Chapter 227 - Third Class
That night Hao Xuan spent several hours in the augmented reality program Baracus so lovingly labeled as "Ora", which stood for the word "edge" in an ancient language.
After a certain point, the lines between what was real and what wasn't started to blur. Since Ora utilized Hao Xuan's own nervous system as the basis, everything he felt in the program was as real as it could be. There was absolutely no difference between being there himself and using the program, at least from what he was feeling.
His body reacted the same way it would if he was actually touching the chaos lightning himself. There were thin burn marks all along his arms that ran all the way down his back and to his feet.
Burnt out, physically and mentally, he woke up late the next morning to the smell of pancakes, eggs, grilled meat, and several different soups.
Xu Qing didn't know what he was doing but she saw his condition and knew he would need heavier breakfasts so she would get up even earlier and go out shopping to get only the freshest materials.
Hao Xuan ate like a king. And there was enough left over that even Fortis didn't need to fight Hao Xuan over scraps, not that he wasn't well fed anyway.
After breakfast, Hao Xuan told Xu Qing that he was going out to check up on First's family. Xu Qing insisted on coming along so they took out the carriage and with Green and Red as the drivers, he paid them a visit.
Xin Qiye, First's son, was over two years old now. He seemed to recognize Xu Qing at first glance and waddled over gleefully as soon as he saw her.
Anya welcomed them in with open arms. She was really happy to see Hao Xuan after such a long time and decided to make a literal feast for him.
Han Ming, First's younger sister, also returned from school a few hours later and kept roaming around Hao Xuan and asking if he needed anything, like a little helper bee.
Xin Qiye, on the other hand, enjoyed playing with Fortis even though Fortis himself didn't enjoy it as much and kept trying to run away.
They had lunch after which Hao Xuan had a conversation with Anya, assured her that everything was okay and that he would be going over to meet First soon as well.
Since First was at the front lines, he couldn't really communicate freely with Anya. It had been over 2 weeks since the last time they had talked.
The only reason Hao Xuan was able to get in contact with First was because they both were in the Red Legion and had the same rank, more or less.
It was around 5 p.m by the time Hao Xuan left Anya's place.
Little Xin Qiye kept crying, asking to play with Fortis, while Fortis hid himself atop Hao Xuan's hair.
Han Ming was really attached to Xu Qing as well and made her promise to visit her again in the near future.
Xu Qing asked if they could make a stop on the way back, to which Hao Xuan graciously agreed in an instant.
Green and Red seemed to know where to go and drove the carriage expertly through many different small streets, leaving Fortuna from a small gate.
About 40 minutes later, the carriage came to a stop outside a rundown temple. Xu Qing got down and walked in, while Hao Xuan waited outside with the divine apes.
"What is this place?" he mumbled to himself while looking around at the old buildings. It looked like an abandoned village but there were still a lot of people walking about.
Green sighed looking at the old temple, "That's a forgotten orphanage. It houses those that were thrown away by their families, bastard children of rich families that want to hide their so-called "mistakes" or those born with deformities. Every city has one of these."
Hao Xuan's brow shot up in anger, "What?! Do the authorities know about this?"
"Of course," Green nodded, "Many of the children in this place come from old military families and famous clans. Everyone knows about this place but they pretend not to. It's the dirty little secret of the biggest city of Mei."
Hao Xuan turned around and took another look at the surrounding buildings and the people.
The houses had broken walls and roofs, fixed together with pieces of lumber and rope if even that.
There were a lot of old folks there. Many of them were missing limbs but were still going about their daily lives as usual.
"And them? Who are they?" he asked gesturing towards the old folk.
"The same people that grew up in the orphanage. They are third-class citizens that are not eligible for any help from the government. Their entire lives are spent in this godforsaken place."
"From the moment they were abandoned here, this was their fate. In the government's eyes, they do not exist. They can never get a job or be registered to even own a simple spirit band. They move from the orphanage over there, to the decrepit village over here. This is all their life amounts to."
Hao Xuan was completely speechless. For the first time since coming to this world, he saw something so utterly.....vile. For him, the beast world was a world full of possibilities, but it was the exact opposite for some.
"Why don't they just leave?"
Red chuckled from the side and replied in Green's stead.
"How can they leave? They are mere mortals with no weapons or wealth to their name. The lowest level beast could tear apart every single person in this village. They do not have the resources to even buy a simple cultivation manual, how can they hope to leave this place that's surrounded by nothing but millions of beasts?"
'Right, I forgot where we are...'
Hao Xuan was a very lucky person. Ever since coming to this world he never really had to worry about the basic necessities. Even now he was filthy rich by normal standards. A single one of his meals was better than what anyone here could ever hope to have in their entire lives.
He turned around and walked towards the temple with hurried steps.
As he got closer, playful shouts and yells entered his ears. He jumped up and landed on the roof. Peaking in through a window he saw Xu Qing sitting in a small hall.
All around her were dozens of kids, jumping around with joy. There were many simple dishes placed on the long table in front.
"Okay everyone, thank sister Xu and go wash your hands!" a voice came from the entrance. A middle-aged man with a missing left arm entered the hall.
"Yes!" they all replied unison and ran out.
Xu Qing got up and walked up to the middle-aged man. There was an infant in his embrace.
"How is little Ye, uncle Tian?" she asked while taking the infant from the middle-aged man.
"He's much better thanks to the medicine you brought him," the man named Tian replied with a kind smile.
"Good," Xu Qing nodded and gently rocked the infant back and forth.
A sharp buzzing noise sounded in Hao Xuan's ears, drowning out all other sounds. His fists were clenched so tight that his bones were making strange noises.
"It's from her own money you know," Green's voice sounded from behind him, waking him from the stupor.
"Eh? What?" Surprised, Hao Xuan asked as he didn't hear the first time.
"The food, she buys all that with the pay you give her. Every single penny is used to buy food that she brings here," Green explained.
Hao Xuan closed his eyes from both rage and dissatisfaction.
Rage because of how these people were being treated, and dissatisfaction with everyone that surrounded him that they never told him about any of this. He had enough wealth to literally throw away at things, sparing a few dozen gold coins was nothing to him. He could feed all these people for several generations without any problems.
Hao Xuan laughed self-deprecatingly and looked up at Green, startling him.
"How bad of an image do you guys have of me that you never even thought about asking me to help these people?"