Chapter 87: Bringing Along an Ancestor (Revised)

Su Jingchuan returned to the room, looking at Ying Duo, who sat quietly as before, having entered standby mode, and he took a deep breath before speaking.

"Ying Duo, come out with me for a bit." Su Jingchuan said concisely.

Ying Duo's scattered golden pupils instantly focused, and he turned his head to look at him.

"New mission?"

"... I guess so."

Su Jingchuan no longer wanted to correct his wording, "I'll take you back near where you used to live to have a look."

"Returning to the old place?"

Ying Duo tilted his head, but Yang Yixie didn't see the system pop up a side quest notification.

"Is it a memory-kill plot? Or an Easter egg? I won't go without a mission reward."

Su Jingchuan rubbed his forehead; fortunately he had played some games before, so he wasn't completely lost on Ying Duo's words.

"... Just a walk and some questions. If you come back, I'll give you a gift?"

【Triggered side quest: Teacher's Summon!】

【Quest Description: Su Jingchuan, the teacher who seems gentle on the surface but may be hiding secrets, has sent you a team invitation! Destination: the slum full of memories? and treasure?】

【Quest Objective: Serve as the team's "eye-catching accessory," follow team leader Su Jingchuan, and, when needed, use your unparalleled charm (specifically your hair) to draw the attention of key NPCs.】

【Event Reward: EXP +30%, Su Jingchuan favorability +5, Teacher Su's mysterious gift x1!】

"Shall we go now?"

Ying Duo immediately stood up and positioned himself behind Su Jingchuan, then turned on auto-follow mode.

"Yes, let's go now."

Su Jingchuan held back the urge to retort, his face expressionless as he gave the precautions.

"Remember, stay close to me, don't run around, don't casually talk to strangers, and definitely don't use those weird homemade gadgets of yours. Got it?"

"Understood."

Ying Duo nodded, gave a thumbs-up under Su Jingchuan's gaze, as if to reassure him.

Su Jingchuan still wasn't relieved; he felt that after being exposed, Ying Duo had completely shed the guise of a normal person, which was hardly good news.

Actually, he just found a place to post emojis.

The two boarded the air train to the ground; Ying Duo sat in his seat quietly looking out the window, while Su Jingchuan vigilantly observed the surroundings.

Sure enough, Ying Duo's green hair was like a firefly in the darkness—so conspicuous, so outstanding.

The train's terminal stop was in the Slum First District on the ground, and the car had more residents of Tianmian City, after all, few slum dwellers are qualified to enter Tianmian City.

Even the Tianmian City residents didn't understand the slum's aesthetic; passengers' gazes were drawn to Ying Duo, and they began whispering.

"Mom, look! A walking green light!"

"Shh! Don't just point at people! It might be some new kind of mutation..."

"Dude, where'd you dye your hair? It's so flashy!"

A rock‑youth in studded leather, hair like it had been struck by lightning, came over, his eyes full of admiration as he looked at Ying Duo.

Ying Duo's golden eyes turned to him, then he simply repeated the answer from the cheat sheet once more.

"All‑mighty Teacher Tuo Ni."

The rock‑youth looked bewildered.

"Teacher Tuo Ni? Which district? Is he from our slum? Buddy, give me a hint!"

"If you want to cut hair, dye..."

Seeing Ying Duo start to recite his familiar lines, Su Jingchuan could take no more; he grabbed Ying Duo and pulled him to the inner seat beside him, then gave the rock‑youth a cold stare.

The rock‑youth embarrassedly rubbed his nose, but still tactfully left.

Su Jingchuan felt he wasn't bringing a student; he was bringing an ancestor.

The train arrived at the station, and the further back the carriage, the emptier it became.

Those living in Tianmian City above basically never come down to the ground.

They finally reached the First District, but this wasn't their destination yet.

After transferring to another ground train in the First District and walking a long distance, they finally arrived at the Slum Third District, near the small inn where Ying Duo used to stay.

He pushed open the creaking wooden door that sounded like it might fall apart any second, and Su Jingchuan stepped inside first.

Behind the counter, a middle‑aged man yawning with his mouth open, the moment his gaze swept over the moving light behind Su Jingchuan, he jerked up as if pricked by a needle, springing straight up from his chair.

His expression shifted from fatigue to shock and extreme disgust, as if he'd seen a trash can become a spirit, and he slowly lifted his foot to walk toward him.

"Holy shit! Green‑haired kid! How are you back again?!"

The front‑desk voice was sharp and piercing, his fingers almost jabbing at Ying Duo's face, trembling like he was sifting chaff.

"My little dump can't afford to host a great Buddha like you—get out! I still haven't forgotten how you trashed the room into a garbage dump last time!"

Su Jingchuan stepped forward, using his body to block the hand that was about to poke Ying Duo's nose, his eyes instantly turning cold.

"You know each other? It seems he left a deep impression on you."

The low pressure emanating from him deflated the front desk's rising anger, but he still muttered under his breath.

"Deep? It's more than deep—it's practically my psychological trauma!"

The front desk wore a mournful face, beginning to pour out his grievances nonstop.

His rundown inn is located in the slum; the environment was never great, but business usually manages to stay open, and there's basically no such thing as chasing customers away.

But Ying Duo is the sole exception.

"This kid rented a single room from me before—what happened? He actually started tinkering with some invention in there!"

"All day it was clinking and clanking; the neighbors even thought I was harboring an aberrant species, and they planned to call the Supervision Bureau to send someone to investigate."

"When he checked out, I went in and—good heavens—the floor was littered with weirdly shaped scrap metal, the walls were patched with black and burnt spots, and just the cleaning cost me two hundred! His deposit was only one fifty!"

The Ying Duo beside him listened to the front desk's accusations; not only did he show no embarrassment at all, but he puffed out his chest, looking utterly unrepentant.

Su Jingchuan felt his temples throb, forced himself to ignore the Ying Duo beside him, and kept pressing.

"How long has he been staying here? Did he exhibit any unusual behavior before leaving?"

"He'd been here for a long time; the last time he left was after he took the admission letter from Mitra Academy!"

The front desk said irritably that if it hadn't been for that admission letter, he would have hired someone to kill him; saying that, he compared the expressionless Ying Duo before him with the way he remembered first seeing him, and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

"Strangely enough, back then the kid was poor but at least knew manners; when we met, he would nod and greet."

"Ever since he dyed his hair green, he's like a different person! His face is as stiff as a mask, he speaks as little as a mute, stays cooped up in his room all day without going out; I even thought he was dead inside."

Su Jingchuan caught the key information in the front desk's words, and his gaze suddenly sharpened.

"When did he dye his hair? Be specific!"

The front desk man's excited expression faded quickly; his eyes began to dodge, he forced a dry laugh twice, and only then did a troubled look squeeze onto his greasy face.

"Oh dear, you... an officer, right? That was ages ago; I see so many people in a day, how could I remember that clearly..."