Feng Yin ultimately entered the city, stepping into a human settlement that resembled a refugee slum. He followed the man and woman, walking in silence as malicious glares bore into him from both sides of the street. They wove through the sprawling buildings and alleys until they finally arrived in front of a Tongzi Building.
Compared to the streets they had just traversed, the courtyard of this Tongzi Building was at least somewhat swept. Unlike the main thoroughfares outside, it didn't constantly reek of garbage and excrement.
"We're here. This is our turf." The bald man looked back, his expression softening slightly.
Feng Yin nodded quietly. Speaking in the Celestial Essence Language, he asked point-blank, "Brother Hong, what do you need me to do?"
Before they entered the town, they had exchanged a few words. He had learned the man went by "Brother Hong" and the woman by "Sister Xie." Neither had offered their real names.
Brother Hong glanced at Sister Xie, waiting for her input. However, the gloomy woman—the one who had noticed Feng Yin first—hadn't spoken a word during the entire journey. Even now, her expression remained ice-cold.
Brother Hong curled his lip and turned back to Feng Yin. "Go clean up the corner room on the first floor yourself. You'll be sleeping there from now on. I'll have someone bring you some food and water later. But that's just for this one meal; from now on, you work for your keep."
"Understood." Feng Yin didn't ask any further questions. He headed off in the direction Brother Hong had pointed.
"Hold on," Brother Hong called out from behind.
Feng Yin stopped and looked back.
Brother Hong gave him a stern warning. "Speak the Genroku Language around here. Don't just casually throw around the Celestial Essence Language. If outsiders find out, you will die a very miserable death."
Feng Yin noted the warning and nodded in agreement. Waving a hand, Brother Hong dismissed him.
He then pulled Sister Xie toward the stairs, muttering under his breath as they walked. "Old Xie, something's off with you. You'd better give me an honest explanation later."
Right before stepping into the stairwell, Sister Xie glanced back at Feng Yin's retreating figure. Then, under Brother Hong's scrutinizing gaze, she gave a slight nod. "I'll tell you when we get to the room."
Meanwhile, Feng Yin easily found his "room."
To call it a room was generous. It was just an empty space with a door that wouldn't even shut properly. Aside from the cobwebs clinging to the ceiling and a thick layer of dust blanketing the floor, there was nothing but unrecognizable heaps of trash. There wasn't a single piece of wood in sight, meaning that even after he cleaned it up, he would still be sleeping on the bare floor.
Feng Yin stared at the space in silence, but quickly accepted the reality.
Along the way to the Tongzi Building, Brother Hong—believing Feng Yin had "amnesia"—had given him a brief rundown of Border Prison Island and Sin City.
Border Prison Island belonged to Genroku Country. Stripped of resources and plagued by a harsh, unforgiving climate, the island was practically uninhabitable. Since ancient times, it had served as Genroku Country's penal colony. Even now, in the modern era, it remained the final destination for the nation's most vicious felons. In short, the entire island was one massive prison.
Sin City was the only town within this prison, serving as the residential zone for the convicts. According to Brother Hong, it was a lawless land defined by plunder, oppression, violence, gore, and death. It was Hell for the righteous, but a paradise for the wicked.
"In a sinister place like this, simply having a roof over my head and a bite to eat is probably a luxury many people would kill for," Feng Yin silently told himself, mentally preparing for the days ahead.
Before he transmigrated, he had already been a mature adult navigating the corporate world. Even though his physical body was now younger, his intellect and emotional maturity remained fully intact. After being thrown into a place like this, trying to cling to the moral compass of a civilized society would likely leave him dead in an alleyway within three days.
He had to survive—and more importantly, he had to live well.
Reining in his wandering thoughts, Feng Yin headed out to the courtyard, located a broom and dustpan, and started scrubbing down the filthy room.
While he worked, he noticed several people deliberately passing by his door, subtly or overtly attempting to "acquaint" themselves with the newcomer. Most of them were burly, fierce-eyed young or middle-aged men. However, there was also a small fraction of women, along with a scarce handful of elderly folks.
None of them made any attempt to speak to him, and each carried an aura that screamed *keep away*. Yet, seeing the elderly in this settlement actually made Feng Yin breathe a sigh of relief.
The fact that the elderly were taken in under these conditions indicated two things. First, the Tongzi Building managed by Brother Hong and Sister Xie still retained a shred of basic humanity. Second, they had enough resources to spare for individuals who would otherwise be considered a burden.
He had likely made the right choice by coming here.
Amidst his thoughts, a plainly dressed middle-aged woman pushed open his battered door. She held a portion of food and a large cup of water, placing them silently on the floor.
"This is the food and water Brother Hong arranged for you. It's the only free meal you're getting.
"Get a good night's rest. First thing tomorrow morning, someone will come get you for work."
With that, she turned and walked away with icy indifference, not even giving Feng Yin a chance to express his thanks.
Feng Yin slowly closed his slightly parted lips and looked down at the food on the floor. Inside a large metal bowl lay a bed of white rice, slathered in some unknown yellow sauce. Back on Earth, he wouldn't have given food that looked like this a second glance.
But now, Feng Yin picked up the bowl without hesitation. He began to shovel the food into his mouth, eating as if he were savoring an exquisite delicacy. There was no room to be picky. He needed this nourishment to maintain his physical strength.
After all, hunger was the world's best seasoning.
Night fell.
Inside the Tongzi Building, the only lights were out in the corridors. Their dim, jaundiced glow wasn't nearly enough to illuminate the entire complex.
Leaning against the corner of his room, Feng Yin stared at the faint rays of light seeping through the drafty door and window, his mind racing with myriad thoughts.
Had he still been on Earth, he would have either been sitting in front of his computer playing games or lying in bed scrolling on his phone. Now, he was stuck in a mosquito-infested room, listening to the bloodcurdling screams that echoed from god-knows-where in the darkness, plagued by anxiety over an uncertain tomorrow.
In truth, even with a roof over his head, he remained deeply fearful of the future. After all, based on Brother Hong's descriptions and everything he had witnessed upon entering the city, the sheer peril of Sin City was no joke.
There were no "civilians" in this place. More than ninety percent of the populace were terrifying villains, monsters, scumbags, and sociopaths.
Countless gangs carved up the territory into rival factions, making it magnitudes darker than any lawless slum he had known on Earth. Violence was the only law; fists were the only logic. As long as one didn't provoke the megacorporation running the Death Madness Tower, and steered clear of the official Armed forces garrisoned on Border Prison Island... every manner of cruelty was permitted here.
Muggings were mundane, brawls were a constant, and blood red was the eternal backdrop of the city. Fresh corpses could be found stuffed in alley corners or wedged into the crevices between buildings on a daily basis. Even "Brother Hong" and "Sister Xie," who had just taken him in...
Feng Yin shook his head, cutting off that train of thought. He needed to maintain his energy to face the harsh uncertainties of tomorrow. It was time to sleep.
***
Deep in the night, within the pitch-black room, Feng Yin, curled up asleep in the corner, suddenly trembled.
A bizarre, blood-red mark surfaced on the back of his right hand. It was shaped like a double-ended trident, fused together in the middle.
The mark pulsed with a slow rhythm, wrapping the slumbering Feng Yin in a peculiar barrier and plunging his body into an anomalous state.
Falling, sinking—as if plunging into the abyss of an endless ocean.