The light outside the courtyard dimmed. The wind weaving through the orchard seemed to stop, and the rustling trees and chorus of birds and insects all fell silent. The only clear sound in the air was Zhuang Shanbai chopping vegetables.
"Old gentleman Zhuang must have had his reasons for not letting the Zhuang family's descendants become Players, but in my view, you're no ordinary person," Xu Huo said. "A Gray Player?"
"The Zhuang family probably didn't leave because of a falling-out or because they couldn't get used to life here. They left to protect themselves."
"District 001 may be relatively safe, but even decades from now, the Zhuang family's descendants won't have truly faded from the Han family's sight. The Han family of the past may have been able to maintain its friendship with the Zhuang family, but who knows about the generations to come... Am I right?"
"Your family may have already gone to other Sub-districts. You just couldn't all disappear at once without drawing attention."
"Can the Zhuang family's descendants really not become Players?" Xu Huo returned to the topic. "Or did old gentleman Zhuang arrange a better way forward for you?"
Zhuang Shanbai stopped chopping. With his back to Xu Huo, he said, "What better way forward could there be in the game? If you know of one, why don't you tell me?"
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, seemingly unaware of the changes in his surroundings. "I mean you no harm, and I'm not interested in the affairs between your families. I just want to find a convenient entrance to the mine."
Only then did Zhuang Shanbai come to his senses. Outside the window, the light had turned dark and heavy, as if a storm were about to break. Oppressive air seeped into the room from outside.