My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World

Chapter 843: Chapter 752: Medical Immortal’s Secret Transmission (Part 7)

Ning Yi almost sprinted towards the direction of the repair shop.

The boy’s mind was blank at this moment, an uneasy premonition sprouting within, growing ever stronger.

He had always thought he detested everyone on Gale Street, even Old Wu was no exception.

The harsh environment here turns people selfish and calculating, treating others with harshness and suspicion, ready to fight over a morsel of food, even leading to death. For minuscule gains, they would betray neighbors they’ve lived with for decades.

He believed everyone here wore a mask, and by peeling away the hypocritical surface, one could see the darkest sides of human nature.

He had seen Old Wu arguing fiercely with miners over a scant repair fee.

He had seen Old Wu jump up, hurling crude insults to drive away vagrants approaching the well behind the repair shop.

He couldn’t understand, why a drink of water or a few cent’s repair fee always angered Old Wu so much, making him appear like a different person.

But when there were children coming for food, Old Wu couldn’t bear to refuse. He would wave them off, yet secretly give them something, chasing after the departing ones to offer food.

When Ning Yi had first arrived, Old Wu always appeared sagacious and spoke as if he was offering Ning Yi shelter and food, teaching him skills, only for Ning Yi to later realize Old Wu was trying to deceive him out of wages.

After several conflicts, Old Wu finally compromised, not only paying the overdue wages but also lending a large sum so Ning Yi could fix a new prosthesis, at the cost of working there long-term until repaying several times more than the borrowed amount.

He had seen Old Wu ingratiate himself with gang members, be begrudging towards the miners, have heart-to-heart, late-night talks with him, and act the shrewd businessman taking advantage of Ning Yi whenever possible.

He had seen so many faces of Old Wu, yet he never had a concrete understanding of him.

Whenever deep in conversation late at night, the door ajar between them, Ning Yi’s curious probing was always met with a wave of the hand, Old Wu unwilling to say more. This kept their relationship distant and somewhat rigid over the years.

Thus, Ning Yi always despised the people here, desperate to earn money and leave, taking only his prosthesis, eager to go far and never return.

So now, he was confused about his current feelings. Why was he anxiously hoping Old Wu was safe, wanting to see him miserably pretend generosity at the repair shop’s entrance, beckoning Ning Yi to lend a hand?

Was he worried about Old Wu?

If not, then why was he running so fast, trying to quickly return to the shop, to hear Old Wu curse while reassuring him he was alright?

When Ning Yi rushed towards the flames, he witnessed something he would never forget.

The repair shop was in shambles; miners from the daylight hours were inside the burning shop, smashing and brawling, as if wild beasts venting their malice unawares of the licking flames.

Old Wu was nowhere to be seen; inside the shop, they cursed crudely, ransacking and searching for something, when one sharp-eyed person spotted Ning Yi and shouted loudly.

"Damn it, don’t let that kid escape, catch him, there’s definitely more of that medicine!"

Ning Yi recognized Lin Changgong, a miner missing a leg from early years in the mine, commonly teased as "Limping Lin". He was closest to Old Wu, coming monthly to repair his prosthetic leg, sometimes gathering to drink, sneaking into the storage to take some oil when Old Wu was drunk.

After witnessing such often, he’d tell Old Wu, who would always dismissively indicate not to worry about it.

At this moment, Ning Yi felt unprecedented malice, everyone looking at him as if insane.

He realized,

If he didn’t run now, he would truly die!

Ning Yi turned and ran, ignoring the curses behind him, dashing forward as if possessed; he was familiar with the roads on Gale Street, normally even able to navigate from the junkyard back to the shop with his eyes closed.

Yet today, everything seemed unfamiliar, losing his way multiple times, nearly captured in alleys by those miners.

The world appeared to spin in Ning Yi’s eyes, running and winding through obstacles until nearly dawn when he shakily reached a riverbank, shaking off his pursuers.

The entire river was black, the chemical stench churned his stomach, and he couldn’t help but vomit.

With blurred vision from retching, he finally collapsed to the ground, gasping painfully.

He couldn’t understand what had happened to the miners today; he had distributed medicine among them as Old Wu instructed, yet they burned the repair shop.

Why did he sense such pure hatred from them?

He didn’t know where he should go; they were everywhere looking for him... or perhaps the whole street was searching, including those seemingly kind families.

Old Wu was missing, the shop which was like home to him was destroyed, leaving him with only the prosthesis on his back.

Ning Yi steadied himself momentarily, slowly retrieving a pouch from his pocket.

Everything was due to this pouch. Though it was a cure-all miracle medicine, it turned people into monsters, beasts driven by desire.

Ning Yi suddenly felt a nameless chill.

This wasn’t a miracle medicine but poison, more malevolent than the deepest curses in the world.

He thought of the girl Old Wu spoke of who delivered the medicine. Just what kind of malice towards the world did she harbor to distribute such a thing?

What frightened Ning Yi more was the inner voice telling him; keep the medicine, it would bring him untold wealth, fame, status, making him admired by society.

The miracle medicine promised dignity.

Upon thinking this, Ning Yi clenched his jaw and forcefully tossed the pouch into the river.

Yet not long after doing so, as his heated mind calmed, he suddenly plunged into the river again as if possessed, retrieving the pouch.

His skin reacted to the cold, toxic water, turning red and itchy; Ning Yi endured the burning agony to retrieve the pouch, soaking wet, seeing a familiar figure upon climbing ashore.

It was Old Wu.

The sight of Old Wu couldn’t be described as anything but horrific, like he had just climbed from a pile of corpses, covered in foul odor, flies buzzing around him, his left prosthetic eye and one arm missing, the artificial skin torn off in patches, exposing metallic spine sparking.

The broken body swayed like reeds in the wind, ready to topple with a light push.

"So you’re here, Ning Yi."

Ning Yi froze.

How did Old Wu know his name?

What frightened him more to his core was,

Old Wu spoke with the same malice as those miners.

He wanted to snatch the miracle medicine from Ning Yi’s hands.