encounter obstacles

The map of the safe zone is extremely large. Even the geography teacher at [Ju'an School] doesn't have a detailed one.

Naturally, Qin Siyang doesn't know the distribution of the safe - zone exits.

He only knows the approximate location of Exit [X] because it's relatively close to him.

Among the more than one hundred thousand numbered safe - zone exits, this is the only one he knows.

For an ordinary person, unless they plan to get in with sequence ability users, who would care about the locations of the safe - zone exits?

Not knowing the locations of the safe - zone exits isn't really a tough problem. He remembers that there's a route map at the bus stop near the main road. There might very well be the locations of the safe - zone exits on it.

On previous weekends, Qin Siyang would just lie around at home because this way he could reduce his consumption and eat less. This weekend is definitely going to be different.

Now, he is full of fighting spirit.

There's only one belief in his heart.

To become stronger.

As long as he becomes stronger, he can leave this hellhole!

Qin Siyang slung his schoolbag full of food over his back and walked for more than ten minutes to reach the bus stop.

This is the first time he's come to the bus stop because he can't even afford to eat, let alone take the bus.

In Qin Siyang's world, the poor walk on foot, while the rich take the bus.

As for those who drive private cars? Gasoline is an even scarcer resource than electricity. There's no one that well - off in the area at the edge of the safe zone.

He stared at the route map at the bus stop for a long time.

He found that many of the station names along the bus route are named after the safe - zone exits. The only bus route at the edge of the safe zone passes by several safe - zone exits, and their numbers are all smaller than [X].

Qin Siyang isn't sure which safe - zone exit to go to.

He'll just take it one step at a time.

Since he's never taken the bus in this world, he doesn't know how far one bus stop is.

"Alas, if orphans could take the bus for free, that would be great."

Qin Siyang looked at the five - copper - coin fare and shook his head helplessly. All the ten copper coins he had left were spent at the Internet café yesterday.

"Five copper coins for one trip, and ten for a round - trip. I might as well go to the Internet café to look up some more information."

Qin Siyang curled his lips and started the task of measuring the distance between bus stops on foot. He needs to know the approximate distance between bus stops to estimate which safe - zone exits he can reach on foot.

He walked along the bus route for twenty minutes and reached the next bus stop.

"The bus stops here seem to be much farther apart than in his previous life."

After eating the god remains yesterday, his strength has increased, and he walks extremely fast, far exceeding ordinary passers - by. Whenever there's no one on the road, he'll even speed up and go all out.

Even so, he can only cover three stops in an hour.

Now that he knows the distance of one stop, he has a rough idea of his range of movement.

"The seventh stop is Exit [X1], the seventeenth is Exit [X2], and the twentieth is Exit [X3]. It seems that only these three stops are within my reach to look for god remains."

"The farthest one, Exit [X3], I can still get home before tomorrow. If it's farther than that, I'm afraid I won't be able to get home before Monday and thus can't go to school on time."

On Monday, Qin Siyang has to go to school early to tell the librarian that he wants to continue his part - time job as a librarian.

Otherwise, the part - time librarian position for next week will be taken by someone else, and he won't have the money to go to the Internet café.

After thinking for a while, Qin Siyang decides to go to Exit [X1] first to see the situation.

The one - hour - and - forty - minute journey doesn't make Qin Siyang feel the slightest bit tired. He even gets more and more excited as he walks.

Material wealth and spiritual wealth are often discussed separately. Once a person has something to look forward to, they'll be full of energy in whatever they do.

Even though the streetlights around are very dim, filling the air with a sense of oppression.

According to the time, it's daytime, but the sun disappeared ten years ago. Although it's early morning, the sky always stays at midnight.

The infrastructure at the edge of the safe zone is very shabby. On the main road where he is, there's only a dim streetlight every few dozen meters, and it can only barely illuminate a few steps ahead.

And the alleys beside are completely dark, and one has to grope their way through.

Looking up, one can vaguely see the stars and the occasional figures of gods passing by on the air - raid glass of the safe zone.

The cold wind blows through Qin Siyang's several thin, non - warm coats and has an intimate encounter with his skin. Goosebumps pop up all over his body in response.

Qin Siyang turns up his collar to cover his face, so that the cold wind won't blow directly on his face, and then continues to walk quickly.

After walking seven stops, he arrives at Exit [X1].

The number of this exit is more than fifty thousand smaller than [X]. Logically, there should be more sequence ability users hunting gods here.

