I Am Extraordinary Alone
Chapter 146 - 144 Bloodshed Incident

Chapter 146: Chapter 144 Bloodshed Incident

Wei Tianyang held Yaha as she clung to the bag of fried skewers and milk tea, and he jumped off the railing into objective reality.

Then, in mid-air, he transformed into a gigantic moth and, with his insect limbs, spiraled down to the ground holding Yaha, who laughed like a child with her head tilted back, "So fluffy~ fly~ fly~ fly~"

Wei Tianyang cut out from objective reality, and Yaha came up to nuzzle his forehead with her nose.

"Fluffy!" Yaha said.

"Fluffy?" Wei Tianyang did not understand at first, but after thinking about it, he guessed that after transforming into a moth, the head was fluffy, which is probably why she called it that.

They had once again arrived at the lowest level of Fengrao City. Last time, he had only glanced through quickly, but this time, he wanted to take a good look around, and he was still thinking about that child who relied on his mother’s street vending to support the family.

The bottom layer of Fengrao City connected to factories on the outskirts, with rows of residential buildings enveloped in the shadow of the huge city above, dark and dense, seeming like an oversized graveyard aside from the occasional lit streets where people set up stalls.

Wei Tianyang and Yaha strolled down the deserted, silent streets. He saw that, besides apartment buildings, the city also had parks and super malls.

However, these large structures and public facilities had long been left without maintenance; the mall’s main gates were rusted, secured with a large copper lock, but the glass door beside it had been shattered long ago. Peering inside with his night vision, he saw a few tents of homeless people in the dark hall.

It was evident that this place was once a super metropolis with complete public amenities, but as times changed, the city built the great cauldrons on the ground, and more luxurious parts were constructed "in the sky," as if to delineate the differences between people in a more physical way.

After passing a few intersections, the street ahead lit up, wafting the aroma of barbecue. Under the residential buildings, the occupants of the ground floor units had knocked through the walls to open small shops, selling milk tea, barbecue, second-hand clothing, and trinkets.

They merged with the crowd on the street, garnering attention due to the brocade clothes specially prepared for them by Zhao Ling.

Wei Tianyang didn’t mind; he looked over the small food stalls on the roadside. Based solely on the scent, the taste was not worse than that of the upper levels, but the storefronts were indeed shabby, nearly identical to those in Chicken Snake Country - a lightbox sign, iron frames holding up a canopy, plastic stools set out, and there was a dining spot.

At a second-hand clothing stall, a tablet was connected to a Bluetooth speaker, playing songs Wei Tianyang hadn’t heard before. The volume was loud, quite attention-grabbing. The clothes themselves were quite decent. Wei Tianyang hadn’t been spoiled growing up; he was born and lived with his mother in the slums of Qiyang City, wearing old clothes. To him, the goods in these small stores seemed pretty nice.

Besides, despite their shabbiness, at least they had a storefront. Those without one could only spread a rough cloth on the ground, with their merchandise scattered atop it.

The street vendors on the ground sold little trinkets, such as phone cases, lanyards, crafts made of plastic bottles, hair clips, and packaged shampoo, among other inexpensive daily necessities.

At the time, Wei Tianyang didn’t quite understand inflation; meals in Yin Country were costing several hundred pieces now, with the average monthly income in the city’s upper levels around 200,000 Civilian Coins. However, having lived in Chicken Snake Country for sixteen years, his sense of prices was still stuck in the range of a few to a dozen coins, so he was taken aback when he saw a plastic hair clip on a stall priced at almost fifty coins.

"Boss... My milk tea just cost 90 coins, how come this hair clip is selling for 60?" he asked, puzzled.

The middle-aged man running the stall glanced up at Wei Tianyang with a look that said he was looking at an idiot and replied irritably: "Take it or leave it, if not, scram!"

Wei Tianyang felt a surge of anger and nearly sent the man flying right then and there, but he restrained the impulse, shook his head, and walked away with Yaha.

He remembered and found the spot where he had encountered the little boy before, a dimly lit street where the streetlights served more as decoration, and the only brightness came from the small lights connected to power banks by the stall owners.

