Chapter 174: Colander

The next day, early morning.

Perhaps because of Xia Nan's performance during dinner these past two days, she had noticed his preferences.

Mrs. Daisy got up early today and specifically cooked a small pot of cream mushroom soup for him.

She even carefully sprinkled some ginger powder in the soup and squeezed a few drops of lemon juice.

This added a touch of freshness to the already fresh, sweet, and thick taste of the mushroom soup, making it much more refreshing to drink.

Living in Jeff's house, eating and drinking for free, and still having the hostess go to such trouble, made Xia Nan feel a bit embarrassed.

However, Jeff and Daisy didn't seem to care, as if it were only right and proper.

Just an ordinary family maintaining their livelihood with the savings accumulated from a caravan career and the income of a tailor shop, for a benefactor who stepped forward in a time of crisis and saved the pillar of the family.

Such a return, they even felt that they might have treated the other party poorly.

It was no wonder that Jeff, at the age of forty or fifty, could save up a three-story small building and a tailor shop in a good location in Niumu City.

If Xia Nan didn't have the attribute panel and combat techniques, but was just an ordinary person common in this world, he would really be willing to follow the other party to run the caravan and do some small business.

As long as he could make money, there would definitely be no lack of brothers under his command.

After enjoying the breakfast Mrs. Daisy prepared for him, Xia Nan greeted the people in the house and left.

Yesterday in the sewer, he had already made an appointment with the Grey Badger Gang boss "Eight-Fingers" that he would send someone to lead him to the residence of "Colander" Da Ben this morning.

And Da Ben, as a friend and adventurer teammate of his mission target Ba'en, was the object he could find who was most likely to know the information about his location, now that Ba'en's entire family had passed away.

He didn't spend much time on the road.

After walking for only about two or three streets, a sturdy figure with a shiny head came into his view at the entrance of Yujin Street.

"Mr. Xia Nan, you came so early! I thought I would have to wait a while."

In the biting cold wind of autumn, Tie Tou stood alone on the side of the road, rubbing his hands. Seeing Xia Nan, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

Nodding slightly in greeting, Xia Nan glanced at the other party, and his expression couldn't help but reveal a hint of strangeness.

Unlike the thug attire of a rough cloth short shirt with the chest half-open revealing the tattoos inside when they first met a few days ago.

Right now, Tie Tou had changed into a linen tunic with a waistband, paired with loose trousers, and was wearing a pair of leather short boots on his feet.

Although it didn't look very fitting, giving one a sense of embarrassment of being temporarily pieced together for going out, it was undoubtedly much more decent than the arrogant, thug-like appearance from before.

"Let's go." Xia Nan noticed the difference in the other party but didn't ask much, directly letting him lead the way.

Just like the scene when he led Xia Nan and Wood to the Grey Badger Gang's nest in the sewer yesterday, this bald, burly man with a fierce face was abnormally familiar with the city area, at least these few streets from the West District to the slums.

The main road was fine, and nothing could be seen.

But as the originally spacious streets on both sides became narrower and narrower, and there were more and more alleys and paths, his footsteps, which wound through them without getting lost, gradually became conspicuous.

"So familiar, do you often come and go here?"

Xia Nan followed behind the other party, curious, and asked casually.

"Heh, you're joking." Tie Tou turned his head halfway, grinning to reveal his yellow-brown rotten teeth, "Most of the brothers in the gang grew up in the slums."

"We grew up running through these alleys. If we could still get lost in them, we'd be laughed at for half a year if it got out."

Xia Nan didn't reply, his eyes turning slightly, his gaze sweeping over the streets on both sides, looking at the surrounding environment.

Right now, the two had truly entered the slums of Niumu's Lower City District.

The narrow, muddy streets were filled with puddles of all sizes; some sections even required one to tiptoe across the protruding stones or wooden boards on them, otherwise, if one wasn't careful, they would leave a deep footprint on the surface of the sludge composed of blood, excrement, and rotten vegetable leaves below;

both sides were crowded with shabby huts built of thatch, moldy wooden boards, and rammed earth, with crooked walls, as if a slight push would cause the houses in the entire block to collapse like a chain reaction of dominoes.

