Chapter 809: Reserved Seat

"I'm a failure, barely noticing whether the sunshine is brilliant or not, because I have no time.

"My parents couldn't provide me any support, my education wasn't high either, alone in the city searching for a future.

"I applied for many jobs, but none of them would hire me—probably because no one likes a person who isn't good at speaking, doesn't love to communicate, and hasn't shown enough ability.

To read the latest chapter content, please download, ad-free reading of the latest chapter content. The website no longer updates the latest chapter content, the Star-Wen Reading App has updated the latest chapter content.

"I had a full three days eating only two pieces of bread, hunger kept me from sleeping at night. Fortunately, I paid a month's rent in advance, so I could still stay in that dark basement, without having to go outside and endure the abnormally cold wind of winter.

"Finally, I found a job, keeping night watch at a hospital, keeping night watch for the morgue.

"The hospital nights were colder than I imagined, the corridor wall lamps weren't lit, everywhere was dim, I could only rely on the little bit of light seeping out from the rooms to see my feet.

"The smell there was hard to bear, from time to time the dead were stuffed into body bags and sent over, we cooperated to help him carry them into the morgue.

"This isn't a very good job, but at least it lets me afford bread, and the free time at night can be used to study—after all, not many people are willing to come to the morgue, unless there are corpses that need to be delivered or taken away for cremation. Of course, I don't yet have enough money to buy books, and right now I can't see any hope of saving up money either.

"I have to thank my former colleague—if he hadn't suddenly quit, I might not even have been able to get a job like this.

"I dream of being able to rotate to the day shift. Right now I always sleep when the sun comes up and get up after night falls, which has made my body a bit weak, and my head occasionally throbs.

"One day, the porters brought in a new corpse.

"From what others said, this was my former colleague who had suddenly quit.

"I was a little curious about him. After everyone left, I pulled out the cabinet and quietly opened the body bag.

"He was an old man, his face both blue and white, wrinkles everywhere, looking very frightening under the very dim lamplight.

"He didn't have much hair, most of it white, all his clothes had been stripped off, not even a single piece of fabric left on him.

The website content updates slowly, please download to read the latest chapter content.

"I saw a strange mark on his chest, a blue-black one, I couldn't describe its exact appearance, the lamplight at the time was really too dim.

"I reached out and touched that mark, nothing special.

"Looking at this former colleague, I was thinking—if I keep going on like this, when I'm old, will I end up just like him…

"I said to him that tomorrow I would accompany him to the crematorium, personally bring his ashes to the nearest free cemetery, so as to spare those responsible for these matters the trouble of just finding some river or wasteland and dumping them there.

"This would cost me one morning of sleep, but that's fine—Sunday is coming up, I can make it up then.

"After saying those words, I fixed up the body bag and stuffed it back into the cabinet.

"The lamplight in the room seemed even dimmer…

"After that day, every time I slept, I would always dream of a thick fog.

"I have a premonition that something will happen soon, a premonition that sooner or later something that may or may not be called a human will come looking for me. But no one is willing to believe me—they think that working in that kind of environment, in that kind of job, my mind has become a bit abnormal, that I need to see a doctor…"

A male guest sitting at the bar counter looked toward the storyteller who had suddenly stopped:

"And then?"

This male guest was in his thirties, wearing a brown tweed jacket and pale yellow trousers, his hair pressed very flat, with a crude dark-colored round top hat beside his hand.

He looked ordinary, just like most people in the tavern—black hair, pale blue eyes, neither good-looking nor ugly, lacking any obvious distinguishing features.

And the storyteller in his eyes was a young man of eighteen or nineteen, with a tall, straight build and long limbs, also with short black hair and pale blue eyes, but with deep, striking features that would catch one's eye at a glance.

This young man gazed at the empty glass in front of him, sighed, and said:

"And then?

Download to read the latest chapter content.

"And then I quit my job and went back to the countryside, came here to shoot the breeze with you."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face—a smile with a slightly teasing flavor.

That male guest was taken aback for a moment:

"What you just told—was that shooting the breeze?"

"Haha." A burst of laughter erupted around the bar counter.

When the laughter subsided a little, a thin middle-aged man looked at the somewhat embarrassed guest and said:

"Outsider, you actually believed Lumian's story—he tells a different one every day. Yesterday he was still a poor wretch whose engagement was broken off by his fiancée because of poverty, and today he's turned into a corpse-watcher!"

"Right on—something about thirty years on the east bank of the Serenzo River, thirty years on the right bank of the Serenzo River, nothing but Hu Yan!" another tavern regular chimed in.

They were all farmers from Cordu, this large village, wearing short jackets of black, grey, or brown.

The black-haired young man called Lumian braced both hands on the bar counter, slowly stood up, and said with a smile:

"You all know this isn't a story I made up—they're all written by my older sister. She loves writing stories the most, she's even a columnist for some 'Fiction Weekly'."

After saying that, he turned his body sideways, spread his hands toward the guest from out of town, and beamed:

"Looks like she really wrote it well.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding."

The man in the brown tweed jacket, with ordinary looks, didn't get angry, stood up as well, and replied with a smile:

"A very interesting story.

