Shang Jianyao looked at Zhao Shouren's eyes and raised his hand to touch his chin.
He further asked:
"It doesn't have to be a stranger. Which outsiders have come in the last few months?"
"No, apart from a few merchants who come regularly to sell daily necessities, there are no other outsiders." Zhao Shouren shook his head again.
He paused, then asked with a slightly puzzled expression:
"Why are you asking this?"
"Gossip is human nature." Shang Jianyao replied sincerely.
"What? Gossip?" Zhao Shouren obviously didn't know what that word meant.
Because Shang Jianyao looked like a Greytown native, they naturally used the Greytown language during their conversation.
Shang Jianyao was about to seriously explain the real and extended meaning of gossip when Zhao Shouren raised his hand and waved:
"Let's not talk about it. We'll talk outside later. This isn't a suitable place for chatting."
In such a small room, the rising steam brought a feeling of difficulty breathing, and the high temperature pressed against every part of the body, making one's head feel dizzy and chest stuffy. It really wasn't suitable for idle chat.
Shang Jianyao politely closed his mouth, occasionally scooping up a spoonful of water and pouring it on the heated stones.
The two of them quietly listened to the sizzling sound, as if competing to see who could endure longer in such an environment.
After a while, Zhao Shouren raised his hand to wipe his forehead and stood up unsteadily:
"I can't take it anymore. I'll pass out if I stay here any longer."
Shang Jianyao smiled:
"Then let's go out."
Zhao Shouren then opened the door of the steam room and walked towards a hot water pool not far away.
Shang Jianyao followed closely behind him, imitating his actions, tearing off the bath towel around his waist, and slipping into the water to wash away the various sensations he had just "steamed" out.
In just a minute or two, Zhao Shouren stood up and moved into the cold water pool next to it.
He made a "hiss" sound, and his expression became very distorted.
But as he adapted to the water temperature, the muscles in his face gradually relaxed, and he seemed to perk up.
"Brother, life in Greytown is uncertain. You have to enjoy it when you can." Zhao Shouren took a towel, wiped his forehead, and said with sincere emotion.
Shang Jianyao also soaked in the cold water pool, looking around as if everything was new and strange.
"You have to go back to the manor in the afternoon?" he asked.
Zhao Shouren nodded:
"There's still time. Take a good soak, take a nap, wake up and get someone to give me a service, then take a shower, have lunch, and go out to do some shopping."
Clapping his hands, Shang Jianyao applauded his arrangements.
At the same time, he glanced below the surface of the water.
Zhao Shouren coughed twice and returned to the hot water pool.
This time, he only soaked for a few minutes before hurriedly getting up and wrapping himself in his large bath towel.
After washing his body and changing into a bathrobe, Shang Jianyao could finally see the appearance of this Zhao family steward clearly:
He should be in his forties, with a thin build, sparse hair, and obvious puffiness around his eyes.
After leaving the men's bathroom, the two entered the rest area, each occupying a lounge chair and covering themselves with a thin blanket.
As they chatted, Zhao Shouren closed his eyes, and snoring sounds came from his nose.
Shang Jianyao turned his head to look at him, smiled, and took an item from his bathrobe pocket:
It was a luminous pearl that was quietly blooming with a cyan-green light.
Holding the luminous pearl, Shang Jianyao's eyes gradually became dark.
"Past Life Insight"!
"Past Life Insight" from Dimarco!
Inside Zhao Shouren's Sea of Origins, Shang Jianyao's figure in a white bathrobe emerged.
On the sea shimmering with light, a faint mist lingered, vaguely hiding islands, but without Zhao Shouren's own consciousness manifestation.
This was the appearance of an ordinary person's spiritual world who had not entered the Hall of Stars and opened the corresponding door.
Shang Jianyao then divided into nine, all sitting cross-legged in mid-air.
Immediately afterwards, within the Sea of Origins affected by Past Life Insight, countless waves surged high, and various images enlarged one after another.
The nine Shang Jianyaos began to recall all of Zhao Shouren's memories from the past few months, each responsible for a portion.
A few minutes later, the Shang Jianyao with the small speaker on his head said in surprise:
"There's a harvest!"
He quickly zoomed in on a scene:
In a room with bookshelves and a desk, Zhao Shouren was reporting something to a young man who looked a bit like Zhao Yide but wasn't fat at all.
Sitting in the chair behind this young man was a person in a black windbreaker with ordinary features.
In a situation where the other bodyguards were standing, he seemed quite special.
"Why do you think he's a problem?"
"Where did you determine that a clue could be found here?"
"Isn't it possible that he's an Awakened being hired with a high salary?"
Three or four of the other Shang Jianyaos raised their questions.
The Shang Jianyao with the small speaker smiled:
"This is part of Jiang Baimian's thinking method:
"Make bold assumptions and verify them carefully.
"Since this person looks relatively special, then focus on checking all the fragments of him in Zhao Shouren's memory."
