After deciding to head east on a journey, Mu Ji Wu found a wooden chair and sat on it.
He placed his bag beside him, opened it, and began looking inside.
Two sets of formal adult clothes, an iron pipe with beautiful engravings about thirty centimeters long, a wallet containing some Federal banknotes totaling 1,490 coins, an old ID card and some personal documents, three folded bags, an old plastic water bottle, a box of matches, an old round pair of sunglasses, a small empty plastic bag with some leftover tobacco dust, a small black perfume bottle, and finally a book titled _The Daily Life of an Ordinary Person_.
That was all Mu Ji Wu’s bag contained now.
As he looked at the bag, he felt nostalgia and sadness as he always did whenever he did this over the past years.
The iron pipe was a gift from his wife.
The perfume, the book, and the sunglasses too.
For someone like him who had never cared about his clothes, hair, or general appearance in life, he wouldn’t bother with all of that.
His wife was the one who had packed this bag before he left.
As for the clothes, Hong Xing had sewn them herself for him to wear when he went on a work trip.
He could still hear her nagging: “Remember to wear only one of the two sets.
I matched them for you, and I know you have no sense of style.
I don’t want anyone saying that Hong Xing’s husband didn’t dress well.” The problem was that no one at work knew Hong Xing, so he had been unable to respond at the time and had accepted it calmly.
Mu Ji Wu snapped out of his memory as he looked at the bag.
Then he took out the empty tobacco pouch, opened it, smelled the faint scent remaining inside, and threw it into a trash bin nearby.
He thought for a moment, then took out one large plastic bag from the three.
He opened it, put the clothes, the sunglasses, and the book inside, and left the pipe, the box of matches, and the water bottle outside.
After deciding to head east, he could no longer risk his memories of his wife.
He didn’t know how long he would travel, or what city or mountain awaited him in the east.
With the small amount of money he had, if he kept buying random tickets for soul trains or buses, he would only keep losing money searching along the roads.
A child traveling alone could be targeted by criminals, and they might not even be ordinary humans like last time.
Human trafficking was a profitable business in the end, and even soul masters were still human.
In the end, he decided to travel on foot through the wilderness or forests.
As a soul master, even with just one ring, his physical strength was greater than an adult’s.
With the ability of his soul ring that enhanced his body, and eyes that could see in darkness and at long distances, the journey wouldn’t be difficult.
Especially in this era of near-total extinction of soul beasts, except in certain reserves.
With humanity’s advanced military technology, most of the continent had been swept and most of the soul beasts that had terrified humanity in the ancient past had been hunted down.
After arranging his bag, Mu Ji Wu got up from the wooden chair and walked, looking for a large store.
After walking for fifteen minutes, his eyes fell on a large shop with massive doors.
He was sure he would find everything he needed there.
He entered directly upon reaching it, ignoring the strange looks the shop employees gave him because he looked like a vagrant, but he didn’t care.
He went in holding one of the two remaining bags and started searching for what he needed.
He grabbed a knife and put it in, a one-handed small axe, ten cans of ready-to-heat, ready-to-eat high-nutrition food, a small sleeping bag that fit a child’s body like his, a large water bottle bigger than his own.
By the way, he had just thrown away that old empty bottle after thinking about its age—it was 13 years old.
Finally, when he saw he had taken what he needed for a week or a week and a half of travel and was about to head to the cashier, his eyes happened to fall on a certain shelf on his way.
“Tobacco.” That’s what the sign labeling the products on the shelf said.
He hesitated for a moment before his feet turned toward it before he could finish thinking.
When was the last time he lit his pipe and took a deep breath until his lungs were completely full?
He had forgotten.
He had carried some with him when he was pulled into the cave, but he had consumed it all slowly in the first few years.
He observed the plastic bags placed on the shelves before choosing the old flavor from his memory: mint and jasmine.
The scent Hong Xing had always bought for him from the store.
She loved that scent, and it was indeed good—why refuse?
With technological advancement, tobacco was no longer harmful to health in most cases.
It was now produced from certain herbs that could activate blood circulation, slightly increase focus, and relieve headaches.
Of course, the original old tobacco was still available for enthusiasts.
After taking two bags—no, three—Mu Ji Wu finally headed toward the cashier.
On the way, he passed a shelf holding lighters and took one too.
Matches were for the pipe, and if it suddenly rained or the air was damp, he would need a strong fire source.
As for food, it was true he wouldn’t need it for another eight or nine days, but after that he would.
He would start feeling hunger, thirst, and fatigue again.
If he didn’t take food with him now, who knew what his body would do to keep the promise of not attempting suicide?
Maybe he would eat a frog or anything he found.
And of course, it was important to mention that he missed food and had actually forgotten most of the sensations the tongue sent after all these years.
After reaching the cashier, there was a man and a woman in front of him in line, and his turn came after the woman.
The cashier and the two customers looked at Mu Ji Wu—that was a natural reaction—then ignored him again.
Mu Ji Wu waited for his turn after the one before him left, then placed the bag on the counter and took out his purchases before moving to the other side, waiting for the price of what he bought to be calculated.
He put his backpack on the floor and opened it, waiting to fill it with what he had prepared.
After a minute, the young cashier turned to him and said, “That will be 400 Federal credits, little one.” Mu Ji Wu took out a wallet from the bag.
Only the money remained in it after he had torn up the ID card and all other personal documents proving his dead identity.
He quickly counted out 400 coins and handed them to the young man in front of him.
The cashier counted them again before saying with a strange look toward Mu Ji Wu, “You’re using very old currency, little one.
I don’t know which old man in your family gave it to you, but I advise you to go to the bank to exchange it for new money.
I’ll accept it since this is just a store, but there are places that won’t, like official transport companies and such.” Mu Ji Wu nodded and said, “Thank you for the information, young man.” Then he gathered everything he had bought into the bag, put it in his backpack, and left the store.
