When I saw the amount, I was a little painful, but I still crossed it out obediently, and then asked, "Why, teacher?" The last order is obviously the highest? ”

The teacher suddenly paused, then stared at me with a dead gaze, and said coldly: "Che, remember, alchemists never use living beings as materials, and they never refine living things, not even an ant. If one day you kid dares to disobey this, even if I die, I will turn into a ghost and come back and kill you, do you understand? ”

Thinking of the teacher's appearance as a ghost, I couldn't help but feel a chill on my body, and immediately nodded obediently and agreed to the teacher.

5:30 p.m.

Quietly, carefully, after writing down the last character, I closed the journal.

I don't know when, the sound of rain falling in the sky disappeared, and the thick inky clouds and mist melted layer by layer, blooming a rich and dazzling red light.

I stood up and opened the window, and a cold air came to my nose, blowing my bangs slightly, caressing my face, moistening my eyes, and kissing the corners of my mouth.

I took a deep breath and exhaled a long breath.

"The ugly duckling has finally become a white swan."

Teacher, on a rainy day, I wrote another memory with you.

It's another night of writing, and it reminds me of your posture of frowning and reading a book with an oil lamp lit all night. Although your face is hideous and ugly, to my apprentice, it is the most peaceful way to sleep.

After washing my face, I changed into a gray shirt and casual pants, put on a baseball cap and walked out of the house. I live far away from the downtown area.

Because it is partial, and it is a slum area, the house price is quite cheap, plus the owner and I are also old acquaintances, 3000 gold coins, a small duplex building with a small basement.

When the teacher was still there, he used to live in a small wooden hut that was more modest and simple, but the traffic there was so inconvenient that sometimes I couldn't even make a phone call when it rained.

After cremating the teacher's body and 450 books on alchemy according to the confession, I came here with the teacher's ashes.

This area is twenty miles in radius and is known as Maoji District by residents. In the downtown area of Maoji, there is a small shop between the barber shop and the dental center, and it feels like it sells a little bit of everything, and the name of the shop is Night Darkness.

Based on the income of an alchemist, there is no need to bother to run such a small shop in the slums, let alone make money, it seems to me that the shop is losing money every day. I was very puzzled by this, but the teacher never explained anything to me about the reason for doing this.

But I remember that on the night of my teacher's departure, when I asked my teacher if he wanted to sell the small shop, his eyes were very confused and tired, and he seemed to want to say something to me, but after all, he sighed deeply: "If you plan to go to another city, then sell it." But if you're going to stay here...... If that's not hard for you...... If you can...... Just leave it behind......"

Walking through the familiar streets, stepping on the wet and slippery stone road, I came to the Snow House, opened the iron door and entered, the air was very stuffy, I opened the window to breathe, and happened to see a mother and daughter passing by outside, they smiled and nodded at me, and I also said good morning.

I ended up staying in the shop, partly because I was moved by my teacher's sentimental will, but more importantly, because I didn't want to reveal my identity as an alchemist.

Not to mention that I've only been in charge for a year, as long as I'm not a fool, this kind of secret will not be exposed in a big way, and it will lead to death.

My current identity is my eldest grandson, who has been separated by war and teachers for many years, and I am also the owner of this small shop. The slums are poor, but I don't hate them, and there are occasional bad guys, but most of them are very simple.

A life of poverty makes people miserable, but it also brings people together. The teacher has lived here for half his life, and he has been a member of this group for a long time, and the teacher said that I am his grandson, and after 4 years, I have naturally integrated into this big group.

There was a small back room in the shop, and in it was an old dark red leather sofa, which was cracked in many places to reveal a sponge, which the teacher had bought from the second-hand market many years ago.

That's probably it, and I can't put anything else down. Actually, there was a small bookshelf, but after the books were burned, I moved out of the bookshelf, so this small space became my habitat.

Located in the slums, life is certainly not superior, but just as only those who have suffered from hunger know the preciousness of food, and only those who have been abandoned and left alone know how happy it is to integrate into an environment.

This means not only that you can meet friendly neighbors who can greet you when you go out and walk around every morning, but also that you have a reason to live.

As a member of a group, it is an invisible thick hemp rope that binds your soul, your body, to the ordinary, so that you will not be derailed at any time.

When a person derails and falls to the edge of society, what awaits him is probably endless cold, like hell without end, it must be quite tormenting.

