Chapter 34

For the next hour, Uchiha Lu Cha counted Uchiha Gin's various crimes in a continuous stream.

Small things like not paying for meals, peeping at widows taking baths, snatching snacks from children.

Big things like dragging girls walking at night into the woods in the middle of the night, exercising in front of their boyfriends, and then killing both of them to silence them.

The other party's parents complained to the clan, and he detained them backhand, finally sending them to a family reunion, and then boasted that "a family must be neat and tidy."

Similar cases were countless. Uchiha Gin's crimes were passed down by word of mouth among the clansmen, and in the later period, it even reached the point of being known to everyone.

Ordinary clansmen were afraid of him like tigers and changed their expressions when talking about him. Clansmen with strength hated him to the bone. If it weren't for his identity, they would have already acted on behalf of heaven and eliminated harm for the people.

???

These crimes, how come none of them appeared in the original owner's memory.

The original owner's personality was relatively isolated, especially after experiencing the tragedy, he had little contact with the clansmen.

Daily life was solved by himself. The few provocations were also because the other party mentioned topics about the survivors of the tragedy, and the original owner had conflicts with the other party.

【The Jianghu has no brother, but the Jianghu is full of brother's legends】

"Did you see these with your own eyes?"

Uchiha Gin couldn't help but interrupt Uchiha Lu Cha, who was still counting the crimes.

"Uh... that's not it."

Stopping to think for a moment, Uchiha Lu Cha scratched the back of his head and said uncertainly.

"Then why does it sound like it's true?"

"I don't know who said it first, and then everyone seemed to start saying it, 'Uchiha Gin, you have done all these things'..."

Uchiha Lu Cha, who was also a bit confused, suddenly felt a bit self-doubting. When did he set up such a persona for Uchiha Gin in his mind?

Things that clearly hadn't been done, but everyone believed them to be true. Was someone spreading them deliberately, or?

Uchiha Gin suddenly had many doubts about the original owner's encounter. Why was he labeled with groundless charges?

Who was the mastermind behind ruining the original owner's reputation and isolating him, and why did they do such a thing?

These questions entangled in Uchiha Gin's heart, making him feel uneasy. Why target the original owner, this weakling?

Was it just because he hated that he was the only survivor?

【Survivor Guilt Theory】

This famous theory flashed through Uchiha Gin's mind.

Survivor guilt theory refers to the fact that in a disaster or crime, survivors who are lucky enough to survive will face more severe accusations from the public and bear enormous social moral pressure.

And the reason why the original owner began to be isolated and turned a blind eye to these groundless rumors might be the so-called "survivor bias."

The original owner, who survived the tragedy, often felt a sense of guilt or culpability toward the clansmen. This emotion prompted him to choose silence when facing many rumors unfavorable to himself.

But silence equals admission.

Since then, the original owner's persona was established among all the clansmen who didn't know the truth.

At this time, rumors were confused with reality, making people unable to distinguish between true and false, and they could only follow the crowd.

"Lord Gin, that's all I know."

Uchiha Gin, who was lost in thought, didn't listen much to Uchiha Lu Cha's second half of the narration, but he also knew that the general content should still be about the original owner's various negative news.

"Alright, thank you, Brother Lu Cha. I love to hear the truth."

Standing upright, Uchiha Gin, since he knew that the original owner hadn't done these harmful things, naturally wouldn't have any grudges against Uchiha Lu Cha's words.

"Then I'll go get busy first."

Uchiha Lu Cha said with a dry mouth. Taking advantage of the fact that the other party hadn't gotten angry yet, he prepared to slip away.

"Hmm, let's have tea together when you have time."

Uchiha Gin, whose mind was not on this, nodded, signaling the other party to go get busy.

After going out, Uchiha Lu Cha leaned against the wall and almost couldn't stand steady, his whole body as if soaked,

"I said so much, and he didn't even get angry. He's not like the legends at all."

Shaking his head, these things were not for a small jailer like him to consider.

Today Uchiha Tie Dan went to submit a transfer application. Now he had to go back and rest. He had to keep watch alone at night.

