novelraw Chapter 292: A Dragon in Shallow Waters, A Tiger Stranded on Flatlands
Chapter 292: A Dragon in Shallow Waters, A Tiger Stranded on Flatlands
Thus.
Su Zhan began his journey southward as a beggar.
Walking along the edge of the National Highway, occasionally entering small towns along the way, rummaging for food in garbage piles, or sitting on street corners, extending a filthy hand, softly begging from passing pedestrians.
He learned how to make his gaze humble and avoid eye contact, how to minimize his own presence.
At night.
He would curl up under a bridge arch, or in any corner that could shelter him from wind and rain.
This process was slow.
But Su Zhan endured it.
This was currently the safest and most unexpected way to evade his enemies.
The pursuers were certainly searching the mountains and forests, checking transportation hubs, monitoring fast-moving targets.They would never pay attention to a beggar.
Su Zhan melted into the sea of people, heading south, moving towards Black City bit by bit in the most inconspicuous way.
...
After months of enduring the elements, traversing mountains and rivers, Su Zhan finally stepped onto this vast plain located in the central region of Daxia.
That night.
Daxia's capital city.
Su Zhan also entered this center of power.
He arrived at the back alley of a bustling commercial street.
Completely different from the glamorous scene ahead, this place was piled with many trash bins waiting to be cleared.
Su Zhan wore tattered clothes whose original color was unrecognizable, his face covered in thick grime, hunched over, carefully rummaging through a half-full trash bin.
His movements were practiced, his gaze numb, completely immersed in this role.
At that moment, a well-dressed mother and son passed by the alley entrance.
The mother looked to be in her thirties, wearing a well-tailored trench coat, carrying the latest designer bag.
The little boy was about seven or eight years old, with a lively, robust appearance, curiously looking around. His gaze was immediately drawn to Su Zhan rummaging through the trash bin in the alley.
The mother followed her child's gaze and immediately frowned with disgust.
She pulled the child over. "What are you looking at? There's nothing worth seeing."
The little boy stumbled from being yanked but couldn't help looking back, muttering softly, "Mom, what's that person... looking for in the trash bin?"
The mother shot a glare in Su Zhan's direction, squeezed her child's hand hard, her tone full of lecturing intent. "Looking for what? Looking for food! Let me tell you something, sweetie, you better take a good look!
See that? That's what happens when you don't study hard and fail to awaken anything in the future.
No skills, nothing, can only dig through trash bins here, like a stinking beggar.
If you end up being this useless too, not studying properly, and not awakening any decent Life Soul, you'll end up just like him, fighting flies for scraps in back alleys! You hear me?"
The little boy's face tightened solemnly. He nodded, somewhat understanding, somewhat not. When he looked at Su Zhan again, his eyes already carried a trace of contempt. "I hear you... Mom, I'll definitely study hard. I want to awaken a powerful Life Soul..."
The mother made a satisfied "hmm," as if looking any longer would dirty her eyes, and quickly pulled her child away from the back alley.
From beginning to end.
Su Zhan's rummaging movements in the trash bin never paused for a moment.
Only after the footsteps of the mother and son faded away.
Did he slowly straighten his back a little, pick out a relatively clean piece of bread from the bin, expressionlessly stuff it into his mouth, and chew mechanically.
Beneath the grime, no one could see the flash of indifference and icy coldness deep in his eyes.
A dragon stranded in shallow water, a tiger fallen to the plains.
The goal in Su Zhan's heart had never changed.
These worldly gazes and contempt were, to him, nothing more than insignificant dust on the road ahead.
The mother's lecturing tactics were like a standard template carved into the bones of countless ordinary parents in Daxia.
Establish a negative example.
Attribute their behavior to a single cause.
Frighten the child.
Then propose the only correct path.
Too familiar rhetoric.
Su Zhan said nothing, continuing to move along the city's edge towards the south like a true vagrant.
He found a relatively sheltered corner by a wall, curled up his body, and prepared to rest.
Su Zhan exuded a foul stench.
To ordinary people, he was absolutely someone to be avoided and kept at a distance.
A figure crept closer, a similarly ragged man.
He emitted faint Mist Energy around him, roughly only around Low-Risk Fifth Tier.
Clearly a wild Aberrant struggling at the bottom of society.
This Aberrant obviously saw Su Zhan as a vagrant he could bully at will.
He licked his chapped lips. "Old thing..."
Su Zhan slowly raised his head.
Low-Risk Fifth Tier... truly pitifully weak.
Even robbing someone like him, a stinking beggar?
Su Zhan had already fallen so low, disguised as a bottom-tier beggar, reeking of filth, repelling all approach, yet he could still be targeted by an even lower-tier predator.
Just how miserably down-and-out must this Aberrant be to target someone like him?
"Preying on each other at the bottom..."
Su Zhan felt a strange wave of sorrow.
Whether human or Aberrant, in this world, those at the very bottom often didn't unite to survive. Instead, they tore at each other like trapped beasts, squeezing pitiful survival resources from those even weaker.
The Low-Risk Aberrant, seeing Su Zhan frozen as if terrified, thought he had succeeded.
Su Zhan raised his right hand, striking second but arriving first, seizing the Aberrant's throat.
The Low-Risk Aberrant had no time to react. "Urk..."
He wanted to struggle but felt the hand gripping his neck was like an iron vise.
A surge of Mist Energy instantly flooded in, severing his vitality.
Su Zhan casually tossed the limp corpse into a nearby deep pit filled with construction debris, like throwing away garbage.
Since the other party sought death, he would not be merciful.
...
During Su Zhan's days disguised as a vagrant, he absorbed idle gossip from all directions.
"Tsk, what bad luck! This smell... doesn't anyone manage this?"
"Stay away, stay away. Who knows if he has fleas..."
"He has hands and feet, why not do something useful instead of lying here waiting for manna from heaven?"
When Su Zhan sat under an overpass, watching the endless stream of traffic, parents hurrying by with children would use him as a living negative example:
"See that? If you don't awaken, don't study hard, you'll end up just like this uncle in the future, with nowhere to live, only able to sleep under bridges!"
"Honey, hurry up, don't get close, it's dirty!"
When Su Zhan collected small amounts of food at some cheap relief points.
He would face impatient scolding from the staff:
"Line up! What's with the pushing? Stinking."
"You're so troublesome. Take it or leave it!"
"Coming every day, aren't you annoying? Social scum!"
Even among fellow bottom-tier vagrant groups, he would face exclusion:
"That new mute guy? Looks pretty tough, taking up so much space alone?"
"Stay away from him. He's acting weird, probably crazy."
"His bag looks bulging. Might have something good inside. Tonight..."