Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 345 344 Never Left

The crowd surrounded Feng Xiuhu, each offering their own explanation, and it took Feng Xiuhu quite a while to understand what had happened.

That night, Feng Xiuhu escorted everyone down to the bottom of the city. Er Mazi instructed his brothers to take care of the women, and then immediately went to find Xiao Bianzi to convey Feng Xiuhu's words.

The unfamiliar and harsh environment of the city made it difficult for Xiong Guiyuan and the others to adapt. Even the usually calm and collected butler, Lao Huang, felt uneasy. Gu Zhili, who had cultivation, scrutinized every unfamiliar face around her with a wary look.

It's as if greedy villains could pop up at any moment and kill and rob them.

At night, the shed that the choir had vacated for them was the cleanest in the town, but the lingering stench in the air, the rustling of rats crawling across the roof, and the mental pressure still kept them awake all night.

The next morning, the brothers brought oyster soup and bread, but looking at the wooden tub that was so dirty that it could not be cleaned no matter what, no one could bring themselves to eat it.

In the end, it was the girl with the slender waist who made the first move.

She served herself a bowl and then picked up a flatbread and started eating.

He even said to everyone, "The master ate the same things back then, so what's there for you to be picky about?"

Despite her seemingly pretentious and vain nature, Xiaoyao has actually experienced hardship.

In her early years, she lost her family and was a refugee and a beggar. Later, she was kidnapped by a fleet that traded human animals and was sold to a sailing city after a long and arduous journey, which led to what happened next.

In comparison, even the narcissus and lingzhi, which were also from lowly families, did not suffer as much as the slender waist had endured.

So when everyone was still viewing the city with prejudice, she was able to empathize with the hardships of the people of the city more readily.

Like a breakthrough, with the slender waist taking the lead, the tension in the hearts of the others has actually eased a lot. If things continue as they are, it may not take more than half a day—not to mention adapting to life in the bottom city, at least they will no longer feel uneasy.

Just then, the Water Control Bureau dealt them a heavy blow.

When the cannon fire started, most people didn't know what was happening. They only felt the ground shaking and heard people shouting "The wall is falling down!" and others screaming "The warships are firing!"

Gu Zhili reacted the fastest, and was about to cast a spell to protect everyone.

Before they could even circulate their magic, suddenly everyone's feet lost their footing, and everything went black as they all fell to the ground.

While groping around, someone lit a tinderbox they were carrying. After searching for a while, they discovered that they were in a vast network of tunnels, with countless people along the way, as if the entire population of the city was here.

During the incident, some people panicked, some broke down, and some went mad. Fortunately, the choir members and the owls who could see in the dark ran around and managed to keep the situation under control and prevent a major disturbance.

Once the situation stabilized, everyone gathered together to discuss and came to the most likely conclusion—the Zhenshui Division's warships bombarded the bottom city, causing the ground to collapse, and they were buried underground.

Midway through, Little Braid argued that this was the hole Mr. Gray dug, and that she had been here before.

As a result, the man with the big pockmark covered her mouth and told her to stop causing trouble.

Having reached a conclusion, the group discussed how to save themselves. They recalled their positions before being "buried" in the tunnel, and then Slim Waist made the decision, choosing a direction to dig upwards.

"The master later learned what happened."

Although she was covered in dust and dirt, a smug look was clearly on her face. She coaxed Feng Xiuhu as if she wanted to take credit, saying, "If I hadn't chosen the right location, how could we have dug it out so quickly?"

If I hadn't brought Mr. Gray here early, you would never have dug this out even if you dug your whole lives.

Feng Xiuhu thought to himself, then turned to look at Xiong Guiyuan, who was a little further away: "She's usually so capable, how come she lets you make the decisions when something happens?"

Even after emerging from the tunnel, Xiong Guiyuan's face still showed no joy.

She sat there quietly, her brow furrowed with worry, her expression dazed. "It's not her fault."

Slim Waist lowered her voice: "When we fell into the tunnel, we couldn't find anything except our personal belongings. If it weren't for the choir brothers' habit of carrying their tools close to their bodies, we wouldn't even have had the tools to dig a hole."

"That night, after being persuaded by the master, Sister Xiong brought all her wealth with her to the city. The land deeds and property deeds of her businesses, as well as the large sums of money from her bank, were all packed in her suitcase..."

Feng Xiuhu suddenly understood.

Slender Waist continued, "She was already uneasy when she entered the bottom city, and then she suddenly suffered a great disaster of sinking into the ground. She lost her money and lost her confidence. She even twisted her ankle when she fell, but she had no choice but to struggle and crawl with us in the tunnel. When has she ever been so miserable? No wonder she was so distraught."

Putting yourself in Mr. Xiong's shoes, you can see that he was indeed quite unlucky.

Feng Xiuhu walked over and greeted Xiong Guiyuan first: "Don't rush to feel sorry for yourself, say thank you to me first."

Xiong Guiyuan looked up in astonishment: "What?"

Gu Zhili glared at her angrily: "What's wrong with you now?"

Ignoring Gu Zhili, Feng Xiuhu asked Xiong Guiyuan, "Is life more important or money?"

Xiong Guiyuan smiled bitterly, as if she knew how Feng Xiuhu would try to persuade her: "If you ask me that, then of course life is more important—but I am alive and well now, while my foundation has been destroyed. Am I not allowed to grieve?"

“You survived not because you were lucky enough to crawl out of the tunnel, but because you listened to me and came to the bottom city.”

He pointed in the direction of the Upper City: "The evil god has invaded, and the merfolk have slaughtered the Upper City, causing countless deaths and injuries—especially near your home, where corpses can stretch from one end of the street to the other."

Xiong Guiyuan was stunned.

Gu Zhili also looked over in surprise: "An evil god? When did this happen?"

They were locked in a mouse hole and missed everything.

"Ask them."

Feng Xiuhu was too lazy to explain and gestured for her to go find Shunzi—Shunzi and Mike were surrounded by people, telling the story of what happened in Fancheng today.

Gu Zhili quickly went over.

Feng Xiuhu gestured with his chin towards Xiong Guiyuan: "Now that you think about it, doesn't it feel much better?"

Xiong Guiyuan smiled wryly and said, "Perhaps."

Feng Xiuhu turned and pointed into the distance: "If all else fails, you can try your luck—if you're lucky, the Divine Might Cannon didn't hit the place you were staying before, your suitcase should still be there."

Looking up, Xiong Guiyuan saw that among the densely packed buildings of Dicheng, which resembled festering scars, there were many more marks left by artillery fire.

In the huge fan-shaped ruins, many people from the bottom city had already run over. Some knelt in front of the sheds and wailed, while others numbly searched for usable items in the rubble.

For Xiong Guiyuan, escaping this ordeal by coming to Dicheng was perhaps a stroke of luck.

But for the people of the bottom city who were already living in misery... it didn't really matter whether the evil god came or not.

Because suffering is always there.

They never left, nor did the suffering.

(End of this chapter)