Chapter 465 - 278: Judgment

Chapter 465: Chapter 278: Judgment

"If this place is so dangerous, what are you doing here?"

Su Xing asked.

"I don’t have a choice. This is where I work. I’m the elementary school teacher here, and I live here too."

The young man replied. As soon as he spoke, Su Xing understood that this man must be one of those sent to work in the countryside. Although Su Xing had never interacted with anyone from the government agencies that ran such programs, he was more or less aware of them.

"I see. Earlier, I dropped by the store that sells local specialties. The owner told me that if I wanted to go out on the sea for fun, I should find Boss Lei. Who is this Boss Lei? Have you heard of him?"

Su Xing asked after a moment’s thought. He figured a young man like this, sent to work in the countryside, would likely be more rational and kind-hearted, and he might be able to get some information out of him. And that was clearly what Su Xing was doing.

"I’ve heard a little. This Boss Lei seems to have a lot of power in this village because he owns the most boats. In a small fishing village, owning the most boats naturally makes you the boss."

"But when I first arrived, the person with the most boats wasn’t him. It was an old man the villagers called Master Lei Wu. It seems something happened to him, though, and he sold off all his family’s boats."

"Now that it’s so dangerous here, only that Boss Lei’s boats still dare to go out. In fact, his family’s income has never been interrupted, which is how he became the so-called ’Boss Lei’."

The young man said disdainfully. His reaction was understandable. After all, he’d seen the world, unlike the villagers who had spent their entire lives in a small fishing village. He had always looked down on such gangster-like titles and behavior.

"I see."

Su Xing nodded. "Thanks for telling me all this."

"I just had some time to kill," he replied. "If you don’t have any other business, you should probably leave this place soon. But you seem pretty curious. If you really want to ask questions, you should go find the village chief. Nobody knows more than him. Anyway, I’m heading off."

The man shook his head and said no more to Su Xing. Bag in hand, he slowly walked off into the distance.

The chief of Lei Family Village was like any other village official. He looked quite old, with a flowing white beard. When he saw Su Xing, he looked puzzled and said,

"You look unfamiliar, young man. Are you from out of town?"

"Yes, sir. I took the high-speed train from Hang Lake to Cang City for a vacation and happened to pick Lei Family Village to relax for a bit. It’s just... the atmosphere here seems a little off."

Su Xing said helplessly.

"Sigh... times have changed. When I was a child, I never would have imagined things would turn out like this. These criminal groups are getting more and more brazen. Look outside, aren’t the police out there arresting people right now?"

"But with petty thieves like them, you can never catch them all."

The village chief said, shaking his head.

Hearing the village chief mistake Leng Wuque and his people for police, Su Xing didn’t correct him, simply asking,

"Why are there so many bad people around here?"

"Hang Lake is a big city, and a long way from here. Of course a young man like you wouldn’t know the story. It’s because an organization called Sea Fish showed up. They say... its members aren’t like ordinary people. Our village doesn’t know what to do."

"Sigh... You should leave soon, young man. It really hasn’t been safe here lately."

The village chief lamented.

"Thank you for the warning, sir. I’ll be sure to leave soon."

Su Xing nodded in agreement, then turned and headed toward the docks. Based on what the last three people had told him, Boss Lei should be somewhere at the docks.

Without a doubt, Boss Lei was intricately involved in this matter. Su Xing had to find an opportunity to talk with him and gather some intelligence.

"COUGH COUGH... Stop right there... COUGH COUGH. I don’t recognize you. What are you here for?"

A man in green stood by the docks, watching Su Xing with a serious expression as he asked the question.

"I’m here to find Boss Lei. I heard his are the only boats still going out to sea. I want to visit the island across from Lei Family Village for some sightseeing."

"COUGH COUGH... Boss Lei is on the docks. Go on in if you want to talk to him. But if you ask me, you’ve got a death wish. Haven’t you seen the news?"

The man said, coughing.

"Are you okay, man? Your health..."

Su Xing asked, looking at the man. Although Su Xing didn’t know anything about medicine, he could tell the man was probably seriously ill. ’If he’s this sick, why isn’t he in a hospital instead of out here?’

"Sigh, it’s a chronic thing. We spent a lot of money treating it, but we’re short on cash at home lately, so I haven’t been back to the hospital. It’s not like it’s going to kill me, anyway."

The man grew more agitated as he spoke, and finally just ignored Su Xing altogether. Su Xing gave him a final glance before heading deeper into the docks.

Even though Su Xing had grown up by the sea, he had never seen a working dock this up close. Massive ships were docking and departing one after another, their horns blaring with a huge, fierce sound. And beneath one of these ships stood a man dressed completely in black.

Standing not far from him were two other people, one in his early thirties, the other with a full head of white hair. The younger of the two spoke, his voice tinged with fear:

"Do you think..."

"...this world is haunted?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Even people my dad’s age don’t believe in Ghost Gods anymore. You’re a young man, and you’re still afraid of ghosts?"