.
"You"re an idiot! You won"t be able to run far without me," Red shouted back.
"Didn"t you initially want to use me as a hostage?" asked Lin Jie calmly. "Don"t you want revenge against the Upper District?"
Red pursed her lips, tears welling up in her eyes and blurring her vision. However, she had traversed this tunnel hundreds of times and could even shuttle through it with her eyes closed.
Perhaps this place is my home... I have no rights to go up to the surface.
The person whose hand she held had been so lucky to be able to live in the Upper District. Just by holding on to him, Red felt like her dreams were within reach.
"You"re my friend now," Red muttered softly, but Lin Jie had keen hearing and could clearly hear her. "You"re my friend... You"re my first friend. Friends are important, and... and, humph, I was hoping to use you to go to the Upper District..."
She gazed up. "One day, you can bring me back to my home."
Home...
Lin Jie"s mind, frozen in the gray fog, gradually shattered, and countless memories of people and events became clear. The surging emotions pulsated through his veins as his petrified heart cracked open.
"But my home isn"t here," Lin Jie gradually regained his voice. In his mind, memories of his brief time on Earth and in Norzin were fighting with his memories as a wandering star of many eons. "Perhaps my home is at the very bottom. That"s where I was born."
It had all been clearly written in that notebook. He had devoured the entire archaeological team, eaten his mother, and was finally brought to Earth by his seriously hurt father.
Because he came into being, a lot of people were ruined.
If Lin Jie were to accept his "ident.i.ty" of being human, would he have to take responsibility for all those people?
"That"s not it!" Red turned her head. She didn"t know why Lin Jie suddenly said that the lowest level was his home, but Lin Jie definitely didn"t belong there.
In the past month being together with Lin Jie, although the guy was like a stone, always indifferent and unconcerned, he still supported her absurd dream.
He comforted her when her grandmother died, and he helped her on the fourth and third levels.
These were things that simply didn"t exist in the Lower District. Here, there wasn"t any family, friendship, or love... Just cold hard tools.
But Lin Jie had these, and for Red, these were the most precious things.
"That"s not your home. Your home is the same place as mine, you"re you, you"re Boss Lin..." Red grinned, tears still hanging on her face.
"I really want to go back to my hometown..." Red sobbed. "Can I go to Boss Lin"s bookstore? I"m strong, I can help you mine—"
A raspy voice from various loudspeakers throughout the tunnel nearly pierced their eardrums. "Red from Tunnel 32, in violation of level one regulations, is currently on the run. The person who catches her will be rewarded with three precious-grade ore."
The broadcast played the message and Red"s eyes widened when she heard it. She slowed down as workers all around her stopped mining and looked at her, as if trying to ascertain if it was her.
Before Lin Jie could react, a giant shovel suddenly smashed into Red"s back.
Red screamed in agony.
"You"re Red, right?" The shovel belonged to an old man with grizzled white hair. "I don"t care if you are or not. But anyone that"s red has to die."
Red fell to the ground from the impact, and the barking dogs pounced on her. The man"s actions made everyone rush toward Red and they violently pushed Lin Jie aside.