The other eight Shang Jianyaos agreed with this.
Soon, with their concerted efforts, all the memory fragments with the man in the black windbreaker were found:
He was a second-generation servant native to the manor, favored by Zhao Zhengqi's second son, Zhao Yixue, and became his personal attendant.
However, one of the Shang Jianyaos keenly noticed that the man in the black windbreaker looked nothing like his parents, and this completely failed to explain why he would receive special treatment.
The Shang Jianyaos carefully observed the man in the black windbreaker for a while, and found that his complexion wasn't very good and he looked quite haggard.
This made them all think of one person:
The fake "Father."
…………
In First City, it's not too difficult to get a car. As long as you don't pursue whether it was produced in recent years and how long it will last, there are various models of vehicles for you to choose from.
But if you add the conditions of not having much money, not being able to commit crimes, and having a time limit, it becomes more troublesome. At least Long Yuehong and Genava can't think of where to start.
Fortunately, their small team had Bai Chen, who knew First City quite well.
After ten o'clock, Bai Chen led them out of the Ugo Inn, winding and turning to a place near the Red River bank in the Green Olive District.
This place wasn't too far from the inn, only a dozen or twenty minutes on foot, but the houses were getting more and more dilapidated and the roads were getting narrower.
Sometimes, when Long Yuehong and the others were walking through the streets and alleys, they could touch the exterior walls of the houses on both sides with their arms fully extended, and the dense wires above haphazardly divided the sky.
Along the way, the small team encountered mostly dirty children. The adults had either gone to the factory area or were busy with other things for their livelihoods. Only a few remained in this area.
Long Yuehong scanned the suddenly open area ahead and the large number of dilapidated cars parked inside and asked curiously:
"Is this a place to sell cars?"
After the Ruin Hunters dragged some of the vehicles they found in the city ruins to First City, they often didn't have that much time to find the final buyers themselves. They would directly trade with used car dealers.
Although this would definitely result in a big loss in price, it at least saved time, and many Ruin Hunters would go hungry the next day if they didn't sell their harvest today.
"Yes." Bai Chen nodded in response.
"But we don't have much money..." Long Yuehong reminded cautiously.
Bai Chen glanced at Genava, who was carrying a sack, and said calmly:
"You can also rent cars here."
"Rent?" Long Yuehong was a little surprised.
This wasn't a house. It couldn't be moved away. Ordinary merchants lacked various old-world technical means. Weren't they afraid of not getting it back if they rented it out?
As they spoke, the three of them entered the row of dilapidated bungalows next to the parking lot and saw several Red River natives with dark brown skin and slightly curly hair chatting idly behind a wooden counter.
"Rent a car." Before those people could ask what they wanted, Bai Chen said directly.
"You can only determine the price after you've picked out a vehicle." The tallest Red River native, who was still shorter than Long Yuehong, responded.
Then, he emphasized:
"You also need collateral, otherwise, if you drive the car out of the city and never come back, we'll lose money."
Bai Chen didn't speak and pointed at Genava.
Ah, are they going to leave Old Ge as collateral here? That thought flashed through Long Yuehong's mind instantly.
The next second, Genava put the sack he was carrying in front of him and took out the Reaper man-portable rocket launcher.
"Is this okay?" Bai Chen asked.
After exchanging a look with his companion, the Red River native in charge of receiving the small team nodded:
"Okay."
This kind of heavy weapon was more than enough to exchange for an old-world broken car.
"Don't lose it. We have similar weapons." Bai Chen warned calmly, "And we'll soon come up with other collateral to replace it."
"Okay." The Red River native nodded quickly.
The small team quickly selected the vehicle they needed. It was a boxy gray off-road vehicle with traces of later repairs in some places.
After signing the contract for 2 Orei per day, Bai Chen drove back to the Ugo Inn.
Because some of the roads they walked on were very narrow and vehicles couldn't pass directly, she had to take a detour.
This allowed them to pass through the West Port of First City.
Ships coming from the upper and lower reaches of the Red River were docked there, loading and unloading supplies.
At this moment, Long Yuehong heard several long wolf howls coming from the streets near the port:
"Awoo!"
These cries weren't shrill, fierce, or like those of a real wolf. Instead, they carried a bit of sadness and some kind of indescribable feeling.
"What's this?" Long Yuehong turned his head to look at Bai Chen.
He felt uncomfortable all over.
Bai Chen looked ahead and said:
"Greytown prostitute."
"Ah?" Long Yuehong and Genava couldn't understand what this had to do with wolf howls.
Bai Chen's gaze remained on the end of the road, and she said in an unchanged tone:
"They were captured as slaves, selected by brothels, and no one taught them the Red River language. They can only rely on imitating the calls of a mother wolf to attract passing customers and port sailors.
"In First City, they are called 'She-wolves'."
After hearing this, Long Yuehong opened his mouth, but said nothing.