“Young man?
A child calling me young man?
Haha, what a strange child.” The young cashier shook his head in amusement before forgetting the matter.
Meanwhile, Mu Ji Wu found another public bench and sat down to arrange what he had bought.
He put the bag of clothes and the memories inside to one side; it didn’t take up much space.
He took out the sleeping bag and placed it next to the clothes bag.
He left the canned food at the bottom of the second plastic bag, then put the rest of the purchases on top so the combined weight of the cans wouldn’t crush them.
He was about to close the bag but paused for a moment, then took out his old iron pipe and the tobacco pouch.
After filling the bowl at the front of the pipe with tobacco, he put the pouch back in the bag.
Then he took out the box of matches, lit one, placed the end of the pipe in his mouth with the lit match at the tobacco, and took a deep breath until the fire caught the tobacco.
Then he shook the match to put it out and threw it onto nearby grass.
After filling his lungs to the very end, he lowered the pipe, which began emitting a small line of smoke from its tip, from his mouth.
Then he opened his mouth and exhaled a cloud of smoke with the rich scent of mint and jasmine.
The sight shocked some nearby passersby.
A child with a pipe didn’t suggest good upbringing, but the moment someone thought of approaching, a yellow soul ring flashed for a second before disappearing, driving away all unwanted attention.
Since the profession of soul master was legitimate with no problems or need for concealment, why would he hesitate to use power to solve problems?
Tears streamed down from Mu Ji Wu’s eyes again, and another memory surged from the depths of his mind.
_”Hey, Streetlamp, I know smoking isn’t harmful to health, but I don’t want the whole house to turn into a cloud of fog.
Open the window when you smoke.”_ He loved feeling that refreshing mint sensation filling his lungs, so he always took a deep breath when he smoked, which produced a lot of smoke afterward.
In his old home with his wife, he would be scolded if he turned the entire house into fog and caused his wife’s vision to weaken.
But now that refreshing feeling had returned inside his body, yet the bitter taste of loneliness was present just as strongly.
Mu Ji Wu smoked quietly for twenty full minutes, and the tears had already stopped flowing long before the tobacco was finished.
After tapping out the pipe and blowing into it to expel the residue, he put it back in the bag.
Then he got up from the bench and stopped a random person, saying, “Young man, do you know where the nearest bank is?” “Young man?
Hey kid, who are you calling young man?” A middle-aged man with a beard was stunned to hear the title “young man” from him.
But when he met Mu Ji Wu’s dead eyes, he swallowed a little before pointing in the direction he wanted.
After Mu Ji Wu left, the man muttered, “What strange eyes.
Even some dead animals’ eyes shine more than his.
He scared me for a moment…” Meanwhile, Mu Ji Wu headed to the bank—one of the branches of the Central Federal Bank found in every city.
The bank’s design was luxurious, with white marble and ornate marble columns decorated in gold and black.
After spotting an empty window with a sign saying “Cash Transactions,” Mu Ji Wu went to it.
He put his bag on the floor, then took out the wallet.
Since he had no pockets in his vagrant clothes, he had to set the bag down every time he needed something from it.
He took out all his remaining money: 1,090 Federal coins.
He jumped lightly and sat on the counter, shocking the poor lady working behind it.
Of course, Mu Ji Wu had no intention of causing trouble, but was it his fault that the engineer made it difficult for a child to be seen?
Before the worker could react, Mu Ji Wu spoke: “Young lady, I have some old money I want to exchange for the new denomination.
Here you go.” Saying that, he placed the small bundle of bills and pushed it forward toward her.
“Hey kid, you just scared me.
It’s not polite to jump like that suddenly in adults’ faces and startle them.
Ah, right, you’re a short child and wouldn’t be seen unless you did that.
Okay, okay, what do you have there…” She was clearly a chatterbox.
Her words went in one ear and out the other.
Mu Ji Wu had no patience to listen to this child.
“Here you go, kid.
These are your bills.
After exchanging the currency, you now have 1,100 Federal coins.” The young female worker placed them in front of Mu Ji Wu with a smile.
Mu Ji Wu nodded calmly and said, “Thank you, young lady.” Then he took his money, got down, put it in the wallet, closed the bag, and walked off after putting it on.
The worker watched him leave calmly before remembering something: ‘Why is a little child calling me “young lady” like an old man?’ From Mu Ji Wu’s point of view, he was indeed an old man at 155 years old.
Why did he need to be polite or call a young person in front of him “uncle” or “sir”?
If we were talking about seniority, they should all call him “grandfather.” Of course, he wouldn’t stupidly reveal his real age to random people and expose his secret.
True, he wanted to die, but not to become a lab rat in some laboratory.
After leaving the bank, Mu Ji Wu had one last place to go before starting his journey.
He wandered a bit before entering a shoe store.
He bought a pair of leather shoes suitable for long-distance walking and a pair of socks.
He put them on right there, since he had been walking barefoot all this time, then left the store after paying for them.
They cost him 150 coins, leaving him with 950 Federal coins.
With that, he was ready for the journey east.
Then he turned east and started walking.
He didn’t need a map or anything; he only knew he had to walk east to reach his goal.
Since he would be walking this trip, he didn’t bother confirming the route or asking or anything.
East, and only east.
After completing all his preparations, it was already approaching noon, and he began walking.
And within just two more hours, he had left the city for the partially rural area attached to it as he walked.
No dramatic exit, no one noticed him, no one knew him, no one would think of him.
Maybe Hong Yuan would, but who knew.
As for how long he would walk, he didn’t even bother thinking about it.
It wasn’t as if he cared about wasting his life or his years.
If he wanted anything, it was to waste time so he would die faster.