Snoring, curses, the cries of livestock... mixed with the stench of decay and rot in the air, made Xia Nan, who had come to the slums, feel as if the air around his body was colder.

Not far ahead, a thin woman wearing old cloth clothes poured the feces bucket in her hand on the side of the road without caring, glanced at the two with a numb face, a flash of fear and timidity appearing on her numb face, and turned back into the house, "bang" closing the door, and the sound of a baby crying could be heard faintly through the crack of the door.

Walking on the road, Xia Nan could feel pairs of malicious eyes coming from the shadows of the alleys on both sides.

Attracted by his young face, they paused slightly on the surface of his carefully maintained boutique chain mail, and finally stopped on the two longswords behind his back.

Occasionally looking in the direction the gaze came from, facing his pair of pitch-black, cold, and sharp eyes, no one dared to look at him.

Fully armed, the veteran adventurer attire that was particularly bluffing in the eyes of ordinary residents, the confident temperament emitted because of physical fitness and combat ability far exceeding ordinary people after obtaining a professional level, black hair and black eyes, cold and sharp facial features...

made Xia Nan not encounter any special trouble along the way.

Being able to struggle to survive in such a harsh environment, these poor people knew very well who could be provoked and who needed to be kept away from.

But...

"Does that Da Ben really live here?"

His eyes reflecting the grass sheds and earth houses around him, Xia Nan's tone carried a hint of suspicion as he asked Tie Tou, who was leading the way ahead.

Based on the information he had collected so far, although "Colander" Da Ben had not obtained a professional level, he should also be a veteran adventurer who was still considered experienced.

He usually had a proper job and possessed a stable source of income—after all, his nickname "Colander" came from the Iron Barrel Toad tavern where he once served as a cook.

In his impression, this kind of adventurer in a semi-retired state, even if he couldn't be like Jeff and Ba'en, who had children and a happy family, shouldn't be living too badly.

It was even at the time node when he had just finished the Hunting Day's extra-money-making activity and returned to Niumu from River Valley Town.

Even if he was extravagant on weekdays, he definitely had the money to go to the tavern to indulge for a few days.

Seeming to know a little inside story, Tie Tou didn't stop his footsteps, his tone flat, and his actual thoughts couldn't be seen:

"Mr. Da Ben lived a relatively... uh, dashing life when he was young."

"When he retired from the adventurer's path, he didn't save much money. Although he had a decent house, he sold it long ago."

"He is not particularly wealthy; I heard that he occasionally needs help from former teammates to maintain his life."

"However, it is precisely because of this that I had the opportunity to know him. You say, right?"

Coinciding with a corner, Tie Tou turned around and smiled at Xia Nan behind him, spreading his hands.

Whether one obtained a professional level was a watershed in the career of most adventurers in this world.

It was like those athletes active on the field in the previous life; age and injury limited the development of adventurers to a great extent.

The former might bring them richer experience and skills, but the aging of the body and the decline of physical fitness would make the danger coefficient of the entire adventure process increase exponentially;

and for the latter, for those injuries received during the mission, a bottle of healing potion cost 50 gold, and one could afford it after saving for a period of time.

But the hidden injuries accumulated in various parts of the body due to year-round bad living habits, high-pressure environments, over-drafting, and other factors were not something that a bottle of potion costing less than three digits could cure.

Many adventurers, don't look at them when they retire at thirty or forty, full of energy, as if life has just begun.

In reality, their bodies were already on the verge of collapse due to high-intensity adventure careers.

If they didn't get enough rest, they would age quickly, and in a few years, a sudden, unexpected major illness would take their lives.

Only by obtaining the "mastery" of combat techniques and the physical fitness bonus brought by promotion could they fundamentally reverse the decline brought about by age and injury in all aspects.

And even if the physical condition was still okay after retirement, for adventurers who were accustomed to a safe and stable life in the town, wanting to pick up the swords and blades that had already been covered with a thick layer of dust in the warehouse was not a simple matter.

"We are here, Mr. Xia Nan."

"Ahead is Da Ben's residence."

After winding through the complex alleys for a while, Tie Tou stopped in front of a small brick house with Xia Nan.

It could only be said that the environment was better than he had imagined.