Although the teacher's shop remained, I don't mean that I rely on this shop to support myself, it is a bit too whimsical.

Alchemy is not easy to use, but with the influence of my teachers and my own unique past experience, I don't think I can forget this mysterious science, nor can I give it up. I'll keep researching it, but I've vowed in my heart that I'll never use it again for money.

However, even though I think so, life is always full of surprises and reversals. But I'm not surprised, or rather, how many people in this world can go smoothly according to their own plans?

There is no need to be annoyed, let alone feel sorry for yourself, because this is the normal state of the world, and it is something that everyone who depends on the group must go through.

It happened just a week after the teacher's death. The dilapidated shop left by the teacher rarely welcomed a small customer. It was a dirty little girl, her face had not faded from immaturity, and her big eyes were as timid as diamonds.

And the helpless gaze in her eyes, longing for salvation, shone like stars in the night. I don't think there's anything in the world that is as attractive as a child's pure gaze.

There is always something that adults yearn for, or that cannot be easily forgotten from the impression. So in the face of the child who didn't say a word, I put down the alchemy atlas I was studying, took off my glasses, and showed what I thought was the most kind smile.

"Hello, what do you need to buy?"

“…… Are you an alchemist? ”

She asked me this, and her two little hands clutched the dirty little skirt tightly, as if she was extremely nervous, but also eager to the extreme. I nodded, and tears immediately rolled down her big eyes like pearls with broken threads.

"Please...... Mr! Please save my sister, woo...... She's going to die, and I don't want to lose her, but...... No one wants to help us ......"

The little girl cried pitifully, almost silently. In the face of such a child's helpless crying, even if the heart is made of iron, it will melt.

And now that I think about it, I'm writing everything down in my notebook word by word, and it suddenly feels like maybe it's all going to happen.

Although I had just sworn in my heart not to use alchemy lightly, I followed the little girl to her house. This is also a poor child who lives in a slum, and the house is dilapidated and leaky, and looks as shabby as a stable.

When I saw her sister, I found that her sister was indeed dying, her face was more ugly than a ghost, blue and black, her eyes were scarlet, and the iris of her eyes had changed color due to infection.

Just by looking at it, I knew that this girl would never be able to be saved with ordinary medical technology alone. Even if it could be saved, the amount of money it would cost would never be affordable for the poor sisters.

I thought this might be the last time I would do such a thing, so I used alchemy to heal the girl's sister. It seems a little strange to say that there is a cure, after all, what I do has nothing to do with medical treatment.

But it doesn't matter, the important thing is that I succeeded in saving a life, and the girl didn't need to part with her sister for life and death. They are very grateful to me for saving me, my sister is still a child, but my sister is an adult.

She knew that she could not repay me, so she looked at me with a look that was ready for any realization, knelt down in obedience, and whispered that she would grant any request I had.

I shook my head and told her bluntly that I hadn't chosen to help them in the first place. When my sister heard me say this, she looked quite confused and embarrassed.

"But...... I've heard from my neighbors that the grandson of the old gentleman who lives in Maoji District...... We will never easily accede to other people's requests. ”

I was surprised, I thought it was low-key enough, and no one would care about me, but this low-key seemed to be regarded as a mystery, and people started talking about it behind my back. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but have a wry smile on my face.

"But I really don't need your repayment, saving you today is just a whim...... By the way, you will take good care of your sister in the future, and the sisters will live well, which will be regarded as a reward for me. ”

My sister still looked apologetic, and I shook my head, thinking that such a grateful girl is really rare in the slums. And just as I was about to leave the house, my sister suddenly shouted.

"Sister, why don't we give the things on that person to this big brother? They're all alchemists, so maybe they'll be useful......"

I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, and looked back curiously. It just so happened that I saw my sister hurriedly covering her sister's mouth with a panicked look, and the little girl's innocent eyes blinked at her sister with a puzzled expression.

"That's, that'...... Children always like to talk nonsense, I ......"

"I'm not talking nonsense! He said that he was an alchemist, the same as this big brother! The girl took her sister's hand away and pouted in dissatisfaction in protest.

My sister looked at her sister blankly, looked at me, and then covered her face and sobbed in a sad whisper. I was curious, and after comforting me for a while, I asked what had happened.

After my sister's explanation, I realized that some time ago, the two sisters met a man who happened to pass by here, and he seemed to be dying of starvation.