As Feng Xue absorbed the knowledge, he carried the girl across the rooftops, darting from one to another. Thanks to the Landfill Area's dim night, no one spotted them along the way.
Back when he used to collect corpses, he'd complained that the surroundings were too dark. Now, though, he was incredibly grateful for the fake sky overhead.
Guided by his work badge, Feng Xue soon reached some ruins in the southeastern part of the Landfill Area. There were no functional facilities here, so few people lived nearby.
After a few leaps, Feng Xue finally found a room with a large hole in its roof. Judging by its condition, no one had lived there for a long time.
"We'll stay here for now." Feng Xue let out a quiet breath, twisted his body, and slipped through the opening. The girl slung over his shoulder scraped against the edge and let out a muffled groan, struggling to keep it quiet.
"Um, what exactly is going on?" She'd asked many times on the way, but Feng Xue hadn't answered. Now that he seemed to have relaxed, the girl asked again.
"I'll explain in a bit. Let me make a call first."
"A call..." Feng Xue's words felt strangely out of place to Chen Xiyao, but then she saw him pull something incredibly thin from his pocket, something that looked no different from a piece of metal.
But judging by how quickly he finished dialing, this thing was clearly far more advanced than any Smart Phone she'd ever seen.
Remembering basic phone etiquette, the girl kept quiet and waited. After two busy signals came through Feng Xue's work badge, an impatient voice suddenly spoke up:
"Who's this?"
"Sounds like you're still alive?" Feng Xue asked casually. There was a brief pause on the other end, then the voice replied:
"Xiao Feng? I was wondering why there was an unfamiliar name in my contacts. What happened to you? Did those bastards from the Iron Dog Gang give you trouble?"
"What the hell is the Iron Dog Gang..." Feng Xue grumbled to himself, unsure whether it was their real name or a nickname, then got straight to the point.
"No. I moved to another Landfill Area. There's something I wanted to ask you about."
"Oh?" Old Li let out a strange sound, then said thoughtfully, "What is it? Let's hear it."
"A door opened in my house."
"A door? What kind of door... Holy shit? Holy shit! Holy shit!!!!!"
Old Li's tone abruptly turned strange. After three consecutive outbursts, the other end of the call fell briefly silent. A moment later, he spoke again:
"Where are you now?"
"You think I'm going to tell you?" Feng Xue asked, displeased by the way Old Li had deliberately lowered his voice.
Hearing that, Old Li realized he'd asked the wrong question and hurried to explain:
"That's not what I meant. You know I'm not in the same district as you. Even if I knew, it'd be too late to do anything, right? I mean, are you still at home? How far away are you from the door? And did you bring the person who came through it with you?"
"I ran as soon as I got the Tag. I found an Empty House near the city wall. I also canceled the name on my old dorm room and changed the account under my own name. No one's found me yet." Feng Xue briefly explained his situation without hiding much.
As Old Li had said, he and Feng Xue weren't even in the same Landfill Area. He had no way to sell Feng Xue out even if he wanted to. That lack of conflicting interests was precisely why Feng Xue dared to ask him such a dangerous question.
"Mm, you were cautious, at least. You've only just arrived in that Landfill Area, so not many people know you yet. You probably won't be found for a while..." Old Li muttered under his breath, then spoke in a very serious tone.
"You know, I'm a businessman..."
"I can sign a contract with you remotely and transfer the money afterward." Feng Xue offered the technique he'd just learned, but, to his surprise, Old Li turned him down.
"I don't want money."
Old Li paused for two seconds, then spoke as if he'd finally made up his mind.
"I want you to promise that, if you ever get a room in the Tower of Babylon, you'll let me stay there for a while. Don't worry, I won't put you in any danger. We can even write a mutual non-aggression clause into the contract."
"A room in the Tower of Babylon? You mean the High Tower at the very center of the continent? Is there something special about its rooms?" Feng Xue remembered the tower at the center of the map, the one everything else seemed to circle around, and felt a strange stirring in his heart. Old Li didn't explain, though. Instead, he said cryptically:
"It's not that I don't want to tell you. If you find out, it'll make the Gatekeeper's Tag evolve, and then there'll be no way you can stay hidden. But I can tell you this: only a true Weird Tale can qualify for a room in the Tower of Babylon."
"Oh, so you have that much faith in me?" Feng Xue's lips curled slightly. Old Li, however, sounded indifferent.
"It's just diversifying my investments. Becoming a Gatekeeper means you have a better chance than most of taking that next step. And all I have to offer is some knowledge that costs me nothing. It's a pretty good deal."
"So?" Feng Xue didn't seem particularly impressed by Old Li's sales pitch. Old Li didn't waste any more time and continued:
"Anyway, agree to my terms, and I'll tell you everything: the predicament you're facing, what you need to prepare for in advance, and how to avoid the dangers. Of course, it's fine if you refuse. I can still give you some basic information. The price is fifty thousand Tower Coins."
"Send me a copy of the contract first." Feng Xue didn't rush to agree. Instead, he went to the doorway and cautiously checked outside. Old Li seemed to have plenty of experience with this sort of investment. It didn't take long for him to send over a contract.
The terms were more or less as he'd described: Old Li would provide the information a Gatekeeper needed to know. In exchange, once he had a room in the Tower of Babylon, Feng Xue would let Old Li stay there for at least a year, which could be split into separate visits. In return, while staying there, Old Li couldn't act with hostility toward Feng Xue or harm his interests without permission, which required him to explain the situation in detail.
After reading it over twice, Feng Xue began to grasp some of the key points. But since thinking too deeply about it might cause the Gatekeeper's Tag to evolve, he put his thoughts aside for the time being and tapped "Agree" on the contract.
Once their mental connection had been established, Old Li received confirmation and immediately spoke up:
"Since you changed your name in time, you don't need to worry about being found for a while. After all, until they die, there's no visible difference between outsiders and the 'un.' Instead of worrying about how to send him back, the first thing you should be thinking about is how to feed him..."
"Huh?"
Before you continue