Snow, all the time.

The ground has been unable to see the road clearly, only the icy slippery road, after the snow falls, people and cars trample solidly, after several degrees of melting, and then condense again, it forms this ugly appearance, white ice and dirty water are frozen together, and the surface has a little melted water, potholes, if you don't pay attention, you will slip when you step on it.

This is the North 9th District, a place rarely visited in the jade skirt.

Many abandoned buildings can still be seen on the streets, and the temporary houses left over from the mining fever were not solid, and after a decade, no one maintained them, and gradually damaged and collapsed by the erosion of the rain.

"Woo, woo-"

A dirty wild dog rummaged through the garbage cans in the snow, trying to pull out something to feed his stomach, but it was clear that there was only one unpopular tavern nearby, and the garbage they had dumped had long been frequented by rats, wild cats, and scavenging eagles, and there was no scum to use.

Occasionally, a large truck with a full load of bright headlights would drive through the streets in this bad weather, bringing up a little sound and movement.

"Puff ......"

The trash can, which had been overturned by a wild dog, rolled around the ground a few times before stopping again.

As if frightened by the sound, the already skinny wild dog jumped and ran away with a lame leg.

In the dark afternoon of snow, everything was quiet again.

After another twenty minutes, a boy in tattered clothes walked over from the distance of the snow and mist.

He doesn't walk fast, and even takes a break halfway, which seems to be an extremely rare physical strength, and his dirty cheeks are hidden under his hat, so he can't really see it.

As he approached, the shabby clothes of various fabric styles came into view, and these coats or winter coats were stacked chaotically on top of each other, protecting the thin body inside.

When he walked to the side of the road, he saw the trash can that he had turned over, and he stopped, and then crouched down and groped inside, but like the previous ones, he didn't find anything useful.

Then he stood up and looked around, finally finding the tavern that was slightly intact in the ruins.

Standing at a distance, he looked at the tavern for a long time, then walked slowly over to it, stopped closer to the tavern, turned around a little, and looked at it carefully.

Finally, he made a mental note of the tavern's location, and then walked away slowly, saving his strength, and disappeared into the depths of the wind and snow as he had come.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, it was just an accident, but two days later, the boy returned to the tavern, with a companion with him.

The two children, not very young, probably not yet ten years old, dressed in shabby clothes that were mixed and matched, watched carefully at the lighted and steaming building in a snowy corner.

They had no intention of entering the tavern, but just watched from afar, and then the two took turns resting, until one evening, when they saw an obese woman, carrying large and small bags of garbage, walking out of the tavern and throwing them in a trash can far away from the tavern.

After the woman left, one of them woke up her companion, and then the two of them cautiously approached the garbage can, tore open the contents that had just been thrown in, and began to rummage through them.

Although there are a lot of rotten things in the garbage, there are also some leftovers from eating, half-moldy vegetables and fruits, and so on.

The two picked up useful things, freed up a cleaner bag, packed it up, and slowly left the place.

This was repeated several times after that, until they gradually figured out when the tavern would throw out the garbage, and then they could come at a fixed point.

At this point in time, six out of ten times they can harvest something useful, although they can not miss it all the time, but it is too much physical and energy drain, and they also have other 'places' similar to this tavern to patrol.

For them, every source of food access is precious.

Of course, life won't always be so smooth.

"Uh-uh-" the bared wild dog growled as he looked at the two men approaching the trash can, its dirty black fur was knotted, and there were some places where there was no hair, revealing pus-yellow wounds.

The neighing wild dogs bared their yellowed teeth, which also emitted a rancid fishy smell and bubbled white in the snowy night.

Faced with such a wild dog, the two boys approached step by step with sticks, and threw a stone in the middle of the way, trying to scare the wild dog.

Finally, after comparing his size with the number difference between the two, the wild dog reluctantly retreated and let go of the trash can in front of him.

The two continued to rummage through the food, picking out the edible parts and putting them up, but before they could leave, a dog barked and leaned in.

The wild dog came back just now, and brought a companion, a total of five dogs, each breed is different, yellow, white, black and gray, but they all have similar characteristics, that is, dirty and thin.

After having a companion, the wild dog was not as polite and frightened as before, and rushed up directly, and the two swept away one or two with sticks, but they were soon bitten by several others.

Some aimed at the mouth of the trouser legs, some bit the waving wrists, and some tried to pounce on the neck, but the two of them found out, which did not let the wild dog succeed.