"What should I call you?"

"Isn't it common sense to introduce yourself before asking others?" Lumian said with a smile.

The guest from out of town nodded:

"My name is Ryan. Kos.

"These two are my companions, Valentine and Leah."

That latter sentence referred to the man and woman sitting right beside him.

The man was twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a dusting of powder on his blond hair, not-very-large eyes a shade deeper than lake-blue, wearing a white waistcoat, a blue fine-tweed jacket, and black trousers—he had clearly dressed up carefully before going out.

His expression was rather cold, and he didn't pay much attention to the farmers and herdsmen around him.

That woman looked younger than the two gentlemen, her pale grey long hair tied into a complicated bun, wrapped in a white veil serving as a hat.

Her eyes were the same color as her hair, and the gaze she turned toward Lumian carried undisguised amusement—she seemed to find what had just happened merely interesting.

Under the tavern's gas wall lamps, the woman called Liya revealed a pert nose and beautifully curved lips—absolutely worthy of being called a beauty in a backwater village like Cordu.

She wore a white, pleatless cashmere fitted dress, paired with an off-white short jacket and a pair of Maxir long boots; two small silver bells were tied to her veil and boots respectively, and when she had walked into the tavern just now, they went jingle-jangle all the way, very eye-catching, making quite a few men stare straight ahead.

In their eyes, this had to be the fashionable dress one would only find in big cities like the provincial capital of Bigoire or the capital of Trier.

Lumian nodded to the three out-of-towners:

"I'm Lumian Li. You can just call me Lumian."

"Li?" Liya blurted out.

"What's the matter? Is there a problem with my surname?" Lumian asked curiously.

Ryan Koss helped explain on Liya's behalf:

"Your surname inspires dread. I almost couldn't control my voice just now."

Seeing the farmers and herdsmen around them looking puzzled, he further explained:

"Anyone who's dealt with sailors or sea merchants knows there's a saying that circulates across the Five Seas:

'Better to run into those pirate generals or even kings than to bump into a man called Frank Lee.'

"That man's surname is also Li."

"Is he very scary?" Lumian asked.

Ryan shook his head:

"I don't know, but since there's such a legend, he definitely can't be far off."

He cut off the topic and said to Lumian:

"Thanks for your story. It deserves a drink. What would you like?"

"A 'Green Fairy,'" Lumian said without the slightest ceremony, sitting back down.

Ryan Koss said with a slight frown:

"'Green Fairy'... absinthe?

"I think I need to remind you—wormwood is harmful to the human body. This kind of liquor can cause mental derangement and give you hallucinations."

"I didn't expect Trier's trends had already spread here." Liya beside him added with a smile.

Lumian said "Oh":

"So the people of Trier like drinking 'Green Fairy' too...

"For us, life is already hard enough. There's no need to care about a little more harm. This kind of liquor lets our spirits relax even more."

"Fine." Ryan sat back in his seat and looked at the bartender. "One 'Green Fairy,' and add me a 'Spicy Heart.'"

"Spicy Heart" was a famous fruit brandy. Read the latest chapter

"Why not get me a 'Green Fairy' too? I was the one who told you the truth earlier, and I can tell you everything about this kid exactly as it is!" the lean middle-aged man who had been the first to expose Lumian's daily storytelling shouted indignantly. "Out-of-towners, I can tell you still have doubts about whether that story was true or not!"

"Pierre, to get a free drink, you'd really do anything!" Lumian shouted back.

Before Ryan could make a decision, Lumian added:

"Why can't it be me telling it myself? That way I can get one more 'Green Fairy.'"

"Because they don't know whether to believe what you say." The middle-aged man called Pierre said with a smug smile. "Your sister's favorite story to tell the children is 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf.' A person who always lies must lose credibility."

"Fine." Lumian shrugged his shoulders, watching the bartender push a pale-green drink in front of him.

Ryan looked at him and asked for confirmation:

"Is that all right?"

"No problem, as long as your wallet can cover the cost of these drinks." Lumian didn't care at all.

"Then one more 'Green Fairy,'" Ryan nodded.

Pierre immediately beamed:

"Generous out-of-towners, this kid is the biggest prankster in the village. You must keep your distance from him.

"Five years ago, he was brought back to the village by his sister Aurore and never left again. Think about it—he was only thirteen before that. How could he possibly have gone to the hospital to be a corpse-watcher? Hmm, the nearest hospital to us is Darige at the foot of the mountain, a full afternoon's walk away."

"Brought back to the village?" Liya asked sharply.

She tilted her head slightly, producing a jingle-jangle sound.

Pierre nodded:

To read the latest chapter content, please download—no ads, free reading of the latest chapter content. The latest chapter content is already on 【Xin Zui Xin Zhang】. The website no longer updates the latest chapter content.

"Then he took Aurore's surname 'Li,' and even the name 'Lumian' was given by Aurore."

"I've forgotten what it was originally called." Lumian took a sip of absinthe and said with a grin.

He didn't seem the least bit inferior or ashamed at having his past exposed like this.