Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 661 - 274. Song in the Rain

Chapter 661: 274. Song in the Rain

Today was clear turning to overcast, and the radio mentioned that there would be a torrential downpour late at night, along with a flood warning.

"Rain, huh... let it pour."

For Xia Beiluo, who picked up bottles in the back alleys, it didn’t make much of a difference. She stuffed the bottles into a urea bag and then secured them tightly on the back seat of her bicycle, padding the interior with some newspapers and straw to prevent the bottles from clashing and breaking.

Xia Beiluo had recently landed a good gig, a newly-opened pub was paying high prices to recycle bottles with The Church’s labels, seemingly to pirate The Church’s seal. This allowed them to market the products under the guise of "The Church’s authorization," jacking up the price by 1.8 Lingge.

If lucky, the big bag could earn her fifty Lingge, provided she didn’t run into the punks from the Black Snake Gang; otherwise, she’d barely clear twelve and sometimes even less than ten Lingge.

Thump.

She had just packed the urea bag when a dirty, large hand landed on her shoulder, followed closely by a gaunt face with a grin, holding an unbranded cigarette, saying to her:

"Want one, little lady? The first one is free."

"No thanks, I’m allergic to tobacco."

Xia Beiluo said indifferently, preparing to kick up the stand and leave, but the man persistently pressed on, his hand inappropriately sliding down her back.

"Come on, have one. They’re really free! This good stuff, you’re not the kind of working student who can afford it."

Xia Beiluo looked coldly at the man:

"No thanks, but feel free to touch yourself. After all, I’m a guy."

"You—"

The harassing punk took a good look at Xia Beiluo’s not particularly beautiful face and almost curveless figure, and was immediately rendered speechless.

"Damn! Such bad luck..."

He cursed, pushing Xia Beiluo. She quickly hugged the urea bag, flipped over, and landed on the ground preemptively, cushioning the fall with no sound of breaking bottles coming from inside.

The punk left cursing and mumbling, and Xia Beiluo let out a breath of relief without any complaint. She stood up, pushed her bicycle, and steadily headed southward towards the district.

After walking about four or five kilometers, she successfully secured the promised payment from the pub owner just before he left.

"43 Lingge."

Said the pub owner, smashing a seemingly semi-new bottle and casually speaking.

"Wasn’t it agreed at 50 Lingge..."

"Several bottles had faded Spirituality on their labels; I won’t buy these."

The owner didn’t even blink, expertly removed a label, infused Spiritual Power into it, and immediately, the symbol of "Master of Souls" Church appeared:

"Can’t you check them? Even as a working student with no Spiritual Body contract, just a simple infusion of Spiritual Power should have allowed you to recognize it."

"...Yeah, I’ll be careful next time."

Xia Beiluo pursed her lips and nodded.

"Make sure to check them before bringing them here! It’s exhausting for me to inspect each one. If you bring me bottles without Spirituality again next time, I’ll find someone else. Take it or leave it, there are plenty of others willing to do it."

"Yes, I promise it won’t happen again."

"Here’s your payment, now scram."

The owner pulled out a few crumpled notes from his pocket, flung them with a sweep of his hand, then turned and entered the pub.

Paper currency suddenly hit Xia Beiluo’s face—her first reaction was not to dodge, but to quickly bow her head and catch it, fearing that the puddles on the ground would wet the coins.

However, even though she reacted quickly, two 5 Lingge denomination bills were still soaked by the muddy water. Xia Beiluo’s eyes reddened in an instant as she picked them up, smoothed them out, and dried them with her clothes.

"Huff—huff—"

She blew them dry with a heartache, looking at the damaged bills, feeling as if her heart was breaking.

Boom, boom, boom...

There was rain in the evening, and the sky thundered with rolling thunder.

"Damn it! I’ve got to run!"

Xia Beiluo quickly put the reward into a waterproof clip, secured it close to her body, then rode her second-hand bicycle, screeching wildly along the way.

Drip, drip...

A chill on Xia Beiluo’s forehead as the worn asphalt road revealed a dull gray concrete surface, which was then blurred with brown ink stains by the raindrops.

Rushing and gushing...

It was as if a broken fire hydrant was pouring jumbled, cool raindrops from the sky, taking away the heat from her thin body.

Xia Beiluo bowed her head, struggled up the slope, her hands on the handlebars soaked by the rain, her fingers macerated and turned white.

The rain wrapped around her body like venomous snakes, injecting a venom named ’coldness’ into her, which first penetrated her marrow before spreading with her blood to her entire body.

It chilled her nerves and numbed her mind.

In the torrential summer rain, she felt a smothering heat as if steamed and boiled by fire and water, the rain and sweat mingling together. The warmer her body felt, the colder and stiffer her fingers and toes became.

The massive rain poured down like a tsunami, making her uphill journey overwhelmingly difficult.

Unable to breathe, she dared not lift her head, could not open her eyes, and could barely pedal. The raindrops interconnected into threads as if they were slicing her apart (Note ①).

Sometimes she couldn’t even see the blinking headlights until the other party honked desperately, splashing waves of water over her body, flattening her short hair onto her face, allowing the rainwater to flow into her eyes along her hair.

The Wandering Souls on the street lamps chirped and sneered at the sight of her advancing figure.

The swallows took shelter under the eaves of the nightclubs; inside, pulsating techno music played. The delicate swallows didn’t mind the noise and comfortably rested under the glitzy neon lights of the disco.

The wind whirled up dead branches and leaves into the air, giving them a view as if the whole world was painted in stark, grim dark shades, cold winds swathing clouds across the planet, oppressively dark as if naturally meant to suppress all lives.

"I need to get the money home."

Her shirt soaked and became transparent, revealing the intimate garments beneath, but at this moment, she had no thoughts of shame, pedaling hard, and pushed forward as quickly as possible.

A complete asphalt road is a rare find in the city, and a concrete road is also quite good, but soon, she felt her tires becoming heavy, sinking into the mud.

"It’s a bad road, need to be careful."

Xia Beiluo cautiously drove over the more solid cobblestones, but suddenly, she lost her balance.

Crash!

The front wheel got stuck in a horseshoe pit, and her body leaned forward, flying out, and her chin hit the curb as if struck by a hammer, immediately seeing stars, unable to discern directions, not knowing where she was.

Xia Beiluo screamed in terror:

"Money! Money!"