When they reached the apartment building, Gao Teng jumped off his bike.
"Do you want to come upstairs and have a look, or wait here for me?"
"I came all this way. What's a few more steps?" Zhang Meizhu said.
"All right."
Gao Teng snapped his fingers and casually ordered, "I live on the third floor. Carry the bike and come upstairs with me."
"Me?" Zhang Meizhu asked in disbelief. "Carry the bike upstairs?"
"If you leave it downstairs, someone will steal it and sell it for scrap in no time. This is the only way to keep it safe."
"I know! I'm not stupid!"
Zhang Meizhu suppressed her anger. "My question is, why aren't you carrying it?"
Gao Teng gave her a strange look. "It's your bike. Why should I carry it?"
Zhang Meizhu glared at him. "Have you ever heard of being a gentleman?"
"No."
Silence stretched for several seconds.
Zhang Meizhu deflated. She had to admit defeat.
She hoisted the bike and followed Gao Teng up to the third floor, where they entered a cramped, cluttered room.
There was a hard wooden bed in the room, covered with a colorful bedsheet that had grown yellow with age. It looked like it had been there for years.
In the corner stood a wooden wardrobe covered with plastic sheeting. A few old clothes hung inside, making the place look utterly shabby.
Five or six steps farther into the room, there was a toilet on the left and a kitchen on the right.
The toilet was a squat one. An old gas water heater hung on the wall. Washing their faces and brushing their teeth, using the toilet, showering, and doing laundry all had to be done in that cramped space.
Gao Teng didn't use the kitchen.
Still, traces of the previous tenant remained on the walls. The tiles were blackened, and the ventilation fan in the wall was caked with moldy grease.
Zhang Meizhu frowned at the sight. Living in a place like this was miserable. She couldn't imagine how Gao Teng had put up with it.
"Wait a moment. I'm going to change."
Gao Teng walked to the wardrobe as if nothing were wrong and took out his uniform as an auxiliary employee of the Public Security Bureau.
After changing in the toilet, he put on all the necessary equipment and said to Zhang Meizhu, "Let's go. It's getting late. We should finish today's work as soon as possible."
"Okay."
Zhang Meizhu answered and hoisted the bike.
They went downstairs together. Once Gao Teng sat on the back, she pedaled off with practiced ease, no longer feeling even the slightest resentment.
Before long, they had left the urban village.
Zhang Meizhu couldn't help glancing back. The alley was dimly lit, damaged wires occasionally sparking overhead, and aging streetwalkers called out to passersby. The whole place was so chaotic that she never wanted to come back.
Gao Teng could tell what she was thinking. "I told you where I live is really, really run-down. Regretting coming now?"
Zhang Meizhu bit her lip. "Gao Teng, you shouldn't spend all your money on cultivation. Look at the kind of life you're living."
"You might not like hearing this, but you'd be better off quitting martial arts and living like an ordinary person. Wouldn't that be better?"
"Seriously, pay off your loan as soon as you can, save up some money, and move out of here. Stay too long and it'll drive you crazy!"
Gao Teng didn't argue. He just yawned.
If he couldn't steal cultivation, Zhang Meizhu's advice would be absolutely sound. He would be wise to follow it.
Unfortunately, he had been blessed with a martial arts talent seen only once in billions of years. Zhang Meizhu was giving advice to the wrong person!
He said evenly, "I have my own plans for the future. You don't need to worry about me.
"When the college entrance exams come around, you'll see just how brilliant I am."
At his words, Zhang Meizhu's brows knitted together. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
Several times she almost spoke, but in the end she swallowed her words, afraid of hurting Gao Teng's pride.
There were only fifty-nine days left until the college entrance exams. No matter how hard Gao Teng studied, he could only get into a vocational college.
A vocational college student of unparalleled talent?
Wasn't that a bit ridiculous?
"Just keep working hard."
Zhang Meizhu could only offer her encouragement.
After all, she was just his friend. She couldn't interfere too much in Gao Teng's life; she needed to respect his boundaries.
She pedaled along in silence, and Gao Teng quieted down too.
As they rode, Zhang Meizhu gradually began to feel a little admiration for him.
Gao Teng was living in such poverty, yet he hadn't hesitated to reject Wang He's offer, giving up such a large sum of money.
He was truly noble!
Thinking about it, Zhang Meizhu couldn't help bringing it up again.
Gao Teng remained resolutely righteous, his lofty figure glowing on the back of the bicycle.
Before they knew it, they had talked about a lot of things.
Gao Teng also spotted the bike locked to a lamppost by the roadside. He unlocked it and rode off, heading with Zhang Meizhu to Sewer No. 3.
Tonight, he had already earned 856 merit points from the monsters. He hoped to get even more out of the work ahead.
With that in mind, Gao Teng pedaled faster.
When they reached their destination, they locked the bikes by the roadside and headed into the sewer.
"Hey, should we do what we did last night and drag someone into the sewer?"
At the suggestion, Zhang Meizhu gave a rueful smile.
"I forgot to tell you. This morning, I uploaded the work video to the Public Security Bureau. They warned us repeatedly not to pull any more stunts.
"They especially think you're dangerous and mentally unstable, so they told me to keep a close eye on you."
Gao Teng was very unhappy. "I'm saving fallen souls. How is that pulling stunts?
"Look at Fan Haiwei. After working with us, he immediately turned over a new leaf and decided to be a good person.
"If you gave me a little more time, I could get everyone back to a normal life!"
Zhang Meizhu gave him a strained smile.
They had clearly been using people as bait to create a chance to escape. Fan Haiwei's decision to reform had been a complete accident.
"Anyway, the Public Security Bureau won't let us do that anymore. Let's just be careful."
Zhang Meizhu switched on the recorder clipped to her chest, then turned on her flashlight and led the way into the sewer.
What else could Gao Teng do?
He could only go along with it.
They entered the sewer one after the other and made their way deeper at an unhurried pace.
Most of the people in the makeshift shacks they passed were asleep.
"It's past nine, and they're already in bed. They're pretty disciplined," Gao Teng joked as he followed Zhang Meizhu farther in.
Before they knew it, an hour had passed.
Strangely, they hadn't encountered a single mutated creature.
That was clearly abnormal. They had been working for days, and this had never happened before!
"Something's wrong."
Their hearts tightened, and their muscles tensed.
They swept their flashlights around, scanning their surroundings. The darkness seemed full of menace.
Suddenly, Gao Teng had an idea.
"Could it be our scent? Maybe it's keeping the mutated creatures from attacking us?"
Before you continue