Ferrymen.
They served the Monster Apartment, traveling between the apartments and the various instances.
For the entire Infinite Flow world, Ferrymen were vital existences that acted as the connecting hubs.
As a Ferryman, one’s strength had to be incredibly formidable. One had to maintain absolute rationality and not be influenced by the humans participating in the dungeons or the NPCs within them.
The duty of a Ferryman was to deliver the Little Monsters raised in the basement of the Monster Apartment to the various dungeons.
If the Little Monsters were not delivered to their designated locations within the specified time, the dungeon would lack its pillar of strength and gradually collapse and dissipate.
Therefore, the existence of Ferrymen was of paramount importance.
Every Ferryman had to undergo extremely strict scrutiny and pass multiple tests before they could officially become one.
The Doctor never expected that his immediate superior would want Xu Xingyuan to become a Ferryman.
“Boss, you’ve seen him too! Xu Xingyuan is a human with thin arms and legs. You want him to be a Ferryman?”
The Doctor’s pitch rose considerably as he continued to chatter:
“Besides, how long do you think Xu Xingyuan could survive inside a dungeon?”
In the Infinite Flow world, there wasn’t a single normal dungeon.
Bloody and terrifying scenes were just the basics. There were also psychological dungeons that made one’s Sanity Value drop like crazy, dealing fatal blows to the mind.
The Doctor rubbed his forehead. “Xingyuan is a rare good boy. I can’t just watch him go to his death.”
Soon, a cat paw was placed on the back of the Doctor’s hand again.
“Oh? Boss, you’re asking me what the most critical point of wanting to become a Ferryman is?”
The Doctor launched a sneak attack with a backhand grab and finally managed to pinch the cat’s pink paw pads.
“Of course, it’s having the purest soul, and a heart that won’t be affected by any negative emotions.”
Having blurted out the answer, the Doctor froze.
Ferrymen could freely enter and exit any dungeon.
But precisely because of this, they often absorbed a lot of filth and negative emotions derived from the dungeons.
If they couldn’t guard their souls, they would slowly be swallowed by the negativity and become new monsters.
There is a saying: The dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon.
Ferrymen were such existences.
Many Ferrymen didn’t die at the hands of dungeon monsters or humans, but from the destruction of their own souls.
Once a soul was infected, they lost the qualification to be a Ferryman.
At the same time, they would slowly be assimilated into monsters and killed by new Ferrymen.
“Hmm,” the Doctor mused while rubbing the cat’s paw. “If we’re just looking at the soul, Xingyuan is indeed unusual.”
One night, the Doctor had gone out to fertilize his precious medicinal herbs.
Who knew that when he turned around, he would see Xu Xingyuan standing in the depths of the corridor, holding something.
The Doctor leaned in for a closer look and realized that what Xu Xingyuan was holding was a freshly severed human head.
Xu Xingyuan was so small and frail, yet there was no fear on his palm-sized face, nor was he afraid of the dark environment.
He held the head, which was still dripping blood, expressionlessly and looked quietly at the Doctor.
Seeing the Doctor approach, Xu Xingyuan finally moved, extending the head forward a bit.
“Doctor, can this be used as a flowerpot?”
The tone Xu Xingyuan used at the time was as simple and casual as asking, “What are we having for lunch?”
This scene was so impactful that the Doctor still remembered it vividly.
“Fine. Looking at it that way, Xingyuan indeed has the potential to become a Ferryman.”
Just as the Doctor prepared to pinch the cat’s paw again, he grabbed empty air.
He looked up, only to find the black cat had long since vanished.
For the entire afternoon.
The Doctor pondered how to tell Xu Xingyuan about the “Ferryman” matter.
Being a Ferryman was too dangerous; he was afraid Xu Xingyuan wouldn’t want to do it.
The Doctor, privately, didn’t want Xu Xingyuan to do something so dangerous.
But this was the order of his superior. Once that person issued a command, it had to be completed.
There was no room for retreat.
Moreover, the Doctor had a vague suspicion that the reason his superior wanted Xu Xingyuan to become a Ferryman wasn’t that simple.
Amidst his hesitation, evening arrived.
It started to rain outside.
The Monster Apartment saw no sunlight, nor did it snow. It was shrouded in dark clouds year-round, so it occasionally rained.