As soon as Qin Siyang arrives, he finds an old, slightly taller building to get a view of the situation.

Sure enough, he sees nearly a hundred sequence ability users in anti - freeze suits, far more than at Exit [X].

The ordinary people dressed like him around have surrounded the area near the safe - zone exit tightly. There are probably nearly ten thousand of them.

He sizes up the crowd and the sequence ability users chatting in the middle of the crowd. No one notices him.

Qin Siyang pretends to be wandering around aimlessly and looks for the trash cans full of god remains.

Finally, one block away from the safe - zone exit, he sees the trash cans with god remains.

And the scale of the trash cans at this exit is much larger than that at Exit [X].

If the trash can at Exit [X] is like a luxurious dinner, then the trash - can area at Exit [X1] is like a grand banquet!

Seven or eight trash cans are lined up in a row, and each one is filled with god remains! The colorful and strange - shaped god remains whet Qin Siyang's appetite.

If he could empty these seven or eight trash cans, wouldn't he soar to new heights?!

Qin Siyang's heart beats wildly as he thinks about how to clean up all the god remains here as quickly as possible.

However, he suddenly notices that there are two cleaners covered in bloodstains beside the trash station.

Qin Siyang originally planned to wait in the distance until the two cleaners left before coming over.

But when he appears in the sight of the two cleaners, they both look up at him.

After a brief eye - contact, they continue to clean the trash cans.

Qin Siyang's heart tightens, and he changes his plan.

He doesn't stop but continues to walk forward, approaching the trash cans and the two cleaners.

Qin Siyang pretends to be a passing student and walks past them nonchalantly without looking back.

The two cleaners glance at Qin Siyang, look at his simple clothes and young face, and don't take him seriously.

After walking far enough and completely leaving the block, Qin Siyang finally lets out a sigh of relief.

"What's going on?! Why are there people guarding the trash cans?! And they're in plain clothes! Could it be that the recorder in uniform reported me yesterday?"

When Qin Siyang made eye - contact with the two, his nerves were on edge. Although he kept a straight face, he observed extremely carefully and his mind was working at high speed.

He realizes that the two must not be ordinary cleaners!

Because the stains on their clothes are too deliberately dirty.

The god remains in the trash cans have long been separated from the god's torso, and the blood had already drained when the gods were hunted.

The cleaner he saw at Exit [X] yesterday only had a little blood on his body.

Even though there were a lot of god remains at Exit [X], there wasn't much blood on the trash cans.

But these two are covered in bloodstains as if they've just killed someone and got splashed all over. That's not what a cleaner should look like!

It's overdone.

Moreover, when Qin Siyang appeared far away from the trash cans, they both looked up at him simultaneously.

This shows that they're very vigilant.

Cleaners should just focus on their work. Why are they so vigilant and observing the surroundings? And both of them are like this!

"It seems that the disappearance of the god remains in the trash can last night has attracted others' attention! Maybe these god remains still have other uses after being recycled?"

His worries before coming here weren't unfounded.

In just one night, the United Government has launched an investigation into this matter.

It's easy to guess that there must be more plain - clothes people waiting for him at the trash can of Exit [X].

Qin Siyang sighs: "If I had only taken one piece of god remains yesterday, would it have been less troublesome?"

However, taking only one piece of god remains every day, although it seems safe, would require him to go to the trash can more than thirty times to gain the current strength.

Going there so many times increases the probability of being exposed! He might very well be caught on the spot!

It's better to go all out in one go.

It was exactly for this reason that he decided to clean up all the god remains in the trash can yesterday.

Qin Siyang knows that his plan to get god remains from the trash cans might be ruined, but he doesn't completely give up.

Even though he has a good impression of the United Government, he doubts the efficiency of its lower - level officials.

Otherwise, why hasn't [Ju'an School] offered courses related to sequence ability users until now?

Maybe the situation hasn't deteriorated to the point where all his chances are gone.

"Alright, there's no chance at the trash cans here. I'll keep walking forward and take my chances! Even if there's no chance, I've become much stronger with yesterday's harvest. This isn't a bad deal!"

Qin Siyang leaves Exit [X1] and continues to walk along the bus route into the distance.

The next safe - zone exit is Exit [X4], which is ten stops away.

"Ten stops. Alas, it'll take more than three hours to get there. I don't know if I can get home today. Maybe I'll have to sleep outside."