There was pain in their feet, and their clothes were torn indiscriminately, and the two of them also panicked a little, and began to beat them with sticks, but most of them missed, and only a few hits.

Just as the two of them shook off the wild dogs that were hanging on their bodies and biting at their trouser legs, a large dog that had been barking suddenly pounced on them and knocked one of the boys down in the snow.

Stepping on the body, the hot and humid mouth and teeth of the big dog are clearly visible, covering the sky, and the sour fishy smell emitted makes people dizzy, and then it goes straight to the position of the throat.

Fortunately, this time, the boy who fell to the ground finally noticed it in advance, and blocked it in front of his neck with his hand, so that the big dog only bit the palm of his hand, and his teeth penetrated the flesh and flesh, stuck in the bones of his hand, hooking the nerves, and making the boy on the ground almost faint in pain.

After breaking free and shaking off the wild dog next to him, another boy rushed over and slapped the big dog with a stick, but this had no effect, and after tasting the blood, the wild dog became even more crazy, and he bit again, this time landing on the chin, and his teeth tore open the flesh.

Seeing this, the boy who was still standing finally remembered something, and he hurriedly let go of his stick, took out a knife from his bosom, held it in his hand and stuck it in the wild dog below.

"Whew-" Under the pain, the wild dog screamed and hurriedly jumped away, and finally broke the siege.

After that, the two of them panted again and picked up sticks and knives to confront the five wild dogs, and at this time both sides were injured and much more cautious.

As time passed, the palms of the hands exposed to the air gradually became unconscious, and the wet and bloody palms always made the two boys uneasy.

However, they did not run away, and running in the snow was not only physically demanding, but once they fell, it was extremely terrible for the other party to find an opportunity.

The wild dogs barked incessantly, and after a long time, they finally attracted people to the tavern.

An adult scolded and walked over, saw the five wild dogs around, and roared, scaring away these hesitant guys, they are such hungry wild dogs, physical strength is also limited, it is okay to deal with children, if you come to an adult, you must not be able to beat.

After seeing the two children under siege, the big man with thick arms frowned, cursed a few words in his mouth, and told them to leave quickly.

Holding on to their injured companions, the two boys slowly disappeared into the snowstorm.

There are no suitable medical conditions, I don't know if I have the rabies virus, I have lost a lot of blood, and the future waiting for the two is not optimistic.

————

"If I hadn't helped you that day, you would have died in the snow." Years later, when Greed mentioned this to Valker, the other party thought about it.

"How do I remember that you were bitten by a dog, and then I helped you back."

"That's your mistake, you were bitten, I don't believe you look at the palms of your hands, I guess there are still scars." Greid responded.

Valker did have wounds in his palms, or rather he had wounds all over his body, and sometimes he couldn't remember how they came from.

"Okay." Valk was always a lot dumber when it came to Grad who could speak, and he no longer argued.

They now live in a small church, adopted by a kind priest, and are also orphanages with children like them.

Many of these children have birth defects, or because of their childhood experiences, their mental personality is somewhat abnormal, and they are in a better situation.

It was another winter, and they sat in the hall of the church with other children, although the heating effect was not good because of the large space, but it was already a very friendly environment compared to the wild where frostbite can be easily obtained.

A dozen or so children sat on either side of the long table, waiting silently, and the clock on the wall moved slowly, and it was almost 7 o'clock in the evening, when Boiss hurried back.

"Hey, good evening." He walked into the hall with a large package and waved to the children.

"Hello Pastor Bois~" The children replied happily, and although a few of them were still wooden, they also called their companions so.

"Okay, kids, here's today's food." He smiled slightly, then placed the package in his hand on the table and opened it, inside was the cheap bread he had just bought, although the taste was average, but the portion was sufficient.

Sitting in the cold room, the children grabbed the bread and ate it indiscriminately, while Pastor Boeth watched from the sidelines, with a mixture of joy and disgust in his eyes.

Time passed slowly, and the children who were no more than ten years old in the past gradually grew up, some were still as wooden as when they were children, some began to become rebellious, and some were getting by, enjoying the food given by the pastor every day.

Pastor Bois also saw this situation and gradually changed his attitude.

For the children of Mu Ne, it is only necessary to ask occasionally, for those who are rebellious, he will try to admonish them, if they don't succeed, he will also ignore them, for those who can get by, he will let them find some work to do, and as for the last ones who are more intelligent and obedient, he will teach them patiently, and occasionally give them some extra good food.

