Chapter 66: Home p2
The cargo ship let out a dull whistle and slowly left the port, spewing black smoke, and slid into the depths of the night. The sea surface was covered with a stinking oil slick. The dock was a mess, but this garbage caused a scramble.
The rotten vegetable leaves that had fallen during unloading, the flattened cans, the broken wooden boxes, and even the clothes stripped from the dead had all become “good things.”
In the lower city, you couldn’t eat your last meal, and you certainly didn’t have your next. People were dying every day, from starvation, from sickness, more than from gang shootouts.
Regardless of men or women, old or young, most of them were ragged and emaciated. Their eyes were filled with only the desire for food. They pushed and shoved each other, burying their heads in the garbage heaps to rummage.
In the end, over the ownership of a can, a big fight broke out.
The rotten can rolled into the sea. Three people dived in at the same time. The thick fog dissipated. Not a single one climbed ashore.
The empty can floated up on its own…
The soot dissipated. The smell of the sea, mixed with the stench of sweat, rose in waves.
Haia covered her nose and mouth, hurried into a small alley, and grabbed Herlkin’s arm, pulling her off balance.
“Why on earth are you messing around in a place like this?” Haia’s breath was unsteady, and she was worried. “There was another explosion yesterday! Do you enjoy being a boss that much? The teacher asked you, and you wouldn’t say! This place is a mix of good and bad. You could lose your life at any moment! What are you after?”
Herlkin’s gaze fell, landing on the hand that was tightly gripping her arm. “Didn’t you tell me to get lost?”
Her voice was flat, with no emotion. “What are you doing here?”
More than half a month had passed.
Time was enough for anger to cool.
Haia said, “Come with me.”
Herlkin gave a self-deprecating smile. “Come with you? This is already the fourth time you’ve told me to get lost. If I go back with you, when are you going to tell me to get lost again?”
Haia said palely, “It’s dangerous here.”
Herlkin took a deep breath. “I did as you said every time, got far away. But every time, you chase after me. What for? Haia, what do you want?”
Haia met her eyes.
After a long silence, Herlkin threw her off and was about to leave.
Haia blurted out, “I’m worried about you.”
Herlkin stopped in her tracks, her expression changing several times. “I can’t go with you yet.”
“Why!” Haia said, “Isn’t it good for us to go home?”
Herlkin grabbed her wrist in return. “Come with me.”
The two of them slipped into an even darker and damper alley. The uneven and slippery stone path was sandwiched between brick walls that had been blackened by soot. The further they went, the dimmer it got.
After several twists and turns, the view suddenly opened up.
Wooden flat-roofed houses enclosed a courtyard. It was not as dirty and messy as the outside. In the corner, there were even plants.
A few little girls were playing in the open space. They were wearing clean clothes, and all of them were flushed with health. On a bench sat a woman who was already showing, her hand protecting her belly.
One of the little girls saw Herlkin and ran over. “Sister Fox!”
Herlkin brought out her own tail. The little girl hugged it and nuzzled it with her soft cheek before running off with satisfaction.
This was a complete pure land.
At least in the lower city.
There were more than 20 such women’s shelters on Herlkin’s territory.
Haia was stunned.
Herlkin said, “You stay in the clinic all day. You should know very well what kind of fate these girls from bad backgrounds have. They are either thrown away at birth, or they die of exhaustion on the streets, or they spend their whole lives giving birth…”
Her voice was suppressed with anger. “The royal family can’t protect them at all. I want to find them a job, and it’s as hard as climbing to the sky. I can only raise them. But to raise them, I need territory, I need money.”
Haia listened in a daze.
“I can just leave. If I leave, what will happen to them?”
“Your Sausage Gang…” Haia had a sudden realization.
Herlkin had established this gang just to create a pure land for these girls and women.
Herlkin only said, “Other meats are not easy to store and spoil easily. But sausages are different.”
She looked at the little girls in the courtyard and said, “Girls have to eat their fill! Eat well! Only then will they have the strength to live!”
Herlkin looked at Haia again. “I have to guard this place, guard them. Before the royal family solves the problem of where these people will go, I’m not going anywhere.”
