Charm was not a completely un-liftable magic.
If the person being charmed possessed some kind of exceptionally firm willpower, they were able to break through the ability of charm and restore their original thoughts.
In his hometown, Amelia’s charm had almost never failed.
This was not the first time his charm ability had failed, yet it was the one he understood the least.
The moment he fell into the water, he suffered the backlash of the magic being forcibly undone, leaving his whole body weak.
However, his sharp five senses still vaguely transmitted what was happening on the shore.
Someone had ambushed here in advance and attacked them.
It seemed to be one of “mother’s” men, saying that she, Freesia, knew too much and could not leave.
Freesia said she had made her choice and had been prepared long ago.
The two began to fight. The sounds of combat were separated by the water surface, and he could not distinguish the battle situation.
He only knew that the previously calm current quietly grew rapid, carrying him gradually away as the sounds also slowly faded.
Amidst a sliver of blurred consciousness, Amelia could not figure it out.
If her hatred for his idea had overwhelmed the effect of the charm, causing her to sober up, why would she push him?
By pushing him into the river, he might be able to escape and survive.
Conversely, if she had forcibly kept him, he might have been killed by the attackers.
She said he had only guessed one thing wrong, so were “she would not kill him” and “she would take him away” correct?
Was she simply doing this to fulfill her promise and let him leave?
Yet, why would a promise made under charm need to be fulfilled after the charm was lifted?
No, fundamentally speaking, Amelia had no idea when she had broken free from the charm, nor when she had sobered up.
Why the hatred, why do this, what choice did she make… Thinking this over and over, these things had no meaning; humans doing anything was not strange… That was probably it.
However… among everything Freesia wanted to destroy, did it include herself?
The confusion that received no answer drifted away along with the current.
Two days later, the C District garbage dump.
The geographical location of the Abandoned District was special, situated at the boundary area with other regions, and people who were unwilling to pay to process waste would often dump garbage directly inside the Abandoned District.
Because of this, the Abandoned District gained garbage dumps of various sizes and was forced to establish corresponding processing plants.
Some residents seized this opportunity to search through abandoned garbage for parts that still had value, either keeping them for their own use or selling them to the processing plant. Thus, the profession of scavenger was born.
Experienced scavengers would target the timing of garbage dumping and also choose more valuable trash. The value of the garbage near the underground river was evidently not very high, with only scattered scavengers lingering about, most of whom were adults.
Underage people of short stature were submerged among all sorts of discarded items, each pulling a small cart. On the carts, piled either messily or neatly, were the “treasures” they had found.
A twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl, pulling a mottled small cart, walked and stopped along the riverbank, approaching to inspect anything shiny, and placing it on the small cart if it met her approval.
After finishing searching this small plot of land, she was just preparing to walk in another direction when her peripheral vision caught sight of something.
“That is…”
She blinked, confirming repeatedly that she was not seeing things, and quickly scanned her surroundings to make sure no one else had noticed yet. Then, without hesitation, she rushed in three or two steps toward a pile of bulging brown cloth bags, bypassing any check of the specific contents inside, and loaded all of them onto her small cart.
A few bags were exceptionally heavy, and she almost failed to move them; thanks to the cart’s built-in transportation device, she managed to load all of them up.
Following that, she concealed her expression and pulled the much heavier small cart, walking quickly outward.
“Yuzhi, are you leaving already?”
A fellow scavenger called out from behind, startling the girl enough to make her heart skip an extra beat.
“Yeah, my brother told me to go back early.” She did not look back, her pace subtly accelerating by another two fractions before she finally could not help breaking into a run, “I have to go, see you tomorrow.”
“Hey ” The voice was left behind.
Yuzhi could not care whether her companion might guess something from the bags suddenly appearing on her cart; anyway, once brought home, these things would be hers.
She jogged all the way, the cart rattling noisily, drawing the gazes of quite a few people along the way.
Several people saw the full bags on her cart and felt restless inside, yet they did not act rashly.
Bearing these vague gazes, Yuzhi hurried her steps over and over until she finally caught sight of a familiar corner of a building.
Housing in the Abandoned District had always been occupied by whoever had the capability.
Back then, Yuzhi and her brother were young and failed to occupy a relatively well-preserved residence, so they found a collapsed storefront and spent over half a year making repairs in the still-intact sections to establish their home.
White paint peeled on the gray walls, the wooden door painted green was somewhat old, and the yellowed glass reflected human figures and furnishings.
Although the house was full of repair marks, it looked exceptionally reassuring at this moment.
“Brother!” She raised her voice, panting as she shouted, “I, I’m back!”
Normally she would not shout so ostentatiously, nor was she often this impatient. Seeming to sense this mood, her brother quickly appeared at the door and walked toward her.
Yuzhi’s eyes immediately lit up, her tension relaxing as an involuntary smile spilled across her face.
“You’re back quite early today.” Her brother carefully looked her over from top to bottom before glancing at the small cart, seeming to understand something, “Let’s go, let’s go inside first.”
