275 Sweet Life

She fumbled around haphazardly and grabbed a plastic bag in her arms. Inside were waterproof clips that she had carefully wrapped. The double protection almost made Xia Beiluo cry.

Blood was flowing from her chin, washed away by rain or tears. The water droplets brazenly poked at her wound, tearing open the torn flesh. The burning pain was nothing to Xia Beiluo.

Money that has been lost and then found is the best anesthetic in the world.

She gritted her teeth, and under the cold rain, her body seemed to grow stronger. She walked forward, dug out the second-hand bicycle from the mud. The chain was broken, so she had to push the handlebars, roll up her trousers, take off her shoes, hang them around her neck, and wade through the water all the way back.

I can't remember how much time has passed.

Although it was a bit slow, she soon saw her place—a four-story apartment building with almost no lights in the darkness. The ivy on the walls looked like the claws of a demon, throbbing in the darkness and torrential rain, appearing extremely ferocious.

A nauseating stench churned up from the ditch next to the apartment, a mixture of household waste, garbage, excrement, the remains of evil spirits, and the corpses from gang fights.

Simply put, that's the smell of poverty.

Xia Beiluo carefully pushed the cart into the apartment building, ignoring the body of the security guard on the corridor wall. The church had promised to clean it up tomorrow, but the property management had fled after learning about the fight that had taken place there yesterday.

It's a shame she paid a year's worth of property management fees.

Xia Beiluo is not afraid of death; death is the cheapest sleeping pill. She is more afraid of poverty because there is no targeted drug to cure it.

She locked her car, climbed step by step to the third floor, cleaned her wounds and grime in the public restroom, and only then dared to return to her rented room.

The rain continued, and darkness enveloped the world.

Xia Beiluo took off his clothes and hung them to dry on the wire between the beds. He then dried his hair and body with a towel and turned on the gas lamp.

Afraid of wetting the bed, she had no choice but to squat naked on the floor and take out her earnings for the day from the plastic bag, counting each bill carefully:

"1 Lingge, 15 Lingge... a total of 76 Lingge."

She felt a little better.

Now, I've saved up 526 Lingge! "If I earn a little more money and pay some protection money to the Black Serpent Gang, I can work as a handyman at a nightclub. Then I can earn 120 Lingge a month, and in 20 months a year, I can earn 2400 Lingge. In just ten years, I can save up for my tuition."

Xia Beiluo took a leave of absence from school on April 5th last year and has been wandering the streets for one year and three months now.

My mother and father were undoubtedly very lucky; they didn't live to see themselves forced to drop out of school, because they died three months earlier in the crossfire of a gang fight.

According to the church, her faith in the Lord of the Undead was not devout enough, and her spirituality was too poor. Even in her second year of high school, she was unable to tame the weakest Wandering Souls, making her far from becoming a medium.

Rather than letting her stay in the church school and influence other students, it would be better to let her take a year off and find her own way out.

"The implication is that they should find some odd jobs themselves and not disturb other students from getting into the seminary, so as not to affect the school's graduation rate."

Under the rule of the Violet Unified Government, ordinary people can only improve their status by following the "Strange" path, joining the sects of the "Lord of the Undead," the "Void Emperor," and the "Source Abyss Celestial Lord," and serving the main gods in order to live a good life.

When her parents were alive, they spent their life savings to send her to church school, hoping to change their family's fate and make her a respectable person.

However, Xia Beiluo realized early on that there is inequality among humans.

Even among those from impoverished backgrounds, beautiful girls receive more attention; even if they don't study much, sleeping with a priest can guarantee them a letter of recommendation.

Xia Beiluo was not only of average appearance, but also had mediocre grades and extremely poor aptitude for spiritual energy.

The church school's forced suspension of her studies was essentially an attempt to expel her from the school.

Even so, Xia Beiluo still has her own path: as long as she works hard and saves enough tuition, she can go to seminary at her own expense. If she studies diligently, she can at least get a clerical job.

By then, I'll be able to make a name for myself.

"Current savings: 526, still some distance from the target..."

She squatted on the concrete floor of the apartment, holding the ledger, and carefully began to calculate:

"Not bad, only 25,474 Lingge away!"

Soon, very soon I'll be a respectable person.

She carefully put her savings into the bottommost suitcase and placed it in the safest corner. This was her most precious treasure; even if she lost her life, she couldn't lose her money.

Then, she turned on the gas lamp, lay down on the mattress the landlord didn't want, pulled up the blanket, and a wave of exhaustion and happiness washed over her, quickly lulling her to sleep.

Bang! "What happened? What was that noise?!"

"The sewer is broken!"

"The toilet is clogged, damn it, the water's coming out."

In a daze, a strong stench hit him, and Xia Beiluo was suddenly awakened, almost vomiting.

Her bed was soaked in filthy sewage, and her suitcase and neatly folded clothes were floating on the water. The apartment tenants were cursing and swearing. Due to the heavy rain, the sewers were flooded, and a mixture of filth filled the entire hallway.

Xia Beiluo was attacked by the stench, and her brain went blank for a moment. Then she suddenly realized what was happening, and an indescribable fear instantly enveloped her body.

She screamed in terror, "Money!"

She lunged at the suitcase and dragged it onto the bed, but it was too late. The floodwaters had already soaked the entire suitcase, and her eyes immediately turned red.

The water was still spreading, and she didn't care about anything else. She lifted her suitcase high above her head and stood on the bed, letting the dirty water wash over her feet. Then the floral pillow she had picked up sank after being soaked. She stood on tiptoe, and her calves were stained with some kind of dirt.

Xia Beiluo seemed to be dead. She stood rooted to the spot, motionless in the sewage, like a giant standing tall and firm, holding her luggage above her head.

Bang! The window was blown open by the floodwaters, and torrents of water surged outwards like a waterfall. The rain was still pouring down, but as the brave and hardworking residents cursed and tried to save themselves, the rise of the sewage was gradually brought under control.

In the latter half of the night, the lingering sound of rain had faded, and birds perched on telephone poles, chirping along with the Wandering Souls beside them.

A purple sun rose on the distant horizon, dispelling the chill and washing away the floodwaters. The Church of the Lord of the Undead made a timely visit, rowing their beautiful little boats and singing praises of the Lord's gospel and name everywhere.

"He enables us to face the darkness without fear and to walk alongside the dead."

"He is willing to bear all the tragedies for us, and that is why we are even more diligent and frugal."

"He washes away your Original Sin and gives the Wandering Souls of heaven and earth a home."

"Praise be to our Lord— Gothein Thielman, you are the Lord of Wandering Souls, the Lord of heaven and earth, the great Lord, who loves all things equally, regardless of life or death, you will all return to His abyss..."

The monotonous choir sang loudly in the light drizzle, their blessings reaching everyone's ears.

Snap.

The suitcase fell to the ground, and Xia Beiluo knelt down, holding his savings, which were soaked in sewage and crumpled into a ball, and opened his mouth.

Then, she put down the muddy mess, opened her notebook which had survived the ordeal, and cheerfully wrote:

"August 6: Heavy rain, losses of 526."

"Deposit Amount - 0"

"Distance to target: 26,000 Lingge."

"Note: Light rain turning to clear skies, floods, roads impassable, but sunny."