Outlander's Journey

Chapter 302: Master and Apprentice

Qifan Street Xiacheng District, this is a more decent title.

Those in the upper echelons prefer to call these lower districts, which are covered by steel discs, [mouse dens].

During his stay at Midgar Central Hospital, Tifa listened to people in the hospital mentioning the slums in the lower city. Whenever these [mouse dens] are mentioned, those well-dressed people will always subconsciously bring up disgusting expressions.

But when he stepped here, Tifa found that the slum was very different from what he had imagined.

Although there are simple bungalows built with wooden boards or discarded metal plates everywhere, the layout planning is not as messy as imagined. The surface of the road left between the houses is not like the concrete roads or expensive stone-brick streets like the upper urban area, but the extremely hard land that has been stepped on by countless people.

Going further, you can see a small courtyard similar to a kindergarten, where there is a sandpit for children to play, and a group of children wearing uniform hand-sewn school uniforms are playing happily.

In addition to this, there are obviously simple basketball courts, two or even three-story single-family buildings, props shops, weapons shops…Tifa even saw a fairly large-scale small market inside. The hustle and bustle of people is quite lively.

“How about it, is it very different from the slum you imagined?”

Zangan’s voice brought Tifa back to her senses, and the girl nodded embarrassedly: “Well… it’s very energetic here, everyone seems to be working hard to survive.”

Although the people living here are dressed plainly, most of them also have tired faces caused by overwork, but these people seem to have something in their eyes. Tifa doesn’t know how to describe these people’s eyes, she only knows that she likes this kind of atmosphere.

It’s really different from those in the upper block, so the girl thought.

Zangan rubbed the beard on his chin, and said as he walked, “I am here not only to show you the other side of Midgar, but also to show you a greeting to an old friend. You are such a pretty little girl. If you want to live in Midgar, if you don’t have others to take care of, besides it will be very hard, I’m afraid you will encounter a lot of harassment.”

“Master, I am not afraid of hard work. And am I not your proud disciple?”

Tifa bent his arms and tried to be strong: “Ordinary men are not my opponent.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Zangan laughed: “Human hearts are sometimes much more terrifying than fists and swords. In short, don’t be foolish and credulous, but don’t deliberately be evil, so that you can live well in this slum. Survive.”

“Yeah!” The girl nodded heavily.

Master will say these words, is it really time to say goodbye? Girls who have suffered major traumas both physically and mentally are always extremely sensitive. Looking at the tall figure in front of them, the mood becomes like a loss.

The two walked along the streets of the slum, and pedestrians along the way would occasionally be puzzled by the two strange faces. But there is a very important rule in the slum survival rules-don’t ask, don’t talk.

When the two were walking on the street, Zangan who was walking in front suddenly asked without looking back: “Uh…Tifa, have I mentioned my other disciples to you?”

“I will mention it occasionally. After all, you are a world-renowned martial arts instructor with disciples all over the world.”

Tifa tilted his head: “Master, why did you suddenly ask about this?”

Zangan slowed down and walked side by side with Tifa, with a weird tone: “Have I said that you are the most talented disciple I have ever received?””Hey hey, it seems to have been said?”

In fact, Master often praises himself so much. Although Tifa is not that easy to be arrogant, he also has confidence in his talent for practicing martial arts.

“Actually… I lied to you, Tifa.”

Zangan scratched the back of his head: “Your talent for practicing Zangan Liu martial arts is indeed top-notch, but you are not the most talented disciple I have received.”

The girl tilted her head again, and the master suddenly said, what does this mean?

At this time, the two walked to the end of the street, and what they saw was a slightly empty intersection where the three streets met. At the center of the intersection is a dilapidated bar. The bar has no signs and looks very old from the outside. Even the glass is broken.

Going past the bar and looking to the south, you can see a simple two-story apartment from a distance.