Putting the original owner's "grievance" aside for now, Uchiha Gin decided to go see that so-called old jailer first to see if he could get more accurate news from his mouth.

Cell No. 3, where some petty criminals were imprisoned.

Short ones for ten days or half a month, long ones basically for about a year, and then they would be released.

Some were Uchiha clansmen, and some were wandering ninjas. The common characteristic of these people was: not strong, and relatively timid.

The guards of Cell No. 3 were two younger Uchiha clansmen, about ten years old. The seriousness that did not fit their age on their tender faces looked very discordant.

Seeing Uchiha Gin approaching, one of the thin boys said,

"Dungeon restricted area, no idlers allowed."

"You don't know who I am?"

Uchiha Gin saw that the boy didn't seem to recognize him and couldn't help but ask.

"No matter who you are, without the officer's order, you are not allowed to take a step forward."

The boy had an official expression, guarding the door and not letting Uchiha Gin approach.

The officer he spoke of was the previous Uchiha Uchiha Liuying. As an acting manager, he should be considered the uncrowned king of this dungeon.

"I am the newly appointed archivist. I am now going to Cell No. 3 to verify the prisoner's information."

Uchiha Gin didn't want to entangle with the other party too much, so he directly stated his identity.

"Since you are the archivist, then you can go in."

The boy, learning that Uchiha Gin was an archivist who came to verify information, immediately made way.

"Stupid Huo He, how can you easily believe a stranger!"

Another Uchiha boy saw his companion easily let a stranger in and hurriedly stopped him.

"But he said he is an archivist!"

The boy named Uchiha Huo He scratched his head in confusion, looking at his teammate with a tangled face.

"I, Uchiha Er-lang, will not be easily fooled by a guy like you!"

Another Uchiha boy had a simple and honest square face, and the stupidity that looked familiar was revealed in his clear eyes.

"You are called Uchiha Er-lang. Is your brother Uchiha Da Lang?"

Looking at the boy who was becoming more and more familiar, Uchiha Gin spoke.

"How do you know?"

The other party actually mentioned his brother whom he hadn't seen for a long time, Uchiha Er-lang asked subconsciously.

"I am a teammate who did missions with your brother. I just came back a few days ago."

Uchiha Gin brought out human feelings and worldly wisdom, watching how this kid would deal with it.

"Oh, you should have said you were brother's friend earlier. Please come in!"

Uchiha's cubs were still more straightforward. No wonder they were pitted and exterminated.

"Then thank you, Brother Er-lang."

Uchiha Gin, seeing the plan succeed, first thanked Uchiha Er-lang, who was still giggling, and said to the thin boy who was still sulking on the side,

"Thank you too, Brother Huo He, right."

He, who was originally pouting, turned his head in confusion,

"How do you know my name?"

Bidding farewell to the two Uchiha boys, he walked toward the depths of the cell.

Cell No. 3 clearly had more prisoners than the other two dungeons, but most of the people locked inside had indifferent expressions, and some were even chatting and bragging.

It seemed that the punishment for their crimes was not serious, so they didn't have too strong a resistance, which caused his Heart of Steel treasure chest not to be triggered.

Searching all the way and finding nothing, Uchiha Gin almost doubted whether Uchiha Lu Cha had made up an old jailer to fool him. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly saw an open cell.

Walking closer to look, a hunched figure was using a mop to clean the floor of the cell.

Seeing that this figure was wearing the high-collar combat uniform common to the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Gin opened his mouth to greet him,

"Hello, may I ask..."

Before he finished speaking, the hunched figure turned around.

Under the dim light of the corridor, an old face appeared before Uchiha Gin's eyes.

The old man's face was full of wrinkles, as if they were clear traces left by time on his face.

The most impressive thing was that his two pupils were both gray-white, and the hand holding the mop was also like a withered chicken claw, without any blood color.

Uchiha Gin, who was suddenly frightened by the other party's image, swallowed the words he had said halfway.

He only saw a flash of black energy in the old man's gray-white eyes, and a hoarse and eerie laugh like a crow came from his withered mouth, and what he said made Uchiha Gin's heart tighten even more.

"Hehehehe, you finally came."

(End of chapter)