The rain here contained strong resentment and was mixed with all kinds of negative emotions. It was no simple rain.
Every time this happened, the Doctor had to use large rain curtains to shield his precious medicinal herbs.
Today, because he was too focused on thinking about how to complete the task assigned by his boss, the Doctor missed the optimal timing.
“My precious babies!”
The Doctor’s expression changed. Afraid that he would be too slow, he scrambled off his chair in a rare display of clumsiness and rushed toward the herb garden!
“Bad, bad, bad! My babies are definitely going to get soaked!”
The thought of the medicinal herbs he had worked so hard to cultivate being drowned by this rain made the Doctor’s vision go dark with heartache.
When he arrived at the scene in a rush, expecting to see a field of dead “babies”—
What he saw first was a thin, small back.
The Doctor froze, his steps halting.
Xu Xingyuan had sensed in advance that it would rain tonight. He had taken out the rain curtains early and proactively, silently helped the Doctor cover the precious herbs.
He had managed to cover the last area just before the rain got heavy.
His own clothes were soaked, and his exposed skin was stained with rainwater.
This rain was something even that silly dog Berus wouldn’t touch. It was mixed with filth and excessive negative emotions.
Let alone Xu Xingyuan, a human who was frail and perpetually malnourished.
Recovering his senses, the Doctor strode over to Xu Xingyuan with an umbrella, shielding him from the intensifying rain.
“Doctor?” Xu Xingyuan looked up instinctively, revealing his small face wet with rain, his lips overly pale.
The Doctor didn’t speak. He simply gripped Xu Xingyuan’s wrist and led him quickly back into the apartment.
He brought him all the way to the infirmary.
The Doctor quickly turned on the heater and took out a thick blanket to wrap around Xu Xingyuan.
But the rain was too cold and yin. Xu Xingyuan huddled in the blanket, shivering uncontrollably.
The Doctor opened his eyes, his snake pupils staring intently at Xu Xingyuan, and spoke slowly:
“These medicinal herbs were grown irrigated with human flesh and blood. They are not beautiful flowers; they are ugly when they grow.”
The Doctor meant to tell Xu Xingyuan—You didn’t need to turn yourself into this miserable state for these ugly things.
If the herbs died from the rain, he could just plant a new batch.
But Xu Xingyuan was a fragile human. Being drenched in this rain put his life in precarious danger.
Besides, these herbs had nothing to do with Xu Xingyuan. He really didn’t have to do this.
Xu Xingyuan shrank further into the blanket. The tip of his nose was red from the cold, and his pale lips were pressed tight.
Flowers couldn’t grow in the Infinite Flow world.
“Xingyuan, the Employee Handbook says not to go out when it rains.”
Seeing Xu Xingyuan’s silence, the Doctor thought he had mistaken the herbs for unbloomed flowers.
The Doctor’s voice was low as he continued to explain patiently:
“Those aren’t colorful, beautiful flowers. You didn’t need to do this.”
Hearing this, a few seconds passed before Xu Xingyuan spoke softly, his voice trembling:
“I know those aren’t flower seeds. I also know they were born in soil of flesh and blood and aren’t beautiful things…”
Xu Xingyuan looked up, gazing over with clear black and white eyes, and continued very quietly:
“But they are what the Doctor cares about most.”
In an instant, all the words the Doctor wanted to say came to an abrupt halt.
He met Xu Xingyuan’s eyes, not knowing what to say.
Xu Xingyuan’s birth had been accompanied by the most vicious curses of the neighbors and his father.
Except for his mother, no one had expected him to be born.
“My birth wasn’t beautiful either. But I was what my mother cared about most.”
No matter how ugly, no matter how unimportant, it was because the Doctor cared about them most. Just as he was what his mother cared about most.
It was as if in that dark, damp place crowded with curses, the ugly herbs and the unborn Xu Xingyuan—
In the Doctor’s eyes, they were colorful flowers.
In his mother’s eyes, Xu Xingyuan was the most beautiful existence.
His mother, who had passed away long ago, had left a seed in Xu Xingyuan’s riddled world.
It taught Xu Xingyuan the ability to love others.
And it endowed Xu Xingyuan with the most important, purest soul for when he could become a Ferryman.