Under the light mist, the surroundings were quite cold and clear. The old man said he'd go find transportation for the two of them, but Su Jiu felt that at their flight speed, they weren't actually slower than cars at close range.
After a while, the old man somehow produced a small cart from somewhere, with a stack of wheat straw on it, seemingly belonging to farm folk and tied behind the bicycle.
Then he smiled cheerfully at Su Jiu beside him: "Get on, get on. It's already dawn, this old man will take you along to see Fuzhou's morning light."
He personally went down to the riverside and fiddled around, pulling up over half a meter of squid tentacle and throwing it on the cart, then turned to Youyou and said: "Same as usual, free drinks with some new liquor, make some skewers."
Youyou on the car canopy shrugged, lightly patted the car roof, "Whoosh!", her figure shot toward the sky. She seemed to plan on returning to the bar first.
Su Jiu didn't act pretentious either, getting on the cart alone, leaning against the wheat straw, smelling this unique dry grass fragrance, looking at the gray misty sky—so hungry.
"Forget it, let's go to the bar for noodles."
Touching the few magic crystals in her pouch, then glancing at Hungry Ghost sleeping soundly in her sleeve, Su Jiu held the awakened little siren on her lap. The other was also well-behaved, letting her handle it as she pleased.
Su Jiu felt the previous mist was other sirens coming to find this little one. Humans weren't part of their diet after all—without large forces, they wouldn't dare attack casually.
"Let this little one wait for those adult sirens to come take it away."
She, Su Jiu, wasn't some villain. Being attacked naturally meant killing back, but for this juvenile, she wouldn't kill it.
"Ready to set off, here, take this, don't go hungry." The old man tossed over a purple fist-sized rhombic stone, then slowly started pedaling the bicycle.
In mid-air, it faintly emanated a gentle radiance.
"This is... that giant squid's magic crystal?"
Su Jiu was slightly startled, quickly catching it. She only felt it weigh a hundred pounds when it fell into her hands. It was actually shaped like a small squid, then an oceanic fishy smell rushed into her nose. She wiped it repeatedly with her sleeve, couldn't help but bite into it.
It was that deep ocean taste—a bit fishy, slightly salty, and warm inside her body. The blood energy in her body continuously churned, seeming to increase a little.
But Su Jiu knew she still had a long way to go before reaching War General level. When the energy in her body turned to liquid, that would be true War General level, and then her bloodline could be strengthened once more.
However, the more talented one was, the later they broke through. Not because they couldn't break through, but because their bodies could withstand sufficient energy. If thoroughly refined, that required constant daily polishing for a long time.
When they stepped into War General level that day, they would crush those who casually broke through to War General, or rather, those without talent.
"Big early morning oh."
"Neighbor Yellow Pockmark is tired yo, leading his little horse to market."
"Can't compare to this old man's little broken cart, carrying my little brat night watching."
...
On the empty road section, the old man grinned and sang, seemingly his own composed dialect ditty, humming with great pleasure.
Leaning against the grass watching this self-entertaining figure, Su Jiu thought of her previous life's grandmother and grandfather. Their appearance was like this...
"Are the old man's descendants also Night Watchmen?"
Putting away this War King-level Lord's magic crystal, Su Jiu asked somewhat curiously.
She actually couldn't understand much of this dialect, but she understood the words "little brat." Like this powerful yet peaceful old man, who were the descendants he spoke of?
The old man stopped his dialect ditty, turned his head, showing those somewhat rotten teeth in a smile: "Who else could it be? You and Youyou and them all are."
Su Jiu was somewhat speechless, then asked again: "The old man has no descendants?"
Did the old man treat the entire bar as his children and grandchildren?
"None... this old man never married, waiting for someone."
Upon hearing this, the old man smiled, pedaling the small bicycle more vigorously, though his figure had a touch of desolation.
Su Jiu sighed softly.
Still unmarried to this day, not knowing who he was waiting for. Perhaps... waiting for someone who only existed in history.
"Eight more days, and I can enter again. Wonder if the vampire bloodline will be strengthened."
Looking at the gleaming white dragon head ring on her right hand, Su Jiu leaned against the straw, hugging the little siren, falling into deep sleep. Human habits still dominated—fighting was truly exhausting.
She didn't even ask about the Lianyun Geisha House matter...
"Don't need anyone's pity, this old man has the wind for company, has the little bar for company oh."
The old man's ditty echoed faintly in her ears, seeming to tell some story, yet seeming like talking to himself.
...
Not knowing how much time passed, the small cart reached a hilltop on a highway.
"Wake up, time to watch the sunrise."
The old man's shout rang out. Su Jiu rubbed her somewhat sleepy eyes, exhaled, raised her head to see that crimson half sky, a red sun just emerging from the far sea's other side.
For Su Jiu, a corporate slave who had never seen a sunrise, this was an extremely shocking scene. She quickly took out her phone to photograph it.
"This early?"
Su Jiu stuffed the sleeping little siren into her sleeve, picked up her phone to check—just around 4:30, exactly dawn. Just as she was about to photograph that red sun.
She discovered the old man's gaze was looking toward another direction. Following his gaze, Su Jiu was first puzzled, then seeing the smile on the old man's face, a vague understanding seemed to well up in her heart.
That was the suburbs after the highway, where there were buildings of varying heights. She could even see some early market-goers pulling carts similar to the old man's... then the red sun seemed to peek out at the market, like announcing dawn's arrival.
If the old man hadn't come tonight, would this place have been destroyed like a toy by that War King-level giant squid?
"Night watching..."
Taking a deep breath, Su Jiu photographed the sun and several pictures of the suburbs. The night the old man watched was here, or perhaps...
Su Jiu's gaze looked toward the sea's other side. The sea was very gentle now, but who knew when it would rage again? Under the sea were existences that surpassed War Gods!
"Let's go, or after five o'clock, many people will come again."
"Today I even had Youyou make skewers."
The two got on the small broken cart again. At this time, sunlight had gradually moved over. Under the morning light, Su Jiu was like a distant traveler, and the old man was the cart driver.
As for whose cart driver, carrying whom—the morning light seemed to explain everything.
"Ding ding!"
Shaking her head, Su Jiu opened her phone to find a message from Youyou—
[I just used some small methods to check. Lianyun Geisha House indeed has problems. Most of their funding comes through a foreign anonymous account transfer. Their actual income is insufficient to support this chain store.]
[But there's no related information showing they're connected to sirens. Their business computers all have normal bills and such.]
Before Su Jiu could type a reply, the other's message came again:
[However, they're recently looking for high school student part-timers, claiming to reduce costs, but I feel something's fishy. If you want to investigate, you can try joining in.]