Chapter 771: Chapter 1: Guiltless, The Sun Rises in the East (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone!)
Whoo-whoo-whoo!
The loud whistle dragged the thick, large train carriages, forcefully squeezing them out from the small cave of the Mountain Lady, scattering overturned yellow leaves.
Under the murky moonlight, this monster clad in green skin charged wildly and recklessly, disrupting the girls’ hearts, shattering the old aunties’ spring dreams, and finally, it plunged straight and unprotected into the deepest platform of the town, coming to a slow stop, perfectly docking, a tight fit.
The number of passengers was not small, with more than a hundred people, bustling onto the platform, both men and women, around forty years old, each thoroughly sweaty and weary from travel.
The conductor, zzz-zzz, smoked away sleepiness, massaging his sore neck, punched out with the other staff in the lobby, and officially clocked out.
He hadn’t walked far when he saw a smiling youth looking his way, he paused briefly and said,
"You’re a stranger, aren’t you? Wait until tomorrow for the return trip, this is the last train, time to rest."
With that, he didn’t care whether the other understood or not, he left the staff’s dormitory, hooking up with a glitzy midnight lady, heading towards the nearby convenient motel.
"Uhm... thanks for the tip?"
The youth muttered to himself after a moment.
However, the conductor’s attention was fully captivated by the lady’s voluptuous chest and bouncing buttocks, having long forgotten about him.
Xu Shu watched him leave, standing still, his expression slightly odd as he looked around.
He still couldn’t determine his coordinates, because he couldn’t find a lighthouse with a flag.
Yet, a hundred meters away, the border’s sign shone brilliantly under the night lights, ’Warm Penglai Welcomes You’.
No doubt, this was the edge of the Wasteland.
But...
A haunted train that arrives at two-thirty in the morning?
Rows of black double-seated pickups neatly parked in the open-air parking lot?
Slightly swaying buildings like ’Midnight Fragrance Inn’, ’Ya’s Hotel’, ’Like Blossom Inn’, and other renowned structures on both sides?
How could such a thriving place still be considered Wasteland?
Xu Shu had his doubts.
Alright, the third point isn’t dubious, still the familiar creaking beds, still the rich odor.
Indeed, very Wasteland-style.
But the scenes before him made Xu Shu inadvertently recall what he had seen and heard in the "hometown" D8B3 district of the Wasteland.
Places like refugee camps, scavengers dressed as beggars, Wasteland Hunters who gun down civilians with submachine guns, cultists on the hotel rooftops picking the poorest as sacrifice materials...
So this is what a First-class Safe Zone looks like?
The disparity seems too great.
No, one shouldn’t judge solely by superficial gloss... Perhaps there’s inner substance, hidden wealth, secret fortunes... stop thinking!
Xu Shu took a deep breath, turned back, and found the foster parents and others waiting there.
"We should be safe for now, let’s find a place to stay first, I’ll scout around tomorrow," Xu Shu said.
He didn’t know how many people had survived, how many had come to Penglai District, and where they had all ended up.
Their immediate priority was to settle his family first.
At this moment, the three of them were still pale, not fully recovered from their ordeal.
They had endured the harrowing Quenching Road, heard the terrifying wailing, and with the closing and opening of their eyes, found themselves in a different world.
For ordinary people, this was an extremely difficult reality to accept.
Plus, being newcomers to this unfamiliar place naturally didn’t allow them the composure Xu Shu had.
"Ashu, we really owe you this time, otherwise..." Father Zhou, supporting his wife who could barely walk, trailed off.
Xu Shu interjected, "Dad, no need for formalities among family."
"Ah," Father Zhou didn’t respond until a moment later, his eyes brimming with a hint of tears, uncertain if it was over the loss of money or longing for their old home.
Soon after, Xu Shu picked a relatively modest Like Home Hotel and walked in.
Just then, several burly men, reeking of alcohol, staggered out, giving them a few glances.
Their eyes lingered briefly on his sister Zhou Shiyu, but upon seeing Xu Shu, who stood half a head taller and was evidently strong, they said nothing and quietly passed by.
Xu Shu frowned slightly, keeping alert, and decided to book two rooms.
Now he sighed with relief, thinking how convenient it was to have a space item because otherwise, he would be worrying about money.
"From out of town, are you? A standard room is eight hundred a night, a double room a thousand, deluxe rooms one thousand five hundred, and a thousand for the security deposit."
The front desk girl, gleefully flipping through some risqué little picture book, closed it formally, glanced at Xu Shu and his family, and with a relatively kind smile, spoke rapidly.
Xu Shu’s expression froze, then he gave a cold laugh, "Extortionate, huh?"
Eight hundred?
Ridiculous, to charge that much for a night in such a hotel, how dare you even ask?
What kind of rip-off place charges such prices? Even in the Safe Zone, it was barely five hundred a night at most!
You spot that I’m from out of town and try to butcher me for it?
I don’t have ’out of town’ written on my face, how did you guess?
Without greeting, Xu Shu turned and walked to the next hotel.
In this small Wasteland town, with at least seven or eight visible hotels, there was no need to indulge such people.
Ten minutes later.
Xu Shu returned to "Like Home," expressionless, and calmly pulled out money from his green lace wallet, handing over four thousand-yuan bills, his expression vacant as he said:
"Excuse me, two deluxe rooms please."
Father Zhou said, "Ashu, it’s too expensive, we should just stay in a regular room."