Slipping Out of Grey Gull Port

Although the [Introvert] trait could make people treat him like air, that did not mean it could protect him from physical harm.

Like the cold.

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"I need to get some clothes first." As Su Li walked, he glanced at the houses along the street. "If I catch a cold and freeze myself sick in an era without antibiotics, I might actually die."

He did not go digging through garbage heaps.

What a joke. He had had no choice in his previous life. Now that he had this godly skill, was he supposed to wear dead people's clothes? Wouldn't that disgrace the system?

Su Li turned into an alley that looked slightly more respectable.

Most of the residents here were craftsmen or small merchants. Their homes were no longer drafty wooden shacks, but two-story brick-and-stone buildings.

He stopped outside a house that appeared fairly well-off.

Several articles of clothing hung from a line on the second-floor balcony, swaying in the wind.

Su Li looked around. There was no one in the alley.

He activated [Introvert] mode, pushing that desire not to be noticed to the limit. Then he nimbly climbed up the drainpipe beside him.

This eighteen-year-old body was truly useful. Light and strong.

Unlike that decrepit seventy-year-old shell, which would leave him panting after climbing a flight of stairs. In just a few moves, he flipped onto the balcony.

The balcony door was not fully shut. Faint sounds of an argument drifted out from inside.

"I told you not to buy that salted dried fish! It's already gone bad!"

"It was cheap because it had gone bad! Wash it, and it'll taste the same!"

Su Li ignored the commotion inside and began picking through the clothesline.

This one was too colorful. No, too conspicuous.

This one was too worn-out. No, they might mistake him for a beggar and drag him away.

In the end, he chose a dark brown linen shirt and a pair of trousers.

The material was fairly thick. It felt a little rough, but it was durable. A half-worn wool vest hung beside them.

"Borrowing these," Su Li muttered inwardly. "I'll owe you for it. When I make it big someday... forget it, I might never make it big. Just consider it charity."

He quickly pulled the clothes on. They fit surprisingly well.

He also grabbed a pair of boots drying on the balcony railing. They were a little too large, but he took out two scraps of cloth he had picked up on the beach earlier and stuffed them into the toes.

Perfect.

Su Li climbed down from the balcony and landed without a sound.

Once he was dressed, that sense of shame from being naked finally faded.

Even though no one had seen him earlier, it still felt awkward to him.

Now, he looked like any young apprentice in Grey Gull Port. Ordinary, plain, utterly unremarkable.

Su Li left the alley and stood at the street corner, looking at this familiar yet unfamiliar city.

Grey Gull Port.

He had spent two lifetimes here.

In his first life, he had been like a brick here, moved wherever he was needed, until he finally rotted away in the mud.

In his second life, he had been like an epiphyllum—blooming beautifully, dying miserably.

"This place is cursed for me." Su Li rubbed his chin and came to a conclusion. "I have to leave."

The waters here ran too deep. An old hand like Old Jack, who had spent decades scraping by, had vanished just like that.

And Lady Charlotte, that seemingly elegant noblewoman, could kill without even blinking.

Not to mention the Baris Empire troops that might come charging in at any moment.

If he stayed here, he would either get swept into the meat grinder or be used as cannon fodder.

He remembered hearing something once while carrying sacks at the docks in his previous life. A blind old beggar had told him.

In the countryside of the Orenda Kingdom, in those remote farmsteads, the constable might not visit even once a year.

You could survive there without a Resident ID. As long as you could work, no one cared where you came from.

Go to the countryside.

Find somewhere nobody knew him. With this young body, even if he had to farm, he could still live comfortably.

If he got lucky, he could even find himself a village girl, have a few chubby kids, and live out his life in peace.

That was what a proper transmigrator was supposed to do.

Conquering the world, becoming a god or saint—those were high-risk professions, reserved for those thickheaded protagonists.

Su Li only wanted to lie low until he lived to a hundred, earn an S-rank evaluation, and then begin his life of swords and magic.

Having made up his mind, Su Li pulled down the tattered hat he had found in a garbage heap and headed toward the city gate.

Grey Gull Port had only two exits.

One was the docks, leading to the sea. It was now packed with military ships, and sneaking aboard would be harder than climbing to heaven. The other was the land gate, leading into the inland heartlands.

As he approached the city gate, Su Li slowed down.

The situation did not look good.

A long line stretched before the gate. Two rows of fully armed guards stood watch, spears in hand and swords at their waists. Everyone leaving the city was stopped and questioned.

"Papers! Show them!"

"What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"What's in the bag? Open it!"

Shouts and harsh reprimands rose one after another.

Su Li stood behind a fruit stall in the distance, pretending to pick through rotten apples while actually observing them.

The inspection was really strict.

They not only checked the dark blue Resident IDs, but also compared the portraits on them. They even conducted body searches.

This was awkward.

Su Li felt inside his clothes. Empty.

Forget a Resident ID—he did not even have a scrap of paper.

That document he had traded his life for last night was probably still clutched in Old Jack's corpse.

Force his way through?

Su Li looked at the guards' spears, then at his own scrawny frame.

