novelraw Chapter 467: The Chasm
Chapter 467: The Chasm
Liu Ziming and Xu Hao were initially stunned, but quickly snapped out of it and instinctively tried to step in front of Su Zhan, only to be pushed aside by the even more surging crowd.
Teacher Wang Mingyuan, with his rich life experience, could only shake his head with a bitter smile as he watched the scene spiral out of control.
Feng Jue's brow furrowed slightly, the aura around him undulating subtly, imperceptibly pushing away those who got too close, but even he couldn't stem this tide of fervor.
Su Zhan stood where he was, his brow slightly furrowed.
He was neither accustomed to nor fond of this feeling of being gawked at like a rare animal.
Those scorching gazes made him feel as if he were being roasted under a spotlight, far less comfortable than battling Calamity-level monsters on the battlefield.
But as he looked at these excited and sincere faces before him.
He ultimately did not use his power to force his way out.
Su Zhan silently took the pen offered by that young man and signed his name on the notebook.
The pen tip glided across the paper, leaving behind two flamboyant characters.The young man clutched the notebook to his chest as if it were a priceless treasure, stammering incoherently with excitement.
He then obliged those girls, giving a slight nod toward the camera.
The girls let out excited shrieks, nearly fainting on the spot.
More and more people clamored for autographs and photos. The crowd not only failed to disperse, but seemed to be growing larger, with people hearing the news clogging the entire street.
The situation was completely out of control.
The impatience in Su Zhan's eyes gradually deepened.
He did not enjoy this kind of adulation; it only made him feel constrained.
"That's enough."
He said softly to Wang Mingyuan and the others beside him.
Wang Mingyuan understood and immediately gave Liu Ziming and Xu Hao a meaningful look.
The group began trying to part the crowd, clearing a path for Su Zhan.
"Everyone! Please make way! Mr. Su Zhan needs to rest!"
Wang Mingyuan announced loudly.
But it had little effect.
The fervent crowd still desperately pushed forward, just wanting to get a little closer to their Guardian Deity.
Su Zhan sighed softly. A gentle, invisible force spread out from him like ripples on water, quietly pushing the surrounding crowd back and creating a small space.
He gave a slight nod to Wang Mingyuan and the others, then his figure blurred and he vanished from the spot.
When Wang Mingyuan and the others finally managed to extricate themselves from the fervent crowd, looking somewhat disheveled as they regrouped at the mouth of a relatively quiet alley.
A figure silently appeared before them.
Everyone focused their eyes and were momentarily stunned.
They saw that Su Zhan now wore a half-face mask, covering his features from the bridge of his nose to the upper part of his cheeks, leaving only his jawline and eyes exposed.
The mask was a simple silver-gray, devoid of any patterns.
It effectively concealed his overly striking face.
"Hey! Brother Su, where did you pull that thing from?"
Liu Ziming was the first to step forward, curiously circling Su Zhan once with clicks of his tongue. "But with this mask on, your aura is even more mysterious."
Seeing this, Teacher Wang Mingyuan burst into hearty laughter. "Good, good, you sure have a way, kid. Now we can finally take a quiet walk! Who would have thought, who would have thought, that our Daxia's famed Guardian Deity would one day need a mask just to go outside, hahaha!"
Xu Hao also couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head with a smile. "Brother Su, now you've experienced the troubles of being too famous, haven't you?"
Su Zhan shook his head helplessly. Through the mask, his voice sounded somewhat muffled. "Noisy."
This only provoked another round of good-natured laughter from the group.
"Let's go, let's go, keep walking. Let's see who can recognize us now."
Liu Ziming waved his hand triumphantly.
The group walked side-by-side again, and this time it was indeed much quieter.
Occasionally, passersby cast curious glances, at most finding it a bit odd that one of these people with such extraordinary bearing wore a mask.
But no one could connect him to the Daxia Guardian Deity who had just been bestowed the highest honor.
Teacher Wang Mingyuan walked alongside, joking with a smile. "Su Zhan, looks like you'll have to keep that mask handy from now on. Otherwise, you won't even be able to have a peaceful drink with us old folks."
Liu Ziming immediately chimed in. "Exactly, exactly, Brother Su. Next time we go somewhere for good food, you just wear this. Guaranteed no one will bother us."
Xu Hao added with a laugh. "Maybe we can even develop some new features for it, like attaching a soundproofing Magic Circle or something, specifically to deal with Ziming's noise attacks."
"Haozi! I'm noting that down!"
Liu Ziming immediately pretended to be angry and went to grab Xu Hao's neck, the two of them laughing and roughhousing.
Su Zhan walked among them.
Perhaps, while possessing power, one also needed such little tricks to steal these moments of ordinary, mundane life.
In the night, Su Zhan, wearing his mask, walked with his teacher and friends, blending into the ordinary nightscape of the post-war Capital.
The sound of laughter and chatter was abruptly cut off.
Just as they turned a street corner, it was as if they had stepped into another world.
Ahead was no longer a street with sparse lights, but the edge of that vast, lifeless resettlement zone.
Compared to the area behind them that still retained a hint of urban vitality, the light here abruptly dimmed. Only a few temporarily installed street lamps emitted a murky yellow glow.
Barely outlining the dense, chaotic contours of tents and shacks.
Like an ugly scar upon the earth.
That stench of despair rushed at them.
Dispelling the lingering scent of alcohol and joy on their bodies.
The warm feeling of a full stomach felt so jarring at this moment.
The smile on Liu Ziming's face froze, and he subconsciously restrained his aura.
Xu Hao silently stuffed his hands into his pockets, his gaze turning solemn as it swept over those figures shivering in the cold wind.
The chilling, standoffish aura around Feng Jue seemed to recede somewhat.
The relaxed expression on Wang Mingyuan's face also vanished. He sighed softly and said in a low voice, "The Western District resettlement zone... it's expanded again."
Su Zhan wore his mask, so others couldn't see his expression.
In the gloom, he clearly captured more details.
The child curled up in thin bedding, shivering uncontrollably from the cold.
The old man leaning on a tree branch, dragging an injured leg as he struggled to fetch water.
The few men sitting silently around a fire so weak it was almost extinguished.
And the faint sounds of coughing and the thin, weak cries of infants coming from all directions...
Liu Ziming opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something to lighten the mood, but in the end, he just swallowed dryly and said nothing.
He had heard about the wretched conditions in the resettlement zones before, but the impact of being here in person was far beyond anything he'd heard secondhand.
Xu Hao said quietly, "The authorities distribute relief rations once a day, but there are too many people, it's never enough... Medicine is even scarcer."
Wang Mingyuan nodded gravely. "Reconstruction takes time, takes resources... But right now, everything is in short supply. This winter is going to be too hard for them."
Everyone fell silent. The relaxed, pleasant atmosphere from the banquet earlier had long since vanished without a trace.
They stood on the dividing line between light and darkness, abundance and utter poverty, hope and despair. An insurmountable chasm lay at their feet.