The sea breeze blew into this small courtyard. Haia looked at Herlkin and couldn’t say anything else, only stating, “If anyone gets sick, bring them to my clinic.”
After speaking, she turned and left.
Herlkin did not try to keep her. Looking at her back, she took out a book.
She would go home.
No matter what the relationship between the three of them became in the future, she would go home.
But not today.
Now, the boss of the Sausage Gang had to save the world.
…
Haia walked to a deserted part of the docks and took out the book that had fallen from the sky—
“Only One Bed [Pure Yuri/R-rated/HE]”
Haia blinked lightly and transmigrated back into the book.
On the desolate mountaintop stood an ancient castle. The brick walls were covered with withered vines. A desolate cold wind blew away the dark clouds under the gray-blue sky, bringing a fishy smell of an impending storm.
Haia approached the main gate of the ancient castle. Her body automatically changed into a maid’s uniform.
Aomo was not her teacher, but her master.
Haia’s gaze fell on the stone steps.
There was a footprint.
Aomo had indeed come back.
Haia’s fingertips trembled slightly. She pushed open the main gate of the ancient castle, and darkness instantly rushed out.
The smell of oldness hit her face, followed by the smell of blood.
Not fresh.
It was the kind that had seeped into the walls, cold and omnipresent.
Haia remembered every moment she had been sucked dry and couldn’t help but tremble.
The main hall was not lit. All the furniture was covered in dust, soaked in darkness.
Haia’s gaze swept over this familiar yet strange scene.
She came to the bottom of the stairs, to the place where she used to kneel and wait to serve every day.
Footsteps then sounded.
Very light.
It was a rhythm she was familiar with.
The footsteps stopped at the boundary of light and shadow. Aomo did not step out of the shadows.
“Didn’t I tell you not to come and find me?”
Her voice was very calm, with no emotion, but a slight tremor at the end of her words betrayed her.
Haia looked at the thick shadow, trying hard to see the person inside, but could only catch a blurry, slender silhouette.
She wanted to get close but didn’t dare.
“This is my home,” Haia said.
There was a moment of silence in the shadows.
“I haven’t been good to you. Besides drinking your blood, I… you.”
The deliberately blurred verb pointed out the improper relationship between the two of them.
“Why do you have to follow me?”
Haia did not answer immediately.
In her mind, half was this cold ancient castle, half was that warm snowy mountain wooden house.
“I don’t understand why I would have those feelings for two people.” Haia said, “I’ve thought a lot during this time. Maybe it’s because of the setting, maybe it’s because…”
She paused. In her mind, only warm fragments remained. “Maybe… I really did have feelings. Maybe I’m just a greedy person.”
Haia was honest with herself, and also with Aomo.
“I know that whatever I say now is pale. I didn’t come to force you to accept me. I just want to confirm… are you alright?”
Her voice became very light, and, mixed with the cold wind blowing through the hall, it seemed even more broken.
“…I miss you a little.”
Haia said, “You don’t have to come down to see me. It’s enough for me to just hear your voice.”
The shadow on the stairs swayed.
“I won’t go back to that world anymore,” Aomo said.
Staying here, her life would not pass.
“It’s fine,” Haia said, her voice surprisingly calm. “I’ll come back to see you… Herlkin will too.”
“Whatever.” Aomo turned to leave, then stopped after two steps.
“…Take care of yourself.”
Haia looked at the empty shadow, as if she could see Aomo’s back through them.
After a long while, she whispered, as if in a whisper, “Goodbye.”
Of course, they would meet again.
They just needed a little time.
Aomo looked at Haia leaving from a small window and said softly, “Goodbye.”
*
[Recently, several well-known domestic online literature platforms have jointly spoken out, clearly stating that they will adopt a “zero tolerance” attitude toward plagiarism and will further strengthen rights protection measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of original authors.]
[Many platforms have successively launched a “Original Protection Plan,” providing creators with a one-stop service including copyright registration, infringement monitoring, and legal support, further building a copyright protection ecosystem.] [1]
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…
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…
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…
“Oh my god! Young Miss! You’re finally back!”
“Oh! My lady! You’re back too!”
“The cows in the farm have missed you!”
Adele held Lina’s hand tightly.
They were home.
Finally home.
