Chapter 447: Red
"Pull your hood lower," Red kept away her bone knife and quietly mouthed to Lin Jie.
As she wished, Lin Jie pulled his hood down and looked at this entire closed-off community. The conditions here were even more unpleasant than the first place Lin Jie had seen.
While there had still been some densely packed constructs made of mud in the previous area, here, there were only some makeshift tents built using plastic tarps. Moreover, there was a very strong stench of corpses.
Lin Jie frowned, then heard Red behind him ask, "How long have you been in the Lower District?"
Lin Jie obediently answered, "According to Norzin time, only about five hours."
Upon hearing this, Red broke into a smile and asked, "Take out all the food on you quickly!"
Lin Jie immediately raised his hands, showing his empty palms. "I'm really sorry. I didn't think about this when I came."
"Liar!" Red's round eyes opened wide, though her beast-like eyes on her face didn't seem very threatening.
"I really didn't," Lin Jie replied in exasperation.
Red's eyebrows scrunched up and she was a little pissed. She had finally robbed someone from the Upper District, but her target didn't even have food.
Seeing Lin Jie this way, Red didn't think he was lying and uttered angrily under her breath, "I heard that people in the Upper District hate each other and often set up traps to rob and cause harm to each other... This guy looks stupid, could he have been robbed by his own kind?"
Lin Jie watched Red in amusement.
"That means you probably haven't eaten for quite a while, right?" Red asked hesitantly after her mini tirade.
Lin Jie nodded without hesitation. "And, I can eat a lot," Lin Jie said earnestly. "If I don't eat in the next hour, I'll most likely die."
"Die?!" Red exclaimed in fright.
"My grandma went to trade for food, and if things go well, she should be home tonight." Red pushed Lin Jie on and let him into a small makeshift tent, which only had two beds and a cabinet inside.
"I can share some with you when she returns, but remember, I just want to keep you from starving to death."
The small tent was so cramped that Lin Jie would knock things to the ground if he turned slightly. The floor was all mud, with only two tree branches stuck into the ground to support the waterproof tarp. On top of that, there was also a strong rancid smell of decay and a pungent smell of urine lingering in the air.
Lin Jie glanced at the wooden beds. The sheets were caked black with dirt, and there was a layer of gravel lying on the bottom of the cup by the bed.
Lin Jie sat down and took a proper look at Red.
Red had a round face and short stubby tentacles on her chin. She was different from the others, for the tentacles on her chin often danced around excitedly.
"Why are you staring at me?" Red asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Although Lin Jie was plain-looking, he was still considered good-looking according to the beauty standards of the Upper District and had an appearance that had not yet been corrupted by the gray fog.
Red felt somewhat embarrassed being stared at by a person with such a dignified appearance.
"How strange... Why are you red?" Lin Jie asked inquisitively, "I saw that most people here are green."
"Heh," Red raised her head proudly. "It's because I was born near a red crystal mine. Before I was born, my mother ate a lot of red crystal ore, so I came out red. My name is Red because of this too."
Lin Jie nodded and continued to probe, "Where are your parents?"
Red paused for a bit, then said, "My dad died in a tunnel collapse, my mom ate too much crystal ore and died, my other three grandparents returned to the gray fog, so I live with grandma... Hey! Stop trying to get information out of me, you are a criminal!"
Returning to the gray fog—this was a synonym for death in the Lower District. Lower District denizens believed that they were born in the gray fog, inherently carrying sin, and would die in the gray fog.
All of it was the result of brainwashing by the rulers of the Upper District. To them, the livestock of the Lower District and the gray fog were equally demonic, destined to stay in that hellish underground, forever enslaved and imprisoned...
And the most frightening part was that the majority of Lower District denizens accepted this view.
Ignoring her annoyed face, Lin Jie continued to ask, "Why are you all mining here? Logically speaking, the gray fog affects you all greatly. Why not break through the surface and escape?"
Lin Jie said this as if it was a matter of fact. But after Red understood what he had just said, her round eyes immediately bulged out as she chided loudly, "Ah—! How can there be someone like you? Shut your mouth, the Witch of Trees will hear." fre(e)webno(v)el
Lin Jie was speechless. The Witch of Trees has already turned into my dear friend Silver. Do you even think that she can hear us?
Knock knock!
Hurried knocks rang out on the front tree branch of Red's dwelling. This, on top of Lin Jie's 'crazy talk' moments earlier, made Red nearly jump up in fright... Did the Witch of Trees hear it?
"Red!" A rough male voice sounded from outside.
Red walked to the entrance nervously and drew the curtain aside. There, a tall, black-robed man stood towering over her. His chin tentacles were slightly raised, making him look like an upper-class person from the Lower District.
"Your grandmother was trampled to death while collecting food. Starting this month, you'll need to provide four precious-grade ores to exchange for food." Having said that, the man didn't even bother looking at Red and walked straight to the next house.
This shack was barely even a house, and Lin Jie could clearly hear the sounds outside the door and fell into deep thought.
Red was in a state of shock at having heard something unbelievable. Before that robed man went far, she rushed on and planted herself on his thigh like a mushroom. Tears welled up in her despairing eyes as she cried out, "Sir, you must be mistaken! How could Grandma die?"
That man didn't even bother explaining and kicked Red into a mud pit. Red fell in with a splash, covered in mud, and felt a sharp pain in her ribs as if they were broken.
The man scoffed, "Your grandmother is nearly forty, and it's natural for her to die. Not many live that long, so she's already had it good."
"Moreover..." He turned to Red and derided, "Aren't you already nine? Already an adult, yet still trying to claim a child's share and having your grandmother who's already so old to do such a dangerous thing like collecting food.
"Death is normal, isn't it?"
"No, no!" Red, with her mouth full of mud, cried loudly, "Grandma said I'm still a child! Grandma told me not to grow up! Red doesn't want to become an adult!"
The administrator ignored Red and let her cry alone in the mud. Lin Jie finally walked out of the tent and watched Red slumped on the muddy ground. He then went over to her and waited till she passed out from crying before he picked the little Lower District girl up in his arms and brought her back inside.
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