Forge a path to success.

Chapter 116 The Unfortunate

"Working as a school janitor...and a waiter on weekends..." Sethlen said sympathetically, "You rats have it tough..."

"Call me whatever you want," Gulibo said dejectedly.

“Sadness, the weariness of sadness needs nourishment.” Sethlen smiled cautiously and ingratiatingly, like an elderly person communicating with their grandchildren. “Popsicles! Kids love them! Do you want one?”

A square piece of thin ice emerged from the Iceman's fingertip. It wasn't really an ice pop, and it had no taste; it was just a small ice cube formed by condensing water elements using Turbid Tears' power. But even if Gulibo had ten times the courage, it wouldn't dare refuse. It nibbled on the little ice pop with even more eagerness than the Iceman. The Iceman watched it and smiled.

Looking closely, this man who had been making such a scene wasn't actually that scary. He was a large man around forty years old, with a flat nose, small eyes, rough skin, and bald patches on his head, so he covered his head with a dirty knitted hat. His coat wasn't very clean either; it looked like it hadn't been washed for many days. When Gulibo ate his popsicle, his small eyes kept wandering, and his fingers often moved erratically. He was probably introverted and not good at socializing, which explained his frequent fidgeting.

Ignoring the cold and blue skin, Gulibo would mistake this for an ordinary manual laborer or an unemployed homeless man. But it still remembers the solid ice that had frozen it for half a day yesterday, and the cold wave that nearly engulfed the entire city. These firsthand experiences prevent it from seeing the Ice Man as a friendly old man; it still feels the shadow of death looming over it.

"It's so nice to see the animals doing things; it warms my heart..." Sethlen murmured to herself. "I always keep some biscuits in my pocket... They break after I finish working, but if I turn the pocket inside out, the animals will come and eat them themselves... It's so convenient..."

He touched his pocket and pulled out a piece of ice.

"But that's not possible now, now there's only ice." Her small eyes welled up with tears. "Ah, sadness, sadness is flowing through my mind, why—"

Gulibo gasped, interrupting the commotion with a frantic question: "Sir, what do you do for a living?"

Sethlen paused, his already somewhat unclear train of thought easily swayed. Shrinking his neck, he said shyly, "I... I've always been timid and not very smart. I didn't get much education, so I became a mercenary..."

What's the point of this explanation?! What do your circumstances have to do with this conclusion?!
"Being a mercenary is tough, just as tiring as it is for you. As soon as the ship arrives, you're busy unloading cargo, moving things from here to there. A single word from the foreman and you're running half the city, with no holidays whatsoever..." Sethlen said with a wry smile, "Going to the research institute, going to the mayor's house... every day you're covered in sweat, and when you get on the public water truck, everyone makes sure to stand out..."

"Nobody likes standing next to me, and I also feel it's not right for people to get on the bus like this... So I ride my bike home every day... See, it's tiring, isn't it..."

"Is this...is this a mercenary's job?" Gulibo's face stiffened. "I feel like this is more like a job..."

"Mercenaries! Mercenaries!" Sethlen suddenly widened his eyes. "I remember it all! I kill a lot of people every day, their blood flows past my eyes like rain... that blood seeps into my eyes! Seeps into my bones!"

"Yes, you're right, you're the mercenary who can stop a child from crying!" Gulibo surrendered, raising both claws.

“Yes, it’s a terrible way to stop a baby from crying! It’s horrible!” Sethlen said hoarsely. “So children don’t like to be near me. Not to mention the opposite sex… I don’t get along with my coworkers either… I can only talk to small animals like this… and that makes me feel warm inside…”

"But lately, small animals die as soon as they get close to me... they get frozen... I can't find warmth no matter what I do..."

He fell silent, his shoulders heaving, large tears falling, freezing into ice crystals before they even hit the ground, shattering into dust. This middle-aged man wept like a child, clutching his face tightly, hushed to his voice, afraid his cries would disturb others. His sobs mirrored the humiliation and resentment he felt in his life.

Gulibo felt terrible. It knew this was a characteristic of Turbid Tears; those on the Supreme Path always struggled to control their emotions. But it couldn't bear to see the person beside it so distressed. It took out a cherry tomato it had secretly brought and stuffed it into the man's hand.

"Have a tomato," it said, mustering its courage. "You can eat it frozen too!"

The cherry tomatoes were frozen as soon as they were taken out of the freezer, but Sethlen tried a bite. They were very sweet, like eating ice cream. He smiled with great joy, wiping away tears.

"Thank you. It's been so long...so many years since anyone brought me food."

Gulibo became embarrassed: "That's too much. Your parents are..."

"Many years ago..."

"……sorry."

Sethlen shook his head.

"It's not exactly many years ago. It feels like something that happened a couple of years ago. A hospital bed, a funeral, an empty house. And then suddenly... time just flew by. Work. Running around. Resting. Feeding the animals. Spring comes and autumn goes. Doing the same things every day makes time fly by..."