Zangan followed the girl’s gaze and looked at the bar, then shook his head: “This bar has been abandoned for a long time. It is said that the owner had something wrong and no one took over… It’s a pity that I wanted to be here last time. Have a drink. Where did you just talk about it? Oh, yes, I have many disciples, and your talent among these disciples ranks second. You are indeed a good martial artist. But there is another kid who is talented. The one with the highest talent.”

“What you want to tell me is this number one… brother?” Tifa asked tentatively.

“right.”

Zangan walked slowly towards the two-story apartment with Tifa, and said as he walked:

“You brother is a…weird, weird in every sense. But one thing is beyond doubt, that is his [talent].”

“Abilities?”

“Yes, unparalleled [talent]. I ask you, how long did it take you to get started with the [Vengeful Magic Light Ball]?”

“Um… about four months, right?” Tifa still remembers this move, because she is only a beginner, far from being a Grandmaster.

“Do you know how long it took your brother?” Zangan asked mysteriously.

The girl shook her head, expressing curiosity.

Zangan raised a finger at her, and Tifa asked curiously: “One month? Not a week?”

“One hour.”

Zangan’s tone is serious: “This is not the time for me to demonstrate this trick to him.”

Tifa didn’t know what to say for a while. It is precisely because she has practiced Zangan Liu martial arts systematically that she clearly knows how difficult it is to practice [Fighting Magic Light Ball]. One hour…Is this a real genius?

She finally got rid of the inexplicable depression, and asked Zangan: “Master, you suddenly mentioned this brother, does he also live in Midgar?”

“In fact, he lives in the second floor apartment. Oh, yes, this apartment is called [Tianwangzhuang]. The landlord’s wife and I are old acquaintances. Although her mouth is broken, she is definitely a good person. If you can live here. I will also feel a little more at ease.”

With that, the two walked to the front of the apartment.

The apartment has a two-story structure as a whole. The metal staircase is on the outside of the apartment. There are three rooms on the second floor, and the first floor seems to be the landlord’s own residence.

Following the barking of a dog, an old lady with gray hair and long hair tightly tied behind her head slowly walked out the door, followed by an old dog with white coat and vigorously wagging her tail.

“Marei! Hahaha! How are you doing recently?”

Zangan opened his arms and walked over with a big laugh. He wanted to hug the old lady named Mare, but was blocked in front of him by the latter with a disgusting hand. He sighed and said, “Zangan, You are definitely not here to pay back the money… Let’s say, how much do you need to borrow?”

Zangan touched his head awkwardly, and stammered: “No, I just want to come… well, say hello. What? Come on, Tifa, this beauty is Mare, the landlady of Tianwangzhuang. .”

Tifa moved over slightly awkwardly and bowed deeply to Mare: “Hello, my name is Tifa, I am very glad to meet you… The money that Master borrowed from you was used by me, I I will work hard to make money and return the money to you as soon as possible!”

She wanted to say something, but she was hugged by Marley, patted her back gently and soothed: “Don’t worry, don’t worry, you kid takes it seriously. I know your master very well, the way we get along That’s it, sorry to scare you.”

Mare calmed Tifa while looking at Zangan: “Is the borrowing money to treat this child?”

She was very knowledgeable, and she could tell at a glance that Tifa’s face was not right. It was obvious that she had recovered from a serious illness and needed to continue to recuperate.

Zangan touched the back of his head: “She is my disciple, and everyone in the family is already… plus she was seriously injured, so I can only take her to Midgar. That hospital charges a lot, Mare, you know.”

Marley snorted, “If you said earlier that you borrowed money to treat such a good child, then what I said will help you collect the medical expenses. However, the charge price of Midgar Central Hospital is not low, at least There are tens of thousands of GIL, where did you get the money?”

Zangan pointed towards the second floor with a strange expression.

Marley immediately understood: “Do you want him to help take care of this child? Stop dreaming, you know better than me how weird that kid is.”

“That’s why I am going to visit. After all, the money borrowed from him is not a small amount, and I can’t pay it back in a short time.”

Zangan stretched out his hands and smiled bitterly: “Although he is known as a master and apprentice, I didn’t teach him much, but he helped a lot. The kid was actually very kind in heart, just comparing to strangers… …”

“【indifferent】.”

