Time flew, and soon, the second year of his infection arrived.
By then, Zhou Heng no longer had a place to live.
He found a dim alley in a corner of Cixin City, cleared away the rubble and rubbish on the ground, and spread out a tattered blanket he had scavenged from a scrap heap. That counted as his new "home."
There, he continued his great undertaking of carving.
One cut, one mark.
Another cut, another mark.
There were no customers, no payment, and no deadlines. There was only a disheveled man crouching in a dim alley, carving something no one could understand into a piece of wood, cut after cut.
At the end of that year.
Soft footsteps came from the mouth of the alley.
A plainly dressed little girl carrying an old schoolbag came to the corner of the gloomy alley and gently knocked on a brick protruding from the wall.
"Big brother, are you still there?"
"Xin Ling'er, I'm here."
The little girl was named Xin Ling'er, a native born and raised in the Compassion Realm.
She looked about seven or eight, with two little braids, a round face, and large eyes that held the innocence and warmth unique to children.
Hearing Zhou Heng's voice, Xin Ling'er trotted over, crouched in front of him, and opened her schoolbag. She took out a glimmer only the size of a sesame seed and carefully held it out to the disheveled Zhou Heng.
"Big brother, this is your city reward from last year. Following your choice, I picked 1 point of 'Truth' experience."
One point of "Truth" experience.
It took an entire year to obtain that little.
Before entering the Compassion Realm, he would not even have glanced at experience of this level.
Yet the "Truth" experience he would once