Chapter 598

In the previous battle, he wanted to run away out of fear, but the old ghost personally took off his head.

That was the beginning of the collapse.

"If you lose, you lose. Do you even have time to find reasons for your failure, old ghost?"

The Rat King sneered, enjoying the feeling of being a winner.

"Or are you saying that you no longer have the spirit you had ten years ago?"

"Indeed, in this round, I lost."

The old ghost shrugged, took out a cigar from his arms, and lit it on the metal residue next to him that was still red due to the gunfire.

He looked at the winner not far away leisurely, but without the panic and fear of a loser.

"It's just that winning one round... doesn't mean you'll keep winning."

Zheng——

The sharp crossbow arrows pierced the air, stirred up the cold wind in the night, and stabbed into the old ghost's face.

The Rat King is not a stupid person. During the conversation, the secretly prepared offensive was already in place, and his subordinates with fighting capabilities were already ready in hiding places. Under the Rat King's order, they raised their crossbows without hesitation. Launch a volley at the old ghost.

However, these crossbow arrows were tightly restrained in front of the old ghost by invisible forces.

He suddenly grasped it with one hand, and the arrows were instantly twisted into a ball of useless scrap metal.

"This is the experience summarized by the senior's personal experience. You still have to listen to it, Sam."

The old ghost exhaled smoke and used the pale smoke to cover up his pale face.

Judging from his slightly trembling palms, this man who once almost dominated the entire lower city was not as calm as he appeared.

But...as the old ghost listened, he seemed to hear something, and a strange smile appeared on the corner of his mouth again.

"Woo——"

The whimpering sound came with the night wind, eerie and scary, like a whisper from the netherworld.

The Rat King's face changed slightly: "Do you have any backup plans?"

"Backhand...it doesn't really count. It can only be said that it is something that has been prepared for a long time."

The old ghost studied the Rat King's changing expression and suddenly said:

"But to be honest, Sam, I still can't understand why you chose the so-called Bruce instead of me. You should know that Bruce... is probably a member of a big noble. He and those who want to re-establish themselves There is essentially no difference between the aristocratic men who control the Lower City."

"And I am the one who really wants to liberate the Lower City. Everything I do is to return this area to the freedom it deserves."

"Didn't I say it before? I don't want to be a dog!" The Rat King bared his teeth and sneered.

"No matter how many times I hear this sentence, it still makes me angry."

"Heh, I don't think a guy like you will bring a good future to Xiacheng District."

"A guy like me...are you talking about my cruelty?"

The old ghost shook his head: "You have to know, Sam, cruelty is just a means, not the result, and...even I will do some good things occasionally."

"A good thing?" The Rat King raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, for example, distributing bread to the poor, giving them free food and so on. During this period, I have done a lot of good things like this, and those people are very grateful to me."

"What exactly do you want to say?"

The Mouse King's expression became more and more sinister, and the bad feeling in his heart became stronger. In his understanding, the old ghost did not have the temperament to do something good like distributing food, let alone show off such a thing. .

"so……"

The old ghost flicked his cigar and stepped into the darkness behind him:

"Next, just enjoy my kindness, Sam."

"stop!"

The Rat King shouted angrily, trying to stop the old ghost from leaving.

But one of his subordinates suddenly grabbed him.

"Lord Rat King..."

"What are you doing? Hurry up and chase the old ghost. If you let him go, there will definitely be endless troubles!"

"No, look quickly..."

The subordinate stretched out his trembling fingers and pointed to the side:

"Someone...no, a lot of people...are coming."

…

…

"Honey, I'm back."

Old Luke opened the door with a dusty face.

The door was somewhat worn, and when pushed open it made a sharp creaking sound, which worked better than most doorbells and quickly alerted the others in the room.

"dad!"

First there were several cheers of surprise, and then a dim candlelight extended from the inner room. An already somewhat old woman walked out holding an oil lamp, and several children quickly emerged from behind her.

"You are finally back!"

The children gathered around Old Luke, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Sorry, the guests are in a hurry tonight, so I have to work a little overtime."

Old Luke first smiled apologetically at the woman, and then touched the children's heads one by one, smiling until his eyes were full of wrinkles.

"You little guys, have you listened to your mother?"

"have!"

"That's good, come on!"

Old Luke took out several pieces of bread from the cloth bag he carried with him.

He distributed the bread to the children, who immediately cheered louder.

This is not the black bread they usually eat, but bread fermented and baked with fine flour. It is fluffy and sweet, and exudes a rich aroma as soon as it is taken out.

