I heard that Magic City has its own currency system

Su Qi’s little hesitation was forcibly suppressed under his sister’s pleading eyes that seemed to say, "Please, big brother~."

"Alright then..."

Su Qi hadn’t expected that at his age, he’d still be going back to school. Maybe this was his chance to make up for the regret of dropping out back then?

Make up my ass. Show me one person who actually likes going to school.

Liu Yuan hugged a bouquet of flowers, her smile growing even brighter.

"Hmph, I knew you’d say one thing and mean another, big brother."

Liu Yuan set the bouquet down on one hand, then pulled out her phone and opened a few pages to show Su Qi.

"Here’s the enrollment brochure and the admission notice."

Su Qi took the phone, glanced over it casually, but his attention was mostly fixed on Liu Yuan’s radiant, cheerful face.

"When do we leave?" he asked.

"Pretty much tomorrow morning," Liu Yuan replied promptly.

Su Qi was momentarily stunned.

"Ah?"

Liu Yuan lifted her chin casually. "Of course, it’s already September."

Su Qi pinched the bridge of his nose, cursing Jiang Xia silently in his heart.

...

At dawn the next day, just as the sky was starting to brighten, Su Qi and Liu Yuan were already packed and ready.

Su Qi only had one piece of luggage...

What the hell?

Su Qi actually had empty hands—he hadn’t brought a single thing.

So, he only needed to bring one person when he went out, right?

By contrast, Liu Yuan had a huge suitcase.

It was almost as tall as she was.

Stuffed full of all kinds of clothes and girl’s essentials, and even two adorable plush toys.

"A-Yuan, are you going to school or moving house?" Su Qi asked helplessly, tugging at the suitcase.

Liu Yuan just pouted. "Big brother, you don’t understand girls at all."

Then, Su Qi tore a piece of paper from somewhere and wrote down his phone number on it.

He slipped the paper into the gap on the inside of the window, fixing it in place.

From outside, you could just see the paper through the window.

"Out for the day, Su Qi. If you need me, call 180..."

After doing this, Su Qi finally stepped out the door under Liu Yuan’s somewhat puzzled gaze.

His sister grabbed his hand, her steps light and quick as they left the urban village, heading toward the subway station.

Just as they reached the corner of the street,

the puddles that had been there had dried up in the summer heat.

Su Qi’s gaze was caught by a figure.

It was the scavenger old man he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Su Qi had been thinking about this before leaving.

He hadn’t seen the old man come looking for him in a while.

But what if the old man had come during the time he was gone?

Sometimes things just happen to coincide like that.

So he left his phone number.

Don’t argue with me about "No way, a scavenger old man has a phone to call you."

Go check your brain’s storage area, then ask the police if they can help make a call if needed.

The old man was sitting in the same spot as last time.

Only today, his back looked even more bent.

His hair was messy, and he was still wearing the same clothes.

Even more worn-out than when they last met.

In his hand, he clutched a crumpled plastic bottle, half full of water.

His face showed obvious exhaustion.

Thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t that Su Qi hadn’t been able to find the old man.

It was more likely that the old man left early every day to scavenge.

Su Qi’s routine hardly allowed for him to be out early in the morning.

It seemed the old man noticed someone approaching and slowly lifted his head.

His cloudy eyes scanned Su Qi.

“Old sir, how have you been lately?” Su Qi asked cautiously.

A smile crept onto the old man’s face.

But it was a stiff smile.

“Young man, I remember you. Still hungry this time? Let me buy you something again?”

“How could it be any different? Same as always,” Su Qi replied.

Though he said he was fine,

the exhaustion in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Liu Yuan watched the old man with curiosity.

She had never seen Su Qi interact with him before.

Seeing the old man like this,

Su Qi felt a pang of unease.

“Old sir, you don’t look well,” Su Qi said, patting his pocket.

“Are you waiting here for me? I’m going out to make a call.”

The old man seemed to see through Su Qi’s intentions and waved his hand dismissively. “No need, no need. You think giving me money directly would hurt my pride? You want to set me up with a job?”

The old man sighed softly.

“I actually don’t care about money.”

“Look, I’ve got hands and feet, my health’s still decent…”

“To be frank, if I freshen up and ask for a little less pay, I could find a job as a security guard or something.”

“Young man, I can tell you’re a good person.”

His smile grew more bitter.

“But…”

The old man hesitated.

“Looks like you’re in a hurry?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Su Qi didn’t leave.