It seemed like a good move, but the children quickly noticed the difference, and some began to curry favor with Pastor Boith, while others began to cry to Pastor Boith, saying that they were being bullied and hungry, so that the pastor could give them something to eat or be more tolerant of them for a while.

At first, Pastor Boeth did not know about these thoughts, but as time went on, he became more cold, or rather discriminatory.

Those who have a good personality and are intelligent, he will ask almost every day, and those who don't like children, he will give them some food every day, and the pastor will only respond indifferently to their complaints and cries.

Some children saw Pastor Boeth as a friendly, patient, and respectable person, while others saw Pastor Boith as a stern and cold person, and some children saw Pastor Boith as a hypocrite who made a name for himself by saving children.

If the three children were to tell their respective images of Pastor Boith, one might think that they were three different people, but all three answers were true, and they were talking about the same person.

At the age of fifteen, Grad, as usual, came back from playing outside, and was very hungry, so he rummaged through the cupboards in the church, hoping to find something to eat, and it happened that the Reverend Boeth also entered the kitchen and saw him rummaging through the cabinets.

"Are you looking for something?" The priest's expression was a little cold.

"Yes." Feeling something was wrong, Greed stopped.

"Not here." The pastor finished speaking, looked at the empty countertop, and left.

Soon after, the priest returned, holding a packet of crumbs and still facing Grede, but before the bag could reach Grede, it fell to the ground, along with the dirty floor.

"Take it and eat it." The priest glanced at him, then turned away.

Although Grad slowly picked it up, a particularly uncomfortable feeling also rose in his heart.

If a pastor is true for everyone, that's fine, but unfortunately not.

Another person who often praised Pastor Boeth and said that Master Boeth was so powerful that the girl who followed Pastor Boeth would always get the priest's smile, and he would buy her more expensive and delicious food, and would not let her work, and even teach her some transcendent knowledge to try to make her slowly grasp the power.

Once, the sponsor invited the priest to go for a drink, and Greed secretly followed, wondering if he could get something good.

It was also this time that he heard Pastor Boith's true heart and thoughts.

"Alas, while saving children is a great thing in the eyes of others, some children are really ...... I felt sick when I looked at it, and I kept trying to get myself through it, but then I found out that some guys were thrown away for a reason...... "He was drunk and slurred his words, and occasionally slapped his hand on the table.

"It's like a mouse in the gutter, stupid, deceitful, sneaky, too lazy to do it, who wants this kind of child?"

"If it weren't for a few good kids, I really wouldn't be able to stay......

"Did you know that last month I prepared something to make a big cake for everyone at the Winter Festival, but it was put in the cupboard and disappeared the next day...... Later, when I went to the kitchen again, I saw the guy sneaking around, and I wanted to find a stick to beat him. ”

"But I can't do that, because by doing so, my reputation will be ruined."

"Even if you raise a wild dog, you're better than some."

"Hahaha, discourage, Pastor Bois, we all know your difficulty, think about it more than ten years ago, who came here to steal the mineral fever? It's not all thieves, robbers, ruffians, etc., and the wild seeds they left behind are naturally not good to go there. ”

"It's just that there are a lot of 'good people' in the Federation, they live a privileged life, and they have endless kindness, and if we want them to spend and pay, we have to decorate something, don't you say?"

"Come on, come on, drink more, get a good night's sleep tonight, and tomorrow we'll take another picture of the environment and surroundings in the church, and then add some sensational music, and that's it."

"As for the mud you said can't hold up the wall, just give you some food and don't let you starve to death, you don't need to spend an extra second, it's a wild dog that no one wants on the street, and some are not even 'human', so why bother with yourself."

"Hahaha......"

Laughter echoed in the tavern, but Grad walked away slowly.

The sky outside was still snowing, and the white snow made the whole world gray and eerily quiet.

In the snow, he stepped silently on the icy road step by step, looking at the mud that froze with the snow, his feet and fingers were cold, which reminded him of a long time ago, as if it were the same, walking in the cold and snowy night, like a dirty wild dog.

Isn't it enough to be alive, it should be a happy thing to be alive, but I don't know why, he's not as happy as before.

Thank you for your support in 2021~

Thank you for concentrating in a daze, pen and ink cloudy fairy, KujyoMiki

_Kevin_, Beta Molan, üβερmeνし

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(End of chapter)