The children devoured the food. They had not eaten such good bread for a long time. For them, it was not a fine meal.

"Eat slowly. There is more."

Old Luke stroked the children's heads more lovingly.

"Where did the bread come from?"

The woman leaned against the door and smiled at the warm scene.

"At this time, the bakery should have been closed. Besides, your salary has not yet arrived this month. You should not have money to buy these breads."

"I met a kind-hearted lord on the road. He was distributing this kind of bread on the street."

"Whose noble lord is this?"

The woman was surprised and said, "Winter is almost over. Will there be noble lords who come to distribute bread? And this bread..."

In the past winter, noble lords from the upper city often sent people to the lower city to distribute bread, but the black bread they distributed was more difficult to eat than the bread sold on the market. They dared not even think about this kind of bread made of refined flour.

"Hey, why bother so much? Such a truly kind-hearted lord is rare."

"There won't be any problem, will it?"

"What can be the problem? In the eyes of those noble lords, the lives of us poor people may not be as valuable as these breads."

Old Luke quickly stuffed the last piece of bread into the woman's hand: "Come on, eat quickly, I can't stop your mouth."

"What about you? Have you eaten?"

"I have!"

Old Luke patted his belly and said loudly:

"I ate it at the beginning, and I am full!"

"Really..."

The woman looked at Old Luke's flat abdomen suspiciously, with a smile in her eyes, but she didn't say anything in the end.

She secretly hid half of the bread, and then broke the bread a little bit to taste it.

But this slow movement was not because of elegance and cultivation, but because she wanted to taste it carefully. For them who are used to eating black bread, even ordinary baked bread is a rare delicacy.

Old Luke looked at the woman enjoying herself, then looked at the children who were full and started to play, secretly licked the crumbs he took out of his pocket, and couldn't help showing a satisfied smile on his face.

It was just an ordinary night, but because of a few pieces of bread, it was like a festival.

"Speaking of which, there seemed to be a loud noise in the block not far away just now. Nothing will happen, right?"

"What can happen? Isn't it like this in the downtown area? Maybe two gangs have started fighting again. Don't be curious and sneak to see it. It will be fine."

"That's right."

The woman licked her fingers:

"I'll go boil water for you to take a bath."

"Take out my treasured wine, and indulge yourself today!"

"Okay."

Perhaps because of the delicious food, the woman who usually controls Old Luke's drinking very strictly became much easier to talk to at this time.

The woman picked up the oil lamp and turned to boil water. Old Luke sat by the bed, in the dim room, comforting the little guys to sleep obediently while looking out the window.

The night was dark and the fog was gloomy.

Although it didn't look particularly beautiful, for old Luke, who had lived in this place all his life, this was a scene he had already seen.

Well, it was indeed a little noisy outside, but other than that, today might be a good day.

"Hey, I haven't drunk for a month, I have to enjoy it tonight, and it's the eldest brother's birthday soon. I'll get paid in a few days, and I have to buy him a gift. That kid has been looking forward to it for a long time."

"On his birthday, I can take the opportunity to drink again, it's beautiful to think about it..."

As the children fell asleep one by one, old Luke began to secretly calculate his own little abacus.

He could actually drink twice a month, which was something he never dared to think about before!

"And the third brother, what did he say he wanted before... huh?"

Thinking about it, old Luke suddenly put his head close to the window and listened attentively.

"Why do I feel... like there's a cry coming from somewhere, kid?"

"Snap!"

Just as he was mumbling, a crisp sound of breaking from the kitchen startled Old Luke again.

"Honey? What's broken?"

Old Luke frowned, quickly stood up and walked towards the direction of the sound.

He vaguely felt that something was wrong. For a family like theirs, the tableware at home was a relatively valuable item. His wife had always been very careful with it. How could it be broken?

"Honey, what happened..."

Old Luke lit a candle to illuminate the kitchen, and then froze.

The woman was falling to the ground at this moment, her eyes rolled back, twitching in extreme pain. Beside her was an overturned tray, a broken wine glass, and... half a piece of heated bread.

"Honey, you... what's wrong with you?"

Old Luke lost his mind and hurriedly leaned down to help his wife up.

But as soon as his hand touched his wife's body, he froze again, and then frightened.

He lifted his wife's sleeves tremblingly, and was shocked to find that her skinny palms had become bloody at some point, and sharp bone claws had grown out of her flesh and blood.

"This... this is..."

"Luke... Luke, dear..."

As if she had sensed the warmth of her husband, the woman regained some consciousness, but her expression was still ferocious from time to time, as if she was struggling with something.