Although he also lived in the slums, Da Ben's house and the street ahead were obviously much cleaner, and it was clear that someone cleaned them often.

Although this house itself might not be anything in the West District, it was no exaggeration to say it stood out from the crowd compared to the grass sheds and mud sheds on both sides.

Not letting Xia Nan do it himself, Tie Tou took the initiative to knock on the door for him with great discernment.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Who is it?"

A voice with a hint of sleepiness, sounding a bit hoarse as if he had just woken up, came from inside the door.

Then there was a series of slow footsteps approaching.

Xia Nan didn't relax his vigilance, his gaze swept over the dense and slightly narrow environment around the building, his right hand lifted slightly, and he was already prepared to draw the wooden sword 【Green Pine】 for battle.

At the same time, his attention was focused on the door; as long as the other party moved slightly, the huge heavy pressure from 【Gravity Control】 would pour down in an instant.

"Creak."

The door hinge rubbed and twisted, making a harsh sound.

Revealing a face with a guarded expression through the crack in the door, covered in stubble.

Seeing Tie Tou standing in front of the door, Da Ben's tense face relaxed slightly, and he waved his hand:

"A bit busy recently, not taking jobs, let your boss..."

Before he finished speaking, as the crack in the door gradually widened, he also saw the sharp figure fully armed who was standing behind Tie Tou at this time.

His expression changed abruptly, his right hand holding the door handle exerted force, and he was about to close the door.

But the next second, an invisible force appeared from nowhere, pinning him firmly in place.

The door that was meant to be closed tight was also, under the influence of an inexplicable force, as if attracted by the wall beside it, slipping from his control and suddenly opening, slamming into the wall with a "bang."

【Gravity Control】 took effect silently; Xia Nan patted Iron-Head on the shoulder and walked past him.

The iron rings of his chain mail collided, making a faint and crisp sound, and the cold shadow under the sunlight shrouded the face of the middle-aged man in front.

"Da Ben, right?"

"The Association sent me over to find you to understand some things."

A cramped and simple living room filled with miscellaneous items.

Da Ben sat on the sofa, his back straight, an awkward and stiff smile on his face.

"I am truly sorry, Mr. Xia Nan."

"This... the Association didn't notify me, I really didn't know it was you who came."

As an adventurer active in the Lower City District who often helped gangs do things, after so many years since retirement, he had offended so many people and had entanglements with so many forces that even he himself could no longer count them.

The moment he saw Xia Nan just now, Da Ben naturally assumed that he had been betrayed by the Grey Badger Gang, who had brought a killer sent by his enemies, so he instinctively had the thought of closing the door and running away.

That was why he had acted the way he did just now.

Now, after Xia Nan's explanation, he realized that he had misunderstood the other party.

As for whether he was lying to himself to make him lower his guard...

His mind couldn't help but recall the bizarre scene from before, where he was frozen in place and the door in his hand was out of his control.

He didn't think any force would be rich enough to hire such a big shot who had clearly already obtained a professional level to deal with a small character like himself.

"You came this time, is it for..."

On the table in front of him, hot tea rose in white smoke.

Xia Nan leaned forward slightly.

"How much do you know about Ba'en?"

"Ba'en?" Da Ben's expression paused, and then he lowered his voice, cautiously saying, "Isn't he already dead?"

"If he is still alive, where might he go?"

"Hmm, as for where..." Da Ben frowned and pondered, muttering to himself.

"He grew up in the slums since he was a child. His parents died before he could remember, and he was raised by his grandfather, but that old man also passed away six years ago."

"He had some friendship with the boss of the Iron Barrel Toad, often going there to drink alone, perhaps..."

He looked up at Xia Nan's expression.

"Alright, it seems you have already been there."

He pondered for a long time again, but did not give a clear answer.

Seeing that the other party couldn't think of anything for a while, Xia Nan planned to start from other angles to see if he could find any useful clues.

Recalling Ba'en's neighbor, the young girl named Harriet, who had mentioned to him that Ba'en had returned to Niumu injured midway through the Hunting Day, it was clear he had encountered an accident during his adventure.

And Da Ben in front of him was Ba'en's teammate at the time, so he should know something.

(End of chapter)