He took the small cart from Yuzhi’s hands and led her back inside. The vague prying gazes around them also gradually disappeared.
The underage Yuzhi might not be a cause for concern, but her older brother, who was about to come of age, was not someone easy to mess with.
“Yo, Yu Heng, your sister came back pretty early today.”
Before they even entered the door, a man poked his head out from his doorway and greeted them. Evidently, he had been inside the house all along.
Yuzhi recognized him, one of the district chief’s capable subordinates, Xu Kan.
His coming here could only mean he was looking for one person… Yuzhi instinctively looked toward Yu Heng.
Yu Heng’s expression was bland: “Let’s discuss it to this point for today, I don’t host guests here.”
Xu Kan emerged from the house and sighed with exaggerated dismay, “Not only do you not host guests, you might as well write ‘chasing guests away’ across your face.”
Seeing Yu Heng remain indifferent, he shrugged, “Fine, looks like I couldn’t persuade you today either. Regarding that matter, if you have any willingness, remember to contact me, the district chief won’t mind either.”
Yu Heng: “Mm.”
With that, he brought Yuzhi and the cart into the house and shut the door with a “bang.”
Having solidly eaten a closed door in his face, Xu Kan didn’t get angry either; he rubbed his nose and left.
Inside the house, Yuzhi hurriedly pulled down the pale yellow curtains, blocking any potential prying gazes, before looking toward Yu Heng with some curiosity: “Brother, did he come to recruit you again?”
Yu Heng responded with an “mm,” leaning against the brown wooden table, and pointed at the small cart: “What did you find today?”
Yuzhi could tell he didn’t want to talk about it.
Yet thinking of the things she had picked up, she instantly grew excited, grabbed the nearest brown leather bag, and lowered her voice: “Brother, look, this is actually a waterproof bag!”
Her brother’s gaze swept past that bag and nodded, his reaction looking entirely bland.
Yuzhi wasn’t surprised, continuing to say that the waterproof bag must contain valuable items that couldn’t get wet, and happily opened the bag.
A bag of glittering glass shards reflected her somewhat disappointed face.
“It should have been complete originally, did it shatter on the road?”
Yuzhi felt a bit distressed, wanting to pick out the shards that were still relatively intact, but Yu Heng stopped her.
“Let’s check the others first.” Yu Heng gently picked out a few intact ones from the pile of glass and placed them aside.
“I remember seeing a bit of white,” Yuzhi recalled, “There should be clothes.”
She rushed to the next bag and opened it.
It was clothes!
All women’s clothing, and all of them soaked through. At the bottom of the bag were also a few silver accessories.
For people in the Abandoned District, these were already decent items.
“Great, there are new clothes.”
Yuzhi grew happy, feeling that the reward justified her desperate sprint back, and intended to open all the remaining bags in one go.
A bag of shoes, a bag of parts, a small bag of energy stones… The moment Yuzhi saw the energy stones, she couldn’t help cheering: “Brother, look! We’re going to be rich!”
Yu Heng glanced at the energy stones, his gaze lingering on the bag of parts: “This looks like it could assemble into a machine.”
“What kind of machine?”
As Yuzhi asked, she enthusiastically went to open the largest and heaviest bag, which she had deliberately saved for last.
The bag was somewhat loose and easily opened.
Yet at just a single glance, she felt somewhat disappointed: “Fabric? White fur? Is it a toy?”
Putting a little force into it, she pulled the bag opening all the way open, revealing the contents inside, and finally saw clearly what it was “Brother, you, you have to come look!”
She was even stuttering slightly.
“What’s wrong?” Yu Heng put down the assembled parts, walked over briskly, first making sure Yuzhi was unhurt, and then looked into the bag.
His gaze turned cold: “This is…”
Inside the opened bag lay a youth wearing a black cloak.
A head of white hair wet and dripping, slender limbs and a delicate frame, looking around fourteen or fifteen years old, with most of his face blocked by the cloak. Looking closer, one could make out pale lips and fine, scattered injuries all over.
Not knowing what he had encountered, he had been stuffed into a bag.
“He… is he dead?”
Evidently, Yuzhi also noticed those injuries and grew somewhat nervous, though not frightened: “Do we have to bury him?”
Yu Heng shifted his gaze away from that head of white hair, sweeping across the person’s gently rising and falling chest, and shook his head: “He’s still alive, we need to send him away.”
“Send him where?” Yuzhi worried somewhat, “He looks like he’s about to die.”
“The trait of white hair, he might have escaped from the laboratory.”
Yu Heng quickly made a decision: “Send him back to where you picked up the bag.”
“But I don’t remember…”
Vague sounds echoed in his ears, unfamiliar and distant.
Amelia’s chaotic consciousness peeled away from the darkness layer by layer, as if breaking free from some binding, and he opened his eyes.
He happened to lock eyes with a pair of grayish-green eyes.
Eyes full of scrutiny and wariness, exceptionally cold.
Ever since coming to this world, he seemed to always encounter this kind of gaze.
