274 Singing in the Rain

Today it will be sunny turning cloudy. The radio said there will be a severe rainstorm and flood warning in the latter half of the night.

"It's raining... let it rain."

For Xia Beiluo, who was collecting bottles in the back alley, it made no difference. She stuffed the bottles into a urea bag, then placed it on the back of her bicycle and tied it tightly. To prevent the bottles from colliding and breaking, she lined the bag with newspaper and straw.

Xia Beiluo recently landed a good job. A newly established tavern is buying back bottles with church labels at high prices, seemingly to pirate the church's mark so they can raise the price to 1.8 Lingge under the guise of "church license".

If she's lucky, she'll probably get fifty Lingge from this big bag, provided she doesn't run into the Black Serpent Gang's brats, otherwise she'll only get twelve or even less than ten Lingge.

Plop

She had just finished packing the urea bag when a large, dirty hand immediately landed on her shoulder, followed by a gaunt face that grinned, a cigarette of unknown brand between its fingers, and said to her:

"Want one, miss? The first one is free."

"No, I'm allergic to tobacco."

Xia Beiluo said calmly, and was about to kick the brace and leave, but the other party kept pestering him and his hand moved down his back.

"Want one? It's really free! This kind of good stuff isn't something a part-time student like you can afford."

Xia Beiluo glanced at the other person indifferently. "Thanks, but I don't need it. If you want to touch it, touch it yourself. Anyway, I'm a man."

"You--"

The thugs who had been harassing Xia Beiluo took a closer look at her not-so-pretty face and her almost shapeless figure, and immediately fell silent.

"Damn! What bad luck..."

He cursed a few times and shoved Xia Beiluo. Xia Beiluo quickly grabbed the urea bag, rolled over, and fell to the ground beforehand, cushioning the fall and preventing the bottles inside from breaking.

The thugs left cursing, and Xia Beiluo breathed a sigh of relief. Without complaining, he stood up, pushed his bicycle, and steadily walked towards the south side of the street.

After walking four or five kilometers, she successfully got the promised reward before the tavern owner left.

"43 Lingge".

The tavern owner said casually as he smashed a nearly new-looking bottle.

"Wasn't it supposed to be 50 Lingge...?"

"The spirituality on the labels of these bottles has faded; I won't buy these things."

Without batting an eye, the shopkeeper expertly removed a tag, infused it with spiritual energy, and the emblem of the Church of the Lord of the Undead immediately appeared on it.

"Couldn't you check it? Even if it's a part-time student without a contracted spirit body, it would be easy to identify if spiritual power was simply injected into them, right?"

"... Yes, I'll be more careful next time."

Xia Beiluo pursed his lips and nodded.

"Check them before you bring them over! It's exhausting for me to check them one by one every time." The boss complained, poking Xia Beiluo's shoulder and grumbling, "If you bring over bottles without any spirit again next time, I'll find someone else. Take it or leave it, there are plenty of people who will do it."

"Yes, I promise it won't happen again."

"Your payment, get out of here."

The boss pulled a few crumpled paper bills from his pocket, tossed them aside, and then turned and went into the tavern.

The banknote suddenly hit Xia Beiluo's face. Her first reaction was not to dodge, but to quickly bend down and catch it, afraid that the water on the ground would wet the banknote.

Even with her quick reflexes, two 5- Lingge banknotes were still soaked in the mud. Xia Beiluo's eyes immediately reddened. She picked them up, flattened them, and wiped them clean with her clothes.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

She carefully dried the banknotes, her heart breaking as she looked at the torn and chipped pieces.

Rumble rumble rumble...

It rained in the evening, and thunder rumbled in the sky.

"Damn it! I have to run!"

Xia Beiluo quickly put the reward into a waterproof clip, carefully put it away, and then rode his second-hand bicycle at breakneck speed.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

Xia Beiluo felt a chill on his forehead. The broken asphalt road surface revealed a gray cement surface, which was then gradually blurred into a brownish hue by raindrops.

Splash splash splash splash...

Like a broken fire hydrant, the sky poured down a jumble of cool raindrops, carrying away the heat from her thin body.

Xia Beiluo lowered his head and struggled to climb the slope. His hands, which were holding the handles, were soaked by the rain, and his fingers were rotten and white.

The rain, like a venomous snake, coiled around her body, injecting her with a venom called 'cold,' which first penetrated deep into her bone marrow and then spread throughout her body via her blood vessels.

It chilled my nerves and numbed my thoughts.

In the midsummer downpour, she felt a sweltering heat, as if being steamed by fire and boiled by water. The rain and sweat mingled together, and the warmer the body felt, the colder and stiffer her fingers and toes became.

The massive rain, like a tsunami, crashed down, making it incredibly difficult for her to climb the slope.

Unable to breathe, afraid to lift her head, unable to open her eyes, she could barely move the pedals; the raindrops formed threads, as if trying to slice her apart. (Note ①)

Sometimes she couldn't even see the flashing headlights until the other car honked its horn frantically, splashing water all over her, pressing her short hair down to her face, and letting the rain run into her eyes.

The Wandering Souls on the streetlights chattered and laughed at her advancing figure.

The swallow hid under the eaves of the nightclub, where energetic techno music was playing. The delicate swallow didn't mind the noise and rested comfortably under the bright lights of the disco.

The withered branches and fallen leaves were swept up by the wind and sent into the sky. From its perspective, the whole world was rendered into a dark and gloomy world, with cold winds carrying clouds that shrouded the heavens and the earth. Darkness thus oppressed all living beings as a matter of course.

"We need to take the money back with us."

Her shirt became transparent as it got wet, revealing her intimate undergarments underneath. However, she couldn't care less about feeling ashamed at the moment and pedaled hard, trying to move forward as quickly as possible.

The pristine asphalt road was a rare find in the city, and the cement road was also quite good, but soon she felt the tires become heavy as she sank into the mud.

"It's a bad road, be careful."

Xia Beiluo carefully drove across the relatively hard stone slabs, but suddenly, she lost her balance.

Thud! The front wheel got stuck in the ditch, her body lurched forward, and she was thrown out of the car. Her chin hit the curb as if she'd been hit by a hammer. She saw stars, couldn't tell which way was which, and had no idea where she was.

Xia Beiluo screamed in heart-wrenching terror:

"Money! Money!"

Note ①: From "Rickshaw Boy"