Even with the [Introvert] trait, he could not pass through solid objects.

Besides, it only reduced his presence; it was not invisibility. If he blatantly walked out of the city, it would be strange if they did not arrest him.

Just as he was at a loss, the rumbling sound of wagon wheels reached him.

A large horse-drawn wagon loaded with goods slowly rolled over.

Two old horses pulled it, white vapor puffing from their nostrils.

The wagon bed was piled high with huge oak barrels covered by an oilcloth. From the smell, it was probably cheap ale or pickled fish.

The driver was a burly man with a face full of beard and a nose as red as a ripe tomato. One look told Su Li he was an old drunkard.

The wagon stopped at the gate.

A guard walked up and tapped one of the wheels with his spear.

"Old Pete?" The guard seemed to know the driver. "What are you hauling today?"

"Heh, what else could it be?" Old Pete grinned, exposing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Dishwater for those miners in Blackstone Town. Those rough bastards won't work without booze."

As he spoke, Old Pete skillfully pulled a crumpled paper packet from his clothes.

The movement was discreet, but he performed it smoothly.

It was tobacco.

In the Orenda Kingdom, this stuff was hard currency. It worked better than copper coins.

The guard took the packet and weighed it in his hand. The stern, businesslike expression on his face immediately softened considerably.

He slipped the packet into his pocket and casually lifted the oilcloth over the wagon bed with his spear.

"Fine, go on." The guard waved him through. "Be careful on the road. I hear things have been unsettled nearby lately."

"Got it!" Old Pete cracked his whip. "Hyah!"

The wagon slowly started moving.

Su Li's eyes lit up.

An opportunity!

The guard had accepted the bribe and had not inspected the wagon bed carefully at all. The barrels were piled high, with plenty of gaps between them.

As long as he could get on...

Su Li took a deep breath and pushed [Introvert] mode to its limit.

He silently chanted in his heart, I am air. I am dust. I am a pile of cow dung by the roadside. No one will care about me...

Then he moved.

He did not sneak around like a thief. That would only attract attention.

Instead, he walked toward the wagon with steady, unhurried steps, like an idler taking a stroll after a meal.

There were plenty of commoners lining up to leave the city around him. Their gazes landed on Su Li, then slid away.

Their minds automatically ignored this ordinarily dressed, "ordinary"-looking young man.

Su Li reached the back of the wagon.

The guard had his back to him, splitting the tobacco with another guard.

Old Pete was focused on driving, humming an unknown tune.

Now.

Su Li braced both hands against the wagon's side. Like a loach, his body silently slipped into the wagon bed.

He had learned this trick at the docks. Back then, whenever he wanted to slack off, he would often hide among piles of cargo to sleep, honing his skill at squeezing through gaps.

The wagon bed was filled with oak barrels.

The smell was a little strong, a mixture of sour stench and fermentation.

Su Li did not mind. Compared to the bloody smell of Old Jack, this was practically perfume.

He found a gap between two barrels and wedged himself inside.

He tugged the oilcloth above him slightly, covering his body while leaving only a narrow slit to look out through.

His heart beat a little faster.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Su Li pressed a hand to his chest. If they found him, he would be a turtle caught in a jar. There would be nowhere to run.

The wagon wheels rolled over the stone road at the gate, clattering loudly.

The guards' footsteps sounded right beside him.

"Hey, why are these wheels sinking so deep?" a younger guard suddenly said.

Su Li's heart clenched.

Don't do this!

I've barely even started, don't make me die right out of the gate!

"Bullshit!" the old guard who had taken the tobacco cursed. "Do you know how much a barrel of ale weighs? Wouldn't a fully loaded wagon sink deep? Stop meddling and go check that guy carrying the pole. He looks suspicious to me."

The younger guard said nothing more, and his footsteps faded away.

The wagon passed smoothly through the gate tunnel.

The light shifted from dim to bright.

Through the gap in the oilcloth, Su Li saw the open wilderness outside. No more grimy gray city walls—only rolling hills and a winding dirt road in the distance.

He was out.

He was really out.

Su Li let out a long breath.

In his previous life, he had spent fifty years unable to take even one step beyond those city walls. Every time he came here, the harsh inspections had scared him back.

But this time, with nothing more than a baffling trait and a little observation, he had escaped so easily.

"This damned world," Su Li cursed inwardly, though the corners of his mouth could not help lifting.

He adjusted his position, making himself a little more comfortable between the hard wooden barrels.

The wagon swayed along like a giant cradle.

Old Pete's singing drifted from the front. It was so off-key it was almost tragic, but to Su Li, it was the most beautiful song of freedom.

"Goodbye, Grey Gull Port."

"Goodbye, Old Jack."

"Goodbye, you three crazy women."

"In this life, I'm going to the countryside to be a happy farmer. No one is ever making me haul bricks again, and no one is ever making me sell myself again."

Su Li closed his eyes, feeling the wagon's jolts.

Sleepiness washed over him. Coupled with the extreme tension from earlier, his body was starting to give out.

Sleep first.

As long as he stayed far away from those noble lords, what did it matter how he lived?