Amelia sat up, ignoring the black-haired youth carrying a dangerous aura, his eyeballs rolling slightly to catch sight of the girl the youth was shielding behind him.
A human girl of about twelve or thirteen, wearing long gray sleeves and black shorts, with a round face, a head of fluffy brown curly hair, and bright black eyes full of curiosity as she peered out to look at him.
Amelia froze.
This was the first time he had seen clean and distinct positive emotions in this world, blooming like flowers in a desert, truly rare.
“Who are you?”
The hunger he had previously ignored staged a comeback, and his piercing gaze locked onto that girl.
In Yu Heng’s view, it was the white-haired fellow opposite who suddenly stared at his younger sister with a gaze so enthusiastic it was disgusting.
“None of your business.” Yu Heng blocked Yuzhi just as she was about to answer, his tone dropping by three degrees, “You’re already awake, hurry up and leave our home.”
Amelia paused, scanning his surroundings.
He was lying inside a bag, with several opened brown leather bags placed beside him.
This place seemed to be the entryway of a house, with the door behind him, a brown low cabinet placed on the left, and two umbrellas and a coat rack on the other side.
A chandelier hung down from the ceiling in the center, pale yellow curtains were drawn around the surroundings, white flooring was laid on the ground, and two gray sofas and a table were set up. The doors of two other rooms were tightly shut, hiding what was inside.
Aside from that, there were various strange decorations: messy drawings, shattered glass, origami, mechanical parts, animal horns, small electronic screens, tree leaves, glowing bottles, mud pots… filled with an atmosphere of daily life, very likely the residence of these two people.
Amelia recalled that after struggling to climb ashore, he had subconsciously sought a safe place to stay, never expecting it to be a bag.
Seen this way, they had probably brought him back unintentionally… but they weren’t very welcoming, especially the black-haired youth who seemed to call the shots.
Yet who knew when he would encounter positive emotions next time?
No matter what their attitude was, with such a grand feast laid out before him, no demon would give it up.
“I am Amelia.”
His tone soft, he looked toward the girl, “May I know your names? I want to repay you.”
“No need.” Yu Heng rejected him flatly.
Amelia stiffened for a moment, lowered his gaze, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, which, paired with his somewhat pale face, made him look rather pitiful.
“I…” Yuzhi glanced at Yu Heng, bit her lip, and still answered, “I am Yuzhi, and this is my older brother, Yu Heng. Since you, you’re already awake, please hurry up and leave.”
Yu Heng glanced at her and said nothing.
Meanwhile, Amelia cast an gaze carrying implied anticipation, “Thank you for saving me, Yuzhi… Can I live with you? You are the nicest person I’ve ever seen.”
He didn’t know who had picked him up, but that didn’t stop him directly seeking out the person he wanted to ask.
“Eh?”
Not expecting someone to suddenly make such a request, Yuzhi didn’t react for a moment.
Yu Heng reacted much faster, flatly refusing, “No. Warning you one last time, leave our house right now.”
Amelia ignored him once again, continuing to tell Yuzhi, “I know a bit of small magic, I can help you, let me stay.”
“Magic?”
The astonishment that had just risen in Yuzhi was overwritten by curiosity, and she couldn’t help asking,
“Zhi-Zhi.” Yu Heng’s tone sank.
Yuzhi read the warning meaning within it; this was her brother saying he was unhappy.
Brother versus magic, this was a choice that practically required no thought.
She immediately changed her tune, “Never mind, I’m not curious, not curious at all. If you don’t leave right now, I-I’ll have my brother beat you.”
Still a little short… Amelia sighed inwardly, getting out of the bag, looking as though he had given up, lowering his head as he walked toward the door.
Passing by the vigilant siblings, he suddenly stopped and clasped his hands together.
It looked like some kind of preparation before triggering an ability.
“What do you want to do.” Yu Heng’s gaze turned somewhat colder, carrying a faint sense of oppression.
Amelia didn’t change expression, slowly opening his clasped palms.
“This is…”
Yuzhi couldn’t help crying out in surprise, and Yu Heng also looked slightly astonished.
In the youth’s opened hands, a bouquet of flowers was cradled.
The stems and leaves were verdant and slender, dripping with clusters of rounded, exquisite flowers, shaped like trumpets, pink, white, yellow, and purple, each bright and vibrant color looking as though it shouldn’t belong in the Abandoned District.
Yet it had just appeared so naturally in this person’s hands, as if it were a matter of course.
“For you, Yuzhi.”
Amelia looked at that cluster of flowers and said softly.
Just right, a droplet of water slid down from his damp white hair, skimming past the corner of his eye, and with a slight blink, it tumbled into the flowers, rolling off neatly.
For a brief, fleeting instant, it was like a silent tear.
Yuzhi felt a stir in her heart and couldn’t help asking, “What… what kind of flower is this?”
Amelia gazed at her, a glimmer seeming to flash through his dark, pitch-black eyes: “This is… Freesia.”
The language of the flower is trust.