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Judging by Qiu Shuyu's behavior, this special version of "low-pollution water" had an astonishing effect. It was almost as if she had been "brainwashed," but...

Song Xiaozhu considered it. Perhaps it depended on the person.

She knew a little about Qiu Shuyu. The girl had a relatively straightforward personality and wasn't much of a schemer.

Another thing was that Song Xiaozhu didn't know whether this special version of "water" had any side effects. For instance, after Qiu Shuyu returned to her shack, would she suddenly come to her senses and become even more wary of her?

Song Xiaozhu had these concerns because this "low-pollution water" was simply too low-level. It was only a level 1 recipe, and its synthesis ingredients were extremely simple. If its effects were this heaven-defying without any drawbacks, then...

This synthesizer was far too terrifying.

After coaxing Qiu Shuyu into leaving, Song Xiaozhu wasted no time and began synthesizing "low-pollution water" in bulk.

Song Xiaozhu didn't dare touch anything else in the shack, but she could use this large vat of highly polluted water however she pleased. At worst, she could go fetch water from the polluted river first thing tomorrow morning and soon fill it again.

The actual synthesis success rate for "low-pollution water" was quite high. Although its stated success rate was also 60%, she only failed a few times before using up the entire vat.

Unfortunately, throughout those hundred-odd synthesis attempts, not a single special effect appeared.

Sure enough...

Water with such powerful effects was a rare commodity.

Song Xiaozhu didn't regret giving such rare water to Qiu Shuyu. Rare as it was, keeping it would do her little good right now.

Was she supposed to toss it to the "intruder" and hope they would spare her once they felt good?

The likeliest outcome was that an "intruder" in a good mood would be even crueler to her.

Synthesizing "low-pollution water" wasn't tiring. It just took some time.

Seeing the moon high in the sky outside, Song Xiaozhu realized Bai Jing wouldn't be returning tonight.

It was just as well.

Bai Jing might have his own ways of surviving in the community, but he was ultimately an old man with one foot in the grave. Faced with this "crisis state," he would probably be able to do little but take a beating.

However harsh Old Man Bai usually was toward her, he had saved her life. It was better if she didn't drag him into this.

As for the "intruder," Song Xiaozhu tightened her grip on the little skinning knife and stared fixedly at the doorway.

Come on.

Who's afraid of whom? At worst, I'll die again. Maybe I'll even get back to my own world!

Qiu Shuyu's shack was a little smaller than Bai Jing's. It barely held a bed, with a dressing table missing a leg beside it, leaving no room to stand.

Qiu Shuyu had seized the dressing table during a scrap scramble. She had nearly lost her life over it.

A scrap scramble was what Song Xiaozhu had encountered today: Ink City dumped a fresh load of garbage, and scavengers swarmed over it, fighting for valuable items amid the chaos.

There were no rules in a scrap scramble. It all came down to strength in numbers and hard fists.

Qiu Shuyu had spotted the white dressing table at a glance. She knew what it was. Back when she was in the city, she had once seen one from afar: a clean, neatly dressed girl sitting in a bright room before a silver mirror, playing with her long black hair with leisurely grace...

The sight had set Qiu Shuyu's heart fluttering. Unfortunately, she had taken only one look before receiving a beating.

-Lowly underclass scum had no right even to look.

Qiu Shuyu knew the dressing table was of little use in the scavenger community. Even taking it to the recycling station wouldn't get her much money. Rather than fighting for something so bulky, she would be better off grabbing small but more valuable electronic components...

But she wanted it. She couldn't explain why. She simply wanted it.

Qiu Shuyu carefully wrapped it up, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and happily ran toward the community. Little had she known that someone would deny her even this discarded, battered dressing table.

The vagrants along the way saw how preciously she carried that large object and assumed it was something valuable. They swarmed over to snatch it.

There was no way Qiu Shuyu would let go. She shielded the dressing table behind her and stood guard before it like a warrior, as though she alone could hold off ten thousand men.

Toward the end of the fight, someone tore open the layers wrapping her "great treasure." When they saw it was an old, battered dressing table, they all froze.

Was this worth risking her life over?

The vagrants immediately lost interest and scattered, leaving only Qiu Shuyu, covered in blood, carrying the heavy dressing table toward the community with her white teeth showing.

As she passed Bai Jing's shack, she collapsed, her bloodied hands still clutching the even more battered dressing table.

Bai Jing gave her three bottles of antibiotics.

Qiu Shuyu barely escaped with her life.

Whenever she recalled this, warmth surged through her chest, and words could not express her gratitude to Bai Jing.

Master Bai was a good man.

He was a living bodhisattva at the foot of the garbage mountain.

Qiu Shuyu rolled over. The hazy moonlight fell right on her curved lips, making them look like a plump crescent moon.

Half asleep, she suddenly sat up, her whole body jolting-

Something's wrong.

Something's very wrong.

Slap! Slap!

Qiu Shuyu slapped herself hard twice before she managed to shake off that floating sense of comfort.

That wasn't Master Bai.

The person in the bed wasn't Master Bai!

Qiu Shuyu was careless about everyday matters, but when it came to danger, she was acutely perceptive.

Having struggled all her life at the very bottom of Ink City, she would have died countless times already without a bloodhound's nose for danger.

Bai Jing's white cloth shoes weren't under the bed, and the old man's favorite pipe wasn't on the shelf either...

Thinking back carefully, the outline on the bed had been all wrong too.

Master Bai was thin, but not slight. Especially when he slept, he had his own health-preserving posture...

That posture would never involve curling up in a ball.

That wasn't Master Bai!

Why had Song Xiaozhu lied to her?

Qiu Shuyu thought of the cold ruthlessness of the "upper-city people," then of what made Master Bai special. Her hair immediately stood on end.

No!