Ning Xue returned to the hotel and opened the door expressionlessly.
The furnishings in the room are as old and shabby as the city's appearance.
He quickly stuffed a few changes of dry clothes and necessities into his backpack and checked them.
After confirming that nothing was missing, he sealed the scroll and put it in a small bag.
There's nothing left to stay here.
He took one last look at the room where he had lived for several days, then turned and walked out the door.
When I went downstairs, the boss behind the counter was looking down to settle accounts, his thin shoulders slightly hunched under the dim light.
Ning Xue walked to the counter and put the rent money on the table.
The boss raised his head, glanced at him, then looked at the money on the table, nodded, and said nothing.
Ning Xue turned around to leave, but suddenly stopped.
He hesitated for a moment, then stepped back and spoke.
"Boss."
"Huh?"
The boss raised his head, with a trace of doubt in his cloudy eyes.
Ning Xue was silent for a moment, thinking about his words.
"In the past few days... I have seen a lot of homeless children and old people."
The boss's hand paused slightly and he said nothing.
"Why?"
Ning Xue's voice is very dull and there is no emotion.
"Why are there so many homeless people here?"
The boss looked at him for a long time, moved his lips, finally sighed and put down the pen in his hand.
"Guest... are you from another place?"
"Hmm."
"That's no wonder."
The boss stood up from behind the counter, walked to the door, leaned on the door frame, and looked at the dilapidated street outside.
The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the ground, casting long shadows on the low houses.
At the corner of the street, a few beggars huddled under the wall, motionless, like a pile of discarded garbage.
"This place..."
The boss's voice was hoarse, with an indescribable tiredness.
"To put it mildly, it's called a town; to put it worst, it's a garbage dump.
Land of Fire doesn't care, Land of Fields doesn't care either. If something happens, no one will come."
He paused, took out a cigarette from his waist, lit it, and took a deep drag.
"Those children... their parents mostly disappeared at night."
Ning Xue's brows moved slightly.
"Missing?"
"Well..."
"It just disappeared suddenly.
People who were fine one day were gone the next morning. The quilts on the bed were still neatly folded, but the person seemed to have evaporated."
The boss blew out a puff of smoke and his tone was as calm as if he was telling someone else's story.
"At first, everyone reported it, but later they found that it was useless, so no one reported it.
Later, more and more people disappeared, and everyone became numb."
"And those old people..."
He paused and his voice became a little lower.
"Their children either ran away or were captured.
If no one cares about them, they won't live long. Those old people you see are here today, but they may be gone tomorrow."
Ning Xue was silent.
He looked at the motionless figure outside the circle, and an unclear emotion surged in his heart.
"Aren't there any ninjas stationed here?"
"Ninja?"
The boss smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Guest, you are joking.
Which ninja village would be willing to come to such a shabby place? Not to mention stationed there, even passing by would be too dirty."
He took another puff of cigarette and coughed a few times.
"There was a team of wandering ninjas who settled here before, but they were not good people either.
They collect protection fees, steal things, and even arrest people.
Later, I don't know why I left, and when I left, I took a large number of young people with me."
Ning Xue's brows furrowed even more tightly.
"Arrest someone?"
"Hmm.
Just break into the house suddenly at night and drag people away.
Men, women, young people, even children... there are them."
When the boss said this, his voice became a little tight.
"The daughter of the family next door to me was only fourteen years old and was taken away at night.
Her mother cried for several days, then she went crazy, and now she is wandering on no street."
Ning Xue was silent for a long time.
He looked at the darkening sky outside the window and didn't know what to say.
"Then... why don't you leave?"
"Go?"
The boss smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Guest, you speak lightly."
"Where can we old bones go? The outside is not much better than here.
At least here, we know which streets we can walk on and which streets we can't walk on, and those guys are just arresting them with young people."
Having said this, the old man smiled bitterly.
"Even if they leave and don't have any skills, the world will make those young people die on the way, let alone us old people."
He put out the cigarette butt, turned around, and looked at Ning Xue.
"And... no matter how dilapidated or dangerous this place is, it is still our home."
Ning Xue said nothing.
He looked at the boss's wrinkled face and the death flash in his cloudy eyes.
Is that... reluctance?
Still helpless?
He doesn't know.
He just stood there and was silent for a long time.
Then, he sighed softly, turned around, and walked out of the hotel.
Behind me, the boss's voice came.
"Guest, it's getting dark soon. If you want to go on your way, you'd better hurry up.
The night... was not peaceful."
Ning Xue didn't look back, just waved his hand and strode forward.
The afterglow of the setting sun stretched his shadow very long until the silhouette disappeared at the end of the field of vision.
Outside the town, there is a deserted mountain wilderness.
There are overgrown weeds, gravel everywhere, and rolling hills in the distance.
Ning Xue Not long after walking along the path, he suddenly stopped.
He raised his head and looked around.
The wind was strong, making the weeds rustle.
The setting sun has already set below the mountain, leaving only a dark red glow in the light.
Ning Xue Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
Then, he turned on Byakugan.
The vision becomes clear instantly.
Within Byakugan, nothing can be hidden.
He saw it.
In the wilderness, behind the hills, in the woods.
At least twenty figures were moving quickly.
They were wearing messy clothes and did not have Forehead Protector, but their movements were agile and they were obviously trained.
Wandering Ninja.
Ning Xue's brows wrinkled slightly.
Those figures are converging in the same direction.
It's the town behind him!