“But what is it?”

A strange light flickered in the old man’s cloudy eyes.

“It’s just that in this world, it’s so hard to get people to believe you…”

His words were vague and incomplete.

Su Qi was left puzzled.

Then the old man’s mood seemed to waver: “My son just went missing… he’s definitely not joined some cult!!!”

“I raised him myself. He wouldn’t do something like that. Why won’t anyone believe me?”

Su Qi replied with a simple, “Oh… I see.”

“Give me back the coin.”

“I think, starting today, I owe you no promises.”

The old man gave a helpless smile.

That was just how it was.

Whenever anyone showed him kindness, the moment they heard he was trying to prove his son’s innocence—that he wasn’t involved with a cult—they immediately kept their distance.

He handed the coin back to Su Qi.

Su Qi took it and pulled his sister away.

“Wait, I’ll call Lao Jiang to see if he can help.”

Liu Yuan asked curiously, “Brother, do you know that old man?”

Su Qi shook his head. “Not really. Just met him twice.”

“Then, brother…”

Liu Yuan didn’t finish her sentence.

Su Qi ruffled her hair.

“It’s nothing. Just feels like he’s had a rough time.”

Liu Yuan pouted.

“Then, brother, don’t you think I have it tough too?”

Su Qi chuckled, “How do you have it tough?”

“I have to spar with you every day. That’s exhausting!”

Liu Yuan said matter-of-factly.

Su Qi: “…”

He chose to change the subject. “Honestly, with that old man’s character, the chance his son would join a cult is pretty slim.”

The call connected quickly. On Jiang Xia’s end, it sounded a bit noisy—faint tapping of keyboards and the rustling of papers could be heard.

“Hey, Su Qi? It’s early morning. What’s up?” Jiang Xia’s voice was a little hoarse, as if he’d been up all night without sleep.

“Got something I need to bother you with,” Su Qi tried to keep his tone casual.

“Go ahead.” Jiang Xia was brief.

Su Qi paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, then gave a simple rundown of the situation.

Silence stretched for a few seconds on the other end.

Jiang Xia’s voice came back, less casual this time. “Su Qi, have you thought this through?”

“Huh?”

Su Qi was a bit puzzled.

“Favors like this, you only get to use them once,” Jiang Xia said flatly. “Honestly, there’s no real need to get involved in something like this.”

Su Qi frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it,” Jiang Xia’s voice carried the wisdom of someone who’d been around the block. “If the guy’s son really is some kind of cultist, and you dig into it and find out for sure, how are you going to explain that to the old man?”

“Are you going to personally crush the last shred of hope he’s clinging to by saying, ‘I checked, and your son really is a scumbag’? Do you think that’s helping him, or just stabbing him in the back?”

Su Qi fell silent.

Jiang Xia’s words were blunt but realistic.

He chuckled softly. “And there’s another possibility. What if the old man’s suspicions are right, but the situation’s even more complicated? What if his son is one of ours, undercover on some secret mission?”

“Don’t underestimate those short dramas. Before going undercover, there’s usually some heads-up to the family—like being sent on a trip or transferred for work.”

“Anyone who’s a ‘descendant’ gets wiped out the moment they’re discovered.”

“For an undercover to succeed, everyone has to believe he’s a ‘descendant.’”

Jiang Xia’s tone grew heavier. “If that’s the case, do you think we can just lay our cards on the table and tell the old man, ‘Your son’s a hero, dancing on the edge of a knife’? Once the identity leaks, do you even want to imagine what happens to the kid? The whole chain of operations could collapse.”

“So, this thing? Asking is pointless. It’s just a thankless task.”

“You’ve done your part and earned some favors on my side, but that’s not how you use them.”

“The old man’s pitiful, sure. But there are plenty of pitiful people in this world. Can you really take care of them all? If his son’s a good guy who’s gone missing, the authorities will handle it. If he’s a bad guy, then it’s not worth your trouble.”

Jiang Xia paused, his tone softening a bit. “Hey, I’m not saying you’re wrong. Sometimes a bit of kindness slips out, and that’s fine. Just don’t take it too hard.”

“All right, I gotta go. Got a ton of stuff here.”

The noise on Jiang Xia’s end picked up again.

Su Qi responded with a quiet “Mm,” his mood complicated.

He wasn’t some do-gooder.

But that old man’s despair and helplessness weren’t fake.