Marley said angrily:

“I have only one comment on him. Okay, well, he shouldn’t go out, room 202.”

Compared to being unkind to Zangan, Mare is much gentler to Tifa, softly soothing: “If you want to survive in Midgar, sometimes you need to be a little bit cheeky. The kid upstairs has real skills. , It’s just that his mouth is too smelly and he is very weird. If he says something strange… don’t take it to heart, he is fairly reliable about the acquaintances he knows, um, probably.”

Marley’s comfort had a counterproductive effect, and Tifa became even more frightened. If it were put in normal times, she would probably just run away, but Master had spared her face for her own sake, how could she hold her back?

Repeatedly cheering for herself in her heart, the girl followed Zangan up the metal stairs outside the apartment. The thin and slightly rusty metal steps made a sour creak every time they were stepped on.

“201…202, this is it.”

Zangan stood in front of the door and took a few deep breaths. Obviously, he was a little nervous as a master, and I don’t know if it was because of the psychological pressure he faced the big creditors.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Rhythmically knocking on the door three times, Zangan stood in front of the door with a serious expression, and Tifa stood beside him with a nervous expression on his face.Creak–

The door was slowly opened by a slit, the light in the room was extremely dim, and Tifa could only see half of his head through the crack of the door-the messy black curly hair and short ears, old-fashioned glasses, flat. With an unremarkable face and half drooping eyes, he looked very young as a whole, less than eighteen years old.

This is what the genius brother is talking about? Uh, it’s so different from what you imagined!

The head behind the door just looked at Zangan through the crack of the door without saying a word.

“Heather! Hahaha! How are you doing recently?” Zangan stretched out his arms as if trying to resolve the embarrassing silence.

“Zangan.”

The black-haired young man called Heather seemed to pronounce Zangan’s name in self-confirmation, nodded lightly, and then slammed the door shut with a bang.

“…”

Tifa looked worriedly at Zangan, who was froze. She had never encountered such an embarrassing scene before she was so old.

Zangan had long been familiar with Heather’s temper, and continued to knock without discouragement, still using the rhythm of three knocks.

Behind the door was quiet for a while, then opened a gap again.

Heather’s voice has no ups and downs: “I lent you a total of 26460 GIL before and after. No need to pay it back, just treat you as my honor.”

“Really? That’s great… Oh no, I’m not here to talk about this this time.”

Zangan burst into joy at first, then he suddenly woke up when he saw Tifa next to him, and quickly resisted the door to prevent Heather from closing it: “Don’t close it, Heather, you don’t want to know if I borrowed so much money. why?”

“No, let go.”

“Heather, just talk a few words, okay? Anyway, let’s teach and apprentice…Well, I admit that I pitted you on Wutai, but that was not an accident!”

Feeling that the strength behind the door is getting stronger and stronger, Zan Gan decisively admits his mistake.

“…We will calculate the account of the five stations later.”

Heather no longer tried to close the door, but instead turned his eyes to Tifa, who was standing awkwardly outside the door: “Zanganliu martial arts practice is good, but he was seriously injured… Midgar Central Hospital?”

Zangan nodded quickly: “Yes, only Midgar Central Hospital can treat Tifa’s injury. I made a special trip to bring Tifa to thank you this time. Without your support, I am afraid this child will really die. ”

Tifa hurriedly bowed and said, “Thank you very much, Brother Heather!”

The black eyes behind the glasses shifted from Zangan to Tifa. After looking back and forth for a few times, Heather completely opened the door: “Come in and talk.”

After speaking, he walked towards the back room, with the door open.

Tifa straightened up and looked at Zangan with a puzzled look. The latter let out a long sigh of relief and nodded to Tifa: “Fortunately, it’s okay. If we didn’t drive us away, it means there is a show. Go in.”

Even if Heather is hard-hearted, he won’t make a bad face at such a cute junior sister, right? Zangan felt a little bit down this time, and hurriedly took Tifa into Room 202 with him.