There were plenty of people on this street too, all dressed in drab colors, with Wei Tianyang and Yaha’s brocade attire drawing curious looks.

This place was even more desolate than the previous snack street, complete with ground stalls selling rubber bands, disposable plastic cups, and the like. Wei Tianyang thought that this must be the poorest area because, looking into the distance, rows of bungalows lay in the dark depression.

Yaha was growing tired, wrapping her arms around Wei Tianyang’s right arm, eyes shut, relying entirely on Wei Tianyang to lead the way when a bout of noisy commotion jolted her awake, and she looked up anxiously at Wei Tianyang.

From within the crowd, there came bursts of cursing.

"Son of a bitch, I told you not to set up your stall here! You fucking pretend you didn’t hear, huh?!" a crude, burly man shouted.

"I’ll set up my stand wherever I damn well please! None of your fucking business!" a middle-aged woman shouted back with a strained voice.

"Hey! Are you trying to say you don’t give a damn about the six of us brothers? Are you treating our words like they’re just wind past your ears?" the burly man roared angrily.

"No one’s managing this place! What right do you have to charge for stall space?! Who gave you that power?!" the middle-aged woman cursed.

"The Emperor gave us the power! If you’re not satisfied, go find her! On this street, we call the shots! Anyone got a problem with that? Come on out, let’s see!" the burly man shouted.

After he spoke, he glared angrily at the crowd of onlookers.

Wei Tianyang, squeezed in among the crowd, saw six brawny, dark-skinned men surrounding a frail middle-aged woman, pointing and dictating at her.

"Let me tell you, two Civilian Coins a day, not a coin less. If you don’t wanna pay, then roll out of this street!" the burly man declared.

Wasn’t this just outright hooliganism?

Wei Tianyang felt a surge of anger, but remembering that this was Yin Country, not Chicken Snake Country, he temporarily restrained himself.

He tapped an old man who was also watching, who gave him a surprised look.

"Where are the public order officers? Why don’t they come and deal with this?" Wei Tianyang asked.

"The public order officers are in on it with them; they want to collect that money too. You’re just a kid, don’t ask too many questions," the elder said.

"This is outrageous!" Wei Tianyang burst out in anger. He told Yaha to stay put and not move, then squeezed through the crowd towards the six strong men.

"Hey!" Wei Tianyang stepped forward and shouted angrily, eyes wide and flashing red.

The burly man was irritated to be shouted at by some brash youngster and turned to see Wei Tianyang.

Just as the burly man was about to blow up, meeting Wei Tianyang’s gaze made him inexplicably feel the subconscious warning in his mind telling him to run.

He shook himself to clear his mind, not believing his own thoughts a moment ago, but upon meeting Wei Tianyang’s gaze again, he couldn’t bear to look for another second.

He didn’t understand why this kid’s eyes were so terrifying.

Of course, it was quite simple—after all, Wei Tianyang had truly killed people. People who have taken lives have a different look in their eyes; that fierce glance conveys danger, not just intimidation.

The burly man was different; strutting around on the street year-round, he only dared to push people around in a crowd, and at most, he would lay hands on the elderly or women.

"Hey! Did Zhao Ling tell you to collect stall fees here? Is that true or not?!" Wei Tianyang said furiously.

The burly man dared not answer. Seeing the youngster before him address the Emperor so brazenly and dressed in fine silk, he feared the young man might be an official...

But years of bullying on the streets lent him some craftiness; facing someone whose background depth he didn’t know, it was better to play it safe.

"What’s this? Are you an official from above? Shall we go to my place for some tea?" the burly man’s anger subsided, not becoming amiable but putting on a falsely ingratiating smile as he probed.

His five companions also subdued their menacing looks, yet they couldn’t hide their inherent bullying nature.

Wei Tianyang could tell they were scumbags from their overused clichés and repulsive faces, and he could no longer suppress the rage within him.

"Everyone’s already struggling so much, yet you bastards still bully people like this! I’ll send you packing off to be reborn in Chicken Snake Country right this instant!" Wei Tianyang exclaimed, reaching out with his right hand for the Bone Knife...