And Su Qi had seen plenty of cases like this.

Fathers losing their jobs, running around trying to prove their sons’ innocence...

“Isn’t Ashes’ side about to wrap things up?”

“Maybe the undercover’s from Ashes’ side?”

Jiang Xia obviously didn’t believe it. “There’s no way it’s that lucky. There are tons of undercover agents out there.”

“My luck’s always been good.”

“Alright, alright. Send me the photo or the name, I’ll look it up for you. If I had the time to chat with you, I’d have already finished checking.”

Su Qi didn’t know the old man’s name, nor the name of his son.

All he could do was go back and, while the old man wasn’t paying attention, snap a slightly angled photo of his face.

Why not just ask directly?

Lies don’t hurt anyone; it’s the truth that cuts like a knife.

“Damn it, are you deliberately trying to make things difficult for me? I ask for a name, you send me a photo, and now I have to go to the household registration system to do facial recognition for you?”

“I’m busy, you know that?”

Despite the complaints, Jiang Xia worked pretty fast — it took about two and a half minutes.

“Damn, are you seriously the protagonist of some novel?”

“Words have consequences?”

“I checked. The old man’s son’s household registration was canceled three years ago. I dug into the internal network and, sure enough, he really is an undercover agent from the Ash faction.”

“I also asked around. The ‘Descendants’ from Ash have already been abandoned by their ‘Benefactor.’ No matter how much they sacrifice, they get no response. Plus, their leader was killed by me. The rest are basically no threat and can be rounded up anytime.”

“Here’s the plan: I’m ordering a sweep now. The whole process will take about three days, then the guy will be ‘cleared,’ re-registered, and can go back home to rest for a while.”

Then Jiang Xia sent Su Qi a voice message.

“Dad, your son hasn’t embarrassed you out here. I’ll be home in three days.”

Jiang Xia’s combat ability was average, unable to break through the Source Realm in half a day.

But his efficiency was impressive—no wonder he was the town’s guardian.

After that, Su Qi took the voice message and found the old man.

The old man was still standing in the same spot.

Only this time, he ignored Su Qi.

Until Su Qi pulled out his small phone.

The old man listened to the familiar yet somewhat strange voice.

In an instant, tears streamed down his face. He hurriedly stood up from the ground.

If Su Qi hadn’t acted quickly, that old bone of his would have prostrated in thanks.

Then, Su Qi hurriedly dragged his luggage away.

Damn it, with all this delay, if he didn’t move faster, he might miss the high-speed train.

…

In the end, Su Qi didn’t let this little detour mess up his schedule.

He boarded the high-speed train at the last possible minute.

It was only then that something started making its presence known.

[Why didn’t you ask me about the points?]

“Nope, not asking. You’re killing me.”

[…]

Su Qi leaned back in his seat, eyelids fluttering, fighting off sleep.

It wasn’t a big deal—everything was about the points anyway.

If you want to do something, just do it.

No need for so many whys.

Liu Yuan, on the other hand, was full of energy, swinging her legs, curiously watching the scenery rushing past outside the window.

“Brother, you haven’t asked me which city I’m going to yet.”

She suddenly spoke, a hint of pride in her voice.

Su Qi yawned and casually replied, “Oh? Which one?”

Since his sister bought the ticket, he just swiped his ID to get through the gate.

Besides, it wasn’t the final stop, so not knowing the destination was pretty normal.

Liu Yuan’s eyes curved into crescent moons, and she said each word slowly and clearly: “Magic City.”

Su Qi’s drowsiness vanished in an instant.

He suddenly sat up straight and looked at Liu Yuan. “Damn, Magic City?!”

Liu Yuan was amused by Su Qi’s reaction. “Yeah!”

“Aren’t you surprised?”

Su Qi felt no surprise—only shock.

His mind immediately filled with all sorts of rumors about Magic City.

It was known as the “Devil’s City,” not because it was evil, but because the cost of living was downright hellish.

He had heard people talk about the prices in Magic City before.

Those stories echoed in his ears like scary tales.

“I heard… at the street stalls there, even grabbing a little something costs over a hundred bucks?” he asked hesitantly, his voice trembling slightly.

Liu Yuan tilted her head. “Is that so?”

“And in restaurants, a slice of meat with a couple of vegetable leaves can set you back several hundred?” Su Qi’s voice grew more urgent.

“So… is it because they have their own currency system?”

“Or… have the pigs in Magic City stopped giving birth?”