Then, without realizing it, you'll find that the people around you have all moved with time. They've fallen in love, gotten married, had children, bought houses. They've become adults. But I'm still sitting in my chair feeding the animals, just like when I was a child.

"Then you'll start to doubt, a very strong sense of unreality. Is all of this real? Am I still dreaming?" Sethlen looked at his hands. "I'm a mercenary... Am I a mercenary? When did I start being able to conjure ice?"
"Am I still dreaming in the classroom? Just an ordinary afternoon, I'll wake up and get scolded by the teacher, then chat with everyone... and then go home to see my parents and tell them about this incredibly long dream..." Sethlen trembled as he spoke, his bluish skin and cloudy eyes becoming almost transparent. He was losing control of his emotions again; he was practically turning into an ice sculpture. At that moment, Gulibo jumped up, pointing behind the bench: "It's not a dream! Listen, listen!"

He heard the bell tolling, as resonant as he remembered, capable of rousing every mischievous child from their dreams. The lights in the buildings flickered on one by one; Jinye City Third Elementary School was preparing for the start of the new semester.

“It’s morning… ah…” Sethlen nodded slowly. “Yes… I can’t dream anymore… How could this be real? How can a mouse talk…”

He gently put Gulibo down, wrapped his coat tighter, and walked northwards as the bells rang.

"I need to get to work quickly... I also have work at the mayor's house... I need to be there on time..."

Parents dropping off their children avoided the homeless man with disdain, and security guards warily blocked the students' path; no one paid any attention to his mutterings. Gulibo watched him walk away, feeling as if a block of ice had settled inside him.

He greeted the children and returned to the toy corner. Stone Seed found an old roster containing Sethlen's name and picture; he had never seemed very bright as a child.

[This was once his alma mater.] Shi Zhong wrote, [His memory is hazy; he subconsciously came here, wanting to find his past.]

Gulibo rubbed his little paws together.

"Divine Tree, could we..."

We can, and we should.

Child, we must have great love in our hearts. A helpless child and a helpless adult are no different to us. Find an opportunity to contact Chu Hengkong and ask the knight beside him for help.

We should also take some action.

On the wall outside the elementary school, Guang Shiqingye appeared silently, her scarf fluttering in the morning breeze.

From the very beginning, she had been keeping a close eye on the Ice Man. This place wasn't far from the park where Qingye was temporarily resting; even a Stone Seed could detect Sethlen's whereabouts, let alone a Heartless Being skilled in elemental exploration. She had originally planned to assassinate him after Gulibo left, but after hearing those words, she couldn't grip her knife tightly and watched helplessly as Sethlen left.

(Something was definitely wrong. He was clearly a civilian, but he thought he was a mercenary... Cognitive confusion, memory disorder, and an uncontrollable rampage...)
There's no mistake. It's likely that Iceman Sethlen wasn't an Ascended Being at all. He stumbled upon some powerful force and was forcibly infected into becoming Turbid Tears by imposed memories and emotions, just like how the Demonic Strike mass-produced lower-level Calamity Species.

This conclusion further solidified Qingye's confidence in her reasoning. The mastermind wasn't a Calamity Species; if a high-ranking Calamity Species truly existed here, the entire Golden Leaf City would have long since become hell. Therefore, what Sethlen might have encountered was a secret that already existed in Golden Leaf City… Could that be the reason those Gray Mist Undead were here?
(Sethron mentioned the mayor, and sure enough, Jin Ye is involved in this matter... We can't just wait any longer! Now that we've discovered him, we need to keep a close eye on him. Whether we save him or kill him, we must take responsibility!)
Qingye donned the Shadow Robe and followed the Ice Man into the distance. A little girl on her way to school happened to witness this scene. Pointing at the empty wall, she shouted, "Mommy! There was a big sister in a tight-fitting dress running on the wall just now!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I already told you not to watch magical girl movies! I'm throwing away all your books when we get home!"

·
So, as the second day arrived, everyone began to take action.

Shax was in control of the Iceman's movements.

The Iceman Sethlen is still wandering, trying to find his past.

Qingye uses reasoning to follow clues.

Gulibo and Shizhong plan to contact Chu Hengkong.

The eggs were rolling around happily.

Chu Hengkong and his two companions decided to visit the mayor, firstly to seek official assistance in searching for the stone type, and secondly to investigate the truth of the matter in the local area.

Mayor Kim Yeo remained motionless in her residence.

The next conflict is brewing, and some of them will leave the market today. The trader who made this decision is observing another mastermind behind the scenes from their base.

“I’ll be frank,” Olek said. “Vansarar, what exactly are you trying to do this time?”

　(I realized it's been several days since we've had any scenes with A-Kong!)
　　Ah, the good news is that we can finally return to the main perspective tomorrow. (When there are a lot of people, the camera keeps cutting to the same angle too often.)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)