Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 350, Page 349: Ali's Gift

As they walked and talked, when Feng Xiuhu stopped talking, Xiyao'er realized that he had forgotten someone.

Where is Ali?

"Slender Waist asked."

Gu Zhili had actually been following behind the two of them the whole time, listening, but she never heard Feng Xiuhu mention her.

Just as she was feeling disappointed, Feng Xiuhu suddenly pulled her to his side.

"Ah Li, do you remember what Master said?"

Gu Zhili turned her head away and said coldly, "I don't remember."

She is lying.

But Feng Xiuhu didn't mind, so he answered his own question: "I said I'd give you a gift after this is all over."

Gu Zhili pulled her hand away: "Who wants your gift!"

She said the same thing when she went down to the bottom of the city.

"You have to accept it even if you don't want it."

Feng Xiuhu pulled her hand back—he was mainly afraid that Gu Zhili would suddenly retaliate after learning the truth, so he could control her in time.

Both of Gu Zhili's hands were gripped by Feng Xiuhu. Her cheeks flushed red, but she stopped struggling.

Feng Xiuhu leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Actually, I didn't drink that glass of wine."

Gu Zhili stood there, stunned, as if she had lost her soul.

Feng Xiuhu gripped her hand tighter and turned back to ask Xiyao'er, "She didn't carry any poison with her when she left, did she?"

Before Xiyao could reply, Gu Zhili suddenly shoved Feng Xiuhu in the chest: "You're disgusting!"

Her face was streaked with tears, a mixture of grief and indignation: "What kind of gift is this? You've deceived me so cruelly—"

The brothers behind him whispered among themselves, thinking that their squad leader wasn't as eloquent as usual today, and that he had made the women cry one after another.

Sanmazi then opened a betting pool, letting his brothers bet on who would be the next to cry.

Gu Zhili was agitated, and Feng Xiuhu gripped her wrist tightly: "Let's stick to the facts. If you don't sincerely stay by my side, do you think the Duke of Daguo will let you off? Wu Caifeng is what you'll end up like."

Gu Zhili said with a bitter laugh, "If I were afraid of death, I wouldn't have stayed by Wei Su'e's side. Even if I die, it would be better than being humiliated like this by you."

"Then I apologize."

Feng Xiuhu said solemnly.

Gu Zhili was taken aback. She had thought that Feng Xiuhu would argue with her and try to justify himself, so that she could then continue to vent the inexplicable bitterness in her heart.

But he actually apologized like that.

Feng Xiuhu released his grip and nodded slightly to Gu Zhili: "From now on, you are free—this is the gift I'm giving you."

Gu Zhili stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

She felt no joy at regaining her freedom; her heart felt empty, filled only with endless confusion.

Since following Wei Su'e, she had become accustomed to doing things according to orders. Now, faced with sudden freedom, she lost her purpose.

Feng Xiuhu noticed her discomfort and pulled her along to continue walking.

This time, Gu Zhili did not refuse.

"Go back to where you came from."

Feng Xiuhu said, "A person does not necessarily have to be needed to have a meaning in their existence."

"In short, leave here before the Grand Duke returns. You can go back to the Barefoot Temple to continue your practice, or you can go and find your family."

"Your home is not in Fancheng, and your path is not here."

……

The group arrived in the upper town.

When the horrific scene came into view, the brothers who had been making a ruckus fell silent without prior agreement.

The setting sun sank behind the distant clock tower, dyeing half the sky a murky orange-red.

The charred "Yongan Department Store" signboard leaned precariously in the rubble, dark purple blood clots clung to the cracks in the stone pavement, and the puddles reflected the shadow of a corpse in a long robe.

In front of the jewelry store on the corner, a rickshaw lay overturned on the ground, and a man's body lay stiffly in the back of the rickshaw, still tightly clutching the gold and silver jewelry in his arms before he died.

The charred beams of the two-story house were still smoking, and ashes fell like black snow. The body of a woman in an expensive long dress hung upside down on the windowsill, blood dripping down the grooves in the wall pillars. More bodies had actually been moved to the street, covered with clothes or sheets, and lined up all the way to the street corner.

Some people knelt before the corpse and wailed, while others remained numb, repeatedly searching through the body.

A crowd had gathered in the distance, and everyone on them was injured.

Through the gaps in the crowd, Feng Xiuhu caught a glimpse of Xinyasu's back.

She was leading a group of priests from the Church of Life in a busy work.

Feng Xiuhu didn't disturb her. He led his men over the bloodstains on the street and headed towards home.

The brothers fell silent. Putting themselves in their shoes, they realized that if they were in this catastrophe, none of them could guarantee they would survive.

Gu Zhili composed herself and said softly, "Before I leave, I will prepare the medicine for epidemic prevention. Remember to spray it outside the house every day, and use fumigation inside the house to keep the disease away."

She gazed at the horrific scene on the street and remained silent for a moment: "I can't control other places, but the sanitation department of the government has its own measures. Just take care of yourselves."

They remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Everyone returned home.

The door was wide open, and the house was in a mess.

Either someone broke in under the pretext of hiding and looted, or merfolk came in looking for living people.

Feng Xiuhu stared at the carpet in the corridor by the door. There were only messy footprints on it, but no trace of the mermaid's long tail.

He lit a cigarette and squatted by the door.

Just as Slim Waist was about to enter the house, she was stopped by Er Mazi.

He made a gesture, and the brothers squeezed into the room and quickly ransacked the place.

Er Mazi said to Feng Xiuhu, "Squad leader, no one's here."

Feng Xiuhu nodded without saying anything.

Slender Waist entered the room and silently began packing Feng Xiuhu's luggage.

Feng Xiuhu could hear her complaints from time to time.

"Where did this country bumpkin come from, stealing even the silver ornaments from the fireplace..."

"You'll all die of poverty!"

"You blind idiot, if you're going to steal something, fine, but why did you step on my bed?"

"This is infuriating..."

At this moment, Shunzi also squatted down next to Feng Xiuhu.

He didn't speak much on the way, nor did he make a fuss with his brothers—since learning that he was leaving, even before he had left, he had already been filled with deep sorrow.

Shunzi has lived in Fancheng since birth.

He had never left this place. If it weren't for Feng Xiuhu's help, he would never have even come to the city.

But this does not diminish Shunzi's affection for the city.

In his view, the world is only as big as Sail City, and that's enough.

Therefore, he felt a sense of fear towards everything unknown in the outside world.

"Brother, do we really have to go?"

Shunzi's voice was very low.

Feng Xiuhu turned to look at him: "Don't want to leave?"

Shunzi shook his head: "I'll follow my brother wherever he goes, but I'm not sure if he'll stay safe."

“You know, we’ve worked so hard for so long, and finally we’ve made it. We have the church protecting us and money in our hands, but in the blink of an eye—the church has collapsed.”

“Even at the beginning, we could at least have the reputation of a choir to give us confidence, but now we are nothing—once we leave Fancheng, we won’t even have anyone to back us up.”

"Who said no?"

Feng Xiuhu smiled slyly and pulled out two badges from his pocket.

“We are now the legitimate agents of the Mist Church. Anyone who comes here, except the leader, can be slapped twice.”

P.S.: Volume 1 is coming to an end!
(End of this chapter)